If we are to build sustainable societies, quality education matters and that education must “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, according to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (United Nations, n.d.).
One positive outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic is that we now know beyond a doubt that access to quality education can be ubiquitous: learning can take place anywhere, anytime where open and unrestricted access to the internet and a digital device exists. The world had to move online as we were universally affected by COVID-19. Education went virtual to ensure some sort of student learning at all levels – from pre-school aged children to adults – could continue. I recall meeting my last writing class on the evening of March 12, 2020, and telling them I suspected we might not meet again, showing them once more how to navigate the Learning Management System (LMS) before we parted. At that point, using an LMS was still new and sometimes confusing to these firstyear International students: with COVID- 19 lockdowns, we all had to become skilled users of technology and improve our digital fluency almost overnight, a cause of significant anxiety for many students and faculty. Having spent over a dozen years teaching in the UAE Armed Forces and at the Higher Colleges of Technology, I have to admit that I welcomed being able to return to using digital tools and a virtual learning environment.
Unfortunately, the pivot to online instruction during the pandemic exposed significant inequity as we learned just how much of a digital divide exists in societies around the world, including Canada. Access to technology – devices and reliable internet – made learning accessible to some but not all students: these economic disparities effectively derail the successful achievement of SDG 4: Quality Education. We are halfway through the 2030 Agenda and global access to education as a human right, as envisioned 75 years ago in Article 26 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, still escapes too many.
Following a period of “emergency remote learning” early in the pandemic, it became crystal clear that virtual learning experiences appealed to many students and instructors. Online courses transcended geographic borders and time zones, bringing educational opportunities to learners who may be physically situated on the other side of the world or just next door. Digital course delivery transformed access to education and training opportunities by eliminating some traditional barriers to studying – be they commute time, care duties, or work schedules – and improved the accessibility accommodations for people with disabilities – visible, invisible, continuous or episodic – that affect many individuals, including students, instructors, and other educational professionals. Ultimately, if institutions continue to support the creation of innovative virtual learning pathways and credentials which allow for transnational participation, their reach moves from local to global. With SDG 4’s vision to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" inarguably, one clear way to achieve this goal is through the digitalization of learning to provide global educational opportunities. Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), notes that “Digitalization and globalization have connected people, cities, countries, and continents in ways that vastly increase our individual and collective potential” (Tiven, M. B., Fuchs, E. R., Bazari, A., Wilhelm, M., & Snodgrass, G.). Digitalized learning has transformed education by expanding the possibilities of access to quality learning beyond one’s geographic setting; virtual learning transcends traditional physical borders to allow for the development of transnational learning communities. I studied in traditional settings in Canada and Germany, but continuing my education while residing overseas was only possible online. Long before the pandemic, Aston University in the UK was a leader in developing transnational education. Shifting its delivery of well-respected programs from distance to digital in the early 2000s, Aston successfully attracted students situated around the world. By eliminating the barriers of geography and national borders, Aston extended its degrees to multinational students, resulting in a rich, linguistically, and culturally diverse, transnational group of alumni. Soon thereafter, Queen’s Faculty of Education also introduced online Additional Qualifications courses using D2L which allow me to keep current in my professional Ontario teacher education from my home in the UAE.
Computer-assisted learning makes us far better equipped to provide learning that is accessible and designed with the universal needs of all in mind. Being able to caption and/or provide audio-visual content which includes transcripts or uses described video can enhance learning for all students, not just those with specific needs. For many individuals, online courses support social and emotional learning as well as physical needs where traditional learning environments may cause anxiety or are potentially physically harmful. Asynchronous courses in particular are often transformative for learners; I have seen students who were silent in a classroom become engaged, active participants in asynchronous course activities. As an instructor, I am far better able to meet the learning needs of my students when we have regular access to reliable technology so I can blend my instruction. From anecdotal observations over the last two decades, I know that we can use technology effectively and I know it is possible to build social presence and connect to learners, inviting them to engage with the content, with their peers and with me. Online, many students are more likely to reach out for help than would ordinarily in class. I can select materials that are linguistically and culturally relevant and which are inclusive and reflect the pluricultural diversity of an international society.
In the UAE, I was used to collaborating with multinational colleagues located on 17 campuses around the country. Our collaborations were necessarily remote yet our physical distance did not hinder our ability to connect and build social presence in our computer-mediated communications, sharing ideas and blending best practices from international pedagogies in our work. Reaching a consensus and co-creating content for our courses through our various linguistically and culturally diverse lenses, we were able to prepare our students to learn about and be able to interact with the wider world. In my online classes teaching students at King’s University College at Western who are studying from their homes in China in both synchronous and asynchronous remote settings, I’ve been able to develop relationships, by sharing my own lived experiences being an outsider in a new culture as a transnational student and educator who can relate to the ups and downs of navigating new ways of learning, especially adapting to ways of learning in the Canadian context: this allows me to reassure my students that this transition is a natural part of the transnational learning experience and part of becoming culturally agile. It also provides me with fascinating insights into other educational systems as I mentor my students.
Social media and mobile devices have incredible potential to extend opportunities and make learning truly accessible. Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp let us be globally connected. Thanks to my Emirati students, I’ve been using WhatsApp for over a decade as it has been the “go-to” communication tool for people in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America and much of Asia for years – frankly, everywhere but North America. When I repatriated to Canada in 2018, only my international students knew about WhatsApp, but it’s safe to say that’s certainly not the case in 2023. WhatsApp facilitates global communication by enabling people who are separated geographically to keep in touch via the internet; it offers opportunities for sharing ideas and building relationships through group chats, be they for families, school classes or workplaces all at no cost, provided one has a smartphone and internet access via cellular data or Wi-Fi connection. WhatsApp allows me to communicate and respond in real time across continents, time zones, and languages, giving me instant access to people I care about and events that affect them.
If we can collectively commit to providing access to the internet for every population, if nations that have the resources agree to reach out to developing societies with support, then I believe we can ensure a future world where quality education is a given, and which can be distributed digitally around the globe, bringing us closer together in the blink of an eye. It’s what our world needs, and the future our children deserve.
REFERENCES
Tiven, M. B., Fuchs, E. R., Bazari, A., Wilhelm, M., & Snodgrass, G. (2023). Codebook for global student learning outcomes. New York, NY: Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
United Nations. (n.d.) Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
United Nations. (2022). The sustainable development goals report 2022.
United Nations. (1948). Universal declaration of human rights.
Sheri Henderson holds a BA and B.Ed. from Queen’s and a MSc from Aston University. She has taught on four continents and worked with people of over 100 nationalities. Recognized in 2019 as one of Queen’s Faculty of Education’s top 50 in 50 educators, she teaches Writing at King’s University College at Western and English at Montcalm SS in the Thames Valley DSB.