Global Shutdown: Voices from Universities Around the World
Brautlacht, Regina
Martins, Lurdes
Owino, Joseph
Hulme, Wendi
Digital technologies have had a great impact on higher education institutions (HEI) in recent years, but COVID-19 has propelled the integration of technology into the education sector worldwide. This panel discussion will give an account of different university stories from Europe, North America, and Africa. Universities were faced with the task of offering online or blended learning scenarios overnight. What effects did the shutdown have on their country’s educational sector and HEI? How was digitalization perceived after the lockdown? How did the institution deal with transforming their traditional classes? Are there state or federal policies in place that support and provide mechanisms to address technical issues, social inequalities, accessibility issues and training for faculty and staff? What are the biggest challenges in digital learning that need to be overcome? What lessons were learned and how can we learn from each other. Global learning and virtual exchange can offer new opportunities for the global educational community? Can COVID-19 be a blessing in disguise for the educational community? What lies ahead and is there going to be a “new normal” after this crisis has died down? Each panelist will present a short brief about the educational policies in their respective country by highlighting how their HEI tackled the enormous challenges caused by the pandemic since March 2020. We will hear voices from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (Portugal), Conestoga College, Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning (Canada), Middle Tennessee State University (USA), University of Cape Coast (Ghana), and University of Nairobi (Kenya).
 Let me share with you the policies developed by the University of Nairobi, likely support technical support to the learners and the students. There is also infrastructure support like buying of equipment and teaching materials. There is also policies that have been developed to support teaching and learning, orientation of new students and how examinations and graduations are supposed to be conducted virtually. Mandelists, we in Kenya still experience a plethora of challenges such as over internet connectivity, high scope of internet and data patterns, especially for students that are coming from very poor families and here are smart devices among students. Main platforms that have been used are Google Meet, Google Classroom, Zoom, Facebook and Google. Thank you very much and that is the Kenyan perspective. Okay, so I'm going now to give you an overview about the situation in Portugal and give you specific examples of what is happening at the Bologet Technique Institute of Visio. At the 45 day lockdown we went through in Portugal brought about many challenges in education and in order to mitigate the impact of the lockdown the government allocated 500 million for digital learning aimed at capacity building, content creation, upgrading or purchasing new equipment and improving the network infrastructure. Adding to that professional Zoom was made available for all higher education institutions and several marketing campaigns have been launched to disseminate the Portuguese digital tracking applications stay away COVID among higher education students. Well now moving on to the impact of the pandemic on mobility. As far as Erasmus Plus mobility is concerned at IPV the number of upcoming students decreased by 50% and the number of outgoing students witnessed a dramatic fall. Surprisingly there was an increase in the number of international students. All these students come from Portuguese speaking countries but there is the risk that some might face challenges getting their visa on time so which this means that this might not be an increase in fact. Also there was an increase in domestic enrollment in Portugal we got the highest number in 25 years. Right now at the IPV we have just started the new semester so it started a week ago and it's going to be delivered mostly face to face so according to the national accreditation agency only 25% of the number of a CTS can be done online. However the emerging risks of a second pandemic wave post significant challenges so right now we're concerned about the capacity in lecture theaters that is why students can now have classes until late in the evening and on Saturday. How to prevent further exposure if a case is identified on site and how to work collaboratively in the classroom when students need to keep social distancing. Well right now in Portugal most decisions related to teaching approach are totally dependent on room capacity. To give you an example in the degree in tourism in the first year some courses are entirely online others are taught in a hybrid format in which groups alternate each 15 days between online and face to face but for example second and third year students are their classes are entirely face to face. As this unicycle metaphor illustrates each one is peddling alone and there is the need for specific guidelines either at national or institutional level because even though some faculty and some institutions are peddling like mad others go against the wind and this way we don't seem to be getting anywhere. Among the major challenges we have now campus management and program delivery and these are mostly also pedagogical challenges. At IPV a great percentage of faculty were reluctant about having to deliver programs online and so I believe capacity building needs to go far beyond using some technological tools but it should also focus on critical digital pedagogy and the new skills and the literacy needed to teach and learn during the pandemic. So this is my final question are we preparing for and shaping the next normal or getting back to the same old normal? I think the way institutions respond will determine their future and the decisions made during this recovery phase we are now could distinguish them in the future. Thank you. Okay so thank you very much at the end we're going to invite you to discuss with us the following four questions and also