Survey: Emergency Move Online Forced More than Half of Faculty to Learn New Teaching Methods

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all higher education institutions (90 percent) in a recent survey used some form of emergency distance education to complete the Spring 2020 term. And 56 percent of faculty who moved courses online were using teaching methods they had never used before. That's according to "Digital Learning Pulse Survey: Immediate Priorities," a study conducted by Bay View Analytics (formerly known as the Babson Survey Research Group), which surveyed 826 higher education faculty and administrators across 641 institutions within the United States.

Even experienced online instructors reported navigating unfamiliar territory: Fifty-one percent of those respondents said they were using new teaching methods in their courses.

Other findings included:

  • 97 percent of institutions moving classes online had to call on faculty with no previous online teaching experience.
  • 50 percent of institutions had at least some faculty with online teaching experience.
  • 48 percent of faculty who moved courses online reduced the quantity of work they expected from students, and 32 percent lowered their expectations for the quality of student work.

"It's worth noting that, even as faculty identified a variety of support options that would be helpful during this challenging time, their most pressing concern is for their students," said Jeff Seaman, lead researcher and director of Bay View Analytics, in a statement. "When asked what assistance would be most helpful, 57 percent identified additional support for their newly online students — rating it more important than support for themselves."

The survey was conducted in partnership with the Online Learning Consortium, WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies, University Professional and Continuing Education Association, Canadian Digital Learning Research Association and Every Learner Everywhere, with support from Cengage and Inside Higher Ed. For more information, visit onlinelearningsurvey.com/covid.html.

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • two large brackets facing each other with various arrows, circles, and rectangles flowing between them

    1EdTech Partners with DXtera to Support Ed Tech Interoperability

    1EdTech Consortium and DXtera Institute have announced a partnership aimed at improving access to learning data in postsecondary and higher education.

  • Abstract geometric shapes including hexagons, circles, and triangles in blue, silver, and white

    Google Launches Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet

    Google has introduced Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental, a new artificial intelligence model designed to reason through problems before delivering answers, a shift that marks a major leap in AI capability, according to the company.

  •  laptop on a clean desk with digital padlock icon on the screen

    Study: Data Privacy a Top Concern as Orgs Scale Up AI Agents

    As organizations race to integrate AI agents into their cloud operations and business workflows, they face a crucial reality: while enthusiasm is high, major adoption barriers remain, according to a new Cloudera report. Chief among them is the challenge of safeguarding sensitive data.

  • stylized AI code and a neural network symbol, paired with glitching code and a red warning triangle

    New Anthropic AI Models Demonstrate Coding Prowess, Behavior Risks

    Anthropic has released Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, its most advanced artificial intelligence models to date, boasting a significant leap in autonomous coding capabilities while simultaneously revealing troubling tendencies toward self-preservation that include attempted blackmail.