Building Schools in the Cloud: The Power of Peer Learning

Subscribers to this newsletter are already adopters of peer learning. Since launching this weekly newsletter at the start of this year, I’m sharing my experience of building schools in the cloud with 737 of you (and counting!) - and I appreciate you subscribing and engaging and being on this journey with me. I’m not pretending to have the one stop blueprint for building schools in the cloud—but I am mapping ideas with peers - yes you - and I wholeheartedly welcome your feedback, critique, experience and input.

It’s half-term, and my daughter is reunited with her guitar playing until her fingers hurt, responding to friends changing lyrics, increasing the tempo, shouting out requests—reminded me why I care so much about peer learning. It’s exactly how we develop skills in the real world—through observation, collaboration, and iteration. No one formally assesses them, yet they instinctively engage in feedback loops, refining their work together. This is what learning should look like. It’s messy, spontaneous, creative, and deeply human. It’s how we actually learn, evolve and create beautiful joyful things. Being taught this skill overtly would serve us all in romantic relationships, business, friendships and certainly the fundraising game - a brutal way to thicken skin if you want a crash course in feedback and ego destruction.

Maybe there’s a better way. Where we don’t have to reach adulthood—navigating career setbacks, relationship challenges, or personal crises—before we realise that we missed the opportunity to hone the most valuable life skills that would help us excel now in every industry.?

The fundamental truth is this: we are a social species, and the most essential skill we can develop is learning from and with one another. Education should be about self-actualisation, resilience, and healthy independence—not just memorising content for exams, not just ticking boxes for data reports, and certainly not just surviving the system.

Kids aren’t passive consumers, and they aren’t fooled by a “I’m right you’re wrong, I’m big you’re small” Trunchballesque approach. Kids thrive when they co-create, just as we do as adults.

Feedback is a gift, so why does it so often hurt? Most of us cringe at receiving critical feedback because it feels like criticism, rejection, not being good enough—failing. And it’s acutely painful if you have ADHD and are prone to RSD - rejection sensitive dysphoria.

That’s because no one teaches us how to give and receive useful, quality feedback. We don’t consciously realise just how much we gain from giving. If we truly embrace a growth mindset, it’s not just a phrase—it’s a painful, ongoing process that, over time, becomes joyful. Not because we develop a thick skin, but because we learn that growing pains are pleasurable when we’ve got a supportive framework. And when we realise just how transferable this skill is—to work, to relationships, to every creative endeavour—we begin to see why it should be at the heart of education.

The Role of Peer Collaboration in Skill Building

We talk a lot about 21st-century skills and future-proofing learning, but these phrases have been repeated so often that they’ve lost meaning. Meanwhile, teachers are drowning in marking—mock exam after mock exam—just to populate yet another ‘drop’ for governors and leadership. Meetings drag on, panic sets in, and the focus shifts from actual learning to managing data.

So how do we actually develop skills? Real skills—the ability to look, listen, critically analyse, reference, share, and inspire? The answer lies in structured peer collaboration, where students engage in meaningful dialogue, challenge ideas, and refine their thinking in a way that is both empowering and transformative.

This is precisely the problem that Steve Joordens a professor of psychology, set out to address with Peer Scholar. Initially trained in cognitive psychology, Steve realised that teaching itself could be his laboratory. He wasn’t satisfied with simply delivering knowledge—he wanted to cultivate real skill development at scale, blending psychology with pedagogy. As he puts it,

“I love big classes. I love making them engaging. But I also care about developing skills—critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, collaboration.”

Why Peer Assessment is Essential in HyFlex Learning

Traditional assessments often fail to capture the complexity of learning in blended and online environments. Peer assessment not only enhances engagement but also provides students with opportunities to practice giving and receiving feedback, fostering a culture of constructive collaboration. Whether learners are in a physical classroom or connected remotely, structured peer review processes empower them to develop their ideas, critique their peers' work, and improve their own performance.

Steve's philosophy is simple:

skills aren’t acquired through passive learning; they require active practice, structured repetition, and meaningful feedback.

Just as you wouldn’t learn to play guitar by reading about it, you can’t build critical thinking or collaboration skills without doing them. Peer Scholar replicates this process by creating an environment where students consistently engage in peer feedback, building their cognitive and interpersonal skills over time.

Navigating the Social Dynamics of Peer Assessment

One of the biggest challenges in peer assessment is the social dynamic. In real-life classrooms, students often hesitate to provide honest feedback. If they know someone is good, they’ll just say it’s great. If they know someone isn’t as strong, they’ll still say it’s great because they don’t want to offend them. Or if that person is attractive and they want them to like them, they’ll say it’s great.

This is why anonymity in peer assessment is so important. Studies show that even when peer feedback is done openly, it still has benefits, but the quality of feedback significantly improves when students don’t know whose work they are assessing. Anonymous feedback is more direct and constructive, helping students see clearer pathways to improvement.

How Peer Assessment Works

An effective peer assessment framework typically involves:

• Skill Development: Students build critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills by evaluating their peers' work.
• Three-Step Process:
• Scaffolding and Microlearning: Short instructional videos or guidelines help students give and receive high-quality feedback effectively.
• AI Integration: AI supports the process by enhancing feedback quality and helping students identify areas for improvement.
• Teamwork Support: Peer Scholar offers both individual and group workspaces, fostering collaboration through shared documents and structured discussions.

Bridging Online and Offline Learning

Peer collaboration is not confined to a classroom setting; it extends seamlessly into online and blended learning environments. It allows students to work across disciplines, engage in discussions beyond their immediate networks, and take ownership of their learning journey. The process also nurtures social skills by encouraging respectful discourse, constructive criticism, and the ability to consider diverse perspectives.

At the risk of sounding like AI helped me edit this: “Let’s build a more authentic future together.” No rocket-ship emoji needed—just real conversations about what learning could and should be.

If we truly believe in preparing students for life, then prioritising peer learning, feedback, and real human connection over rigid systems of (especially summative GCSE) assessment is key.

Join me on 26 February for a LinkedIn Live session with Steve Joordens, where we’ll explore and riff the opportunities of peer collaboration in HyFlex learning environments—because that’s sort of what life is, actually.

Join us there - we can’t wait for your feedback.

?? How has peer learning shaped your own growth? Drop a comment—I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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