COVID-19: Higher Education challenges and responses |
The International Association of Universities is closely monitoring the impacts of COVID-19 on higher education around the world.
Below you will find resources pages compiled by the IAU. They offer information about latest developments regarding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on universities, share recommendations and initiatives, offer opportunities to engage or exchange and provide a selection of recent country-based and international news items regarding higher education and COVID-19.
IAU has published two reports on the impact of COVID-19:
IAU also published a joint paper in collaboration with the Erasmus Student Network on COVID-19 Impact on Higher Education: Institutional and Students Perspectives.
HEIs and organisations from around the world engaged in developing responses to COVID-19 are invited to share these through this channel as well.
Contact: a.sudic@iau-aiu.net and s.andriambololo@iau-aiu.net.
Follow us on Twitter @IAU_IAU and tweet about your institution/organization’s initiatives to fight COVID-19 using: #IAUcovid19
On this page, please find some of the recommendations for higher education institutions to carry on with teaching and learning activities during this socio-economic, cultural and health crisis and also on how to address the future.
UNESCO
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United Nations launches the UN Secretary-General Policy Brief ‘Education during COVID-19 and beyond’(August, 2020). | OECD has released Education Responses to COVID-19: Implementing a Way Forward. The paper proposes a framework and recommendations to help governments form and implement strategy for education responses to COVID-19 (July, 2020). | World Bank published the report The COVID-19 Pandemic: Shocks to Education and Policy Responses (July, 2020). |
INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In this tab you will find information on how organizations monitor the impact of COVID-19 on the higher education community. A selection of survey reports on the impact of COVID-19 is also presented.
MONITORING BY MULTILATERAL ORGANIZATIONS
UNESCO
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Council of Europe develops a special webpage on COVID-19 covering good practices from Member States, Council of Europe education standards and new and existing education resources. | World Bank traces in real time->https://www.worldbank.org/en/data/interactive/2020/03/24/world-bank-education-and-covid-19] the closure of schools by country and proposes key resources to address the health crisis. | World Economic Forum analyses how COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of higher education. |
MONITORING BY INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
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Agence universitaire de la francophonieproduces a weekly update monitoring publications related to the pandemic from higher education and partners of the AUF; and also monitors the actions of its members and partners in response to COVID-19. | Asian Development Bank has published Online Learning in Sri Lanka’s Higher Education Institutions during the COVID-19 Pandemic (September, 2020). | Asociación Colombiana de Universidades monitors the actions carried out by its member universities to alleviate the effects of COVID-19. | American Council on Education shares information and resources relating to COVID-19. |
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Association of African Universities offers a resource page to help higher education institutions plan for possible campus disruption by COVID-19. | Association of International Educators, NAFSA shares a Coronavirus Critical Resources document focus on international educators and students in United States of America. | Association of Pacific Rim Universities has made available a web page including links to members’ websites stating their policies and the actions they are taking to face the current health crisis. | Association of Universities in the Netherlands shares updates on changes within universities and the higher education system in the Netherlands in relation to COVID-19. |
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Boston College Center for International Higher Education has published a Special Issue of its International Higher Education quarterly publication on the many challenges relating to the COVID-19 crisis. | eLearning Africa and the EdTech Hub has published a report The Effect of Covid-19 on Education in Africa and its Implications for the Use of Technology. | Lumina Foundation launches the publication COVID’s Lessons for Global Higher Education Coping with the Present while Building a More Equitable Future (November, 2020). | Quality and Qualifications Ireland has released the report A QQI Evaluation of the Impact of the COVID-19 Modifications to Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Further Education and Training (FET) and Higher Education (HE) in Ireland (August, 2020). |
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System of State Universities of Oaxaca has released the book: Pandemic: The Catastrophic Crisis (in Spanish and English). The work is coordinated by Dr. Modesto Seara Vázquez and constitutes an analysis of the pandemic, within the framework of what is considered to be a major systemic crisis (January, 2021). | University Affairs Canada publishes regular updates on the situation facing Canada’s universities with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
IAU has developed a first Global Survey on the impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education (May, 2020).
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) released its first survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on German universities and international student mobility in Germany (June, 2020).
Educations.com has released statistics based on 7,400 responses to a recent survey on the impact of COVID-19 on study abroad.
Erasmus Student Network has published a report on the results of a survey of 22,000 international students in Europe regarding the impact of COVID-19 on their mobility experience (April, 2020).
European Association for International Education (EAIE) has published "Coping with COVID-19: International higher education in Europe", a report that offers some preliminary perspectives on the impact of the coronavirus on international education (March, 2020).
Institute of International Education (IIE) conducted a survey that shows the effects that travel restrictions related to the outbreak of COVID-19 are having on international student mobility, and released on 14 May 2020 the results of its second survey in the COVID-19 Snapshot Survey Series about the effects of COVID-19 on U.S. higher education institutions (May 2020).
QS shares the International Student Survey: Global opportunities in the new higher education paradigm. This report focuses on students wishing to study in Europe.
The IAU survey report on the impact of Covid-19 on higher education showed that one of the key challenges encountered by higher education institutions was the sudden shift to distance learning. This challenge comes with different dimensions, most particularly the technical infrastructure, the support tools to use for distance learning, assimilating online teaching pedagogies and finally how to organize and manage exams and student assessments from distance. IAU has made a selection of useful resources in order to respond to these challenges.
TOOLS, PLATFORMS AND SOFTWARE FOR DISTANCE LEARNING
DISTANCE LEARNING PLANNING AND PEDAGOGY
Conference of Principals of Spanish Universities (CRUE) in collaboration with the distance learning universities UNED and UOC, has launched a portal with a series of recommendations and advice for planning and structuring teaching by distance (the portal is in Spanish).
Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has released “Guidelines on Distance Education during COVID-19” with policy advice and practical tips on the use of distance-education methods, tools and appropriate technology as a response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Deaking University, Australia offers a free online course: Transforming Digital Learning: Learning Design Meets Service Design (estimated time required: 6 hours).
The European Maturity Model for Blended Education (EMBED), is a framework which can be used to assess conceptual or implementation issues regarding blended learning, teaching and education. It indicates which dimensions are relevant for lecturers and educators, but also institutions, policymakers and educational centres.
You can also enroll for the online course developed in relation to this project: Improve high-quality and mature blended learning practice in higher education (expected time required: 10 hours).
Blended learning for quality higher education: selected case studies on implementation from Asia-Pacific is an open access publication by the UNESCO Office in Bangkok, Thailand. It explores how leading institutions in Asia-Pacific build capacity through a holistic approach to drive, sustain and scale their blended learning practices.
Guide to Blended Learning by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an introduction using technology and distance education teaching strategies with traditional, face-to-face classroom activities. This Guide has been designed to assist teachers adopt blended learning strategies through a step-by-step approach taking constructivist and design-based approach and reflecting on decisions taken to provide authentic learning experience in their own contexts.
ASSESSMENTS AND EXAMS BY DISTANCE
Report on Remote Assessment Procedures by CRUE offers a holistic report on remote assessment procedure options, which considers every facet of the process: methodological, regulatory (including data protection) and technological.
Indiana University proposes a page with resources for assessments and final exams from distance. It includes examples for moving exams online as well as developing alternative assessment forms during this time of crisis.
This tab contains a selection of recent news on actions taken around the globe to respond to the current health crisis.
REGIONAL AND NATIONAL INITIATIVES
Select region of interest: Africa - Arab States - Asia and the Pacific - Europe - Latin America - North America
October
How universities are changing in the wake of COVID-19.
15 October
Under-represented and unheard: Women in COVID-19 news.
10 October
US and UK universities hit by thousands of new COVID cases.
19 September
Students: the missing perspective on the COVID experience - Article by IAU.
16 August
COVID-19 obliterated Higher Ed’s Technical Status Quo. Will it last ?.
15 August
The future of digital assessment : COVID-19, short courses and beyond.
9 August
COVID-19 is widening inequality in higher education.
2 August
3 things COVID-19 will end in higher education.
8 August
How COVID-19 could change the higher education sector permanently.
November 2020
How COVID-19 is transforming engineering in Africa.
Universities South Africa organised a recent Higher Education in Africa webinar that was titled: COVID-19 and Africa’s Higher Education System: What is going on? The discussions concluded that Online learning is integral to the future of Higher Education.
Latin America
The stark COVID-19 challenges HE faces in Latin America.
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This tab contains information on calls for application and webinars to support and learn how universities are addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Select information of interest: OPEN CALLS - UPCOMING WEBINARS - RECORDINGS FROM PAST WEBINARS
International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) has launched the OER4Covid initiative which comprises a diverse group of almost 900 participants from 69 different countries. They are requesting help from educators to identify and prioritise local needs for open educational resources.
To access the survey, please follow the link.
Institute of Applied Linguistics (University of Warsaw) invites to take part in a research investigating how language and linguistics teachers/instructors and students/learners have been coping with the transition to remote instruction. The survey is anonymous and will solely serve scientific purposes. It should take no more than 25-38 minutes to complete; around 85% of the questions are of the quick multiple-choice type.
There are different versions of the questionnaire:
for Language Teachers
for Linguistics Instructors and TAs
for Language Learners
for Linguistics Students
for Educators in subjects other than language
QS Quacquarelli Symonds invites to take part in a new survey for university staff as part of its commitment to providing the higher education sector with data-driven insights.
To access the survey please follow this link.
University of Glasgow’s School of Education organizes a free webinar series "Celebrating Social Justice Research in Education".
20 January 12.00-13.30 (GMT): Urban and Place-based Learning
3 February 12.00-13.30 (GMT):Collaborative Schooling for Change
17 February 12.00-13.30 (GMT): Adult Learning and Youth Transitions
3 March 13.00-14.30 (GMT): Migration and Refugee Education
17 March 12.00-13.30 (GMT): Ethics, Religion and Values in Education
Click here for more details on the webinars and how to register
Contact North | Contact Nord Webinars organizes a series of free weekly seminars on how to teach and learn online, best practices and the dos and don’ts. Upcoming webinars can be found here.
![]() | September 25, 2020: What happened during the Corona crisis?
Offered by Nordic Webinar Series |
September 18, 2020: What are we learning from Covid 19?
Offered by Magna Charta Observatory | |
![]() | August 18 and 19, 2020: Impact of COVID-19 on Education
Offered by the RUDECOLOMBIA Doctorate in Educational Sciences of the University of Cartagena, Colombia. |
August 18, 2020: Strategies and actions for returning to academic activities (Estrategias y acciones para el regreso a las actividades académicas)
Offered by UDUAL. | |
![]() | August 11, 2020: Choosing a Technology that Makes a Difference to Learning - Getting Past the Hype
Offered by Contact North/Contact Nord |
![]() | July 20, 2020: Building Anti-Surveillance Ed-Tech! In Conversation with Audrey Watters
Offered by Contact North/Contact Nord. |
![]() | July 14, 2020: Help your Students Succeed in Their Online Courses |
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