DIGITAL LEARNING
accordingly . Self-testing and retrieval practice should ideally happen in an ongoing way as an essential component of continuous review and revision . Very few students engage voluntarily in this practice but frequent , self-directed use of programs such as Quizlet , Anki or Brainscape could mean that students develop self-assessment practice more naturally or regularly than they might typically – not least because they are efficient , effective – and dare I say it , enjoyable .
As stated above , learning how to learn - in its most essential sense , has been foregrounded more than ever by the online environment . Students ( and their teachers ) have quickly discovered how capable they are in a selfregulation capacity . Some have thrived , others have struggled – but whether a matter of time management , completing assignments , making written or verbal contributions to the class or asking for help , problems have been as , if not more , noticeable and interventions have happened very quickly to provide support . On this last point , interestingly , empirical evidence has come through that some students who typically seem disengaged in normal lessons , or who struggle with issues associated with anxiety and confidence , have been helped by the switch to learning online . Perhaps the degree of anonymity has had an impact , or simply being removed from class dynamics that can sometimes hamper independent contributions when the voices of the few predominate .
Where do we go from here ?
In time , as technology continues to develop – and if we find ourselves returning to distance learning at some future point , it might well be that new and effective approaches to teaching , which as yet are either practically too difficult - or perhaps even unimaginable , come into being . The development of ‘ adaptive platforms ’, already used by subjects such as maths and languages , which present material to students in a manner that continuously self-adjusts based on the responses they make and the levels of knowledge or understanding they accordingly demonstrate , is an example of an innovative direction in which things might increasingly go . Websites such as diagnosticquestions . com , for example , illustrate ways in which technology can be used not just to assess what students know , but the reasons why they don ’ t , and automatically provide teaching material to address their misconceptions . Whether we like the idea or not , the more sophisticated and effective learning algorithms become , the more likely their presence will be felt , certainly in support of home learning . experience rather than seeking to replicate it . For me , there remains a key difference in the facility that technology gives us in the classroom ( and like a pen and a piece of paper , it can be used both effectively and ineffectively ) and its enforced use when teaching and learning from home . However , it now feels almost selfevident to say that we have much to learn from recent experience – certainly in support of future iterations of lockdown learning , but also in a face to face classroom context .
References
Badger , C ., Horrocks , S ., Turton , C ., and Lewis , H . ( 2019 ) Using technology to promote metacognition . Impact Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching . Education Technology edition available at : https :// impact . chartered . college / article / using-technology-promote-metacognition / ( accessed 03 / 09 / 20 ).
Christodoulou , D . ( 2020 ) Teachers vs Tech ? The case for an ed tech revolution . Oxford : Oxford University Press .
Bjork , E . L . and Bjork , R . A . ( 2014 ). Making things hard on yourself , but in a good way : Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning . In M . A . Gernsbacher and J . Pomerantz ( Eds .), Psychology and the real world : Essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society ( 2nd edition ). ( pp . 59-68 ). New York : Worth .
Education Endowment Foundation ( 2018 ) Metacognition and self-regulated learning . Available at : https :// educationendowmentfoundation . org . uk / evidence-summaries / teaching-learning-toolkit / meta-cognition-and-selfregulation / ( accessed 03 / 09 / 20 )
Firth , J ., Rivers , I . and Boyle , J . ( 2019 ) A systematic review of interleaving as a concept learning
strategy : a study protocol . Social Science Protocols , July 2019 , 1-7 . Available at : http :// journals . ed . ac . uk / social-science-protocols / article / view / 3011 / 4045 ( accessed 03 / 09 / 20 ).
Kirschner , P . A ., Sweller , J . and Clark , R . E . ( 2006 ) Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work : an analysis of the failure of constructivist , discovery , problem-based , experiential , and inquiry-based teaching . Educational Psychologist , 41:2 , pp75-86 .
Creative use of technology and imaginative thinking about teaching and learning in this very new way has enabled teachers to replicate a classroom experience online most successfully by transforming the classroom
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