The online delivery of higher education courses and programs continues to expand across academic disciplines at colleges and universities. This expansion of online education has been precipitated by, among other things, (a) the rise in personal computer ownership, (b) the ease of access to the Internet, (c) the availability and continuous improvement in technology for the delivery of online courses, and (d) the increase in demand for online courses by both traditional and nontraditional students. However, the proliferation of online education has not been enthusiastically supported by all constituents of higher education. Specifically, some faculty members remain resistant to the shift to online course delivery. This article applies the Transtheoretical Model of Change to the process of gaining faculty support for, and involvement in, online learning. After briefly reviewing current issues in online education and making a case for its adoption, we describe sources of faculty resistance and offer recommendations for interventions that may be applied to transforming faculty resistance to support and eventually to active participation.

The existing literature is inconclusive on how technology in education influences student outcomes and whether it will lead to an improvement in tertiary education access. This paper aims to determine whether the implementation of technology in higher education will lead to an improvement in the access to higher education through online education as well as improving student outcomes. In addition, the paper aims to show that implementing technology in higher education could increase existing inequalities amongst students from different backgrounds. The paper will do this by demonstrating the qualitative and quantitative factors which are the underlying reasons for some students doing better in an online setting compared to others. Furthermore, the paper will show that students from advantaged backgrounds with respect to race and income, benefit more from online and blended learning than students from more disadvantaged backgrounds. Therefore, tertiary institutions need to provide caution when establishing blended learning and online education programmes as it could lead to increasing educational inequalities.

The covid-19 and the restrictions imposed by the lockdown affected educational institutions across the world and forced them to adopt a new way of teaching called emergency remoteteaching and learning.This master thesis focuses on challenges to teach mathematics remotely experienced bysecondary school teachers during this period. The data collection was conducted through semistructured interviews among secondary school mathematics teachers, active in the Covid-19lockdown. The collected data is analyzed and discussed from the theory of connectivismperspective and research findings are produced and structured based on the themes resultedfrom the literature review. The findings show that mathematics teachers encountered many challenges with the process of teaching especially due to the rapid transfer from traditionalclassroom teaching to online classes. Teachers’ knowledge and skills in using Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools are identified as main factors for a successful andeffective tuition in remote mathematics. The respondents see the opportunities in using ICT intheir teaching processes both from their perspective but also from the student perspective. The conclusions of this master thesis research show that use of ICT tools and platforms in teachingmathematics remotely is effective as extra tools and not as a complete and permanent substitutefor traditional classes. As a suggestion, remote teaching may be seen as a valuable alternativeif the actual pedagogical strategies are adapted, and ICT courses are introduced in the teacher’seducation. Yet, there are not enough studies to support this idea and the findings in this studyand more research could help to get a better understanding. The thesis offers suggestions forfurther research regarding remote mathematics teaching both from the challenges point of view but also in regard to the advantages remote teaching may imply.

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Thesis advisor: Ana M. Martinez-Aleman / As online education continues to grow in the United States, few studies have investigated how faculty members perceive their instructional roles and their organizations to be changing as a result. This qualitative study is based on interviews with twenty-two faculty members from public and private non-profit institutions across the United States, and found that faculty members perceived the course design process, interactions with their students, and their own approach to teaching all changed substantially in the online context, typically in ways that inclined them to see these efforts as higher quality than their on ground teaching endeavors. Despite this, faculty members did not perceive that their departments or their institutions changed very much as a result of online education, and determined that institutional motivations for online education were consistent with typical market-aligned non-profit approaches to higher education in the United States (e.g., based on competition, student demand, and expanding institutional reach). Moreover, this market-aligned inclination identified by faculty members aligns well with Slaughter and Rhoades’ (2004) theory of academic capitalism. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the relationship between the digital divide and the Latino-White achievement gap in online education. Through an analysis of archival enrollment and academic performance data a comparison was conducted between online and face-to-face courses by ethnicity. Additionally, academic performance data was then compared to survey responses from online students on digital motivation, material access, internet skills, and internet usage. Findings and recommendations for future research are discussed and provided to continue the exploration of disparities of digital access and academic performance in an effort to inform decisions in higher education.

The academy, its faculty, and recruiters have discordant views about credentialed graduates’ workplace viability. As the powerful gatekeepers between education and the employment market, recruiters’ perceptions of college credentials may dictate applicants’ interview progression. Although nearly 100% of today’s college administrators believe higher education programs prepare students for the workplace, less than 12% of recruiters deem graduates ready to succeed in organizational settings after graduation. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in recruiters’ perceptions of online and face-to-face higher education credentials as indicators of applicants’ workplace readiness. The theoretical foundation of this study was Spence’s signaling theory grounded on the traditional premise that academic credentials profoundly benefit college graduates. Topics of inquiry were recruiters’ perceptions of college degree importance, the applicability of online and face-to-face higher education credentials, academic rigor, educational quality, credential trustworthiness, and applicants’ workplace and leadership readiness. A non-experimental cross-sectional Higher Education and Workplace Readiness Survey comparative design provided quantitative data from 159 recruiters and was analyzed with U, H, and t tests. Recruiters viewed academic credentials as important to applicants’ workplace readiness, yet perceived that online college degree programs lack academic rigor and educational quality. Online bachelors, masters, and doctorate credentials were viewed as inferior to and less trustworthy than face-to-face credentials. Positive social change can occur when academic and organizational leaders collaborate to build principled degree programs around essential job skills, so graduates and recruiters view all academic credentials as trusted predictors of career readiness that benefit society.

