Abstract:

The higher education sector is evolving with digital tools that can enhance distance learning engagement and learning experience. This applies when the learning mode is initially designed to adapt to 'distance learning' procedures. However, the abrupt transitioning of Face-to-Face to distance learning due to 'pandemic' reveals the challenges throughout the cohort, including communication between the peers and lecturer, students' learning progress, and how feedback through the online mode altered dramatically. The procedures undertaken through the change need to be addressed to avoid a demotivating and stressful situation from an educational and learning perspective. Despite a large amount of published work on using digital tools in a classroom, some represent positive learning outcomes. Simultaneously, the current paper addresses three crucial factors that impacted students' motivation and engagement during the lectures as they transitioned from F2F to distance learning. The author accumulated narrative anecdotal records and observations over seven months (March 2020 – Oct 2020). The narrative records were noted and observed as an educator, who documented the learning experiences and relationships of how interactions and engagements occurred with students. Following the descriptive narrative records defined as foundational guidelines (Beaty, 1986), this paper conducts thematic analysis to delve into the data for emerging themes rigorously. The emerging themes are discussed based on the interpretivism paradigm with hermeneutic methods to profoundly understand educators' experiences throughout the anecdotal responses. Finally, criticizing, comprehending, and evaluating the digital tools (MS Teams and BB Collaborate) used for undergraduate students is crucial to identify the possible challenges, similarities. Perhaps, possible suggestions to improve the approach to using digital tools higher education and visualize a better approach to designing assessments that could be considered by educators, lecturers, and educationalists.

Keywords:

Assessment, learning progress, distance learning, rethinking assessment, reflective, interpretivism, hermenuetic.