while nearly two-fifths (38 per cent) of businesses expected 75 per cent or more of their workforce to be at their normal place of work, a large proportion (36 per cent) of those currently home- working thought they would spend the majority or all their time homeworking in the future.”
This aligns with predictions made by a survey conducted by Gartner, which shows that in the U.S. “82 per cent of respondents intend to permit remote working some of the time as employees return to the workplace” (https://gtnr. it/3oPxF0X), and a further forecast that “by the end of 2021, 51 per cent of all knowledge workers worldwide are expected to be working remotely, up from 27 per cent of knowledge workers in 2019”. (
https://gtnr.it/3qVzrjH)
Hybrid is here to stay
Although these surveys also show that there is still a significant amount of uncertainty in all industries, a greater adoption of hybrid and homeworking looks to be a certainty. What started as a response to a global crisis is now becoming part of the status quo for an increasing number of people. When learning moved online and
December 2021
homes across the world suddenly turned into virtual classrooms, many students’ first experience of learning online at scale was a response to a crisis. It is remarkable to consider what was achieved with little or no notice by Learning Technologists all across the world, supporting staff and students. Learning Technology made learning, teaching and assessment during the pandemic possible and provided some continuity in the face of what is commonly referred to as unprecedented circum- stances. But we also know that what many experienced was crisis provision, an emer- gency response version of online learn- ing which was borne of necessity using whatever tools and platforms were readily available. It wasn’t a carefully designed offering full of creativity, engagement and flexibility as we know the best online and blended learning can be. There was no time to learn from the rich body of research and practice that would usually inform the design of new courses and modules, there was only time to respond to crisis after crisis as months of lockdown dragged on.
Similarly, many employees who sud- denly found themselves at their kitchen table with their laptop had a first taste of working remotely in a time of crisis. Just
like schools and colleges had little notice before they moved online, employers often had to send staff to work from home from one day to the next with little or no support and preparation. The result, for many, was the equivalent of learn- ing during a crisis, a kind of emergency homeworking.
Shift the narrative
Homeschooling and homeworking kept many people safe during the dark days of 2020, but in both cases our emergency response has to evolve from crisis provi- sion to a brighter vision of what virtual learning and virtual working should look like. As universities, colleges and schools invest in expertise and infrastructure to take their blended offering to a new level, so do employers who are looking to adopt a hybrid or home-based working model. In learning and teaching we might think of the digital learning environment or learning management system as funda- mental to learning online at scale, and for the workplace there is comparable infrastructure to be put in place. Once you have your foundation of technology, policy and capability however, where do you go?
In education, online learning is often INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL 17
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