The Digital Culture Of The Academy And The Limits Of Technology

Abstract

This disruptive nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has created a large-scale scramble to translate offline modes of instruction to online teaching. Furthermore, this massive shift in teaching and learning in general and higher education, in particular, has seen those digital technologies being used for teaching and learning offer convergent modalities for synchronous and asynchronous classroom delivery. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on education globally indicates that while the affordances of digital technologies provide interesting opportunities for teaching and learning, in no way has it definitively proven to be as emancipatory or revolutionary as some proponents of educational technology have argued before the pandemic occurred. Also, rather than merely reflect, highlight, or exacerbate inequalities, divisions, and conflicts in the real world, the social phenomenon of online teaching en masse due the pandemic serves to demonstrate the importance of multimodal communication and the very social nature of university learning and formal education more broadly. Arguably, the digital identity of both students and teachers have been in constant negotiation since the start of this pandemic has occurred, as online teaching moved from being a marginal pedagogical practice to a widespread social phenomenon. At this juncture in world history, it is worth considering the viability of higher education and the social production of teachers and learners under the unstable and disruptive conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The implications of this critical intervention pertain to the evolving role of the social institution of the academy itself, the nature of disciplinarity, and the activity that occurs within higher education institutions.