Virtual Instruction Support for Faculty

Aim/Purpose: This research study explores the challenges, successes, and supports de-sired in implementing virtual learning following a survey of faculty for their experiences and interests. Faculty in higher education need quick, practical tools and strategies to enhance teaching and learning in a virtual classroom. Background The sudden and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had created an urgency to transition to a virtual learning environment, yet expectations for faculty to teach virtually may not have matched best practice and current research. Methodology: This qualitative research begins with an anonymous, emailed survey of higher education faculty designed to explore participant thoughts and experiences related to their virtual teaching in Fall 2020. The survey included a series of demographic questions related to what type of faculty they were (full-time or adjunct), which discipline they taught, which format they were teaching in, as well as 5 open-ended questions to elicit feedback to teaching in this format of their challenges, some positives, strategies used, how they assessed learning, and which workshops they would like offered to better support them. A full year after the pandemic began, we sent out a follow-up survey to check in with faculty and find out specifically new skills/mindsets they developed, new tools they may have tried, their level of stress as well as how they perceived their students’ stress and their students’ level of learning. We decided to broaden our population by sharing the follow-up survey via social media to capture a diverse audience, which included international participants. Contribution: Despite the different stress levels for most faculty and students during the pandemic of 2020-2021, our research highlights that it was also a time of growth and learning. Learning from past experiences can help us be pre-pared for future challenges related to virtual learning. Findings: We found that the emergency remote teaching caused faculty to explore new ways of teaching and learning and helped them to develop a mindset that embraced a variety of skills such as flexibility, creativity, and innovation. We also learned that being aware of the stress levels of both faculty and students is of great value to institutions and with a good infrastructure and support, virtual learning can be successful. Recommendations for Practitioners: Through our research, we have found faculty are lacking the tools necessary to engage their learners in a virtual setting. As such, best practices need to be shared and then embedded into the instructional approach. However, given the pandemic, faculty were forced to transition face to face classes to a virtual format without having been provided these best practices. Recommendations for Researchers: We recommend researchers explore the habits of minds of faculty and how they have developed and continue to develop due to challenges they experienced related to virtual learning and continue to experience. Impact on Society: Many of the skills that faculty developed due to this emergency shift to virtual teaching during 2020 and beyond are skills faculty will have for life. With support and ideas faculty can implement quickly, faculty will be better prepared to provide instruction and create settings that enhance teaching and learning in a virtual setting. Future Research: Future research could include providing a voice for students by distributing a survey to the student body for their views and perceptions on virtual learning during the pandemic and moving forward.

Download Full-text

Virtual Instruction Support for Faculty

10.28945/4765 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Laura A. McLaughlin ◽

Joanne Ricevuto

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Best Practices ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environment ◽

Future Research ◽

Stress Levels ◽

Virtual Teaching ◽

Virtual Setting

NOTE: This Proceedings paper was revised and published in the journal Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 18, 1-30. At the bottom of this page, click DOWNLOAD PDF to download the published paper. Aim/Purpose: This research study explores the challenges, successes, and supports de-sired in implementing virtual learning following a survey of faculty for their experiences and interests. Faculty in higher education need quick, practical tools and strategies to enhance teaching and learning in a virtual classroom. Background: The sudden and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had created an urgency to transition to a virtual learning environment, yet expectations for faculty to teach virtually may not have matched best practice and current research. Methodology: This qualitative research begins with an anonymous, emailed survey of higher education faculty designed to explore participant thoughts and experiences related to their virtual teaching in Fall 2020. The survey included a series of demographic questions related to what type of faculty they were (full-time or adjunct), which discipline they taught, which format they were teaching in, as well as 5 open-ended questions to elicit feedback to teaching in this format of their challenges, some positives, strategies used, how they assessed learning, and which workshops they would like offered to better support them. A full year after the pandemic began, we sent out a follow-up survey to check in with faculty and find out specifically new skills/mindsets they developed, new tools they may have tried, their level of stress as well as how they perceived their students’ stress and their stu-dents’ level of learning. We decided to broaden our population by sharing the follow-up survey via social media to capture a diverse audience, which included international participants. Contribution: Despite the different stress levels for most faculty and students during the pandemic of 2020-2021, our research highlights that it was also a time of growth and learning. Learning from past experiences can help us be pre-pared for future challenges related to virtual learning. Findings: We found that the emergency remote teaching caused faculty to explore new ways of teaching and learning and helped them to develop a mindset that embraced a variety of skills such as flexibility, creativity, and innovation. We also learned that being aware of the stress levels of both faculty and students is of great value to institutions and with a good infrastructure and support, virtual learning can be successful. Recommendations for Practitioners: Through our research, we have found faculty are lacking the tools necessary to engage their learners in a virtual setting. As such, best practices need to be shared and then embedded into the instructional approach. However, given the pandemic, faculty were forced to transition face to face classes to a virtual format without having been provided these best practices. Recommendations for Researchers: We recommend researchers explore the habits of minds of faculty and how they have developed and continue to develop due to challenges they experienced related to virtual learning and continue to experience. Impact on Society: Many of the skills that faculty developed due to this emergency shift to virtual teaching during 2020 and beyond are skills faculty will have for life. With support and ideas faculty can implement quickly, faculty will be better prepared to provide instruction and create settings that enhance teaching and learning in a virtual setting. Future Research: Future research could include providing a voice for students by distributing a survey to the student body for their views and perceptions on virtual learning during the pandemic and moving forward.

