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Everything changes! – and so it did! – and so it has! – and – so it will! … So where do we go from here?
In this session, we will examine research conducted by an economics professor during the pandemic and the innovative approaches to Web 2.0 integration that allowed student engagement to soar during the lockdown and beyond.
.Everyone keeps saying this is the new normal, and the reality is – This is most certainly true! Things will never go back to the way that they were pre-pandemic. The pandemic has opened our eyes to the opportunity to engage students and use technology to better communicate better and share our thoughts so that we can be more effective and intentional so that our teaching is even more student centered in the future.
The literature echoes this, pointing to the student of the future as one who is interested in being involved as an active participant rather than just a consumer of content (Mandernach, 2022). Full engagement is truly their priority.
As educators, we should be creating disruptive thinkers, who:
- Are effective communicators
- Are engaged in regular class participation
- Communicate analytical concepts
- Are creative
- Take initiative
- Learn by doing
- Step up and ask big questions
- Become leaders
In other words, moving forward there is a shift toward -‘What can I start doing today, that I wasn’t necessarily doing yesterday that will help my students?’ During the pandemic, this meant simulating the traditional face to face (synchronous) environment.
A growing body of research has focused on the pivot that the world has made because of the pandemic (Cronin & Hammond, 2021; Neel, 2022; Seminoff, 2021; West, 2021). As a result, we see that the pandemic has changed the way that even more students want to receive education (Mandernach, 2022). In this session we will review findings from this case research as well as highlight the latest academic post pandemic related research.
It is important to remember that we as educators are the solution. It’s not about us – it’s about our students. We are here to help prepare students for the next phase of their lives. The pandemic has left every one of us in a very different place today emotionally, physically, and spiritually, then we were two years ago – and the same is true for everyone that we know – including our students. The opportunity now, is for us to pivot from here and move forward with what has been learned.
Everything changes, and so must we. Recommendations and best practices for Faculty, Administrators, and Curriculum Developers will be provided in the context of student engagement in the classroom. Best practices that allow for innovative approaches to Web 2.0 integration that allowed student engagement will be included in addition to discussion of research findings.