The sudden switch to online learning impacted academic communities worldwide in different ways: Internet capacity stretched beyond its limitations, a lack of experience with suitable technology platforms, some of these used well beyond their designs and load limits, a shortage of client devices as well as digital media content, the list goes on — but above all, serious deficiencies in individuals’ competences for managing online interaction for learning.

Recognizing these and other shortcomings, a very commendable initiative was launched addressing “Resiliency in GIScience Education”. Perceived by many as a first aid station offering guidance through a crisis, its initiators were looking beyond: “How can our experiences become opportunities for rethinking and revisioning our practices and perspectives?”

This is where interruption of our ongoing practice should be understood as a long-term valuable disruption leading to innovation and a sea change in concepts and the practice of higher education. Now is an excellent time to step back for a few moments and consider which changes we want to keep, which experiences should lead to different approaches and which fundamental re-conceptualizations will be helpful in the future of higher education.

Let’s look at a few of these opportunities:

The insight of learning for most people being a social activity is not new. Having everyone spending time in a front-facing classroom is not really a suitable setting for social interaction, though. This is demonstrated by the expectation to listen quietly, giving way to the practice of communicating off-topic via personal devices. We therefore could opt more frequently to alternate listening with discussion time in breakout groups. Managing these well in a large lecture hall creates huge overhead, while done smoothly on online platforms.

Essentially, plain lectures are most easily moved online “as is” and are least valuable as such. Educators already earlier having broken up their lectures into smaller units alternating inputs with interaction, individual activities and reflections in groups benefitted substantially from these structural changes now contributing to the success of online learning. Those teachers investing long nights into the recording of lectures run the risk of being considered an always-on streaming channel to be consumed right before exam week — with limited long-term success.

Traditional classes typically are considered synchronous, co-located events. Successfully “going online” certainly requires more than bridging a distance with telecommunication. Or, for that matter, un-scheduling learning by offering recordings. Online learning requires a re-inventing of many established frameworks and processes, with the ongoing mass experiment allowing an assessment and evaluation of approaches on an unprecedented scale.

From a purely personal perspective, and without any serious empirical validation, I have collected a few notes I am certain to consider during next semesters, online or on-site:

• Keep lecturing to shorter, focused discussions of clearly defined topics;
• Foster learning, teach less;
• Increase the use of flipped classroom scenarios;
• Facilitate interaction with and among students;
• Re-socialize learning by stimulating discourse;
• Leverage digital tools for individual problem-based learning; and
• Focus on transferable competences over knowledge and skills.

None of these thoughts actually are specific for online learning, and most are obvious anyways. Still, the push to reset one’s teaching practice originated from enforced online-only interaction and exposing the drawbacks of traditional formats.