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Faced with the outbreak of the pandemic, Chinese government quickly postponed the opening of schools and advocated “classes suspended but learning continues” project through online learning. In order to understand the teaching effect of online learning and explore a possible transformation of the application of educational information technology in the future, questionnaires have been used in this study to collect data of students, principals, and teachers across China. Most students and principals are satisfied with online learning, while teachers suggest that it is considerably difficult to teach online. Meanwhile, students, schools, and teachers are facing problems, including insufficient adaptation to online learning methods, poor learning quality, imperfect information infrastructure, insufficient learning resources, and so on. Based on the results, the authors propose to explore systematic solutions to guarantee a fair and high-quality development of online teaching. For one thing, the whole education system must ensure the fairness of learning conditions, encourage all-round development, and promote school–home cooperation. For another thing, it is necessary to clarify the connotation of online learning, guarantee the construction of information infrastructure, provide training in information technology and classroom management capabilities, and improve the evaluation system of online learning activities.

‘I like the fact that it's simple; I like the fact that it's not too complicated, and I think that whoever developed it, developed it with the people in mind’. Blended learning master's student talking about Solent Online Learning.The authors carried out an extended project aimed at making effective use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for the delivery of high-quality online distance and blended learning. This was in response to a greater demand for such courses through the emergence of a new constituency of learner, principally professional learners, those already in employment but seeking to improve their level of qualification and employability through the study of flexibly delivered credit bearing courses. The growth of this constituency can be seen very much as a response to the changes to the funding structure in the higher education sector in the UK. To this end, the authors worked within a team that developed an approach to effective course design, the Solent Online Learning Standard, and then a new methodology for collaborating with academic staff in the development and delivery of such courses. In order to best facilitate this, the team also created a new instance of its institutional VLE, called Solent Online Learning and tailored more to the needs of these new professional learners.

During the Covid-19 crisis, schools around the world at all levels had to respond to the situation most often without any preparation or time to reorganize their teaching. This chapter investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic amplified the need for equity and how teacher agency evolved through this time period. The study was qualitative and data were collected from 29 individuals from the same number of countries through narratives, and virtual interviews written responses to semi-structured questions. This chapter focuses on two main concepts: equity and agency. The authors met 18 times to work with the data, clarifying understanding of concepts, analyzing meanings, and writing up findings. Findings indicate that equity of access to online teaching and learning was a major challenge during the early stages of the pandemic lockdowns. However, many universities initiated some innovative strategies to minimize the inequities created by the migration to online learning platforms. Both educators' and students' agency evolved during the online and digital tuition provisions and made some agentic decisions that impacted their teaching and learning, respectively. During the Covid-19 pandemic, educators had much to say about their teaching online. Their experience and thinking can be leveraged in discussions about the best way forward after the pandemic experience. The mutual learning that we experienced collaborating internationally in this study points to the significance of using online facility to create and enhance solidarity among educators globally.

This chapter highlights our survey that identifies faculty recommendations for incorporating emerging digital technologies to deliver eLearning content in online courses that help students learn more effectively. Results from the survey, which includes a sample of 478 online faculty at two higher education institutions, are presented.

In the findings of the survey, respondents identified several instructional technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and artificial intelligence (AI) as being on the cusp of changing learner engagement options and could soon become standard tools for the online course environment. While respondents predict an acceleration of new technology activity, they also caution that these technologies need a strong pedagogical foundation to match student needs and generate new use-learning real case scenarios.

This sentiment implies a more systematic approach to problem-solving that follows a process of identifying and refining multiple options to determine best practices for faculty preparation and staff development. The results of the survey included in this chapter are a directional means to help instructors and course designers explain what is relevant and exciting about techniques that can be employed and identify and use the emerging technological tools that enhance the delivery of instruction while meeting the ever-changing and dynamic needs of today’s learners.

Faced with the existential threat of COVID-19, the College of Business Administration (CBA) at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) decided to work toward the dual goals to achieve accreditation and an effective social and educational response to the pandemic. CBA’s quality improvement process was implemented synergistically with Seligman’s (2011) PERMA well-being model, namely positive emotions, engagement, relationship, meaning, and accomplishment/achievement. The case study methodology, which was based on direct observations, faculty and students’ interviews, surveys, feedback, documents, and archival data records, allowed to capture the context and lived reality of all the participants in QAA processes. Results showed that quality improvement was facilitated through three domains: (1) governance and academic leadership, (2) teaching and learning, and (3) digitalization and technology. Within each domain, specific programs, activities, human resources, and networks were enabled through a framework based on the PERMA well-being model. As a result of this hybrid QAA well-being implementation process, CBA achieved NCAAA accreditation for its offered programs, while experiencing high levels of well-being and commitment to teaching and learning by the staff members and students. The description of CBA’s accreditation journey might be insightful for other higher education institutions (HEIs).

