Connecting technology with pedagogy: An online workshop for campus faculty development

Cheryl Boncuore, PhDAcademic Director of Distance LearningKendall College

2

• Academic Director of Distance Learning• Faculty development

• Instructional design

• Blackboard system administrator

• Faculty

Education 2012: Using Technology Beyond the Classroom

• Teacher-centered classrooms have been the norm

• Technology is for “online” courses

• A paradigm shift began to occur with the availability of technology

• “Bells & whistles” began to invade the classroom

3

Institutional Use of Technology

• Instructional technology is readily available

• Misconceptions on how to integrate technology with pedagogically sound teaching practices in the classroom

• Conflicting forces:

• Students are considered “digital natives”

• Student expectations include using new technologies to learn

• Faculty tend to teach the way they were taught

• Faculty perceptions may impede technology implementation

• Institutional training may not consider the pedagogy of new technology

4

The Process

• Pre-survey

• Participants• Full time and part time faculty

• Four-week fully online workshop

• Post-survey

5

How It Was Done

• Data Sample• 81 total

• 57 pre-survey completions (70% response rate)

• 9 workshop/post-survey completion (16% completion)

• Data Analysis• Comparison of Pre-survey to Post-survey responses

• Technology use in the classroom

• Instructor preparedness to integrate technology into the classroom

• Instructor confidence in and comfort level with integrating technology into the classroom

• Attitudes of instructors toward integrating technology into their classroom practices

• Instructor perceptions of the support received from the institution

6

Initial Technology Use

• Technology was used in “expected” ways• As a presentation tool in the classroom (53%)

• As an e-mail communication tool (81%)

• To encourage independent learning (53%)

• As a research tool (62%)

• When asked about using technology to promote student-centered learning, the survey showed:

• 25% of respondents encouraged the use of technology several times a week; but likewise

• 25% stated that technology use for student-centered learning was not applicable to their classroom teaching methodology.

7

Instructor Preparedness

• Most faculty learned about technology use from their peers (39%) and through independent learning (53%).

• A very low percentage (17%) indicated that they learned computer and technology integration through formal learning channels such as in-service training or workshops provided through their institution.

8

Instructor Confidence

• 68% felt that their comfort level with technology allowed them to effectively integrate it in their classrooms

• 16% that indicated a discomfort with technology and that they did not have adequate training to incorporate technology into their classroom teaching

The instructors who are most comfortable with technology completed the workshop, whereas those that indicated a level of discomfort or lack of knowledge or training did not complete the workshop.

9

Attitude Toward Technology in the Classroom

• Not surprisingly, there are mostly positive attitudes toward technology

• No longer worried that computers would eventually replace instructors…

• Especially when focused on student skill and access to technology

• Perceptions of institutional support are also positive

10

The Workshop

• Four week, fully online, immersive

• Used the institution’s CMS

• Based upon pedagogical foundations

• Chickering & Ehrmann: Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as

Lever

• Hands-on exercises

• Practice site for each user

• Faculty could immediately implement the tools into their face-to-face courses

11

What Happened?

• After successful completion of the four-week online workshop, faculty

integrated more technology into their classroom teaching

• Participants that completed had a basic comfort level using

technology prior to completing the workshop

• Those participants that completed the workshop expressed an

interest in similar online workshops

• Faculty attitudes toward technology has changed from distrust to

acceptance and a belief that it is necessary for student success.

• There was an interest in creating an online community of practice to

continue the discussions started in the workshop, indicating that

technology has become part of an accepted way to connect with

other like-minded individuals.

12

13

not at all once a month

weekly daily n/a0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Pre-workshop

Post-workshop

14

Recommendations

• Create a series of immersion style workshops to cover different topics

• Develop a similar workshop in a hybrid format, with a prescribe number of face-to-face meetings

• Assess student learning in technology enhanced classroom courses

• Explore faculty priorities as a positive indicator toward professional development.

15

16

Pedagogy and Technology Workshop

https://blackboard.kendall.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=null&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/courseMain?course_id=_1184_1

Open course in Blackboard CourseSites

Resources• Chickering, A. & Ehrmann, S. C. (1996), Implementing the Seven Principles:

Technology as Lever. Retrieved from http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html

• Chickering, A. W. & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in

undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin (39)7 Retrieved from

http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm

• Dede, C. (2006). The evolution of online teacher professional development. In C.

Dede (Ed.) Online professional development for teachers: Emerging models and

methods (pp. 1-11). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

• Rogers, D. L. (2000, Spring/Summer). A paradigm shift: Technology integration for

higher education in the new millennium. Educational Technology Review, pp. 19-33.

Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm/files/ paper_8058.pdf?

fuseaction=Reader.DownloadFullText&paper_id=8058

• Pritchard, A. (2007). Effective Teaching with Internet Technologies. London: Paul

Chapman Publishing. 17

18

We value your feedback!Please fill out a session evaluation.