Deakin Uni researchers find online learning was a united effort

Forced to pivot to online learning as the Covid-19 pandemic took off, academics pulled together for the sake of students.

When Covid-19 shutdowns forced a sudden pivot to online learning, academics rose to the occasion and learned valuable lessons of their own. Supplied.

The emergency pivot by universities to online learning during the first year of the Covid-19 crisis did not allow for systematic approaches to the new circumstances according to new research by an international team including Deakin University’s David Boud and Joanna Tai.

A study of teaching and learning responses for 309 courses in eight institutions in Australia, Belgium, Canada, The Netherlands, Philippines, and the US showed individual faculties or academics had to find their own solutions.

A multi-institutional assessment of changes in higher education teaching and learning in the face of Covid-19, published in Educational Review, reports that academics believed everyone pulled together to make sure students were as little affected as possible by the sudden and profound changes.

“For academics, as for everyone else, the pandemic hit suddenly and it hit strong,” Professor Boud said. “Teachers in higher education did the best they could in highly unusual circumstances.

“Technical learning specialists were gracious with their time, peers shared advice on how to do things, and students were understanding of the pressures their teachers were under. Broadly, though, the respondents did not feel as though their professional relationships were strengthened by the experiences of the start of the pandemic, although over time, this may change.”

Professor Boud said that in hindsight the disruption had been a wake-up call “to rethink how learning in higher education is conducted”.

“While there will be a return to on-campus study, this I expect will focus much more on interactive activities between teachers and students and among students the value of well-designed online learning has also been realised and there will be greater emphasis on how online experiences can lead to better student outcomes.”