Embracing Flexible Learning As A New Normal Approach in Education

Embracing Flexible Learning as a New Normal Approach in Education
From personal experience, online classes have been rather ineffective and stressful, but I believe
that the coming flexible learning will be the best method for students to learn under the new
normal. During our new normal, we were introduced to a concept previously unknown to most
students who attended traditional, face-to-face class, the concept is distance learning. In paper,
online classes and activities, as well as modules for those that do not have stable internet
connections, sound great as a bandage to the fact that face-to-face classes cannot be safely
conducted during the pandemic. But that is all that it is, a bandage, and the best a bandage can do
is patch injuries so our body can safely heal, ultimately distance learning is flawed because when
the quarantine started, all the students received that bandage, for varying levels of injury. To
explain briefly, all students experienced the new normal differently, but classes stayed the same.
I am with the stand that flexible learning should be embraced by educational institutions as the
main approach to education under the new normal. One reason that it should be applied to as the
main mode of learning is because the first two methods of distance learning are just not effective
enough. Another reason is that flexible learning would solve one of the foundational problems
with the concept of school in general.
Yes, I say that flexible learning is the best, but like every other concept developed, it is not
perfect, it has aspects of the learning process that it just does not scratch and lacks in areas where
the other methods will. The two main problems that is brought up when debating on flexible
learning is communication and motivation. Flexible learning is most effective at giving learners
the ability to learn at their own pace, learn only and focus on topics that they need while
dropping what they do not. The catch is, since learners are given this power over their schedule,
they effectively can spend as little time on it as possible and maybe even prioritize others aside
from learning. Like with too much time spent on classes, students that spend a small amount of
time learning eventually lose motivation with learning. Then another issue is the lack of
communication between learners and teachers. While this communication gap also exists in
modular and online learning, it is much more prominent in flexible learning where it is difficult
to get in contact with your teacher, who may have a different schedule to you, and they will not
be able to guide you when you need it or ask them necessary questions about topics and
activities. While teachers can have a set schedule for when they are available or not, your peers
are complete wildcards as everyone could have different schedules. This problem presents itself
when you need to communicate with your groupmates, but a less noticed consequence of no
communication with peers is that the learner suffers from isolation, and this can contribute to a
decline of motivation in the learner. While valid arguments against flexible learning, these have
only a few solutions that one can take to alleviate the effects. For the problem of communication,
a chatroom that has all of your peers as well as the instructor where everyone can communicate
about the topics and assignments will be a step in improving the experience of simulating a
classroom but with less chaos. And the teacher having a schedule for when they are available can
give learners a better idea as for when they can expect feedback. As for the decline of
motivation, this is purely something the student has to work on themselves, if you ask me,
participating in distance learning and flexible learning is already a test of discipline. Being
motivated to learn and do your responsibilities is a challenge that many learners should
overcome.
For my first point, I said that flexible learning is great, just because online and modular learning
are not. From here on I will be primarily speaking of my experiences in online learning and less
for modular. Why I said that online learning is not effective is that precious time in learning the
topic is limited, and with that limited teaching time, there is not enough to give a grace period for
students who are late, and there are technical problems that can arise, especially with connection
issues that come with using meeting software. This and the fact that everyone still gets the same
assignments, while this is a fundamental part of school which is “everyone gets the same tools.”
The problem is that sometimes the assignment given has properties that were not in the lesson
presented. Flexible learning can help with schedule problems, as well as make up for missed
topics that students could have missed.
In the next point of mine, I tackle the problem that some schools have when they initially started
online learning. As described, the flexible nature of flexible learning means that students can
pick the time, place, topic, and how they want to be taught. The main focus is that they can pick
the time of when they will be learning. Not every student is available at the same time, it only
works at school because a learning institution creates, well, a learning environment, some
students do not have the luxury of a learning environment, some even actively disrupt their own
learning environment. When you are able to decide your own time to study, you learn on your
own terms. This time, if used properly with discipline, would have the student studying at the
time where they believe they can learn optimally with their learning environment set up. This can
boost their productivity and have them work their best.
To restate, the issue is whether embracing flexible learning as a new normal approach in
education good or not, and my side is that it will be a net positive for learning as a whole, for
students, teachers, and learning institutions. I will admit that flexible learning is not the perfect
system, and there are flaws when we implement it. That is why I suggest that while students can
pick when they want to learn, they should be able to be taught in a certain amount of time, say
like two hours every subject, this gives enough time for the instructor to teach and even
supervise an activity. And for students who are available at odd times, they can watch through a
recorded version of the lecture as well as tips the teacher may have for their activity. That is all I
wish to say on this issue.

Embracing Flexible Learning As A New Normal Approach in Education

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Embracing Flexible Learning As A New Normal Approach in Education

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Embracing Flexible Learning As A New Normal Approach in Education

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Embracing Flexible Learning as a New Normal Approach in Education

You might also like