please go ahead and ask any questions in the chat. The first question that I have is can COVID-19 be a blessing in disguise for the educational community? The second question is what lies ahead especially this semester? The third one is they are going to be a new normal for us and finally what are the lessons learned? So I'm going to ask Joseph O'Wheeno, Dr. O'Wheeno can COVID-19 be a blessing in disguise for the education community? Very true. COVID-19 for Africa is a huge blessing. You know before COVID-19 virtual learning or teaching was not really appreciated and we believe so much in in-person learning but we have learned very difficult and painful lessons that we have to integrate virtual learning in our curriculum moving forward COVID-19 actually have forced government and institutions to adopt blended learning and for us I think in Africa we see it as a blessing. Thank you very much. So I feel that knowing all the panelists that very similar reactions across the world. So what lies ahead for us when we look at Portugal with a requirement for accreditation that they have to be more or less in class that sounds really challenging. So what are your plans now with 25% only online and the numbers of COVID cases are increasing in Portugal? Is that correct? It is correct and it's been a challenge but that we're trying to learn. It's just the first week of classes where we'll already have some students who tested positive. So also some faculty members so and we believe it will be impossible to be to have physical classes the whole semester also because we don't have spaces which allow groups of students to be in class keeping social distancing but a lot of people are reluctant in getting back not just faculty but also politicians so that we face a lot of pressure into face-to-face classes so it's been everywhere. So on the part of students, on the part of faculty and also on the part of the government. Okay we have just about two more minutes before we open up for questions so we're very good on time. I would also like to ask is there going to be a new normal for us Wendy in Canada? Yes absolutely. I think what happened was this really highlighted for administrators and higher education institutions the importance of digitalization and globalization. So I think what ends up happening is because of this realization of access throughout the entire world and potentially for us international students I think that this is a new normal. I think that I think we have a new normal. I think that this digitalization into education is not going to go away. I just think there needs to be a balance. Okay very good and then lessons learned. So I would like to go to to the United States to Professor Julian. What are some of the lessons learned from all of this? We were in March I believe all together. Wendy we were all in North Carolina and I barely made it back to Germany on the last flight. So what are the lessons that we've learned since March? Be flexible. That faculty need to be resilient and have a backup plan at all times. Prepare ahead because we all I think we would all agree that we all had to turn around on a dime and immediately have to change what we did. So probably again be creative, be resilient, be flexible, plan ahead. Okay so now I would like to open up the floor for questions for us if there are questions from the from the audience and or also comments that you have on the questions that we have. So I'm trying to see right now everything's sort of I don't really see anything right now. I don't know if you guys are seeing anything. There's no question in the chat right now. Right okay so if there are no questions and I think Amy is also not here or she's there. Okay so I think there are so then I think we can just go ahead and talk for first uh from from our perspective. So um hi Amy is there. So I hope you can hear me now. Yes we can hear you. Yes if I can help you with the question format just let me know otherwise everyone can just type their questions in the box and if you yeah don't need my help then I'll I'll disappear. Okay so um because I I see that there's no one asking any specific question. So then we can just basically um say from our side that um uh we wanted to share these stories. We've been online we work on several virtual projects. We've been online for the last months uh together and always had updates country updates we call them country updates and um we saw how different approaches and there are a lot of similarities in how our universities are dealing with it. We all have committees or some don't. What is a little bit um well shocking to me was that in Ghana there was no specific funding at all for any kind of crisis for the education sector and the higher education sector. In Kenya that's a little bit different so um there but I think we all um have moved on. We have moved on to digital classrooms and um in this semester we're going to continue with hybrid solutions um and some totally digital solutions and um um it's all possible and I think we need to think of all the mobility that is right now. Yeah um at the moment students are not able to go to different countries and I think especially in Canada and the United States that's a significant income for the universities which is a big issue and there we need to be more flexible to offer um also these students opportunities to attend online classes so um we have a lot of shared challenges that we're working on and um we seem to be moving at a high speed and for us here we would like to thank all of you for listening and um we enjoyed sharing our stories with you and we wish you a pleasant afternoon in North America and evening in Germany. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So thank you everyone and thank you also for your patience at the beginning. It was really enjoyable to hear from such a cross-section of voices from around the world. I'm glad also thank you to Regina for stepping in when the audio was recorded. That's that's live with these live events. Absolutely. Thank you. Good. Yes so thank you all from uh from the organizers and um I will end the session. Enjoy the rest of the festival.
