Increasing E-Learning Modalities through Creative Use of Technology in the Post-Pandemic Era

Abstract

The post-Pandemic Era leaves us with the question of whether to pursue the move toward digital education or step back into face-to-face education. The reasons for the debate can vary from the lack of infrastructure to stringent national qualification agencies. Regardless, the pandemic has taught us to be adaptable. As such, progress must be made in both formats, digital and conventional education. In moving e-learning forward while coping with diverse needs of global education across geographical, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic boundaries, the inclusion of read, watch, and listen (RWL) modalities becomes essential. Successful deliveries of different modalities lie in creativity and creative use of technology that is driven by the achievement of targeted learning outcomes. This chapter attempts to discuss the experience of creating RWL modalities by embracing the universal design, and other creative use of technology to develop twenty-first century learners.

1. Introduction

The post-pandemic era refers to the present era after the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that originated from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019. By the end of January 2020, the cases have reported in 18 countries outside China. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic as a result of the alarming levels of spread, severity, and inaction [1]. Localized lockdown started in China on 23rd January 2020. In Sri Lanka, national recommendations for lockdown were issued around the same time even before the first case was reported in the country [2]. By early April 2020, over a third of the global population was under some form of lockdown or movement control. It is only on 5th May 2023 that WHO declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency, but cautioned that it may still remain as a global thread [3]. As of 24th May 2023, WHO reported 766,895,075 confirmed cases and 6,935,889 deaths, with more than 13 billion vaccine administered. Today, there a still new cases that are being reported. On 22nd May 2023, the number of newly reported cases was 45,769.

The impact of the pandemic lockdown is far-reaching into crucial aspects of daily life of the people, including food security, healthcare, mental health, domestic violence, global economy, air quality, education, death, and others [4]. Of these, the only good news is the improvement of the air quality throughout the world. The same improvement is not certain for the environment. While the amount of waste produced ought to have decreased with reduced economic activities, particularly with reduced tourism activities an increase in environmental waste in the form of newly created medical waste, as well as household waste was observed [5]. In addition, there challenges to the recycling efforts that have been implemented prior to the pandemic. During the lockdown, schools and higher education institutions had to be closed. The closure is inevitable, and the global community did not have the time to plan the transition; immediate actions were required in order to proceed with provision of education through the only mode that would support it under the lockdown, the online mode of education. For most, it is a question of implementing the most probable solution and revisions as the global community struggle through the pandemic era amidst all other impacts of COVID-19. The following introspection is focused on the exploration of the impact of the pandemic on education and the direction to be taken in the present post-pandemic era.

In exploring the education dilemma in the post-pandemic era, the necessary conditions and choices are explored, including inclusivity as a condition, the role of technology in education, the importance of creativity in content delivery and learning space, and practical e-learning modalities. The aim of this chapter is to improve our understanding of the impact of the pandemic on education and how best to move forward by constructing a post-pandemic education service that not only meets the sustainable developmental goal 4 or SDG 4 targets but also ensures a service that is risk tolerant, inclusive, adaptable and able to meet both, local and global requirements.

2. Education dilemma in the post-pandemic era

One major impact of the pandemic to education is greater acceptance of digital education, as well as open (and distance) education. During the pandemic, education had to be carried out completely through the online mode, thus forcing everyone to accept it as a mode of education. This acceptance is particularly important to all open universities around the world. Large corporations have been exploring knowledge management infrastructure as part of their effort in transformation as a learning organizations. Even smaller organizations have websites that provide basic knowledge in their area of industry as a marketing technique. The pandemic has helped to expedite the growth and advancement in this area. Today job-related skill development through online courses (short courses, massive open online courses, open educational resources (OERs) have become a big part of work life. Lifelong learning has become a culture in today’s society. The involvement of reputable industry players in the offer of online courses through platforms such as Coursera alongside university online courses simply proves that the education services are no longer in the purview of few, but individuals can choose how they want to construct their own knowledge portfolio.

