Several bachelor courses of Inholland University of Applied Sciences experimented with the possibilities of the online synchronous classroom. Two platforms were used; Zoom video conferencing and Barco Virtual Classroom. As research group, we conducted exploratory observations as this experimentation unfolded during several of these sessions. Interviews were held with some teaching and technical staff. Organisational, technical and pedagogical factors regarding the delivering of flexible education were examined. During the observations of this emergent practice, some patterns became visible. This report contains a first description of the seven phases when initiating the online classroom.
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The content in this document is the result of a two-year project on blended learning in the initial teacher training programme of INHOLLAND University for Professional Education. Research and design of innovative learning practices was conducted by the INHOLLAND Centre for eLearning. This document offers a conversational framework for further discussion on (re-)design of learning practices based on blended learning and should not be regarded as a scientific article. Underlying research reports and articles on the subject are available through the Centre for e-learning.
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Seven college lecturers and two senior support staff were interviewed during 2021 about their experiences teaching in hybrid virtual classrooms (HVC). These technology-rich learning environments allow teachers to simultaneously teach students who are in class (on campus) and students who are joining remotely (online). There were two reasons for this choice: first, ongoing experimentation from innovative teaching staff who were already using this format before the COVID-19 pandemic; secondly, as a possible solution to restrictions on classroom size imposed by the pandemic. Challenges lecturers faced include adjusting teaching practice and lesson delivery to serve students in the class and those online equally; engaging and linking the different student groups in structured and natural interactions; overcoming technical challenges regarding audio and visual equipment; suitably configuring teaching spaces and having sufficient pedagogical and technical support to manage this complex process. A set of practical suggestions is provided. Lecturers should make reasoned choices when teaching in this format since it requires continued experimentation and practice to enhance the teaching and learning opportunities. When external factors such as classroom size restrictions are the driving force, the specific type of synchronous learning activities should be carefully considered. The structure and approach to lessons needs to be rethought to optimise the affordances of the hybrid virtual and connected classroom. The complexity of using these formats, and the additional time needed to do it properly, should not be underestimated. These findings are consistent with previous literature on this subject. An ongoing dialogue with faculty, support staff and especially students should be an integral part of any further implementation in this format.
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De implementatie van blended learning – waarbij fysiek leren wordt gecombineerd met online leren – staat bij veel onderwijsinstellingen hoog op de agenda, om activeren, intensiveren, flexibiliseren, differentiëren en/of personaliseren mogelijk te maken (Bos, 2022). Als gevolg hiervan krijgt de online leeromgeving binnen onderwijsinstellingen een steeds nadrukkelijkere rol. Om te komen tot betekenisvol leren in deze online leeromgeving (vaak in de vorm van een leermanagementsysteem, ook wel LMS genoemd), is het belangrijk dat studenten hierin actief aan de slag gaan met de aangeboden onderwijsinhoud en geïnteresseerd en gemotiveerd zijn om dit te (gaan) doen (Michael, 2006; Alhazmi & Rahman, 2012; Derboven et al., 2017; Grant-Smith et al., 2019). Echter, in de praktijk blijkt dat lang niet altijd sprake is van deze gewenste student engagement. Bijlage 1: Dit artikel geeft de resultaten weer van een onderzoek naar mogelijkheden om student engagement in het LMS te vergroten. Deze resultaten zijn tevens samengevat in twee overzichtelijke infographics. Bijlage 2: Infographic 1 omvat het gehele overzicht van de (mogelijk) te implementeren ontwerpprincipes. Bijlage 3: Infographic 2 bevat een stappenplan voor docenten om hun LMS te analyseren en te optimaliseren (laaghangend fruit).
