COVID-19 delivers a silver lining for RMIT students and teachers

COVID-19 delivers a silver lining for RMIT students and teachers

Less than two weeks into RMIT University’s second semester, the repercussions of COVID-19 are still being felt – but in an extraordinarily positive way.

While the University has opened again for face-to-face teaching in both English language and higher education courses at its campuses in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang, it is also offering some 30 courses fully online this semester, which are already proving to be very popular choices for students.

Online courses are not new at RMIT. Four courses in the programs Digital Marketing and Tourism and Hospitality Management have been offered online since 2017 and are among the most popular ones in the School of Business and Management, with students from all eight bachelor’s programs electing to do them.

When RMIT switched its Semester 1 teaching to be completely online between March and early June, it was a steep learning curve for students – and teachers too – with an immediate requirement for adaptability, flexibility, stronger communication, digital skills and self-discipline.

As well as the School of Business & Management, the School of Communication & Design, the School of Science & Technology and the School of English & University Pathways all transitioned too.

Head of the School of Business and Management Professor Mathews Nkhoma said that while the University has a depth of expertise in delivering high quality education, it was the speed of change that brought about new ways of thinking and enhancements that have had a lasting impact.

news-covid-19-delivers-a-silver-lining-for-rmit-students-and-teachers-1 Head of the School and Business & Management Professor Mathews Nkhoma says COVID-19 was a 100% growth experience.

Professor Nkhoma says, “We had a number of exceptional ‘change champions’, who rose to the challenge and rapidly shared their expertise in digital delivery with the rest of our teaching staff, helping them to build their confidence and become very adept at producing innovative learning activities and materials.

“It was a big moment of learning and adaptation for our university and I’m pleased to say, the beneficiaries have been the students.”

RMIT School of Business & Management Associate Lecturer Bill Au is one such change champion, with credentials firmly in the digital space. He holds a Masters’ degree in Business Information Technology (systems development & design) and teaches the popular Logistics and Supply Chain Management course.

Associate Lecturer Au trained academics in both Vietnam and Singapore, helping them to quickly adapt their methods to optimise student experiences with online teaching.

news-covid-19-delivers-a-silver-lining-for-rmit-students-and-teachers-2 Associate Lecturer Bill Au is one of RMIT's digital change champions.

He says a common challenge when working with students who aren’t used to the online environment is around setting expectations early, from online etiquette to plagiarism or bullying.

As a young lecturer some years ago, Associate Lecturer Au learnt the hard way that setting the wrong expectations can create unworkable situations.

“When I first started teaching online, I was very green. In an effort to establish positive teacher presence and provide support, I eagerly stated that students could contact me on chat anytime. The students took this literally and I would receive regular messages at all hours. Wanting to be true to my word, I suffered deservedly during that period.

“In the same cohort of students, there were instances of heated posts, students barely ever logging into class or attending online lectures. It was very challenging and that’s why I developed the guidelines I use today.”

The other factors he cites for success are creating enough stimulation to keep students engaged right through to the end of the course plus, what he calls, the three pillars of the Community of Inquiry: social, cognitive and teacher presence.

Social presence establishes a social connection between the students so they can communicate openly and develop relationships for shared learning, and cognitive presence builds students’ abilities to construct, confirm and reinforce meaning through communication and reflection. While teacher presence is key to motivation, helping students to feel as though there is someone there to teach and guide them, rather than a one-way street of information consumption.

Fifth semester Bachelor of Business (International Business) student and tutor Le Nguyen Hoang Yen, who describes herself as “rather shy”, has previous experience with an online cultural intelligence course, but as it was self-directed with no teacher, she wasn’t sure what to expect in Semester 1.

“I love classroom interactions and communicating with lecturers, so I was afraid that these elements would be lacking when switching online,” says Yen Le.

“After a few weeks I found it was better than expected. The lectures are recorded, so you can review them at your own pace and convenience and also revisit them too. The teachers were supportive and fast to respond so I was getting as much feedback from them as before. I also found I could communicate even better with my friends, because I am shy, so sometimes when face-to-face I don’t speak up as much.

covid-19-delivers-a-silver-lining-for-rmit-students-and-teachers-3 RMIT student Yen Le found online learning to be much better than she expected and more convenient.

“And for assignments, there’s not much change. We still have access to lots of academic journals and support from the Student Academic Success team and from tutors, as well as other parts of the campus such as the library – which also went completely online.

“I think it’s easy to get demotivated when you’re not required to follow a busy schedule but with all this extra time on our hands, I found it relaxing and that made my study easier. The moral of the story is having the agility to adapt to volatile environments.”

Professor Nkhoma agrees. “This has been a 100% growth experience for our teachers and students. Most of our teachers are now experts in this kind of delivery and the students really embraced the independence that the online environment gave them. It’s been a surprising but positive outcome of COVID-19.”

Story: Sue Nelson

  • Tourism & Hospitality
  • Digital
  • Logistics

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