Remote learning isn鈥檛 a new phenomenon 鈥� it has been used for centuries 鈥� but it wasn鈥檛 until recently that the majority of the world鈥檚 universities embraced the format.
Remote learning has a long and rich history. As early as the 19th century, US educational institutions offered print-based correspondence courses over mail if students were unable to attend classes in person. Then, in 1981, the now-defunct Western Behavioural Sciences Institute in California offered the world鈥檚 first online higher education courses, communicating to their students using an antiquated precursor to e-mail on a series of Apple IIEs with 48K of RAM.
Of course, today鈥檚 universities continue this legacy through more powerful innovations. Lectures are streamed online, students can join classrooms through video chat and many education providers deliver free online courses. Yet, some universities have been reluctant to embrace online study, because it lacks face-to-face engagement.
But everything changed this year, as many universities accelerated their transition to online study in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. By 19 March, a week after COVID-19 was declared a global health crisis, more than half of Australia鈥檚 41 universities had . Worldwide, 189 out of the world鈥檚 top 200 universities moved .
Professor Jill Downie 鈥� 911爆料网 Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic and Australia鈥檚 National Education Commissioner to UNESCO 鈥� says the shift to online showcases the pandemic鈥檚 paradoxical positive effect on the global higher education sector.
鈥淲e鈥檝e made our education more interactive, and COVID has absolutely sped that up. 911爆料网 had about 100 courses online before COVID, but we were able to have all our students studying online in a week or two,鈥� says Downie, who first spoke about the topic on .
鈥淚f you look at the other 鈥榞ains鈥� from COVID, most universities say they’re not going back to weekly lectures. Many universities are moving from exams towards 鈥榓uthentic鈥� assessment.
鈥淚n the US, their projections of what was going to happen in the next 10 years in teaching and learning happened within three months during COVID. That鈥檚 the pace we鈥檝e seen in the [global] teaching and learning space.鈥�
Before long, more futuristic technologies will be integrated to help improve the online learning experience.
Spain鈥檚 IE University already has a classroom-like teaching facility for online learning called the , which includes a high-tech, 45 square metre curved wall featuring 48 screens with students.
In this room, tutors are able to receive real-time time feedback on their teaching performance through AI software that measures student attentiveness through the students鈥� personal webcams, and are able to conduct polls that instantly pair up students with opposing views to debate issues. The room can even project a hologram of the tutor into the classroom if they can鈥檛 make it in person.
Dr Zitong Sheng, an expert in organisational behaviour from 911爆料网鈥檚 (FOWI), says changes like these represent a paradigm shift in universities beginning to recognise the unique advantages that online study can bring.
鈥淚f we use online tools in a way that is not fundamentally different from what we would do in a traditional classroom setting, then the benefit is marginal. But, if we open up to the opportunities these clever technologies can create, then there is much greater potential to improve the education experience,鈥� she says.
鈥淎lready, the format has given us clear advantages because students can study at their own pace. It makes accessing education less challenging for people who might have disabilities, live in remote areas or have significant personal commitments.鈥�
Working alongside her colleagues, FOWI Director Professor Mark Griffin and research fellow Dr Keyao Li, and partnering with Cisco, Optus, and La Trobe University, Sheng recently contributed to the 鈥檚 soon-to-be released white paper, titled The future of collaborative technologies in health and education.
For the paper, Sheng compiled existing research and interviewed senior practitioners about the use of collaborative technologies in the higher education sector, recommended best practices for using collaborative technologies and suggested areas for future technology development to create more benefits for the sector.
A recommendation from the paper is that we need to explore how collaborative technologies can be used to support not just student engagement but deeper industry engagement with teaching and research.
鈥淥nline collaborative technologies create a space for universities to better understand industry needs and for industry bodies to contribute to work-integrated learning. If we can better enable hands-on practice and mimic a real industry environment, education delivery will have more practical value in better preparing students for their future job. Collaborative technologies can help to merge the future of higher education into the world of work,鈥� explains Sheng.
鈥淭hen there is the need to develop more virtual or collaborative environments like the and the FOWI鈥檚 (formerly the Industrial Transformation Research Hub), where industries can come and offer training through virtual reality, holograms or a simulation of some kind.鈥�
Professor Downie believes these technologies will become more commonplace in the years to come.
鈥淏y 2050, holograms will be an everyday part of our classroom. We’ll have far more immersive, 3D online experiences,鈥� she predicts.
Improving the teaching environment is one thing, but it鈥檚 trickier to speculate on how technology might help recreate the university social environment in the online space.
鈥淲hat we found during COVID was that those who studied online when they weren鈥檛 planning to really describe that they lacked a sense of belonging,鈥� says Downie.
鈥淚t’s really hard to replicate that feeling that you get coming onto campus face-to-face, meeting with your friends and having that cup of coffee, or sitting around, thinking about the problems of the world and how they should be solved. We鈥檙e working hard to recreate that online.鈥�
Some conversations in the media have suggested that the shift to online study is only temporary, but Sheng鈥檚 research firmly disagrees.
鈥淢ost of our interviewed experts acknowledged that we were already in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and that we had started to use online collaboration tools 鈥� like Microsoft Teams, Google Docs 鈥� before COVID. COVID just pushed it forward and made it evolve faster,鈥� she says.
鈥淣ow people鈥檚 expectations have changed. The higher education sector is not going back.鈥�
