Designing remote education in a VUCA world

Anand Pultoo; Avinash  OOJORAH

doi:10.24297/ijct.v20i.8713

Authors

Anand Pultoo Fellow of the Indian Association of Biological Sciences
Dr Avinash Oojorah Head of Centre for Open and Distance Learning, MIE, Mauritius.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24297/ijct.v20i.8713

Keywords:

VUCA, Remote Education, Technology, Communication, Media

Abstract

The goal of this article is to identify and share the best practices and innovations to enable teaching and learning to take place during times of VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) such as the coronavirus pandemic. This will help lay the foundations for more inclusive and equitable approaches to education when the crisis subsides. The main response to school closures is to dive headlong into academic cyberspace and remote learning, creating a human-machine symbiosis. Ideally, specific contents, learning outcomes, and a set of instructions are desirable. Different media and technologies can be used to assist students to learn in different ways and achieve different outcomes, thus also individualizing learning more. Technologies can be compared along several characteristics. These characteristics form a basis for analyzing new technologies, to see where they fit within the existing environment, and to evaluate their potential benefits and limitations. Nowadays, technologies have a tendency to become more ‘communicative’ and ‘media rich’, thus offering educators and students powerful tools to attain desired learning outcomes.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Anand Pultoo, Fellow of the Indian Association of Biological Sciences

Mauritius Institute of Education, Reduit, Mauritius

Dr Avinash Oojorah, Head of Centre for Open and Distance Learning, MIE, Mauritius.

Mauritius Institute of Education, Reduit, Mauritius

References

WHO. (2020). WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID -19. 11 March 2020. World Health Organization.

UNESCO. (2020). UNESCO rallies international organizations, civil society, and private sector partners in a broad coalition to ensure learning never stops. Global Education Coalition, UNESCO, 26 March 2020.

USAHEC. (2019). Who first originated the term VUCA? U. S. Army and Heritage Education Center. Retrieved from http://usawc.libanswers.com/faq/84869

ITU News. (2020). COVID -19: How digital learning solutions are taking shape. International Telecommunication Union, 30 March 2020. Retrieved from https://news.itu.int/covid-19-how-digital-learning-solutions-are-taking-shape/

Kao, J. (2017). Education in the age of innovation. National Association of Independent Schools. Retrieved from https://www.nais.org/magazine/independent-school/spring-2017/education-in-the-age-of-innovation/

Bartscht, J. (2015). Why systems must explore the unknown to survive in VUCA environments. Kybernetes, 44(2), 253-270.

Bennett, N. & Lemoine, J.G. (2014). What a difference a word makes: Understanding threats to performance in a VUCA world. Business Horizons, 57(3), 311-317.

Drucker, P. (2012). Managing in the next society. Oxford: Rutledge.

Adamson, C. (2012). Learning in a VUCA world – How Knowledge Workers learn to innovate. Retrieved from https://oeb.global/oeb-insights/learning-in-a-vuca-world-how-knowledge-workers-learn-to-innovate/

Bates, A. W. (2015). Teaching in a digital age: guidelines for designing teaching and learning, Tony Bates Associates Limited. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

Peters, J. D. (1999). Speaking into the Air. University of Chicago Press.

Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nded.). New York: Cambridge University Press.

FAO. (2011). E-learning methodologies: A guide for designing and developing e-learning courses. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Bower, M., Kenney, J., Dalgarno, B., Lee, M. & Kennedy, G. (2014). Patterns and principles for blended synchronous learning: Engaging remote and face-to-face learners in rich-media real-time collaborative activities. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 30 (3), 261-272. doi: https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.1697

Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2010). Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies. Center for technology in learning, Washington, DC: US Department of Education.

Vaughan, T. (2008). Multimedia: Making it work (7thed.). New Delhi: Mac-Graw Hill.

Sweller, J. (1988) Cognitive load during problem solving: effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12 (2), 257-285. https://doi.org/10.1016/0364-0213(88)90023-7

IBO. (2020). Online learning, teaching and education continuity planning for schools. International Baccalaureate Organization, Cardiff, UK.