Pandemic politics, pedagogies and practices: digital technologies and distance education during the coronavirus emergency

Abstract

The first special issue of Learning, Media and Technology of 2020, entitled 'Education and technology into the 2020s: speculative futures', presented a series of papers looking to the future of critical research on educational technologies. As we write, just a few months later, with the coronavirus pandemic sweeping around the world, the future appears more uncertain than ever. Global infection and illness, population lockdowns, and mass closures of educational institutions have engulfed countries across the planet in the short time between issues of this journal.The global pandemic is of course not only a serious public health emergency, but a political, economic and social emergency too. Scholarship across myriad disciplines in years to come will examine the medical, political, economic and social factors defining our present moment. Many of these issues will be of interest to readers of Learning, Media and Technology. They include political manoeuvring in relation to the pandemic, from misinformation and economic measures to policies of social distancing, quarantining and isolation; the use and misuse of large-scale data, statistics and visualizations; new forms of digitally mediated work, culture and personal life; surveillance systems for 'contact tracing'; the use of predictive epidemiological modelling; the development of techniques for better public understanding of science; and the political use of behavioural economics as a public pedagogy of population management. Future papers in this journal will be written in the context of changes currently being experienced at planetary scale, and potentially dramatic shifts in the relationships between science, technology and society.In one key area we feel Learning, Media and Technology can and should make a more direct contribution to knowledge and practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: the switch to online and digital education formats and the rise of 'remote' forms of teaching and learning as a consequence of mass closures of schools, colleges and universities. In this moment of pandemic politics, where contests are being fought at multiple scales and levels over the ways to handle and resolve the crisis, distance education has become a widespread matter of concern for political authorities, education businesses, charities, teachers, parents and students alike. Education has become an emergency matter, and along with it, educational technologies have been positioned as a frontline emergency service. In recent years Learning, Media and Technology has become a key publication for critical studies of education and technology. Other outlets have responded to the rapid switch to online education with useful guidance, advice, and references to extant research from promising studies that might support educators to make the best of this new educational emergency. But the need remains for critical reflection on the planetary pivot to digitally mediated remote and distance education.We have no wish to denigrate or criticize online distance education, but rather, the ai...

Learning in the age of SARS-COV-2: A quantitative study of learners’ performance in the age of emergency remote teaching

“…The catch is that “The college experience isn't exactly about sheltering in place and keeping six feet away from people, so college administrators will have to solve the public health challenges if they expect to bring students back” (Rothschild, 2020). As such, careful consideration must be given to how institutions handle the pandemic situation moving forward [ 37 , 81 ].…”

“…Given the newness of the issue, there is a significant gap in the literature on all aspects of ERT related to the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, but most of all on information related to its impact on student performances. Thus there is a call for “future research to examine, in up-close detail, the effects and consequences of the expansion and embedding of digital technologies and media in education systems, institutions and practices across the world” ( [81] ; p.107). The purpose of this study is to add to the literature and provide crucial insights into the impact of the SARS pandemic induced ERT on learner performance, using a quantitative research approach with experimental design.…”

“…Studies suggest that students in face to face courses could have higher academic success as they feel they learn better from direct instruction and instructor presence [ 6 , 24 , 39 , 40 , 49 , 64 ]. Based on such assumptions, moving to ERT is raising questions related to its efficacy and the impact it can have on all stakeholders in higher education in terms of health, political, economic, social and psychological elements [ 2 , 69 , 81 ]. However, skeptics of ERT who believe it is less than face to face may fail to realize that ERT uses several practices and features of face to face teaching, but does so using alternative methods [ 8 , 37 ].…”

A Wake-Up Call: Equity, Inequality and Covid-19 Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning

“…Without time and expertise for considered fully online design, and mindful that it was emergency remote teaching rather than ‘the real deal’ (Hodges et al 2020 ), we were of the mind that it was essential that pandemic pedagogy (Williamson, Eynon, and Potter 2020 ) be designed as parity pedagogy from the outset.…”

Sustaining Language Skills Development of Pre-Service EFL Teachers despite the COVID-19 Interruption: A Case of Emergency Distance Education

“…Indeed, the practices and procedures of distance education, remote teaching, and online instruction are not new and vague for pedagogy. However, learning and teaching procedures "have taken on renewed salience" due to the pandemic [21] (p. 108). It must be understood that "well-planned online learning experiences are meaningfully different from courses offered online in response to a crisis or disaster.…”