The COVID-19 Online Pivot: Adapting Education By: Ashley Miller
Photos Courtesy: Shenandoah University & Randolph Macon Academy
A quick pivot from brick-and-mortar schooling to online learning was seen across the Top of Virginia as COVID-19 spread across the country and globe in k-12 as well as higher educational institutions. In the first half of March, Shenandoah University was one of the first Virginia universities to announce it was moving to university-wide online instruction due to COVID-19. “The transition was successful due to the preparation of the university’s Incident Command System Committee (ICS), which began meeting in late January to monitor the developing situation and to review the school’s pandemic outbreak plan,” said Becky Layne, Media Relations Coordinator via email. “The dedication of the faculty (most of whom were already trained prior to this year to teach classes
online); and the university’s iMLearning Program, which provides a MacBook, iPad and Apple pencil to every full-time student and all faculty.” By the time the university went to online learning, everyone was as prepared as they could be for this uncertain situation. The same was said for Randolph Macon Academy, when back in March R-MA also transitioned to synchronous, global online learning in less than 72 hours. “Our foundation with technology and nimbleness for adaptation enabled our amazing teachers to provide continuous instruction for the Spring 2020 semester,” Sung Chu, Director of Enrollment Management said via email. “R-MA finished on time; our graduation was on time; our grades were on time, and we will most definitely start on time for the upcoming Fall 2020 Semester.”
Over the past four months, Shenandoah has provided college credits at discounted rates to high school students, donated several ventilators and thousands of hospital masks to local health care providers, and maintained full employment with no COVID-19 related furloughs or reduction in benefited staff or faculty positions. Moving forward, Shenandoah plans to fully reopen for in-person instruction in the 2020-21 academic year beginning Aug. 24, 2020. The university will implement a new ShenFlex learning format. Classes will be structured with both a face-toface core and online elements, but students and faculty will be able to participate fully online if needed. Chu said he is pleased that R-MA
