What Postsecondary Educators Learned from the Online Pivot
Regarding education amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, “The online pivot has opened many people’s eyes to new possibilities and challenges in the postpandemic world,” begins an open access article our team published on July 27, 2022, in the American Association of Geographers’ peer-reviewed journal, Professional Geographer. The article is entitled “Beyond COVID Chaos: What Postsecondary Educators Learned from the Online Pivot.” The article authorship team consisted of Terence Day (Okanagan College), Calvin King Lam Chung (Chinese University of Hong Kong), William E. Doolittle (University of Texas), Jacqueline Housel (Sinclair Community College), and Paul N. McDaniel (Kennesaw State University).
Emerging from a panel discussion session at the virtual 2021 American Association of Geographers annual meeting in April 2021, this latest article is a follow-up to our October 2020 open access article also published in the Professional Geographer, entitled “The Immediate Impact of COVID-19 on Postsecondary Teaching and Learning.” This article emerged from a panel discussion session at the virtual 2020 American Association of Geographers annual meeting in April 2020.
As the article abstract description continues, “This article describes what five geographers in three different countries learned from the experiment and assesses how the lessons can be carried forward. One of the big surprises for some of us was the extent to which students were open to different ways of learning during the 2020–2021 academic year. It is clear that some students wish to continue their programs either partially or completely online, although it is also clear that students continue to enjoy field work. The online pivot also showed us that assessment needs to be reexamined, student stress levels need to be lowered, and inequities among students need to be addressed. There are challenges associated with online education across international borders. From a faculty perspective, we have found that nobody needs to be isolated from research opportunities and collaboration, but there are also limits on what we can do. There are growing threats to academic freedom, and we need to move faculty away from precarious employment. Finally, some of us learned the importance of work–life balance.”
Continue reading the open access full text article from the Professional Geographer here.
