1.0 Introduction

The Global Education 2030 Agenda of UNESCO is the quality education which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” The concept of traditional education has changed radically within the last couple of years. Being physically present in a classroom isn’t the only learning option anymore. Nowadays, students have access to a quality education whenever and wherever they want, as long as they can get online. Emerging technologies and the digital transformation in society have changed the way teaching and learning take place. Therefore, techno-pedagogical content knowledge has become an integral approach in modern teaching and learning1 Online learning is a type of education system which allows students to learn about any particular course or subject from practically anyplace by just having access to a good internet connection and digital technology2 The perception and judgment of onine learning effectiveness differs from one individual to another, but what is certain is that the overall acceptance of this new revolutionary way of teaching and learning tremendously boosted the growth of the industry3 The COVID 19 pandemic showed that human society has been unprepared for this unprecedented circumstance. In reality, there are many things to learn from this situation for preparing to address similar emergencies in the future. The education sector was not spared as education systems all over the world were abruptly shut down, forcing students and teachers to switch into emergency remote education (ERE) using online and other distance teaching and learning approaches. Closures of educational institutions and interruption of education affected more than 1.6 billion enrolled students of all ages which equaled nearly 94% of the global student population. As a response to the COVID-19 crisis, emergency remote education was put into practice to ensure the continuity of education for students via home learning supported by the educational institutions. Today, digital learning has emerged as a necessary resource for students and schools all over the world. For many educational institutes, this is an entirely new way of education that they have had to adopt. Online learning is now applicable not just to learn academics but it also extends to learning extracurricular activities for students as well4 higher education plays a vital role in saving lives and giving a sense of hope for the future in the context of emergencies. It is higher education that will produce the leaders and skilled workforce that countries need to move forward, in particular after crisis and conflict. Yet in humanitarian crises, higher education is too often neglected. Based on best practices and lessons learned with recent crises (conflicts) and the pandemic (COVID-19), there are a key number of questions that have to be addressed if we want to bridge the existing gap such as: how to integrate higher education opportunities into humanitarian responses? How to organize and coordinate efforts for the effective implementation of quality programs of higher education during the emergency response?

In emergencies, technology is often utilized as part of a crisis response protocol by continuing education using emergency remote education (ERE)5

Online learning is thus becoming more and more important for education during the time of the worldwide health emergency, offering the opportunity to remain in touch, even if remotely, with classmates and teachers and to follow lessons. However, many challenges have been observed in different countries. The most evident and widely discussed by experts and policymakers is that socially disadvantaged groups face difficulties in meeting the basic conditions required by online learning 6 As the popularity of online education continues to rise, many colleges and universities are interested in how to best deliver course content for online learners