The question is whether such wide opportunity exists for all individuals, hence the need to explore digital divide and how it be closed. Digital divide refers to the gap that exists between those who have the access to information and communications technology (ICT) and those who do not and those who have limited access. Resource needed varies from ICT hardware and software, internet access, or stable internet connection, and even stable electric supply. As suggested in Figure 1, differences in economic power between regions leads to noticeable gaps between one region to another. Gap also have been found to exist among different generation and different gender. Digital divide must be acknowledged as one of the world’s most important crisis due to the fact that it increases inequality among individuals. The most critical issue arising from digital divide is access to education. Another important issue is the huge limitation to access to work. Much of today’s job requires digital skills and greater opportunities lie in the realm of the digital world. Mental health caused by social isolation, particularly during the pandemic is another problem that is being explored extensively in the post-pandemic era. In addition, there are new crimes brought about by the digital world. Thereby, creating a new form of vulnerable group of people (those who are marginalized by the digital divide). Digital divide also translates into other forms of divides such classes of economies, and thus social.

Figure 1.

Internet access low among economic vulnerable [6].

The education dilemma in the post-pandemic era is a result of the digital divide. Those with access can focus their entire attention and resources in the offer of quality digital education along with quality physical education, a hybrid with greater preparedness to switch between the options. Those with limited access may still be able to offer a hybrid solution with a good balance between online and offline resources. Those without may feel the pressure to revert back to business as usual and continue to be disadvantaged by the impacts of the digital divide. Options such as portable basic home learning kit accompanied with instructions might be a solution that could be factored in. There are also the individual differences in access to be considered. The challenges are real and must be well-understood before a workable solution is implemented. Many are debating the question whether a physical infrastructure is still necessary [7]. Among children who are beginning to build their social skills and confidence, a protected physical infrastructure is important. Young adults’ need for physical infrastructure may differ based on their personalities and home settings. Even among the extroverts, the comfort of the flexibility offered by the digital world may lead them to opt for a hybrid setting rather than the pre-pandemic setting.

The above glimpse of the diverse education setting only necessitates that a solution in the provision of quality education as envisioned in the fourth sustainable development agenda, the local capacity, resources, and available support must be considered. Risk of a possible similar situation must be considered [8]. Post-pandemic education services must be developed with adaptability that enables a switch between a group/classroom setting and individual setting. It must be risk tolerant. Universal design learning must be an integral part of the curriculum design. Diversity must be not only viewed from regional or institutional setting but also in terms of individual differences in terms of skill, resources, and support needed. It must be ‘glocalized’. In this, the word ‘glocalization’ refers to considerations of local conditions while adhering to global standards in the provision of post-pandemic education services. Meanwhile, concentrated efforts, both at national and international levels must be focused toward closing the digital divide and ensuring access to digital world for all. A global dialog such as those organized by the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) helps to bring forward the challenges, possible support and solutions for practical implementations.

3. Universal design for learning

Universal design for learning (UDL) refers to an approach that aims to build inclusive learning settings that meet the diverse needs and capabilities of learners, including those with disabilities. It requires designing instructional materials, procedures, and assessments that are accessible and successful for a wide range of learners, regardless of their characteristics or learning styles. Universal design benefits people with functional limitations and society as a whole. It supports people in being more self-reliant and socially engaged [9]. Inclusive education is enabled by incorporating universal design principles in education. These principles must be set as conditions in the delivery of digital education to ensure equal access to quality education is available to all.

The notion of UDL evolved from the discipline of architecture, which was concerned with designing buildings and spaces that are accessible and useable by everyone, regardless of an individual’s physical ability. The universal design principles were then applied to other fields, including education to provide equal educational opportunities for all learners. UDL provides a guideline to educators that would help them introduce learning designs that can create an inclusive learning environment that meets the needs of all learners with diverse learning abilities and preferences.

