Professor of English Indrani Mitra, Ph.D.
No Walls and New Tools: Higher Education in the Age of COVID-19 By Barbara A. Marinak, Ph.D. Dean, School of Education
“The Black Lives Matter course at the Mount has really helped me understand the history that is shaping our current events today. I am so grateful that the Mount and Dr. Hansen are offering this important course.” Megan Lipari Brown Religious Studies Department Chair Elizabeth Seton High School
“Dr. Hansen’s Black Lives Matter course is an eye-opener. It gives me a better understanding of systemic racism and history that was never taught in-depth at my previous schools.” Elise Howard, C’23 Elizabeth Seton High School 2 8
FEATURE FALL 2020
PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC, many educational futurists were warning higher education that “things needed to change.” We could not continue business as usual. These ominous discussions were based on many undeniable facts including shifting demographics resulting in fewer high school students heading to college, the demand for nontraditional majors such as interdisciplinary STEM degrees and the need to innovate graduate degrees. Wise universities, such as the Mount, paid careful attention to these data and began envisioning a very different future. And then, in two short months, our measured strategic planning was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Life on the other side of the pandemic appears to be taking two forms. Educational institutions (higher education and P-12 schools) are focused on either renewal or reimagining. Those with questionable and/or struggling futures appear to have an eye on renewal. Their efforts are locked on resuming activities after a pandemic interruption. Other institutions, including the Mount, are viewing the pandemic period as a time for reimagining how we can thrive in an era of no walls and new tools. It sounds odd, but given our efforts prior to March 2020, the Mount was uniquely positioned for the pandemic. More important, thanks to the vision and leadership of President Trainor, we are reimagining higher education—at warp speed on some days! This reimagining means not being bound by classroom spaces and brick and mortar buildings. It requires rethinking teaching and learning in light of new tools and strategies. Mind you, none of us are happy about the conditions causing this transformation. But it does mean we have the opportunity to embrace important and exciting possibilities. PRE-PANDEMIC: 2016-20 Prior to the pandemic, the Mount was beginning to reimagine how, where, when and to whom we delivered instruction. In order to be as flexible and student-centric as possible, we adopted Canvas, a next generation learning management system. Such a system is a digital platform whereby teaching and learning modalities are seamlessly blended and an ever-evolving collection of applications can be easily integrated. Canvas optimized functionality for students and faculty regardless of how they were teaching and allowed the university to roll out a wide variety of instructional tools such as digital conferencing and online discussions. However, as many observers of higher education note, the learning management system is not the final chapter in the evolution of the postsecondary digital learning environment; it is likely a prologue of things to come. In addition to conducting a pilot and ultimately adopting Canvas, the Mount established a goal of strengthening relationships with Catholic high schools in the region. After a bit of investigation by the Center for Catholic School Excellence and its director Elizabeth Monahan, it became clear that many highly
