According to UNESCO statistics, as of April 28, 2020, around 1.3 billion school students at all levels from 186 countries have been affected due to COVID-19 outbreak. With universities worldwide turning to online platform, higher education has embraced the digital transformation in all aspects. It has become a major issue in higher education on how to ensure the quality of higher education and pave the way for its future.
UNESCO INRULED, UNESCO IITE, UNESCO ICHEI and Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University have jointly released the handbook, which has discussed the following topics, namely lessons planning of flexible learning during campus closure, choosing appropriate delivery methods for flexible instruction, preparing materials and tools for learning and teaching, facilitating flexible learning with diverse activities, and checking learning outcomes and evaluating accordingly.
The handbook has rethought the current situation of ICT in higher education and analyzed the change of educators’ role, discussing how to integrate formal and informal learning, bridge the achievement gap of students, as well as utilize new technology to transform pedagogy.