Research Article:

Perspectives: COVID-19, and the future of higher education

Nate Ralph, Bay View Analytics

A survey of U.S. higher education’s immediate priorities and response to the global COVID-19 pandemic highlights the concerns and insights faced by academic institutions while deploying emergency distance education during the Spring 2020 academic term.

The survey, conducted by Bay View Analytics (formerly the Babson Survey Research Group), in partnership with six leading academic organizations polled more than 800 U.S. higher education faculty and administrators, from over 600 different institutions, to gauge their concerns and needs as they complete the Spring 2020 term and prepare for the Fall.

The survey was conducted in partnership with the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET), University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), Canadian Digital Learning Research Association (CDLRA), and Every Learner Everywhere, with the support of underwriter and primary partner, Cengage, and media support by Inside Higher Ed (IHE).

Making the transition

The sudden shift from face-to-face instruction to distance-learning has been disruptive, forcing a sea change in behaviors and practices in academia. To quote one respondent, “This is action research on steroids!” (Administrator, Four-year Private Institution). At almost all (97%) of the institutions surveyed, faculty with no previous online teaching experience were called upon to move classes online. A majority of faculty respondents (56%) reported using teaching methods they had never used before. Roughly one-half of faculty respondents (48%) reduced the amount of work they expected students to complete, while about one-third (32%) lowered their expectations for the quality of student work.

For some respondents, online environments are incompatible with their fields of study. One faculty member writes, “I teach a wildlife monitoring field class, and much of what we do involves field work with animals… This is an excellent hands-on laboratory course and I am trying to figure out how I will replace that experiential component” (Faculty, Four-year Private Institution). At another institution, a faculty member explains, “As an academic unit that delivers arts education, we are dead in the water if we cannot meet in person.” (Faculty, Four-year Public Institution).

These responses are emblematic of concerns expressed by faculty whose fields include STEM, vocational programs, and the Arts — how does one teach welding, dance, or phlebotomy, over a webcam? Educators are working to overcome these challenges but express concern that the quality of instruction is diminished. “I can listen to their assignments and check everything from their videos,” explains an instructor at an institution’s Music Department, “but it cannot compare to what I do when I can work with them in person.” (Faculty, Four-year Public Institution).

Faculty and administrators also express concerns about the impersonal nature of virtual instruction. As one respondent notes, “In person, face-to-face teaching is how we build relationships and trust. Education isn’t about content delivery, but about processes and skills that can only partially happen at a distance.” (Faculty, Four-year Private Institution). For some respondents, these relationships are a crucial component of the learning experience. “So much of teaching is about relationships… Online and real teaching are DIFFERENT and what works in the classroom often does not work online, and vice versa.” (Faculty, Four-year Private Institution).

Access, and Accessibility

The dissolution of these face-to-face relationships is compounded by a lack of access to the tools required in an online learning environment. “My low-income community college students do their best learning and retention in class, NOT online,” writes one respondent. “Some have no regular access to a computer or reliable Internet.” (Faculty, Four-year Public Institution). Another instructor notes, “Many students in our rural area have insufficient bandwidth and access to technology to participate in online or teleconferencing classes.” (Administrator, Two-year Institution).

These challenges are compounded for special needs students, or ESL programs. One respondent notes, “I teach ESL as a vocational skill as opposed to an academic class like language arts. This requires hands-on approaches: language manipulation, interpreting, sight translation. Speaking and listening classes require immediate feedback, and most of my students are unfamiliar with face-chat or Skype for learning practices.” (Faculty, Two-year Institution).

The COVID-19 pandemic introduces additional hurdles, as illness, unemployment, and economic uncertainty take a toll on the mental health of students and faculty. Faculty and administrators are concerned about the fate of their academic programs, as lower enrollments from students facing economic hardships or dissatisfied with online learning lead to budget cuts. There are also concerns that a diminished quality in the educational experience as a result of the rapid shift from face-to-face to online learning will lead to students who are ill-prepared for the next stage of their educational journey. “When classes start, physically or virtually, it will be back to business as usual. That's not the case. We need support to transition back to our classes and lives,” one instructor says. Additionally, they caution that “we will be assessed on how we taught and learned throughout the pandemic. Each of us were in very different places, physically, socially, emotionally, safety, etc. It's unacceptable to judge based on events we wholly cannot control.” (Faculty, Four-year Private Institution).

Tackling the problem

The upcoming Summer and Fall academic terms will challenge academic institutions to find ways to navigate around the COVID-19 pandemic, and survey respondents offered their thoughts on what would be most helpful for their institutions as they plan for the future. While there were several calls for crystal balls, time machines, and other means of clairvoyance, respondents also expressed a need for collected, curated resources that demonstrate best practices for deploying and implementing a successful online learning experience, that works for students and institutions. One respondent calls for “readily available research we can point to in all disciplines (STEM, humanities, etc.) on how to teach online and what makes for ‘good or great’ online teaching,” adding “our faculty are going to ask ‘why do I need to do it this way?’...they will need data.” (Four-year Private Institution).

That said, there are also concerns about the cost of the training and support institutions might need to weather the transition, in light of the economic downturn. One respondent calls for “Strategic budget recommendations to do more with less revenue.” (Administrator, Four-year Private Institution). Another adds that their institution would be best helped by “free resources about best practices and practical advice on moving classes online,” adding, “We do not have budget for resources that cost."" (Administrator, Four-year Private Institution).

Looking Ahead

For some respondents, the COVID-19 pandemic is an important teaching moment, that should inform course development and planning into the future. Higher education, some explain, needs to evolve to meet the world that has emerged around it. “We need to be able to respond to change and help our institutions seek a path into the future,” writes one respondent. “This disruption can't help but change the way we deliver education… students now have many choices and we must think more like a business in our administrative models. No longer will students come just because we are the local institution.” (Administrator, Four-year Public Institution).

In order to survive and thrive during this pandemic and beyond, educators and institutions need concrete plans on how to develop and distribute “modern” learning methodologies. As one respondent writes, “What lessons can we learn from this experience moving forward? Do all lectures need to be delivered in person? How can we better utilize existing online tools… to be better prepared for another transition should the virus return.” (Faculty, Four-year Private Institution).