3.1 Seven principles of UDL

In applying universal design in learning, it is important to understand the principles of UDL. There are seven principles, which can be applied to any design of learning style; they are timeless and adaptable [10, 11, 12].

3.1.1 Principle 1: equitable use

The primary premise is equitable use, which is the driving force for accessibility. The principle encourages us to consider learners with varying capacities. When applying this idea, we must consider all learners, not just the intended learners. When we design for all learners, we improve the experience for our target learners while also increasing the value of our delivery.

3.1.2 Principle 2: flexibility in use

Nobody is the same as anyone else. A rigid and inflexible design can never accommodate all learners. This principle promotes flexible, adaptable, and/or adjustable design. It considers individual preferences and allows users to pick how they will use it. When we provide our learners with options, they will feel empowered and in charge of their online experience.

3.1.3 Principle 3: Simple and intuitive use

One of the goals of user experience design is to make things easy to use. This principle seeks to lessen complexity and mental or cognitive demands. According to the cognitive load theory, humans can only process 3–9 items in a short period of time when processing information. To lessen complexity and cognitive load, we should aim to present information between three and nine items.

3.1.4 Principle 4: perceptible information

Learners heavily depend on information. We need to ensure the content is easy to absorb and obtain, whether it is delivered through text, graphics, audio, or videos. Start with our learners when incorporating this principle into our design. We also need to consider learners with disabilities, such as those with vision or hearing impairments, when determining how best to convey information.

3.1.5 Principle 5: tolerance for error

Errors are unavoidable among people. We should design for an error-free environment. Universal design seeks to design for all learners and to anticipate varied contexts and learner activities. This idea drives us to look beyond the screen and how the system and learner will interact with each other.

3.1.6 Principle 6: low physical effort

The design allows for efficient, comfortable, and fatigue-free use. Many learners spend a lot of time on computers or laptops to complete their tasks. It is physically demanding on their bodies. Those with physical abilities have even more trouble than other learners. Therefore, it is critical to design for low physical efforts to bear in mind whenever we work.

3.1.7 Principle 7: size and space for approach and use

As digital designers, the focus is less on form factors and more on what is on the screen. This is a shortsighted perspective because it is critical to think outside of the screen and consider our learners’ environment, especially as users visit websites not just on desktops but also on mobile devices, which is becoming more common. We may use the idea and its rules to create a universal design website that works on both desktop and mobile devices.

3.2 Addressing inclusivity in technology-enhanced education

Inclusive education has been the prime discussion among educationists over the years to ensure the accessibility to equal education, especially in technology-enhanced education conditions. Educational equity is the inclusion of teaching strategies to guarantee that diverse learners can access and demonstrate advanced-level information.

An important form of diversity is the different abilities at which individuals can operate. Limitations of abilities often termed as disabilities. Disabilities are part of human conditions, and it is expected that many people will experience some form of physical disabilities or impairments in their bodies during their lifetime [13]. A disability may be temporary or permanent [14]. Inclusive education not only ensures that individuals with disabilities receive an education but it is also designed to ensure that these individuals have access to the same degree of education and educational opportunities as everyone else.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a different educational landscape to teaching and learning. The transition from face-to-face to virtual teaching revealed the critical need for flexibility and supportive learning modalities for learners and academic staff who may be unfamiliar with these learning formats.

Not each and every student is able to have equal access to technology, for instance, laptop, smartphones, tablets, or good internet connections. Disadvantaged communities, rural areas, and countries with poor infrastructure are especially impacted by the technological gap. It is essential to ensure that students have access to appropriate devices and dependable internet connectivity in order to prevent excluding them from technology-enhanced education.

The cost of digital devices and internet services can be exorbitant, particularly for low-income students. Lowering the cost of internet service for this community can help close the gap, making technology-enhanced accessible to all.

