Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic shook the foundations of on-campus education and left many pondering the future direction of teaching and learning. On 13th March 2020, Irish higher education campuses were closed due to transmission preventative measures. This pivot to emergency, remote teaching naturally brought many challenges, none more so than being tasked to provide the same learning experiences, albeit from an all-together different environment, that is, the home. And yet, with the recent return to ‘normality’ for many during this current academic year, or at least some semblance of it, there are disparities in these norms – some have returned to the old norm of (100%) face-to-face classes, while others have happened upon a balance of the old and new norms, retaining some of the remote, online teaching. Today, following the campuses reopening some 18 months after their initial closure, we are reflecting upon the lessons learned, or not, from the pandemic.

This aim of this article is two-fold. Firstly, it examines the well-being aspects of ‘working from home’ for teachers in an Irish higher education institution amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected from a questionnaire, completed by 72 participants (third-level educators), which focused on the teachers’ experiences of moving to emergency, remote teaching, under a wide-ranging series of topics including:
(i) planning class,
(ii) classroom techniques,
(iii) the learner,
(iv) supports and
(v) the teaching space.

In the analysis that ensued, the findings highlighted several interesting points, namely, the lack of a commute time; an improved health and well-being lifestyle; the negative effects on the work-life balance; the overwhelmingly isolating experience that led to a poorer teaching and learning experience; and the struggle to differentiate between personal and professional lives. Each of these findings are examined in this article, while recommendations on the future direction of teaching and learning, in relation to same, are presented. The second part of this article reflects upon these recommendations, questioning whether lessons have been learned from the original study – did any good come from the COVID-19 experience or did we let a crisis go to waste?

This article provides a close examination of the experiences of higher education teachers with emergency, remote teaching at a third level institution in Ireland amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This article primarily focuses on 'working from home’. The findings provide valuable insights into the field during the pandemic. The reflections upon the original recommendations and what lessons have been learned and/or unlearned from the experience ought to prove useful for policy and development in higher education, both nationally and internationally in the future.

Keywords:

Blended learning, online learning, remote teaching, emergency remote teaching, covid-19, pandemic, higher education.