Eiffel Corp and Amazon Web Services Collaborative Event
Channel: Gerrit Wissing
Date: 2022-08-23

The panel discussion themed, Life After Covid at Higher Education Institutions, was facilitated by Myles Thies, with Dr Gerrit Wissing from the University of the Witwatersrand, Linda Siso from Amazon Web Services and Luci Carosin from the University of the Witwatersrand weighing in on the conversation. The discussion highlighted the importance of technology in education. ‘’It takes a crisis to get a reaction.’’ In response to the pandemic, the use of technology increased, and execution had to take place immediately. The discussion continued to how their institution handled the immediate shift to remote/hybrid learning. “To prepare educators for the rapid change, we put training in place in the form of workshops per faculty.” The audience eagerly participated, with the greatest concerns raised being the digital divide and the disparity between individuals who have access to technology and stable internet, versus those who do not. The case was made, that if we had done nothing during Covid, we would also have been nowhere now. It was important to start somewhere and carry on with what was possible and find solutions for those who were left behind. This is a sensitive matter and needs more than a day to discuss. 

Link to EiffelCorp News Centre article for this event: https://tinyurl.com/pjjr2dvb