{"id":13524,"date":"2026-02-03T11:13:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T11:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=13524"},"modified":"2026-01-29T11:42:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T11:42:51","slug":"covid-19-a-catalyst-for-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2026\/02\/covid-19-a-catalyst-for-change\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 – a catalyst for change?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rob Shaw and Richard Walker <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost five years to the day after the start of the UK\u2019s second national lockdown which returned all Universities to a second period of fully remote teaching and learning, a paper by Rob Shaw and Richard Walker has recently been published reporting on the longer term impact of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) on learning, teaching and assessment in two Science departments – Biology and Psychology – at the University of York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog post, Rob and Richard answer some key questions about the research and its findings.  You can find out more by reading the paper on the Technology, Pedagogy and Education journal website:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaw, R., & Walker, R. (2025). COVID-19 \u2013 a catalyst for change? A comparative study of learning technology usage in two university science departments during and after the pandemic. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 1\u201318. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/1475939X.2025.2580325<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What were your aims for the research?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Through our research we wanted to gain  some \u2018what happened next\u2019 insights into the longer-term impact on learning, teaching and assessment  of experiences during the pandemic.  The pandemic made engaging with online learning tools and techniques everybody\u2019s business and, as with a lot of teams dealing with technology-enhanced learning, the Digital Education Team at York had to provide rapid support for staff and students at an eye-watering scale. Sometimes this resulted in pragmatic decisions being made to prioritise technical \u2018how to’s’ at the expense of learning design and pedagogy (Larner, 2024). We wanted to explore in more detail how our supported tools had been used in practice during the pandemic, and if\/how these practices had evolved since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did you think that was important?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We hoped this would help us to understand the perspectives of students and staff in departments and that this would inform our support for digital education at York.  We perceived a re-emphasis on the importance of active engagement, community and inclusion, as reflected in University expectations that departments would return to face-to-face teaching.  However, each department was free to determine how best to use their timetabled slots with students on campus, and we noted some contrasts between a renewed interest in flipped and blended learning in some departments, and a desire to \u2018get back into the lecture hall\u2019 again as soon as possible in others. We wanted to talk to staff and students about their experiences during and after the pandemic to explore this more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also hoped that our findings might be useful to other HE institutions.  There had been a lot of debate about how the pandemic might change learning and teaching across the sector – ranging in expectation from a \u2018snapback\u2019 to pre-pandemic norms for large group on-campus teaching and invigilated and timed assessment in exam halls (Bryant, 2021), to a \u2018fast-track\u2019 future in which the on-campus learning experience is extended through a longer-term normalisation of online and blended learning (Kerres and Buchner, 2022).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although over 1000 studies investigating approaches to the pandemic within HE were published between January 2020 and August 2021  (Zhang et al., 2022), far less empirical research has since emerged to test these \u2018snapback\u2019 or \u2018fast track\u2019 expectations. Specifically, we were interested in the legacy of Emergency Remote Teaching and what this might add to collective sector knowledge on how best to support the effective use of learning technologies in course delivery. We hoped that our research would contribute some useful insights into learning design and delivery approaches not only in times of emergency, but also in the longer term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you go about the research?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We employed a qualitative case study approach. This involved semi-structured interviews and focus groups with staff and students in the Biology and Psychology departments, comparing their experiences during (2020\u20132021) and after (2021-22) the pandemic. We chose to  focus on two Science departments in order to draw attention to the context in which decisions were made and practices were shaped.  We were aware of possible differences in the approaches taken by the two departments during and after the pandemic. We felt that an exploratory inquiry might help to reveal the underlying motivations and influences shaping their differing use of learning technologies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What were the headline results?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During the pandemic, approaches in both departments converged with increases in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n