4. Programmed pedagogic environments

moving forward. Already, many HE institutions are feeling the pressure to adopt ‘micro’ credentials, where courses could be selected on an ad-hoc basis by students and professionals to continually up-skill in the digital economy.150

4. Programmed pedagogic environments

Commercial edtech platforms are often shaped by particular conceptions of teaching and learning. Tools such as learning management systems, online learning platforms, and virtual video conferencing facilities carry their own ‘programmed pedagogies’, or scripts for teaching and learning that are embodied in their technical functionality, and that configure the pedagogic and curricular possibilities of educators:

The commercial logic of the Big Tech companies is built into the tools, and these also partly determine which forms of education are possible. ... Big Tech platforms place and keep users within a single environment, with only a small number of standardised forms of expression and interaction on offer. This promotes uniformity and conformity. If we find that PowerPoint has impoverished academic discourse, what will be the effect if we deliver all education through the template offered by Blackboard or ‘G Suite for Education’?151

There is a need to ensure that education doesn’t become linear as oneway delivery of content from lecturer (through commercial platforms) to students in these programmed pedagogic environments. Part of the issue in the rapid uptake of online learning by HE systems during the pandemic has been that faculty members have been responsible for pivoting their practice online without formal training and support, nor sufficient time and resources. Recent findings from a number of student surveys have suggested that they have found online learning to be of lesser quality than face-to-face instruction.152 This isn’t surprising given most institutions made the switch to online learning in a matter of days. Students are also reporting ill effects of self-isolation, missing opportunities for face to face collaboration with lecturers, and social interactions with other students. Similarly, there are suggestions from students that it is harder to stay motivated on their academic work in a fully online environment.

150 Gallagher, S. and Palmer, J. 2020, 29 Sep. The pandemic pushed universities online. The change was long overdue. Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2020/09/the-pandemic-pushed-universities-online-the-change-was-long-overdue 151 Data Research Centre, University of Groningen. 2020. Distance learning: what will remain of university education after the pandemic? GUNI Network: http://www.guninetwork.org/files/distance_learning_what_will_remain_of_university_education_ after_the_pandemic_drc_campus_fryslan.pdf 152 The Three Amigos. 2020, 3 Aug. 65% of students dislike virtual learning environments necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. PR Newswire: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/65-of-students-dislike-virtual-learning-environmentsnecessitated-by-the-COVID-19-pandemic-301104861.html