Page 51 - Innovation Delaware 2021

INNOVATION IN THE COVID AGE
L ast March, thousands of students, week or two of campus lockdowns, barely
both Delaware residents as
well as those who had come from around the world to take classes at the state’s colleges and universities, suddenly found themselves in an unusual and scary situation. Not only were their plans for spring vacation uprooted, but most of them had to abandon their dorm rooms and return home or find lodging elsewhere. This was on top of the need to prepare within a few days to begin linking into all classes digitally.
Yet, with rare exceptions, these students finished their spring semester 2020 and either graduated or moved up to their next class level. That they were able to do so was the result of hard work, sound planning and a lot of innovative thought given by college administrators and faculty members.
“We were teaching some online distant-learning classes before the pandemic, but not to a great extent,” says MARK BRAINARD, president of Delaware Technical Community College. “Until last March, we were primarily an in- person, on-campus college.”
University of Delaware Provost ROBIN MORGAN knew her school was equipped with digital systems that could provide instantaneous communications with all students and that many lectures were recorded and could be accessed remotely. “But I have to admit that before COVID, my experience with Zoom was zero.”
Nevertheless, by maneuvering the timing of the spring break, most students at local colleges and universities were learning via digital classrooms within a
missing a beat.
At Goldey-Beacom College, DAN
YOUNG, director of the school’s doctoral program in business administration, was able to leverage the experience gained through his program — which operates
totally online — to help the college make what is largely known as “the pivot” from in-person to digital. At Delaware State University, STEVE NEWTON, a presidential fellow in the school’s administration, says, “In March 2020, we had to transit 1,447 face-to-face courses to a digital platform in five days.” And Morgan, by now thoroughly familiar with Zoom, not only for classes but also administrative meetings that were conducted from the homes of faculty and staff, says, “We went from 30,000 Zoom minutes a day before COVID to now 2.7 million daily.”
INNOVATION DELAWARE 49
BY ROGER MORRIS
A NEW PLAYBOOK FOR
HIGHER EDUCATION
In a time of confusion, the state’s colleges and universities innovated immediate and long-term solutions