Reshaping the educational landscape: During and after the COVID 19 pandemic

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze the response to COVID-19 and evolution through different models of online instruction during the pandemic at a large Canadian university. This paper primarily focuses on the approach taken by the Faculty of Education including the necessary restructuring of the processes, organization of the workforce, support configurations, and institutional constraints. The factors that impacted changes in the curriculum are examined. Three distinct phases were identified and compared: 1) remote teaching, 2) fully online using a combination of synchronous and asynchronous instruction, and 3) a diversity of hybrid approaches. The paper highlights a number of challenges experienced with online education during the pandemic. Each one of them presents both barriers and opportunities. The process has made way for a potential transformation of educational practice at North American universities. This will likely come as a combination of increased knowledge and practice of online learning during the pandemic, and as a need to reshape traditional institutional structures to reflect the shifted landscape of education. It has opened discussions on equity and accessibility, learner-centered design, and the potential for change in the classroom and educational programming.