Back to School! But We Need to Throw Out All The Rules!
With the days getting shorter and the temperature dropping, it's that time of year when teaching and learning gets underway but this year, it's different...
It’s that time…the school year 2020/21 is just about getting underway.
In our schools, most teachers are back (some pupils are too) and others are still doing their last minute back-to-school shopping.
While in colleges and universities, this is all set to happen over the next few weeks.
We all know how it goes, normally…but of course this year anything but normal, both for anyone in teaching and also for our learners.
With many pupils and students finding themselves learning remotely over the past few months, and teacher and lecturers having to get used to delivering learning online no matter whether they liked it or not – we are all existing in new ground.
There are new rules around who and what will be physically learning in schools, colleges and universities, and also around when they should be present.
This may or may not allow for some distance learning and there are many lessons that we all will have learned since Covid-19 disrupted our lives.
Institutions have likely identified which particular Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) they are to use, who has access to technology (or not), as well as how much their students actually engage.
Hopefully these basics have all been addressed and are ready to be pulled off the shelf in the event of another partial or full lockdown.
While learning is not a static activity, teaching shouldn’t be either.
All aspects of teaching and delivering learning require regular reflection. and now is a good time to reflect on our blended learning experiences to date.
To consider what works, what did not, and what could be done better.
These reflections can help us to consider and enhance the how, what, where and when of what we will be deliver over the coming year – whether it is is remote or not.
So start with reflection now, and the rest can follow.