COVID-19; educational technology futures; survey research; teaching and learning; Digital-learning; Educational technology future; Four-group; High educations; Instructional designs; Online course; Revolutionary changes; Survey research; Teaching and learning; Education
Abstract :
[en] 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. Practitioner notes 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.
Research Center/Unit :
IFRES
Disciplines :
Education & instruction
Author, co-author :
Guppy, Neil ; Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Verpoorten, Dominique ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Unités de recherche interfacultaires > Unité de recherche en didactique et formation des enseignants (DIDACTIfen)
Boud, David ; Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia ; University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia ; Middlesex University, London, United Kingdom
Lin, Lin ; Department of Learning Technologies, University of North Texas, Denton, United States
Tai, Joanna ; Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia
Bartolic, Silvia ; Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Language :
English
Title :
The post-COVID-19 future of digital learning in higher education: Views from educators, students, and other professionals in six countries
Alternative titles :
[fr] Avenir du numérique à l'université - Comment enseignants, étudiants, techno-pédagogues le voient-ils après la pandémie ?
Reference in APA: Guppy, N., Verpoorten, D., Boud, D., Lin, L., Tai, J., & Bartolic, S. (2022). The post‐COVID‐19 future of digital learning in higher education: Views from educators, students, and other professionals in six countries. British Journal of Educational Technology.
Anthony, B., Kamaludin, A., Romli, A., Raffei, A. F. M., Eh Phon, D. N. A. L., Abdullah, A., & Ming, G. L. (2020). Blended learning adoption and implementation in higher education: A theoretical and systematic review. Technology, Knowledge and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-020-09477-z
Bartolic, S. K., Boud, D., Agapito, J., Verpoorten, D., Williams, S., Lutze-Mann, L., Matzat, U., Moreno, M., Polly, P., Tai, J., Marsh, H. L., Lin, L., Burgess, J. L., Habtu, S., Rodrigo, M. M., Roth, M., Heap, T., & Guppy, N. (2021). A multi-institutional assessment of changes in higher education teaching and learning in the face of COVID-19. Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1955830
Bonk, C., & Wiley, D. (2020). Preface: Reflections on the waves of emerging learning technologies. Educational Technology Research Development, 68, 1595–1612. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09809-x
Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985). Promoting reflection in learning: A model. In D. Boud, R. Keogh, & D. Walker (Eds.), Reflection: Turning experience into learning (pp. 18–40). Routledge Falmer.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806
Cesco, S., Zara, Z., De Toni, A., Auhli, P., Betta, G., Evancs, A., & Orzes, G. (2021). Higher education in the first year of COVID-19: Thoughts and perspectives for the future. International Journal of Higher Education, 10(1), 285–294. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v10n3p285
Crawford, J., Butler-Henderson, K., Rudolph, J., Malkawi, B., Glowatz, M., Burton, R., Magni, P., & Lam, S. (2020). COVID-19: 20 countries' higher education intra-period digital pedagogy responses. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 3(1), 1–20.
Cuban, L. (1993). Computers meet classroom—Classroom wins. Teachers College Record, 95(2), 185–210. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819309500202
Cutri, R. M., Mena, J., & Whiting, E. F. (2020). Faculty readiness for online crisis teaching: Transitioning to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Journal of Teacher Education, 43(4), 523–541. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1815702
Eringfeld, S. (2021). Higher education and its post-coronial future: Utopian hopes and dystopian fears at Cambridge University during Covid-19. Studies in Higher Education, 46(1), 146–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1859681
Ertmer, P. (2005). Teacher pedagogical beliefs: The final frontier in our quest for technology integration? Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02504683
Farrelly, T., Costello, E., & Donlon, E. (2020). VLEs: A metaphorical history from sharks to limpets. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.5334/jime.575
Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. D. (2008). Blended learning in higher education: Framework, principles, and guidelines. Jossey-Bass.
Guppy, N., Boud, D., Heap, T., Verpoorten, D., Matzat, U., Tai, J., Lutze-Mann, L., Roth, M., Polly, P., Burgess, J. L., Agapito, J., & Bartolic, S. K. (2021). Teaching and learning under COVID-19 public health edicts: The role of household lockdowns and prior technology usage. Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-021-00781-w
Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, A. (2020, March 27). The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. Educause Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning
Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60–70.
Liu, Q., Geertshuis, S., & Grainger, R. (2020). Understanding academics' adoption of learning technologies: A systematic review. Computers and Education, 151, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103857
Macgilchrist, F., Allert, H., & Bruch, A. (2020). Students and society in the 2020s. Three future “histories” of education and technology. Learning, Media and Technology, 45(1), 76–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2019.1656235
Murphy, M. (2020). COVID-19 and emergency eLearning: Consequences of the securitization of higher education for post-pandemic pedagogy. Contemporary Security Policy, 41(3), 492–505. https://doi.org/10.1080/13523260.2020.1761749
Nicholson, P. (2007). A history of e-learning. In B. Fernández-Manjón, J. M. Sánchez-Pérez, J. A. Gómez-Pulido, M. A. Vega-Rodríguez, & J. Bravo-Rodríguez (Eds.), Computers and education (pp. 1–11). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4914-9_1
Oliveira, G., Teixeira, J., Torres, A., & Morais, C. (2021). An exploratory study on the emergency remote education experience of higher education students and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(4), 1357–1376. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13112
Riley, K., & Solic, K. (2017). “Change happens beyond the comfort zone”: Bringing undergraduate teacher-candidates into activist teacher communities. Journal of Teacher Education, 68(2), 179–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487116687738
Strielkowski, W. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic and the digital revolution in academia and higher education. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0290.v1
Tai, J., Bellingham, R., Lang, J., & Dawson, P. (2019). Student perspectives of engagement in learning in contemporary and digital contexts. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(5), 1075–1089. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1598338
Trigwell, K., & Prosser, M. (2004). Development and use of the approaches to teaching inventory. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 409–424. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-004-0007-9
UNESCO. (2020, December). Education: From disruption to recovery. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse/
Van de Poel, J.-F., & Verpoorten, D. (2014, décembre). Deux ans de formation et d'accompagnement techno-pédagogique à l'ULg: Public, impact et perspectives. Education et Formation, e-302. http://revueeducationformation.be/index.php?revue=20&page=3
Watermeyer, R., Crick, T., Knight, C., & Goodall, J. (2020). COVID-19 and digital disruption in UK universities: Afflictions and affordances of emergency online migration. Higher Education, 81, 623–641. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00561-y
Weller, M. (2007). The VLE/LMS is dead. The Ed Techie. November 8. https://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/no_good_reason/2007/11/the-vlelms-is-d.html
Witze, A., Subbaraman, N., Viglione, G., Callaway, E., Mallapaty, S., Cyranoski, D., Ledford, H., & Gibney, E. (2020, June). Universities will never be the same after the coronavirus crisis. Nature, 582, 162–164. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01518-y