scholarly journals Integrating Educational Technology in East Africa: One Size Does Not Fit All

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Азеб Тадесс ◽  
Ален Уолтер ◽  
Клаудиа Митчелл-Кернан
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Decision Matrix ◽  
Integrating Technology ◽  
The U.S

Globalization and the post-industrial economy, combined with a growing number of the youth, has increased the demand for higher education in Africa. Online learning breaks down temporal and geographic barriers creating a digital learning community that offers an opportunity to expand access and meet skills and training demands. Deployment of technology is a principal consideration in implementing an online learning programme, given its centrality in the teaching and learning process. The integration of technology requires a decision-making matrix that provides a phased review of the suitability of solution as well as locally placed contemplation of relevance and user accessibility. Higher education institutions in low connectivity areas need to be deliberative and innovative in selecting which technology best fits their environment and accommodates their students’ limitations. This paper discusses the decision-making process of integrating technology for an online learning pilot project analysed through Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory applied to educational technological adoption. The approach of the project considered local infrastructure, university ICT capacity, and user Internet accessibility in the selection of online learning solutions. The process provides insights and understanding of the decision matrix, not only on online learning solutions but also in the broader issue of integrating technology into brick and mortar institutions. Acknowledgements. The paper is based on online learning program implementation in East Africa as part of the university partnership between the U.S. and East African universities funded by the U.S. government.

scholarly journals COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption on university teaching and learning and competence cultivation: Student evaluation of online learning experiences in Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 221258682110070
Author(s):  
Ka Ho Mok ◽  
Weiyan Xiong ◽  
Hamzah Nor Bin Aedy Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Evaluation ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Digital Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has forced online teaching and learning to be the primary instruction format in higher education globally. One of the worrying concerns about online learning is whether this method is effective, specifically when compared to face-to-face classes. This descriptive quantitative study investigates how students in higher education institutions in Hong Kong evaluated their online learning experiences during the pandemic, including the factors influencing their digital learning experiences. By analysing the survey responses from 1,227 university students in Hong Kong, this study found that most of the respondents felt dissatisfied with their online learning experiences and effectiveness. Meanwhile, this study confirms that respondents’ household income level and information technology literacy affected their online learning effectiveness. Moreover, this study highlights the significant contributions of the community of inquiry, which places social presence on the promotion of a whole person development that could not be achieved when relying mainly on online learning. Findings encourage university leaders and instructors to search for multiple course delivery modes to nurture students to become caring leaders with the 21st century skills and knowledge set.

scholarly journals Increasing Access to Higher Education: A study of the diffusion of online teaching among 913 college faculty

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Shea ◽  
Alexandra Pickett ◽  
Chun Sau Li
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Faculty Satisfaction ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Innovation Research ◽  
Discipline Area

<p>Online learning environments provide an unprecedented opportunity to increase student access to higher education. Accomplishing this much needed goal requires the active participation and cooperation of university faculty from a broad spectrum of institutional settings. Although online learning has seen rapid growth in recent years, it remains a relatively small percentage of the entire curriculum of higher education today. As a relatively recent development, online teaching can be viewed through the lens of diffusion of innovation research. This paper reports on research from 913 professors from community colleges, four-year colleges, and university centers in an attempt to determine potential barriers to the continued growth in adoption of online teaching in higher education. It is concluded through factor and regression analysis that four variables are significantly associated with faculty satisfaction and their likelihood, therefore, to adopt or continue online teaching – these include levels of interaction in their online course, technical support, a positive learning experience in developing and teaching the course, and the discipline area in which they taught. Recommendations for institutional policy, faculty development, and further research are included. </p> <p><b>Keywords: </b>online teaching, faculty satisfaction, faculty development, diffusion of innovation, access, higher education, study </p>

Getting “Girly” Online

2018 ◽  
pp. 871-889
Author(s):  
Jen Almjeld
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Gender Disparity ◽  
Gender Performance ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Educational Spaces ◽  
Online Spaces

While MOOCs and other fully online educational spaces and tools continue to proliferate at institutions of higher education, some worry over a persistent gender gap in online learning (Paul, 2014; Straumsheim, 2013). As debate continues regarding the existence of a digital gender divide, the perception of the gap may be enough to give female learners the idea that digital learning spaces are not for them. Females particularly may be silenced in MOOCs and other online spaces not by instructors or fellow learners, but by cultural expectations. I offer here reflections on two fully online girlhood studies courses interrogating notions of gender performance, norms, and scripts as successful models for positioning gender disparity as a teaching tool rather than a barrier to learning. The piece ends with six recommendations—most rooted in feminist pedagogy—for making MOOCs more welcoming to all genders and learners.