Download Full-text

A peer-observation initiative to enhance student engagement in the synchronous virtual classroom: A case study of a COVID-19 mandated move to online learning

Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice ◽

10.53761/1.18.4.14 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 184-205

Author(s):

Lesley Andrew ◽

◽

Ruth Wallace ◽

Ros Sambell ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Online Learning ◽

Student Engagement ◽

Learning Environment ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environment ◽

Peer Observation ◽

Learning And Teaching

The global COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a rapid shift to online delivery in higher education. This learning and teaching environment is associated with reduced student engagement, a crucial prerequisite of student satisfaction, retention and success. This paper presents a case study that explored student engagement in the synchronous virtual learning environment, during the mandatory move to exclusive online learning in Australian higher education in April to June 2020. Three university instructors used the Teaching and Learning Circles Model to observe a series of their peers' synchronous virtual classrooms, from which they reflected on ways to enhance their own practice. The findings demonstrate how student engagement in these classrooms can be strengthened across the four constructs of Kahu and Nelson’s (2018) engagement conceptual framework: belonging; emotional response; wellbeing and self-efficacy. The case study also reveals limitations of the synchronous virtual environment as a means of supporting student engagement in the online learning and teaching environment, and proposes ways to address them. Against emerging reports of increased mental health issues among isolated university students during the current pandemic, the case study's recommendations to improve student wellbeing and belonging are particularly salient. This article also highlights the usefulness of the Teaching and Learning Circles Model of peer observation as a way to guide its participants' reflections on their own practice, support their collegiality with academic peers and build their confidence and competence in the synchronous virtual learning environment.

Download Full-text

Tutors' Perspectives on Online Facilitation of ESL Courses in Distance Education

Research Anthology on Developing Effective Online Learning Courses ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-8047-9.ch077 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1557-1579

Author(s):

Li Hsien Ooi ◽

Lay Huah Goh ◽

Arathai Din Eak ◽

Cheng Teik Ong

Keyword(s):

Distance Education ◽

Distance Learning ◽

Best Practices ◽

Learning Environment ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Learning Experience ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environment ◽

Online Facilitation

Online facilitation in distance education presents many challenges that involve both the learners and instructors. Through these challenges, the roles tutors' play and their best practices used in online facilitation should be looked into to improve the distance-learning experience. In view of this, this chapter attempted to examine the perspectives of experienced tutors engaged in the university's virtual learning environment, WawasanLearn. Based on the interview findings of eight tutors, several emergent findings highlighted the roles and challenges of effective online facilitation. As this research is based on the guidelines of the prominent Salmon's model, the findings also highlighted antecedents that substantiate best practices of online facilitation. Findings indicated that understanding the dynamics of online facilitation among relevant stakeholders is critical to improve the teaching and learning experience in distance education.

