Editorial [Malta Review of Educational Research, 14(2)]

Abstract

These past few months were totally unprecedented for everyone, particularly during the first wave when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic in March 2020. It disrupted normal life worldwide, shutting down many establishments, among them also schools, placing enormous and unparalleled pressures on educational systems. The pandemic changed the learning landscape drastically across all levels of education: from childcare provision to adult education. It has affected the ways in which we learn interact teach share information communicate and collaborate. As educational and training institutions were forced to close their doors, they tried to find alternative means of providing learning and educational experiences that did not involve face-to-face modes this mainly due to the imposed social distancing measures. Amidst the uncertainty and fear of contagion, and the efforts to ensure the safety and wellbeing of educators, learners and their families, one thing was certain – safe modes of teaching and learning had to be held remotely through digital solutions.