A Response to Covid-19: Recognizing Subcultures in the Unexpected Online Student Cohort

Abstract

In March 2020, the Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) Government responded to Covid-19 by enacting a strict 4-week national lockdown, followed by a fortnight of partial restrictions (New Zealand Government, 2020). The pandemic dramatically impacted the education sector, moving all faceto-face teaching online. As one of the largest online education providers in NZ, our practices for engaging learners in disparate locations and meeting the varied cultural expectations of our diverse student population was put to the test. Most courses at Massey University already had an established online programme; therefore, moving content online for internal students was not a major disruption. A common assumption was that internal students should easily transition to an online learning environment given we already deliver quality online education. However, on a course level, we recognized the domestic students new to tertiary education and offshore internal students could not be simply engaged in the same manner as experienced distance learners; due to student learning expectations, course design, and pedagogy style, merely shifting all learning online does not make capable online learners. The objective of this paper is to share our insights gained from supporting three distinct student cohorts during lockdown, by focusing on their interpersonal needs as distinct subcultures within the broader student body. In our experience, a shift to online learning for students more comfortable in face-to-face teaching spaces requires decisions based more on pastoral than pedagogical concerns (particularly in a crisis situation) where robust blended learning spaces already exist.