scholarly journals What kind of support do teachers really need in a blended learning context?

Author(s):  
Shurong Zhao ◽  
Junxia Song

Teachers in higher education are the principal participants in blended learning (BL). Without their engagement, any attempt at BL might fail. In the process of BL implementation, they are faced with various challenges and are mostly not well prepared. However, studies have often neglected the feeling of teachers and their anxieties during BL implementation. There is insufficient research on teacher-related factors, especially teacher support. To address this question, a questionnaire was conducted among 123 respondents from 10 universities in China between March and May 2020. An analysis of the data collected shows that BL is widely recognised by teachers, but they lack confidence in their competence in BL implementation. The top three difficulties that faculty face are increased workload, a lack of funds to build their own courses and a lack of time to prepare online activities. Further, respondents have a clear need for pedagogical support, financial and infrastructure support, policy support, technical support and emotional support. These findings indicate that a targeted support system should be constructed to address these difficulties. Special attention should be paid to formulating BL guidance, offering a supportive environment that values BL efforts and relieving the workload of faculty.   Implications for practice or policy: BL teachers need various support to design and implement BL courses. Higher education institutions should formulate guidance and clarify the definition and key implementation elements to guide BL practice. Management departments of higher education institutions should take effective measures to alleviate the burden of teachers. The training of teachers in the application of BL technology should focus on strengthening technological content knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge.

Author(s):  
Azizov Solijon Uchmas o’g’li

The quality and content are constantly increasing their relevance in the conditions of modern education. If quality can be understood as means and educational materials which are used in the process, the content is a sign of the diversity of these materials and a factor which takes into account the age, abilities and chances of learners. Taking into account these two important factors, the theoretical and practical bases of combining modern information technologies in improving the quality and content of the system of blended learning at philological higher education institutions of specialized in teaching English are described in detail. In addition, the paths and stages of creating a specific system that runs continuously, combining the effective and reasonable functions of social networking services (SNS) and messengers in consolidating the quality and content indicators of blended learning, are gradually illustrated. Besides that, by combining online educational materials with traditional place-based classroom methods at philological higher education institutions which are specialized in teaching English based on the approach of blended learning, the system of fostering students’ linguistic skills, such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking can be optimized and modernized according to the results of this research in the article.


Author(s):  
Roxana Stefanescu ◽  
◽  
Mariana Iatagan ◽  
Cristian Uta

The management of teaching is connected and could be increased by using a wide range of different methods especially when we refer to Online and Blended learning. In the first part, the paper is aiming at reviewing the literature regarding the concepts and benefits of Online and Blended learning. Based on this considerations, 8 partner universities from 8 countries jointly developed the Project “Modern competences of academic teachers – the key to modern Higher Education Institutions (HEI)” – Acronym MOCAT. The paper underlines the goals and achievements of the MOCAT project that proposes a conceptual process to increase the management performance in teaching. The paper shows in an organized manner the main deficiencies that are altering the teaching competencies of academic teachers and in connection with this, the project offers solutions to improve the methodological competency of the teachers regarding the development and use of modern approaches. The outcomes of the project consist in the development and implementation of a Multicultural Model of an Academic Teacher Competencies and in 10 online courses that represent modern training materials in the field of teaching methodology. In the end are exposed the way the results of the project can be evaluated in time as well as the anticipated effects of the project implementation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
Tilagavati Subramaniam ◽  
Muthu Alagan Thangavelu

Purposes: This paper presents a conceptual framework for teaching sustainable development courses in an online learning environment in institutions of higher education.  Sustainability development courses are becoming essential in higher education institutions mainly to educate the younger generations who will be part of the community to make it happen. Higher education institutions are experiencing dramatic shift to cater a young generation of prospective students, to integrate technical innovations in teaching practices and to concentrate on increasing concerns about global sustainability issues. There has been little research to promote an innovative learning in the teaching of sustainable development. The goal of this paper was to create a framework for teaching sustainable development in a virtual learning environment (blended learning) due to the lack of a conceptual framework that could direct this implementation. Findings: Hence, the blended learning method is eco-friendly, whereby protects global environmental resources. For hands-on experiences, students will develop projects to make their campus and community more sustainable. In the process, students learn how to analyse sustainability and able to apply online learning knowledge into practice. Implication: The conceptual framework proposed will support all educators in higher education institutions engaged in the promotion of quality online education in this pandemic circumstance to develop an effective online practise that are aligned with the corresponding learning needs, skills and facilities.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1087-1101
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Penland

This chapter focuses on the changes that have occurred recently in the distance education arena and the impact on higher education institutions focusing on undergraduate and graduate students taking these courses. Data were gathered from 164 individual participants enrolled in education courses at Shepherd University during the spring 2013, fall 2013 and spring 2014 semesters from end of course surveys with ten questions focusing on the following areas: when students learn, why students learn and how students learn. Findings suggested; (1) increased enrollment in distance education courses, (2) courses allow for flexible schedules (3) better communication with instructor and (4) more meaningful learning overall for students.


