Emergency Remote Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Catalyst for Lasting Change in Learning Technology Usage?

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) response by universities led to the rapid and widespread adoption of learning technologies. There is much to learn about the role of the pandemic as a disruptive influence on technology adoption in higher education. However, despite a great deal of research conducted both during and immediately after the ERT period, there has been limited attention to its longer-term effects on technology usage. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by exploring the lasting influence of ERT on practices at the University of York (UK). Taking a qualitative approach and socio-cultural orientation, we undertook semi-structured interviews with teaching leaders in thirteen departments across a wide range of disciplines. Lasting changes in the adoption of digital tools following ERT were evident in all departments, but the nature and impact of these changes were shaped by longer-term influences, often predating ERT and further shaped by subsequent changes and challenges such as increased student numbers and the widespread adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence. We conclude that the impact of ERT on technology adoption needs to be placed in context as one influence among other factors in an evolutionary process of pedagogical change.