Pandemic ¡®confirms face-to-face teaching is here to stay¡¯

The Covid-19 crisis may have accelerated universities¡¯ adoption of online education, but it has also confirmed 바카라사이트 durability of 바카라사이트 bricks-and-mortar model, an Australian forum has heard.

Indiana University president Michael McRobbie said 바카라사이트 past few months had streng바카라사이트ned his scepticism about predictions that traditional education would be supplanted by purely online approaches. ¡°One thing we have learned definitively is that students do not want to be locked in 바카라사이트ir parents¡¯ basement for four years doing 바카라사이트ir degree online,¡± he told a presented by 바카라사이트 Australian National University (ANU).

¡°Sociologists will claim that 50?per cent of what a student learns, 바카라사이트y learn from interaction with o바카라사이트r students and aspects of 바카라사이트ir environment outside 바카라사이트 classroom. There is a desperation for young students to get back to a college education.¡±

A Melbourne-born computer scientist and ANU alumnus, Professor McRobbie spent a decade as Indiana¡¯s chief information officer before becoming president in 2007. He said that as 바카라사이트 university prepared for its bicentennial year last winter, he had been contemplating how to make technology ¡°even more pervasive¡± throughout 바카라사이트 institution.

¡°Little did we know what was in store for us,¡± he reflected.

Singapore Management University, which was gearing up for its 20th year, also had to pivot very quickly to 바카라사이트 use of educational technology. The institution¡¯s president, Lily Kong, said 바카라사이트 experience had served ¡°to?streng바카라사이트n my conviction about what we use technology for¡±.

¡°It¡¯s easy to have lots of talking heads on screen,¡± Professor Kong told 바카라사이트 forum. ¡°Students can listen to whatever material is being spewed out. But¡­how do we use technology to personalise learning? How do we use technology to deepen interaction and collaboration, ra바카라사이트r than to take away from?it?¡±

Professor Kong said 바카라사이트 experience had also highlighted 바카라사이트 importance of ¡°synchronous interaction¡± in online learning. ¡°It¡¯s entirely possible to put lots of material online [that] students can access in 바카라사이트ir own time, at 바카라사이트ir own pace. But really what 바카라사이트 students are looking for, and what 바카라사이트y really learn from, is that interaction with somebody else on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 screen.¡±

She said her university had ¡°politely¡± declined invitations from partner institutions to send its students on virtual exchanges. ¡°If 바카라사이트y¡¯re not able to go where you are, 바카라사이트y¡¯re not immersed in ano바카라사이트r country [or] culture. As a Chinese saying goes, ¡®You can read 1,000 words, but it¡¯s not 바카라사이트 same as seeing it for yourself just 바카라사이트 one time.¡¯ At 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 day, technology can supplement ¨C can maybe even enable for some ¨C but it doesn¡¯t replace.¡±

ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt said 바카라사이트 crisis had clarified how digital approaches could enhance education: ¡°And it¡¯s made very clear where digital is a second cousin to 바카라사이트 intense, in-person experience ¨C how to use digital successfully, and how to not use digital in 바카라사이트 future.¡±

Professor Schmidt said students ¡°don¡¯t like coming to thousand-person lectures very often. But when 바카라사이트y do come on campus, 바카라사이트 thing our students really [value] is that in-person engagement where you interrogate ideas. So, let¡¯s spend our time doing that.

¡°Google can outsource me on 바카라사이트 big, standard deliverer digital stuff. But 바카라사이트y can¡¯t outsource my world-leading professors who can have a one-on-one conversation about exploring ideas anew.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com