Läsåret 2019/2020 ställde svenska gymnasieskolor om till distansundervisning under perioden 18 mars-15 juni. Syftet med denna studie var att belysa hur lärarna uppfattade sin undervisning när undervisningen förändrades från klassrumsundervisning till distansundervisning. Lärarnas uppfattning av sin undervisning undersöktes kvalitativt med utgångspunkt i ett sociokulturellt perspektiv och med analysverktyget Paradigm grid for online learning. Intervjuer med fyra matematiklärare som vid studiens genomförande arbetade på gymnasieskolor i Mellansverige har redovisats. Intervjuresultaten visade att och hur lärarna upplevde att undervisningen hade påverkats. Aktivitet och samspel mellan lärare och elev samt elever emellan hade minskat under perioden för distansundervisning. Vidare framgick i ett paradigm gridperspektiv att lärarens undervisning förändrades vid övergången till distansundervisning. Undersökningen visade att undervisning och lärande blev mer lärarstyrt, exempelvis genom det sätt som uppgifter utformades och hanterades, vilket i en avslutande diskussion har problematiserats. / During the school year 2019/2020, Swedish upper secondary schools switched to distance education from 18 March-15 June. The purpose of this study was to shed light on how teachers perceived their teaching when the teaching changed from classroom instruction to distance education. The teachers' perception of their teaching was examined qualitatively based on a socio-cultural perspective and with the analysis tool Paradigm grid for online learning. Interviews with four mathematics teachers who at the time of the study worked at upper secondary schools in central Sweden have been presented. The interview results demonstrated that the teachers experienced that the teaching had been affected and how it had been affected. Activity and interaction between teachers and students, as well as between students, have decreased during the period for distance education. Moreover, the paradigm grid perspective illustrated that the role of the teacher changed during the period of distance education. The study showed that teaching and learning became more teacher-controlled, such as how tasks were designed and handled, which has been problematized in the concluding discussion.

Im Flipped Classroom werden die traditionell im Klassenraum durchgeführten Aktivitäten, i. d. R. die Inhaltsvermittlung, zuhause durch Videoaufzeichnungen des Vortrages durch den Lehrenden vollzogen (Vorbereitungsphase). Dem gegenüber werden die Aktivitäten der traditionellen Hausarbeit, i. d. R. die Vertiefung der Inhalte, in den Klassenraum verlagert (Präsenzphase) ([La00]). Während die Lernenden dabei Inhalte in Diskussionen, Experimenten, Fallstudien etc. vertiefen, agiert der Lehrende als Moderator oder Lernbegleiter. Das Flipped Classroom Model, im deutschen Raum insb. unter dem Synonym des Inverted Classroom Models bekannt, findet zunehmend Anwendung in der US-amerikanischen (siehe dazu z. B. [Ber12]) und britischen Sekundärbildung sowie in der deutschen Tertiärbildung (siehe dazu z. B. [Ha12], [Ha13], [Gro14]). Darüber hinaus gibt es derzeit vielfach Forschungsbestrebungen, welche z. B. die Evaluation des Modells ggü. traditionellen Lehrformen untersuchen, die pädagogische sowie technische Aufbereitung der Videos vorantreiben, den Einsatz in verschiedenen Fachdisziplinen beleuchten oder Erfahrungsberichte und Best Practices kommunizieren (z. B. [Sch12], [Lo12], [Ta13], [Sah14], [Ko14]). Es gibt mehrere Gründe, warum das Model diese Popularität in der Forschung erlangt hat und vielfach Anwendung in der Lehre findet. Studierende werden angesprochen, indem Medien genutzt werden, die sie gewöhnt sind. Dazu gehören Mobile Endgeräte und Plattformen wie Youtube ([Ber12]). Hinzu kommt, dass Videos in der Vorbereitungsphase auf die individuelle Lerngeschwindigkeit angepasst werden können: Schwierige Stellen können wiederholt angeschaut und Einfache übersprungen werden ([Ber12]). Darüber hinaus sind Studierende flexibler in der Entscheidung, wann sie sich der Vorbereitungsphase widmen, was einen nachweislich wichtigen Faktor für Studierende darstellt ([All11], [Cal12], [Mui02], [Oca12]). Aus Sicht der Hochschulen macht das Flipped Classroom Model ein überregionales bis nationales Angebot von Kursen möglich ([All11], [Bet09]). Weiterhin können operative Kosten sowie solche für Räumlichkeiten gespart werden ([Hus14]). 39 Der Lehrstuhl Informationsmanagement der TU Dresden folgt dem innovativen Trend und arbeitet seit 2013 an den Vorbereitungen eines Kurses im Flipped Classroom Format. Ziel ist die Durchführung des Flipped Classrooms im Wintersemester 2015/16. Als ein noch andauerndes Lehrprojekt, werden nachfolgend bereits erreichte und noch ausstehende Meilensteine beschrieben. Dadurch sollen Erfahrungen weitergegeben und Anknüpfungspunkte für einen Austausch gegeben werden.

The online delivery of higher education courses and programs continues to expand across academic disciplines at colleges and universities. This expansion of online education has been precipitated by, among other things, (a) the rise in personal computer ownership, (b) the ease of access to the Internet, (c) the availability and continuous improvement in technology for the delivery of online courses, and (d) the increase in demand for online courses by both traditional and nontraditional students. However, the proliferation of online education has not been enthusiastically supported by all constituents of higher education. Specifically, some faculty members remain resistant to the shift to online course delivery. This article applies the Transtheoretical Model of Change to the process of gaining faculty support for, and involvement in, online learning. After briefly reviewing current issues in online education and making a case for its adoption, we describe sources of faculty resistance and offer recommendations for interventions that may be applied to transforming faculty resistance to support and eventually to active participation.