Mind the gap: the reality of remote learning during COVID-19

Purpose - Students, faculty staff and universities thrive and reach their full potential through planning and a sense of community. In a few short weeks, COVID-19 unravelled months of planning, separated the university community and shifted tertiary education to remote learning. This created a triangulated expectations–performance gap as to what could be reasonably implemented to support student learning, support educators and provide a continued sense of community. The purpose of this paper is to consider how educators could implement strategies to close the expectations gap created by COVID-19 remote learning. Design/methodology/approach - The authors consider the expectations gap through pre-COVID-19 pedagogical strategies and teaching methods, then outline how we modified them into COVID-19 teaching approaches and designs. Findings - The authors found that although expectations differ between university administration, students and faculty staff, there are a number of paths educators can take to close the expectations gap, facilitate interaction and engagement while gently encouraging self-driven student learning in a difficult time. Originality/value - The practical exemplars identify steps educators can take as support mechanisms for student learners to embrace and take control of their own education in the remote learning environment and convey the importance of maintaining a sense of belonging. This creates an improved teaching environment for educators and an enhanced learning environment for students.