I came across three articles this week reflecting on the likely long-term impact of the forced move online. Writing in The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) (paywall) Zaretsky argues that there is no going back because students have come to value the benefits of online learning. In University World News, Singer draws a parallel with the experience of newspapers like The Washington Post that made the move online. The link is here. The temptation was to simply replicate the physical newspaper online but that was not going to work. Singer says that learning will need to draw on digital tools such as chatrooms to become more engaging and that the move online will allow universities to engage in new activities and find new income streams. THES also reports, however, Katherine Fleming, Provost of New York University, who says that universities are heavily invested in administrative and physical structures that are inconsistent with a move away from traditional face-to-face teaching. The link is here.
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I think the students will lead change- many enjoy the flexibility of online learning- something we have trumpeted for years but never really been committed to- now they may say, this is what we want!
I agree. At least at first, I guess some will try to overcome the challenges identified by Fleming and some won't. If innovation, especially by elite institutions, succeeds then I guess more will follow.
Fleming’s point is important- I have already heard the argument we must go back to physical F2F because we are not a distance learning institution- many universities will be scared of losing business- perhaps others will see the opportunities