Presentation of Dr Mark Nichols for EDEN's Education in time of a new normal webinar series on 'Online transformation of universities – having faced the challenges of the pandemic, are they prepared for the new normal? 2nd part' - 21 Sept 2020, 17:00 CEST More info: https://www.eden-online.org/no-2-online-transformation-of-universities-having-faced-the-challenges-of-the-pandemic-are-they-prepared-for-the-new-normal-2nd-part/

2. Online transformation of universities – are they ready for
the ‘new normal’?
Dr Mark Nichols PFHEA
Executive Director, Learning Design & Development
Open Polytechnic (New Zealand)

3. Transformation – or mitigation?
Transformation – ‘a marked change in form, nature, or appearance’
Mitigation – ‘the action of reducing the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of
something’
---
Permanent change, or temporary response?

4. Why transformation is unlikely
‘Limited availability of specialised gatekeepers’ | ‘Crisis? What crisis?’
High barriers to entry
Digital transformation requires an operating model transplant
• Shifts in power and responsibility, changes to teaching roles
• Flexibility across all systems
• Coordinated investment

5. What is the ‘new normal’?
Better planned mitigation for temporary campus closure,
OR
Operating model transformation?

6. How to mitigate
• Start with a scenario (e.g. campus closure)
• Confirm infrastructure and communications
• Synchronous replacement tools
• Centralised channels for messaging
• Agree temporary teaching and learning provisions
• Tuition
• Assessment
RISK MANAGEMENT
Planning, protocols

7. How to transform
• Start with a vision
• Agree the opportunity for change
• Articulate a learner-centred design
• Agree a teaching and learning model (a ‘core’)
• Systematise the digital
• Design the operating model and structure
• Implement – and stay the course
VISION
Courage, investment

8. It is only a matter of time before serving learners with 21st-Century
expectations of personalisation becomes an expected element of
university education.
It’s difficult to change how universities work, but it is inevitable that
most will need to adapt their operating models to remain competitive
as digital education continues to unfold.
The issue is not what education is or seeks to achieve; rather the
issue is how education takes place. We must critique the how without
damaging the what.