Views of higher education at home: lessons learnt

In March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Higher Education providers overnight closed physical campus spaces forcing students and staff to engage in “emergency remote” teaching and learning; predominantly from their homes. Much academic discussion at the time of the start of lockdown focused on the student experience, prioritising experiences in the digital environment, including primarily considerations of digital poverty, with less attention paid to the physical spaces of teachers and learners, which may (or may not) have changed as a consequence. Our photoelicitation study aimed to explore these experiences by requesting participants submit images of their ‘workspaces’ and responding to an online qualitative survey seeking to understand their perspectives on aspects of the home that facilitate or diminish the home-based teaching or learning experience. Twenty-six responses (18 students, 6 staff and 2 participants in dual roles) were obtained. Drawing upon the images and narratives provided, this presentation will explore the similarities and differences in adjustments and displacements individuals experienced in using the home as a learning environment because of COVID-19 restrictions.