Learning opportunities are everywhere for everyone if they know where to look. In 2020 the learning world underwent a forceful change with the move to online learning due to COVID. In the later part of the year blended learning made a return to the limelight as social distancing and COVID regulations took hold. So where has the shake-up left the landscape of online learning? Let's take a look at the positives and negatives.
Teachers now see online learning as something they could do rather than something they can't do.
Thanks to the forceful move to online learning teachers have had to upskill in developing their digital practices to assist them in delivering learning to their students. Many teachers have innovated their practice and have tried new resources and strategies. An unfortunate side effect of this has been an increase in workload, however innovation is messy and takes time to critique and motivation should not be lost because of this time and effort.
Self-paced flexible learning has proven popular with many students
The ability to access learning at a time that suits around daily schedules and responsibilities has proven popular with some learners. For some students however this is proving difficult due to the self motivating aspect to access learning in particular way. Being able to work at your own pace is useful but where you may be lacking motivation or are tired, can mean that you can reschedule your learning for a better time. The key element with this is that the rescheduling occurs and learning is completed in a timely fashion.
Focus has been placed on learning to learn in the digital space
This is a big positive. When I reflect on my own learning throughout my life little time has been spent on teaching me how to learn in the best way for me. I can recall filling out questionnaires around learning styles but not having a look at more in-depth information about how learning actually occurs. Thanks to the move to online delivery, teachers have placed more emphasis on working with learners to support them in understanding how learning occurs in the digital space. This is massively beneficial to learners especially as we try to create agency in learning in the digital world i.e. promoting lifelong learning to all learners
Digitising manual processes isn't digital transformation.
As many teachers were forced to upscale online delivery skills very quickly due to COVID-19, this affected the ability to learn in-depth information and practical practice of online delivery strategies. Much of what has been learnt has been superficial in the early part of 2020, due to the prolonged need to deliver online teachers have been able to develop their knowledge and processes of how delivering online is different to the physical world. However in some cases this led to the digitising of manual processes, for example teachers deliver in a similar style in an online space to the physical space, set an assignment waiting for learner's to complete the assignment, marking the assignment and then feeding back. This practice is the same in the digital space as it is in the physical space. More innovation and practice is required here for practitioners to ensure that the learning experience is unique and interesting to learners.
Demand on teacher workload.
Teachers have been forced to learn new skills very quickly, but to develop long term confidence and knowhow takes time. Due to the time taken in learning new skills, teachers have been forced into spending more hours on planning and preparing lesson material for delivery in the digital space. This has come at a costly price for many who struggle with the strain of changing their normal working practices to accommodate the new need for online delivery.
Digital Deluge.
In his book Limitless, Jim Kwik Talks about how at the beginning of the internet age people would come on and leave the digital space for example the term BRB would be used when referring to leaving the digital space and then returning. Now in this modern day people rarely leave the digital world. There is a bombardment of information for people to work through. Jim also talks about digital dementia, digital distraction and digital deduction all terms that relate to access to digital tools which has led to challenges around learning and memory. Digital dementia for example covers how many people now could not remember their best friend's phone number as computers and mobile devices remember this for us. Digital distraction is as much of a problem in the digital learning space as in the physical learning space, learner's are accessible 24/7 365 through their mobile devices. They may receive many notifications and alerts that can distract them from their learning processes.
From a learner's perspective the move to online learning in many cases has proven positive especially when trying to create agency in learning for learners as they move through their careers. If we continue to work with learners on teaching them how to learn and accessing tools at their own convenience this could be very cost efficient for the United Kingdom and other countries on the planet due to the requirement of reskilling, so that individuals can transition between careers and in particular higher skilled employment at a cheaper cost.
We should be careful not to over indulge in our use of technology and ensure we don't use technology for the sake of using technology. Planning an interesting and engaging curriculum is the way forward and ensures the key skills learners need are embedded and included within our planning and delivery. By planning effectively we allow time for teachers to upskill in tools that could be used to support learning and avoid the need to upskill very quickly without efficient practice and safe space failure. Online learning is here to stay and in summary our ability to continue to innovate will be key to the success of learning that moves into the online learning environment.
Let's keep collaborating and thanks for reading.