 Let me share with you the policies developed by the University of Nairobi,  likely support technical support to the learners and the students.  There is also infrastructure support like buying of equipment and teaching materials.  There is also policies that have been developed to support teaching and learning,  orientation of new students and how examinations and graduations are supposed to be conducted  virtually. Mandelists, we in Kenya still experience a plethora of challenges such as  over internet connectivity, high scope of internet and data patterns, especially for students that  are coming from very poor families and here are smart devices among students.  Main platforms that have been used are Google Meet, Google Classroom, Zoom, Facebook and Google.  Thank you very much and that is the Kenyan perspective.  Okay, so I'm going now to give you an overview about the situation in Portugal and give you  specific examples of what is happening at the Bologet Technique Institute of Visio.  At the 45 day lockdown we went through in Portugal brought about many challenges in education and  in order to mitigate the impact of the lockdown the government allocated 500 million for digital  learning aimed at capacity building, content creation, upgrading or purchasing new equipment  and improving the network infrastructure. Adding to that professional Zoom was made available for  all higher education institutions and several marketing campaigns have been launched to disseminate  the Portuguese digital tracking applications stay away COVID among higher education students.  Well now moving on to the impact of the pandemic on mobility. As far as Erasmus Plus mobility is  concerned at IPV the number of upcoming students decreased by 50% and the number of outgoing  students witnessed a dramatic fall. Surprisingly there was an increase in the number of international  students. All these students come from Portuguese speaking countries but there is the risk that  some might face challenges getting their visa on time so which this means that this might not be  an increase in fact. Also there was an increase in domestic enrollment in Portugal we got the  highest number in 25 years. Right now at the IPV we have just started the new semester so it started  a week ago and it's going to be delivered mostly face to face so according to the national  accreditation agency only 25% of the number of a CTS can be done online. However the emerging risks  of a second pandemic wave post significant challenges so right now we're concerned about the  capacity in lecture theaters that is why students can now have classes until late in the evening  and on Saturday. How to prevent further exposure if a case is identified on site and how to work  collaboratively in the classroom when students need to keep social distancing. Well right now  in Portugal most decisions related to teaching approach are totally dependent on room capacity.  To give you an example in the degree in tourism in the first year some courses are entirely online  others are taught in a hybrid format in which groups alternate each 15 days between online and  face to face but for example second and third year students are their classes are entirely  face to face. As this unicycle metaphor illustrates each one is peddling alone and there is the  need for specific guidelines either at national or institutional level because even though some  faculty and some institutions are peddling like mad others go against the wind and this way we  don't seem to be getting anywhere. Among the major challenges we have now campus management  and program delivery and these are mostly also pedagogical challenges. At IPV a great percentage  of faculty were reluctant about having to deliver programs online and so I believe capacity building  needs to go far beyond using some technological tools but it should also focus on critical  digital pedagogy and the new skills and the literacy needed to teach and learn during the  pandemic. So this is my final question are we preparing for and shaping the next normal  or getting back to the same old normal? I think the way institutions respond will determine their  future and the decisions made during this recovery phase we are now could distinguish them in the  future. Thank you. Okay so thank you very much at the end we're going to invite you to discuss  with us the following four questions and also please go ahead and ask any questions in the chat.  The first question that I have is can COVID-19 be a blessing in disguise for the educational  community? The second question is what lies ahead especially this semester? The third one is they  are going to be a new normal for us and finally what are the lessons learned? So I'm going to ask  Joseph O'Wheeno, Dr. O'Wheeno can COVID-19 be a blessing in disguise for the education community?  Very true. COVID-19 for Africa is a huge blessing. You know before COVID-19  virtual learning or teaching was not really appreciated and we believe so much in in-person  learning but we have learned very difficult and painful lessons that we have to integrate  virtual learning in our curriculum moving forward COVID-19 actually have forced government  and institutions to adopt blended learning and for us I think in Africa we see it as a blessing.  