Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education during COVID-19: Lessons Learned from the Global Pandemic (and Endemic)

• In Event: Poster Session Group 9
  In Poster Session: Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education during COVID-19: Lessons Learned from the Global Pandemic (and Endemic)

Proposal

The demand for online and distance education has expanded dramatically around the world since the worldwide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in early 2020. Institutions of higher education, especially those from middle- and upper-income countries, have purchased and deployed new technologies and approaches (face-to-face, online, synchronous, asynchronous) as a direct consequence of the pandemic, yet there has been little consideration of how those information and communication technologies (ICT) will be used for the future.

In this poster, I will explore how the expansion of ICT has affected institutions’ abilities to survive in the future. I will also share how the COVID-19 restrictions have widened the digital gap across all teaching and learning spaces (due to the lack of a national response to the public health crisis), while exacerbating economic and structural inequalities with regards to ICT access (i.e., Internet, electricity, computers) among historically vulnerable populations (e.g., rural children, families of color, students with disabilities, students of refugee status). As vaccination requirements and travel restrictions continue to grow, I will highlight the changing examples, patterns, and frameworks afforded by online and distance education from an international and comparative lens. I will also provide alternative assumptions, paradigms, and reflections for teacher-scholars and advanced practitioners to consider that will inspire, challenge, and connect them during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

To guide this poster, I will use my edited book, "Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education during COVID-19: International Perspectives and Experiences (Routledge 2021)," to lead the discussion with conference participants. Key questions that are asked from this poster include how do scholars, policymakers, and practitioners move from talking head to active learning remotely? How do they best support their students with plans for intercultural learning and virtual exchange? And how do they redesign and deliver remote or hybrid courses that emphasize field-based and experiential learning? Ultimately, I seek to equip and empower researchers, governments, health officials, policymakers, and practitioners with the broad understanding needed to enhance the quality of online teaching and learning in higher education as set forth by the COVID-19 pandemic (and endemic).

Author

• Roy Y. Chan, Lee University