Are we looking beyond traditional classrooms now?

 

Teaching with the pandemic tuned teachers to master learners.  Equipment's and technology are play things to experiment.  As we step out of the post-COVID era, we need to look at the possibilities of incorporating what was learned and adapted to during the COVID times. Preluding of the new learning strategy has been fast and without a preamble.  Erasing almost a year of online work and the process change is not worth neglecting. Adapting this into the new classrooms will be definitely wise.   

National's goal to a new education policy, NEP 2020, has been in discussion before, during and now after the pandemic.  Setting its goal with clear indication on 'skill development', which is very different from yesteryears, needs thinking and planning in new dimension. 

Ref: https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf

The clear focus on developing appropriate skills from the age 3 upwards is specific with the educational policy.  Narrowing down the funnel to the schools the ideology stands with the approach with which schools focus on building such an approach in their delivery of the curriculum.  Short term goals to long term goals change is to be incorporated into the learning philosophy.  Pandemic being a blessing in disguise has readied our teachers to approach the new curriculum with the Web 3.0 tools.  

The potential skill level to approach the curriculum stands with

• Creativity
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Conflict resolution and
• Communication

Steering schools into this direction is where the look beyond traditional classrooms is required. Pandemic gave us the opportunity of working from homes.  Though converting homes to office spaces was quite a cumbersome task.  Looking beyond the walls with the open space of internet was well within our reach.  When schools reopen and regular work starts the repository of our experiences should enable build better classrooms using both physical as well as virtual spaces.  Skill building is not on a one time creativity but on repeating the same level at every juncture of learning and teaching. 

Clear and structured approach from schools through their implementation of their curriculum can develop skills for the future.  Traditional classrooms were set for the era of industrialization, however, today the look-out is for people who can think differently within short spans and come out with solution.  Covid vaccine is one such example, it is a race out there to develop within the set time frame.  Teaching and learning also needs to be converted to such scales to stump upon individual abilities which cater to upscaling inherent abilities and fostering new practices which are adaptable.  Curiosity spices up creativity. Nurturing such beautiful congenital abilities should become the prima facie of  post-COVID schools. 

Hybrid schools – New Challenges and new outlook

 

A true blended approach.  Part of the teaching going online and part offline(in-person), Covid has prepared us for the new normal.  A year passed away without much individual significance.  Locked doors and stay home showed us the importance of greeting and meeting children every day. Today, we are approaching a post-Covid time where we need to think on how to proceed further into education with the uncertainty always looming around us. Flipped and blended classrooms provided the idea of using technology in classrooms but the change was drastic for many Practioner’ s.    Hybrid classrooms plan on having classes online few days and offline the other days. Hybrid is meant to bring more thought process into classrooms and promote independent working among students.  Research suggests that such classrooms are beneficial for students.

Covid not completely out of our lives parents are still hesitant to send kids to school.  The situation looms over the educational institutions to start both offline and online together.  It seems simple as we have handled online, the new norm with ease, but is it truly simple?  Well! Those who have had the classes can tell the difference.  Keeping the teacher live and online and concentrate on the student has become a tremendous task for the teaching community.  Until the fear of Covid is eradicated and parents start sending their kids, the offline and online teaching process will continue.

The new challenges the teaching scenario faces are

• Versatility of students in class
• Parental monitoring online for teachers as the student are present in class
• Mask and other Covid mandatory essentials monitoring by online parental community
• Differentiating activities for both online and offline students based on their interest
• Collaborating groups scattered both online and offline
• Continuing parental apprehensions on Online classes

The concept of BYOD, brings results, but again the teacher in class, monitoring every child with their device is another challenge we need to think about.  New age classrooms ought to build responsibility and accountability among students.  As the era changes, new versions and new outlook brings not only new challenges but also scope to overcome situational crisis through new technologies.

Teachers who are now more facilitators are to think and bring diversity into the classroom space.  Hybrid classrooms will be a success only when facilitators and stakeholders recognise diversity and plan their lessons accordingly.  With technology, as backbone and theories of flipped and blended classrooms, it is true we may not involve 100% of our student community.  However, when we design classroom functionalities based on the behaviour patterns of our students, we can overcome these challenges. 

Parental apprehensions have led to the consideration for ‘Home-schooling’ in many cases. In the long run, such parents have to realise that this new normal is here to stay and focus on the minimalistic effort in bringing education to their children.  Avoiding technology, in learning may not fetch results for the students as today schooling is not about unidimensional subject preferences, it is more about multidimensional subject analysis. Technology is the framework through which the thought process can be revoked and kindled.  Though challenging this brings new beginning for the 21^st century educational framework.  With more ahead, let us hope technology only offers solution rather than pollution. Moving forward to the 22^nd century should not be to ‘going back to ages’, sustainability and self-regulation should go ahead and make the new paradigm shift.

My thanks to…

1. https://www.codlearningtech.org/PDF/hybridteachingworkbook.pdf
2. https://sites.psu.edu/hybridlearning/what-is-hybrid/
3. https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/updated-e-learning-definitions-2/
4. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/how-to-plan-for-hybrid-teaching-and-learning