Online Learning Futures: An Evidence Based Vision for Global Professional Collaboration on Sustainability

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The rapid shift online during the Covid-19 pandemic has put online learning firmly on the agenda of universities everywhere. To fully realise its transformative potential, this book argues the need for an evidence-based design approach. Drawing on the experiences of online learners who are professionals: educators, engineers and researchers, it demonstrates that open, online, collaborative learning experiences are not only feasible but effective for building professional community knowledge. Innovative online learning can help universities contribute to the global public good by achieving high quality learning at scale that will widen access to professional education and create more porous boundaries between universities and the wider community, for example in the context of the current policy discussions on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate and inequality. The evidence shows how co-designed, transformative digital education can be mobilised to support, for example, teachers in crisis contexts, professionals investigating renewable energy solutions, or medics adapting treatments to local conditions, and also scale up professional development in areas where expertise is urgently required. The book concludes that scaled up online learning can enable higher education to deliver on the UN SDGs by equipping citizens and communities with the knowledge and skills needed to solve the worlds most pressing problems.

Author Bio

Eileen Kennedy is a Senior Research Fellow at UCL Knowledge Lab, University College London, UK. Diana Laurillard is Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies at UCL Knowledge Lab, University College London, UK.