When Covid closed school doors early in the year, it was already too late to start properly preparing students for the independent world of remote learning.

But for those studying the International Baccalaureate, where the “learner profile” describes students who are innovative “risk-takers” who adapt to challenges faced, blended learning was less of an intimidating prospect.

IB schools aim to develop independent learners who can take control of their own learning process and become resourceful. Remote learning has been the ultimate practical exam to see how resilient students really are.

Remote learning has created an environment where students are now less reliant on direct teacher intervention and can be given online resources to receive general feedback on work.

This style of learning reflects the constructivist theory, a student-centric approach, where learning will happen when the learners are not passively receiving large amounts of information in the learning process.

This puts heavy onus on the student to not take shortcuts but to have a growth mindset that allows them to correct their own mistakes, if given the proper resources.

Long-term independent learners

We are now in the sixth month of remote learning at my IB school in Peru, where I have been impressed with my students’ ability to increasingly foster this independence in their learning process.

Students who do not thrive in a presential class have become more confident, resilient and self-sustained in a remote learning environment. However, it was evident that a minority group of students struggled to adapt to this style of learning.

As a teacher, I have tried to encourage students to become more independent and take risks in their learning by giving them clear feedback and promoting independent learning.

Four tips for creating independent learners

Here are some ideas on developing students to become more independent in their learning process:

1. Create a more student-centric approach not relying on didactic teaching methods, including smaller breakout room assignments, where students can learn from each other and problem-solve open-ended questions together.
2. Give your students some choices in how they learn or demonstrate their understanding. Offer them different options on case studies, extension activities and assign them longer research assignments to promote independence.
3. Use live lessons to explain new content but have your students log off sometimes when they complete the assignment, forcing them to problem-solve simple questions but be available for scaffolding support for those who need it.
4. Empower your class to take the lead in student-led synchronous discussions. This can be achieved by students typing “me” in Zoom/Meet messages and talking in order. This can also be done with asynchronous online discussions by using Google Classroom comments.

Promoting an independent remote learning style does not mean you should not be involved and active, but you need to act as more as the class facilitator.

You still have a substantial role encouraging students, and planning well-structured, student-centric lessons with access to resources that allow students to take ownership and drive their own learning process.

Brad Brasseur is a humanities teacher and university counsellor coordinator at a British international school in Lima, Peru. He tweets from @brbrasseur