Pandemic-Driven Mobility in Higher Education: The Good, the Bad and the Useful

The purpose of this mixed method research study is to describe the experiences of faculty and students in post-secondary education institutions as they shifted to remote education at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to understand these experiences in the context of previous research about pre-pandemic remote or mobile education. One hundred and two participants in the study include full-time and adjunct faculty, undergraduate and graduate students. A convergent mixed method survey queried about participants' demographics, mobility experiences in terms of frequency of access to technology and a suitable learning/teaching environment and usefulness of various web and video conferencing and Learning Management Systems (LMS) tools to support education in this format. The findings indicate that on average, faculty and students report positive experiences, especially for participants who had prior involvement with online education. Qualitative data highlight challenges associated with access to technology, managing the out-of-classroom physical environment and balancing personal and education responsibilities at the time of the pandemic outbreak. These results have implications that may be relevant as the world of education evolves, applying lessons learned during the pandemic. Resource allocation, training faculty in remote education pedagogy and providing infrastructure support for students to improve mobile education experiences are crucial for success in the new normal world of higher education. [For the full proceedings, see ED639391.]