How the Pandemic Changed Your Job: Academic Perceptions of E-Learning after COVID-19 (and How to Change Them)
By Andrew Larner, Manchester Metropolitan University
Summary
The definition of e-learning teams has evolved since the early 2000s (Joyce and Lisewski, 2003). In my roles as an E-Learning Technologist, Technology Enhanced Learning Advisor (TELA), and Digital Education Specialist, I’ve witnessed these changes firsthand. Until the COVID-19 Pandemic the factors affecting the role had generally been internal to Higher Education.
COVID-19 lockdowns had a profound impact on Higher Education (for example, Watermeyer et al., 2021). Lockdowns required a rapid switch to emergency online teaching (Hodges, 2020) for universities across the world. Many teaching staff were suddenly overwhelmed by new technologies and teaching methods in an almost overnight switch.
This had a direct effect on the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) team at Manchester Metropolitan University. When the lockdowns began TELAs were required to provide more technical support where previously support had been teaching focused. However, such was the demand for support to demonstrate the use of Microsoft Teams for online delivery we struggled to show pedagogy. Staff just needed to be able to use the tools available.
Previously, I had been a face-to-face faculty contact, very visible and easily contactable on the phone or in the office. The requirement to ensure the team could cope with demand and provide redundancy if anyone was off sick meant I was now behind an IT style ticket system, working remotely and more centrally in the team to manage demand from across the university.
I studied how the pandemic affected perceptions of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) in the Faculty of Science and Engineering (S&E) at Manchester Metropolitan University. I asked staff in S&E what their perceptions of the TEL Team were following the pandemic. I surveyed and interviewed staff in the summer of 2023.
The findings suggested that colleagues considered technical and administrative activities were the focus of our role with Technical Selection and Learning Design scoring dismally. Using my research findings, I created a set of recommendations to change perceptions of the TEL Team’s role. These were written with specific reference to Manchester Metropolitan University’s context.
Recommendations
Proactive Integration:
- Integrate into University processes. Reason: Stay informed about faculty activities, increase recognition, and have a high-level influence that can lead to more impactful outcomes.
Clearer Communication:
- Use clearer terminology and educational context in communications. Reason: Helps define the team as supporters of teaching rather than just technology.
- Focus on educational importance rather than technical details. Reason: Shifts the focus from technology to its educational benefits.
- Propose a single ‘must read’ email from all teaching support services for timely academic events. Reason: Reduces email overload and ensures important information is highlighted.
Holistic Programme Development:
- Support staff in early curriculum and programme planning to spot competency gaps in staff. Reason: Allows for timely support and skill development when staff need it.
- Embed and refresh Digital Education strategies regularly when programmes are reviewed. Reason: Ensures strategies remain relevant and effective as programmes evolve.
Training Offerings:
- Split into central sessions and tailored faculty-level training. Reason: Addresses different training needs and preferences between faculties.
- Shorten central sessions to 15-20 minutes, schedule at lunch times and push staff towards tailored one-to-one sessions. Reason: Increases attendance by making sessions more accessible and does not overload staff with extra detail.
- Integrate micro sessions into faculty meetings and collaborations. Reason: Makes training more relevant and convenient for staff.
- Reach out to education leads for departmental training bookings. Reason: Ensures training is tailored to departmental needs and increases engagement.
Rebranding One-to-One Sessions:
- Rebrand to ‘tutorials’ for a more academic feel. Reason: Makes sessions sound more educational and less technical.
- Provide tailored guidance on tool implementation within teaching. Reason: Helps staff apply digital tools effectively in their teaching.
- Say no to inappropriate queries and redirect staff to the correct support team. Reason: Develops staff understanding of the University support structure and team responsibilities.
Online Resources:
- Defragment and simplify information on intranet and video portal. Reason: Makes resources easier to find and use. Takes smaller technical queries away from TEL.
- Integrate videos into intranet pages, use less jargon and acronyms. Reason: Improves accessibility, understanding and demonstrates good practice.
- Limit technical demonstrations to those not provided by suppliers. Reason: Reduces the burden of creating and updating technical content.
These steps should help in redefining the role and perception of the Technology Enhanced Learning team, making them more integrated, recognised, and effective in supporting educational goals. Please share your own experiences, thoughts, feelings or suggestions on this subject in the comments! I’ll also be presenting on this topic at the ALT Conference in September. If you would like to discuss this subject further, I welcome you to join the session! You can also reach me via email at a.larner@mmu.ac.uk for any questions or further discussion.
References
Hodges, C. et al. (2020) ‘The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning’, p. 12.
Joyce, P. and Lisewski, B. (2003) ‘On reification: a reinterpretation of designed and emergent practice – a reply’, Research in Learning Technology, 11(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v11i2.11278.
Watermeyer, R. et al. (2021) ‘COVID-19 and digital disruption in UK universities: afflictions and affordances of emergency online migration’, Higher Education, 81(3), pp. 623–641. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00561-y.
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