Page 19 - Microsoft Word - The Future of Learning April 2017.docx

Implications of the Fifth Paradigm Shift
The fifth Paradigm shift in learning carries with it many implications. If learners continue to increasingly use video to develop their knowledge and understanding, what does that mean for learners in terms of the future of reading and writing? If learners also start creating video of themselves explaining their new understanding, the amount of writing or typing could be reduced considerably.
Somewhat surprisingly, everyone can watch a video and understand the fundamental ideas and concepts in just a few minutes, and unlike reading and writing, this process is relatively equitable for everyone. Watching or creating a video, when well-structured, is generally a more efficient way to learn for many people, when compared to learning via reading and writing. Even when the video content is not well-structured, and most are not, for the 40–60% of learners that struggle to some degree with their fluency15 in reading and writing, video is still a more efficient way for them to learn. Exams and tests should test understanding, thinking and the application of the Learning Process, to creatively develop innovative and ingenious applications of that understanding; not the recall of arcane and somewhat random facts we could access in moments via a device in our pockets.
Of our 4+(1) learning systems it is only the +1 system of rote learning (that underpins reading and writing) that is not equitable for everyone. If we gave learners the option to learn via video and record their understanding via video or read and write their answers we would significantly improve their understanding. How would that change the school experience? Learners who did have high levels of written fluency could opt to both access and create video to build and represent their learning. Surely this is a good thing? Why do we, as educators, struggle with this notion?
Of course, learners should cheat using the technology they have access to. Why? Because we adults do that every day, but we call it collaboration, being technologically literate, as well as being efficient and effective. Really? It is easy for us to be offended or feel belittled by the suggestion that reading and writing might be overwhelmed by the richness of multimedia and well-structured video. We are also part of this trend, as we are increasingly using video as a highly efficient tool for learning and ‘flipping our classrooms’. We are choosing video as how we learn more efficiently and effectively.
I know most of you are not convinced...yet, so let’s move on ... temporarily.
It’s hard to adapt and change our ways when we have always been encouraged to think in a certain way. How we are all learning is changing at an extraordinary pace and we do not have the luxury of harking back to a romantic notion of how school used to be. That romantic notion saw 80% of the students learn that they were not very smart, creative or innovative, and that is complete nonsense, although it did create the very convenient distribution curve that suited the needs of society LAST CENTURY.
15 PIRLS 2011 International Results in Reading (2011). The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. [PDF]. Retrieved from http://timss.bc.edu/pirls2011/downloads/P11_IR_FullBook.pdf
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