Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

Engaging students through a computer screen requires a unique approach to pedagogy and innovative course design.  The feeling of “getting it right” typically involves a good deal of testing and modification given the wide array of design formats and technology tools available, not to mention the varying needs of students, many of whom are underprepared for online learning (Bettinger & Loeb, 2017).

Common Student Challenges

In online courses, certain student challenges tend to come up time and again, which disrupts learning or impedes completing coursework on time.

The modern corporate workplace is an amalgamation of sorts – you have the Gen X, Y (millennials), and the latest entrants to the workplace, Gen Z – each generation with their unique preferences for learning and working. Your organization might have a Learning Management System (LMS) that hosts some amazing online training resources, but is that enough to ensure learner engagement in eLearning?

Thirty years of research in the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education have demonstrated that when students are engaged in the classroom, they learn more (Pascarella and Terezini 1991, 2005). Classroom discussion is likely the most commonly used strategy for actively engaging students. Whether it is a seminar course centered on discussion or a lecture punctuated by moments of interaction with students, discussion is likely second only to lecture as the most frequently used pedagogical strategy.

A detailed look at 5 Most Common Challenges Faced by Learners in Online Classroom; tips on how to adapt to those changes, make them their strength in e-learning

User-friendly navigation, videos and ongoing feedback can help instructors take their teaching to the next level.

As I prepare to leave my current role, my visible digital participation has reduced to an occasional retweet. I’m now watching from the sidelines, observing and thinking about future directions.

I’ve become a lurker.

Pam McKinney here live blogging the final keynote from the LILAC conference featuring Professor  Alison Littlejohn, Dean of learning and teaching in the faculty of social sciences at the University of Glasgow.  Allison began by outlining the neo-liberalisation of the higher education sector, positioning students as consumers and the rise in importance of the national student survey.  Allison was involved with a project called “learning literacies in the digital age” which outlined the need for learning to focus on processes and literacies, not content. Allison discussed the power of MOOCs to disrupt education, and to give people the opportunity to learn in a different way, using digital technologies. 

“I’m sorry to bother you, but…” was the opening line of every email I received in the first week of this semester. This line was usually followed by nothing that would actually bother me: a question about the week’s materials, a link to an interesting resource, a discussion about a potential research topic, and the like. This was all despite my many attempts to ensure that students did not feel like they were imposing whenever they contacted me: a pre-semester introductory email, a video welcoming them to the course, my biography and teaching philosophy, virtual office hours, and multiple reminders about my contact information. Yet, with all of my entreaties to reach out, I was still dealing with the real issues of isolation, fear, and frustration that results in students leaving their online courses. To combat these feelings, professors—myself included—have to deliberately, consistently, and relentlessly work to build student-faculty and student-student relationships in online courses.

Universities will be busy this year adapting to the changes introduced by the government’s higher education reforms. But they mustn’t forget that there is more to the future of higher education than the teaching excellence framework ratings exercise: digital learning will also take centre stage.