Joe’s Blog: Learning in 2020

As a serving soldier, I am very used to being instructed in a military context, but when there is a global pandemic happening at the same time as you are supposed to be on what is often referred to as the “best course in the army”, instructors are inevitably forced to take a new approach towards delivering important lessons to the next generation of potential officers.

[Enter Zoom]

As a result of the pandemic, the course was forced to carry out dispersed learning for a period of five weeks over video conferences before attending the course physically. This was an excellent and unique opportunity, especially for those who had no prior military experience and really aided in easing people into a new environment at a manageable pace.

When the cohort arrived at Worthy Down to carry out the physical stage of the course, there were no shy individuals or awkward hellos, bonds had already been built over electronic means and everyone was keen to get to work as soon as possible. Officer Cadets on the course that had no prior military knowledge have said that the weeks we had on Zoom were a brilliant way to ease into military life and felt less pressured as they were still in the familiar and comfortable environment of their own homes.

Remaining socially distanced throughout the course has proven difficult as we do not have the facilities to fit a course of 28 people in one classroom and adhere to current government guidelines. Luckily, with our newfound video conferencing skills, we are able to have the best of both worlds. One example of this was the “Game of Peace” exercise that we carried out in four groups of seven, each group representing a country involved in the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, at the end of week six (week six of our course was mostly devoted to learning the intricacies and importance of international relations). We were able to return to our accommodation, access Zoom and use communal areas to remain socially distanced while still maintaining contact with the other groups via video chat. Times are changing and the Potential Officer Development Course is changing with them to make learning more modern and accessible.