Abstract:

In recent times, due to the Covid19 pandemic, different terms that are similar in meaning have been adopted in the academic literature to describe the transition from face-to-face to online learning in Higher Education (HE). Emergency Remote Learning (ERL), Emergency Online Learning (EOL) and Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) all refer to the rapid transition to online/remote instruction by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that predominantly deliver face-to-face instruction. This transition, however, was troublesome, and several instructional challenges were identified, including the need for academic training in online education, learner access to the technology required and maintenance of academic standards for online assessment. The aim of the Erasmus+ project ‘DigitalHEIghts’ is to promote a sustainable pathway for transforming online assessment of learning and to support the digital upskilling of academics in digital assessment through the development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity by making use of the DigComp Edu framework for HE. A European cross-country and interdisciplinary needs analysis of academics from the project’s partner countries and elsewhere is an integral part of the overall project objectives. This article elaborates on the survey, the data gathered, as well as the results.

Keywords:

Assessment, online assessment, digital upskilling, competencies, higher education, Emergency Remote Learning.