Abstract:

I am a structural engineer who has designed bridges, buildings, and other structures for 50 years. As a full professor in the architecture program at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston for over three decades, I have witnessed many changes.

I first experienced the remote learning phenomena almost by accident. Twelve years ago, all of our students and faculty had Apple laptops. These models could be connected as a local network. One of my students was in the hospital for observation and did not want to miss class. She had her laptop with her in the hospital. Her roommate (another student in my class) brought her laptop to my class and positioned it in front of my desk. Not only could the student in the hospital see me and the board behind me, but she also asked questions the rest of the class could hear.

At the time, “zoom” was used primarily as a term for cameras or binoculars.

I went to our IT Department and asked for help organizing this connection for my students. They couldn’t develop anything without purchasing new equipment, and, as often happens, money was not available.

Fast forward to March 2020 (COVID-19), and the IT Department asked us to use Zoom for remote learning. We got trained on Monday, and I had my first class on Zoom that week.

Now that COVID-19 is behind us and things have returned to “normal,” it is tempting to view its impact on education only in the negative. This attitude can limit us to just returning to the classroom to do our “magic” without continuing to build upon the usefulness of the technology we all relied on during the pandemic. Even though we still hold virtual administrative meetings, the focus is in-person learning. I believe this is a missed opportunity to build on and expand our strengths as a University.

Napoleon Hill (1883-1970) famously said: “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”

Two years ago, I wrote a paper summarizing the advantages of using remote software and suggesting that schools should not discard those tools after the pandemic. The reality is that we have not returned to the pre-pandemic “normal.” In fact, 100% of my classes this semester included a hybrid component to accommodate students who could not attend in person.

My objective is to enhance the interactive capabilities of our virtual platforms and demonstrate how this mode of delivery benefits our students and the University.
My methodology includes both surveying students to determine their usage and experience with remote software and polling faculty on their experience utilizing the software since the end of the pandemic.

The results of my efforts identify areas for improvement that students need for the interactive experience. Additionally, they have revealed ways in which this software may be used to expand the University’s reach to new populations.

In conclusion, I expect to demonstrate multiple benefits from the broader and enhanced use of these technologies for current students and how their usage can help open new opportunities to increase enrolment.

Keywords:

Technology, education, delivery methods.