Abstract:

Following the outbreak of Covid-19, the shift to online learning in many ways was a radical, forced change, rather than an incremental movement in pedagogy. The consequences of this overnight move to teaching and learning online held many challenges for both lecturers and students in Higher Education.

A case study is used to explore the dynamics involved and the knock-on implications following the pandemic, specific to non-traditional adult learners in Hospitality Management. To examine the major learning from this shift from traditional face-to-face lectures to an online scenario, online research sought to capture the actions and reactions, for two major stakeholders in education.

The results of the online surveys with adult learners and lecturers indicate the importance of effective communication, adaptations in assessment and feedback processes and for lecturers’ change in mindset, leadership of the learning process and the criticality of boosting self-directed learning skillsets.

Keywords:

Adult learners, Online education, Hospitality education.