We held our first ‘members connect’ meeting on March 27th and were pleased to hear from across the membership about the challenges and opportunities created by the move to remote working. A brief summary from our discussions is included below for wider interest:
1. The immediate need to reassure students (and staff)
Colleagues noted that a significant amount of time has been required to reassure students on a range of personal, academic and practice issues. Academic staff have been on the ‘frontline’ in responding to student concerns while managing concerns of their own. It was recognised that responsiveness and advice in response to the pandemic was something of a post-code lottery as Universities, initially, took very different approaches.
2. The use of mixed methods to moving teaching online
There has been a very wide response to how teaching has been moved online. Some are delivering lectures ‘live’ through video conferencing based on existing timetables, including the use of break-out groups and online interactive tools; others are pre-recording lectures and emailing/uploading reading/resources for students to engage with on their own schedule; in some cases students are being set exercises to complete and then submitting evidence to demonstrate engagement. Current practice appears to be depend on the level of technology available through an institution and the knowledge of individual staff in how to use online media.
3. The recognition that we are all ‘learning on the go’
It was noted that no-one had time to prepare for this and the ‘shift’ to remote working/online learning has been rapid. We were reminded of the value in seeing this as a shared learning experience in the spirit of collegiality and co-production with our students. It was recognised this creates a certain amount of stress but also an opportunity to reset aspects of our teaching and learning culture within HE.
4. The introduction of flexibility in assessments and deadlines
Institutions are at the early stages of reconfiguring academic regulations, systems and processes to support changes that allow students to complete the academic year with respect to amended assessments, deadlines and compensatory measures. The details, demands and universal acceptance of these measures are still emerging.
5. The need to revaluate how we capture ‘practice experience’
Recent guidance and flexibility afforded by ETS England had been received positively, but it was recognised this would need revisiting as the longevity of restrictions on practice are more widely known. It was also discussed that measures for recognising remote/digital youth work should be given closer attention; and the methods associated with this were subject to wider discussion.
Thanks to everyone that engaged with this discussion, whether you joined us for 10 minutes or the full hour. It was agreed to hold regular sessions in the short term at adhoc times and to review whether any themes might emerge into specific online workshops in the medium term.
See our events pages for future online dates and discussion themes.