Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education


Book Description

This book is to explores a variety of facets of online learning environments to understand how learning occurs and succeeds in digital contexts and what teaching strategies and technologies are most suited to this format. Business, health, government and education are some of the core sectors of society which have been experiencing deep transformations due to a generalized digitalization. While these changes are not novel, the swift progress of technology and the rising complexity of digital environments place a focus on the need for further research and novel strategies. In the context of education, the promise of increased flexibility and broader access to educational resources is impelling much of higher education’s course offerings to online environments. The 21st century learner requires an education that can be pursued anytime and anywhere and that is more aligned with the demands of a digital society. Online education not only assists students to success-fully integrate a workforce that is increasingly digital, but it helps them to become more comfortable with the use of technology in general and, hence, more prepared to be prolific digital citizens. The variety of settings portrayed in this volume attest to the unlimited opportunities afforded by online learning and serve as valuable evidence of its benefit for students’ educational experience. Moreover, these research efforts assist a more comprehensive reflection about the delivery of higher education in the context of online settings.







Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education during COVID-19


Book Description

This timely volume documents the immediate, global impacts of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on teaching and learning in higher education. Focusing on student and faculty experiences of online and distance education, the text provides reflections on novel initiatives, unexpected challenges, and lessons learned. Responding to the urgent need to better understand online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, this book investigates how the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) impacted students, faculty, and staff experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown. Chapters initially look at the challenges faced by universities and educators in their attempts to overcome the practical difficulties involved in developing effective online programming and pedagogy. The text then builds on these insights to highlight student experiences and consider issues of social connection and inequality. Finally, the volume looks forward to asking what lessons COVID-19 can offer for the future development of online and distance learning in higher education. This engaging volume will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in online teaching and eLearning, curriculum design, and more, specifically those involved with the digitalization of higher education. The text will also support further discussion and reflection around pedagogical transformation, international teaching and learning, and educational policy more broadly.




Tackling Online Education


Book Description

This volume brings together leading experts from eight countries (the USA, Canada, China, Japan, Sweden, India, Azerbaijan and Nigeria) to discuss how national conditions and institutions have shaped initial policy responses to COVID-19. These decisions and actions will have lasting effects on higher education in different national contexts. The book offers solutions to common pedagogical problems such as Zoom fatigue, compassion fatigue and lack of student engagement. It also addresses techniques and support for online teaching and learning including methods to most efficiently utilize technology. The combination of timeliness and international perspectives makes the volume a necessary addition to educators’ libraries. In addition, the framing of COVID-19 responses in terms of their international context and institutional cultures provides a new perspective and unique contribution to the literature for researchers, higher education administrators and policy makers alike.




Higher Education Implications for Teaching and Learning during COVID-19


Book Description

Higher Education Implications for Teaching and Learning during COVID-19 provides different perspectives regarding the impact of COVID-19 on college teaching and learning and on students, both collectively and individually. Contributors argue that the pandemic forced a higher education reckoning as institutions around the world were forced to shut their physical doors and open up their online platforms in a wider capacity. While these concerns are linked to a certain point in time, there is much we can learn from collective institutional responses to the pandemic-induced pivots to virtual teaching and learning. Scholars of higher education, organizational communication, and crisis communication will find this book particularly useful.




Pandemic, Disruption and Adjustment in Higher Education


Book Description

This edited volume offers an updated picture and state-of-the-art regarding the challenges faced by universities all over the world derived from the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses the strategies designed and put in play by the universities to move forward in times of confinement and prospects of new modes of functioning in the aftermath of this exceptional global situation.




Going Online


Book Description

In Going Online, one of our most respected online learning leaders offers insights into virtual education—what it is, how it works, where it came from, and where it may be headed. Robert Ubell reaches back to the days when distance learning was practiced by mail in correspondence schools and then leads us on a tour behind the screen, touching on a wide array of topics along the way, including what it takes to teach online and the virtual student experience. You’ll learn about: how to build a sustainable online program; how to create an active learning online course; why so many faculty resist teaching online; how virtual teamwork enhances digital instruction; how to manage online course ownership; how learning analytics improves online instruction. Ubell says that it is not technology alone, but rather unconventional pedagogies, supported by technological innovations, that truly activate today's classrooms. He argues that innovations introduced online—principally peer-to-peer and collaborative learning—offer significantly increased creative learning options across all age groups and educational sectors. This impressive collection, drawn from Ubell's decades of experience as a digital education pioneer, presents a powerful case for embracing online learning for its transformational potential.




Fostering Communication and Learning With Underutilized Technologies in Higher Education


Book Description

Higher education is undergoing radical changes with the arrival of emerging technology that can facilitate better teaching and learning experiences. However, with a lack of technical awareness, technophobia, and security and trust issues, there are several barriers to the uptake of emerging technologies. As a result, many of these new technologies have been overlooked or underutilized. In the information systems and higher education domains, there exists a need to explore underutilized technologies in higher education that can foster communication and learning. Fostering Communication and Learning With Underutilized Technologies in Higher Education is a critical reference source that provides contemporary theories in the area of technology-driven communication and learning in higher education. The book offers new knowledge about educational technologies and explores such themes as artificial intelligence, digital learning platforms, gamification tools, and interactive exhibits. The target audience includes researchers, academicians, practitioners, and students who are working or have a keen interest in information systems, learning technologies, and technology-led teaching and learning. Moreover, the book provides an understanding and support to higher education practitioners, faculty, educational board members, technology vendors and firms, and the Ministry of Education.




Remaking College


Book Description

Between 1945 and 1990 the United States built the largest and most productive higher education system in world history. Over the last two decades, however, dramatic budget cuts to public academic services and skyrocketing tuition have made college completion more difficult for many. Nevertheless, the democratic promise of education and the global competition for educated workers mean ever growing demand. Remaking College considers this changing context, arguing that a growing accountability revolution, the push for greater efficiency and productivity, and the explosion of online learning are changing the character of higher education. Writing from a range of disciplines and professional backgrounds, the contributors each bring a unique perspective to the fate and future of U.S. higher education. By directing their focus to schools doing the lion's share of undergraduate instruction—community colleges, comprehensive public universities, and for-profit institutions—they imagine a future unencumbered by dominant notions of "traditional" students, linear models of achievement, and college as a four-year residential experience. The result is a collection rich with new tools for helping people make more informed decisions about college—for themselves, for their children, and for American society as a whole.




Virtual Reality in Education: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice


Book Description

Modern technology has infiltrated many facets of society, including educational environments. Through the use of virtual learning, educational systems can become more efficient at teaching the student population and break down cost and distance barriers to reach populations that traditionally could not afford a good education. Virtual Reality in Education: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice is an essential reference source on the uses of virtual reality in K-12 and higher education classrooms with a focus on pedagogical and instructional outcomes and strategies. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics such as immersive virtual learning environments, virtual laboratories, and distance education, this publication is an ideal reference source for pre-service and in-service teachers, school administrators, principles, higher education faculty, K-12 instructors, policymakers, and researchers interested in virtual reality incorporation in the classroom.