Post-Pandemic Teaching & Learning

 If you google teaching post Covid, you will probably find more articles dated 2020 than 2021. A year ago, teachers and administrators were planning for after the pandemic, thinking it would be soon. A year later, the pandemic is still with us. With widespread vaccination, however, most people are back in class. In that sense only, teaching is now “post-pandemic”. To some people, this means a return to the old ways after unwanted disruptions. To others, as expressed by Zhaou and Walterson in the Journal of Educational Change, “the pandemic has created a unique opportunity for educational changes that have been proposed before COVID-19 but were never fully realized.” Important among these in the authors’ view are personalized education, practical student-centred teaching, and blending synchronous with asynchronous learning.

One can hardly disagree with Zhaou and Walterson that educators should use this “crisis-driven opportunity” to transform education, not just in terms of what we teach and how, but also where and when we teach. Flexibility is key. On a global scale, it is clear that there is a need for more investment in technology, according to the UN: in some parts of the world, education shifted to radio, television, or traditional snail mail during the pandemic, emphasizing the digital divide. This digital divide (better seen as a spectrum) is evident even where computers and the internet are available. Differences will always exist, but narrowing the gap is important. Even in advanced countries, like the U.K., the long-term vision seems to show investment swaying away from campuses into the cloud as reported by Weale and Adams in The Guardian newspaper this summer: while universities acknowledge that some students felt “short-changed” by the sudden shift online, the general atmosphere signals a revolution in education, or at least clear evolution. The authors add that Covid has been a catalyst in giving the universities global reach, along with a big push online. One Vice Chancellor is cited as saying, “What we are experimenting with now are things like virtual reality and augmented reality for students, particularly in healthcare and nursing. We were going down this route anyway, but Covid has been a big catalyst.”

Interestingly, while students all over the world have complained of boring online lectures, whether recorded or live, there has been less fuss among learners, it seems, over the alternative assessment methods used: open book tests, take home exams, projects, and so on, replacing traditional face-to-face exams. Greater emphasis on formative assessment, as in ungraded self-tests, peer reviews, and other low-stakes activities seems here to stay. Students should have cause to celebrate this change – something to look forward to as 2022 approaches. If you disagree, let me know by posting a comment.