Every educator in the world has had their professional world turned upside-down by the Coronavirus pandemic. The sheer enormity of the challenge to educators to switch their practice, virtually overnight, to online learning is massive. Tech companies have rallied to support and there has been some fantastic generous offerings to support teachers.
But it has been tough.
A tech tool that you have never used before is not a teachers friend when they are trying to re-wire their teaching brain. This is where the Bible parable of the 10 Virgins is apt - those that have been prepared, who have taken an interest in how technology can enhance the learning of students, are (generally) prepared and have the mindset to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape. Those that have ignored technology and thrown it in the too-hard basket, who have reasoned that their style has worked for 20 - 30 years so why change - they are struggling right now and it shows. I really love anyone who is having a go, trying their best, but right now those who have no tech skills only have themselves to blame. And I can't teach you in 2 weeks what has taken me 5 years to learn.
An interesting observation is how schools are battling to continue to run the same model of school in a very different setting. You know, what we have always done for 150 years - kids in groups according to age, in one class with one teacher at one time during the day. I thought that by 2020 this would be dead and buried but it is alive and well - and not fitting well in an online environment. If ever there was a time to de-silo, get rid of subjects and launch students on cross-curricular, project-based tasks, it is now. But our schools, for the most, are not set up that way so we will stay with the old way thanks very much. Will Richardson nails it:
Finally a message for politicians who seem to think that the only way kids can learn is if they are in a class, with one teacher, at a certain time, learning the same thing. You are wrong. It is not school that is important, it is learning and that happens anywhere, anytime.
Having said that there have been some awesome tech tools that have enabled home learning to happen. Five years ago this would not have been possible. The tech was not evolved and the internet capacity at home would have made this a disaster. Hats off to Microsoft who have developed and supported some amazing tools that, thankfully, we have been using for years which has allowed us to transition with minimum tech pain-points. I have tried to keep it simple and focus on the basics - tools that allow students to connect, create, collaborate and complete work.
But it has been tough.
A tech tool that you have never used before is not a teachers friend when they are trying to re-wire their teaching brain. This is where the Bible parable of the 10 Virgins is apt - those that have been prepared, who have taken an interest in how technology can enhance the learning of students, are (generally) prepared and have the mindset to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape. Those that have ignored technology and thrown it in the too-hard basket, who have reasoned that their style has worked for 20 - 30 years so why change - they are struggling right now and it shows. I really love anyone who is having a go, trying their best, but right now those who have no tech skills only have themselves to blame. And I can't teach you in 2 weeks what has taken me 5 years to learn.
An interesting observation is how schools are battling to continue to run the same model of school in a very different setting. You know, what we have always done for 150 years - kids in groups according to age, in one class with one teacher at one time during the day. I thought that by 2020 this would be dead and buried but it is alive and well - and not fitting well in an online environment. If ever there was a time to de-silo, get rid of subjects and launch students on cross-curricular, project-based tasks, it is now. But our schools, for the most, are not set up that way so we will stay with the old way thanks very much. Will Richardson nails it:
I wonder what would be different now if all along kids had been learning in environments where projects and mastery and self-determination and agency had been the focus rather than curriculum and tests and grades and homework. Maybe we'd really have "online learning."No matter the setting, the teacher plays a crucial role - in the alt-version of school - as a guide, mentor and fellow learner.
Finally a message for politicians who seem to think that the only way kids can learn is if they are in a class, with one teacher, at a certain time, learning the same thing. You are wrong. It is not school that is important, it is learning and that happens anywhere, anytime.
Having said that there have been some awesome tech tools that have enabled home learning to happen. Five years ago this would not have been possible. The tech was not evolved and the internet capacity at home would have made this a disaster. Hats off to Microsoft who have developed and supported some amazing tools that, thankfully, we have been using for years which has allowed us to transition with minimum tech pain-points. I have tried to keep it simple and focus on the basics - tools that allow students to connect, create, collaborate and complete work.