In this time of human disconnect brought on by technological advances and cultural changes involving communication, educators sometimes struggle to create communities of engaged learners in the online environment. Davis, Sumara, Luce-Kapler (2008) wrote, “teaching is not about replication but about creating something new through moments of connection and reconnecting with one another, with the past, and with the environment” (p. 13). We will discuss, strategize, and develop plans to create online courses that move beyond asking students to “comply” with evaluation criteria or to repeat information found in instructional materials. During this session, participants will develop course, assignment, and/or lesson plans, focusing on ways to increase instructor presence as well as active, engaged, and authentic teaching and learning via projects, student-to-student interactions, and faculty-student interactions.

The purpose of this study was to examine the occurrence of student discourse in asynchronous computer-mediated communication and its relation to student learning. From in-depth investigation of teacher design, facilitation and direction for asynchronous discussion, implications for high school online instruction guidelines and the need for evaluation standards of online courses and teacher instructional practice are made. Examining student discourse provides information related to the social construction of knowledge. Teacher presence and its relation to higher levels of student discourse provides information for best practices in online teaching. This information can be used to determine specific standards and guidelines for evaluation of online instruction which can contribute to quality online high school courses. The context of this study was two high school online AP English courses. The multiple case study approach analyzed student discourse within asynchronous discussion forums and the relation to student learning outcomes. Observation of teacher facilitation and course documents were examined in relation to levels of student discourse and student learning outcomes. Triangulation of data sources included discourse analysis, interviews with teachers, and archival documents. Results from comparing and contrasting multiple cases are presented as basis for implications to guide course design, facilitation and evaluation. / Ph. D.

During March 2020, Swedish upper secondary schools switched from traditional teaching to crisis online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a lack of research on crisis online teaching, but there is research on online teaching and English online teaching. The fundamental difference between online teaching and crisis online teaching is choice, as crisis online teaching is mandated due to external factors beyond the teachers’ control. Transition from traditional teaching to crisis online teaching forces teachers to rely on their Technical Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). This was an instrumental case study using a semi-structured in-depth interview with a non-probability purpose sample that examined how three experienced English teachers in Western Sweden modified their teaching as well as the challenges and opportunities they experienced during crisis online teaching. Time was found to be a factor that affected crisis online teaching because the teachers interviewed reported that they were given two days to prepare in which they also had professional development to learn new platforms. In regard to professional development, teachers needed more and differentiated professional development due to teachers’ different levels of TPACK. The professional development also needed to explicitly show teachers to integrate the digital tools and platforms into their English teaching.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the emergency transition to online instruction due to COVID-19 on faculty self-efficacy for online teaching. A survey was constructed by adapting items from multiple previously vetted instruments into a retrospective pre-test/post-test design. Data were collected in January 2022 from 83 faculty at a private, STEM-focused university in Pennsylvania. On average, respondents increased their online teaching load by approximately 25% as a result of the emergency transition due to COVID-19, after which they showed a statistically significant increase in online teaching self-efficacy with a very large effect size. Dispersion was lower in the post-COVID time period. Also, the more change to their typical course delivery mode a faculty experienced, the greater the increase in their online teaching self-efficacy. These findings suggest that the universal experience of the emergency transition to online instruction due to COVID-19 may have had an equalizing effect on online teaching self-efficacy. Age and scores on measures of teaching self-efficacy not specific to online instruction had statistically significant relationships with online teaching self-efficacy in separate pre- and post-COVID regression models; however, a Chow Test indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the two equations with all parameters taken together. Administrators should consider diversifying the modalities in which faculty teach to provide ongoing exposure to online teaching, which will support faculty online teaching self-efficacy and, thus, help prepare universities for any future unexpected transition to online instruction. / Educational Leadership

