Abstract
The transition of an undergraduate course to fully online is examined through the lens of a professor who revised the platform for the course and through the perspectives of preservice teachers participating in a hybrid version of the course in their teacher education program which is not offered fully online. Benefits of flexible student schedules and meaningful discussion participation emerged, indicating that preservice teachers can navigate learning modules and benefit from an online course offering. Challenges of implementing teamwork in the online environment arose throughout the semester of implementation, indicating a need for improvements/revisions. These lessons learned from this case study contribute to a systematic approach to transitioning from offline to online courses and augment the literature base of the experiences and appropriateness of online preservice teacher education courses.
TopOnline Learning Efficacy
With the purpose of attracting more students and offering flexible learning opportunities, online teaching and learning is becoming increasingly widespread in higher education, in a wide range of disciplines, and at all program levels. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, the shutdown of face-to-face classes (Kennedy, 2020) has further driven a need for efficacy in online learning. In “Learning to Learn from a Distance” (2020), the consensus is that although the online platform was thrust upon the world during heightened emotional times and in an emergency situation, “the pandemic has accelerated a trend that was already taking hold in higher education. And that, surprisingly, might be a good thing” (para.1).
Distance education is not a new idea—course offerings by mail, satellite, and interactive television preceded the offering of internet-based courses that have exploded in recent years (Keramidas, 2012). Some of the applauded benefits to universities include flexibility of time and space, cost-effectiveness due to less overhead, and an expanded scope for attracting students (Keramidas, 2012; Macon, 2011). Documented benefits to students include increased accessibility by non-traditional and rural students, an opportunity for more student-centered environment and engagement, and capitalizing on technology (Caverly & MacDonald, 1999; Downing & Dyment, 2013; Eaton et al., 2015; Paulus et al., 2010).
Online learning is not without its challenges. Many students enrolled in online courses have their own set of complications in their daily lives, are distracted, and lack motivation (Conrad & Donaldson, 2004). Online learners must adapt to the online platform, learn to manipulate the technology necessary to navigate course requirements, and adjust to mainly text-based communication. Online communication takes longer than face-to-face communication, and there is the issue of accessibility by all students, regardless of their physical, emotional, or social requirements (Conrad & Donaldson, 2004). As noted by Chang and Kang (2016), the nature of online learning, which includes mostly asynchronous communication, contributes to the difficulty of interactions between students and their peers and between students and their instructors.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Synchronous Learning: Learning that enables immediate interaction with peers and/or instructor through a platform that engages them in an activity at the same time.
Asynchronous Learning: Instruction and learning activities that do not occur in the same place or at the same time.
Online Course Development: Developing modules/sites that meet course requirements, and are accessible by all students; providing objectives, syllabus, schedule, strategies, activities, assignments and assessments that engage students and allow them to see their progress in the course in an online platform.
Preservice Teacher Education: Implementing teaching and learning methodologies and strategies to prepare candidates for earning certification, and for teaching in their future classroom.
Self-Efficacy: An individual’s belief in his/her ability to be successful in accomplishing specific goals/tasks.
Praxis: Practice of an art or skill; application of knowledge or skill.
Methods Course: A course in a preservice teacher program that provides students pedagogical instruction and practice in a specific content area.
Pedagogy: Method, practice, or act of teaching.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): A reciprocity between inquiry and teaching and learning; examining and studying practices with the ultimate goal of improving students’ learning and sharing the results with other professionals in the field.