As we’ve all realized, the first lockdown highlighted the need for schools and universities to revolutionize their teaching methods. If digital transformation was already a reality, it has now become a priority.
But how best to facilitate this transformation ? What are tomorrow’s solutions ?
Education is undergoing a veritable pedagogical revolution. In the digital age, teachers and students no longer need to be in the same place at the same time to work together. Do we need to adapt to new technologies? Yes, and especially to a different audience. New generations of students were born with digital technology, and it’s part of their daily lives. But while students are comfortable with everyday digital tools, the same cannot always be said of digital teaching tools. What’s more, it’s sometimes difficult for a teacher to captivate an audience with a reduced ability to concentrate by increasing the number of distractions.
What if the solution was to integrate these distractions into the lessons, making them more attractive and more fun?
Hybridization, the term most often used to describe this transition !
While the hybridization of courses has been somewhat accelerated by the current crisis, everyone agrees that higher education has every interest in mixing face-to-face and distance learning to optimize exchange time on both sides. By creating connectivity and interaction, we add a new dimension to pedagogy, and integrate the needs of students, who find greater interest in their courses if they adapt to their way of working. As we noticed during the lock-in, students are more involved during their lessons if they are invited to participate and thus become actors in their learning. As David Cassagne, vice-president of digital technology at the University of Montpellier, points out in the recent White Paper published by Wooclap, “we need to enhance the value of face-to-face teaching, while taking advantage of the flexibility offered by digital technology”.
“We need to enhance the value of face-to-face teaching, while taking advantage of the flexibility offered by digital technology,” says David Cassagne, Vice-President of Digital Technology at the University of Montpellier.
Often, we tend to think that we don’t have the tools we need, when in fact they are available, often powerful and just waiting to be used. Whether we’re talking about interactive platforms for quizzes, or involving students by inviting them to go off on their own in search of information to build their knowledge in a participative and collective way, many EdTech solutions have proved their worth with teachers and students alike. Of course, it’s not a question of teaching on TikTok – even if you’d be surprised to find a lot of content dedicated to learning – but of knowing how to make the most of the advantages of new tools by integrating them into methods you’ve already mastered.
But if solutions do exist, what are the obstacles to their widespread implementation ?
One of the difficulties lies in supporting teachers. Hybridizing a course is not the same as transposing a traditional face-to-face lesson into a distance learning format. It requires a different way of thinking about the course, the use of tools that facilitate interaction with students, and the construction of different course materials. And while students generally appreciate teachers’ exploratory approaches, which demonstrate their willingness to adapt and innovate, teachers, for their part, prefer to avoid finding themselves in difficulty because of a poorly mastered tool.
The aim is to change mindsets and “ensure that [teachers] acquire new reflexes, and don’t just reproduce classic practices”, emphasizes Guillaume Bourlet, digital vice-president at UPEC, in the Wooclap White Paper.
At the same time, the inequality of students in the face of digitalization also raises questions. While some adapt easily and can afford the necessary equipment, conditions vary according to personal circumstances. Capacity for self-concentration, financing of tools, motivation, awareness-raising, exchange and the setting up of solidarity aid are solutions to be envisaged to help young people and accompany them through this change. The survey we carried out for the VP-Num association of university digital vice-presidents shows that almost 2% of students are in a digital divide situation, and depend on the help provided by their university to follow courses in the best possible conditions.
Finally, the institutions themselves have a major role to play. It is up to them to make resources available to teachers and students, by encouraging training in the use of these new technologies. By “creating both a context and a motivation: this means changing teachers’ assessment tools, giving them the means to innovate, and financially rewarding those who develop digital content”, explains Frank Bournois, Managing Director of ESCP, in the Wooclap White Paper.
And what will tomorrow’s campuses look like ?
Integrating distance learning and new technologies does not mean the end of the campus. They are also a social experience for students. They are a place to live, to meet and to interact around sports, community, festive, cultural and educational activities. And it’s precisely this that creates the feeling of belonging to one’s university. Today, interactions go beyond common spaces, and continue on social networks. So would it be a good idea to set up platforms to put students in touch with each other, and thus strengthen the community dynamic ?
While campuses are innovating and introducing new teaching methods, the next step is to strengthen support for teachers and students to facilitate access to digital technology.
#University #Digital #Hybridization #EdTech
👉🏼 To learn more, download the Wooclap white paper “Building learning campuses”.