Collaboration for Social Justice and Faculty Development Through Online Course Design

2021 ◽  
pp. 122-141
Author(s):  
Margaret R. Olson ◽  
Joanne Tompkins ◽  
Greg R. L. Hadley ◽  
Fran Hurley ◽  
Janean Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Shared Resources ◽  
Technological Support ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Team Meetings ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Support Team

In this chapter, eight Canadian teacher-educators describe how they collaboratively transformed a face-to-face Master of Education course focused on education for social justice into an online summer course. Each of the eight instructors wrote a short narrative of their experience, and these were woven together to show examples of how this collaborative endeavor worked. Themes emerging from their writing included support through team meetings, faculty development and mentorship through shared resources, support through individuals' diversity of experience, support through building community, transitioning from face-to-face to online learning, and the importance of support from a pedagogically-informed technological support team. Reasons why this collaboration worked are discussed in the conclusion.

Building Community in Asynchronous Online Higher Education Courses Through Collaborative Annotation

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-261
Author(s):  
Brittany Adams ◽  
Nance S. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Peer Interactions ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Online Higher Education ◽  
Collaborative Annotation ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Community Growth ◽  
The Moment

This design-based research study examines how a collaborative annotation tool, Perusall, supported the development of community within an asynchronous online graduate course. Students read and engaged with assigned texts uploaded to Perusall each week, providing numerous opportunities for students to interact and collaborate with each other using the tool’s various sharing and communication features. Both text interactions and peer-to-peer interactions on Perusall increased throughout the course, with peer-to-peer interactions increasing at a greater rate, indicative of community growth within the course. Collaborative annotation tools capture students’ thinking and processing in the moment, more closely mirroring the learning that one might see in a face-to-face class when students discuss content with their instructor and/or classmates. This study offers insights for teachers, teacher educators, and school leaders about new approaches for developing community in online educational contexts, especially considering the drastic shift to online learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Transforming faculty development programs from face-to-face to blended/hybrid environments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Hanna
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Development ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Instructional Skills ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Constructive Feedback ◽  
The Face ◽  
Blended Teaching

Faculty development programs are critical to the success of the learning and teaching process in higher education. With the rapid development of blended courses there is a need to transform the face-to-face faculty development programs to blended programs. The transformation requires instructors to examine new teaching methods and techniques, and obtain new skill set to ensure the success of the learning process and students’ engagement in the new environment. Blended teaching is not just about transferring part of the training course online, but involves creating online activities that engage learners and complement the face-to-face activities. The role of the instructors changes from lecturer to facilitator of learning, coach and collaborator. Through participation in blended learning environments, instructors could experiment the new teaching strategies in a collaborative and safe environment. This paper presents the process, benefits and challenges of transforming the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) for instructors from a three-day twenty four hours intensive format to four-week blended format. The Instructional Skills Workshop is peer-based training in which participants interact and present lessons in small groups to develop effective instructional skills through the use of constructive feedback strategies. Strategies associated with the re-design process which is based on the instructional design theories and principles will be presented. The paper presents data from formative and summative evaluations on communication, instructional skills and course design. The recommendations will address best practices that could be used to transform many faculty development programs from face-to-face to blended formats. Keywords: Hybrid, Online, Blended Teaching, Blended Learning, Faculty Development Programs, Instructional Skills.

scholarly journals E-Classroom Interactional Competencies: Mediating and Assisting Language Learning During Synchronous Online Lessons

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822098527
Author(s):  
Benjamin Luke Moorhouse ◽  
Yanna Li ◽  
Steve Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Management Competencies ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Synchronous Online

Interaction is seen by many English language teachers and scholars as an essential part of face-to-face English language classrooms. Teachers require specific competencies to effectively use interaction as a tool for mediating and assisting learning. These can be referred to as classroom interactional competence (CIC). However, the situation created by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic which began in early 2020, and the recent advancement in technologies have led to teachers conducting synchronous online lessons through video-conferencing software. The online environment is distinctly different from the face-to-face classroom and teachers require new and additional skills to effectively utilise interaction online in real time. This exploratory study used an online mixed-method survey of 75 university level English language teachers who had engaged in synchronous online teaching due to COVID-19, to explore the competencies that teachers need to use interaction as a tool to mediate and assist language learning in synchronous online lessons. Teachers were found to require three competencies, in addition to their CIC – technological competencies, online environment management competencies, and online teacher interactional competencies – which together constitute e-CIC. The findings provide greater insights into the needs of teachers required to teach synchronously online and will be of interest to teachers and teacher educators.