From Face-to-Face to Digital Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-125
Author(s):  
Dionisia Tzavara ◽  
Dimitrios Koufopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Instructional Delivery ◽  
Learning Design ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Teaching Experiences ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, universities worldwide were forced to close their campuses and move instructional delivery to a digital mode. Many argued that this massive emergency digitalisation of instructional delivery was a major move of higher education toward online learning. However, this view overlooks considerations of pedagogy and of online learning design and delivery. Online learning is not just about uploading content to an online space or about moving all lectures online, and there is a whole theory behind designing online learning environments and delivering online learning. This chapter will discuss key theoretical considerations behind online learning design and delivery in relation to the digitalisation of higher education during COVID-19 with a view to make recommendations that will help universities design fulfilling and effective online learning and teaching experiences for their students and faculty.

Studying Philanthropy and Fundraising in the Field of Higher Education

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Roy Y. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Board Of Trustees ◽  
Institutional Advancement ◽  
Harvard College ◽  
Institutional Rule ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
Development Officers ◽  
Evolution And Development ◽  
The U.S

Colleges and universities are historic institutions in the U.S. that have sprung up since the founding of Harvard College in 1636. Though their evolution and development is quite simple, the involvement of numerous organizations and groups with philanthropy and higher education is quite complex. Utilizing resource dependency theory and institutional theory, this chapter reviews the historical, sociological, and organizational overview of the practices of philanthropy as it relates to American higher education. Two conceptual frameworks are developed and proposed by the author for teacher-scholars and advanced practitioners seeking to conduct formal research on institutional advancement in higher education. The paper argues that the fundraising professionals (e.g., board of trustees, the president, development officers) role on securing major resources and private gifts within the organization and field level is the result of coercion, imitation, and conformity to institutional rule, institutional isomorphism, and normatively based decision making in higher education.

If Higher Education Is a Right, and Distance Education Is the Answer, Then Who Will Pay?

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina A. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
The People ◽  
Cost Efficiencies ◽  
Negative Conclusion ◽  
The U.S

If higher education is a right, and distance education is the avenue for making higher education universally available, then who shall pay? This article asks (1) can state governments in the United States afford to fund this initiative and (2) can public higher education institutions in the U.S. fund this effort through capitalizing on cost-efficiencies of online learning? To answer the first question, data on funding of higher education by states are reviewed and a negative conclusion reached. To answer the second question, research on methods for achieving cost-efficiencies through online learning is reviewed and a cautious positive conclusion is reached, assuming states and institutions are willing to invest in the people and processes, and the time, effort, and will, that makes achieving efficiencies possible.

PROGRESSING FROM THE EMERGENCY TO THE OPTIMUM IN ONLINE LEARNING: THE SWITCH TO DIGITAL LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION DURING THE ONGOING PANDEMIC CRISIS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Grammatikou ◽  
Marco Montanari ◽  
Dimitris Pantazatos ◽  
Ingrid Barth ◽  
Allan Third ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Digital Learning

scholarly journals IMPLEMENTING CONSTRUCTIVISM LEARNING THEORY IN ONLINE TUTORIAL

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Benny A Pribadi ◽  
Anis Surtiani ◽  
Ichwan Ichwan
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Online Tutorial ◽  
Higher Institution ◽  
E Learning

The advanced development of information and communication technologybrings a significant impact on the way of how human learn. The e-learning orInternet-based and online learning has been widely used in a variety of learning activities as a suplement to the conventional in-class learning, flipped classroom etc. The term e-learning refers to learning activities conducted by the use ofInternet. Universitas Terbuka (UT) utilizes e-learning program in the form of online tutorial. The online tutorial is basically a form of learning support provided by UT to facilitate student to learn. The online tutorial consists of three major learning activities including reading, discussion and assignment. During online tutorial student must complete the assigned activities and interaction with peers, tutor and digital learning resources. Online tutorial can be seen as an instrumental tool that provide an opportunity for students to expandhis/her knowledge and skills beyond the provided printed and digital module. Tutors should be able to design online learning programs that can be used to facilitate students in expanding their knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to elaborate conceptually the use of constructivism learning theory in online tutorial of the open and distance learning higher institution.

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