Pandemic has sped up the adoption of technology
blessed with resources, privileged with funding, descriptions that do not apply to some other schools. And it’s still tough to manage. I’m young and what many people would consider “native to technology,” which is not true for many dedicated educators. And I still have knowledge gaps.
During this period of experimentation, the first concern is the students’ health, both physical and mental. We must be vigilant that a deadly virus does not harm our community and families, and that stressed students don’t fall through the cracks.
In attempting this, I have learned that some of the skills I just developed in college are already obsolete. Traditionally, teachers believe a predictable environment breeds success. Good organization leads to better lesson planning and increased student comfort.
COVID-19 has made this impossible. Like most teachers, I am a planner, so just winging it in unpredictable times is against my nature. Unexpected events occur daily. Students now learn at school and home, so technology is central. But even with technology, a simple internet delay or technical glitch can derail a lesson or even an entire day plan. Both forms of learning are valuable, and their combination is transformational.
The classroom I’m in is a lucky one: we have a television I can use to project my slides, a document camera, and a set of Chromebooks. There is also a camera, recording everything in the room so the remote learners can see it.
Teaching both digitally and face-toface is called “hybrid learning,” and it’s nothing less than the reinvention of pedagogy. Hybrid learning involves scores of daily decisions as teachers balance technology’s potential with not ignoring the significance of traditional techniques.
A mentor once explained that learning has two elements. First is mastery of
content, where there is a right or wrong answer. This can be done in a selfpaced, student-focused setting with a tutor. Because we can’t all afford tutors, technology can help. New interactive and customizable programs let students master content at their own pace. Rather than one-size-fits-all lectures, students have more tools and timing flexibility available online. The pandemic has probably sped up the adoption of technology by years and maybe decades, and this is good.
The second element of learning is the development of the skills and underlying capabilities, such as research, collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving. These are best done through face-to-face discussion, debates and inquiry projects, involving in-class student discussion with everyone having a laptop.
I’ve seen countless articles on how to “get through” the pandemic as a hybrid educator. Most discount the severity of what we’re experiencing. As someone in the classroom, I will be the first to say that sometimes “getting through” is all we can manage.
That being said, when looking at the bigger picture, rather than being in “survival mode,” we are thinking of the 2020-21 year as “discovery mode.”
COVID-19 requires accelerated virtual learning, and now is the time to try new tools. Experimentation will inevitably cause mistakes, yet a discovery mindset enables us to learn from the experience. In the past few months, I’ve used tools ranging from Bitmoji classrooms (fun placeholders for a hub of links) to Pear Deck (interactive slides).
These engaging tools work best when they are customized to the broader curriculum. Students can interact with their grade level content in self-paced tutorials that also provide great assessment data for teachers. This shouldn’t diminish the role of teachers, but make us more important, freeing us to work more closely with individual students for parts of our classes.
Technologies like online educational tools are no longer new, but their dominant role is. I don’t think this is negative, but it will invoke change. Maybe handwriting skills lose their priority in communication.
On the flip side, perhaps with the amount of screentime involved with current academics, youth will choose to spend more of their free time at home on nonvirtual activities, such as getting outside, playing a board game or writing a story. It’s up to youth and those who influence them to monitor these changes and push them in a productive direction.
As an educator, one of the best sources of the new models of learning is the students themselves. Students who are living the hybrid learning experience know more than anyone about being on the receiving end. We have a unique opportunity to have a more level playing field now, on which we can learn from our young technology enthusiasts who have, as the expression says, “grown up digital.”
Amplifying students’ voices during our current situation will build their self-confidence and make them active participants in their educational journey. I am noticing increased honesty and self-awareness of learning habits from my students, compared to other classes I have been in during past practicums.
Perhaps this is because educators frequently ask students how things are going. Perhaps kids feel a responsibility as the pioneers of this new educational system. If schools in Ontario close down again, and teaching goes fully online, we will be better prepared than earlier this year by knowing who to ask for advice.
It’s a challenge inventing new educational solutions. Still, never could I imagine that I would be in such a dynamic, exciting, inspiring, enthralling environment. To be on the front lines of learning, participating in the reinvention of pedagogy, is a gift for which I am incredibly grateful. More importantly, my firm belief is that this innovation is just starting. There is much more to come. So listen up, class … this year ought to be a good one.