From Face-to-Face to Digital Learning

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, universities worldwide were forced to close their campuses and move instructional delivery to a digital mode. Many argued that this massive emergency digitalisation of instructional delivery was a major move of higher education toward online learning. However, this view overlooks considerations of pedagogy and of online learning design and delivery. Online learning is not just about uploading content to an online space or about moving all lectures online, and there is a whole theory behind designing online learning environments and delivering online learning. This chapter will discuss key theoretical considerations behind online learning design and delivery in relation to the digitalisation of higher education during COVID-19 with a view to make recommendations that will help universities design fulfilling and effective online learning and teaching experiences for their students and faculty.

Didactic, Technological, and Social Challenges in Portuguese Higher Education During the Pandemic Confinement

This chapter presents testimonials of 12 national experts in the field of educational technology concerning the main didactic, technological, and social challenges they faced throughout the “emergency remote teaching” that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic confinement. All experts are professors in Portuguese universities or polytechnic institutions, and they are acquainted with the “distance education” modality. An online questionnaire was applied to these 12 professors in order to collect their opinions about the main challenges during this period. Based on a content analysis technique, the results revealed several technological (e.g., unpredictability of internet connections), didactic (e.g., the teachers' lack of technological pedagogical content knowledge), and social challenges (e.g., the lack of proper physical spaces at home). Based on the lessons learned from this worldwide pandemic emergency, and critically reflecting about it, recommendations are suggested for future action to “distance education” in higher education.

The Design of Virtual Laboratories in Microwave Engineering Education

The transformation of physical laboratory to virtual laboratory is necessary for distance learning, especially during the pandemic. The educators face challenges when designing and developing virtual laboratories. Therefore, this chapter aimed to present the implementation of virtual laboratories in microwave engineering education, which can be a reference for the educators. The first section introduces microwave, microwave engineering course, and laboratory experiments in the course. The following section reviews and presents the technological tools for the design and development of virtual laboratories. Furthermore, three examples of virtual experiments are discussed based on their design, pedagogical approach, virtual tools, and laboratory manual. The last part discusses the benefits, challenges, and future direction of virtual laboratories in microwave engineering education.

Challenges and Obstacles of Distance Learning in Higher Education

The chapter characterizes the transformation of the learning process from full-time to distance learning on the example of Faculty of Economics, Matej Bel University in Slovakia, during the COVID-19 epidemic in the form of case study. The chapter analyses the strengths and weaknesses of this process during the summer semester 2019/2020 based on the secondary data and results of a questionnaire survey among faculty students realized in 2 rounds – in the first stage of transformation (April 2020) and after the end of summer semester (June 2020). It identifies the key steps that have (or had) to be taken to overcome the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the key challenges for the future development of virtual learning as a full compensation of full-time form of study from the students' and faculty's perspective. This case is an example of smart education in crisis situations. The results show that distance learning can be a suitable complement to the fully presence learning process, and temporarily, it can replace it in emergency situations.

The Role of Technology Acceptance Model in Constructing Unbounded Learning Environments for Second Language Learners

This chapter provides a foundation as to why second language teaching and learning as a discipline should be refocused with caution in the world of technology, what sort of theoretical and practical implications should be in place for second language teachers to employ in unbounded learning environments, what the roles of technology acceptance model (TAM) in shaping unbounded language learning environments for second language teachers and learners are, in what ways it can be possible to provide an ecological perspective on learning to utilize web-based technologies for second language learners, which is basically different from traditional learning models. More specifically, this chapter takes an informed look at the significance of teachers' technology acceptance in constructing unbounded learning environments to teach a second language.

The Portuguese Football Federation's New Paradigm During COVID-19

Sport is probably the main form of physical activity. Football (i.e., soccer) is often mentioned as the most popular sport. Not surprisingly, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) consistently registers the largest number of participants among 60 sport federations that are recognized by the Portuguese Government. To enhance quality, FPF created the Portugal Football School (PFS) aimed to promote education and applied research in parallel to knowledge transfer. The targets are players, managers, clinical professionals, nutritionists, and media. Until the emergence of the current pandemic, COVID-19, the educational model followed the traditional classroom setting for teaching and learning. This chapter's focus will be only on the PFS Education area and presenting results related to the PFS courses and participants in the pre-COVID-19 period and during COVID-19 pandemic time.

The Impact of Accelerated Digital Transformation on Educational Institutions

This study aims to analyze the impact of accelerated digital transformation on educational institutions. The research combines bibliometric literature review, preferred reporting items for systematic and meta-analyses (PRISMA), and empirical approach to collect extensive sample data GII (global innovation index) of 50 countries' technology intensity input-output. Furthermore, the research uses multiple linear regression analysis to test the proposed hypotheses. Digital transformation impacts positively on educational institutions. However, each technological input pillar behaves differently. This study derives managerial strategies and policies from an educational institution.

Public Pedagogy Approach Towards Online Language Instruction

Thanks to the widespread use of social media among individuals, the new site for the public pedagogy can be based on 'fandom', which is strongly related to fan-related practices on websites, forums, pages, and channels. These venues are based on shared interests and enjoyment and are visited by thousands of people every day. Inspired by increasing popularity, fandom has been used in academic education for the last decade. In line with this, there is also a growing research interest in the use of fandom in foreign/second language teaching; however, this should be within a purposeful way to enrich the opportunities for online learning. Therefore, this chapter sets out to provide practical implications about the operationalization of fandom in online language instruction to promote interaction among learners, which is quite necessary, particularly in the time of school closures due to the pandemic.

Instagram as a Learning Space to Introduce Virtual Technology Tools Into Post-COVID Higher Education

This chapter examines an innovative learning project in which undergraduate marketing students manage and generate content on an official Instagram profile. The project is designed to provide students with a more active role in the learning process through the application of new virtual technology tools. During the pandemic (course 2020-21), students shared their knowledge about marketing and related topics through storytelling, transmedia, gamification, and virtual/augmented reality via Instagram. The students' perception of the learning outcomes, and their satisfaction, were compared with those of students from three previous courses (2017-20). The findings revealed that students assessed the Instagram activity more highly in the context of the pandemic than in previous years. Interestingly, the students also reported better learning outcomes and improvement in their soft skills and consequently were highly satisfied with the project, which suggests the activity should continue in the future.

Supporting Faculty and Students During Pandemic Conditions

Events that are unforeseen in nature and have widespread impact demonstrate the potential to necessitate abrupt changes in both personal and professional parameters of life. Although university departments that are already primarily online are accustomed to operating in a predominately remote atmosphere, multiple adjustments were required to effectively support faculty and students during the early days of the global pandemic, COVID-19. This chapter will explore relevant challenges from the perspective of a chair of an online department. Included will be an analysis of considerations for an administrator's effective self-management during periods of abrupt change.