In order to understand the nature of online student support services during the COVID-19 pandemic, 31 chief online officers representing a range of colleges and universities were interviewed in late Spring 2020. Findings highlighted issues of access and equity in online student support services, the rapid expansion of student services due to the pandemic, and how strength in online programming enabled a more seamless pivot to emergency remote operations.  This study adds texture to the literature on the gaps between support services offered to face-to-face versus online students, and also provides a foundation for important questions regarding the future of online student support after COVID-19.  The study also begins a dialog into the long-term ramifications of siloing online organizational units at institutions of higher education.

The widespread use of technology in the digital age continually shapes how individuals consume knowledge and learn. In the digital age, ideas are shared and represented in multiple formats and through the integration of multiple modes. Technological advances, coupled with considerations of the changing needs of today’s learners, call for exploring new directions for multimodal teaching and learning. Yet, society’s increasing reliance on, and use of, technologies for communication and learning has introduced expanded forms of meaning-making. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the online networks that are facilitated by their use encourage educators to transform the way education is delivered. Learning environments are in need of becoming transformed so students are able to use immersive technologies to expand their learning opportunities. This chapter explores emerging trends and pedagogies in multimodal learning that seek to take advantage of the digital tools, texts, and learning approaches that are continually shaping the ways learning occurs inside and outside of higher education.This chapter is outlined to highlight what is found in the literature on multimodal instruction, what findings were realized at eXploring the Future of Innovative Learning Environments (X-FILEs) workshops, and lastly how multimodal instruction can be used to transform the classroom of the future. Throughout this chapter, readers will get to know a student of the future, Juan Delgado. He attends a 4-year university in Dallas, Texas, and is majoring in Mechanical Engineering taking his Introduction to the Fundamentals of Science course. Each aspect of the learning process as it relates to multimodal instruction in 2023 is outlined through the experiences of Juan to situate the impact to learners.

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As institutions of higher education began their full returns to campus in Fall 2021, questions arose about continuing the flexible student support services that emerged during the pandemic, the expectations students might have of the post-shutdown world, and whether there would be equity between the support of on-campus students and those who remained at a distance. This chapter details the literature amassed during the height of the pandemic and the findings of a study focused on the online organizational structures that emerged as campuses were shut down when COVID-19 was sweeping the United States in early 2020. Interview participants detailed the rapid rollout of robust student support services that were offered in a virtual mode during the height of the pandemic. Participants hoped for the long-term continuance of services that offered better support to online and remote students, as well as those that could more robustly support on-campus students who choose to consume services in a more multimodal way.