Conversations and Parallels

One of the challenges of asynchronous, online learning is the lack of in-person connections that one would more easily make in a traditional classroom setting. Through this course I had the privilege to connect with Dave to have a conversation about our blogs, our fields, and the commonalities between the adult learning we are each engaged in.

Dave’s blog is titled The Power of Knowledge and his field is occupational education in Liquor and Cannabis sales. While liquor and cannabis retail and healthcare are quite different, both Dave’s and my fields have a lot of parallels. Both our education fields have shifted substantially from in-person education delivery to virtual in many cases. There is also an ever-present government oversight in both our fields. While I have never provided education in the private sector, Dave has, and noted that the private sector allows for much more flexibility and rapid change than industry overseen by the government. The implications of this are both a benefit and a detriment as we both noted feeling a bit behind in the constraints of a slow-moving field. Further to this private/government contrast Dave brought up the additional pressure that we are both working with public funds, resulting in the need for an increased awareness and accountability for the effectiveness and efficiency of our work.

Particularly stimulating was the conversation that Dave and I had about his trends in education post where he discussed virtual learning. As you may recall from my previous post I originally wanted to write about virtual learning as well but changed directions when I found few resources that mirrored my concerns about virtual learning. In our conversation Dave was able to express my concerns better than I could! He discussed how the change from in-person education to virtual was necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that now we are challenged as educators to look back and reflect on the way in which we made that change, and the suitability of the education we pivoted directly into a virtual format. It is safe to say that the advantages of virtual education far outweigh the disadvantages if considering the financial bottom line, but that now we must consider how to increase the advantages for the learner by creating innovative and engaging virtual education.

Overall, it was a pleasure to talk to Dave about our blogs and see the commonalities between the work that we do.