Higher education is at a critical juncture. The ongoing pandemic, with its exponential consequences, has disrupted the sector in significant ways. Overnight, for reasons of safety and security, institutions everywhere had to close their doors, send their students away, and begin to teach online. Inevitably, faculties have had to go through a steep learning curve. So, too, have the students and the staff who provide administrative, technical, and emotional support. No one knows if the situation will ever return to “normal” pre-pandemic conditions. It probably won’t.
Faced with enormous uncertainty about the future, academic institutions are fulfilling their duty of care by spending inordinate amounts of time planning alternative future scenarios. Will they continue to teach fully online for the foreseeable future? Will they commit to a hybrid or multi-modal model of teaching, combining physical and digital pedagogy? Should they bring all their students back to campus? Each model has its pros and cons, and different institutions will no doubt adopt different strategies depending on their circumstances, their strengths, and their vulnerabilities. Also coming into play are the varied roles of the state and the private sector. The inequities present in some countries make it hard to even imagine the idea of online learning, while in other countries the state’s support of both the healthcare system and education should afford more opportunities.
Clearly, students and their families are deeply involved and implicated in these uncertainties. Some remain unconvinced about the comparative value of online education both academically and financially. Others view the geographically uneven disruptions caused by the pandemic and its political and regulatory impact as reason enough to delay the start or the resumption of their academic careers. Still others will want to complete their education as soon as possible and move on to the next phase of their lives – whatever that may hold.
For many academic institutions, this situation will raise severe financial challenges. Will they have enough students? And sufficient resources to pay their staff salaries? How can they best protect their investments? How will they safeguard the well-being of their communities? These concerns and more point to the fundamental question of whether many current models for delivering higher education will be sustainable in the years to come.
And yet, every extreme disruption provides a major impetus for rethinking the status quo. One of the unexpected consequences of the global pandemic is the accelerated move towards online research and learning. These opportunities will not only be limited to online courses designed for mass participation, such as MOOCS, but will presumably involve dynamic models of online education combining “real time” and “virtual” content.
One of the potential benefits of these explorations is the ease with which the barrier of geographic distance is overcome, allowing participants from multiple locations to engage in new forms of collaborative teaching and learning – even though early evidence suggests an inevitable prioritization of the time zone of the host institution. Equally, such proximities could affect the willingness of future students to travel for educational reasons in the way they have done in the past. Students with learning difficulties might also find it harder to cope with their studies without the benefits offered by intellectual and social interactions in physical space.
With the use of Zoom, Teams, and other platforms, everyone is more punctual and seemingly present and attentive, yet meetings lack the aura and atmosphere of exchange that you have in physical space. The small screen makes it harder to see people’s reactions and register their physical movements and responses. Spontaneous conversation gives way to the need to raise one’s hand before making a comment. At the same time, students can become more knowledgeable about each other’s projects, and perhaps even more engaged with them. Such is the Janus face of the current situation.
Much of the discussion of the pandemic within academia has been focused on organizational issues, risk mitigation, and financial sustainability. Relatively little attention has been paid to the intellectual, social, and political consequences of online learning. The university as a physical space provides enormous opportunities for overcoming inequity, offering the same access to resources regardless of an individual’s financial status. The continuing use of online education will in all likelihood exacerbate the inequities between students and even faculty and staff. The realities of where people come from, the lack of space at home or the lack of access to childcare, the enormous and important topic of mental health among the student body – all are issues brought into sharp relief by the move to online education. How will academic institutions fulfill their current obligations, including those to their faculties and their families, whose homes have de facto become an offshoot of their institution with the move to online learning? How will these concerns impact the already complex issues of race and gender within the academy? Out of sight, out of mind?