Abstract:

The period experienced during the Covid 19 pandemic led to the introduction of changes, sometimes profound, in the teaching and learning processes in higher education (HE). The high number of articles that have been published about these difficult times, particularly about the constraints and the search for solutions to the problems faced, is paradigmatic of the importance felt by those involved in these processes. Even HE institutions that previously operated almost exclusively in digital environments, such as distance universities, found themselves faced with new challenges and had to look for new answers, considering the needs of students, teachers, and other faculty members.

Our article aims to present and discuss the difficulties experienced by the Portuguese Open University during the pandemic period, in terms of information management and teaching and learning systems, the solutions found then, and the implications for the future.

We discuss the role and importance of information management, especially in distance learning institutions, in which communication and information is a critical element. The topic of information management will be analyzed from two perspectives:
(1) from the point of view of technology, especially with a view to allowing users to access information in the best ways;
(2) from an educational point of view, to find the most pedagogically effective solutions to solve the problems faced during the pandemic.

In methodological terms, the Critical Incidents technique was followed. This is a qualitative methodology, which allows studies to be carried out with a reflective approach, accessing subjective information, focusing on the way in which situations and events are/were lived and experienced by individuals [1]. Data collection was carried out through interviews [2], in order to enhance the depth of the elements collected from those responsible for services linked to technological structures supporting information management and the learning management systems.
The analysis of the results revealed the acceleration of the use of multiple informational environments, especially in the period of greater social isolation, regarding the way in which internal informational contexts give meaning to changes in the external environment. This external context therefore worked as a catalyst for the introduction of significant changes in the institution's internal ecosystem.

The situations analyzed in this context resulted in the identification of new procedures and new answers. Through the research carried out, the main impact identified was the need to change the entire evaluation process to a virtual model, which did not occur before.

It is concluded, therefore, that, despite the Open University being an institution whose teaching and learning processes and information management itself are focused on EaD, and is already prepared for virtual activities, the impacts were still felt, especially in the sense of reviewing and adopting new evaluation procedures, of increasing the system's support capacity in terms of increasing data flow, and these actions then became strategic even in the post-Covid 19 scenario.

References:
[1] M. Byrne, “Critical incident technique as a qualitative research method”. AORN J, vol. 74, no. 4, pp. 536-539, 2001.
[2] C. Urquhart et. al., “Critical incident technique and explicitation interviewing in studies of information behavior”. Library and Information Science Research, vol. 25, pp. 63-88, 2003.

Keywords:

Information management, teaching and learning systems, distance education.