Curriculum Development and Open Distance E-Learning for the 21st Century

The purpose of the study reported on here was the curriculum development of suitable natural sciences and technology education modules, including practical investigations to complement the theoretical content of these for open and distance e-learning (ODeL) in the 21st century. In light of this purpose, the chapter will especially mention assessment practices and tools, curriculum development, multimedia use, student engagement, learning management systems, and multiculturalism and diversity in the online classroom. The objectives were related to establishing the aspects that must be considered during the curriculum development of well-designed natural sciences and technology education modules, which will include practical investigations, and that students should be able to have opportunities to reflect on their engagement with practical investigations to complement the theoretical content of the modules for ODeL purposes in the 21st century and demonstrate their pedagogical content knowledge after having successfully completed natural sciences and technology education modules.

Computer to Community

The convenience factor of studying online can be diminished by the lack of interaction with faculty and peers, and students often express feelings of isolation as influencing online engagement. When students can actively participate throughout a program, students feel satisfied with the learning program. Building positive and organized connections in online communities enhances academic success and retention rates and fosters a sense of community. Therefore, the presence of online faculty is vital for building interaction and connectedness between faculty and student, and student and student. There are a variety of ways to achieve this, including facilitating connections between discussions, assignments, and live interactions; merging conceptual learning to pragmatic application; connecting cohorts of students; and leveraging synchronous tools to manage an interactive atmosphere.

Rubrics as Tools for Effective Assessment of Student Learning and Program Quality

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the potential of rubrics as tools for effective assessment and introduce the concepts of rubric assessment, construction, testing, and implementation, with critical stakeholder involvement and leadership support. Rubrics should be designed to align to outcomes and assess the level of achievement for each major component of an assignment. They can be constructed in a variety of ways with various kinds of points allocations. From design to implementation, a range of stakeholders including subject, curriculum, and assessment experts should be involved to ensure the rubric descriptions use measurable verbs and objective language. Rubrics design is an iterative process with an aim to continuously improve their effectiveness. Done well, rubrics can serve as support to student learning, consistent and transparent evaluation of students work, and course, program, and institutional learning quality assessment.

Assessed by Anonymous

This study sought to contribute to the scholarly discourse of understanding how pre-service student teachers experienced evaluation via teacher performance assessments (TPAs). More specifically, this study sought to explore the experiences that pre-service teachers underwent to complete the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA). Through extensive interviews and thematic data analysis, this research discerned what the informants' experiences were. Although informants experienced many benefits while completing their portfolios, three primary areas of struggle emerged from the data. First, informants struggled with interpreting and navigating the edTPA assessment handbook. Second, informants had problems adapting edTPA requirements to their teaching. Third, informants experienced problems with their concept of audience. As a result, the findings reported in this study have numerous implications that would prove beneficial to teacher educators, institutions of teacher training, policymakers, designers of assessments, and future and current educators.

Curriculum and Online Course Development Framework

The online pivot necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has placed online instruction in the spotlight. While schools and universities around the world quickly moved classes online and kept students learning, it became apparent that most institutions and instructors lacked a solid foundation in creating online curriculum. Recognizing that online instruction is here for the long-term, building skills in creating and managing the online curriculum is essential. This chapter covers the history and foundations of curriculum, explores key issues and opportunities for educators just getting started with online learning, and recommends foundational practices for developing effective online curriculum. The approach takes a practical perspective, stepping through the curriculum development phases and concluding with a look at some of the challenges curriculum developers and instructors face.

Virtual Reality Considerations for Curriculum Development and Online Instruction

For virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) to become effective learning modalities, they must be considered in the context of experiential or constructivist learning which could disrupt traditional instructional and educational practices given their interactive quality. How might educators assess these applications and their implementation to determine their learning potential for online instruction? By applying the studio thinking framework (STF) and the presence pedagogy (P2) model, unique insights may be gained in terms of virtual reality's value to the learning process. Current research shows many similarities between the skills taught in studio art classes and opportunities to learn the same skills in virtual educational applications, while the P2 model has demonstrated its effectiveness in applying pedagogical strategies to collaborative VR environments. Tactics to prepare, apply, assess, and evaluate (PAAE) this technology in educational programs for teachers and school leaders provide a guide for implementation.

Best Practices for Web-Conferencing and Webinars

This chapter seeks to evaluate the efficacy of web-based (webinar) learning in different academic settings during pandemic periods. It begins with a review of basic learning theories and then proceeds to a short discussion of the different modes of instruction. Afterward, it assesses the series of data elements from the Department of Education to determine trends in the school characteristics for the analysis. It also includes a short discussion on international perspectives from six countries that share in the pandemic experience. It concludes with a set of recommendations for utilizing web-based (webinar) learning and a set of references for converting traditional pedagogy to online platforms, developing mastery in instructional design, and a common core of lesson plans for K12 platforms.

Distance Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Since December of 2019, every human being is exploring solutions to adapt to the “new normal” in all aspects due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is no exception for educators. Apart from the obstacles faced by teachers in the switching of teaching pedagogies from a physical classroom setting to different virtual platforms, there are also foreseeable challenges faced by students which might have been neglected by most studies. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with students of UK top-up degree programmes studying in Hong Kong to explore insights of the challenges and barriers of online distance education from the students' perspectives.

The Online Teacher

Education (especially higher education) which helps maintain freedom in a democratic society is becoming increasingly difficult for many people. The explosion of online universities seems to make getting a degree much easier. Unfortunately, the increased numbers of ways to achieve an education do not ameliorate the trepidations—and resignation from getting that education—that occurs for many people once they begin the online education: it seems a daunting task to complete. As this study shows through historical reminders that help inform current situations, making sure people attend—and graduate—from the valid online learning institutions has become more feasible. We are reminded of the reason we became educators, to help advance education, and this reason further undergirds to prompt educators that ours is the line that we must “hold”—of being second-responders—in order to prepare our students to become part of the educated citizenry to which Plato referred.

Mainstreamed Deaf/HH Students' Online Learning in K-12

The population of deaf/hard of hearing students attending mainstream K-12 programs continues to increase in both the US and UK, with almost 85% reported in mainstreams. With COVID-19, schools shut-down, and social distancing efforts, K-12 programs turned to online teaching. Online teaching changes both the role of the teacher and the parents. A case that is unique in the new changing roles of online teaching is that of deaf students. Education of D/HH students involves the use of English and American Sign Language (ASL). Most families with D/HH students do lack ASL competency and cannot communicate with D/HH students. This chapter gives into cognizance language barriers and academic performance when discussing mainstreamed D/HH students' online teaching. The author discusses the challenges and proposes possible solutions to improve online teaching for this population.