Over the past few decades, education systems, especially in higher education, have been redefined. Such reforms inevitably require reconsideration of operational notions and definitions of quality, along with a number of related concepts. This reconsideration aligns with the core of higher education reforms: improving efficacy and compatibility with emerging social demands while adapting to competitiveness and accountability trends. As primary players in the teaching and learning process, online tutors have a protagonistic role and, therefore, must be equipped with a suitable set of competencies and attributes in addition to content knowledge. This quantitative research aims to analyze the perceptions of 250 online tutors working in European higher education institutions, distributed in 5 knowledge areas: Business, Education, Humanities, Sciences and Health. This descriptive and exploratory nonexperimental study reveals the technological and pedagogical skills and competencies that online tutors consider fundamental for effective online teaching and proposes professional development actions to ensure quality online teaching.
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The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the experiences of safety and security management students, enrolled in an undergraduate course in the Netherlands, and present quantitative data from an online survey that aimed to explore the factors that have contributed to students’ satisfaction with, and engagement in, online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main findings suggest an interesting paradox of technology, which is worth further exploration in future research. Firstly, students with self perceived higher technological skill levels tend to reject online education more often as they see substantial shortcomings of classes in the way they are administered as compared to the vast available opportunities for real innovation. Secondly, as opposed to democratising education and allowing for custom-made, individualistic education schedules that help less-privileged students, online education can also lead to the displacement of education by income-generating activities altogether. Lastly, as much as technology allowed universities during the COVID-19 pandemic to continue with education, the transition to the environment, which is defined by highly interactive and engaging potential, may in fact be a net contributor to the feelings of social isolation, digital educational inequality and tension around commercialisation in higher education.
MULTIFILE
The Spring of 2020 brought many disruptions to our professional and personal lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced worldwide mid-semester campus closures; pivoting of traditional, face-to-face classes to remote teaching and learning; and postponements or cancellations of conferences, workshops, and other professional development events. One example of the breakdown of scheduled opportunities for us as honors colleagues to gather in-person to enhance our practices and strengthen our community was the cancellation of the 2020 International Conference on Talent Development and Honors Education in Groningen, the Netherlands, originally slated for June 10-12 but moved to June 16-18, 2021. Immediately following the 2020 conference, we (the authors) had planned to offer the fifth Honors International Faculty Institute (HIFI), an international and highly interactive occasion for honors and talent development teachers, researchers, and leaders to engage in presentations, experiential activities, place-as-text explorations, collaborative group work, reflective exercises, and showcases designed to improve teaching, learning, and programming in honors. Suddenly, the coronavirus upended our world, and we had to reimagine the institute that we had previously organized four times alternately at Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) and Texas Christian University (USA). Putting aside the disappointment of the moment and recognizing the value of coming up with an alternative to HIFI that would ensure the safety and health of our honors colleagues, we decided to create a fully online version with free registration to encourage participation and create resources accessible to all members of our international community. We wanted to highlight the challenges of how all of us unexpectedly had to pivot to remote teaching and learning as the global pandemic intensified, but we also wanted to share information, experiences, and models that could open new avenues for operationalizing online honors education more generally beyond the COVID-19 crisis. We wanted, in other words, to explore how honors pedagogy could (and maybe should) be adapted to the increasingly online world of primary, secondary, and higher education. Thus, HIFLO 2020 was born! HIFLO stands for Honours International Faculty Learning Online.
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The European creative visual industry is undergoing rapid technological development, demanding solid initiatives to maintain a competitive position in the marketplace. AVENUE, a pan-European network of Centres of Vocational Excellence, addresses this need through a collaboration of five independent significant ecosystems, each with a smart specialisation. AVENUE will conduct qualified industry-relevant research to assess, analyse, and conclude on the immediate need for professional training and educational development. The primary objective of AVENUE is to present opportunities for immediate professional and vocational training, while innovating teaching and learning methods in formal education, to empower students and professionals in content creation, entrepreneurship, and innovation, while supporting sustainability and healthy working environments. AVENUE will result in a systematised upgrade of workforce to address the demand for new skills arising from rapid technological development. Additionally, it will transform the formal education within the five participating VETs, making them able to transition from traditional artistic education to delivering skills, mindsets and technological competencies demanded by a commercial market. AVENUE facilitates mobility, networking and introduces a wide range of training formats that enable effective training within and across the five ecosystems. A significant portion of the online training is Open Access, allowing professionals from across Europe to upgrade their skills in various processes and disciplines. The result of AVENUE will be a deep-rooted partnership between five strong ecosystems, collaborating to elevate the European industry. More than 2000 professionals, employees, students, and young talents will benefit from relevant and immediate upgrading of competencies and skills, ensuring that the five European ecosystems remain at the forefront of innovation and competitiveness in the creative visual industry.
Het lopende Bird’s Eye Perspective onderzoek ontwikkelen we door naar een leeromgeving 3.0 waarin wij de mogelijkheden van conversatie analyse en algoritmes toepassen op sociale media berichten. De leeromgeving tracht communicatieprofessionals te trainen in het opmerken van opkomende issues in het online gesprek.
In dit project zal een online onderwijsmodule worden ontworpen. In deze module zal een deel van de output van het project Bouwen met Levende Natuur worden verwerkt tot onderwijs. Het maken van online course materiaal binnen de HZ onderwijsonwikkeling, waar zowel echte casuistiek uit de de beroepspraktijk, als gebruik van ICT mogelijkheden centraal staan. Door de modulaire opbouw zal het mogelijk zijn onderdelen in verschillende courses te verwerken. De docent kan dan de module naar eigen wens, en onafhankelijk van de beschikbaarheid van interne of externe gastdocenten, inzetten voor ‘blended learning’. De benadering binnen de learning unit(s) volgt het constructivisme, activiteiten die te maken hebben met kennisoverdracht, zullen derhalve worden afgewisseld met verwerkingsopdrachten. De volledige onderwijsmodule richt zich vooral op onderwijs op het gebied van Coastal Engineering van de opleiding Civiele Techniek (CT), in eerste instantie van de Delta Academy; CT studenten blijken behoefte te hebben aan een uitleg van ecologische principes vanuit vanuit een meer technisch perspectief. De learning units/onderwijsmodule is uiteraard ook beschikbaar voor andere hbo opleidingen. Het geselecteerde gedeelte, de eerste learning unit, zal ook bruikbaar zijn voor de course Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), waarin oa het concept Building with Nature wordt uitgelegd. In de huidige vorm wordt dit onderdeel op de klassieke manier gebracht, in de vorm van een hoorcollege. De ontwikkeling van online materiaal maakt de afwisseling met het verwerken van de aangebrachte kennis eenvoudiger; de structuur daarvoor wordt in de online versie al aangebracht. Deze learning unit brengt niet alleen wat aanvullende benaderingen vanuit technisch perspectief, maar is ook een aanpassing, die het geheel hestructureert volgens het constructivisme. De course ICZM is een keuze-course, bedoeld voor Aquatische Ecotechnologie (AET), Delta Management (DM) en CT studenten; waar CT studenten meer behoefte hebben aan een technisch perspectief, heeft deze course ook te maken met DM studenten, die juist wat meer kennis zouden moeten maken met meer technische benaderingen.
