A Shift in Culture

Over the past five months, I’ve been opposed to the rapidly changing world of education. In November, I started a new position as an eLearning Systems Operation Manager. This was a leap of faith for me. I abandoned the traditional classroom, textbooks, and face to face learning environment and replaced it with digital systems, classrooms that are virtual, Skype is the new norm, and I’m supporting students around the globe. This was a significant culture shock for me. Within the past few months, I’ve had to learn about digital learning pedagogy, new systems, and being a part of a rapidly growing online school. I’m the type of learner that goes all in by researching, seeking to understand experts in the field, and absorbing any information I can. Then, I became overwhelmed with questions, “Why aren’t we doing this?” and “Maybe I should be doing that?” These questions made me question my decisions to jump into the virtual classroom. I became over critical because I gained too much knowledge too quickly. This is why teacher scaffold the learning process. When teacher “dump” too much information too quickly, it could overburden the student. In this case, I overburdened myself. I became agitated and frustrated with all this new knowledge and nothing to apply it to. If I were in the physical classroom, I’d try the new methods the next day! I can’t do that anymore. Again, this was a culture shock and adjustment for me. In A New Culture of Learning the authors Thomas and Brown mention, “The new culture of learning is based on three principals: (1) The old ways of learning are unable to keep up with our rapidly changing world. (2) New media forms are making peer-to-peer learning easier and more natural. (3) Peer-to-peer learning is amplified by emerging technologies that shape the collective nature of participation with those new media.” My role as the teacher- giver of information is shifting to teacher/mentor/coach- one who encourages peer-to-peer learning. I’m not the sole means of learning a subject anymore. Student can seek information on the Internet to become teachers themselves. This is a huge shift for me. My heart has started to recognize this shift; I just need my brain to slow down to allow this new culture to sink in.