From Hurricanes to Pandemics: The Pivot to Online Education in the Bahamas

Abstract

PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // Globally, countries are addressing the unprecedented and dramatic impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, health, education and society itself. In the Bahamas, an added challenge relates to managing the recovery efforts from the major Hurricane Dorian that devastated the Abacos and Grand Bahama in Fall 2019. This paper describes the efforts of the Bahamas to enhance the workforce-ready skills necessary to address the considerable demands of companies rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged northern islands and simultaneously competing in a post-Covid-19 environment. Specifically, this paper uses as an example the community college system, the Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute (BTVI), to illustrate advancing workforce skills on-line. In particular, BTVI used resources available through the Commonwealth of Learning including faculty training and open education resources. This COL/BTVI partnership was an instrumental component in a systematic, fact based approach to dealing with the dual impacts of the hurricane and the pandemic. Based, in part, on the faculty training BTVI initiated a series of shorter, stackable, industry certified online courses. // This presentation will describe the application of the online response to quickly address the need to pivot to a different mode of course delivery. // Paper ID 6690