UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

The Choices that Connect Uncertainty and Sustainability: Student-centred Agile Decision-making Approaches Used by Universities in Australia and the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Varga-Adams, T; Bennet, S; Sharpe, R; Alexander, S; Littlejohn, A; (2021) The Choices that Connect Uncertainty and Sustainability: Student-centred Agile Decision-making Approaches Used by Universities in Australia and the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Interactive Media in Education , 1 (16) pp. 1-16. 10.5334/jime.649. Green open access

[thumbnail of Littlejohn_The Choices that Connect Uncertainty and Sustainability_VoR.pdf]
Preview
Text
Littlejohn_The Choices that Connect Uncertainty and Sustainability_VoR.pdf - Published Version

Download (849kB) | Preview

Abstract

Given that universities have significant choices to make about what is retained from our emergency measures, the authors set out to use the record of our biweekly meetings to examine the choices that we have made during the pandemic and how we have made them. In this collaborative reflective article from authors from five different institutions in the UK and Australia, we demonstrate that student-centred decision making emerged unanimously as the core value driving our decision making during the pandemic. In our reflections, supported by our diary notes, we explore and document our decision-making processes relating to educational technology through the lens of agile values and principles in the context of crisis leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss four prominent drivers for student-centred decision making: a) collecting and rapidly sharing student voice data, b) offering more choice in anticipation of diverse needs, c) giving a high priority to equalising access to technology and d) taking responsibility for students in difficult circumstances. In addition, we discuss five emerging data-driven themes – leadership, operational continuity, student welfare, pedagogy and technology infrastructure – and offer insights into student-driven decision making with examples from our respective institutions. The ultimate aim for our reflection is to establish approaches that we value in higher education leadership that we should sustain and to formulate principles for student-centred agile leadership for university education which can serve us during the pandemic and beyond.

Type: Article
Title: The Choices that Connect Uncertainty and Sustainability: Student-centred Agile Decision-making Approaches Used by Universities in Australia and the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.5334/jime.649
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.5334/jime.649
Language: English
Additional information: © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: educational leadership, educational technology, student-centred leadership, COVID-19 pandemic, agile values and principles, higher education
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10129634
Downloads since deposit
228Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item