Sustaining a prolonged pivot: Appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learning
An Irish Government directive to close colleges amid the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a switch to emergency remote teaching. Many lecturers unused to practicing online began teaching students who were unfamiliar with online learning. Completion of the semester does not necessarily indicate that it...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sciendo
2020-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal for Transformative Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/ijtr-2020-0001 |
| _version_ | 1797349208766808064 |
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| author | Egan Kieran Crotty Yvonne |
| author_facet | Egan Kieran Crotty Yvonne |
| author_sort | Egan Kieran |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An Irish Government directive to close colleges amid the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a switch to emergency remote teaching. Many lecturers unused to practicing online began teaching students who were unfamiliar with online learning. Completion of the semester does not necessarily indicate that it is practicable for a more extended period. This paper queries four aspects of the sustainability of emergency remote teaching: its acceptance by stakeholders; its impact upon student motivation and faculty workload; and its effect upon learning outputs. Questionnaires administered to undergraduate design students and faculty captured their respective experiences of emergency remote teaching. Acceptance of an extended pivot to online learning is not guaranteed, but will surely form a central facet of academic continuity. Increased working hours associated with online teaching endangers the work-life balance of lecturers, yet the same staff must find ways to support student motivation. Faculty’s reduced expectations of student output places strain upon the sustainability of online education founded upon an unplanned pivot. The experience of emergency remote teaching has created an opportunity for all parties to leverage the affordances of online learning – the challenge will be to ensure that all aspects of any extended switch to online are sustainable. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:27:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-303584eede0e421fb8327a03ca4cf996 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2353-5415 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:27:03Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal for Transformative Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-303584eede0e421fb8327a03ca4cf9962024-01-22T07:07:21ZengSciendoInternational Journal for Transformative Research2353-54152020-12-01711910.2478/ijtr-2020-0001ijtr-2020-0001Sustaining a prolonged pivot: Appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learningEgan Kieran0Crotty Yvonne1School of Design & Creative Arts, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, IrelandSchool of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies, DCU Institute of Education, Dublin City University, St. Patrick‘s Campus, Drumcondra, Dublin 9. IrelandAn Irish Government directive to close colleges amid the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a switch to emergency remote teaching. Many lecturers unused to practicing online began teaching students who were unfamiliar with online learning. Completion of the semester does not necessarily indicate that it is practicable for a more extended period. This paper queries four aspects of the sustainability of emergency remote teaching: its acceptance by stakeholders; its impact upon student motivation and faculty workload; and its effect upon learning outputs. Questionnaires administered to undergraduate design students and faculty captured their respective experiences of emergency remote teaching. Acceptance of an extended pivot to online learning is not guaranteed, but will surely form a central facet of academic continuity. Increased working hours associated with online teaching endangers the work-life balance of lecturers, yet the same staff must find ways to support student motivation. Faculty’s reduced expectations of student output places strain upon the sustainability of online education founded upon an unplanned pivot. The experience of emergency remote teaching has created an opportunity for all parties to leverage the affordances of online learning – the challenge will be to ensure that all aspects of any extended switch to online are sustainable.https://doi.org/10.2478/ijtr-2020-0001emergency remote teachingsustained online teachingcovid-19pivot onlinehigher education |
| spellingShingle | Egan Kieran Crotty Yvonne Sustaining a prolonged pivot: Appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learning International Journal for Transformative Research emergency remote teaching sustained online teaching covid-19 pivot online higher education |
| title | Sustaining a prolonged pivot: Appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learning |
| title_full | Sustaining a prolonged pivot: Appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learning |
| title_fullStr | Sustaining a prolonged pivot: Appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sustaining a prolonged pivot: Appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learning |
| title_short | Sustaining a prolonged pivot: Appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learning |
| title_sort | sustaining a prolonged pivot appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learning |
| topic | emergency remote teaching sustained online teaching covid-19 pivot online higher education |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/ijtr-2020-0001 |
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