scholarly journals Inclusive Online Teaching and Digital Learning: Lessons Learned in the Time of Pandemic and Beyond

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. i-iii
Author(s):  
Kelsey Evans-Amalu ◽  
Eric B. Claravall
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Inclusive Curriculum ◽  
Virtual Teaching ◽  
The Many ◽  
K 12

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world in 2020 and into 2021, the entire system of education faced the most challenging task to provide education to students using virtual instruction. Within the United States specifically, the pandemic transformed teaching. Teachers were and have continued to be compelled to learn digital technology and integrate varied digital tools into their instruction. As guest editors, Eric and I had the opportunity to reflect on the many instructional challenges and valuable lessons learned about virtual teaching and learning in k-12 and higher education. One of the biggest lessons observed was exposure of huge equity gaps between the tech haves and have nots, regarding access to digital devices and reliable Wi-Fi. It was from this observation that the call for proposals of this special issue was developed. What does inclusion look like in the era of digital and virtual teaching?  With this in mind, we were tasked to coedit this special issue of JCSR focusing on the theme “Inclusive Curriculum in the Era of Digital & Virtual Learning.” We had the opportunity to review five exemplary articles responding to the theme.

scholarly journals Introduction to the Special Issue on the COVID-19 Emergency Transition to Remote Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanna Smith Jaggars
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The World ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Remote Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019, and within three months had spread across Europe, the United States, and almost every other nation in the world. To help contain the deadly virus, countries across the globe closed the doors of K-12 schools and colleges. Students residing on university campuses were sent home. School administrators and instructors scrambled to devise plans for teaching and supporting their students from their own homes. Depending on their local context, their experience and training, and their students’ desires and needs, some teachers turned to teaching by correspondence, some to asynchronous online learning, some to synchronous remote class sessions, and some to a unique mix of these elements. Administrators, teachers, and students may have expected these emergency distance education practices to be temporary – a few weeks at most – but many were required to continue with remote teaching through the spring of 2021. More than a year after it began, the pandemic may at last be coming under control as vaccines are distributed across the world, and teachers and students are cautiously looking forward to a return to “normal” schooling conditions in the autumn of 2021. However, lessons from this extended period of universal remote learning will influence student instruction and support practices for many years to come, for both online and in-person courses and programs. The articles in this Special Issue provide a rich portrait of the teaching and learning challenges which characterized the initial emergency transition in Spring 2020, and detail the approaches of administrators and teachers as they attempted to overcome those challenges. Along the way, these studies provide lessons in terms of how to better prepare for future public emergencies, as well as how to improve student success more generally, in both online and in-person settings. Throughout the issue, readers will also see a multitude of challenges related to the “digital divide” – or the fact that students have unequal access to reliable high-speed Internet and other academic technologies, due to underlying inequalities in household income and regional infrastructure.

scholarly journals Teaching and Learning During the Pandemic: Challenges ‎and Merits of International Co-Designing and Instruction ‎

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Trang Phan ◽  
Mary Paul
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Rapid Transition ◽  
Long Course ◽  
K 12

This design case describes the design process and decisions of facilitating a week-long course on virtual teaching strategies taught by three facilitators, one in Vietnam and two in the United States at the onset of the COVD-19 pandemic. Participants were K-12 and college educators in Vietnam. The goal of the course was to introduce the Vietnamese educators to educational technology and pedagogical strategies for teaching virtually. The case also reports the facilitators’ self-reflection and biases prevalent within a Western curriculum culture as they attempted to deliver the content knowledge and connect with the Vietnamese learners. Finally, their insights into designing and implementing a cross-cultural, multilingual international online course within a rapid transition context are also shared. The intercultural online teaching experience provided a broader understanding of how students learn and what is valued.

scholarly journals COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption on university teaching and learning and competence cultivation: Student evaluation of online learning experiences in Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 221258682110070
Author(s):  
Ka Ho Mok ◽  
Weiyan Xiong ◽  
Hamzah Nor Bin Aedy Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Evaluation ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Digital Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has forced online teaching and learning to be the primary instruction format in higher education globally. One of the worrying concerns about online learning is whether this method is effective, specifically when compared to face-to-face classes. This descriptive quantitative study investigates how students in higher education institutions in Hong Kong evaluated their online learning experiences during the pandemic, including the factors influencing their digital learning experiences. By analysing the survey responses from 1,227 university students in Hong Kong, this study found that most of the respondents felt dissatisfied with their online learning experiences and effectiveness. Meanwhile, this study confirms that respondents’ household income level and information technology literacy affected their online learning effectiveness. Moreover, this study highlights the significant contributions of the community of inquiry, which places social presence on the promotion of a whole person development that could not be achieved when relying mainly on online learning. Findings encourage university leaders and instructors to search for multiple course delivery modes to nurture students to become caring leaders with the 21st century skills and knowledge set.

scholarly journals Introduction to the Special Issue: Highlighting AERA’s Online Teaching and Learning SIG 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Meech ◽  
Jennifer C. Richardson ◽  
Karen Swan
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning

Introduction to the Special Issue: Highlighting AERA’s Online Teaching and Learning SIG 2020

Transforming Teaching for Virtual Environments

2021 ◽  
pp. 534-560
Author(s):  
Irina Lyublinskaya ◽  
Xiaoxue Du
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Instructional Technology ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

This chapter describes pedagogical practices and teaching strategies with instructional technology used in an online summer course with preservice K-12 teachers. The course provided preservice teachers (PSTs) with experiences in using technology in K-12 classrooms from both students' and teachers' perspectives, engaged PSTs in active explorations of various K-12 curriculum topics using technology that could enhance high-impact teaching strategies, and supported PSTs in development of virtual lessons using instructional technology. The study identified effective practices with instructional technology to support preservice teachers' development of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for their own online teaching. Study findings suggest that online immersive experience created a virtual student-centered space to nurture collaborative inquiry and that contributed to the growth of PST's TPACK. However, this experience also brought challenges and concerns for sustaining and transforming teaching and learning with instructional technology to an online environment.

