The Pandemic was horrible to live through.  Covid-19 caused widespread feelings of isolation, economic challenges, and (for many) the shift to remote work.  Every human was impacted in some way by this illness.  While I never want to live through another pandemic, I can say that it has taught us (educators and educational leaders) some valuable lessons and forced some critical change.  

While colleges and universities are widely recognized as catalysts for change – equipping individuals with the knowledge and skills needed for driving innovation, improving their social mobility, and safeguarding our democracy, these same institutions are slow to change and evolve.  Many fail to adopt processes and protocols that would improve efficiencies for students and administrators, still adhere to outdated financial protocols, and are well behind the 8-ball with respect to their utilization of technology to support students and enhance their learning.  Covid-19 forced many schools to re-invent themselves when they were forced to move to 100% remote instruction without notice.  Faculty were faced with immediately figuring out how to deliver course content remotely – regardless of the subject matter or discipline.  Staff who were accustomed to meeting students face-to-face had to figure out how to provide services to students remotely.  In fact, we had to figure out how to provide “the entire college experience” virtually.

We have learned alot about our campuses and how we use technology in the past two years.  Here are the top 5 that really stand out to me:

1. According to a recent Inside Higher Ed survey, 84% of students surveyed reported that their campus wifi connection was unreliable and unstable and they would like to see improvement.  While this might not have made the headlines pre-covid, it has certainly gained attention since. 
2. The same Inside Higher Ed survey indicated that 47% of students said that technology related interruptions rarely or never happened in their online courses.  However, one student from a public university in Tennessee suggested that “teachers are sometimes not properly instructed on how to use the technology they are given, so it leads to frustrating disruptions and misunderstandings.  It also makes it difficult to complete online assignments if this is the case.
3. The Pew Research Center released findings from their “Teens, Social Media, and Technology 2022” survey which confirmed that 95% of teens have a smartphone and that more teens living in lower-income households are more likely to have a smartphone than a laptop or desktop computer.  If this is the case, why aren’t more institutions mobile friendly?
4. Students want access to accurate information about their progress towards graduation.  A technology-focused Student Voice survey hosted by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse found that students want better systems and more accurate systems that help them navigate the pathway to completion.  Campus portals, digital transcripts, degree tracking system, and early alerts for online classes were all mentioned as needing improvement.  
5. In the same Inside Higher Ed / College Pulse survey, students indicated that they want improved communication tools (chat, text, web conferencing) for connecting with faculty and staff.

These are all things we might not have found out about or paid attention to had it not been for Covid.

While change can be difficult and scary, it can also be very rewarding.  The 2020 and 2021 academic years turned out to be a period of great innovation and reckoning.  Faculty who had never utilized their institutional learning management system discovered that, while challenging, it was possible to deliver quality instruction remotely.  The improvements that were made in the digital teaching and learning space mean that quality online learning is possible for students who are unable to attend face-to-face classes.  The big challenge for most institutions will be – how do we keep this momentum moving forward?

If we keep the above list in mind, it would make sense for senior leadership to focus on mobile technology solutions as these are devices that the vast majority of students utilize on a daily basis.  CIOs will want to make sure that strong wifi signal is available throughout campus (something that is no longer a “nice to have” but an “expected to have”).  Provosts will want to make sure that they continue to support efforts to train and equip faculty to support students in and outside of the classroom, especially in the realm of learning management systems (LMS) best practices.  They will also want to make sure they bring the Registrar, advisors, and  faculty together to improve transparency regarding degree progression. Adoption and execution of a digital solution that is easy for students to navigate where they can easily track the requirements they still need to complete in order to graduate should be a priority.  Lastly, administrations must conquer the disaster that is campus communication.  Reliance on email is outdated and, if we consider career readiness, is not the way that most businesses communicate.  If we can agree that students utilize their mobile devices for most of their communication needs, then it would make sense that schools should explore the best ways to communicate with students via mobile technology – texting, communication apps like Slack, and campus apps that allow targeted communications to specific groups of students delivered via notification.  The power for progress is at our fingertips and we have the opportunity to make the innovation that occurred as a result of the Covid emergency something that becomes a regular part of the way we do business moving forward.  I encourage you to seize the day and make it happen!