📑 Does Virtual Learning Work for Every Student?

Amanda Woytus reflects upon who has and has not benefited from learning online. For some, the flipped model of asynchronous videos has provided them access to learning and the opportunity to be more flexible with their time. However, Woytus also explains that not everyone is able to engage with video content and learning in the same way. As she highlights:

Last semester’s physics class, for example, required students to watch videos of lectures, similar to the flipped classroom model. “I personally could not do that at all,” he remembers. “I can’t focus on a YouTube video that I want to watch, so how does anybody expect me to focus on a YouTube video that’s boring?” He recognizes that physics can be interesting, but if his diagnosis makes it difficult for him to pay attention to a video that was designed to be pure entertainment, a YouTube video of a professor talking at him stands little chance.

I think this highlights that one model alone, such as flipped learning, does not necessarily fit everyone’s needs. This has me thinking again about Steve Collis’ discussion of learning narratives and learning choice.

Often the argument is made against ‘direct instruction’ and specific information, however the issue is not the instruction, but the fact that such instruction is not at the point of need. Collis spoke about the use of flipped instruction and providing students more choice and autonomy as to when they accessed this information. Therefore, such shared learning narratives often involved a number of choices or spaces.