Education Faculty Lived Experiences of Student Interaction and Engagement in Online Courses

2021 ◽  
pp. 60-83
Author(s):  
Nikleia Eteokleous ◽  
Rita Panaoura
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Education Faculty ◽  
Faculty Experiences ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning

In this chapter, the two authors co-construct meaning of their individual lived experiences as education faculty engaging in online teaching and learning. It highlights each faculty unique experiences facilitating graduate student learning in an online environment. Co-construction of meaning centers on pedagogical approaches, program design and focus, reflection of faculty-self experiences, employment of digital learning tools, and utilization of best practices of each faculty experience with teaching and learning in an online environment. This narrative is co-constructed following a collaborative autoethnographic approach by two faculty, whereby the central descriptions of each faculty member is situated in one's lived experiences and rich story of facilitating and instructing courses in an online learning environment. The faculty experiences are mainly derived from teaching graduate courses offered by a department of education. The research method in presenting two self-reflective narratives in online teaching and learning extends to doing “collaborative autoethnography.”

Peace-Based Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-69
Author(s):  
H. B. Danesh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Education Program ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
School Environments ◽  
The Core ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
United States Mexico ◽  
K 12

This article proposes that the universally acknowledged need for education reform requires both new conceptual and methodological approaches. At the core of this reform is transformation from conflict-based to peace-based educational concepts and practices aimed at creating school environments that promote academic and relational excellence, are safe and nurturing, and are free from bullying and violence. The article draws from the research done and lessons learned from more than sixteen ongoing years of implementation of Education for Peace (EFP)—a comprehensive peace-based education program—in more than one thousand schools, involving thousands of educators, and several hundred thousand students (K-12) in the highly conflicted and traumatized war-torn country of Bosnia and Herzegovina and more recently in schools in the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, and elsewhere.

scholarly journals Virtual Teaching and Learning of English As A Second Language in Selected Secondary Schools Isu-Ikwuato, L. G. A. Abia State, Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-95
Author(s):  
Bernard Meshach Aguma ◽  
◽  
Caroline Kinuu Kimathi ◽  
Martin Situma ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Virtual Teaching

The adoption of virtual teaching and learning of a second language in the Nigerian educational system has received little attention. COVID-19 lock-down, imposed by the governments of the nations, forced educational institutions globally and locally to adapt virtual teaching and learning of English language. This research paper investigated the challenges of virtual teaching and learning of a second language (English) in selected secondary schools, Isu Ikwuato L.A. Abia State, Nigeria. It used a mixed method convergent parallel research design. The purposive sampling technique was used to select secondary schools that adopted virtual teaching and learning. The targeted population was 2000 English students and teachers with a sample size of 333. The results revealed that the schools made use of synchronous, asynchronous and blended types of online teaching and learning, and the students had a positive attitude. Both students and teachers experienced challenges of poor network, lack of ICT training, unstable electricity, and financial constraint. This study recommends the following: Language Policy Makers in Nigerian Educational System to map out the strategies that will incorporate online second language teaching and learning skills in the curriculum. That Marist Educational Board in partnership with the Ministry of Education in Nigeria, provide virtual supplementary materials for English language education. Adequate virtual training to be provided for English teachers and students. That the challenges of internet fluctuation, power shortage, insufficient virtual materials, inadequate funds, technical issues, virtual skills be addressed by all the stakeholders in education.

scholarly journals Motivating Online Learning through Project-Based Learning During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-110
Author(s):  
Avneet Hira ◽  
Emma Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Motivation To Learn ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Online Technologies ◽  
Teachers And Parents

The transition of traditional schooling to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted formal school education. Though at home, teachers and students continued teaching and learning in socially distant ways using online technologies. From various teacher surveys, only about 60% of students in the United States regularly engaged with learning activities. Teachers and parents also expressed a significant need for help to keep students motivated and engaged in learning activities. During the pandemic, online learning left teachers and parents needing support for learning activities that motivate and engage students. Project-based learning is an increasingly popular pedagogical practice centered around students working collaboratively on projects while the teacher facilitates learning activities and progression. Project-based learning embodies several factors considered central to motivation in online learning. In this paper, we inquire how this approach presents itself as a candidate for learning during the pandemic when considering students’ motivation to learn through online learning experiences. We construct a conceptual framework informed by motivational theories that share core tenets with this form of learning and use the framework to analyze interviews of 11 teachers from 4 schools that taught with a project-based learning approach before the pandemic and transitioned to teaching, using it online, in the Spring of 2020. From our analyses of the teachers’ narratives, we discuss teaching aspects of the approach that lend themselves well to online teaching, elements that the teachers believe are missing, and how educators might cater to these missing aspects with a focus on student motivation to learn.

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