Lessons from online learning that can help shape learners of tomorrow

The evolution of the virtual classroom has created innovative, interactive and collaborative learning spaces that students and parents can be involved in. Through challenges of the past few years, teachers have been at the forefront of creativity and adaptability, and students are not too far behind.

The skills and attributes school leaders, teachers, parents and students have developed in the past two years have varied and changed. The ability of the school ecosystem to tackle constant changes and adaptions has meant they have stretched themselves further than ever before. The elasticity they may have previously experienced no longer exists. Teachers, parents and students limped into the holidays mentally exhausted and ready for a break to reset.

The close of a school year and the start of a new one often causes a time for reflection. Once the cheer of the new year has passed, it’s natural to start making plans and setting goals. It’s the perfect time to recognise what worked well, what can go forever and to reward and celebrate the skill development that’s not in a personal development plan or school report.

After working alongside school leaders and teachers here are some of the highlights:

Communication
Our heavy reliance on online mediums has increased the ability for students, parents and teachers to engage like never before. Many schools are reporting higher attendance at parent occasions, assemblies, meetings and school activities. Parents have also recognised the importance of being connected with student learning, and during recent lockdown’s, parents supported learning in the home, while adapting, creating and facilitating new ways to learn and communicate.

Effective Time Management
Teachers have found a delicate balance between acquiring and constructing learning materials and delivering online lessons. Leaders found the balance between desktop administration and human interaction. Parents managed the challenge of working from home and supporting children in learning.

The essential skill of time management was demonstrated to students of all ages as the adults in their lives offered solutions for harmonising school work, wellbeing, self-care and online interactions. For many, online learning created opportunities to exercise time management skills, with self-paced learning environments, that meant content could be accessed at any time in any place.

Flexibility
Online learning has also offered flexibility for students to attend online forums and interact with materials and complete readings at their own pace. Families could prioritise immediate and more pressing needs without the constraints of the school bell.

Teachers have not only utilised flexible arrangements for classroom delivery, but also utilised this for the past few years of teacher professional learning. Principals now have an online desktop to manage schools and the flexibility to complete administration and compliance requirements can be balanced with other tasks.

Online learning has also highlighted the flexibility needed to manage the importance of balancing work practices and family commitments.

Self-Care, Wellbeing and Agency
Online learning has sharpened the focus for school leaders and teachers to recognise prioritising the need for self-care. Parents and teachers have recognised the models of pastoral care and wellbeing, including resilience building skills need to be refashioned as part of a student’s overall education. This care must include a heavy emphasis on taking care of self and the development of skills to recognise one’s limits and have adaptive strategies to cope in times of challenge.

Supporting students and teachers with developing self-efficacy and the confidence to control their motivation and behaviour is an important and crucial step. Online learning has laid a strong foundation for this to continue.

Critical Thinking
Students have applied a range of new skills while learning at home, while teachers have engaged with a range of digital technologies to create remote learning activities, and parents managed work commitments and support learning from home. All have required a new way of thinking about the problems presented. These challenges stimulated creative lesson designs for learning and infused more confidence for both teachers and students.

Our future is an exciting one! It is hard to think about the dynamic models of learning that will continue to grow as schools apply new strategies to meet the needs of students. Let’s not forget that students, teachers and school leaders have developed skills that are useful foundations for future change.

Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels