Learning Through Screens During COVID-19 Crisis: Foresee Tomorrow's Education By Analyzing Yesterday's Setbacks And Barriers

This paper aims to enrich the state of the art on engineering and management learning and education by shedding light on the barriers encountered during the COVID-19 crisis due to the imposed digital transformation. Our research question is: what were the barriers encountered in remote and hybrid learning during pandemic experiences and what lessons can be drawn for higher education in the context of Problem-Based Learning (PBL)? This paper aims to enrich the debate on how digitalization impacted the learning and teaching experience in teaching modules traditionally achieved face-to-face. To investigate our research question, we adopted an abductive, quantitative, and qualitative approach through a case study methodology. Based on our literature review we proposed a five-fold barriers taxonomy: (a) technical, (b) anthropologic, (c) epistemic, (d) didactic, and (e) financial barriers faced during the technology-intensive learning experience. These barriers have been audited in the context of a French engineering school. The analysis of the barriers confirmed by the field study made it possible to highlight three must-do actions: (A) develop the ability to learn, (B) develop agility, and (C) empower teachers and students. These actions aim to ensure better quality and resilience of the future learning process in the post-covid world.