A Covid paradox: Collateral benefits enhancing future education
Abstract: This paper aims to anecdotally research how – now post-Covid – instructors may continue to blend effective new online teaching methods with traditional approaches and thus improve future education. It is intended to be a pilot for similar case studies worldwide. Covid-19 has triggered a shift from in-class learning to online learning environments. This has created not only challenges for many unprepared educators worldwide but also opportunities. With the lift of restrictions, the future modes of higher education remain open to discussion. For this purpose, the paper contributes to this ongoing discussion by drawing from the experiences and insights of the instructors and the students from three institutions in Cambodia, Italy, and the USA during 2020 -2022. Building on the observations of these people and on insights from the recent literature, the authors conclude that innovative online and hybrid pedagogies can raise higher education teaching and learning to the next level. Continued use of innovative pedagogies post-Covid can significantly benefit student engagement and motivation, although this comes at a higher cost of more teacher preparation and increased commitment to technology. While the continued use of online tools can result in better learning outcomes for current students all over the world, schools can now make additional educational offers to previously underserved segments of the population. Both will provide net social benefits to students, educators, schools, and ultimately society worldwide.
Keywords: Covid paradox, student learning, teaching modality, remote teaching, hybrid lessons, case studies, global research collaboration, blended learning, participants-centered learning, educator-focused teaching, Italy, Cambodia, Silicon Valley, synchronous online teaching, flipped classes
Authors:
Ken Charman, CamEd Business School, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Mike Domenghino, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, Basel, Switzerland
Janet Tan, corresponding author, San Jose State University, San Jose, California, USA, janet.tan (at) sjsu.edu
Author note: All authors are alphabetically ordered, and they are equal co-authors. They have no known conflict of interest to disclose.