The Changing Face—and Space—of Learning

Close your eyes and imagine a classroom. What immediately comes to mind? More than likely, you’ve pictured a room with desks and chairs, a board at the front with the day’s lesson. Perhaps a few informational posters adorn the walls, books fill some shelves. There may be computers; there may not. Perhaps it’s a large auditorium with hundreds of seats and a podium where a professor stands ready to lecture. The fact is, the classroom, as we’ve come to know it, hasn’t changed much since the advent of the modern education system.

With the recent shift to the online due to the social distancing measures introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic—according to Statistics Canada, the vast majority of Canadian post-secondary institutions moved online in the 2020/21 academic year—the learning process has taken a turn for the passive. In the era of online classes and lectures, the ability to engage in meaningful, hands-on and dynamic learning seems in some ways like a distant reality. But what if there’s another way - and what if that reality isn’t so distant, after all?

The future of learning, at its most macro level, is a shift to the concept of learning by doing, and the leveraging of technologies that help us do that, says Mark Patterson, Executive Director of Ryerson University’s Magnet, an accelerator for inclusive economic growth in Canada.

“Whether that's in a simulated environment through AR (augmented reality) or VR (virtual reality), or work integrated learning, that’s really the shift from book learning, reading a textbook, to really incorporating learning by doing, and I think there are a lot of amazing technologies that are having significant impact,” says Patterson.

The world of augmented and virtual reality technology and its accessibility for the general public has expanded in recent years. While many of us might think of headsets and video games when we hear the terms AR or VR, the technologies are increasingly being used to create meaningful learning and employment environments, especially at a time when the line between the online world and our physical world is increasingly blurring. 

“COVID has accelerated some much-needed disruption and I see virtual worlds as a tool—the means to an end of better education and access,” says Alex Howland, Cofounder of Virbela, which develops virtual reality spaces used by educators and employers looking to bring people together in meaningful ways in the online sphere, by improving the experiences of remote work, distance learning and social connection. The Virbela platform uses avatars, spatial audio and virtual reality technology to create personalized environments that provide a more immersive feel. The result is a dynamic and engaging space in which to interact with peers and colleagues, and is being used by the Wavemakers Network to bring together students, employers and mentors in a modern, future-looking format. 

One of the unfortunate realities for students brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic was the impact on their studies. A 2020 Statistics Canada survey of 100,000 post-secondary students found that 57 per cent reported a disruption to their academic studies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the most common disruption—35 per cent—being cancelled or delayed work placements.  But with a program like Wavemakers, opportunities for work-integrated learning can continue—and even flourish— through that disruption. 

“These virtual worlds really give you a sense of presence, a sense of being together,” Howland says. “Even though we might not be looking at each other’s real faces, ironically we feel more together with our avatars than we do when we’re on a video conference looking at each other’s faces.”  

But to get there requires access to the internet, access to devices and ultimately, access to the kinds of digital spaces where these skills can grow and flourish, notes Patterson. 

“Access to technology, to training, to the internet itself, it’s more and more being considered a right because of how digital the economy is becoming,” he says, adding that breaking down that digital divide is a fundamental underlying issue that increasingly needs to be a focus of government policies. “I often equate it to being a form of digital malnourishment … and this is certainly going to be an intervention that’s really important.”

The ability to develop and cultivate skills online that can transfer to real-world experiences will become even more important as the economy continues to evolve. And employers can play an active role in cultivating those skills in the educational sphere. Organizations that want to remain relevant in an unstable labour market will need to consider how they can attract a diversity of candidates. Partnering with educational institutions to develop relevant and modern work-integrated learning programs that provide meaningful opportunities to students is one way to get ahead of the curve, says Shenelle Payne Cuffy, Manager, Career Services at Ontario Tech University. 

“At Ontario Tech, we’re very open to supporting partners in industry. And it's good for us to get that insight from industry, to get real world knowledge and help employers in the development of work-integrated learning,” she says. “From an employer perspective, they’re able to build talent and their talent pipeline to industry from education institutions.”

That’s one of the draws of the Wavemakers program, she adds. 

