Adult Learners Week 2020. “The World is Crazy Time” : Adult Learners Speak For Themselves About Studying Online

A shorter version of this article was published in the Victorian Adult Literacy and Basic Education Council's journal, "Fine Print", November, 2020

***

Why is it assumed that older learners with very basic digital, language and literacy skills are incapable of studying online?

 "They can barely organise a folder of work let alone use technology", someone at a webinar I recently attended stated with dismissive certainty. "We really need to get back to the classroom."

How jarring that pronouncement seemed to me when I compare it to the experience of my own ACSF Foundation level 2 learners who for 17 weeks now have been adapting well to the online environment. It was revealed in the course of that webinar, by the way, that those learners unable to organise a folder were working at Foundation Level 3 - draw your own conclusions).

Moreover, it is frustrating for those of us who have always integrated technology and the teaching of digital literacies into our practice that we are still being confronted by resistance. There is an obvious and timely need to initiate adult basic education students into ways of learning mediated by technology. These skills and literacies - that first step of learning to operate in a digital world - are those increasingly required in the workforce as well as other domains of social and civic life.

Throughout this posting I want you to hear the voices of my adult learners. I want you to read what they have to say about the migration of their class online, their own experiences, challenges, discoveries, fears and preferences. 

These surveys were conducted at the end of June after ten straight weeks of their learning online from home. I have already documented the very basic face to face training the students received in Term 1 prior to the periods of restriction. I have also documented the evolving strategies and approach I have taken to initiating the students online elsewhere. (Scroll down through earlier postings for more).

The surveys are a part of the students' Individual Learning Plan Reviews. The reviews were conducted using a Google Docs template which was cloned for each individual student, thus allowing me to comment and elicit further information in near "real-time" conditions as they worked on the doc through a typical school day. 

My questions in bold, verbatim student responses in red ...

(Click on each Survey to enlarge for better reading)

Observations: 

This student understands that working online can potentially provide a better mechanism and time for review than it normally would in a classroom setting.

She refers to assistance sought and negotiated in the set up phase which improves her ability to work with others.

The student refers to her own emerging capacity for problem solving  ..."If I don't understand I look and look again and I work out myself. My learning better" 

The student is appreciative of the time savings she has to dedicate to study alongside other daily responsibilities  ..."If I go to school with my daughter I have to wait 50 minutes to pick me up Travel is a problem. Not online."

Observations: 

The student is aware of the advantages online study affords her because it is flexible ..."I can housework and study at the same time."

The student recognises the power, plasticity and immediacy of the tools she is using online to learn ..." Google docs, Video Rooms and Google Video [YouTube] too. I liked Google Docs because I can do anything in that and send it straight away to my teacher. It was very fast."

The student does, however, feel (at this point at least) that activities involving speaking and listening are better suited to the classroom, whereas reading, writing and grammar are better learnt online.

Observations:

The student expresses her frustrations learning online at home where she has to share a laptop with other family members during the lock down ..."At first I was finding it hard. Because everyone home at the same time ... I [wish] I have my own laptop."

The student is becoming more organised as an online student, she is managing her learning better .."I learn to check email and follow lesson every day. So much and you have to keep an eye on it."

The student misses her classmates and teacher but is developing an appreciation that social contact can still be made and sustained through synchronous online means ..."I miss my friend in class but maybe we meet again. Sometime i talk with my class friend in video chat and you too. That's nice."

Observations:

This student was slow to start and initially found the experience of going online overwhelming. He refers to the difficulty of studying with just a mobile phone (I refer to this at greater length in my previous posting). At a certain point he was able to get access to a computer and a friend helped him to set up. Arranging to get access to a computer and connecting to the internet must have been difficult (and I suspect expensive for him) considering restrictions, his material situation and limited ability to speak English. By the end of the term, however, his skills had developed substantially. The student would prefer to go back to class but points out that he "learned a lot and can do so much with computer now. IT was good experience."

 

Observations:

Here is a student who would prefer to go back to the classroom. What I notice in his response is a desire for connection, something he feels is missing by not being able to come to school and learn amongst friends. This student is the youngest in the class and  lives alone. I am sad that there was not much I could do to help him sort his problems ... "No one helping me at home." 

I later discovered that like the other (male) student above, this student still only has a mobile to work from. He liked the Video Chat and he and I used this a lot to communicate throughout the term because I knew he needed extra contact and attention. Interestingly, he liked the assessments - unlike most of the other students! 

Observations:

The student is receptive to and appreciative of the frequent teacher communication required to keep up class enthusiasm and to keep learners on track while being mindful of the need to always be patient and kind :-) in such stressful times.

Again, there is mention of kids being used as a resource and support to learning ..."practising with me" 

This student likes both the classroom and studying online and it occurs to me that most students are capable of deciding for themselves what they think is the right balance for them when it comes to a choice between studying in a classroom, online or a blend of both. It really does depend on their individual circumstances - and yet we insist on endlessly pursuing the one size fits all arrangements of scheduled, classes in four walled classrooms.

Observations:

Whether in a classroom or online ..."together is the best way"

"I had good time teacher and the world is crazy time. We are students and continue study we are lucky thank to you"

***

For me, this period of teaching and learning raises some questions ...

• What arrangements will providers make - if any - for those learners uncomfortable or unwilling to return to the classroom even when the health situation is presumed to be safe?  Nearly all older and vulnerable students surveyed expressed their fear of COVID-19 and did not want to return to an unsafe situation.
  
  
• Will providers continue to offer online study an an option to those who prefer it? 
  

• Are traditional classrooms really the most effective, efficient or flexible learning environments?  Scheduling long days of instruction - often 6 hours a day for the most of the week - is a huge imposition on the time of adult students also searching for work and having a range of other responsibilities such as families to attend to. 
  
  
• Does this questionable use of time in which most of the day is dedicated to attendance make for better quality learning? What are its impacts on quality teaching practice? Would some of this time be better spent planning lessons and following student progress? Would some of the time be better spent by students completing work at home instead of struggling through a long day and returning home exhausted?

• How prepared and willing would providers be to continue online delivery for adult basic education and EAL students? I suspect this could be a very marketable and strategic point of difference for those who can - there would definitely be a demand. The question of whether most providers have staff equal to the challenge of providing the service, are sufficiently capable or willing to change administrative and management practices to the degree that is required, is another question.

• How prepared and willing are funding bodies to facilitate new arrangements and ways of delivering? This too would entail a revolution in thinking about models of provision, compliance, administration and management.

The world certainly “is crazy time” and I think there is a heavy responsibility weighing on all of us in the field to ensure our adult learners continue to receive an uninterrupted, quality education. That this education may need to be delivered differently should not be considered an impediment. 

The sample survey returns convince me the way forward is not too hard and that students themselves are looking for more flexible, convenient and relevant ways to learn in any case. 

Reading back over the students' reflections I feel deeply moved. It has been - and continues to be for me as a teacher - a long, hard slog where things in the virtual classroom sometimes go wrong, just as they do in the bricks and mortar classroom, but mostly go right. There is a lot more work required at the level of preparation and assessing progress than usual and there has to be an enthusiasm for experimenting and developing new techniques appropriate to the varying virtual spaces in which teacher and students find themselves. But this sea change in thinking, practice and organisation is not impossible.

I hope these student voices make an impression.

These are the words of my fabulous, resilient adult learners who take their education just as seriously as you or I. I have no doubt they will continue to soar. 

I wonder how long it will take others involved in adult literacy and language education to catch up with them?

(Adult Learners Week 1 -5 September, 2020)