From technology to community: the role of artefacts in teaching and learning during and beyond pandemic times

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores lecturers’ experience of adapting, shaping and transforming teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study focuses on understanding the challenges and opportunities that are afforded by pandemic-induced changes in terms of digital teaching and learning and their post-pandemic implications. Empirical data were collected through 16 semi-structured interviews with teaching staff at a Norwegian university. The article draws on Max W. Wartofsky’s work on artefacts, and uses the categorisation of primary, secondary and tertiary artefacts as a theoretical lens. The data indicates that designing and delivering courses that combine online and in-site teaching is a complex process requiring flexibility and creativity, which needs to be acknowledged by management and budget-allocating entities. Career development is an incentive to invest time in developing digital teaching. Finally, building a community of peers can support course quality and the professional welfare of the teaching staff.