Overcoming technological inequity in synchronous online learning

Abstract

The recent coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic possibly represents a catalyst for broader changes looming ahead for higher education, which includes a shift to online learning. Researchers have proven synchronous learning components to reduce the transactional distance that students experience in online learning environments, and such components play an important role in many information systems (IS) courses. However, students who cannot reliably access the technological resources that they need for synchronous learning remain left behind in these learning environments. We summarize strategies that individual IS faculty and institutional information technology (IT) departments can implement to assist such students. Faculty-level strategies include implementing complementary asynchronous features, clearly communicating expectations, and implementing intervention strategies to foster collaborative work. Institutional solutions include providing software applications via the cloud for students who need to access them remotely and loaning computer resources such as laptops to students who lack them and effectively training faculty and students in online learning. These measures will help higher education institutions to bridge the transactional distance that students experience as online learning becomes more prevalent in the months and years ahead.