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Moving learning online and the COVID-19 pandemic: a university
response
Aleksandra Webb*, Ronald McQuaid, C. William R. Webster
Management, Work and Organisation Division
Stirling Management School, University of Stirling, Stirling UK
1
* Corresponding author:
Dr Aleksandra Webb
E: a.k.webb@stir.ac.uk
Type of paper: Research Paper
Keywords: University; online teaching; digitalisation; Covid-19; pandemic
SHORT SUMMARY
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the introduction of online teaching and has
embedded digital ways of working in universities and other higher education institutions.
These need to reach the full range of current and potential students, including individuals
from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with limited digital skills or access. Better
understanding is also needed of the challenges and unintended consequences of digital
learning and working, including the need for informed consent and other privacy and data
protection issues. While general in focus, this paper specifically considers a case-study
university in the UK.
Abstract:
Purpose: This article investigates some ongoing issues faced by Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs) having to rapidly move their teaching online during the early stages of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach: The article incorporates a review of academic and
policy literature concerning digitalisation and online learning in universities, and qualitative
interviews with staff involved in online teaching and learning at a university in Scotland.
Findings: For most HEIs and organisations across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has
accelerated the speed at which digitalisation and digital ways of working have been embedded
in organisational life and service delivery including new ways of learning and working. This has
led to a recognition of the need for practically-focused, effective inclusive digital interventions.
A range of initiatives have been developed or accelerated in response to the pandemic are
discussed. These should be explicitly designed and implemented to also reach individuals from
disadvantaged backgrounds, including those with low skill levels or qualifications and older
1
Acknowledgements: The work for this article was part-funded by the EU ERASMUS+KA2, Project No. 2019-1-
RO01-KA203-063214, entitled ESCALATE (https://escalate.projects.uvt.ro/). We are extremely grateful to our
project partners and to local experts and colleagues at the case study university, who shared their knowledge of
policy and practice concerning digitalisation and employability in HEI. We also wish to thank anonymous referees
for their comments.
age groups. Effort is also needed by policy-makers and HEIs to better understand the
challenges and unintended consequences that digital learning and working poses.
Originality/value of the paper: This article provides an analysis of the processes, issues
and impacts associated with the rapid shift to digitisation in HEIs at a point in time shortly
following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It raises issues around inclusivity
of online learning, pedagogic issues, unintended consequences of digitalisation and
privacy issues when moving to online teaching relevant both during the pandemic and in
the longer term.
Research limitations/implications: More research is needed into the methods and
implications of increased online teaching. The range of interviewees is limited to one main
organisation. A wider range of staff, students, HEIs and other types of organisation would
add additional insights.
Practical implications: Insights from interviews highlight a number of institutional
responses to digitalisation, which were accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. These
identify learning and reflection points for HEIs moving to enhanced online teaching
provision.
1. Introduction:
Digitalisation is transforming the skills needed by the world’s young and working populations if
they are to successfully engage in a globalised modern economy. It is also changing the way
students learn and the ways institutions deliver education. As digitalisation remains high on
national, regional and international agendas, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the
globe are undergoing constant transformation in order to respond to the needs of the societies
and labour markets. It is posited, that for universities to remain relevant, they must develop
capabilities that match the needs of the digital age. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced HEIs,
as well as governments, businesses and other institutions, to rapidly increase their provision
of digital services, and in doing so accelerated a number of existing trends. This has meant
moving student support, teaching and research, into online formats, requiring different
methods, processes and skillsets (Ali, 2020; Webb et al., 2020).
HEIs have had to rapidly evolve their digital strategies and the digital literacy and skills of their
staff in order to respond to the current demands for online delivery and global digital
connectivity. However, prior to the onset of COVID-19, innovative learning and teaching was
increasingly utilising modern digital technologies. The expectation that HEIs will act as key
drivers for developing digital skills in society has led many of them to embed digitalisation in
the curriculum and capitalise on opportunities that a digital sophisticated university can bring
to staff and students. In this respect, the digitalisation of higher education offers new innovating
ways of delivering teaching and learning, as well as new ways of organising and managing
taught processes.
However, increasing online delivery also raises concerns about the ‘datafication’ and
automation of higher education provision, where students and staff will be subject to greater
digital scrutiny and transparency and where more educational tasks can be automated
(Williamson, 2017, 2020). The long-term effects of the dash to digitalisation also raises
questions about which short-term adaptations are likely to become permanent, or whether they
will be discarded or amended after the pandemic. A significant concern emerges in relation to
whether recent practices will lead to fundamental and deep-rooted changes in the ways that
education and learning are realised. Other ‘unintended consequences’ include inequalities in
access to educational opportunities, effects on types and content of learning materials and
approaches to learning, the effects of being ‘locked-in’ to specific technologies, software and
private companies, which may create future ‘path dependencies’, and the effects of different
digital resources on competition between universities. Additionally, there are a range of issues
relating to data protection, privacy, surveillance (of staff and students), cyber-security and the
ethical aspects of student attendance and performance monitoring practices (see for example:
Vance and Tucker, 2016; Williamson, 2020), all of which need to be understood in more detail.
This article investigates some of the issues faced by UK, and specifically Scottish, HEIs when
rapidly moving their teaching online during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March
2020. The next section presents an overview of broad national digitalisation policy, followed
by a section on the specific higher education context for the accelerated move to online
teaching, specifically in Scotland and the rest of the UK. The case of an unnamed Scottish
university is then presented as an example of evolving digitally informed teaching and learning
practices implemented during the early disruptive period of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is
followed by a discussion of the impacts and consequences of rapidly moving to an online
digitised teaching and learning environment, and some concluding comments.