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have become a common feature in contemporary Higher Education institutions worldwide. LMS literature shows that the level of interest and/or knowledge among academics towards the importance and usefulness of these systems, and the opportunities they can bring to the teaching process are key factors affecting the degree of use of LMS in HE. To date, most of these studies have taken place in the context of developed countries, and there is only limited research in other areas. In recent years, LMS have been adopted widely in Saudi Arabia’s Higher Education sector, however, there are no strong and detailed data regarding the subject in this context, which could impede future developments. On the other hand, academics were chosen as the main focus of this investigation because studies have revealed that they have the most vital role in promoting and enhancing the use of LMS. Therefore, this research investigates academics’ adoption and usage of LMS in Saudi Arabia’s universities; it aims to understand the adoption conditions and identify what factors truly affect the adoption process and to what level are the systems being used and why. The investigation was guided by Grounded Theory research principles. Initially, a review of the literature identified the nature of LMS along with the issues confronting academics when they are trying to use it to its full potential in supporting the delivery of their courses. Afterwards, questionnaires were employed to further explore the phenomenon in its examined context, i.e. Saudi higher education. The generated data and concepts were then used to guide the research process and to develop interview questions. The interviews were carried out at three Saudi universities with a range of stakeholders, which signified the primary data source in this investigation. Analysis revealed that LMS did not emerge as a well-established component of academics’ activities in Saudi universities despite the positive view respondents expressed towards it. Findings also explained why LMS was either considered a secondary method to support face-to-face teaching, or under-utilised in fully online courses. Furthermore, findings revealed the primary factors influencing academics’ level of use of LMS. Moreover, there were issues identified in relation to the academics’ development and training for LMS, which had a significant effect on the academics’ level of use of LMS. Findings were then integrated into a substantive theory and a theoretical model, which represents the research primary outcome. The theoretical outcomes offer abstract explanation of the phenomenon about adopting innovatory systems in Saudi universities, LMS in this instance. In conclusion, suggestions for improving the current provision of LMS in Saudi Universities are made. Overall, this study provided an insight into the environment surrounding the early adoption phases of LMS in Saudi universities, which offers a better understanding of the phenomenon. Subsequently, this will help enhance the adoption process in current contexts and assist in the better future utilisation of these systems in similar situations.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Rosemary S. Talab / With the number of students at King Saud University exceeding 60,000, the university faces a need to adopt online teaching. The purpose of this study was to investigate the concerns of the faculty in the nine departments of the College of Education at King Saud University regarding the adoption of online teaching and to relate their concerns to their professional development needs. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) was utilized as a theoretical framework, and a non-experimental, cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data. The data were obtained from 296 faculty members, which was a response rate of 66%. Respondents’ stages of concern 0-2 (Unconcerned, Informational, and Personal) were the highest, while stages 4-6 (Consequence, Collaboration, and Refocusing) were the lowest. The highest stage of concern was stage zero (Unconcerned), with a 96% percentile score. This indicated that respondents had little concern about or involvement with online teaching. The second highest stage score was stage one (Informational), with a 90% percentile score. This indicated that the respondents wanted more information about online teaching. Additionally, stage six (Refocusing) tailed up 15 percentile points, which indicated that respondents might be resistant to online teaching. A one-way MANOVA test result (p = .047) revealed a statistically significant difference between respondents' age and respondents' concerns in adopting online teaching. The statistical significance differences were found in stage zero (Unconcerned) (p = .041) and stage six (Refocusing) (p = .018). Another one-way MANOVA test results (p = .004) showed a statistically significant difference between respondents' gender and respondents' concerns in adopting online teaching. The statistically significance differences were found in stage zero (Unconcerned) (p = .035) and stage three (Management) (p = .001). t-test results indicated that female participants had a higher concern on both stages than male participants. Additional one-way MANOVA test results (p = .004) also indicated a statistically significant difference on the participants' concerns when adopting online teaching based on their department association. The significance value was found in stage three (Management) (p = .005). Another one-way MANOVA test showed a statistically significant difference on the concern based on the academic rank (p=.053). The significance values were found in stage one (Informational) (p = .001), stage two (Personal) (p = .002), and stage three (Management) (p = .002). Finally, three MANOVA tests indicated statistically significant differences: First, on participants' use of technology in teaching based on their prior instructional technology use (p = .017); second, on participants' use of technology in teaching based on their perception of technology-related professional development needs (p=.031); third, on participants' use of technology in teaching based on their attitudes toward online teaching (p=.004) and (p=.002). The study concluded with recommendations for future studies and for King Saud University regarding designing and implementing training programs to improve the faculty adoption of online teaching.

