The global coronavirus pandemic has caused unprecedented changes to our way of life. People have been forced to adapt to new ways of working, learning and socialising throughout more than 12 months of restrictions and lockdowns. One of the natural results of this is that people have become more reliant on technology than ever before.
As a society, we have accepted that spending large parts of every day looking at a screen is the new normal. However, due to the necessity of absorbing these rapid changes, there has so far been little time to reflect on what this means. Arbor has been exploring how the technological revolution we have all undergone while adapting to remote learning over the past year has been affecting education and the lives of children.
Sir Peter Birkett is an ambassador of Arbor and the founder of an independent special educational needs school, with a long background in the education sector.
A definition of remote learning can be found in the PDF attachment to this post.
The Glimmers Toolkit
The Glimmers Toolkit has been put together for schools and other organisations that want to reflect on their technology usage and how rapid changes have impacted those in their community. The toolkit is designed to help organisations discover what has changed and how, and what the long-term impact of those changes is likely to be. This helps with the implementation of strategies for recovery to prioritise restorative activity. It can also be used by organisations to reset their KPIs and consider new skillsets and roles that may be required as part of a new way of doing things.
The short video attachment explains more about KPIs, or key performance indicators.
Tracking Change and Planning for Uncertainty
Schools and businesses can use the Glimmers Toolkit to track changes that have already taken place, reflect on how people’s roles have changed over the past year, and plan for a future that is still based on uncertainty. There have been both benefits and challenges to introducing more technology into daily activities such as learning and working. Organisations now need to take the time to consider these changes and make plans for the future that account for the best of both worlds.
The infographic attachment looks at UK/worldwide statistics for increased technology use in 2020.