Diverse languages and cultural backgrounds must be considered in technology-enhanced education. Due to linguistic issues, students who are not proficient in the language of instruction definitely be excluded. To support inclusive learning experiences, multilingual resources, translation services, and culturally relevant content should be made available.

Learning disabilities or special needs individuals require additional assistance and accommodation to ensure their participation in technology-enhanced education. As such, universal design should cater for all to access and functions such as text-to-speech, screen readers, and other inputs.

Marginal communities often face challenges in technology-related fields, and this can be extended to technology-enhanced education where the gap continues to widen. Some countermeasures need to be considered to encourage the participation of these marginal groups of society.

The utilization of technology involves a lot of individual data and information. Therefore, it is a necessity to protect and safeguard personal information to ensure data privacy maintains trust and inclusivity.

Having mentioned the above, joint efforts from educators, policymakers, technologists, and stakeholders are necessary to ensure inclusivity in technology-enhanced education that can be a powerful instrument for all.

4. The role of technology in education

Observations are used to discuss the role of technology in education instead of stating the intended technology role in education. Primarily, technology has enabled a connected global world that allows people the opportunities to access content and engage with experts and peers from all around the world across most forms of boundaries; thus, a global education. It is possible for learners to gain such access without leaving their homes. The most important benefit of global education is the exposure to various content, systems, and supports increases learner’s awareness on differences in the quality of the content. This awareness is not only present among learners but also among educators and educational institutions. Such positive competition helps to increase the need to produce high-quality education services and support systems among many institutions across the world [15]. An environment that can support the achievement of SDG 4.

Such setting also increases the diversity of an online classroom that is usually experienced in a physical classroom. The diverse needs of global education across geographical, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic boundaries provide a greater opportunity to understand diversity and create learning environment using the UDL principles. Use of technology in education can easily provide read, watch, and listen (RWL) modalities under a single platform and thereby meeting diverse learning preferences. Technology can also be used to foster the use of the fourth modality, kinesthetic modality [16]. Technology can help to create virtual spaces that can be shared and experienced by everyone to promote the development of kinesthetic skills. These four different modalities merely highlight how technology can integrate them and provide a diverse learning path on a single platform. Thus, the role of technology is to integrate various supports that cater for all other forms of diversity, refer Table 1. Careful design is essential.

Demographic factors	Personal preferences	Social structures	Education level/skills
Age	Learning styles	Socioeconomic status	Qualification
Gender	Motivation	Field of work	Digital skills
Sexual orientation	Attitude	Social class	Language skills and numeracy
Ethnicity	Behavior	Marital status	Financial literacy
Religion	Expectation	Parental status	Environmental literacy
Disabilities	Emotional intelligence/anxiety	Cross-cultural	International engagement
	Physical appearances	Political affiliation	health and civic literacies

Table 1.

Classes of diversity.

The third role of technology in education is enable effective achievement of the aim of education efficiently for every individual. The challenges deliberated suggest that this is by no means an easy task, but not an impossible task. Collective efforts must be pursued through basic plan, do, check, and act cycle or ID models in order to achieve the targeted purpose. While, the process often includes evaluation, analysis, and critical thinking to ensure continuous improvement; creativity in the use of technology is important in creating a digital learning space that is efficient [17]. Successful deliveries of different modalities lie in creativity and creative use of technology, that is. driven by the achievement of targeted learning outcomes that supports the targeted education outcomes.

Much of the future job skills are technology-related. Technology has created an intricate social network that can support far-reaching collaborative network. The skill to collaborate is a key people skill that is also an essential part of the set of future skills [18]. Social networks must be carefully selected and wisely used in order to effectively support your work network, foster collaborations and increase your learning curve. People skills, such as ability to collaborate and communicate, are crucial skills that can help one stay relevant in the increasingly challenging digital work environment. Technology and lifelong learning culture can pave the path to ensure that an individual is future job ready, adaptable, and is well-supported in coping with the challenges of the changing world, where digital world is the new reality.

