The abrupt and mandatory shift to remote teaching in the last few months was a true learning experience for educators around the world. For many, this was uncharted territory. According to Bloomberg, 70% of America’s 1.5 million faculty members have never taught classes online before. Additionally, 56% of faculty at US higher education institutes reported they deployed “new teaching methods” in transitioning their courses to remote delivery in a recent survey.
For better or for worse, the sudden shift to remote is more than just a test run. Leading institutions such as the University of Cambridge announced that there will be no “face-to-face” lectures until the summer of 2021, and according to inews.co.uk, “most of the UK’s top academic universities are planning for a “hybrid” form of online and face-to-face teaching next year.” Even beyond the next academic year, online teaching is here to stay and will become core to the foundation of higher education programmes around the world.
Recently, we asked educators at top construction education programmes across Europe and the US about their experiences shifting to remote teaching. How did they manage to adapt their coursework online and what key lessons did they learn? Below, find out how these dedicated educators are embracing change and preparing the next generation of construction professionals for success.
How did you adjust your teaching strategy once stay at home orders were announced? What were the biggest challenges?
Lastly, we are planning to use BIM 360 to share the models that the students create. Sending these large files for grading has been problematic along with coordinating multiple Revit versions – with BIM 360 we hope to overcome these issues and it’s easier for some faculty that are not as well versed in BIM software. Since the students had access to the educational versions of the software, we were successful in maintaining the scope of the capstone program and successfully graduated the students into the workforce.” – Jeff Kim, Assistant Professor, Auburn University
An expert staff group was mobilised to help colleagues to use our VLE digital collaboration tool. Communication with students was through an increase in use of email, phone calls, and remote teaching using this as a teaching tool. Its efficacy relied on students and staff having the necessary hardware and Wi-Fi connection and, of course, this varied. Overcoming some challenges is a work-in-progress.” – Frances Robertson, Senior Lecturer, Sheffield Hallam University
What tools and technology have helped you engage with students most successfully in a remote learning environment?
What lessons have you learned about teaching students remotely?
- Remote teaching and learning is possible IF we have the will and are willing to be creative/improvise;
- Change in mindset is required for successful remote teaching/learning;
- Adequate planning – you cannot just ask a QS staff who is used to granular marking/feedback on hard copy (drawings, measurement, and take-offs) to suddenly switch to keyboard and mouse. Perhaps tablet-style PCs with a stylus will help;
- We need to rethink our assessment/exam processes to suit online open-book style assessment/exams.”
– Dr. Zulfikar Adamu, Associate Professor of Strategic IT in Construction, London South Bank University
While this is certainly a unique situation, how do you think your students will emerge stronger in their construction careers in the future?
How do you think COVID-19’s impact will shift education in the future?
Moving forward using BIM 360 as a collaborative platform will, in my opinion, have to be the cornerstone of any blended learning approach. The flexibility of being able to set up spaces for problem-based learning and collaboration using BIM 360 will be the norm rather than the exception moving forward. It is important that we (BCU) provide our learners with the tools that they expect to work on and with from day one of their studies.” – Dr. Mark Shelbourn, Centre Lead for Built Environment & Associate Professor, Birmingham City University
This is a fantastic collection of experiences!
Tthrough sharing of experiences we will beat COVID-19 and deliver the best to our learners and make remote learning a better place, especially with BIM360 and others.