Remote learning is here to stay

New Zealand technology company Catalyst has been promoting online education platforms since the early 2000s, and is now helping educators around the world teach remotely in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Catalyst, which has its headquarters in New Zealand but other offices around the globe, has facilitated remote learning for universities, polytechs and corporates since 2003.

One of its key platforms, Moodle, is among the world’s most widely used, open-source learning management systems.

Don Christie, one of the founders of Catalyst and a former president of the New Zealand Open Source Society, says that for many years the company has been immersed in the technology and the strategy of distance learning.

Universities are scrambling to offer a rich learning experience online.

‘‘We’ve taken these platforms into some of the most difficult-toaccess parts of the world,’’ he said, referring to projects with clients such as Doctors Without Borders and Unicef. ‘‘We’ve already operated in places with health crises and conflict zones.’’

Since coronavirus appeared in China late last year and became a global pandemic early this year, ‘‘we’ve seen universities scrambling to offer a rich learning experience online’’, he said.

One of the company’s university clients has had to scale up to offer between 100 and 200 online classroom sessions simultaneously.

Others, such as Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, required an online exam platform that was now being requested by universities in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

‘‘The idea was that students could do individual examinations online, from home. That’s been working well, and we’re seeing others around the world picking it up.’’

However, it’s not as simple as putting print papers online, he said. The technology had to allow students to write long essays, formulae, and participate in timed tests. To ease concerns about cheating, universities were moving towards open-book exams, as well as employing technology that protected against plagiarism.

Some were even using live video monitoring to ensure students weren’t getting others to type their answers.

On Tuesday, Wellington’s Victoria University announced it was cancelling face-to-face exams this year. But Christie said there was ‘‘no need’’ to cancel exams, if the right platforms were in place.

New Zealand had time to copy some of the methods being put in place in the Northern Hemisphere, he said.