The purpose of this study was to determine differences in online student perception of the quality of instruction between online instructors who did and did not complete faculty training for online instruction. There has been very little research identifying the factors influencing online students perception on quality of instruction, specifically at Florida public institutions. This research is important in establishing if public universities should require some level of training before an instructor can teach online. Experiencing poor quality of instruction can negatively impact an online student academically, which can, in turn, be detrimental to a university’s student retention and graduation rates. This study adds to the current body of research regarding improvement of the quality of instruction in online courses based on the online students perception of faculty and the completion of faculty training for online instruction. The results of this study demonstrated no significant difference overall in student perception of quality of instruction between online instructors who did and did not complete faculty training as measured in courses with five or more student respondents. Additional results revealed that multiple academic colleges demonstrated a significant difference in student perception of quality of instruction. This study also discovered a slight negative effect of online faculty training on other areas of student satisfaction that did not include quality of instruction. Recommendations for future research are provided, including those for the improvement of online faculty training, university policy, and faculty and student preparation for online teaching and learning, respectively. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

O presente estudo examina um dos modelos de blended learning que é modelo rotativo com seu subgrupo flipped classroom ou sala de aula invertida e a possibilidade de inclusão dessa modalidade de ensino em cursos superiores de moda, com o objetivo de ser aplicado ao ensino para os conteúdos de modelagem plana avançada sendo essa matéria prática. A análise inicial é bibliográfica e reúne contribuições teóricas e práticas de vários autores em livros, artigos, dissertações e teses. A coleta de dados foi em campo de caráter quantitativo e ocorreu por meio de questionários aplicados antes e depois de experimentação de um modulo on-line de ensino de modelagem plana, em vídeo, do qual participaram 42 alunos e oito professores. Com base nas respostas e na observação das atividades realizadas, conclui-se que existiria uma aceitação considerável dos alunos e professores para o ensino on-line, sugerindo a relevância de sua realização na disciplina de modelagem plana como os aspectos facilitadores do aprendizado / The present study examines one of the models of blended learning that is a rotating model with its subgroup flipped classroom or inverted classroom and the possibility of including this modality of education in higher fashion courses, with the objective of being applied to teaching the contents of advanced flat modeling being this practical matter. The initial analysis is bibliographical and brings together theoretical and practical contributions of several authors in books, articles, dissertations and theses. The data collection was in a quantitative field and occurred through questionnaires applied before and after experimentation of an online model of teaching of flat modeling in video, in which 42 students and eight teachers participated. Based on the responses and observation of the activities performed, it was concluded that there would be a considerable acceptance of students and teachers for online teaching, suggesting the relevance of their achievement in the discipline of flat modeling as the facilitating aspects of learning

There is abundant literature on best practices for instruction. But what can our own students tell us about their experience with online instruction and how can those experiences inform our decisions about how we operate as online instructors? Why should we listen to them? In this session you'll be introduced to a study (albeit informal!) in which the instructor actually ASKED her students for information and as a group, we'll discuss how we can apply what we learn from our students. Objectives: To discuss ways we can improve our teaching by listening to our students; to view our teaching through our students' eyes

As faculty we probably have strong feelings about online teaching and we certainly have pet peeves about our students. What if we were to ask our students what their pet peeves about us or our online classes are? (The student assessment of instruction at my own institution doesn’t include a question this direct). And yikes! once we ask, what do we do with that information? Whether you are new to online or an experienced online instruction, come join the conversation and together we will discuss ways to ‘tame the online beast.’