From technology to community: the role of artefacts in teaching and learning during and beyond pandemic times

Abstract

This article explores lecturers’ experience of adapting, shaping and transforming teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study focuses on understanding the challenges and opportunities that are afforded by pandemic-induced changes in terms of digital teaching and learning and their post-pandemic implications. Empirical data were collected through 16 semi-structured interviews with teaching staff at a Norwegian university. The article draws on Max W. Wartofsky’s work on artefacts, and uses the categorisation of primary, secondary and tertiary artefacts as a theoretical lens. The data indicates that designing and delivering courses that combine online and in-site teaching is a complex process requiring flexibility and creativity, which needs to be acknowledged by management and budget-allocating entities. Career development is an incentive to invest time in developing digital teaching. Finally, building a community of peers can support course quality and the professional welfare of the teaching staff.