End of the open access illusion? Rethinking online learning

Posted by: Jonathan Shaw

The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed what many anticipated would be a lasting revolution in higher education, as institutions globally embraced open-access platforms and emergency digital learning infrastructures as a crucial lifeline. This rapid pivot initially suggested the dawn of a new educational paradigm capable of overcoming institutional inertia and democratizing learning on a massive scale. However, years later, this promise has significantly diminished, with enrollments in open platforms stagnating, dropout rates remaining high, and universities largely returning to traditional campus-based instruction, prompting an exploration into why this digital transformation ultimately faltered. This article argues that the failure lies not in technological shortcomings but in an unaddressed ideological crisis within education itself, where the shift online merely digitized existing inequities and prioritized technical convenience over fundamental structural reform.

Education's Broken Compass

By: Jonathan Shaw

Unlike fields that readily embrace scientific advancements, education seems stuck in a cycle where fads and ideologies trump evidence-based practices. Resistance to adopting scientifically validated methods allows bad ideas in education to persist. A prime example is Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which remains popular despite having no substantive evidence of its efficacy (see Murphy, 2020, Boysen (A), 2024 and Boysen (B), 2024 for example). Paul Kircher is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the Open University of the Netherlands, and the author of How Teaching Happens: Seminal Works in Teaching and Teacher Effectiveness and What They Mean in Practice (with Carl Hendrick and Jim Heal). In this provocative post, he explores reasons why educators seem reluctant to embrace evidence-based practices, highlighting the negative consequences for teaching and learning. Until this changes, Kircher warns “education will continue to be plagued by cycles of unproven fads, with students—especially the most vulnerable—paying the price”.