"We are to weather this storm": Analysis of announcements of the rector of the University of Iceland during Covid-19

Various studies point to the importance of guarding gender equality in times of Covid-19 as there is the risk of backlash (Al-Ali, 2020;Zarkov, 2020), both because the situation of subordinate groups tends to worsen and, in times of uncertainty, equal rights tend to be put aside. In this article we analyse the announcements sent out in the name of the Rector of the University of Iceland to students and staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. We ask what was the response of the University of Iceland to the Covid-19 pandemic? What messages were communicated to the UI staff of a university that presents itself as a leading university and how did these messages conform to UI policies regarding gender equality and family responsibilities? In order to answer this question, we analyse 96 announcements sent between February 2020 and May 2021, and consisted, after data cleaning, of around 34,000 words. We analyse the data from a gender perspective and utilise discourse analysis. The findings reveal that the University of Iceland responded by sending out announcements regularly, with the aim of keeping both staff and students informed about the way UI was reacting to and implementing instructions given out by the disease prevention authorities. By informing students and teachers simultaneously about the situation, the impression was given that everyone was in the same boat. However, in reality this was not the case as different groups faced different challenges. Teachers were expected to take additional responsibility regarding the welfare of students, not only in relation to teaching, assignments and course assessment, but also regarding students' financial circumstances and well-being. It can, therefore, be argued that expectations regarding academic housework and academic caring were raised substantially. This analysis connects to the university's policies regarding gender equality and family responsibilities. Women attend to teaching to a larger extent than men and research shows that women are simply expected to take on more caring work than men. Within the announcements, this difference is neither addressed nor is there a link to gender equality or family responsibility policies. The findings show that rather than slowing down there is an emphasis on gearing up and achieving results, which is in line with notions of,the excellent university" and the temporal order of capitalism (Suckert, 2021). Subsequently there is more emphasis on keeping the system going rather than considering the situation and the well-being of employees. The message is, therefore, paradoxical and inconsistent. Sometimes university policies have a supportive role within the announcements, indicating how well the university is doing, while at other times within the same announcements the policies are contradicted. The paradox becomes crystallised, when citing different persons for inspiration, with the intention of pulling both students and employees through the pandemic, since men are for the most part cited in the announcements as sources of inspiration. Generally speaking, it can be said that the announcements sent during the Covid-19 pandemic highlight how relying on employees to maintain the university`s prominent and leading position is ill-matched when it comes to employees` well-being and family life. The aim of this study is to draw attention to the gendered message sent out and its potential gendered consequences. We want to emphasize the importance of intertwining gender and equality perspectives within all policies of the University of Iceland, as is indeed specified within the equality policy of the university itself. Only in that way will it be possible to break down the aura of gender inequality and practise equality for real.

Taking a mass participant course in digital design from local to online during the Covid-19 pandemic

During the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional education structure as we know it has been largely transformed due to lockdowns and social distancing. This study is a detailed description of how a normally face-to-face undergraduate course in digital design with laboratory sessions at the University of Iceland was transformed into a fully online based course. We show the essentialities required to transform the lectures and laboratory sessions from local to online. Furthermore, we compare the students' performance during the online teaching with that of previous students who participated in local teaching. © 2022 IEEE.

Remote IoT teaching across the North-Atlantic

The ability to offer courses over the Internet between remote teacher(s) and students enhances curricula and can improve quality in university work regarding both teaching and research. This is particularly true for small universities that struggle to offer comprehensive curricula due to lack of professors and students. In the spring semester of 2021, the University of Iceland offered a course on the Internet of Things taught by a professor emeritus in Atlanta, Georgia, assisted by a local professor. The lectures were given on Zoom and all assignments and exams were given over the Internet. In this paper, this course's framework will be described, how it was implemented and what was accomplished. The authors will also share their thoughts on the future of this kind of university work that has to some extent developed due to the Covid situation. © 2022 IEEE.