The role of technology in education is, thus, revisited and realigned as the following:

• Increase access to quality glocalized education

• Create an inclusive learning environment

• Improve effective and efficient achievement of educational outcomes

• Supports the development of future skills

5. Creative content and learning space

In the educational context, creative content refers to instructional materials, tools, and activities used to enrich the educational process. Creative content in education comes in different forms such as digital multimedia, gamification, project-based learning, visual and graphic representations, and others.

In a physical setting, a learning space refers to an environment such as a classroom, where teaching and learning occur. The term may also refer to an indoor or outdoor location. A learning space could also exist in a digital platform. A digital learning space is highly diverse in use, configuration, environment, and educational institution. Contents are in the form of learning materials, interactions, and assessment, located in a digital learning space.

Both creative content and virtual learning space are interrelated to twenty-first century learning skills. It emphasized four key elements, which are communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking, also known as the 4 Cs [19]. In relation to creative learning skills, when learners engage with creative content, they nurture their creativity and express themselves in unique ways. It allows for self-reflection, exploration, and artistic and imaginative skills development.

Learners utilize critical thinking when they need to think critically, synthesize data or information, and solve problems. Therefore, creative content embedded with instructional design elements promotes higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) in which learners can apply knowledge creatively and innovatively to their learning activities. Higher order thinking skills (HOTS) refers to the ability to apply knowledge, skills, and values in reasoning, reflection, problem-solving, decision-making, innovating, and creating something new [20].

Collaboration and communication skills are applicable in creative content where various kinds of creative content can help to develop vital social and teamwork skills while fostering a sense of community in the classroom through group projects or interactive discussions. As such, these activities must well-designed to encourage collaboration and communication among learners.

Beside the above relation to twenty-first century learning skills, creative content also benefits learners in many ways such as retention and application of knowledge, multimodal learning, and personalization and differentiation. By creating links and linkages with real-world situations, creative content enhances learning retention. When expose to innovative and interesting learning tools, learners are more inclined to retain the material while applying it in real-world settings.

Visual, audio, video, and interactive elements are just a few examples of the many media and formats that creative content frequently combines. This multimodal approach promotes understanding through a variety of sensory inputs and caters to various learning preferences. By considering each individual’s interests, learning styles, and abilities, creative content facilitates personalized learning experiences. It may be modified and tailored to fit the diverse needs of learners, increasing inclusivity and accessibility.

Despite the benefits that creative content can offer to learners, there are challenges faced by creators when producing creative content. The biggest challenge is to produce content, which is different, unique, and new, especially in a crowd of saturated content. The creator lacks ideas to create something that stands out from the crowd. Time constraints are also an issue in creating good-quality content, which requires a lot of time beside extra stress to meet deadlines. Capturing and maintaining learners’ engagement can also be challenging as creators have to find better ways to ensure learners are engaged well and keep their interest in their learning. Receiving feedback and criticism is part of the process of developing creative content, but sometimes conflicting preferences and range of the preferences can be a challenge.

Creative content enhances learning experience of learners by making it fun, significant, and relevant. It promotes active participation in their own learning, creates important skills, and discovers their unique talents and interests. Creative content accelerates the twenty-first century learning skills — creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication that learners should acquire. Although there are some challenges faced by creators, the benefits that learners gain are far more useful.

6. E-learning modalities

E-learning that is purposed to support adult learners through the open education philosophy is designed with the assumption that adult learners are self-directed. Therefore, self-instructional learning materials (SIM) are often used to deliver content. SIM uses instructional design strategies in delivering content. As such, it differs from a textbook. In the early days, SIM is often published in pdf format using ‘Read’ modalities. Later, SIMs are developed using HTML incorporating sound clips in mp3 offering an additional modality, the ‘Listen’ modalities. As advance video technology enable compression allowing video in byte sizes be played with instantaneous play time, the ‘Watch’ modalities were enabled. RWL modalities are not new. These exist in the past but had been played using the different formats: paper, radio, and television. The internet and ICT technology enabled all three modalities accessed through a single device, a computer, laptop, table, or even a phone. ‘Watch’ mode was further enriched using multimedia, animation, interactivity, and gaming. These enabled developments of creative content that interest learners and ease integration of RWL modalities. The remaining description of e-learning modalities is based on the SIM development from a completed project, the learning spaced developed, and tested in an ongoing project, as well as concepts developed for a future project.

