Time to [RE]LEARN

Alvin Toffler wrote in his book, Future Shock (1970), that the “illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”. What an amazingly prophetic statement.

In 1987, The U.S. Army War College introduced the concept of VUCA to describe the growing sense of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world.

Fast forward to the first few months of 2020 and we see these worlds and concepts colliding in ‘unprecedented’ ways.

The current global pandemic is an appallingly clear example of this VUCA world. So how do I see the two connecting? 

Online learning has been around for a few decades now – but its potential woefully misused or misunderstood. We’ve had many educational pioneers develop highly creative ways to use online learning (whether synchronous or asynchronous) to expand the opportunities for learning. But regrettably, mainstream conventional school systems have only really dabbled at the edges of this.

 Some people explored the use of the flipped classroom. Others have looked at blended learning. Large open source platforms such as Moodle have provided a platform for LMS open collaboration. 

However, the speed of the coronavirus spread caught most people and systems out. Suddenly the need to learn (online technologies) was immediate and critical. Many have rushed to take the structures of their face-to-face day online. Amazingly, some have seemingly crammed five years’ experience into five days.

But this is where the unlearning needs to be brought into the equation. If we are to survive this sudden transition into online learning, we will have to let go of much of what we might have thought was foundational – timetables, teacher delivery of content, mandated curriculum, assessments and more.

Experience and research would readily demonstrate that creating a type of replicated schooling online (which I refer to as Online Schooling) has a very limited lifespan.

Why? Online delivery, if not managed carefully, is intense, challenging and eats up all available time. Teachers find the task of pushing the curriculum a relentless burden. 

And those at the other end of the process, the kids, will typically switch off, rapidly becoming disengaged – seeing little purpose to their online ‘busywork’. They are missing the day-to-day social contact. They are craving the friendships that in many cases provide their main motivation to attend school.

Now is the time to relearn – to think through what might / could online learning look like.

What might the mix be for positive remote learning. First and foremost, students need to feel a valued part of a wider community, where their connections and mental health are the priority. Learning does not always have to be online in a remote learning context. Remote workers do not spend all their days in front of a video conference.

Let teachers simply connect with their classes. Let the students be given time to feel connected to something positive. Do not push ahead with content or tasks if there is any doubt that a child is not feeling the connection. That’s a recipe for disaster.

Young people are by nature highly curious – let that curiosity drive the shape of their days. What would they like to explore? What virtual tour would spark their passion? How might they use software that enables them to be highly creative in their output – music? writing? art? making?

And what place might cooking and crazy exercise or dance routines have in their days? Can they video their activities and share those? Can they create new recipes? Can they design a clever dance routine workout? Can they rewrite the lyrics for songs to become topical?

And how might we enable collaboration? Can students prepare a virtual excursion (live zoo feeds; museums; marine parks)? Can they do that in small teams and enjoy a virtual day out? (What a great way for the teachers to be given some space to think ahead?)

There are many challenges being circulated online (thinking IDEO, LEGO, TEDEd, Bear Grylls). Can the students create their own challenges for their peers? Can these challenges provide structure to a day? What if the online times with the teachers was about sharing the humour, the mistakes, the ideas? 

And what about a shared drop everything and read time?  And extend that to writing, drawing, composing, coding? Then simply share the collective thoughts.

What if the main contact with their teacher was less about the work completed, but more about sparking ideas, co-creating individual or group challenges or projects?

Let’s not let online learning simply be an online version of school-as-it-was-before-crisis. We know times have changed. Time to think deeply about how we create active, positive learning experiences in a remote context. Even better, co-create with the kids! 

Here’s my list of ingredients for sustainable and positive remote learning experiences:

• communication

• connection

• community

• creativity

• curiosity

• collaboration

• challenge

Stephen Harris
stephenharris.me