ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN A GLOBAL PANDEMIC: SOLUTION OR COMPETITOR?

In the 21st century higher education faces the COVID-19 global pandemic as a significant impediment to continued growth and development. The focus of society in the 21st century is knowledge-based: learning is critical, and information continually become obsolete. The pandemic forced the closing of face-to-face higher education around the world. However, online learning became the immediate solution used by most universities. Online education was quickly acknowledged as the solution to allow global institutions to continue instruction. Neither faculty nor students were sufficiently prepared for the rapid move to online but adapted quickly.