Thank you very much. So I feel that knowing all the panelists that very similar reactions across  the world. So what lies ahead for us when we look at Portugal with a requirement for accreditation  that they have to be more or less in class that sounds really challenging. So what are  your plans now with 25% only online and the numbers of COVID cases are increasing in Portugal? Is  that correct? It is correct and it's been a challenge but that we're trying to learn. It's  just the first week of classes where we'll already have some students who tested positive. So also  some faculty members so and we believe it will be impossible to be to have physical classes the  whole semester also because we don't have spaces which allow groups of students to be in class  keeping social distancing but a lot of people are reluctant in getting back not just faculty but  also politicians so that we face a lot of pressure into face-to-face classes so it's been everywhere.  So on the part of students, on the part of faculty and also on the part of the government.  Okay we have just about two more minutes before we open up for questions so we're very good on time.  I would also like to ask is there going to be a new normal for us Wendy in Canada?  Yes absolutely. I think what happened was this really highlighted for administrators and higher  education institutions the importance of digitalization and globalization. So I think what ends up  happening is because of this realization of access throughout the entire world and potentially for  us international students I think that this is a new normal. I think that I think we have a new  normal. I think that this digitalization into education is not going to go away. I just think  there needs to be a balance. Okay very good and then lessons learned. So I would like to go to  to the United States to Professor Julian. What are some of the lessons learned from all of this?  We were in March I believe all together. Wendy we were all in North Carolina and I barely made it  back to Germany on the last flight. So what are the lessons that we've learned since March?  Be flexible. That faculty need to be resilient and have a backup plan at all times.  Prepare ahead because we all I think we would all agree that we all had to turn around on a dime  and immediately have to change what we did. So probably again be creative, be resilient,  be flexible, plan ahead. Okay so now I would like to open up the floor for questions for us if there  are questions from the from the audience and or also comments that you have on the questions that  we have. So I'm trying to see right now everything's sort of I don't really see anything right now.  I don't know if you guys are seeing anything. There's no question in the chat right now.  Right okay so if there are no questions and I think Amy is also not here or she's there.  Okay so I think there are so then I think we can just go ahead and talk for first  uh from from our perspective. So um hi Amy is there. So I hope you can hear me now.  Yes we can hear you. Yes if I can help you with the question format just let me know otherwise  everyone can just type their questions in the box and if you yeah don't need my help then I'll  I'll disappear. Okay so um because I I see that there's no one asking any specific question.  So then we can just basically um say from our side that um uh we wanted to share these stories.  We've been online we work on several virtual projects. We've been online for the last months  uh together and always had updates country updates we call them country updates and um  we saw how different approaches and there are a lot of similarities in how our universities  are dealing with it. We all have committees or some don't. What is a little bit um well shocking to  me was that in Ghana there was no specific funding at all for any kind of crisis for the  education sector and the higher education sector. In Kenya that's a little bit different so um there  but I think we all um have moved on. We have moved on to digital classrooms and um in this semester  we're going to continue with hybrid solutions um and some totally digital solutions and um  um it's all possible and I think we need to think of all the mobility that is right now.  Yeah um at the moment students are not able to go to different countries and I think  especially in Canada and the United States that's a significant income for the universities which  is a big issue and there we need to be more flexible to offer um also these students opportunities  to attend online classes so um we have a lot of shared challenges that we're working on and um we  seem to be moving at a high speed and for us here we would like to thank all of you for listening  and um we enjoyed sharing our stories with you and we wish you a pleasant afternoon in  North America and evening in Germany. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.  So thank you everyone and thank you also for your patience at the beginning. It was really  enjoyable to hear from such a cross-section of voices from around the world. I'm glad also thank  you to Regina for stepping in when the audio was recorded. That's that's live with these live events.  Absolutely. Thank you. Good. Yes so thank you all from uh from the organizers and um I will end  the session. Enjoy the rest of the festival.
