New Wine or New Bottles: What's New about Online Teaching?

Abstract

This chapter presents findings from research into the nature of successful, onlinetertiary teaching and learning. The project is part of a larger study aimed at estab-lishing guidelines for the ongoing design and development of online courses withinthe authors’institution. The research findings, from interviews with tertiary onlineteachers, identify key characteristics of successful online teaching and learning thatare consistent with a sociocultural view of learning. The authors recognize thatonline teaching and learning contexts present challenges for both teachers andlearners but argue that quality pedagogy is founded on a well-considered view oflearning and that the guiding pedagogical principles provided by such a viewapply equally well in online and face-to-face contexts. Thus, they caution againstconfusing the need to respond flexibly to changing environments with the need fora new philosophy of learning.