Abstract
The study, through the framework of mobility and space, explores the phenomenon of multiple shifts in learning spaces induced by COVID-19. The Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA) is adopted to document the experiences and perceptions of learners caught within these spatial shifts—physical, online, and hybrid. Online interviews were conducted with six first-year undergraduate and three first-year postgraduate students enrolled at the department of English and Cultural Studies in a Southern Indian University. Some of the dominant patterns emerging from the accounts of the participants are (1) the changing perception of conducive learning space, (2) the changing perceptions and roles of various classroom actors, and (3) the evolving nature of the learners and the learning process. The study utilizes the framework of mobility to locate the stage of embodied skill acquisition of the participants within the online learning space and illuminates the possibilities offered by this paradigm within the context of higher education. Some of the insights gained through the study include a changing perception of the conventional built classroom space, a notable preference towards a complete online or offline mode as opposed to the hybrid mode, and a transition towards self-directed learning. The study argues that these implications are highly pertinent and can significantly shape the way pedagogues and researchers engage with the various modes of learning—physical, online, and hybrid—and the future of higher education that is shaped by technology-enabled learning.
Highlights
The shift to Emergency Remote Learning (ERL) as a response-measure to the pandemicCOVID-19 changed the way learning was experienced in the pre-pandemic context
The interviews revealed that the phenomenon of multiple spatial shifts that occurred in the span of one year of the pandemic COVID-19 has significantly altered how learners perceive and experience learning
Some of the observations that are pertinent to the field of higher education, emerging from the present phenomenological study, are 1. the change in perception associated with conventional built classroom space as the sole conducive learning space, 2. the dissatisfaction with the hybrid mode of learning and a preference towards a complete-online and completeoffline modes, and 3. a notable movement towards self-directed learning and building of knowledge-based communities through peer learning practices
Summary
COVID-19 changed the way learning was experienced in the pre-pandemic context This unplanned and abrupt shift from architecturally planned learning contexts like schools, colleges, and universities to unplanned study-rooms and drawing-rooms of learners led pedagogues and researchers to evaluate the impact of this shift on the future of learning (Neuwirth et al, 2020; Rashid & Yadav, 2020). A new paradigm of inquiry, the engagement with mobility is complex owing to the historical disengagement with space beyond the conventional built spaces in the field of education (Cox, 2018; Ellis & Goodyear, 2016; Gulson & Symes, 2017), especially considering the interconnectedness between spatial studies and the mobility paradigm (Sheller, 2017). Through the framework of mobility and space, the present study attempts to understand the phenomenon of multiple spatial shifts and its impacts on the perception and nature of learners, learning, and learning spaces. The study adopts the interpretive phenomenological approach to document and makes sense of the perceptions and experiences of learners caught in the shift
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