Pedagogy, Tech and Online

Chances are most of us have varied experiences with pedagogy, technology (in itself) and online learning. This week I would like to share an IHE article by Cahn et al (2022) entitled, "Don't Blame the Technology." The authors remind us that the past two years of remote emergency learning are not the same as well designed online learning. They remind us that "prior to the pandemic, in 2012, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Ed Tech found online learning produced outcomes that were equal to or more effective than traditional, face-to-face instruction. According to the 2018 Babson Survey Research Group Report, enrollment in distance education consistently increased at a time when overall higher education enrollment declined."

The point here is not to endorse online learning, but to share a gentle (yet constant) reminder that emergency remote learning is different. For any learning to be effective, foundational research in the area of T&L should be integrated (refer to prior SoTL blogs on this topic for specific citations).

The authors offer recommendations to incorporate effective teaching practices into higher education.

1. Courses in the study of T&L must be part of every doctoral program, along with an internship.

2. Onboarding programs for new faculty should require them to dedicate time to developing skills and competencies around T&L.

3. Continuing faculty development in education needs to become an integral part of promotion, along with meaningful, authentic assessments that provide evidence of quality teaching.

4. Doctoral students and university faculty should learn online instructional methods before and during their faculty appointments.

Another IHE article that was published today by Wolfe (2022) entitled, "Let's Stop Relying on Biased Teaching Evaluations" adds to this discussion for online T&L. I have shared prior research on the ineffectiveness of Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs)[Dec 2018 Blog]. This recent article continues to support identifying more authentic, meaningful ways to assess, measure and evaluate T&L, that can benefit everyone and in all contexts (including online). The article recommends several steps:

No. 1: Remove or replace vaguely worded questions prone to eliciting bias

No. 2: Educate students to be less biased evaluators.

No. 3: Incentivize faculty members to study ways to mitigate bias in teaching evaluations.