Thinking beyond the Present: Advocating Continuity of Practice of Emergency Remote Teaching in Higher Education Institutions in Nigeria

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the disruption of the education system and closure of schools of educational institutions all over the world. To ensure that teaching and learning does not stop during the period, higher education institutions (HEI) in Nigeria adopted emergency remote teaching (ERT) by moving their classes to online and distance education platforms. The expectation is that ERT will be jettisoned for the return of on-campus face-to-face pedagogies in the post COVID-19 ‘new normal’. This paper, therefore, advocated the continuity of practice of ERT in the ‘new normal’ given strong justifications to support the advocacy. It argued that higher education institutions should not completely discard emergency remote teaching and recommended, among others, that institutions should adopt blended learning model in the new normal and have a contingency plan for ERT in advance of a crisis, make it a compulsory part of academic staff skill set and professional development, build the capacity of academic and other campus support staff for ERT, and develop a strategic plan for solving the challenges associated with ERT. The paper concluded that ERT constitutes a positive pedagogical approach which could transform higher education in Nigeria.