Teaching and learning under COVID-19 public health edicts: the role of household lockdowns and prior technology usage

Predictions about the post‐pandemic future of digital learning vary among higher education scholars. Some foresee dramatic, revolutionary change while others speculate that growth in educational technology will be buffeted both by modest expansion and unevenness. To this debate we contribute evidence from four groups across six countries on four continents: college and university educators (n = 281), students (n = 4243), senior administrators (n = 15), and instructional design specialists (n = 43). Our focus is on the future of digital learning after the pandemic‐induced pivot to emergency remote instruction. Using data from interviews and self‐administered questionnaires, our findings reveal a high degree of congruency between respondent groups, with most envisioning more blended/hybrid instruction post‐pandemic and some modest increases in fully online courses. Student opinion is more sceptical about future change than within the other groups. Among respondents in all groups there is little expectation for a full‐blown, revolutionary change in online or digital learning. What is already known about this topic Digital learning has been growing in higher education, although a digital disconnect continues whereby the availability of educational technology exceeds its application to learning. Expectations regarding technology‐mediated learning post‐COVID‐19 are mixed, hampering planning for the future. Hesitancy about teaching or taking courses with some or full online components persists. What this paper adds A strong majority of respondents in higher education foresee the most growth in blended/hybrid forms of digital learning post‐COVID‐19. A solid percentage, between about two‐thirds and three‐quarters of faculty and students, envision learners and instructors taking or teaching more fully online courses post‐pandemic. A strong congruency exists between faculty, students, senior administrators, and instructional design professionals in their ranking of scenarios for the future of digital learning. Implications for practice and/or policy Educational technology in higher learning will not return to a pre‐COVID‐19 normality—if a pre‐COVID‐19 ‘normal’ could even be defined. As post‐pandemic institutional planning unfolds, it is important to reflect experiences and incorporate insights of instructors, students, and instructional designers. Successfully building on these insights, where more blended/hybrid learning is foreseen, requires a thoughtful integration of face‐to‐face learning and educational technology.

show abstract

“…(2021) and Guppy et al. (2021). The data collection instruments are available at https://blogs.ubc.ca/covid19transition/.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Most questionnaires and interviews were completed from May to August of 2020. Fuller details of the study are available in Bartolic et al (2021) and Guppy et al (2021). The data collection instruments are available at https://blogs.ubc.ca/covid 19tra nsiti on/.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The post‐COVID‐19 future of digital learning in higher education: Views from educators, students, and other professionals in six countries

Guppy

Verpoorten

Boud

et al. 2022

Brit J Educational Tech

Self Cite

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While there is insufficient room in this manuscript to deal with these issues individually, together they demonstrate the growing fundamental role the online experience is playing in the university student experience of learning, particularly magnified during the recent pandemic (Flores et. al., 2022;Guppy et. al., 2022).…”

Section: Online Learning In the University Student Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The practical impact of the pandemic has motivated universities across the world to move their learning and teaching experience and course delivery online for health and logistical reasons. In many cases, this commenced within a rapid timeline in the first half of 2020 (Flores et al, 2022;Guppy et. al., 2022).…”

Section: The Pandemic Of 2020-2022mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Strategic directions in the what and how of learning and teaching innovation—a fifty-year synopsis

Ellis

2022

High Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Student learning experiences at university are constantly evolving; new disciplinary discoveries, new knowledge, interdisciplinary synergies and new exigencies make learning a dynamic experience for students, teachers and researchers alike; and that is just the what of learning. Add to this, changes in the how of learning, new pedagogies and new technologies, new partners in the provision of learning, as well as new configurations of where learning takes place, such as on campus, at home, in the workplace and online; and it is not hard to make the case that learning experiences of students enrolled in a degree are relatively more complex today than they were even 20 years ago. Much of this change has been captured over the last five decades in the journal Higher Education. The ongoing challenge of these changes is the complexity that accompanies them. How do we improve the student experience of learning in a complex context? What should the outcomes of a higher education degree be? What learning processes are likely to lead better outcomes? How do you assess the quality of learning that may occur in small groups on campus or online, or in large groups in both places, or in laboratories or the workplace? What is the role of material objects in these experiences and do they contribute to outcomes? This manuscript will consider such questions and where the journal is pointing researchers towards new avenues that are developing in learning and teaching internationally.

show abstract

The Lockdown in Retrospect: An International, Mixed Methods Perspective on Student and Faculty Experiences with COVID-19 Remote Learning

Archibald

Heap

Lucke

et al. 2023

Reimagining Education: Studies and Stories for Effective Learning in an Evolving Digital Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Teaching and learning under COVID-19 public health edicts: the role of household lockdowns and prior technology usage

Cited by 26 publications

References 18 publications

The post‐COVID‐19 future of digital learning in higher education: Views from educators, students, and other professionals in six countries

The post‐COVID‐19 future of digital learning in higher education: Views from educators, students, and other professionals in six countries

Strategic directions in the what and how of learning and teaching innovation—a fifty-year synopsis

The Lockdown in Retrospect: An International, Mixed Methods Perspective on Student and Faculty Experiences with COVID-19 Remote Learning

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About