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Let me share with you the policies developed by the University of Nairobi, likely support technical support to the learners and the students. There is also infrastructure support like buying of equipment and teaching materials. There is also policies that have been developed to support teaching and learning, orientation of new students and how examinations and graduations are supposed to be conducted virtually. Mandelists, we in Kenya still experience a plethora of challenges such as over internet connectivity, high scope of internet and data patterns, especially for students that are coming from very poor families and here are smart devices among students. Main platforms that have been used are Google Meet, Google Classroom, Zoom, Facebook and Google. Thank you very much and that is the Kenyan perspective. Okay, so I'm going now to give you an overview about the situation in Portugal and give you specific examples of what is happening at the Bologet Technique Institute of Visio. At the 45 day lockdown we went through in Portugal brought about many challenges in education and in order to mitigate the impact of the lockdown the government allocated 500 million for digital learning aimed at capacity building, content creation, upgrading or purchasing new equipment and improving the network infrastructure. Adding to that professional Zoom was made available for all higher education institutions and several marketing campaigns have been launched to disseminate the Portuguese digital tracking applications stay away COVID among higher education students. Well now moving on to the impact of the pandemic on mobility. As far as Erasmus Plus mobility is concerned at IPV the number of upcoming students decreased by 50% and the number of outgoing students witnessed a dramatic fall. Surprisingly there was an increase in the number of international students. All these students come from Portuguese speaking countries but there is the risk that some might face challenges getting their visa on time so which this means that this might not be an increase in fact. Also there was an increase in domestic enrollment in Portugal we got the highest number in 25 years. Right now at the IPV we have just started the new semester so it started a week ago and it's going to be delivered mostly face to face so according to the national accreditation agency only 25% of the number of a CTS can be done online. However the emerging risks of a second pandemic wave post significant challenges so right now we're concerned about the capacity in lecture theaters that is why students can now have classes until late in the evening and on Saturday. How to prevent further exposure if a case is identified on site and how to work collaboratively in the classroom when students need to keep social distancing. Well right now in Portugal most decisions related to teaching approach are totally dependent on room capacity. To give you an example in the degree in tourism in the first year some courses are entirely online others are taught in a hybrid format in which groups alternate each 15 days between online and face to face but for example second and third year students are their classes are entirely face to face. As this unicycle metaphor illustrates each one is peddling alone and there is the need for specific guidelines either at national or institutional level because even though some faculty and some institutions are peddling like mad others go against the wind and this way we don't seem to be getting anywhere. Among the major challenges we have now campus management and program delivery and these are mostly also pedagogical challenges. At IPV a great percentage of faculty were reluctant about having to deliver programs online and so I believe capacity building needs to go far beyond using some technological tools but it should also focus on critical digital pedagogy and the new skills and the literacy needed to teach and learn during the pandemic. So this is my final question are we preparing for and shaping the next normal or getting back to the same old normal? I think the way institutions respond will determine their future and the decisions made during this recovery phase we are now could distinguish them in the future. Thank you. Okay so thank you very much at the end we're going to invite you to discuss with us the following four questions and also please go ahead and ask any questions in the chat. The first question that I have is can COVID-19 be a blessing in disguise for the educational community? The second question is what lies ahead especially this semester? The third one is they are going to be a new normal for us and finally what are the lessons learned? So I'm going to ask Joseph O'Wheeno, Dr. O'Wheeno can COVID-19 be a blessing in disguise for the education community? Very true. COVID-19 for Africa is a huge blessing. You know before COVID-19 virtual learning or teaching was not really appreciated and we believe so much in in-person learning but we have learned very difficult and painful lessons that we have to integrate virtual learning in our curriculum moving forward COVID-19 actually have forced government and institutions to adopt blended learning and for us I think in Africa we see it as a blessing. Thank you very much. So I feel that knowing all the panelists that very similar reactions across the world. So what lies ahead for us when we look at Portugal with a requirement for accreditation that they have to be more or less in class that sounds really challenging. So what are your plans now with 25% only online and the numbers of COVID cases are increasing in Portugal? Is that correct? It is correct and it's been a challenge but that we're trying to learn. It's just the first week of classes where we'll already have some students who tested positive. So also some faculty members so and we believe it will be impossible to be to have physical classes the whole semester also because we don't have spaces which allow groups of students to be in class keeping social distancing