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Articles

Vol. 2 No. 3 (2022): Autoethnography in online doctoral education

Emergency Remote Teaching and me: An autoethnography by a digital learning specialist during Covid-19

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.960f4016
Submitted
9 August 2026
Published
15-08-2026

Abstract

In March 2020, WHO (2020) declared Covid-19 as a pandemic and most institutions embarked on Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). Central to ERT have been Digital Learning Specialists (DLS) who have been actively supporting teachers to make and sustain the transition. However, there has been limited research on their own experiences and perceptions during ERT. This autoethnography employs Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory as a conceptual lens, to look at ERT through the perspective of a DLS working in language education. The findings indicate that ERT challenged me to reconsider my premises and beliefs and grow as a professional. I also acknowledge that ERT, despite the challenges it presented, had a positive effect on digital language learning during the pandemic. Yet, concerns remain about whether education systems will embrace more pedagogically sound online learning approaches post-pandemic or whether they will settle with ERT.

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