Dealing with Covid-19 in Irish Universities, Pramod Pathak, National College of Ireland

An Irish Third Level response to COVID-19

By Dr Pramod Pathak, Dean of the School of Computing at National College of Ireland

National College of Ireland already delivers some programmes completely online, as well as others through blended learning, incorporating online modules. Because of this, NCI might be thought to have had an advantage when the closure of campuses was announced, and classroom-based education could no longer take place.

However, courses are deliberately tailored to enable students to achieve particular learning outcomes. Pivoting a classroom-based programme to online delivery demands more than familiarity with online tools and platforms.

On top of any consideration for teacher-student engagement, the College must ensure that validating bodies (most obviously, QQI, who validate our degrees, but also other professional bodies that issue memberships or exemptions based on a student’s achievements at NCI) are satisfied that coursework undertaken in these changed circumstances still meets award criteria.

While following WHO and HSE advice since February, NCI had also been watching events unfold in other countries and was preparing for a variety of possible scenarios. Anticipating that some restriction of public gatherings was inevitable, we had already announced that our May exams would not occur on-campus, instead replaced by alternative assessments, when the word came on Thursday 12th March that we all must leave the building at 6pm and not return, indefinitely.

We began to implement our contingency plans, honing and reshaping remote classes in the first days, in response to student feedback. We communicated very clearly with our students both the supports available to them online (thanks to the huge effort of every department in the College, with special mention to our IT team) and their options to defer.

While the rate of deferrals has been higher than an average year at NCI, we are pleased that the number is not as high as anticipated at this challenging time. Most students have moved ahead with their studies and assessments throughout the past weeks of social distancing and ‘stay at home’. We are enormously proud of the resilience of our students.

For those entering the final year of their computing degrees in 2020, COVID-19 restrictions have a very particular impact. Each year, the School of Computing turns National College of Ireland into an exhibition space, allowing students the chance to face the public. They experience the challenge of communicating complex subjects to a non-technical audience and the opportunity to be deeply interrogated by knowledgeable industry professionals – perhaps even earning a graduate position from their ‘viva voce’ performance. It is impossible to deliver Project Showcase on campus this year: again, we must move online.

To this end, on Monday May 25th, we launch showcase.ncirl.ie, virtually building a display stand for each of our graduating students in cyberspace, creating an online showcase for their end of year projects. We invite all the technologically curious to visit and witness the achievements of the Class of 2020, who have had a unique experience in the completion of their undergraduate degrees, and to join us again on Friday 29th May for our prize-giving, where industry partners, including Citi, who will present a cheque for €3,000 to the overall winner, will reward the projects they most value.

The experience of these past months has raised questions across society about the possible long-term adoption of recent emergency measures as the ‘new normal’.  While I and many of my NCI colleagues firmly believe that certain education programmes will always benefit from face-to-face teaching, and that personal interaction has an indisputable value in many other fields as well, I have observed, generally, a move towards greater digitisation in all sectors. This most certainly means that digital skills are more essential than ever for everyone, even those whose specialisation is not strictly in a technological field.

For all students who persisted with remote learning this year – not just at National College of Ireland, but in every school and college – their increased and intensive use of digital platforms will reward them with a facility and expertise that is most certainly an advantage in their future careers.

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