Author(s):  
Indira Padayachee

Virtual learning systems (VLSs), commonly referred to as learning or course management systems, have been formally adopted at many higher education institutions. However, knowledge of the actual usage of VLSs is limited in terms of what specific functional and non-functional characteristics are deemed useful and how this influences system usage. Furthermore, little is known about the role of other non-system-related factors related to VLS usage, such as pedagogic, organisational, and individual difference factors. This chapter proposes and describes the virtual learning system usage model (VLSUM), which represents the factors influencing VLS usage in higher education institutions. The VLSUM is based on a conceptual framework integrating multiple dimensions and is confirmed by the results of an empirical study. A mixed-methods research design was adopted in the development of the VSLUM. This model is valuable to educational technologists, instructional designers, and software designers for VLS implementation in higher education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Nguyen Tien Long ◽  
Nguyen Van Hanh

Higher education institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of learning culture as a core factor for students' sustainable learning and development. While the development of blended learning environments in higher education institutions has been steadily increasing in recent years, but how to establish a blended learning culture in the classroom? The above problem can be solved when this study achieves its purpose to explore the factors of blended learning culture in the classroom. The focus of this study was to explore a structural equation model (SEM) of blended learning culture. A case study at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), Vietnam was conducted and collected with a sample size large enough (339 students). The results of factor analysis have explored the core factors of the blended learning culture. The SEM analysis has achieved a first-order model of blended learning culture. And lastly, the SEM-values analysis for the existence of blended learning culture in the classroom has confirmed that they positively impact the acceptance of blended classrooms by students. Thus, a SEM of blended learning culture has provided a functional framework for educators to systematically cover all that create the success and sustainability of blended classroom culture in the classroom.


Author(s):  
Lixun Wang

With the rapid development of the Internet, blended learning (online learning plus face-to-face learning) has become a model that more and more higher education institutions are intending to adopt. This chapter first compares various forms and expressions of blended learning adopted by different institutions around the world, and then reports on how blended learning has been implemented and promoted in the English Department at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) using a variety of approaches. Here, a number of projects have been carried out over the past seven years, focusing on the conversion of traditional face-to-face modules into partly face-to-face, partly online modules. In addressing these developments, the Blackboard online learning management system, which has been adopted as the main platform for the delivery of blended learning at HKIEd, is first examined. Then the design of a series of subject-specific Web sites to supplement the Blackboard system and facilitate blended learning is introduced. Finally, the implementation of innovative Wikibook projects is illustrated and discussed. Such Wikibook projects, where students are required to work in groups to write an academic textbook collaboratively online, are highly effective in promoting not only autonomous yet collaborative online academic reading and writing, but also online peer editing. This adds a new dimension to blended learning. Feedback from students shows that they greatly enjoyed the experience of collaborative academic writing through the Wikibook projects, and found that the wiki technology made peer editing much more efficient and effective. All the evidence suggests that blended learning has great potential as a vehicle for teaching and learning and is a notable current trend in higher education.


Author(s):  
Steve Wheeler

This chapter explores the use of the wiki and its role as a cognitive tool to promote interaction and collaborative learning in higher education. The importance of the software to enable student created content, storage, and sharing of knowledge is reviewed. This chapter provides an evaluation of some of the affordances and constraints of wikis to promote critical thinking within a blended learning context. It assesses their potential to facilitate collaborative learning through community focused enquiry for geographically separated students and nomadic learners. One particular focus of the chapter is the development of new digital literacies and how students present their written work in wikis. The chapter also examines group dynamics within collaborative learning environments drawing on the data from a study conducted at the University of Plymouth in 2007, using wikis in teacher education. Finally, the chapter highlights some recent key contributions to the developing discourse on social software in what has been termed ‘the architecture of participation.’


Author(s):  
Hoàng Thị Thu Hoài ◽  
Trần Thị Thảo

Việc giảng dạy tiếng Anh cho những lớp học đông sinh viên đã gây ra nhiều thách thức cho giáo viên, đặc biệt trong giáo dục đại học. Giáo viên khó triển khai các hoạt động duy trì kỷ luật lớp học, nhất là đối với những sinh viên thiếu ý thức làm chủ bản thân. Việc dạy học trong những lớp học đông sinh viên cũng gây nhiều khó khăn cho công tác giảng dạy, cũng như các hoạt động kiểm tra, đánh giá. Hơn nữa giáo viên khó lòng đáp ứng hết nhu cầu khác nhau của sinh viên. Bài viết này hướng tới việc giới thiệu một phương pháp dạy, học được tin là sẽ giải quyết được phần nào vấn đề lớp học đông sinh viên, phương pháp dạy, học kết hợp. Đây không phải là một ý tưởng mới. Tuy nhiên, việc kết hợp giữa mô hình lớp học truyền thống và ứng dụng công nghệ thông tin trong giảng dạy và học tập sẽ giúp phần giảm áp lực cho giáo viên. Sinh viên sẽ phát triển được phương pháp học tự chủ trong khi giáo viên vẫn kiểm soát được các hoạt động bên ngoài lớp học của sinh viên. Chúng tôi tin tưởng rằng phương pháp dạy, học kết hợp này nếu được nghiên cứu một cách toàn diện sẽ trở thành xu hướng giáo dục của tương lại.


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