Examining the digital tools used to engage undergraduate students through the 'time of crisis': An interpretive inquiry

Although the technological innovation in the education industry has become highly dominant over the past few months, acknowledging the challenges encountered during a sudden change of face-to-face to online teaching has been unpleasant for educators and educational practitioners. Despite a large amount of published work on the use of technology in the classroom resulting in positive outcomes (theoretically and empirically), the sudden change had a profound impact on factors such as students' learning engagement and challenges, accessibility, adaptability constraints, communication with the students enrolled, and the educator involved to provide a "realistic" experience. This current paper intends to provide a detailed insight into the factors mentioned above and the reflective and experiential learning of an educator (researcher and learner). The data was collected for over five months (March-August, 2020). In addition, discussions will utilize the following digital tools: MS teams and University’s Learning Management System (BB Collaborate and Discussion boards), to illustrate how different cohort undergraduate students interacted and adapted accordingly. A short survey form was circulated through the email after the study period ended. The research paradigms adopted in this study are Interpretivism and Hermeneutics, based on the model presented by Kolb Experiential Learning Model [1], to analyze the data for a deeper understanding of the researchers’ reflective experiences. Furthermore, the triangulation principle has been observed to assure the validity and trustworthiness of the results. To be prepared for future teaching, technology, and learning tools, it is crucial to identify the possible challenges and how to maintain and adapt to the "change."