Education secretary Gavin Williamson has encouraged teachers to conduct live online lessons during lockdown when schools are partially closed.

Speaking to MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee this morning, he said live online lessons were “important” and an area in which remote education “has moved so rapidly”.

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He said: “I think that live online lessons can inform [and] be an important part of the whole package of what teachers and schools are able to offer and it is certainly something that we would encourage them to see as part of that whole package of what they can deliver for children.”

Remote learning: Teachers urged to deliver live lessons

The Department for Education stated last week that schools must include video content in their online learning provision, but it did not say it had to be live.

There was also no stipulation about remote live teaching in the DfE guidance on online learning sent out in the first week of term.

Mr Williamson was asked by committee chair Robert Halfon: “In terms of remote learning, is it your view that it’s a mixture of interactive live [lessons] and videos?”

He replied: “You often see [remote learning] as a blend of different measures that are in place, including live lessons, which play an important role ...and we’ve put out so much information and we’ve learned so much, and schools have learned so much, and it’s really driven thinking of how this [remote learning] can be done best. That’s why we’ve been so clear in terms of setting out the expectations and guidance.”