The Experience of Remote Teaching in Higher Education: A Scenario of Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

In March 2020, within a short space of time and no prior preparation, the educational offer of HE institutions shifted from in-person teaching to remote online teaching. All teaching and learning activities started to be conducted through digital platforms and technologies, rarely used before then. This study used qualitative methodology, two data collection instruments were used: semi-structured interviews with 10 teachers from different institutions, and opinion essays about the experience written by 10 students. To analyze the data, we conducted content analysis. The results obtained suggest that this experience of teaching and learning in a digital environment represented a great challenge, both from the teaching point of view and the way students learn. In addition, it boosted the digitalisation of pedagogical action, advocated for more than a decade by the Bologna Process, opening new paths for the reformulation of teaching and learning processes in higher education. This challenging scenario has opened a window of opportunity for a new paradigm of teaching to emerge, based on the use of digital technologies.