Digital learning and teaching throughout the pandemic: learning from the digital experiences of students and staff during 2020 and 2021

Abstract

Drawing on the digital experiences of almost 76,000 learners/students, teaching staff and professional services staff from UK further and higher education, this session will explore the successes and challenges of learning, teaching and working online throughout the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 and the enforced move to remote engagement meant that all needed to embrace digital practices. It galvanised colleges and universities to push forward with digital transformation projects that may otherwise have taken far longer.Understanding how students and staff use technology is essential. Jisc has been running the digital experience insights surveys to gather staff and students’ expectations and experiences of technology since 2016, providing valid, representative and actionable data to inform digital transformation.Alongside Jisc’s work on learning and teaching reimagined and shaping the digital future, the survey findings highlight current digital practices and provide data to inform strategic planning. Knowing what works, what the barriers are and listening to the voices of these key stakeholders as they describe their experiences will help us to further advance digital practice and develop effective models of hybrid and blended models.Key themes explored in this session include:* Infrastructure and access to technology* Support to learn, teach and assess/be assessed online* Actively engaging all stakeholders as partners in online digital education* Wellbeing when learning, teaching or working onlineDelegates will takeaway from the sessions:1. An overview of the findings from the learner/student, teaching staff and professional services surveys (with digital copies of each of the reports)2. Opportunities to reflect on how these findings align or differ from their own experiences, engage in discussions and share practice on approaches to digital transformation