Live Graphic Notes by Sara O'Keeffe during webinar, University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research

After a year and half of the COVID-19 Pandemic educators and students have become accustomed to a constantly changing learning environment. Elementary students across the US have shifted from the sole method of learning in the physical classroom to learning fully remote and in hybrid learning environments. Up until this recent school year of 2022 classrooms across the country have been strictly implementing different precautions to combat COVID-19 in the classroom. These changes have not been completely learner friendly. Implementing social distancing, desk shields, limited student movement/interaction, and face coverings have been just a few of the new in-person guidelines to allow in person learning to continue during these unprecedented times. Students across the country have been resilient in complying with these changes in order to maintain some semblance of normalcy.

In the article, Kalantzis and Cope, New Tools for Learning: Working with Disruptive Change, they discuss New Learning compared to the Traditional Classroom. These techniques mentioned in the traditional classroom have also been applied to the virtual classroom which can arguably be known as a new learning environment. These techniques include: teacher centered lessons followed by individualized tasks, summative assessments, absorbing facts and repeating or applying learned rules. Even with the disruptive changes made to the learning environment during the pandemic, these traditional methods have been carried on in new ways. This is a cycle that is difficult to break because it is a familiar practice to many educators. Even though learning remotely and in hybrid environments is in fact a new way of learning for many students it isn’t all encompassing of the phrase New Learning. Kalantzis and Cope describe New Learning as, differentiated, lateral learning relations, horizontal communications, higher order thinking, and multimodal thinking. These methods encompass the idea that students will be given a task from the teacher and allowed to complete it on their own time frame, from any location, using a variety of media elements, and receive feedback from peers who share the same learning goals.

With the overwhelming amount of changes that students have experienced over the past year and a half there is no better time to change traditional teaching methods. The New Learning methods mentioned in New Tools for Learning: Working with Disruptive Change would provide a type of education that students are ready to experience. The global pandemic changed education and the way students learn. To meet our students where they are, it is imperative that we as educators reflect on our traditional practices and consider how we can implement New Learning strategies.

References:

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (n.d.). Kalantzis and Cope, New Tools for Learning: Working with Disruptive Change. Works & Days. Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-1-new-learning/supporting-material

The future of learning and covid-19. KnowledgeWorks. (2021, June 3). Retrieved September 4, 2022, from https://knowledgeworks.org/resources/future-learning-covid-19/