Keeping Things Normal During an Uncommon Time: A Lesson from National Taiwan University

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic impacts the learning and teaching experiences of faculty, students, and school staff in all levels of education around the world. While most schools face the challenges of closing down campuses, moving courses online, and relying on technology tools to deliver instructional activities, as one of the few countries with a regular semester schedule, universities in Taiwan have different experiences handling the current situation. This reflective essay aims to share our experiences and learned lessons at National Taiwan University (NTU) about keeping everything going commonly during the uncommon time. This essay will focus on the countermeasures the Center of Teaching and Learning Development (CTLD) and Digital Learning Center (DLC) at NTU had taken on in responding to the change versus unchanged environment. The pandemic impact were discussed from the interrelationships of the university policy, course, and instructor. And our reflections provide five suggestions regarding future precautions to other educational institutions.