Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered lives and changed the way many services are provided as isolation and physical distancing were ordered by local district health units. Due to closures and restrictions, many institutions and organizations were forced to reexamine their policies and practices in an effort to recreate and rebrand themselves in the virtual environment. Academic institutions were forced to urgently and abruptly transition to online learning management systems midstream to meet the learning needs of their student body. The primary goal was to get up and running as fast as possible in the virtual environment, even at the expense of course integrity and rigour. In a very short time, many changes and alterations were attempted and implemented during the forced transition brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in many cases this was intentionally and continually referred to as “emergency remote teaching”. What has become clear is that the longer the pandemic lasts, the more ingrained and assimilated virtual learning will become in our educational institutions. We argue that this crisis, while tragic, has also simultaneously created opportunities that would not have presented themselves in a slower, more controlled transition. The rapid changes caused by the pandemic continue to be a catalyst for the evolution of online education, in positive ways; through an unanticipated world event, acting as an essential precursor to disruptive, progressive innovation. This paper will review adult learning, self-directed learning and transformational learning and the need for critical reflection to address and implement an effective online learning environment. A review of literature on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on online learning will follow. Finally, we will discuss the need for educators and educational institutions to critically reflect on the transition to online learning, and what assumptions need to be considered to ensure integrity, credibility and validity as our educational systems transform and assimilate effective online learning practices.

Keywords:

Critical Reflection, Online Learning, Adult Learning, Self-Directed Learning, Transformation, Covid19.