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De implementatie van blended learning – waarbij fysiek leren wordt gecombineerd met online leren – staat bij veel onderwijsinstellingen hoog op de agenda, om activeren, intensiveren, flexibiliseren, differentiëren en/of personaliseren mogelijk te maken (Bos, 2022). Als gevolg hiervan krijgt de online leeromgeving binnen onderwijsinstellingen een steeds nadrukkelijkere rol. Om te komen tot betekenisvol leren in deze online leeromgeving (vaak in de vorm van een leermanagementsysteem, ook wel LMS genoemd), is het belangrijk dat studenten hierin actief aan de slag gaan met de aangeboden onderwijsinhoud en geïnteresseerd en gemotiveerd zijn om dit te (gaan) doen (Michael, 2006; Alhazmi & Rahman, 2012; Derboven et al., 2017; Grant-Smith et al., 2019). Echter, in de praktijk blijkt dat lang niet altijd sprake is van deze gewenste student engagement. Deze resultaten zijn samengevat in twee overzichtelijke infographics. Bijlage 1: Infographic 2 bevat een stappenplan voor docenten om hun LMS te analyseren en te optimaliseren (laaghangend fruit). Bijlage 2: Infographic 1 omvat het gehele overzicht van de (mogelijk) te implementeren ontwerpprincipes. Bijlage 3: Dit artikel geeft de resultaten weer van een onderzoek naar mogelijkheden om student engagement in het LMS te vergroten.
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De implementatie van blended learning – waarbij fysiek leren wordt gecombineerd met online leren – staat bij veel onderwijsinstellingen hoog op de agenda, om activeren, intensiveren, flexibiliseren, differentiëren en/of personaliseren mogelijk te maken (Bos, 2022). Als gevolg hiervan krijgt de online leeromgeving binnen onderwijsinstellingen een steeds nadrukkelijkere rol. Om te komen tot betekenisvol leren in deze online leeromgeving (vaak in de vorm van een leermanagementsysteem, ook wel LMS genoemd), is het belangrijk dat studenten hierin actief aan de slag gaan met de aangeboden onderwijsinhoud en geïnteresseerd en gemotiveerd zijn om dit te (gaan) doen (Michael, 2006; Alhazmi & Rahman, 2012; Derboven et al., 2017; Grant-Smith et al., 2019). Echter, in de praktijk blijkt dat lang niet altijd sprake is van deze gewenste student engagement. Deze resultaten zijn samengevat in twee overzichtelijke infographics. Bijlage 1: Infographic 1 omvat het gehele overzicht van de (mogelijk) te implementeren ontwerpprincipes. Bijlage 2: Infographic 2 bevat een stappenplan voor docenten om hun LMS te analyseren en te optimaliseren (laaghangend fruit). Bijlage 3: Dit artikel geeft de resultaten weer van een onderzoek naar mogelijkheden om student engagement in het LMS te vergroten.
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Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) as well as modern pedagogical perspectives have created new possibilities to facilitate and support learning in higher education (HE). Emerging technologies bring opportunities to reconsider teaching and learning. New ideas and concepts about the educational use of new technologies transform the roles of teachers. In this context the key question of this study is: whether learning as part of a (virtual) community of practice supports teachers' technology professional development. Different learning alternatives such as distance learning, workplace learning as well as blended forms of learning will enhance lifelong learning which forces a rethinking of traditional forms of education. However, most institutions for education foster just-in-case learning while new technologies foster just-in-time learning. As a result of new learning perspectives and the potential pedagogical benefits of ICTs in educational contexts, teachers have to learn how to integrate new technologies in teaching and learning. It is recommended that teacher professional development should be situated in multiple learning settings in which learning is teacher-centred. Next to classroom settings and cross-institutional learning communities, virtual learning communities (VCoPs) are a significant source for learning. There is an overlap between the educational values of interned-based learning and social theories of learning such as Lave & Wenger's situated learning theory and Wenger's theory of communities of practice. Drawing upon these theories, offers a perspective on social learning that emphasizes social processes within (V)CoPs where community participants engage in collective learning and knowledge creation. The data discussed in this paper have been drawn from a cross institutional setting at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands. The data were collected and analysed according to a qualitative approach. The paper concludes that VCoPs are learning environments since these network-based learning communities push learners to take more control of their learning and provide tasks which are more contextualised and meaningful.
