Adaptive Learning in Education

Written by David Vine, Founder, Stem 2 Stern

Students learn so much more by doing than by hearing or seeing. We must continually remind ourselves of the famous Chinese proverb attributed to Confucius: ‘Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand”. 'This message has never been more relevant than now in education.

During the height of the pandemic, all formal student learning moved online and was delivered remotely. Students and teachers alike sequestered themselves in their dining rooms, kitchens, or bedrooms and stared at a computer screen for months on end. We learned that those marginalized populations who were already at risk became even more so. Race, socioeconomic status, and occupation… all seemed to play a part in engagement, or lack thereof. So, what worked?

Many teachers found ways to improve engagement with our marginalized students and make them more enthusiastic about school and learning at a time when in-person learning was not an option. Art teachers sent home kits containing brushes and paints. Technological Studies teachers sent home small tools and materials to solve design challenges. Music teachers sent home instruments.

Hands-on learning has never been more important to our reluctant learners who continue to shine through modes of delivery that are less traditional than our chalk-and-talk standard of visual and auditory approaches. Students painted pictures, baked cakes, cooked dinners, built birdhouses, and created promotional videos all while covering the required expectations in our Ministry documents.

Now that learning is returning to our more traditional models of in-person instruction, it is essential to implement the lessons learned throughout the pandemic. Learning must be hands-on. The content of the lessons must be relevant to the everyday lives of our learners – the intersection between what educators want to say and what piques a student’s interest.

If we have learned anything over these past three years of social distancing, it is that our reluctant learners engage by doing. The pushback to this approach often stems from a society (particularly educational systems) that is largely risk-averse. There appears to be more control over the liability factor in the system when we govern every aspect of modes of delivery.

Let’s trust our educators, and our students, and allow for more latitude. Let our educators delve into the backgrounds of our students and meet them where they’re at rather than expecting these students to parachute into a system that dictates where we think they should be.

There is some irony in the fact that we must label one day in a calendar year as Take Me Outside Day. Every day should be such a day to allow students to get dirty and allow them to take risks no greater than those involved when parents pull the training wheels off their new bikes. To be effective, teachers must watch and listen, learn and adapt, and work and play alongside their students. And the education system must allow for this risk-free.