Abstract:

As the spread of Covid-19 has hastened the shift towards a postdigital reality in which technology is no longer “separate, virtual, or ‘other’ to a ‘natural human and social life” (Jandric et al., 2018, p. 893), so higher education institutes (HEIs) around the world are now learning the lessons from the rapid transition to Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERT&L) and how best to blend and merge the new digital spaces with the old physical spaces. This has been the case with the provision of in-sessional English writing skills courses to Emirati students in the UAE where the switch to completely online teaching necessitated the enforced use of different ways of organizing and managing teaching, learning, and assessments, which provided both challenges and opportunities for teachers.

Through an auto-ethnographic framework and by following the stages of the writing process, this presentation connects the anecdotal and personal experiences of two university instructors, who are responsible for teaching professional English writing skills courses, to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings, as they transitioned from a mainly face-to-face teaching environment to a fully online setting. It will also identify how these writing courses may evolve as the students return to campus for some kind of face-to-face experience. In particular, it will focus on synchronous teaching, out-of-class learning tasks, formative feedback on drafts, and summative assessment. Attendees will be encouraged to reflect on their own postdigital teaching contexts and will leave the session with ideas and strategies for their own blended writing courses.

Keywords:

Postdigital, Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning ERT&amp, L, blended learning, online professional English writing courses, blended learning.