Ethical Responsibilities of Preserving Academicians in an Age of Mechanized Learning

2018 ◽  
pp. 210-240
Author(s):  
James E. Willis III ◽  
Viktoria Alane Strunk

In quickly-changing educational delivery modalities, the central role of the instructor is being redefined by technology. Examining some of the various causes with ethical frameworks of utilitarianism, relativism, and care ethics, the centrality of human agency in educational interaction is argued to be indispensable. While exploring the forefront of online, face-to-face, and massive open online courses, the shape and technique of teaching and learning as well as their corollary research methodologies are being modified with automated technology. Ethical engagement with new technologies like learning analytics, automatic tutors, and automated, rubric-driven graders is proposed to be a frontier of critical thinking.

Author(s):  
James E. Willis III ◽  
Viktoria Alane Strunk

In quickly-changing educational delivery modalities, the central role of the instructor is being redefined by technology. Examining some of the various causes with ethical frameworks of utilitarianism, relativism, and care ethics, the centrality of human agency in educational interaction is argued to be indispensable. While exploring the forefront of online, face-to-face, and massive open online courses, the shape and technique of teaching and learning as well as their corollary research methodologies are being modified with automated technology. Ethical engagement with new technologies like learning analytics, automatic tutors, and automated, rubric-driven graders is proposed to be a frontier of critical thinking.


Author(s):  
James E. Willis III ◽  
Viktoria A. Strunk

Technological advances in the previous two decades have created an environment of innovation; however, there seems to be sometimes conflicting, emerging educational practices within communities of learners and educators. The central role of the instructor is being redefined by technology due to quickly-changing educational delivery modalities. By employing utilitarianism, relativism, and care ethics, the centrality of human agency in educational interaction is argued to be indispensable. Teaching and learning in massive open online courses, automated instruction, and learning analytics is altering the role of human instructors. This rapid modification of instructors' roles suggests that the ethical discourse of new educational technologies can be a frontier of critical thinking, especially as rubric-driven, automatic graders are refined and scaled.


Author(s):  
James E. Willis III ◽  
Viktoria A. Strunk

Technological advances in the previous two decades have created an environment of innovation; however, there seems to be sometimes conflicting, emerging educational practices within communities of learners and educators. The central role of the instructor is being redefined by technology due to quickly-changing educational delivery modalities. By employing utilitarianism, relativism, and care ethics, the centrality of human agency in educational interaction is argued to be indispensable. Teaching and learning in massive open online courses, automated instruction, and learning analytics is altering the role of human instructors. This rapid modification of instructors' roles suggests that the ethical discourse of new educational technologies can be a frontier of critical thinking, especially as rubric-driven, automatic graders are refined and scaled.


2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mansureh Kebritchi ◽  
Angie Lipschuetz ◽  
Lilia Santiague

Online education changes all components of teaching and learning in higher education. Many empirical studies have been conducted to examine issues in delivering online courses; however, few have synthesized prior studies and provided an overview on issues in online courses. A review of literature using Cooper’s framework was conducted to identify such issues. Three major categories of findings were identified: issues related to online learners, instructors, and content development. Learners’ issues included learners’ expectations, readiness, identity, and participation in online courses. Instructors’ issues included changing faculty roles, transitioning from face-to-face to online, time management, and teaching styles. Content issues included the role of instructors in content development, integration of multimedia in content, role of instructional strategies in content development, and considerations for content development. To address these challenges in online education, higher education institutions need to provide professional development for instructors, trainings for learners, and technical support for content development.


2018 ◽  
pp. 61-76
Author(s):  
Anne Huhtala

This article focuses on how university language students reflect on digitalisation and their own digital skills, and what kinds of benefits and risks they see in the increasing use of digital technology in teaching and learning. The data used for this study are of two kinds: 25 students filled in a questionnaire consisting of open questions about digitalisation, and 10 students wrote an essay where they reflected on the role of digital technology in their lives. The data were analysed by using qualitative content analysis. According to the results, university students experience their digital skills as good, and rely on their ability to learn new skills when needed. They describe the role of ICT in their lives as important, but seem to use digital technology with deliberation. They see several benefits in the use of new technologies, e.g., versatility, but also many risks, including problems caused by a sedentary lifestyle.


