What is learning in new normal education?
“WE sense that ‘normal’ isn’t coming back, that we are being born into a new normal: a new kind of society, a new relationship to the earth, a new experience of being human.” — Charles Eisenstein
These lines mentioned kept on bubbling my mind as my teacher’s point of view triggered of why we couldn’t start from the beginning where students entered our classrooms with greetings of smiles and sometimes busted with wet because of exasperated play from the field. Maybe it would come back or may it would become an idea.
Before this coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) hits our senses, we always heard about “globalization and contextualization responding to the 21st Century Learning”. But now brought by this pandemic, we always mention – the new normal.
Based on the American Dictionary, the term “new normal” is defined as “a previously unfamiliar or atypical situation that has become standard, usual, or expected.”
So what is the meaning of learning in new normal?
And for this moment, what has become ‘normal’ in the educational system? The self-learning modules: printed or digital, online classes, alternative delivery modalities, radio-based, and television-based instructions are the new trends and “musts” to continue learning during this pandemic time.
Is any difference from the conventional mode of learning to this new normal?
In a conventional idea and based on Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age by George Seimens, learning is defined as a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements – not entirely under the control of the individual. Furthermore, learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing.”
Nowadays, virtual communication has become popular. “Telecommuting represents a new paradigm in office work,” Dr. Henry Chan wrote on May 10, 2020, in The Manila Times.
What is learning then of today’s time?
Most of our attention right now is focused on online learning as a means to deliver instruction to the students since physical contact is restricted where we must keep our distance from one another and staying at least 2 meters (or 6 feet) away from other people whenever possible. This new normal has become ordinary in our society right now.
Pushing the use of online learning in the new normal in education helps to implement efficient and effective media and platforms where students are tasked to involve themselves in the technological advancement it brings. Information is not limited anymore, the most recent information is accessible and everything can be available.
But how about those families with the lack of equitable internet access? Every child has the right to high-quality education.
That’s is why the Department of Education (DepEd) has adopted several learning modalities just to keep track of those learners who have no internet access but still be given the quality education they deserve.
So, in this new normal, DepEd upholds the right to provide high-quality education with multiple pathways to learning that can accommodate every student as it adheres to its sworn duty that no learners should be left behind in times of pandemic. ###
