Transformation and Upskilling of Teachers in the Post-Pandemic Distance Education

Gu Xiaohua

The Open University of China

Abstract: In the post-pandemic era, the in-depth and wide-ranging integration of digital technology with education and teaching has become a new trend, and blended teaching combining both online and offline approaches has become the new norm for distance education and teaching. Therefore, it has also become increasingly necessary to comprehensively enhance the quality of distance education and teaching, as well as the quality of personnel development. In this context, distance education teachers are facing new challenges and requirements, which poses a higher requirement for them to transform and upskill. They are expected to. transform educational philosophy, enhance digital literacy, optimise instructional design, improve teaching ability, and appropriately utilise data and technology empowering measures to adapt to new challenges and new requirements in order to advance the high-quality development of distance education.

Keywords: digital technology, blended teaching, quality of education and teaching, teachers, transformation and upskilling

Education is closely intertwined with human growth and symbiotic with the development of civilization. It is the oldest and noblest endeavour of humanity. Every major technological development and innovation, every industrial revolution and transformation of lifestyles, impacts and even alters education. In the post-pandemic era, as a new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation deepens, digital technology has increasingly become a driving force for fundamental shifts, comprehensively reshaping of human society's thinking patterns, organizational structures, and operational modes. This offers us significant new opportunities for innovating new paths, reshaping forms, and driving development, while also bringing about new challenges. Digitization represents the emerging wave that dictates the future, and digital technology will guide a new direction for the reform of distance education and shape a new model of integrated development in teaching. The comprehensive and wide-ranging integration of digital technology with education and teaching will become a new trend in the development of distance education.

In the post-pandemic era, the deep and interdisciplinary integration of digital technology with education is leading to the gradual erosion of traditional teaching models. A blended approach of online and offline teaching is emerging as the dominant instructional paradigm. This blending of online and offline pedagogies is becoming the new norm for distance education. This model ensures a more comprehensive teaching process, wherein the strengths of both digital and in-person methods complement each other. It emphasizes the guiding, inspiring, and monitoring role of teachers as leaders in the teaching process, and also values the students' active participation, enthusiasm, and creativity as the central driving force in the learning process.

Quality is the lifeline of education. The expansion of distance education is effective to meet the students' educational needs; however, criticisms often revolve around its large scale combined with suboptimal quality. In the post-pandemic era, there will be an increasing necessity to elevate the overall quality of distance education and the standard of talent cultivation in the development of distance education. The objective is to achieve balanced growth in quantity coupled with a significant enhancement in quality, while also achieving a significant enhancement in quality, thereby effectively addressing both scale and quality concerns.

In the post-pandemic era, in response to these new trends, norms, and necessities, teachers need transforming and reskilling. They are expected to refine educational philosophy, augment digital literacy, optimise instructional design, optimise teaching ability, and effectively utilise data and technology empowering measures to adapt to new challenges and new requirements in order to facilitate the high-quality development of distance education.

I. Transforming educational philosophy to advance the high-quality development of distance education

With the deep integration of digital technology with education and teaching, the implementation of blended teaching—combining online and offline approaches—has led to profound transformations in the perspectives of teaching, curriculum, and learning. However, the transformation of teachers’ mindsets lags far behind the advancements in technology and new instructional methods. Teachers are the principal implementers in the teaching process of distance education, serving as instructional designers and organisers. Their understanding of and attitude toward distance education in the new normal have a significant impact on the quality of distance education. It is therefore imperative for them to first transform their philosophy.

1.Transformation of teachers’ role. Distance education in the post-pandemic era has engendered a shift in the pedagogical landscape, affecting both how knowledge is disseminated and the relationships between teachers and students. In this new context, the role of the teacher has evolved from that of a directive leader to a multifaceted one, functioning as a guide, organiser, participant, and facilitator of students' learning experiences. The conventional role of the teacher as a mere knowledge purveyor through unidirectional transmission has given way to that of a designer and mentor engaged in a multidirectional exchange of knowledge. This transformation has fostered a novel "learning partner" relationship between teachers and students. Teachers now need to transition from emphasizing "what I teach" in the past to focusing more on “what I learn” from the perspective of the students. This involves steering students towards exploratory and personalized learning, moving beyond the simple transmission of knowledge to cultivating a comprehensive development of knowledge, skill, and quality. In the teaching process of distance education in the post-pandemic era, teachers' responsibilities extend beyond knowledge impartment. They are also expected to enhance learning support services for students by providing roadmaps for learning, instructional scaffolding, expertise in learning strategies, technical support, emotional reinforcement, and social encouragement.

2. Updating teaching philosophy. Teachers should step outside the conventional pedagogical frameworks and modify both instructional structures and methods. Empowering students by relinquishing them more authority and fostering their autonomous learning awareness. This necessitates encouraging students to engage in collaborative teamwork, self-reflection, and feedback activities with more time available. Teachers need to adeptly utilise digital technologies to re-engineer the teaching process and introduce innovative teaching methods. This also requires guiding students to take an active role in their learning, while providing increased personalized guidance. Furthermore, teachers should fully acknowledge the amplifying effects of learning resources in distance education. They should skillfully integrate and reorganise these resources to accommodate the unique learning needs of students and the specific characteristics of distance education.

3. Establishing lifelong learning concept. In the post-pandemic era, teachers should actively embrace changes and cultivate the concept of lifelong learning. They should engage in lifelong learning and keep on acquiring new ideas, knowledge, and technologies. Such acquisitions should be effectively integrated into their distance education modules and teaching practices. This would allow them to exercise their subjective initiative, utilise educational wisdom, innovating education and teaching philosophy, and adhere to the laws of education and talent development. They should also customize teaching strategies to individual students, meticulously design and organise teaching activities, and ignite students’ learning interests in learning. This approach is crucial for meeting the unique challenges and demands of distance education in the post-pandemic era.