Author(s):  
Dietmar Kennepohl

The laboratory is an essential element in the teaching and learning of chemistry, but it is challenging to provide this when delivering courses and programs online or at a distance. Studies have repeatedly shown that alternate laboratory modes can lead to equivalent student performance when compared with in-person experiences. In this literature review, we will examine five modes of laboratory delivery (i.e. face-to-face, virtual, remote control, home-study kits and, to a lesser extent self-guided field trips) that may be considered in providing quality practical laboratory activities to support online studies. Each mode brings its own particular strengths and weaknesses and can be used individually or in combination. The selection and integration of those modes, which is driven by learning outcomes and other factors, will be examined as part of the design process. Finally, future laboratory design will certainly include new technologies, but potentially also elements like open educational resources, learning analytics, universal design, and citizen science.


Author(s):  
Bo Xing

Massive open online courses (MOOCs), also known as kind of free and accessible online education environment, have been deeply appeals to people and broadly covered in different medium. Nowadays, it seems MOOCs are everywhere. Originally, MOOCs are designed to offer learning content to the participants who do not have an adequate educational infrastructure, or where cost has become a barrier to educational access. However, as the MOOCs become more popular, an important question need to be asked: how do traditional face-to-face learning students benefit from MOOC environments as well? This chapter introduces MOOCs as an assistant platform to rebuild the course structure in order to tie education more closely to work. The major advantage of this hybrid teaching and learning model is that it is flexible as it allows students to work through materials at their own pace and at a time that is most convenient to them. Although the successful integration of such different teaching and learning modalities is a big challenge, the presented case study and the preliminary experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid methodology.


Author(s):  
Mary V. Mawn ◽  
Kathleen S. Davis

Online professional development courses and programs provide science teachers with ongoing and relevant professional development opportunities that overcome time, distance, and budget pressures. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, this chapter presents a case study of elementary and middle school teachers enrolled in two online courses in chemistry and science education. Based on this work, three themes emerged: the ability to incorporate inquiry-based teaching and learning in online environments, the importance of online discourse and reflection, and the role of linking theory with practice. Specifically, teacher participants reported increased experience exploring content via inquiry, felt actively engaged with their peers as they constructed their knowledge, and expected to adapt inquiry-based activities in their classrooms as a result of these online courses.


Author(s):  
Pradeep Tomar ◽  
Shivani Verma

The future of higher education is intrinsically linked with developments on new technologies and computing capacities of the new intelligent machines. In this field, advances in artificial intelligence open to new possibilities and challenges for teaching and learning in higher education with the potential to fundamentally change governance and the internal architecture of institutions of higher education. The role of technology in higher learning is to enhance human thinking and to augment the educational process, not to reduce it to a set of procedures for content delivery, control, and assessment. With the rise of AI solutions, it is increasingly important for educational institutions to stay alert and see if the power of control over hidden algorithms that run them is not monopolized by tech-lords. This chapter will cover all the positive and negative aspects of AI technologies on teaching, learning, and research in higher education.


Author(s):  
Si Fan ◽  
Quynh Lê ◽  
Yun Yue

As one of the key infrastructures within web-based learning, courseware is adopted by schools and universities to enable a systematic learning delivery and education management. Students in both traditional face-to-face learning and online courses can benefit from this technology. The wide range of courseware platforms are supporting course needs by offering great flexibility in information delivery, communication services, and collaboration. This chapter looks at the role of web-based courseware in tertiary education, using MyLO (My Learning Online) as an example. It reveals that courseware systems like MyLO have a great potential in facilitating collaborations and enhance interactions among lecturers and students. To achieve this, potential efforts from all perspective are required; including students, lecturers and faculties.


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