Responding to COVID-19 and Transitioning to Online Learning: Evaluation of an Institution wide Capacity Building Efforts on Technology-Enhanced Learning

Abstract

The usage of educational technology has steadily been increasing in engineering education in the last two decades. However, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic has truly led to a wider acceptance of educational technology due to the lockdowns imposed around the world. In India, the lockdown announced in the mid of the even semester forced all faculty to transition to an online mode of teaching. The sudden transition to online learning highlighted the unpreparedness of faculty and students towards their acceptance and usage of educational technology tools. To address this challenge and get faculty and students ready for the online mode of teaching and learning in the next semester, an extensive three-week faculty development program was conducted for all faculty at an undergraduate engineering college. The program included both synchronous and asynchronous sessions on the design of engineering courses through technology-enhanced learning. To get a student’s preparedness for the transition, a 3-week orientation program was conducted prior to the start of the semester. In this paper, the detailed process of the capacity building efforts and evaluate the impact of the programs on the faculty and students are presented. A pre-and post-survey was conducted to examine the challenges faced by faculty and students due to the sudden transition to online learning and also analyse the impact of the capacity building efforts on the teaching and learning process. The results from the study will highlight the process of an institution level preparedness efforts to respond to a pandemic and ensure the continuation of the academic activities. We discuss the implication of the results in the post COVID19 world where blended learning would become the default mode of education in higher education.