We’re excited to announce that our 2021 Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Andrea Han!
ABOUT ANDREA
Andrea is an Associate Director in the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology at the University of British Columbia, which is consistently ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world and was recently recognized as North America’s most international university. Andrea directs a team of 15 who provide support faculty and academic units for learning design, online and hybrid course development, new program development, program evaluation and renewal, the evaluation of teaching tools and methods, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Andrea has a PhD in Educational Leadership, Culture, and Curriculum from Miami University and her current research explores the connections between faculty teaching practices, faculty perceptions and institutional values. Andrea has worked in a wide variety of educational contexts having taught at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels and having worked in learning technology, learning design and curriculum development for over 20 years. In addition to her work at the CTLT, Andrea served from 2015-2020 as the President of the Association of Administrative and Professional Staff (AAPS) which is the bargaining unit for the approximately 5000 management and professional staff at UBC.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
COVID-19 and the Future of Online Learning
The outbreak of COVID-19, and subsequent closing of college and university campuses worldwide, required higher education to rapidly change in ways never anticipated. When many campuses closed in the spring of 2020, for the first time in history, the number of students taking online courses exceeded the number left in classrooms and, while there is not yet conclusive data, that trend appears to have continued for the 2020-2021 academic year. This has forced faculty, staff and administrators (many of whom had little or no experience with online learning) to look at teaching and learning in new and innovative ways. Given this experience, we no longer question if COVID-19 will change higher education; rather, we now wonder how it will.
In this session we’ll explore the known and potential impact of COVID-19 on the future of online learning. We’ll look at whether faculty and administrator perceptions of online learning have changed, whether this might lead to an increase in online programs, and in what disciplines we are most likely to see changes. We’ll explore how student assessment, learning spaces, and the use of Open Educational Resources are likely to change – as well as how these changes could impact diversity and accessibility in higher education. Finally, we’ll explore the ways in which COVID may change the very structure of higher education credentials, specifically how the need to rapidly upskill in a changing economy has pushed learners to pursue micro-credentials instead of more traditional trade or professional programs.