Online Education as a New Normal: Are We Ready for this New Teaching and Learning Mode?

The spread of COVID-19 pandemic starting in late 2019 has changed the way we conduct our teaching and learning activities especially in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Since March 2020, classes have been conducted via online platforms. As a consequence, students missed the campus life, teamwork has been given less emphasis, fieldwork, industry visits and community service have been put aside, and most importantly the achievement of the learning outcomes towards a certain extent has been compromised. The implications of these changes need to be highly considered as they might affect the quality of graduates. This paper intends to discuss the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the education system and highlight some potential solutions that can be considered by the academics and the top management of HEIs to address the negative repercussions of the current practices. Some research implications are also highlighted in the paper.