Building community during the COVID-19 pandemic: a system level approach to physician well-being

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 166-170
Author(s):  
Serena Siow ◽  
Carmen Gittens
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
System Level ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Physician Wellness ◽  
Physician Leaders ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Support Team ◽  
Emotional Strain

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, physician burnout was identified as reaching crisis proportions, and the pandemic is expected to worsen the already perilous state of physician wellness. It has affected physicians’ emotional health, not only by increasing workload demands, but also by eroding resilience under increasing pressures. The mental health consequences are expected to persist long after the pandemic subsides. With physician wellness increasingly recognized as a shared responsibility between individual physicians and the health care system, system-level approaches have been identified as important interventions for addressing physician well-being. In this article, we describe two evidence-guided initiatives implemented in our hospitalist network during the current pandemic: a trained peer-support team and facilitated physician online group discussions. These initiatives acknowledge the emotional strain of physicians’ work and challenge the “iron doc” culture of medicine. Our efforts build community and shift culture toward improved physician wellness. We suggest that the pandemic might be an opportunity for our profession to strengthen our support networks and for physician leaders to advance physician wellness in their work environments.

scholarly journals Comparing Faculty Development Needs of Basic Sciences and Clinical Teachers During Major Curricular Reform at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz Medical College in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41
Author(s):  
Amira Farghaly
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Development ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Clinical Teaching ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Basic Sciences ◽  
Medical Teacher ◽  
Clinical Teachers ◽  
Medical Educators

The required competencies of the medical graduates are changing, and by turn those of medical educators are changing as well. The aim of this study was to compare the faculty development (FD) needs of basic sciences and clinical teachers at the College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University during reforming of the curriculum to an integrated student-centred curriculum. This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study that included an online survey for faculty members to assess their FD needs and priorities. The survey questionnaire included questions about the experience of faculty members in teaching in integrated curricula, motivators to share in FD activities, preferred formats of FD activities, self-perceived competencies and needs in different areas of medical education, and selfperceived current commitment to the 12 roles of medical educators. Comparison between the basic sciences and the clinical teachers’ perceived competencies, priorities and commitment to the roles of the medical teacher took place. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare means. The results of the study showed that the highest self-perceived competencies of faculty members were in lecturing (mean = 4.25±0.99) and constructing multiple choice questions (mean = 4.25±0.92). Statistically significant differences were present between basic sciences and clinical teachers in designing integrated courses (p = 0.02) and clinical teaching (p = 0.03). Significant differences were also present in the perceived importance of certain topics in FD programmes, such as course design, blueprinting and simulation. The study concluded that there are differences between basic medical sciences and clinical teachers in the learning needs and the competencies, which should be taken into consideration during planning for FD activities.

scholarly journals Curriculum flexibility in a blended curriculum

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herma Jonker ◽  
Virginie März ◽  
Joke Voogt
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Teacher Education Institution ◽  
Student Enrolment

This study offers insights into the processes that play a role in realising curriculum flexibility. Curriculum flexibility is conceptualised in terms of adaptability and accessibility of the curriculum to students’ needs and capabilities. To realise curriculum flexibility, the teacher education institution in this study designed a blended curriculum with face-to-face and online components. This flexible curriculum aimed at increasing student enrolment and allowing for variety in students’ graduation portfolios. Through semi-structured interviews with 10 teacher educators, conditions that could foster or hinder the realisation of flexibility were investigated. Results indicate that different contextual, teacher-, and student-related conditions were perceived to affect (further) curriculum flexibility. Furthermore, teacher educators identified several challenges related to these influential conditions, which were recognised as tensions. Based on a discussion of these findings, recommendations for research and practice are given.

The development of the rehabilitation community transition support team as a response to COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Kelly Fenton ◽  
Katherine Kidd ◽  
Rachel Kingman ◽  
Sara Le-Butt ◽  
Michelle Gray
Keyword(s):  
Community Setting ◽  
Inpatient Rehabilitation ◽  
Rehabilitation Service ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Community Transition ◽  
Support Team ◽  
Staff Experiences ◽  
Community Team ◽  
Transition Support

Background/aims The rehabilitation community transition support team was created as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in faster discharges from the inpatient rehabilitation service. The aim of this evaluation was to explore the perspectives of staff and patients on their experience of the rehabilitation community transition support team. Methods Staff and patients in the new team were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Staff interviews generated seven main themes: positive staff experiences; defining the ‘team’; mode of working; link role for the team; technology; relationships with patients; and support from colleagues. The patient analysis generated five themes: positive experiences of the rehabilitation community transition support team; relationship with rehabilitation community transition support team worker; mode of working; handling the hurdles of discharge; and defining the ‘team’. There were crossovers of staff and patient themes, particularly surrounding around face-to-face visits, defining the team and relationships. Patients indicated that contact with the community team helped them to overcome both practical and emotional hurdles of discharge. Conclusions The presence of a team supporting the transition from hospital to a community setting may be helpful for people who have been discharged.

Bridging the Gap

2013 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Divonna M. Stebick ◽  
Mary L. Paxton
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Metacognitive Development ◽  
Book Discussion ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Online Book

In this chapter, the researchers used an ethnographic stance to demonstrate how conversation evolved within a social media platform. They investigated the online discussions and face-to-face dialogues between teacher educators and pre-service teachers. They compared the participants’ reciprocal conversations within this case study to analyze patterns in the language used in each forum in order to identify the affordances and constraints of perceived understanding. Through this discourse analysis the authors sought to identify indicators of each participant’s metacognitive development while engaging in an online book discussion through a social media platform. Data analysis indicated that there was metacognitive growth when comparing the initial reciprocal conversations with the final conversations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document