My teaching experience from higher education includes on-site teaching and digital/online teaching.  Both formats offer possibilities and challenges, and perhaps a mix of both formats is the best, in form of blended learning. However, for now, I will elaborate on the shift from on-site to digital/online teaching.

Possibilities with digital/online teaching have been exploring a variety of pedagogical designs, new pedagogical tools and their function that makes teaching more accessible, and effective, for instance in terms of course-administration. Accessibility of teaching makes it possible for students to participate in a greater extent, regardless of life circumstances. Also, digital/online teaching can be recorded, which benefits students’ learning, making it possible for them to re-listen to lectures and attend to details that can easily be missed in on-site teaching. There is also risks with digital/online learning. For instance, recording of teaching may be misapplied, and lead to a decreased motivation for on-site teaching. Also, recorded teaching can replace teachers, decreasing them in number. Consequently, the educational system then depends on a fewer amount of people and is more vulnerable. On the other hand, the amount of time that teachers usually put on preparation and execution of lectures, can instead, with the effectiveness of digital/online teaching, be used to increase knowledge and to develop teaching. This may lead to an increased quality of teaching.

Challenges have, for instance, been communication and students’ adoption of new roles. Communication has always been essential in education. Thus, the students need clear information about teaching in terms of what, i.e. teaching content, how, that is, activities of learning, and why – the motivation of learning. The digital/online format makes communication even more important as it offers delimited ways of communication. Some students require face-to-face communication where language, i.e. words, are complemented with physical expressions, while other students are satisfied with digital/online meetings where physical expressions are limited or non-existing. Therefore, student feedback concerning course-information is important for adjusting in accordance with the learner’s perspective. Students’ adoption of new roles with digital/online learning involves teaching presence as shared between participants. Thus, the shift is not only made in the format of teaching, but also in the participation and responsibility of the students, that is, the learners. Learning is not only individual, but also collective, which means that there is a shared responsibility in making all participants equally engaged and appreciated in the learning activity. Subsequently, roles may shift, making teachers become students, and students become teachers.

However, teaching should not be limited to learning communities existing either on-site or in digital/online format. Teaching should be accessible regardless of format and emphasize meaningful engagement of learning. Perhaps the shift from on-site to digital/online teaching contributes to an increased awareness of teaching and learning potentials and gives us, teachers and students, courage needed for trying new ways of teaching and learning.

Essentially, teaching is a structured pedagogical process, or also developmental process, that constructs an opportunity of engagement for a group of learners and offers effort into the pedagogical processes through a variety of learning activities. Teaching is a collective endeavour in which flexibility, creativity, critical thinking, interaction, facilitation of students’ learning processes, and encouragement of an affective learning culture are central aspects. These aspects relate to teaching and learning, i.e. to the pedagogical process. A way of approaching the central aspects of pedagogy is the Community of Inquiry framework, CoI, that specifically forwards social, cognitive and teaching presence in teaching. Aspects that I previously forwarded in this text, relates to CoI in terms of regulating learning, setting the climate and creating a discourse in teaching for learning. Indeed, the preconditions of presence have changed, as the room for teaching has shifted from on-site to digital/online format, but the requirements of teaching highlighted by CoI, are equally valid.

References for the blog:

Boelens, R., De Wever, B., & Voet, M. (2017). Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review. Educational Research Review, 22, 1-18.

Cleveland-Innes, M. (2020). Roles, learning design, and the Community of Inquiry. Lecture given within the ONL-course.

Cleveland-Innes, M. & Wilton, D. (2018). Guide to Blended Learning. Burnaby: Commonwealth of Learning.

Conole, G. (2015). The 7Cs of Learning Design. (manuscript)

Fiock, H. (2020). Designing a Community of Inquiry in Online Courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(1), 135-153.

Hodges, C. et.al (2020). The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning. EDUCAUSE review.

Salmon, G (2013) The Five Stage Model. [Homepage] https://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html

Universal Design for Learning (UDL). [Homepage] https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl

Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. Edmonton: AU Press.