Moving Teaching Online: Cultural Barriers Experienced by University Teachers During Covid-19

Abstract

This empirical study examines the experiences of academics and professional service staff in a large UK university during first weeks of the transition to online teaching and working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. The method draws on the work by Gourlay and Oliver (2018) to explore engagement with the digital university in everyday practice. Using data from 412 survey responses and 32 interviews, the study traces varying ways staff characterised themselves during the first months of lockdown in the UK (from March to July, 2020). The findings highlight that university support services underwent a metamorphosis to support the transition to online teaching. However, insufficient attention was paid to the 'identity crisis' and threats perceived by academics who were used to teaching students on campus. Academics tended to focus on transferring traditional teaching practices to the online environment, rather than on changing teaching practice, leaving face-to-face teaching as the default point of reference. These cultural barriers are a persistent obstacle to a more productive engagement with digitalisation. Transitioning to online teaching involves continuing existing work while also learning new practices. Such efforts were challenging for teaching staff who did not have dedicated space at home to work and those with caring responsibilities. This, combined with gendered patterns around caring and the extra support needed by students during the crisis, added emotional labour to already-full workloads. We recommend that intersecting forms of disadvantage be acknowledged, supported and rewarded for universities to create sustainable and just futures.

Online Teaching Practice of Preservice Teachers during Pandemic COVID-19

“…management system must be designed in such a way as to accommodate activities that can be carried out during the period of restriction during the COVID-19 pandemic situation as the work of Ramot and Donitsa-Schmidt (2021) and Littlejohn et al (2021). Lutovac (2020) acknowledged that online learning that takes place as an emergency education practice during the COVID-19 period generally reduces the quality of education both in developed countries and especially in developing countries as it was happened in Indonesia.…”

“…Several previous studies have focused on increasing the competence of pre-service teacher students through micro-teaching courses (De Lange & Nerland, 2018;Rosali & Singkawijaya, 2020;Wangchuk, 2019); online teaching practice in elementary school (Brinia & Psoni, 2021;Ramot & Donitsa-Schmidt, 2021;Weldon, Ma, Ho, & Li, 2021); and use of interactive media in teaching and learning process (Littlejohn et al, 2021;Meri et al, 2022;Tang et al, 2020). Results of these researches have indicated the implementation of practical courses online, but have not linked the professionalism of preservice teachers with their teaching.…”

The paradox of technology in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic: the experiences of safety and security students in a Dutch university

“…Given this lack of infrastructure, much of the early advice and support for non-expert online teachers focused on the technological tools available in each institution and whether they were considered adequate to support the transition (Rapanta et al, 2020 ). In a UK study, which examined the experiences of the University of College London university staff during COVID-19, lecturers with prior experience with online education found it easier to adjust to the technological turmoil during the pandemic (Littlejohn et al, 2021 ). A cursory review of the literature on the use of virtual synchronous online platforms suggests that they can be perceived by lecturers as a helpful facilitative tool.…”

Exploring Inequalities in the Social, Spatial and Material Practices of Teaching and Learning in Pandemic Times

“…With the pandemic, the data suggests that the most strongly felt frustration amongst academics is their inability to see students properly in an online environment, with demands for student's cameras and microphones to be on at all times, despite acknowledging inequalities in students' access to Wi-Fi bandwidth or spatial and aural privacy (Littlejohn et al 2021). As well as the very real and unpleasant feeling of 'talking into a void' that teachers experience with not being able to see student faces, there is often a sense that students not making themselves visible undermines any possibility of engagement, or perhaps just as importantly, prevents teachers from garnering evidence of it.…”

“…There are now many studies of how diverse academics in the UK and internationally are managing their detailed arrangements when faced with this new situation (Gourlay et al 2021;Littlejohn et al 2021;Jandrić et al 2020) as well as students' views on their experiences (Higher Education Policy Institute 2020). As Gourlay writes, lockdown has required much creative improvisation as our domestic spaces are now not only about working/studying but also being on view to online audiences, requiring detailed re-arrangements of spaces and technologies: Most of the participants describe an unfolding 'making' process, in order to create some work space.…”