Leaders and Legends of Online Learning Podcasts

Dr Michael Barbour has been integral in establishing meaningful asynchronous education for the last few decades. In this podcast he talks to Leaders and Legends of Online Learning Podcasts (LLOL) about the shift to online teaching and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Delivering the curriculum in a pandemic has moved beyond what he describes as "emergency online teaching" now and educators and learners should ideally be comfortable with the online or hybrid experience—and yet there is still a way to go.

While we would like to think of the classroom as the default setting for learning, it has become clear that this is often physically impossible, and we must be prepared to adapt. 

One such adaptive model has been dubbed the "Toggle Term" by Bryan Alexander of Georgetown University, where a campus can react quickly to a Covid outbreak and switch to remote learning for a short period of time with minimum disruption to learning. 

In the wider picture of remote learning in Aotearoa, this requires robust support, networking and training for teachers, learners and even parents in order to move effectively to this environment.

Barbour offers two case studies: Virtual High School (established in 1986), created by Ray Rose, and the academic work offered by Jered Borup, Associate Professor, George Mason University who has progressed theoretical and conceptual frameworks for K12 online learning through his Academic Communities of Engagement.

All experts in this ever-changing field agree that online, remote, or hybrid learning models give greater access to learners, and educational institutions need to accept this as the way forward.

Click here for the podcast, it's 30m in duration and can be downloaded.