Will online higher education be the new normal in post-pandemic Bangladesh?

As the devastating COVID-19 rages on and we all long for the day when we can all go back to our everyday lives, one can't help but ask one's self, what will be the new normal for us? Will we just go on with our lives the same way we used to? As an educator, when I see headlines saying, "Almost 1.5 billion children and young people", "90% of students affected worldwide, unable to attend School! (UNICEF)", or "Online schooling struggles to keep students educated during pandemic!", it seems obvious that like it or not, this crisis has brought about a paradigm shift in the way we will be teaching in a post-pandemic world, that higher education is going to look very different, no matter which part of the world we're in.

In recent months, we've seen many universities in Bangladesh offering online classes, which of course is a good thing. For too long we have seen a disparaging and negative attitude towards online education from our policymakers. It is a fact that online teaching has traditionally been looked down upon in our country. An online degree has never been seen as a "real" degree. You could have an online degree from Oxford or Harvard and it would count for little if you went for an interview at any of our universities. In a good sign, this mindset is changing. However, it is unfortunate that we needed a pandemic to make us do so.

Yet, for all our overnight appreciation for virtual teaching and learning, the government needs to be cautious before implementing decisions regarding a wholesale adaptation of distance learning. Let me play devil's advocate here. Yes, distance learning, remote learning, online learning are necessary. However, are we really equipped to provide these platforms?

While some universities are patting themselves on the back, telling themselves they've successfully been able to complete their semesters, does that apply to all universities? Some universities may be equipped to handle an online platform, but what about the rest? What about public universities and colleges? Do all university and college teachers have access to guaranteed high-speed internet? Do all students? If I have to teach or learn online from a village, will I have internet access, if not, who will pay for me to get it? I'm sure many academic institutions will argue that almost all their students have access to a smartphone, if not a laptop, that students are online all the time anyway. However, not a single university in Bangladesh can deny that the online courses being offered right now are makeshift at best.

The Dean of Digital Education at Leeds University in England, Prof Neil Morris, recently stated to the Guardian that while they were all preparing to be able to move online at short notice, they didn't want people to think this was what they meant by online education, that this was an emergency response. Dr Doug Clow, who spent 20 years at the Open University of England, which is considered to be one of leading universities focusing on distance education, and is now advising universities on how to navigate through the coronavirus crisis, recently stated, "It is a huge challenge to suddenly switch to online teaching. It takes the Open University more than a year to develop an online course." Dana Goldstein, in her article in The New York Times titled "Coronavirus is shutting schools. Is America ready for virtual learning?" last month showed many reasons why she emphatically felt that America was not at all ready. Just a few days ago, in an interview with Farid Zakaria on CNN, Bill Gates stated that the use of technology for remote learning has made the inequity in education even worse. Under the circumstances, it would be naïve of us to think that the emergency online courses we are currently offering are anything other than that.

Being stuck at home has allowed many of us to connect and discuss how we are managing online teaching. While there are some who have online certification, who have used platforms like Google Classroom or Blackboard before, most teachers in Bangladesh do not have any experience of teaching wholly online and are unfamiliar with online assessment techniques or the work that is involved in redesigning courses. There is no doubt that there are many exceptional teachers in our country, but even great teachers may lack expertise in creating online lessons. A teacher might have been an excellent student (otherwise he/she wouldn't have been hired in the first place), a brilliant researcher and a renowned scholar. That does not necessarily mean that they can teach. One needs training and if possible, experience for that. And right now, when we are faced with the prospect that we may all have to start teaching remotely at some level, the country needs teachers who can actually teach online or digitally, which is something that most of us, our colleagues, our peers, even our professors, have none or little experience of.

As educators, there are so many questions for us to consider. What about the question of teachers' job security? What will happen to the ones who find it difficult to adapt to this new way of teaching? Will they lose their jobs?  How will they proctor exams online? Will they have the technical support to do so? If they have 300 students in a class normally, which is impossible to handle in the best of times, how will they manage that class online? How will they assess their students? Is there a common platform, any rules, and regulations? Who will ensure that standards are maintained when ten teachers from the same department teach 10 different ways? How will teachers be evaluated and by whom, based on what standards? These are questions that the University Grants Commission and the academic institutions need to seriously look at.

What about the students themselves? Are they satisfied with learning online? When campuses are closed, students lose a crucial social outlet. Universities are not just about attending classes. They provide more than academic skills. Students are involved in extra-curricular activities, they pick up leadership skills; they learn how to interact socially, pick up life skills. There is also the aspect of internships to consider. A final semester student usually does an internship program in which they are placed in an organisation to get hands-on experience. Will they graduate without that invaluable experience? It is even more serious for final year medical students. According to Professor Rama Thirunamachandran, Vice-Chancellor of Canterbury Christ Church University, a final-year medical student may already have a rich set of skills but there are safety issues for both students and patients if they do not have appropriate induction and training.

A recent study at the University of Auckland found that 77 percent students say distance learning is worse or much worse than in-person classes, that it cannot replicate offline/in-person learning experience. Sola Tuo, an international student at the University of Auckland, says, "What I think about this is that I paid my money to the university and I should get what I'm looking for. This product here and now is not complete. It is not the best quality." This is a point that a lot of students worldwide are making. Many are asking if they should pay the same tuition fees, which is a valid point. If classes are all online, with little use of a university's facilities, should the university expect students to pay their full fees? The point is, while we all understand that these courses are being offered not out of choice but because we are in the middle of a pandemic, if online courses are to become credit courses one day, we will have to do much better to attract students.

It would be wonderful if the government and the universities finally decide to change their traditional and antiquated mindset regarding online teaching and learning, but we would be wise to consider the questions being raised. A committee should be formed, comprising not just government officials, but also representatives from both private and public universities, experts from foreign universities who specialise in distance education, who have a proven track record. Steps should be taken to bring all universities under one standardised policy. At the same time, the UGC should award credits to select, quality controlled online courses offered by Bangladeshi universities to begin with, as well as recognising online degrees from accredited foreign universities. Most of all, when this crisis is over, the government should introduce online teacher training as soon as possible. It will not happen overnight, it will take time, but at least we will have taken that one step forward.

One of the few good things that might come out of this crisis is that we might be able to reshape the weary education system we currently have, for the better. There will be other crises in the not too distant future and we need to prepare for those challenges that are surely coming. If universities and colleges, if higher education itself wants to improve, it has to adapt.