2. Digitalisation in the UK and Scotland:
Enhancing innovation and increasing productivity are seen as key driving forces to achieving
social and economic prosperity. As a result of the evolving digital landscape and advances in
technology, a number of jobs are likely to change, disappear or be transformed in the coming
decades. Potentially, up to 30% of UK jobs are at high risk of automation by the early 2030s,
a figure that is lower than the US (38%) or Germany (35%), but higher than Japan (21%)
(Berriman and Hawksworth, 2017), and in Scotland it has been estimated that over 46% of
jobs i are at high risk of automation (Thomas and Gunson, 2017). These trends are likely to
affect some social groups more than others, with young people and women likely to be
disproportionately affected (Arntz et al., 2016; ONS, 2019; Servoz, 2019).
The UK is ranked eighth of the 28 European Union (EU) Member States in the European
Commission Digital Economy and Society Index 2020
2
(DESI, 2020), but still faces a digital
skills gap. As digital employment is predicted to rise, related skills shortages are predicted to
increase and will continue to impact businesses and productivity. Overall, in the UK, 74% of
the population are judged to have basic digital skills, compared to an EU average of 58%, with
49% of the population estimated to have above basic digital skills (see Department for
Education, 2019), compared to the EU average of 33%. Despite strong demand for Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) graduates, the UK scores (3.8%) just above the EU
average of 3.6% of all UK graduates graduating with an ICT degree, Similar shortages are
observed across e-commerce and other growing sectors which rely on advanced digital,
technological and analytical skills.
The Scottish Government’s digital strategy sets out their vision of Scotland as an inclusive,
ethical, innovative and productive digital nation (Scottish Government, 2017). This rests on an
aspiration to “harness the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
to increase
economic and social prosperity” (SCDI, 2019, p.2). The strategy promises investment in the
connectivity, digital infrastructure and digital skills development of individuals, communities
and organisations. It also highlights technological ambitions to drive further developments in
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and to capitalise on growth attributed to the
data revolution. Some initiatives to tackle the digital skills gap and digital connectivity,
improving the nation’s digital capability and reducing digital exclusion, have been already set
up. These include a new E-commerce Institute, multiple digital hubs, and local and national
Digital Skills Partnerships which bring together regional businesses, large employers, charities,
and public sector organisations to tackle local digital skills challenges and build thriving and
inclusive local economies (House of Commons, 2018; Webb, 2020). Scottish universities are
responding to these demands, with national and local practices aimed at improving the digital
skills of students and staff, and offering competitive and demand-driven programmes in ICT,
AI, Data Science, and Cybersecurity. They are also embedding digital skills and competencies
more widely throughout the university curricula.
Scottish policies (for example, Scottish Government, 2018) echo UK-wide policies and
strategies, and include a promise for significant investment in education, training and support
for equalising access to good employment opportunities and the supporting development of
digital and cognitive technology skills. These policies are also aligned with the European
Union’s digital competency framework, which includes five key dimensions for realising the
2
The Digital Economy and Society Index is a composite index published annually by the European Commission. It
measures the progress made by EU Member States towards a digital economy and society, bringing together a set
of relevant indicators.
opportunities offered by digitalisation (Table 1). They include both physical and technological
aspects (connectivity such as broadband and the integration of digital technology, including e-
commerce), alongside more people orientated human capital factors (such as e-skills), and the
use of digital services by individuals (citizens' use of internet and eGovernment services).
Table 1: Principal Policy Areas of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI)
1 Connectivity
Fixed broadband take-up, fixed broadband coverage,
mobile broadband and broadband prices
2 Human capital
Internet user skills and advanced skills
3 Use of Internet
Citizens’ use of Internet services and online
transactions
4 Integration of digital technology
Business digitisation and e-commerce
5 Digital public services
e-Government
Source: Adapted from the Digital Economy and Society Index (2020) (see:
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/digcomp/digital-competence-framework)
Skills and digitalisation:
There are various analyses about the effects of automation on workforces and on learning
(Wharhurst and Hunt, 2019). Bughin et al. (2018) predict that, in addition to digital skills, social
and emotional intelligence
3
and higher cognitive skills
4
will grow in demand over the coming
decade due to automation. Jobs requiring caring, creativity and/or emotional and social
intelligence, will be less affected by Artificial Intelligence or extensive automation, as machines
cannot yet match uniquely human interactions and performance in these roles. Global
projections expect greater demand for: healthcare providers; professionals such as engineers,
scientists and analysts; IT professionals and other technology specialists; managers and
executives; educators; and, people in creative industries (artists, performers and entertainers)
(Manyika et al., 2017). It is anticipated, that economies like the UK and USA, where creative
occupations make up a large part of the workforce, may be better placed than others to deal
with the predicted disruption of future employment (Bakhshi, Frey and Osborne, 2015). In the
currently polarised labour market, the dangers of automation are being associated with a range
of occupations, not only low-waged jobs. Workers in these jobs may need to reallocate to roles
3
Social and emotional skills: including entrepreneurship and initiative taking, leadership and managing
others, advanced communication and negotiation skills, adaptability and continuous learning,
interpersonal skills and teaching and training others.
4
Higher cognitive skills: including creativity, complex information processing and interpretation, critical
thinking and decision making, project management and quantitative and statistical skills.