“Partnering with (Wavemakers) allows our students to connect with industry partners in a way that is meaningful and authentic and allows students to learn about different career paths and opportunities ...  directly from an industry person,” she says. “Being able to support a partner who is looking to be disruptive and innovative within the context of learning and providing learning opportunities really fits our diverse students and it's a great program to make an impact, especially for our students seeking non-traditional work-integrated learning opportunities” 

And in an ever-changing and increasingly competitive market, students need to set themselves apart to stay ahead, says Chami Akmeemana, CEO of Convergence.Tech, a consulting & tech company that fuses business, social and environmental impact, and technology. 

“Faced with uncertainty, you have to be able to adapt and change, to go with the flow, and you have to be able to demonstrate tangible skills and value,” says Akmeemana. 

It’s why lifelong learning is so important, he adds. “We still have this hangover that school is for learning and work is for earning (but) a positive aspect of the disruption we all face into now is that we’re breaking down rigidity and encouraging more flexibility,” he adds. 

Upskilling and reskilling will become even more important as some traditional jobs are digitized or automated, he notes. That’s where things like micro and digital credentials come into play. 

“Trusted credentials from respected, accredited organisations are like the trail of breadcrumbs through the woods,” says Akmeemana. “You can see where we’ve come from and what we’ve done. They show us that pathway and those achievements.”

Payne Cuffy agrees. 

“It’s important for all of us to be curious and forward-thinking and think, ‘What’s next for my career and what skills do I need to get there?’ From a career development perspective, it's important to continue to improve and develop yourself because you never know how your career will develop.”

And having the opportunity to practice those skills in a virtual environment that more meaningfully engages students and better mimics an employment setting is necessary for those skills to better translate to a real-world environment, says Virbela’s Howland.

“When we create those really emotional experiences it helps with engagement—people are more present, they’re immersed, they’re fixated,” he says. “It also helps ingrain into long term memory their experience and the behaviours that showed up, which is going to lead to lasting learning.”

Virtual reality doesn’t just give us the opportunity to learn and work in immersive, personalized environments. There’s also strong potential for it to begin to break down barriers and provide greater diversity and inclusion for students and workers who have traditionally been marginalized or left behind in more traditional modes of education and employment, says Howard Rose, Founder and CEO with First Hand Technology, and an expert in virtual reality technologies. 

“There is an opening for the marginalized. The biggest opportunity is to lift the lowest folks the most. The really marginalized people, the people the system has given up on, ironically, have the space to grow the most. If they're not succeeding with the regular thing, there's more general willingness to give them alternatives and they can actually be helped the most,” says Rose. 

That takes adaptation, flexibility and a willingness to embrace change and diversity in ways we might not have considered previously.

Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies are now near ubiquitous among Canadian post-secondary institutions, an increasingly common feature of job postings both within the higher education sector and beyond. More and more organizations and companies have created EDI positions within their ranks, but it’s not enough for these positions and policies to simply exist.

Taking an approach that leads with listening is key, says Alison Reaves, manager of the Work-Integrated Learning and Career Education Centre at Norquest College in Edmonton. 

“So much of it is just about awareness and listening. From a post-secondary institution perspective we can do some of that training and we can share some of that knowledge with employers,” says Reaves. “I think that’s where post-secondary institutions come in. We can do some of that research, we can test it out, see what works, adapt, learn from each other and share that with industry so they can hopefully make those bigger changes.”

Work-integrated learning is one place to begin to test those waters, Reaves adds, not just for students but also for employers. “Part of it is just having that experience and being open … and seeing what changes and accommodation need to be made in their policies.”

Rose points to the adoption of virtual reality technologies as an example of a space where risk can lead to opportunities for positive change. While virtual reality isn’t new technology, using it to create learning spaces and opportunities is a relatively modern idea and one that isn’t seen broadly—yet. “People are not used to learning in this environment. That’s the issue. Teachers aren't used to teaching in it and learners are not used to learning in it. We need to be very thoughtful about creating opportunities — they have to be simple, they have to be fast, they have to be equitable,” says Rose. “You have to create a space that's safe and brave.”

While the global health pandemic has accelerated progress that was already happening, periods of disruption create spaces of chaos and change that take focus and collaboration to get through, adds Magnet’s Patterson. He likens it to reorganizing a space in your home—things have to get messier before they get better. 

“We’re all going to have to work together and collaborate to get through that, but in the long run I do believe it’s actually going to create exciting new roles, new opportunities,” he says. “There’s an opportunity to really come together with a vision for the future to really collaborate and take advantage of the innovation that is happening.”