{"id":728293,"date":"2021-03-02T09:25:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T17:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-blog-post&p=728293"},"modified":"2021-03-02T09:50:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T17:50:42","slug":"one-year-in-distance-learning-still-poses-challenges-for-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"msr-blog-post","link":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/articles\/one-year-in-distance-learning-still-poses-challenges-for-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"One year in, distance learning still poses challenges for higher education"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laura Schlenke (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> and Ken Mead (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"students<\/p>\n

Image credit: iStock<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic has\u00a0affected\u00a0people worldwide,\u00a0from IT administrators to information workers, teachers, and students.\u00a0While\u00a0this blog has previously discussed\u00a0the\u00a0changes seen in the K-12 segment,<\/span><\/a> we wanted to investigate what is happening in higher education to\u00a0understand\u00a0what challenges are new or remain, and how students\u00a0are navigating\u00a0the complexities of distance learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Innovating for\u00a0informal communications<\/em><\/p>\n

Consistent with what we have seen in consumer research, for the education audience, email is used primarily for formal communications. Examples of formal communications would be between a student and recruiter, or between two teachers if they were not already familiar with one another.<\/p>\n

Most exchanges regarding school matters, however, are informal, and take place across a wide variety of non e-mail channels. GroupMe, a Microsoft product, was one of the most used chat apps for student discussions during class and in general for collaboration with others. Many students said their peers were setting up their own unofficial class-wide chat through GroupMe for peer-to-peer class discussion and information sharing. With assignment information spread over multiple systems, and official class online calls being \u201cawkward\u201d forums to ask clarifying questions, GroupMe is a place for students to confirm due dates, assignment details and ask \u201cthose questions you\u2019re too afraid to ask in class.”<\/p>\n

Although informal exchanges are happening elsewhere, students nonetheless report that email is vital\u2014as it is the primary way they are connecting to their professors and with potential recruiters, as well as accessing their school directory.<\/p>\n

Overcoming\u00a0distraction amidst the loss of structure<\/em><\/p>\n

Adapting to remote and hybrid learning has been difficult for many, including school administrators, teachers, parents, and students. In addition to overcoming the basic hurdles of hardware, internet connectivity, and new tools, other more subtle challenges have cropped up over time.<\/p>\n

Students\u2019 sense of staying on top of things has been further undermined by:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n