The rush to remote learning this year has prompted concern and a flurry of work-arounds to meet the needs of hands-on classes and curricula.

As much of the curriculum has moved online, faculty members and instructional designers have adapted content delivery methods and modes to meet analogous learning outcomes through online media. This has required a rethinking of relevancy of materials and content that had been, in some cases for decades, delivered in the same face-to-face way by the same faculty member using PowerPoint slides. Even if the essential content remained the same, the shift to online provided the opportunity to optimize use of video, audio, animation, simulation and other online technologies to promote engagement and interaction by the students, resulting in deeper understanding and retention.

I recall, as I moved my classes online in the 1990s, pulling out my yellowed opening lecture notes on the physiology of human eyes and ears for my Communication Technologies class. Human anatomy had not changed, so that same content was replayed in person for years in the face-to-face classroom. In the intervening years, however, that section of the course changed with the addition of self-paced online modules enabling students to virtually examine in detail the optics, receptors, neurology and mechanics of human vision and hearing.

Yet there are many more hands-on aspects of some courses that have not been fully addressed in the online medium. Concerns were raised about some classes in the creative and performing arts, laboratory sections in the sciences, and even counseling techniques. In each of the instances where there seems to be no substitute for actual hands-on, we would do well to begin with a deep dive into current professional practice and emerging trends in that field. Where is current practice and how will it be changing in the near future?

As we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), we must be vigilant to keep our classes relevant to the rapidly changing workplace and the emerging digital aspects of life in the 2020s. Many of us may have fallen behind the emerging practice in our fields as we focus on meeting the essential learning needs of our students. What previously had been a hands-on, manual process has often become, in this 4IR world, a technology-assisted, robotic or virtual practice. For example, telemedicine, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR) technologies are now essential tools in health care. They supplant some of the physical and manual diagnostic practices of the past.

Cloud computing service as a software (SaaS) company Salesforce has described 4IR in their briefing on the topic:

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a way of describing the blurring of boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. It’s a fusion of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, and other technologies. It’s the collective force behind many products and services that are fast becoming indispensable to modern life.

Co-founder of Digital Bodies Maya Georgieva summarizes the change succinctly: “We’re moving from the information age to the experience age.” As every field moves into the new 4IR era, adoption and application of the new and emerging technologies are changing expectations and opportunities for the new college graduates. These are the same technologies that we should plan to utilize in our online learning.

One important development for online learning that is rolling out this year and next is the widespread deployment of 5G delivery to mobile computing nationwide. The major providers in the field are vying for leadership in 5G, creating a competitive rush to launch the service to reach as many subscribers as possible, as soon as possible. Certainly, 5G provides a huge upgrade in bandwidth, enabling better streaming of video and gaming. However, it is the low latency of 5G that enables the most powerful potential for distance learning. VR, AR and XR could not smoothly function in the 4G environment because of the lag in images and responses caused by a latency rate of 50 milliseconds (ms). The new 5G technologies drop that latency rate to 5 ms or less, which produces responses and images that our brains perceive as seamlessly instant.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced not just education but all fields to re-examine their reliance on face-to-face and hands-on approaches. It appears that many employers and industries will not return to the way things were in prior decades. COVID-19 has forced nearly all of us to reassess the role of face-to-face interactions and the potential of virtual engagements. Many have found economies and an assortment of advantages in the 4IR approaches to utilizing technologies. We must not only follow those trends, but also anticipate where our associated fields are going. Hands-on is becoming “goggles-on” and face-to-face is becoming “face-to-screen” in many fields.

Have you recently assessed the 4IR approaches and practices in the fields to which your graduates aspire for their careers? Are your teaching practices consistent, not only with relevant content, but also the delivery and engagement in those fields today? Have you examined the technologies that might enhance your teaching and better prepare your students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

This article first was published in Inside Higher Ed’s Transforming Teaching & Learning blog.

In preparing for the fall term, most colleges and universities are responding to the renewed public consciousness about equality, inclusiveness and fairness for all students.

As we reflect on American history and, in particular, the history of our institutions of higher education, we see that in so many conscious and unconscious ways we have failed in our responsibility to promote the core values we express as a society, most notably inclusion and equity. The country has been reminded that Black lives matter — not that all lives don’t matter — but, that despite the Civil War, despite Emancipation, despite the civil rights legislation over the years, we still are not equally united across racial, cultural and gender lines. This is abundantly clear in widely reported horrifying acts of racial violence against minorities, but is also evident in the disparity of salaries for the same work, disparity of diversity in positions of prominence and disparity in preparedness and success of youth entering higher education. Polls show that most Americans agree that we must do better. And the time to renew our commitment is today.

Change to address shortcomings of this scale must take place at all levels and in all fields of our society. As global diversity expert Gwen Houston reminds us, senior executives must lead our inclusion efforts.

The opportunities to begin to make a difference are endless through the online platform, where that platform is equitably available. Not limited to students recruited to the campus, not limited to students who can relocate and come to campus, online programs reach across cultures and locations to serve students where they are. And yet, minority and low-income students do not thrive at the same rates as others in the current system. So where can we begin in developing more successful diverse and inclusive online programs?

Begin with a deep review of your entrance requirements and promotional materials. Do they encourage diversity? Are your requirements such that you provide an on-ramp for those who have not had the prerequisite experiences and skills for successful learning in your program prior to entering? Do you offer a bridge to build those skills that goes beyond sending prospective students away to other places to build their skills? More fundamentally, are you supporting efforts to assure ubiquitous, affordable access to high-speed broadband for families and particularly children throughout the country — in both rural and urban environments so that they can access rich resources throughout their lifetimes?

Review the technologies you use. Are they excluding students through inherent bias? Nicol Turner Lee, Brookings senior fellow and director of the Center for Technology Innovation, moderates a podcast conversation on bias in technology with Brookings scholars Rashawn Ray, a David M. Rubenstein fellow, and Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Can you use technology to promote better understanding? Some exciting work is being done with virtual reality (VR) to break down differences.

Develop a comfortable and inviting — not divisive or demeaning — atmosphere where all students are valued and their views are included. Flower Darby in The Chronicle of Higher Education outlines six quick ways to be more inclusive in a virtual classroom. She describes the essential issue:

The ethos of an equitable and inclusive classroom is simple: “Everybody gets to learn. No one has to out themselves. All are welcome. All are supported by the very design of this class.” The hard part: How do you create online or hybrid courses with that ethos embedded throughout? Two frameworks in your teaching toolkit — Universal Design for Learning and culturally responsive pedagogy — create a powerful way forward.

There is much more that can be done and should be done to create a more inclusive learning environment. A good beginning could be a careful reading of the syllabus with a discerning eye in reviewing class materials and assignments will likely turn up places where assumptions and attitudes that are not nurturing and could be improved. Assignments can often be reconstructed, while retaining learning outcomes, to better serve the cause of inclusiveness and promoting learning. Columbia University’s Center for Teaching and Learning has assembled some suggestions and resources. The University of Toronto also has a list of insightful suggestions.

In many institutions the leadership in promoting diversity is spread across the university. While it is important that all parts of the institution commit to diversity and inclusion, a unified campuswide approach may be the strongest option. Who is leading diversity and inclusion at your university? What role can you take in supporting or leading this important transformation at your institution? Remember that while change may be led from the top, it must be realized in our day-to-day interactions in the classroom and in the success of our graduates.

This article was originally published in Inside Higher Ed’s Transforming Teaching & Learning blog.