The COVID-19 outbreak has led many organizations, including universities to consider conducting their activities online as means to prevent the spread of the virus. This may pose a certain set of challenges for both lecturers and students due to differences in the learning experience when compared to face-to-face learning.
Our experience show that students can continue study uninterrupted and that the quality of the learning experience can be just as valuable, if not more enjoyable online. To date, CQUniversity has been utilizing online learning as a means to support and expand our face-to-face learning activity. Now, during the unprecedented adversity of the COVID-19 pandemic, we see online learning as a solution to remove participation barriers to world-class training, education and research.
Online education is not just about providing materials, it now involves interactive sessions such as gaming, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, simulations, and constant interaction. It is the teaching medium of the future which will reach so many more student than face-to-face has ever been able to.
While we practice social distancing, CQUniversity’s students will still be able to access almost 90% of our courses that are delivered online. This includes more than twenty-five undergraduate and postgraduate degree options each. In the meantime, all CQUniversity campuses in Australia remain open to ensure student support services including continued access to the Academic Learning Centre, computer labs and the library remain accessible for our students. This last sentence is not relevant to Indonesians at all – should be about the Indonesian campus or about the fact you can start studying online now in Indonesia and transfer to Australia after the pandemic?
CQUniversity has conducted online learning for more than forty years. We were one of the first universities in Australia to deliver online and are in the top three online providers in Australia.