The future of online learning: the long-term trends accelerated by Covid-19

 With the technology now available, it’s clear that simply broadcasting pre-recorded lectures is no longer an option for forward-thinking universities

For Professor John Domingue, director of the Open University's pioneering research and development laboratory, the Knowledge Media Institute (KMI), the "online genie" is out of the bottle and not coming back.

"It's a little sad to see some universities trying to replicate on the internet almost exactly what they delivered face-to-face before Covid. Standing in front of a camera and broadcasting is not an online course. You have to do things differently,” he says.

So what can universities do to make online education more than just a heavy focus on streaming and recording technology? Domingue points to artificial intelligence (AI) and the concept of an online library for educators based on Google's educational search engine and a Netflix-style recommendation engine that tracks content that fits the instructor's field based on previous searches.

KMI is currently developing a personalized AI assistant or chatbot, an AI career coach, and other tools that can analyze essays for grading and set up quizzes on revision topics.

Personalization is also key to a better online experience for students and lecturers. In 2017, Oxford's Saïd Business School installed the first immersive virtual classroom of its kind in the UK: a bank of 27 HD screens capable of supporting up to 84 students from around the world simultaneously, called the Oxford Hub for International Virtual Education (or HIVE). ). A room camera follows lecturers moving around the room, who can respond – just like in real life – to visual cues from individual students and speak directly to them.

While such technology could be prohibitively expensive for many institutions, Duncan Peberdy, a consultant specializing in technical learning spaces and a former adviser at education IT body Jisc, says a much cheaper alternative is to offer a 3-4m wide screen. ViewSonic has developed a different dynamic based on simplified specifications. “We are now in talks with two UK universities to develop it together on their campuses,” he says.

Meanwhile, in UK universities, many universities are trying to make the online experience more than just a lecturer broadcasting in front of a camera.

"We didn't want that approach, so we 'shifted' academics who were simply repeating their material using PowerPoint slides and brought in new hardware and specialists to help them," says Guy Daly, deputy vice-chancellor (education and students) at Coventry. University.

“We realized that our academics needed the skills or support to deliver online learning in a very engaging way in what is now a very different world. Since March, we have revised 2,500 course modules at undergraduate and postgraduate level to be delivered in the first term of this academic year.”

Coventry has moved virtually all of its student assessments and exams online. "We've also talked about the death of traditional lectures and bringing in student-based learning as opposed to traditional teaching methods, but with Covid we've accelerated that journey," says Daly.

Wholesale and now permanent changes have gone hand in hand with the launch of Coventry's first online postgraduate certificate in education and England's first online nursing degree.

According to Professor Danielle George, vice-dean for teaching and learning at the University of Manchester, many of the taught postgraduates, particularly those who use the laboratories, were among the students most affected. “They only have one year to ensure they get all the intended learning outcomes from their course. So we invested in software that allows them to do the prep work at home, so they then need less time in the lab itself,” he says.

“We also helped them with time management, which is absolutely crucial [for short courses]. Covid has taken away the daily structure of going from room to room on campus, so we have planned asynchronous activities - their lecturer will be available 'live' at 9am to give a talk and then answer questions, or they can choose to watch a recorded version later in the their own time.

“My best advice for postgraduates is to get involved in anything to do with induction – we've put a lot more energy, time and passion into this area than before, and run a lot of hands-on online sessions,” says George.