CAUT presentation on moving higher education courses online as a response to covid-19

1. COVID-19 and the
Academic Job:
Moving Online
Canadian Association of University
Teachers (CAUT) Webinar
April 2020
Dr. George Veletsianos
Professor
Canada Research Chair
Royal Roads University

2. • Steady increases in online ed enrolment in the US
– 6% (2000)  33% (2017) of students took at least 1
online course.
– At the same time: enrolment in HE overall decreased
• In Canada
– 72% of universities report having/developing an online
learning strategy
– 68% consider it very or extremely important to their long-
term strategic/academic plan (Canadian Digital Learning
Association, 2019).
Prior to Feb 2020: Online learning
= typical, not the exception

3. Mid-March 2020
• Emergency transition to
remote teaching/learning
• Abrupt and difficult.
• Grief. Loss.
• Growing sense of a
changing “normal.”
• Common adjustments by
faculty
• Be more flexible.
• Lower expectations.
• Drop assignments/exams

4. April 2020
• Scenario planning for Fall 2020
• Back to in-person?
• Start late?
• Small classes only?
• 1st year in-person only?
• Labs in-person only?
• A blend?
• Multi-access?
• Online?

5. May 2020 - ?
• Emerging questions/issues
• Equity
• Institutional investments
vs. outsourcing? (e.g., hire
IDS vs OPM?)
• Faculty pro-d
• Questioning seemingly
unquestionable
assumptions (e.g., credit
hour, cooperation)

6. Thank you!
Copy of this slideshow along
with links and resources on
http://www.veletsianos.com