Higher education institutions were “sorely under-prepared” when the pandemic arrived

Kate Thompson (QUT) and Jason Lodge (Uni Queensland) argue policy and practise ensured that technology drove strategy as universities scrambled to get everything on-line. “A distinct lack of funding of research and innovation to inform decisions about effective learning in higher education is one part of the reason why such a huge effort was required. The necessary research was ignored, non-existent or too difficult to translate into practice in a timely manner,” they write in a call for ed tech researchers to get into the policy game

“Researchers and practitioners are in the best positions to lead, to build the capacity of our colleagues to be part of the rapidly expanding conversation about the use of technologies in education, to use the research to inform practise, to  ask  questions  about  what  works  and  why.”

The need, they warn, is urgent;

“Unless there is change, the conversation will  continue  to  be  driven  by  economists  and  self-promoters, with  a  continued  decline in the perceived value and utility of research into educational technologies. In a year that seems destined to result in entirely new visions of the future, now is the time to imagine a better one. “