This image by Lorne Strachan is licensed under CC by 4.0
Many educators reacting to the pandemic were pushed into online learning as a stopgap measure until a resumption of face to face classes. LNRT 528 Facilitation in Digital Learning Environments challenges my assumptions of learning modalities and specifically the pedagogy of teaching in an online environment. In comparison, Synchronous sessions can enhance social and teaching presence and learners’ ability to present themselves as real people. Facilitators should not be view delivery as a binary choice when designing for the advantages of any delivery mode. Digital facilitation should be a hybrid model to encapsulate all the medium’s pedagogical benefits, balancing the needs for accessibility and accountability in learning objectives. There are many ways to provide learner support through the social, teaching, and cognitive presence in synchronous and asynchronous practices. The challenge is to use all the tools at our disposal to enhance the learners’ experience. Accessibility remains a high-level need for students, and as we have done in the past, we need to take a holistic approach to deliver education. We need to anticipate the learners’ needs in many factors as unique as the individuals themselves as one size does not fit all.
Two questions I have regarding fasciation in an online environment requiring further attention are:
Will we incorporate lessons learned back into a face to face modality when some normalcy returns post-pandemic? Are courses evolved o a multifaceted model?
Are the days of face-to-face learning with and bricks and mortar educational facilities over Considering the convenience and other benefits we have found in facilitating online environments?
This post’s image is a metaphor for online facilitation; we cannot resume the past as the experience has significantly changed us. We have exited through that door; I certainly have no desire to teach a face to face class again for safety and convenience reasons, Will you?
October 25, 2020 at 7:23 am
Hi Lorne
Hi Lorne, What great questions you asked!! As facilitators we should be reflective and incorporate lessons learned when normalcy returns. But our new version of normal will be very different from where we left off in March of 2020. In addition, and more importantly, facilitators must give themselves the time to reflect and consider the lessons learned. How does someone reflect if they are trying to keep up with the new demands? In response to your second question, I think the days of face to face learning in traditional environments is over – at least for now. But in order to know how to move forward, the education system needs to have metrics on what is working and what is not working. Once this information is available decisions for the future of education can begin to take shape.