The new artefacts: teaching development during the Covid-19 pandemic and implications for future practice

Within the context of a dynamic Higher Education environment, demands for flexibility and technological advances present additional challenges for lecturers who are required to simultaneously develop their own praxis whilst encouraging students to engage with new and/or advanced digital tools. This paper draws on a case study conducted at a post-1992 institution within the United Kingdom during the Covid-19 pandemic. It combines the use of photovoice with an abductive approach that draws on sociomateriality (specifically spatial theories), to explore lecturers’ perspectives on shifting delivery modes, approaches to supporting blended learning, and any changes in perceptions over time. The findings reveal three themes: reshaping practice, teaching spaces, and surveillance, and the paper draws on these to make a tri-fold contribution. First, it identifies, and evaluates, a range of tools as ‘the new artefacts’, and associated practices, that were foregrounded during this period. Second, it explores the potential for developing approaches to delivery. Third, it makes recommendations for the future advancement of HE policy and practice.