Preface

In the academic year 2020–2021, COVID-19 ravaged the world, causing more than six million deaths globally. This highly infectious pandemic devastated higher education and forced almost all institutions to reinvent instructional strategies and delivery methodologies. The pandemic so widely affected higher education institutions that many have come to believe that higher education has been forever transformed in ways that are yet to be fully realized. Without a doubt, digital education became the preferred delivery methodology as students and faculty sought the protections afforded by isolation. Some institutions were prepared to utilize this delivery methodology. Many were not prepared. Regardless, the pandemic forced the issue. Higher education was changed to protect both students and faculty.

The changes brought to the field of higher education have been more substantial than any other changes within the last hundred years. Not since the Spanish flu in the early 1900s has the world faced a similar epidemic. While all students have been affected, first-generation, female, and underrepresented students have borne the bulk of the burden. To better understand the ravages of the pandemic, this book examines four distinct aspects in four sections: "Perils and Promises", "The State of Online Education", "Goals and Challenges of Online Learning" and "Innovations in the Age of COVID". These categories of inquiry are intended to shed light on the impact of the pandemic and the future of higher education post-COVID.

To understand the impact of the COVID pandemic more fully, one must examine higher education both pre and post-pandemic. A good perspective of higher education is fundamental to grasping the many changes brought by the COVID-19 epidemic. An understanding of the past and present more clearly illuminates the future of higher education post-COVID. The university experience for women, students of color, and the disfranchised has been particularly impacted. While many students were forced to drop out in order to financially survive during the pandemic, the real question remains as to the likelihood of their return to pursue their educational dreams. How resilient will these students prove to be? How resilient will higher education prove in recovering those whose dreams were placed on hold?

COVID wrought many changes upon the higher education system. The brick-and-mortar institutions were hit the hardest. Those institutions already deeply involved in the delivery of online learning were often the least impacted. The institution's commitment to online learning proved to be highly correlated to the ability to successfully navigate the changes brought on by the pandemic. Those institutions only lightly engaged in distance education or not engaged in distance education found themselves thrown into a new learning paradigm. Both instruction and assessment proved difficult and involved a substantial learning curve forced upon all institutions whether prepared or not for digital education. Student psychological well-being suffered as students found themselves isolated and separated from their colleagues and faculty. Many barriers and challenges emerged requiring the best practices of higher education institutions. Where deficiencies in social justice and equal treatment already existed, these became much more pronounced as support interventions

were employed. Institutions struggling to address student needs were more likely to serve those deemed most important. Many other students simply fell to the wayside as they navigated financial and technological challenges.

Online and digital learning emerged as the answer to the isolation imposed by the pandemic. As previously mentioned, some institutions were prepared, and others were not. The transition to online learning involved so much more than just carrying face-to-face instruction into a digital environment. Many institutions discovered this truth the hard way as they floundered through the transition process. The virtual environment demanded the reinvention of curriculum and instructional methodologies. Students lacking the required digital resources were often forced to drop out. Many faculties also struggled to master the instructional competencies required in the new learning environment. The engagement of students with other students and of students with faculty replaced the standard classroom environment and proved an important strategy for enhancing learning. The real question remains as to the possibility of returning to the educational environment as it once was. What lessons have been learned? How has education forever changed?

The future of higher education is now in question. What will higher education look like in the post-COVID world? What have teachers learned about teaching during the pandemic? What are the new dynamics of professional development as faculty are prepared for the future? Faculty who lived through the pandemic have gained rich insight into addressing the global disruption of the educational process. While the future of higher education may be in question, the gifts and talents of higher education faculty remain absolute. The creative and innovative will always rise to meet and overcome the barriers and challenges. This creativity and innovativeness must be unleashed in the days ahead to ensure that the generation forced out by the pandemic is regained and allowed to complete their educational dreams. The world can ill afford the loss of this massive number of future employees.

The challenge of restoring the educational system to its previous level of accomplishment rests upon all institutions. Educators must ensure that COVID did not happen to them. Rather they must ensure that COVID happened for them. The creative, the innovative, those with a vision for the future must see beyond the difficulties to use the lessons learned to improve the educational system and to raise higher education to a new level of accomplishment. After all, the world depends on this coming generation of learners.

Special thanks go out to the many, many educators who embraced the challenges brought on by COVID and used them to improve the learning environment.

> **Lee "Rusty" Waller** Baptist University of the Americas, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America

> > **Sharon Kay Waller** Abu Dhabi University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
