ACS Post COVID Opportunities and Challenges in Education

26 October 2022

^Highlights

ACS hosted a stimulating conversation on Post COVID Leadership in Education. Facilitated by Dr Rod Dilnutt, Chair ACS Victoria, a gathering of educators representing: Higher Education, K- 12, online private higher education, Vocational Education and Government explored the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for educators to build capacity in the workforce, and the economy at large.

ACS hosted a stimulating conversation on Post COVID Leadership in Education. Facilitated by Dr Rod Dilnutt, Chair ACS Victoria, a gathering of educators representing: Higher Education, K- 12, online private higher education, Vocational Education and Government explored the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for educators to build capacity in the workforce, and the economy at large.

There were significant insights and lessons learned from the COVID experience which identified future opportunities available in Education, but also recognized some challenges.

The group were full of positivity about how educators adapted to teaching that particularly hit Melbourne hard, allowing a shift to more learner-focused learning design. That positivity was tempered by some new challenges that we identified as worsening during the pandemic, including academic integrity and learner mental health.

There is still work to be done, but we have made progress.

What have we learned during the pandemic about what matters?

There is a positive outlook for education from these learnings and a key question for educators is ‘How do we use this experience?

· Not every learner is created equal. Diversity of language, culture age, gender personal preferences and experiences influence learning and teaching preferences.

· Pivoting in response to crisis was successful and showed that it can be done. We now have the opportunity to improve.

· Educators struggled with additional work and psychological load which increased as the longer lock-down impacts continued.

· Educators were forced to pivot quickly and learned new teaching skills by trial and error.

· The immediacy of the change demand was highly stressful and demanding on educators, learners, and extended support networks.

· Learner and educator well-being became the primary consideration. Some did this better than others.

Pedagogy

The pandemic highlight ed the fundamental differences between learning delivery methods.

· In class (Synchronous) - traditional ‘teacher in ‘front of class as practiced for centuries.

· On-line (A-Synchronous) - Specifically designed for virtual learning consumption. Independent of place and time providing flexibility for learners to consume as required. Range from formal on-line courses to open access MOOC’s and learning objects.

· Remote-virtual (synchronous) - Traditional delivery method delivered over technology i.e., Zoom, Teams’.

· Hybrid – (Synchronous and A-Synchronous) Combination of in-class and remote-virtual. Presents teaching challenge to manage and both cohorts synchronously. Hybrid teaching failed to deliver satisfactory learning and experience to either cohort or the educators and will continue to evolve.

Note all options provide an a-synchronous option when recorded.

What has changed?

· Digital capability has rapidly increased in the community becoming accessible through forced development of digital literacy skills. Consequently, a more digitally inclusive community has emerged. However, a digital divide is still evident.

· Both educators and learners have enjoyed the flexibility offered through remote-virtual learning delivery and do not want to return to purely synchronous delivery models. The question is ‘what is the right balance to maximize, flexibility, learner experience?

· Educators have more opportunity to create learning that targets learner needs. We have recognised that one course delivered to two different cohorts may be delivered differently.

· School-leavers venturing into the tertiary education space need each other to grow socially and develop valuable life-skills that will see them contribute to future professions and workplaces.

· Mature-age career changers want to learn new knowledge and skills to enable them to pivot. Their priorities are different and may not want the social activities the twenty-somethings crave.

· Educators now recognise we can use existing resources differently. It takes minimal effort to convert online learning to face-to-face but it is a challenge to do the opposite.

· Expectation of recording classes for later consumption has raised quality expectations which have changed from ‘back-up content consumption’ to becoming an ‘instructor performance’ to engage the learner. This impacts the educator as learners' expectations have been raised with the advent of multiple modes of delivery? There are now new ways to routinely engage the learner.

Observations

Teaching face to face can, and did, pivot to teaching to remote-virtual delivery. However, the pedagogical design remained the same and did not deliver the same learning environment or experience for learner and teacher. The transition to this model is not complete and will evolve further.

· Teaching on-line has fundamentally different pedagogy and learner engagement assumptions and those courses designed for this delivery model continued to attract, primarily mature age learners.

· Hybrid teaching is administratively and emotionally demanding on educators and fails to deliver a satisfactory learning and experience to either cohort. This is an opportunity to continue to evolve.

· First response to lock-down was to adopt remote-virtual mode. Most educators were unprepared and had to adapt.

· COVID disruption prompted re-imagination of teaching pedagogy with lasting positive effects. i.e., flexibility, global reach, digital assets.

· Cloud technology, cloud storage, video streaming enabled this transition. Could this have happened 5 years ago?

What do we need to be wary of? Where are the land traps?

The COVID period presented some risks for education and society at large, impacting on:

· Development of learned social skills at every level through limited interaction with classmates and group activities.

· Need for balanced social interactions. Research is revealing the impacts on mental health and social well-being.

· Academic integrity Remote -virtual i.e., invigilated assessments are open to abuse. The issue is exacerbated by social media and communication technologies that are widely available and, unfortunately used.

· Dilemma to deliver learner experience for those that value it with learners who just want the qualification with minimal effort. The question for educators is how to deliver to the needs of both cohorts.

· Adult learner cohort focused on career shifting or lifting. Mature learners are self-motivated and want to learn. Education providers target this cohort.

Challenges

Australia’s education sector has a part to play in addressing Australia’s recognised skills shortage.

· Annually there approximately 7.000 University graduation. However, there is currently a discrepancy between graduate outcomes for domestic and international students, with international students facing barriers to post-graduate employment.

· The offer to international learners is diluted by uncertainty over visa regulations. How can this be overcome?

· Learners want to get qualifications quickly. There is ongoing debate over formal qualifications (3+ Years) or micro credentials with flexible consumption obtained over weeks. What does the consumer want from education i.e., learners, employers, and industry. How does the education sector satisfy these seemingly conflicting needs?

· Educator time pauperism. Challenge for educators to take time out to re-invent curriculum, learning materials and pedagogy. Where does this investment of time and resource come from?

· K -12 educator digital literacy maturity. Do educators have the requisite digital literacy levels to be able to teach the next generation. There is need for rapid skill development in educators and this could be an opportunity lost.

· Getting back to campus - As the influence of COVID fades there are challenges with returning to campus and rebuilding the social networks and interactions that form the basis of human interactions.

Opportunity

We should celebrate the transition and the lessons learned that has delivered new opportunity and shown that change is possible. With the right support and investment in professional educator digital literacy skills there is significant opportunity for the sector to contribute to overcoming the current skills shortage in the technology sector and contribute to economic growth.

Recommendations

· Invest in uplifting digital literacy professional learning and capacity to uplift skills and competencies of educators.

· Provide investment to support emerging pedagogies and teaching skills – tools, time and support resources.

· Design curriculum to blend synchronous and asynchronous methods.

· Focus on learner, employers and industry needs to focus curriculum development and build digital capacity.

Authors:

Andrew Horton Group Managing Director, Didasko

Catherine Newington ICT Educator’s Specialist, ACS

Eleanor Everist A/Senior Manager, Strategy and Insights, Study Melbourne & International Education, Victorian Government.

Karin Verspoor Executive Dean, Computing Technologies, RMIT University.

Naomi Holding General Manager, Education Didasko.

Rod Dilnutt Chair ACS Victoria, Industry Fellow, The University of Melbourne

Rosemary Dore Education Product Development Manager, ACS