Planning for academic continuity through online learning

The current COVID-19 pandemic continues to create complications for educational institutions worldwide. In March 2020, institutions swiftly moved their operations from traditional means (face-to-face or hybrid) to entirely online. In many cases, all of this occurred in less than a week.

Traditional institutions were not fully prepared for this transition. While many universities have a technological infrastructure, not all of them have to deal with a scenario in which all their students and faculty need to suddenly be on a remote delivery of instruction. Similarly, many did not have a structure that trained faculty continuously or have a business or an academic continuity plan.

Academic continuity

Institutions of higher education plan for many events, from the start of the academic year to graduations and from closing non-viable programmes to new construction, but they rarely plan for academic continuity during an emergency.

An Academic Continuity Plan is a continuing plan designed to maintain the continuity of academic delivery if a significant disruption interrupts or diminishes access to essential campus resources.

Some world regions experience recurrent natural emergencies such as droughts, earthquakes, epidemics, floods, forest fires, hurricanes, landslides, pests, snowstorms, tornadoes, tsunamis or volcanic eruptions. Some of these disruptions are human-made, such as chemical spills, shootings, strikes, technological faults, terrorism, wars or water or electric power outages. These events prompt us to assess our readiness and preparedness to face emergencies regularly.

The plan includes elements of preparation, activation, response and assessment. Preparation is one of the most important elements: it encompasses training the faculty and assessing the infrastructure.

The use of learning management systems (LMS) and video conferencing software is often employed to provide continuity of instruction in an emergency. However, while these are tools which are also employed to deliver online courses, there is a distinct difference between the two modes.

Faculty training

Training faculty ensures they possess the knowledge, skills and competencies to continue teaching through alternative methods. The alternative method can be IP television, remote teaching, video conference or synchronous meetings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw exponential growth in the use of remote teaching. The transition happened overnight, and training was, in many cases, non-existent, self-taught, rushed and occasionally limited to the basics.

Faculty training is paramount to the success of any technology-mediated educational endeavour. Carefully constructed training provides faculty with the necessary knowledge, tools and attitude to properly transition to a new teaching mode.

Training in areas such as instructional technology, teaching with technology and open educational resources (OER) are essential for faculty. Prior experience of using instructional technology in face-to-face environments is advantageous. In many cases, these are the same tools used to deliver instruction in remote or online learning instances.

For academic continuity, these activities should be planned and done on an incremental basis. This will allow faculty to absorb the information and provide them with an opportunity to test and conduct activities long before the emergency takes place.

During this time, faculty can also build content for the course they teach, which permits them to test their strategy with students and see where updates are needed. Training ranges from using LMS – such as Blackboard, Canvas, D2L and Moodle – to the planning and construction of meaningful activities.

On the student side, training and exposure occur through the intentional and incidental use of LMS in face-to-face courses, hybrid courses or fully online courses. Inculcating in students the habit of using an LMS to submit assignments, check grades, connect with classmates through discussion forums and communicate with their professors are some of these activities.

This can help students gain technology literacy skills critical to their success when the institution activates an academic continuity plan. Providing students with such opportunities minimises the struggles some experience and which are associated with a transition to a more individualised learning environment.

The role of online learning

Online education has been in existence for more than 25 years. Over that time, it has grown in status, prominence, rigour and quality. According to the Babson Report, more than 6.3 million students take at least one online course in the United States; this upward trend will continue.

Globally, the e-learning industry is forecast to be a US$248 billion market by 2024, according to Technavio. Besides, online learning is one of the most researched topics in the higher education literature, from scholar-practitioners sharing best practice to masters theses and doctoral dissertations.

All this work has demonstrated that there is no significant difference in the learning outcomes of students who learn online and others. Online learning is a mature learning modality that students and institutions have embraced. However, it needs to be a planned endeavour with the proper level of support.

At TCC Connect Campus, a fully online campus which offers 31 online academic degrees to 24,000 students, we have a 74% rate of student success, supported by a broad set of student services ranging from online advising, an online writing centre and remotely proctored exams.

The campus serves non-traditional students seeking flexible programmes that allow them to start, continue or complete their degrees. Training for online faculty in the areas of online pedagogy, conversion of activities and assessments to an online format, management of the virtual classroom, the use of library databases and information literacy are critical to our success.

Faculty are supported via a team of instructional designers who assist them in the creation, enhancement and revision of online courses. Quality is assured via continuous training in online pedagogy, teaching strategies and faculty coaches.

Final thoughts

Forecasting the next emergency is a complicated task, but preparing for it is not. Training and developing faculty to transition effectively when emergencies arise is paramount to their success.

Higher education institutions must start developing plans to ensure the continuity of education is preserved. Thanks to instructional technologies, this is easier than it has ever been. Online learning provides an established mode of learning that brings academic rigour and provides quality educational experiences to students.

Carlos R Morales is the founding president of TCC Connect Campus, part of the six campuses of Tarrant County College District, serving 100,000 students annually. Dr Morales has extensive online and classroom teaching experience in the areas of biology, science teaching, education and instructional technology. He is a 2009 Frye Leadership Institute Fellow and a 2012 Millennium Leadership Fellow with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.