Download Full-text

Tutors' Perspectives on Online Facilitation of ESL Courses in Distance Education

Innovative Applications of Online Pedagogy and Course Design - Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-5466-0.ch008 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 154-176

Author(s):

Li Hsien Ooi ◽

Lay Huah Goh ◽

Arathai Din Eak ◽

Cheng Teik Ong

Keyword(s):

Distance Education ◽

Distance Learning ◽

Best Practices ◽

Learning Environment ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Learning Experience ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environment ◽

Online Facilitation

Download Full-text

Virtual Learning in Smart Education

Virtual and Mobile Learning Activities in Higher Education - Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-4183-8.ch007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 173-197

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Learning Environment ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environment ◽

Student Centered ◽

Student Centered Learning ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

Learning Principles

This chapter expands the knowledge about virtual learning in smart higher education, and how these processes can be a tool for motivated and student-centered learning in a resource-enriched virtual learning environment with technology-embedded tools. Methodologically, selected articles are reviewed to expand the knowledge about virtual learning in smart higher education and with an example analysis of an open question (N=57) among teacher educators (N=105) about what kind of education they need for using a virtual learning environment with different tools. Theoretically, the analysis of the answers is based on the TPACK model and Gees five learning principles. The findings highlight that higher education and academic researchers have much to learn about teaching and learning in a virtual learning environment and in virtual reality that can enhance student-centered learning and reveal the pedagogical surplus value in their own teaching and learning context through the use of technology for an educational purpose.

Download Full-text

Expanding CERC Beyond Public Health: Sharing Best Practices With Healthcare Managers via Virtual Learning

Health Promotion Practice ◽

10.1177/1524839908319090 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 9 (4_suppl) ◽

pp. 83S-87S ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Anne M. Hewitt ◽

Susan S. Spencer ◽

Rameshsharma Ramloll ◽

Heidi Trotta

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Best Practices ◽

Risk Communication ◽

Emergency Preparedness ◽

Public Health Education ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environment ◽

Communication Model ◽

Health Administration ◽

The Impact

Developed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002, the Crisis Emergency and Risk Communication (CERC) training module is a nationally and internationally recognized communication model. With the looming threat of a pandemic and the potential for a protracted ongoing siege, a valuable opportunity exists to introduce crisis and emergency preparedness communication best practices to a new population—health care managers and administrators. The CERC toolkit and resources, provide an easy, turn-key solution and a validated template for educators who are not directly involved in public health education but desire to share this content. In this example, graduate students enrolled in an Master of Health Administration program, used a Play2Train scenario, located in the virtual learning environment of SecondLife (2007), to incorporate concepts from the CERC model. By applying the CERC best practices in a real-time virtual learning scenario, students learned collaboration and the leadership competencies necessary to help implement Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Organizations emergency communication protocols and community collaboration requirements. By expanding the impact of the CERC model and developing unified risk communication responses and information sharing, all health professionals can enhance the effectiveness of their emergency preparedness plans so that the public can be better served.

Download Full-text

A REVIEW OF RECENT PAPERS ON ONLINE DISCUSSION IN TEACHING AND LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Online Learning ◽

10.24059/olj.v9i3.1782 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael Hammond

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Curriculum Design ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Online Discussion ◽

Future Research ◽

Online Forums ◽

Computer Communication ◽

Asynchronous Online Discussion ◽

Design Software ◽

Additional Value

This paper presents a review of a sample of recent case studies on the use of asynchronous online discussion in higher education. These studies are analyzed in terms of curriculum design, assumptions about teaching and learning, and claims and reported conditions for using online discussion. The claims made for asynchronous online discussion—in particular the opportunities for interaction between learners, and permanent access to these interactions—are found to be frequently based on social constructivist principles. Asynchronous online discussion is seen as offering additional value by providing learners with experience of computer communication tools and opportunities for taking part in group work. Several constraints on participation within online forums are described. These are discussed in relation to the nature of curriculum design, software design, tutor support, and learners’ attitudes and previous experience. The conditions under which asynchronous online discussion may best support learning are set out, and avenues for future research are suggested.

