Abstract:

In early 2020, educational institutions of all levels were obliged to move online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Each level of education faced specific challenges, and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were no exception. Although many HEIs already offered online programs or courses or were creating an online or blended learning strategy, the pandemic forced their hands. They had to move online immediately and with little to no reflection. Even the most seasoned online experts were faced with the uncertainty of revamping non-online courses into distance courses overnight helping faculty that had little to no expertise in this new way of teaching.

Both faculty members and students began an online journey they will never forget. In previous studies we conducted with the faculty members and students of this same Swiss HEI, we defined the positive and negative aspects of technology. For the positive aspects, participants described their experience as dynamic, engaging, motivating, and creating (different) opportunities for teaching and learning. For the negative aspects, they named isolation, loneliness, lack of knowledge, and tech problems as well as digital fatigue. However, each semester led to more confidence in choosing the most effective technological tool for teaching and learning. Both students and faculty members became more comfortable in their online presence and improved their readiness or efficacy with technology.

This paper examines the relationship faculty members from one business school HEI in Switzerland have had with technology over the past five semesters through six surveys. Each semester, we witnessed what we believe to be an authentic shift toward technology. Although faculty members are now ‘safely’ back on campus, we have observed more pedagogical choices that include technology. Even the most tech-averse found utility in using some, albeit parsimonious use, of technology in their classrooms to enhance their teaching and student learning. In this paper, we investigate what elements sustain this positive attitude or impede the needed change. However, faculty members are divided on how they believe HEI should incorporate technology into future curricula and programs for the future. We will attempt to analyze the evolution of technology in one HEI’s programs and courses to establish a pathway toward success that other business HEIs could follow asking what can help students, faculty and the institutions to integrate technology and what support do they need?

Our purpose is to explore how technology can be used to improve teaching and learning in HEIs, by identifying which elements decide on its success or failure. We posit that technology, while not a panacea in itself, can and should be used to enhance our teaching and increase student learning and we can clearly show at which moment stakeholders have to be taken onboard and how. Teaching is an inclusive activity, involving the institution, members of faculty, the students and the greater community in which it is situated. Each of them has their role to play and need to be convinced whenever their traditional role is being changed – technology can bolster this change and contribute to the success of the teaching and learning within the HEI’s. With our explanation of the paradoxical love-hate relationship between technology and education, we will present an HEI technology model that shows our vision of the future of teaching and learning in post-Covid HEIs.

Keywords:

Business school faculty, Higher Education Institutions (HEI), technology, COVID-19, teaching, learning.