Emergency remote teaching in higher education: mapping the first global online semester

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic that spread globally in 2020, higher education courses were subsequently offered in fully remote, online formats. A plethora of primary studies began investigating a range of topics exploring teaching and learning in higher education, particularly during the initial semester. In order to provide an overview and initial understanding of this emerging research field, a systematic mapping review was conducted that collates and describes the characteristics of 282 primary empirical studies. Findings reveal that research was carried out mostly descriptively and cross-sectionally, focusing predominantly on undergraduate students and their perceptions of teaching and learning during the pandemic. Studies originate from a broad range of countries, are overwhelmingly published open access, and largely focused on the fields of Health & Welfare and Natural Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics. Educational technology used for emergency remote teaching are most often synchronous collaborative tools, used in combination with text-based tools. The findings are discussed against pre-pandemic research on educational technology use in higher education teaching and learning, and perspectives for further research are provided.

Automated summary

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, higher education courses were transitioned to fully remote, online formats, leading to numerous studies focusing on teaching and learning during the initial semester, mainly with undergraduate students. Research, predominantly descriptive and cross-sectional, originated from various countries and was largely open access, with a focus on Health & Welfare and Natural Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics fields. Educational technology utilized for emergency remote teaching primarily included synchronous collaborative tools combined with text-based tools.