I am passionate about the positive benefits of online education. I’m also aware of the realities, practicalities and hurdles of enacting change, at pace, to diverse and, in some cases, deprived learners.
When the government told all schools and colleges to shut their doors to curb the spread of coronavirus, some were better equipped to manage the change than others. The transition at UK’s ‘e-mature’ institutions – among them Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT), Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education and Portsmouth College to name a few - was relatively straightforward as they have spent years embedding the structure, culture, expectations and resources required to successfully teach online.
But getting to that point takes time and requires strategy and support. Some colleges are still at the beginning of the journey, and some have made a start but struggled to find resource over time.
As the pandemic hit our shores, there were colleges with little more than a virtual learning environment (VLE) in place. In these circumstances, the FE sector overall is to be congratulated for shifting so swiftly and successfully to online teaching and learning.
Supporting those in need
Colleges know that putting online learning in place is only part of the battle at this time. Looking after people is arguably more important.
Consider ‘estranged learners’, who have little or no family support and are often in a bad place both financially and in terms of their wellbeing. How are they coping with reduced social contact, limited freedoms and facilities, and the move to online and remote learning? And what about our poorest learners?
According to the Association of Colleges, 16% of the young learners in FE colleges are entitled free school meals – which equates to roughly 107,040 disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds in England. Many don’t have access to digital devices at home.
In fact, Jisc’s digital experience insights survey 2019 found that five percent of all FE learners in England don’t own a personal device – including any kind of laptop, tablet or smartphone. That’s around 33,450 individuals who are currently struggling to access even the most basic of resources, such as an e-book, from home.
The nuts and bolts of online delivery
With empathy and support, the sector is adapting to find appropriate ways through, and I’m grateful that the government is recognising these issues and providing some funding to help.
Colleges throughout England can now use their bursary funding to provide disadvantaged and vulnerable learners with a free laptop and 4G router to support their education during the pandemic. That’s a crucial intervention – but it’s not a whole solution. If there’s one device in a household, how can everyone living there work or study full time? If there are children, who’s minding them during study hours?
Connectivity is an issue too, which is why the government agreed measures with telecoms companies to support vulnerable people during COVID-19, including removing data caps on fixed broadband services. In these circumstances, we have to work hard to ensure technology is an enabler for learning, not a barrier.
A sense of community
Are we expecting too much from practitioners and learners? In isolation at home, the structure of everyone’s day shifts. Many have family members to work around, childcare responsibilities, anxiety around finances and health, and a number of other complications.
Teachers and learners alike are juggling their priorities and time – and, for both, it’s important to engage with the flexibilities afforded by asynchronous learning, perhaps in the form of recorded videos and audio, and offline resources. This is not a time to expect either teachers to teach or learners to learn at a consistently fixed time of day. Having an ambition to mirror a full face-to-face timetable online is admirable.
However, is the delivery of 16 hours of live-streamed lessons providing the same or an improved learning experience? If you’ve endured back-to-back Zoom and Team meetings for several hours, you’ll not only know the answer but you’ll be suffering the negative, draining effects too.
Lockdown in any measure increases personal isolation and this will undoubtedly affect peoples’ mental health. When I went into FE as an adult recovering from back injury, the physical and social experience of going to college was a big pick-me-up. It was my ‘connection’ to the outside world, and the thought of losing it would’ve been hard. Today, there are many learners out there in a similar situation, so let's consider how technology can provide that ‘connection’ and maintain a sense of community during the crisis. COVID-19 has seen families, many who were previously unfamiliar with technology, coming together for weekly online quizzes and get-togethers. I am sure many colleges are doing the same for their learners. This is an area where technology, which may have been previously seen as a barrier to engagement, is helping reduce social isolation and support wellbeing through the crisis.
Open communication
At this time, many educators tell me they’re more concerned about keeping learners safe, engaged and curious than they are about academic progress. The picture that’s emerging is not one of cramming or a race to input new teaching tech; this is the time to keep people warm. Let’s work together to keep our learners motivated and supported. Let’s keep their passion for learning alive through this time of uncertainty so that, however FE is delivered in the coming weeks, months and years, the sector as a whole can progress with confidence.
Jisc is supporting colleges through the COVID-19 pandemic with advice and resources, community of practice and a series of webinars.
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