In this chapter, the author examines Student2Scholar (S2S), an online e-learning resource for graduate students in the social sciences, as a case study that coalesces around effective learning design, innovation, and collaboration to meet and overcome the changes, challenges, and opportunities that have arisen in the twenty-first century. The author provides an overview of the S2S project, including an examination of the key design choices and pedagogy which were both strategic and critical in setting the foundation for effective learning in an online environment. This chapter also examines different elements of the project with a focus on the structure, purpose, and goals specific to a limited budget and a tight project timeline. A unique aspect of the project was the collaboration in and across three Canadian universities. The diverse project group of experts and important contributions by the team members played a significant role in creating a richer and more innovative product. These elements combined in such a way that led to the successful creation and launch of S2S, an award-winning e-learning resource.

This chapter provides guidelines and strategies for higher education faculty and faculty developers who wish to implement inquiry-based teaching models online. The chapter focuses on two specific inquiry-based (IB) instructional models: guided and open inquiry as these two models are considered more relevant to higher education students. The chapter will present validated processes for implementing IB teaching models and consider how these processes can be authentically replicated in online learning environments. The chapter will also examine issues and challenges involved in implementing IB teaching models online. Grounded in the challenges that faculty face in translating their instructional practice in online environments, the chapter suggests strategies and interactive tools to scaffold and model IB learning in online environments.

The purpose of this chapter is to share the structure and strategies that institutions can use to transform the experience of students learning at a distance. Details on how one of the largest educational systems in the United States, the State University of New York (SUNY), reshaped the student online learning experience via the “Open SUNY” model will be described. Specific strategies for infusing existing models of support with new ways of thinking will be explained.

In particular, this chapter will explore the infrastructure of the Open SUNY model of collaboration, the use of the Open SUNY Institutional Readiness approach for preparing colleges to deliver quality online programming, and the unique Open SUNY+ Signature Element program for assessing the quality of online programming and support structures.

This chapter will also highlight the efforts of one campus, SUNY Canton, to leverage Open SUNY and take its signature element on student engagement to the next level. A case study on Canton will show how the campus incorporated online students in all aspects of campus life to reduce student isolation. Specific online student engagement strategies will be provided.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional format which emphasizes collaborative and contextual learning and hence has favored face-to-face course design. However, with the plentitude of online tools which technology offers nowadays, PBL courses can also be effectively offered to students who cannot physically be present at the campus. The change process from offline to hybrid, blended, or online PBL courses need to be carefully managed and the right combination of technology and learning activities selected from the ever increasing available set. Hybrid, blended, or online courses differ in the amount of integration between offline and online activities. A mixed-method design was used to elaborate on how the different (hybrid, blended, or online) PBL courses can be effectively build and taught to create learner engagement. Twelve people (change agent, instructor, and participants) were interviewed and 82 students filled out a course evaluation form. The data was used to describe how a hybrid, blended, or online course was created and how the instructor and students perceived it. Instructional and change management implications for implementation are presented. Instructional implications deal with the needs of the learner, the role of the instructor, and the importance of sound technology integration in the course. Change management implication highlights the need to foster intra-institutional collaboration.

In Japan, virtual exchange and mobility are regarded as an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic and as alternatives to international learning through physical mobility. International educators express concerns that online international learning methods may fade away after physical student mobility resumes on a larger scale. However, it is crucial for universities to leverage newly developed online learning tools after the pandemic in order to offer inclusive international education which reaches the larger student pool who are unable to study abroad. Now is the time to reflect on how international education policy and practice have relied excessively on cross-border student mobility. In turn, it will be important to position ICT-based educational practices as an opportunity to create new value and meaning for international education in an environmentally friendly and low-cost manner in the new normal world. Also, in Japan, internationalization at home was not addressed to any great extent before the pandemic. However, there is an increasing awareness that ICT-based international education can effectively contribute to the expansion of internationalization at home. Adapting to the new normal situation requires a new modality of internationalization, and it will have a significant impact on the attractiveness of higher education in the country.