but a lot of people are reluctant in getting back not just faculty but also politicians so that we face a lot of pressure into face-to-face classes so it's been everywhere. So on the part of students, on the part of faculty and also on the part of the government. Okay we have just about two more minutes before we open up for questions so we're very good on time. I would also like to ask is there going to be a new normal for us Wendy in Canada? Yes absolutely. I think what happened was this really highlighted for administrators and higher education institutions the importance of digitalization and globalization. So I think what ends up happening is because of this realization of access throughout the entire world and potentially for us international students I think that this is a new normal. I think that I think we have a new normal. I think that this digitalization into education is not going to go away. I just think there needs to be a balance. Okay very good and then lessons learned. So I would like to go to to the United States to Professor Julian. What are some of the lessons learned from all of this? We were in March I believe all together. Wendy we were all in North Carolina and I barely made it back to Germany on the last flight. So what are the lessons that we've learned since March? Be flexible. That faculty need to be resilient and have a backup plan at all times. Prepare ahead because we all I think we would all agree that we all had to turn around on a dime and immediately have to change what we did. So probably again be creative, be resilient, be flexible, plan ahead. Okay so now I would like to open up the floor for questions for us if there are questions from the from the audience and or also comments that you have on the questions that we have. So I'm trying to see right now everything's sort of I don't really see anything right now. I don't know if you guys are seeing anything. There's no question in the chat right now. Right okay so if there are no questions and I think Amy is also not here or she's there. Okay so I think there are so then I think we can just go ahead and talk for first uh from from our perspective. So um hi Amy is there. So I hope you can hear me now. Yes we can hear you. Yes if I can help you with the question format just let me know otherwise everyone can just type their questions in the box and if you yeah don't need my help then I'll I'll disappear. Okay so um because I I see that there's no one asking any specific question. So then we can just basically um say from our side that um uh we wanted to share these stories. We've been online we work on several virtual projects. We've been online for the last months uh together and always had updates country updates we call them country updates and um we saw how different approaches and there are a lot of similarities in how our universities are dealing with it. We all have committees or some don't. What is a little bit um well shocking to me was that in Ghana there was no specific funding at all for any kind of crisis for the education sector and the higher education sector. In Kenya that's a little bit different so um there but I think we all um have moved on. We have moved on to digital classrooms and um in this semester we're going to continue with hybrid solutions um and some totally digital solutions and um um it's all possible and I think we need to think of all the mobility that is right now. Yeah um at the moment students are not able to go to different countries and I think especially in Canada and the United States that's a significant income for the universities which is a big issue and there we need to be more flexible to offer um also these students opportunities to attend online classes so um we have a lot of shared challenges that we're working on and um we seem to be moving at a high speed and for us here we would like to thank all of you for listening and um we enjoyed sharing our stories with you and we wish you a pleasant afternoon in North America and evening in Germany. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So thank you everyone and thank you also for your patience at the beginning. It was really enjoyable to hear from such a cross-section of voices from around the world. I'm glad also thank you to Regina for stepping in when the audio was recorded. That's that's live with these live events. Absolutely. Thank you. Good. Yes so thank you all from uh from the organizers and um I will end the session. Enjoy the rest of the festival.
Let me share with you the policies developed by the University of Nairobi, likely support technical support to the learners and the new students and how examinations and graduations going now to give you an overview about the situation in Portugal and give you specific about many challenges in education and in order to mitigate the impact of the lockdown the all higher education institutions and several impact of the pandemic on mobility. As far as online and face to face but for example second and third year students are their classes are though some faculty and some institutions are educational community? The second question is what lies ahead especially this semester? The for us and finally what are the lessons learned? can COVID-19 be a blessing in disguise for the COVID-19 virtual learning or teaching was not government and institutions to adopt blended learning and for us I think in Africa we see it there going to be a new normal for us Wendy in digitalization into education is not going to go Professor Julian. What are some of the lessons learned from all of this? We were in March I we've learned since March? Be flexible. That audience and or also comments that you have on had updates country updates we call them country for the education sector and the higher education solutions um and some totally digital solutions to different countries and I think especially in and there we need to be more flexible to offer um also these students opportunities to attend wish you a pleasant afternoon in North America from such a cross-section of voices from around