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This paper will discuss the process of the MA program ePedagogy / Visual Knowledge Building during the first semester of the academic year 2005 – 2006. This MA program is a joint venture between the Universities of Helsinki, Hamburg and INHOLLAND. This publication will discuss and evaluate the concrete steps (in terms of learning process) during this first semester. In particular the role of the eTutor will get special attention. This publication is based on the principle of action research. Hart & Bond defines action research as “it is a form of reflective inquiry which enables practitioners to better realise such qualities in their practice. The tests for good action research are very pragmatic ones. Does it improve the professional quality of the transactions between practitioners and clients/colleagues? This action research approach is being realised upon three main sources. As an eTutor and member of the staff of this program I weekly filled in an “Evaluation Log” in which the following questions are centralized: 1. What happened (this week) 2. Significant experience 3. Reflection 4. Actions Secondly I used a little survey which was being used by the staff to evaluate the first semester. All the three Universities filled in a form with the following questions concerning the education and organisation: Education 1. What do you consider most hindering in your teaching? 2. What do you consider most beneficial in your teaching? 3. What kind of teaching methods do you prefer in this program? 4. Do you think the course offers are attractive for the target group? 5. How do you evaluate student’s engagements and motivation in your courses? 6. What can / should be improved in terms of collaborative learning activities and processes? Organisation 1. In what specific context do you spot organisational constraints? 2. Does your organisation recognise and support the MA program? 3. What is your short-, mid- and long term vision on this program? Thirdly an important source for this action research approach was the International Seminar which was hold in the middle of February 2006. In this seminar the changes based on the questions of the questionnaire were discussed and implemented. The theoretical framework in this publication is based on the dissertation of Karel Kreijns (Sociable CSCL Environments). In this dissertation he discussed the collaborative cognitiveand epistemic performance in a CSCLE. The social presence theory takes a central position in this dissertation. In this paper the pitfalls and barriers concerning a sociable CSCLE are being discussed and evaluated. This paper describes, the interventions the staff took, in order to improve the educational context of the program. From this perspective we looked very carefully to the barriers and pitfalls in our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). We found evidence for the fact that a good CSCLE consists at least a good balance between Content, Community and Pedagogy. In the program we emphasised our focus (too much) on content and (too) little on community and pedagogy. The community was poor because of the fact that we used three content learning systems, which didn’t stimulate the group processes. Pedagogy was too much based on individual eTutor behaviour. In January 2006, after the courses were ended, the Universities organised a little survey. In this survey was shown that we have to some interventions to improve the learning process. At the International Seminar in February 2006 eTutors and students discussed the problems. The following interventions are being considered and implemented: 1. The use of three Virtual Learning Environments should be decreased. Especially the INHOLLAND / Blackboard system doesn’t reflect the open source philosophy. Besides this the accessibility of this system is not very easy for foreign students 2. The collaborative aspect should be increased, by emphasising the interdisciplinaryand international co-operation. The formation of international subgroups is implemented.
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A comparative study of the effects of the pandemic across six countries, including The UK, Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland and The Netherlands. The authors outline 21 design principles for mobile learning, which is hoped will help us respond effectively in the uncertain present, and plan systematically for an unpredictable, post-pandemic future. This paper is based on the emergency changes we have had to make in the European DEIMP Project (2017-2020), “Designing and Evaluating Innovative Mobile Pedagogies” (DEIMP). DEIMP is undertaken by a transnational consortium comprising partner institutions and schools from the participating countries.
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Learning teams in higher education executing a collaborative assignment are not always effective. To remedy this, there is a need to determine and understand the variables that influence team effectiveness. This study aimed at developing a conceptual framework, based on research in various contexts on team effectiveness and specifically team and task awareness. Core aspects of the framework were tested to establish its value for future experiments on influencing team effectiveness. Results confirmed the importance of shared mental models, and to some extent mutual performance monitoring for learning teams to become effective, but also of interpersonal trust as being conditional for building adequate shared mental models. Apart from the importance of team and task awareness for team effectiveness it showed that learning teams in higher education tend to be pragmatic by focusing primarily on task aspects of performance and not team aspects. Further steps have to be taken to validate this conceptual framework on team effectiveness.
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