Creating springboard boundaries

Education has developed over centuries and even millennia. It has always been in the human nature to learn and to discover. Over years and years of evaluating and adjusting we have developed education standards which seem foolproof. Going as far as standards for digital pedagogy, which seems revolutionary to some.

The conundrum we face with all these standards, norms and levels of proficiency which guide what the education world sees as success, they acknowledge the human nature of learning but fail to recognize the inherent need we have to discover. There is so much more in learning and innovation than we can imagine, yet these standards and bureaucracy norms form boundaries around us which act as limiting factors.

The only way to topple this wide spread way of thought is to start in a micro-context which flips all the standards we thought we knew and believed in on their head. The micro-context in question takes away certain stereotypical pitfalls of education which makes it stagnant. Tech-centered distance learning might just be the vantage point through which we want to gain new perspective.

Straight off the bat the norm of education is flipped. No classroom, no teacher, no curriculum which might be better suited in an old aged home. Instead of having rules for everything, from the way you tie your hair to the way you line up for assembly, the rules are replaced with values you cannot go without if you are to succeed. Granted, it will be more difficult to work when you do not have someone looking over your shoulder. Yet, isn’t that the point? The incentive to learn and distinguish yourself with special skills is enormous. Once children learn to work on their own it is a value of work ethic which  is imprinted in their very being. What happens to a house of cards without support? It comes crashing down.

Other values which can be crucial for distance learning is integrity, perseverance and accountability. Once we have moved from the paradigm of archaic standards we can begin to explore the endless possibilities of creativity and innovation. These values can become springboards rather than boundaries. Instead of learning to make use of technological tools we can harness their power by creating through them. A child not bound by a generic learning format has a bigger opportunity to cultivate and explore his/her true interests.

As a last thought I do however want to present one challenge. Learning works beter in community where we can test our ideas and challenge our critical way of thinking. We try different roles and experience firsthand the shoe that fit us the best. Therefore, when engaged in distance learning, make every effort to still form part of a social community. The world might be digital but it runs on relationship.