Advance HE welcomes the OfS’s review of digital teaching and learning in English higher education announced today. Clearly it’s vital that no student transitioning into and through higher education is disadvantaged through a lack of access to digital technologies, and all students should expect an excellent online teaching and learning experience.
In our 2020 Student Academic Experience Survey published with HEPI, we found that 90% of students report basic technology is used in their teaching but where advanced technology is used (7%), significantly more students say they would choose the same course and university again – a strong endorsement of how using the right technology, which complements the subject matter, can make a material difference to how students view their experiences.
Covid-19 has clearly brought additional urgency to addressing digital provision. In early July, Advance HE published the full report from our ‘Creating Socially Distanced Campuses and Education Project’ which addressed important questions of how, in a time of crisis, “do we also focus our attention on how we can transform online spaces, re-evaluate their appropriateness/effectiveness and thereby the balance between online and physical interaction, and ensure transformational leadership.” And last week, we shared our approach on how we will support the sector in high quality teaching and learning in the ‘new normal’ where blended, hybrid and online learning approaches will become the norm for institutions.
We look forward to the opportunity to contribute to this new review.