— Anthony Martin, college digital innovations and engagement manager in England
Anthony Martin, the digital innovations and engagement manager at Exeter College in southwest England, was preparing to roll out a digital strategy for the tertiary school’s 8,000 students. But that was supposed to launch in September — not now.
Watching the coronavirus sweep through China earlier this year, Martin and his colleagues began to think about how they would handle such a crisis if and when it came to the United Kingdom. “OK,” they reasoned, “this could be both a problem for us and also an opportunity.”
When the virus did arrive and the college closed its physical campus, Martin says his goal was simply to minimize learning disruption. If instructors preferred traditional teaching methods, like PowerPoint presentations or paper handouts, that was fine. But they also could use the newly implemented Microsoft Teams if they felt comfortable with the technology.
Photo courtesy of Anthony Martin
“The uptake has been absolutely phenomenal,” he says. The six-month lead time to launch Teams was fast-tracked, as the school went from having effectively zero Teams channels to 556 in just two weeks.
“I’m not surprised by the outcome,” he adds. “We were already using it for our faculty and support areas, but at this scale it has really been quite insightful, I think, in terms of how people are taking to the platform and the freedoms it opens up.”
The college’s digital teams built out a rapid self-service Student Data Sync solution, provided students with the additional Microsoft 365 tools and supported instructors moving to OneDrive and OneNote, which helped with a fast transition to remote learning.
While Martin expected the digital rollout to complement physical class time, he now ponders how the extreme situation imposed by the coronavirus lockdown will affect the future.
“I’d love to see the classroom flipped, where tutors are more able to engage directly with students, offer one-to-one support, mentoring and help expand upon knowledge learned outside of class — not just a lecture-based, 40-minute repeat of the same slide show given to a previous group,” he says.
Nevertheless, “I think it must be ‘digital where it fits best,’” he says. “Digital transformation is actually all about people. Yes, the technology is important, but it’s only there to support the users in getting the best possible outcomes.”
Find more information and resources for making the transition to remote learning.
Lead photo: Karey Killian, a K-5 library teacher in Pennsylvania’s Milton Area School District, connects with students online from her home as her daughters, Eleanor and Adelyn, study nearby. (Photo courtesy of Karey Killian)