Download Full-text

Contextually responsive and knowledge-focused teaching: disrupting the notion of ‘best practices’

Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning ◽

10.14426/cristal.v9isi.338 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (SI) ◽

Author(s):

Ceclia Jacobs ◽

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Staff Development ◽

Best Practices ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Academic Staff ◽

Knowledge Bases ◽

Good Teaching ◽

Approach To Teaching ◽

Conceptual Paper ◽

Higher Education Teaching

The notion that universal ‘best practices’ underpin higher education teaching is problematic. Although there is general agreement in the literature that good teaching is not decontextualised but rather that it is responsive to the context in which it occurs, generic views of teaching and learning continue to inform practices at universities in South Africa. This conceptual paper considers why a decontextualised approach to higher education teaching prevails and interrogates factors influencing this view, such as: the knowledge bases informing this approach to teaching, the factors from within the higher education sector that shape this approach to teaching, as well as the practices and Discourses prevalent in the field of academic development. The paper argues that teaching needs to be both contextually responsive and knowledge- focused. Disrupting ‘best practices’ approaches require new ways of undertaking academic staff development, which are incumbent on the understandings that academic developers bring to the enterprise.

Download Full-text

Learning Analytics in a Virtual Learning Environment: the challenge of mapping socio-affective scenarios

International Journal for Innovation Education and Research ◽

10.31686/ijier.vol8.iss6.2389 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

pp. 190-204

Author(s):

Jacqueline Mayumi Akazaki ◽

Leticia Rocha Machado ◽

Ketia Kellen Araújo da Silva ◽

Patricia Alejandra Behar

Keyword(s):

Social Interactions ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Social Relations ◽

Learning Analytics ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environment ◽

Pedagogical Strategies ◽

The Social ◽

Visualization Of Data

Virtual courses are increasingly being offered in Brazil, making it imperative to develop technological resources and research to help in the teaching and learning processes in this modality. One approach is to analyze student's socio-affective profile in Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). The co-operative learning network (ROODA) VLE has two features called the Social Map (SM) and Affective Map (AM), which can both contribute to the visualization of data regarding social interaction indicators and students' moods in the environment. The SM presents the social relations formed through indicators, which are the absence; collaboration; the distance from the class; evasion; informal groups and popularity, enabling the identification of the participating subjects in the form of sociograms. The AM identifies students' moods graphically through indicators, which are excitement, discouragement, satisfaction, and dissatisfaction. Thus, this article aims to map the possible recurrent socio-affective scenarios in a VLE using Learning Analytics (LA). LA is defined as measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about students and their contexts to understand as well as optimize learning and the environments in which it occurs. It can also contribute to the understanding of student's learning profile, based on social and affective aspects, thus allowing the teacher to develop pedagogical strategies consistent with the needs of each subject. The importance of integrating the possible social and affective scenarios was verified using LA, making it possible to deepen the comprehension of the subjective and qualitative questions regarding the students' interactions in the VLE. In this study, the scenarios are understood as the intersection between the Affective Map and Social Map indicators identified in a VLE. It has both a qualitative and quantitative approach. The choice is qualitatively justified because the research object involves social and affective phenomena that were subjectively expressed in texts and social interactions manifested in the ROODA VLE. It is quantitatively justified by the need to measure the mapping of socio-affective indicators through social parameters and moods applying LA. The subjects were undergraduate students who participated in distance learning courses at a Brazilian public university that used the ROODA VLE in the second semester of 2019. Data were collected from social and affective maps to identify if there was a relationship between them. As a result, based on the existing indicators of social interactions and moods, the socio-affective indicators were created using LA in order to analyze the students’ behavior in relation to the forms of interaction and communication that occur in the ROODA VLE.

Download Full-text

Međunarodni naučni skup na Pedagoškom fakultetu u Užicu (2011–2021): hronološki pregled i buduća perspektiva

10.46793/nnu21.681s ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jelena Stamatović ◽

◽

Mirjana Stakić

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Professional Development ◽

Elementary Education ◽

Learning Process ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Educational Assessment ◽

Future Research ◽

Assessment And Evaluation ◽

Professional Development Of Teachers ◽

The Future

The paper is based on the overview and description of ten monographs from in- ternational scientific conferences held in the period between 2011 and 2021 at the Facul- ty of Education in Uţice, and is aimed at recording topics and issues discussed in them, and making suggestions for future research of problems, goals and perspectives in the teaching and learning process. The review of the monographs from these international scientific conferences showed that the interest of theoreticians and practitioners is firmly focused on general questions of education and rearing, teaching and learning, as well as questions of educational assessment and evaluation, textbook quality, and education and professional development of teachers. Topics in the field of elementary education are predominant, so in the future, it would be worth paying more attention to the current topics in the field of preschool and higher education.

Download Full-text