In the development of RWL modalities for the course shown in Figure 2, efforts were made in order to describe images in audio format. In creating the audio, it is important to remember mere description of the image is not the aim. The use of images is not merely to fill-in pages but to offer a clear depiction of the concept delivered. The same objective must be used in creating the audio file. The targeted learning outcomes of each modality must be achieved with similar effectiveness and efficiency. UDL principles must be set as criteria in the development of RWL modalities. The extension of RWL to include skill development via kinesthetic modality was incorporated through a self-instructional online workshop. The delivery of the online workshop is scheduled to be tested in August 2023. The use of virtual space to enhance the development of RWL-kinesthetic (RWL-K) modalities will be explored.

Figure 2.

RWL modalities offered via a short course for educators. (Note: The course and the learning space were developed by the authors under a consultancy project).

Assessment is another area of interest. Efforts must be made to offer assessment via RWL-K modalities. This is an area will be explored under another project. At present, efforts are placed in creating three different modes of online assessment with differing objectives: (i) Assessment as learning, (ii) Assessment for learning, and (iii) Assessment of learning. Assessment as learning is developed using an interactive yes/no questions that are suggested as a suitable mode for reinforcing knowledge acquisition. Assessment for learning is explored using authentic pedagogy and portfolio assessment that encourages learners to be creative, critical, collaborative, and communicative (4Cs) via indirect/ hidden curriculum strategies. Collaborative learning space is supported via an online peer forum. Learners are encouraged to share related experiences from their teaching and learning in the forum. They are also supported via additional resources designed to enrich their learning experience and help them to be critical and creative in their efforts to develop the proof of their portfolio. They learn to communicate their learning outcome using suitable templates.

E-learning modalities must undergo continuous improvement to ensure effective and efficient achievement of the targeted learning outcomes. Improvements must include efforts in the creative use of technology in content creation and development of a learning space. Efforts must also be in place to ensure that the role of technology is to ensure access, inclusivity, and quality education via effective and efficient achievement of educational outcomes. We ought to take a pause to reflect and improve our understanding of what had happened, the impact of the pandemic on education, and how best to move forward by constructing a post-pandemic education service that projects beyond SDG 4 targets to ensure an educational service that is risk tolerant, inclusive, and adaptable, is able to meet both local and global needs.

7. Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic era have several great impacts on us. One is the impact on the education and the dilemma whether to continue the pursue of quality digital education or turn back to business as usual. Perhaps a hybrid is a more practical solution. This leads to exploration of conditions and choices in the post-pandemic era. One condition that must be part of the proposed solution is inclusivity, which is explored through UDL principles. The role of technology in education is revisited and four important roles were identified, namely: (1) Access to quality glocalized education, (2) Inclusive learning environment, (3) Effective and efficient achievement of educational outcomes, and (4) Development of future skills. Creativity has a role in ensuring the use of technology in the development of creative content and learning space that enables a post-pandemic education service that reaches beyond SDG 4 targets and ensures an education service that is risk tolerant, inclusive, adaptable, and able to meet both local and global needs. Past, present, and future research project work and concepts were used to depict ongoing efforts to increase e-learning modalities through continuous improvement to ensure effective and efficient achievement of the targeted learning outcomes.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions from the collaborative research projects past, present, and future. A special thank you to Hafiz Kasah without whom creativity and art will not be realized as part of the work.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.