By Dr Elinor Jones

The new academic year is well and truly underway and for many of us this means a return to the classroom, at least to some extent. While it has been wonderful to see students in 3D once again, most of us are still using some of the teaching tools that we used during the pandemic: a new academic year, yet another way of teaching.

This year, with hybrid teaching on offer at my own institution at least for some, students seem to be enjoying their (rather limited) time in class and appreciating the balance between face to face and online elements. The sense of community between students has been partially restored, which was, if you ask me, one of the biggest downsides of purely online teaching.

But where do we go from here? I’d put money on us about to enter a very different “normal” for Higher Education, and to be honest I hope we don’t completely return to the pre-covid model. There have been numerous successes over the past 18 months, even if it hasn’t always felt like it. So how do we put education – in my case statistics education - back together again?

In terms of the way we teach, we are more in-tune with different types of teaching and learning. Universities have embraced new learning models and have invested in teaching technology. Indeed, I can see them eventually competing on what innovative ways they have of educating students. Have we ever experienced such an opportunity to experiment with modes of learning? Now is the time to try all those ideas that may have seemed quite abstract just a couple of years ago!

But in doing this, we should be mindful of including students in our discussions of where we go next and adapt to their changing tastes. I’m already seeing an expectation of a balance between face-to-face and online learning, and I can’t see that going away.

Whatever direction we end up going in, the pandemic has put a spotlight on how we educate our students and has in many cases brought people together to share best practice and to support each other across institutions. I hope that this sharing and support continues long term, which is what the SIG in Teaching Statistics aims to do.