June 3, 2020, by mszrm4
The machine starts: remembering pedagogy in the digital learning space
June’s N.A.M.E. blog is written by Dr Stevie Agius, Assistant Professor of Medical Education
The swift move to online learning in March 2020 as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic came at a time when the MMedSci students embarking upon my ‘Curriculum design and educational environment’ module (predominantly full-time medical and health professionals) were contending with rapidly increasing workloads, changing responsibilities and cancelled study leave by their employers to support the Covid-19 response. This necessitated a largely asynchronous* method of delivery, difficult to conjure up rapidly and contrary to the ethos of the original module design.
Traditional, on-campus learning will eventually return once the coronavirus abates, but it is highly unlikely that it will retain its previous preeminence. Like many educators, I intend to use this paradigm shift as an opportunity to learn more about new digital possibilities and how to best leverage them to create engaging and relevant learning experiences for a socially distanced time and beyond. As a teacher who came of age in a less technological era, I am intrigued to learn new digital skills but, tempered by a background in education research, I have an in-built caution about technological determinism.
In 1909, EM Forster penned a short story entitled The Machine Stops about a society where everyone communicates only via a form of videoconferencing. Strangely prescient in a world which now hinges upon the functionality of Microsoft Teams, Zoom and the like. Whilst harnessing new forms of communication will play a central role in teaching and learning, it cannot be taken and used in isolation as a convenient panacea. As with all aspects of technology-enhanced education, we should tread carefully in balancing the synchronous and asynchronous, the self-directed and collaborative, the facilitated and the peer-led.
There has been a particularly lively debate in these past few months about what medical schools, and medical educators, can and should do in response to the unfamiliar terrain of distance learning. Sandars et al have produced an invaluable set of tips for rapidly migrating to online learning. As short-term fix gives way to a brave new world, all medical educators must have a firm foundation in delivering effective blended learning, where face-to-face teaching, be it in lecture theatre, laboratory, ward round or clinic, is effectively augmented, enhanced and perhaps even replaced by online learning.
The relationship between technology, teachers and learners can be challenging to determine. Technologies can often be used for a variety of different educational purposes so before we jump into that e-pool feet first, we should think about the pedagogical value. For example, a podcast might take the form of a formal lecture-type intervention; it can provide informal study guidance for a targeted group of learners; or it could be created by a student to capture her response to an educational task. When designing learning activities, it can be helpful to think about the specific ways in which tools might be used, rather than the range of general possibilities. Pedagogic frameworks can be incredibly helpful in approaching the design task. One good example is that developed by Conole (2015) which identifies a number of dimensions of technology use in learning activities.
Frameworks such as these can help educators to map different ways of using specific tools in order to assess whether they will suit learners’ needs and help them achieve particular learning outcomes. Even in such challenging circumstances, when our familiar practices as educators may have been destabilised, it is vital that we remember to think about the value of any educational endeavour. As we plan for the new academic year, when technology-enabled tasks will take ever greater prominence in our teaching, the learner and the intended learning objectives, should be central to all our choices. As urgency and expedience give way to careful planning and design for blended learning, let pedagogy, not technology, lead.
Dr Stevie Agius is Assistant Professor of Medical Education at The University of Nottingham
References
Conole G. The 7Cs of Learning Design – Grainne Conole (pp 139-170) in Dalziel J (ed) Learning design: conceptualizing a framework for teaching and learning online 2015
Sandars J et al. Twelve tips for rapidly migrating to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. MedEd Publish
*asynchronous in online education, refers to a situation where teaching materials are posted online, and learners work through them in their own time (in contrast to having synchronous (“live”) online or face-to-face teaching)
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