ONLINE LEARNING
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
Academic staff have their say on the move to online learning Respondents are mostly unsure whether good online teaching results in stronger learning than traditional teaching, but more than twice as many disagree as agree.
Over half the academic staff who responded to an international survey about their experiences of the COVID-related move to online learning said that it negatively affected their mental health. The survey, conducted in October/November 2020 by The Times Higher Education (THE), received 520 responses from academic staff in 46 countries. Despite obvious local differences and variations, the views expressed by respondents were generally consistent across the globe. The major findings included: • Sixty per cent of respondents believed that the move to online learning had also had a negative effect on students’ mental health. • Nearly three quarters (73%) had little to no online experience before the pandemic, and felt that they needed support and training in online pedagogy, use of technology and supporting students with the transition.
Michael Evans National Organiser (Media & Engagement)
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• Nearly half of the respondents (47%) felt that they were well supported by their institution in
Sentry
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FEBRUARY 2021
this, but nearly a third said that they weren’t. • Ninety percent of respondents said that their workload had increased. • Only a fifth believe that their students value remote education as much as face-to-face, but less than a third think tuition fees should be discounted when instruction moves online. • Only four in 10 junior academics believe their reopened universities’ planning for COVID outbreaks is robust, compared with seven in 10 senior managers. • Less than a fifth of respondents regard the two-track physical and online approach to teaching as sustainable, while two-fifths regard an online-only future as sustainable. • Respondents are mostly unsure whether good online teaching results in stronger learning than traditional teaching, but more than twice as many disagree as agree. • More than three-quarters would like online meetings to endure beyond the pandemic.
