Contradictions and Expansive Transformation in the Activity Systems of Higher Education International Students in Online Learning

This chapter features a description of three contradictions (i.e., disconnects) in the activity system of international higher education students in online learning. These disconnects are interpreted in relation to the constructs of teaching presence, real presence, and social and cultural presence and analyzed in terms of their origins in face-to-face, time- and place-dependent contexts of learning. Teaching presence is the external (to the student) regulation and management of learning, real presence is the sensory-rich character of learning, and social and cultural presence relate to specific types of interactions and communication that occur in conjunction with learning. Learning presence reflects a constructivist perspective that values socially-constructed forms of knowledge and self-regulation. The chapter follows with a description of how the disconnects can be bridged and the activity system expanded.

2018 ◽  
pp. 1363-1398
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Murphy ◽  
María A. Rodríguez-Manzanares

This chapter features a description of three contradictions (i.e., disconnects) in the activity system of international higher education students in online learning. These disconnects are interpreted in relation to the constructs of teaching presence, real presence, and social and cultural presence and analyzed in terms of their origins in face-to-face, time- and place-dependent contexts of learning. Teaching presence is the external (to the student) regulation and management of learning, real presence is the sensory-rich character of learning, and social and cultural presence relate to specific types of interactions and communication that occur in conjunction with learning. Learning presence reflects a constructivist perspective that values socially-constructed forms of knowledge and self-regulation. The chapter follows with a description of how the disconnects can be bridged and the activity system expanded.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-85
Author(s):  
Pham Thi Thu Hoa

Information technology has created tremendous chances in higher education across the globe. With the availability and flexibility of learning online, there are increasing competitions between online learning and traditional, face-to-face classroom. These two types of learning both have their pros and cons. From the advantages and disadvantages of online learning, universities have recently changed the way of their teaching through combining online learning and traditional classroom. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate and understand the advancements of the combination of the two types of learning. In this paper, we will introduce the advantages and disadvantages of online learning and the combined learning. We also share our experience on teaching at Flinders University, South Australia through Flinders learning online system. From this knowledge, we will suggest some solutions about building a combined learning system which is suitable for Vietnamese universities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-155
Author(s):  
Diana-Crina Marin ◽  
Mușata Bocoș

"In the context in which the teaching, learning, and assessment processes take place in the online environment, the question arises whether the currently organized learning situations are as effective as the learning situations carried out in the classroom, before the beginning of the pandemic. One of the disadvantages of online learning is related to the teacher’s low control over students’ activity. Factors such as initiative, creativity, efficient time management, intrinsic motivation, responsibility, and intellectual curiosity play an important role in students’ success in learning activities. Attendance at courses should not be formal and superficial and should be a process that involves the active and interactive participation of the students in the learning process. Providing high-quality educational opportunities to all students is a goal that is increasingly difficult to achieve in the context of the absence of face-to-face interactions. Also, applying a curriculum focused on the needs of the learner is becoming hard to achieve. Through this research, we aim to investigate issues related to how online learning takes place and to establish ways in which we can increase the efficiency of current teaching and learning processes. The study revealed that in the opinion of most of the students, the current epidemiological context has influenced in a negative way the quality of teaching and the student-teacher educational relationship. Keywords: Interactive learning, eLearning, independence in learning, higher education, efficient strategies "


Author(s):  
Carol Johnson ◽  
Noha Altowairiki

Transitioning from a face-to-face teaching environment to online teaching requires a shift in paradigm by stakeholders involved (i.e., instructors and students). This chapter provides an extensive literature review to help novice online instructors understand the nature of online teaching presence to help position their students towards more active participation. Premised on the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000) and constructivism, we highlight a conceptual framework of four iterative processes for developing online teaching presence: preparations for facilitation, designing the facilitation, implementing the facilitation, and assessing the facilitation. Based on this framework, strategies are articulated for overcoming the challenges of online learning through shared stakeholder responsibility.


Author(s):  
Dionisia Tzavara ◽  
Dimitrios Koufopoulos

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.


Author(s):  
Maysaa Barakat ◽  
Debra N. Weiss-Randall

Online enrollments have been growing substantially faster than overall higher education enrollments. It is argued that online learning can help address issues of educational inequity, poverty, and social exclusion. The momentum is moving towards online learning, and universities are pressured to develop more online options for their students in order to stay relevant and provide needed flexibility. On average, courses that are delivered online have higher attrition rates than regular face-to-face courses. There are numerous challenges and difficulties in developing online learning environments without sacrificing the quality of learning. This case study examines the development, delivery, and evaluation of online learning through the eyes of students and faculty of an educational leadership department in a Southeast research university.


2016 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Nahed Abdelrahman ◽  
Beverly J. Irby

Hybrid learning has been utilized as a transitional learning method to make advantage of both face-to-face and online learning platforms. In this article, the authors explored how faculty members perceive using simultaneously multiple platforms in higher education such as face-to-face, online, and hybrid platforms in teaching. In this study, the authors examined how faculty members defined hybrid learning. They also explored how the participants perceive both hybrid and online learning as vehicles for higher education advancement as well as strategies to attract more students to higher education. The purpose of this research was to develop an analytical overview of one of the learning approaches such as hybrid and its impact on higher education. The authors have interviewed ten faculty members in order to achieve this objective. The results illustrated that faculty members do not have one single definition of hybrid learning but rather they have multiple definitions. Faculty members also demonstrated that they support online learning because it achieves more accessibility to higher education, yet, they believe the face-to-face learning achieve more quality of education.


2011 ◽  
pp. 1334-1338
Author(s):  
Carl A. Raschke

While critics of the new computer-mediated learning styles utter jeremiads about the impending apocalypse of higher education in general, technophiles argue that the changes are all salutary. In fact, some see no difference between faculty cultures and online and traditional schools (Johnstone, 2001). In the same vein, the proliferation of digital classrooms across the instructional spectrum and online learning have touched off a firestorm of controversy concerning the “effectiveness” of new computer-mediated pedagogies versus traditional face-to-face, or “presential,” instruction. Various studies have been conducted and the findings circulated (Smith, Smith, & Boone, 2000).


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):  
Hui-Chun Hung ◽  
Shelley Shwu-Ching Young

The emergence of open online courses and flipped classrooms has brought new opportunities to unbundle the traditional university. This study aimed to investigate a thermal physics classroom integrated with an open online learning mode to afford various learning strategies for students in Taiwan. Moreover, we examined students' preferred learning modes by adopting a quasi-experimental design with questionnaires, pre-test and post-test scores, self-reported journals and interviews. A total of 89 students participated in the study. The instructor allowed all students enrolled in the class to choose their own preferred learning modes. All students had full access to all course materials in both open online course and traditional face-to-face learning contexts throughout the whole semester. We examined the learners' academic performance in each learning mode and surveyed their perceptions of the course. The findings of this study indicate that information technology can transform teaching and learning in a thermal physics classroom and challenge the instructor to tailor the course to meet students' diverse needs. Significantly, students adopted five learning modes, consisting of face-to-face, web facilitated, alternative blended, online learning and flipped learning. This study provides a valuable reference on how traditional on-campus higher education institutions could be unbundled to create student-centred learning approaches.   Implications for practice or policy: Educators could design a flexible delivery model, allowing students to choose five learning modes, consisting of face-to-face, web facilitated, alternative blended, online learning and flipped learning in terms of their learning style and time management. For students with sufficient background knowledge, the flipped learning mode provides the best learning performance. This study could provide administrators, educators and instructors with insights and new approaches in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and improvements in their course policies.


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