Editorial Overview

With the Delta variant raging, the pandemic continues to demand the attention and consideration of educators around the world. Fortunately, much has been learned in the past two years about how to effectively teach online, and how educational technology systems can enhance education both in and outside the classroom. This issue of JETS is devoted to a range of what has been learned during the pandemic experience. In sharing these, it is our hope that you, our readers, will be inspired to adapt them to the benefit of your own students. The first three papers reflect on lessons learned from moving education from the classroom to online modes. Our first paper offers a thorough analysis of best practices for online, hybrid, and blended learning as we move forward. The resulting recommendations are based on a fish-bone analysis of the problems that instructors faced during the pandemic, and a SWOT analysis of pedagogical approaches; we believe that our readers will find these to be extremely useful. The second paper describes a revelation that came about when the instructor was forced to move to online discussions during the pandemic: he discovered how online discussions are better than face-to-face discussions for exploring gender insensitivities and lack of inclusiveness in a standard language textbooks. The third paper describes the challenges of teaching medical students during the pandemic, and how those challenges were met. The remaining papers look forward to how we can move back to the classroom while leveraging the advantages of educational technologies. The first of these has great significance for a future model where some students will continue to require home instruction. It describes a pilot study in which telepresence robots – i.e. robots in the classroom that are controlled by students at home – enabled home-bound students to participate fully in the classroom. The next paper describes the experience of using a flipped classroom model to encourage undergraduate students to engage more fully with a course on computer networks and communications. The following paper describes how computer-based afterschool instruction can help at-risk students to get up to a sufficient reading level. The final paper focuses on an important example of how technology in the classroom can enhance learning. In this particular case study, tablet devices were shown to increase motivation and engagement among learners with autism.