REMOTE began as an immediate response to the COVID crisis last spring. Designed as a straightforward way to equip faculty with the best tools and tips of remote and hybrid teaching, its goal was to support them as they began in-class work with students in the fall of 2020. Almost 50,000 faculty and administration registered to join us live, and the event exceeded all our expectations!
Now, a year later, we know that COVID will be with us – in some form – forever. We also know that we don’t want to “go back” to January 2020 as if it was some kind of perfect pedagogical world. It wasn’t.
The pace of reform across Higher Ed has been glacial over the last decade. Yet COVID, with its relentless, ugly grip, has ushered in more changes than we’ve seen over the past 10 years (despite the good intent of faculty, administrators and innovators). Higher Ed is now changed forever – and the next two years will see that cascade of change flow through institutions of all sizes..
On the positive side, we’ve learned so much in the last year. Student behaviors and expectations have changed. Workplace and professional practice have been significantly reshaped. We can do SO much better for our students NOW than we could in January 2020.
To build on this communal experience, we invite you to join us at REMOTE as we address the following three questions:
- How can individual faculty members evolve their courses for 2021/22 and beyond in a way that incorporates the best of what we have learned in the last year so that their courses are hybrid and take advantage of both remote and on campus opportunities, of synchronous and asynchronous learning modes, and harness how technology can be used?
- How can individual faculty members and institutions plan for the arrival of the least prepared cohort of first year students ever (or possibly since WW2) in a way which will ensure they focus on student success? This is a structural problem that will be most acute 2021 but will repeat for the next couple of years.
- What are the changes that Higher Educational institutions need to make to thrive (or even to survive) in this new world? Most face real design challenges and need to think holistically about their operating models.
And on the more practical side, REMOTE will share the great things colleagues have learned since last spring:
- How to build the best hybrid courses
- How to blend remote and in-person classes
- How to take advantage of the synchronous and the asynchronous
- How to build social learning in a virtual world
- How to connect studying and life
- How to partner with technology companies to drive innovation and learning outcomes
REMOTE 2020 was an outstanding success. Join us, at REMOTE 2021 (June 9-10), to enjoy this global forum, featuring the best teaching practices available. Together, let’s make a difference!