Challenge Of Going Online: Practices And Pedagogies In Higher Education

Abstract

The year 2020 started with an unprecedented wave and outbreak of COVID-19 and its massive spread has led to compulsory lockdown and forced social (or physical) isolation across the globe. This pandemic emergency resulted in closure of all, among others, the educational institutions including universities, followed by the government’s urging demand of “nonstop teaching and learning” (Bao, 2020). Therefore, most of the universities around world have started online education. Latest statistics by the UNESCO reveals that about 1.6 billion learners in 192 countries from six continents are forced to stay at home after closures of education institutions. Universities and education institutions are now experiencing an enormous and unprecedented shift from face-to-face teaching in classrooms to online teaching and learning. Within no time, millions of teachers worldwide started teaching on computer screen using Tixeo, Zoom, Google classroom, MS Teams and many other software of similar kind, offering video conferencing facility. Students, while staying at home, have to take their courses using these resources on the internet. Addressing students’ readiness level, providing scaffolding and increasing their intrinsic motivation could be a good starting point for creating an effective learning environment. Teacher must realize that the students would have had higher anxiety level among them while being in an online session; and their anxiety is needed to be relieved for effectively engaging them in the online learning. Students may be supported by giving them orientations and by knowing their expectations. Providing them meaningful examples for creating vital connections within the course content, and some choice or control over their learning, may help a lot in effective online learning. Teachers may face different dynamics in this online environment that suggests them to keep on revisiting their role as a guide from the side.