Transitioning to a Digital Educational Environment: A Lecturer’s Perspective on Migrating to Google Classroom During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

This paper highlights disruptions to traditional learning environments in the Trinidad and Tobago educational system during the COVID-19 pandemic. It outlines issues due to social distancing restrictions as well as strategies using digital integrations to achieve educational continuity.

This research focused on a case study of a lecturer’s experience in educational digital transformation using Google Classroom. It was done through direct observations of each student’s response to changes in the educational platform and style of learning. This involved administration of ad hoc open-ended unstructured qualitative questions to students during the transition. The students’ feedback identified thematic areas (of digital well-being, digital transformation, and online platform access) that were used in a scoping literature review using Google Scholar.

The effect of transitioning from the physical classroom to an online platform revealed that the majority of students were able to access the system with limited disruption.

Practical implications of this experiential case study would be the application of the developmental elements of the digital transformation policy. This involved the identification of a best practice approach. This achieved four pillars of Industry 4.0 benefits, and also identified the use of inter-active elements as extended reality (AR, VR, MR) and haptic technologies for STEAM focused courses.

The value of the paper is in the detailed use of the Google platform and provision of a solution for easier integration of remote applications to enable a faster migration to alternate teaching modalities.