Educational Innovation and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges in the New Normal

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic presented diverse circumstances and social effects. Among all of them, the sanitary confinement, the isolation, the suspension of academic and work activities stand out, as well as the loss of human lives, pedagogical, technological, academic infrastructure modifications, among others, which make up a new normality, a reality different from the one that styled Because of this, education has had to innovate and adapt to little explored scenarios, the use of Information and Communication Technologies, digital platforms, social networks, virtual modalities and, more recently, multimodal. While it is true, this is not entirely new within the educational scene, social distancing has propelled it in an unprecedented way. For this reason, the article explores the philosophical dimension of educational innovation, its theoretical foundations, the interaction with COVID-19, and the resulting proposals to face the new normality. It concludes with the urgency of innovating without losing sight of academic quality, training in critical thinking and humanistic reflection, giving space for new actors in the educational process, promoting an inclusive vision, supported by the growth of the digital society. © 2022, Universidad del Zulia. All rights reserved.