So as some of you know, I’m at the European Distance Education Network 2023 annual meeting over the next few days, and I wanted to highlight some of the sessions that I found in the online program that are related to K-12 distance, online, remote, and/or blended learning.
Sunday – 18 June 2023
Training: Digital Transformation in School Development (DigiTrans)
2:00pm – 6:30pm
ABSTRACT
Digital education is an important component in today’s world. School plays an essential role in preparing students for a constantly changing world. In addition to technical equipment, it is also about competence development and the issues of lesson design as well as learning content to enable vivid, individualized and self-organized learning.
The advanced training “Digital Transformation in School Development” (DigiTranS) provides the necessary knowledge and tools to actively shape the school development process at the interface between school management and teachers for a digital transformation.
TOPICS
- Transformative Education
- Next Generation Teachers and Learners
PRESENTED BY
Ms. Ines Heidsieck, bbw-consult GmbH
Ines Heidsieck is the managing director of ibbw-consult (Institute for Vocational Consulting and Continuing Education). She works as a solution-oriented coach and school development consultant and specializes in the facilitation of online and face-to-face events for teachers and educational staff as well as school coordinators.Her main areas of expertise are digital didactics in schools and the transition from school to work.
Monday – 19 June 2023
3:15pm – 4:00pm
ABSTRACT
In light of current or future pandemics, natural disasters, war, or personal preferences, remote or online learning is becoming increasingly common. This reality means that teachers need to be equipped with the skills necessary to effectively teach online. In this paper the authors highlight the importance of preparing teachers with effective online teaching skills and knowledge, and suggest two areas for improvement: (1) research support for scholars to build a knowledge base to better understand effective online teaching, and (2) changes to teacher preparation programs to better equip teachers for this changing reality. Before presenting these recommendations, a brief discussion of the state of K-12 online learning globally, as well as the limitations of existing teacher education, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic is provided.
- Next Generation Teachers and Learners
PRESENTED BY
Dr. Michael Barbour, Touro University California
AUTHORS
1.Dr. Michael Barbour1
2.Dr. Chuck Hodges21. Touro University California, 2. Georgia Southern University
Innovative Tool for Rural Schools – Virtual Classroom
ABSTRACT
The article presents the application of a virtual classroom in a rural school in collaboration with other institutions. The Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships project to develop a virtual classroom in a rural school aims to create a virtual collaborative space where rural schools can support each other and immediately fill their gaps in terms of teachers, content and activities. The idea involves not only the technological environment but also the surrounding community, which is primarily made up of rural schools and other organisations active in the field of education and rural development.
Keywords: Classroom, community, innovative, rural, virtual.
TOPICS
- Future Pedagogies
PRESENTED BY
Prof. Genute Gedviliene, Vytautas Magnus University
AUTHORS
1.Prof. Genute Gedviliene1
2.Ms. Monika Dievaityte1
3.Mrs. Ugne Supranaviciene11. Vytautas Magnus University
Tuesday – 20 June 2023
11:00am – 12:00pm
The PreEdTech Project – Preprimary School Teaching in the Digital Era
ABSTRACT
The article is a study of the PreEdTech project (Erasmus + programme), developed within a partnership of kindergartens and education and ICT institutions from Romania, Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Turkey. The innovative project is deeply rooted in the partners’ pandemic experience and aims at providing pre-primary teachers with the means of adapting their activities to the online environment. It promotes professional development by strengthening the profiles of educators, empowering and equipping them with digital and pedagogical skills, as well as providing them with essential and logically structured open educational resources (OER), necessary for the developmental needs of preschool children. The article introduces the project’s objectives and outputs and gives insights into the development of the PreEdTech Guide, its online course, tutorials, lesson plans and curriculum. These provide teachers with all the elements and steps necessary for successful online activities with children as well as for a good collaboration with parents, which is the basis for teachers’ performance and well-being. The paper also presents the feedback collected from teachers participating in the pilot.
TOPICS
- Future Pedagogies
- Next Generation Teachers and Learners
PRESENTED BY
Dr. Stefan Colibaba, Al.I.Cuza University Iasi/EuroEd Foundation
AUTHORS
1.Dr. Stefan Colibaba1
2.Ms. Irina Gheorghiu2
3.Ms. Ramona Cirsmari3
4.Ms. Alexandra Hanu3
5.Dr. Ovidiu Ursa4
1. Al.I.Cuza University Iasi/EuroEd Foundation, 2. Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg, 3. EuroEd School Iasi, 4. University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca
12:15pm – 1:00pm
How Ontario Evolved as a Major Hub of Online Learning
ABSTRACT
Ontario, which, at 1,076 million square kilometres is 15 times the size of Ireland and larger than France and Spain combined , has emerged as a major hub of online learning, thanks to a combination of policy leadership, investment in infrastructure, and support for collaborative program and course development. The Government of Ontario, Canada’s largest province, has invested significantly in online learning, with the Ontario Virtual Learning Strategy alone backed by an investment of over $70 million CAD ( approx. €48 million) since 2020. Ontario is home to a range of virtual learning offerings, including K-12 online courses, which will see 230,000 course registrations in 2023-24, certificates, diplomas, and degrees from universities, colleges, and Indigenous institutes, and micro-credentials from various organizations. In all, there are over 42,000 college and university courses, 3,850 micro-credentials and 2,000 other qualifications available online.
In colleges, universities, and Indigenous institutes, online learning is in part a response to the growing student demand for flexibility in learning and to the regional and rural nature of large parts of the province. Ontario has 4,900 publicly funded elementary and secondary schools, 23 publicly assisted universities, 24 colleges of applied arts and technology, nine Indigenous institutes, over 500 private career colleges and other private institutions such as faith-based institutions. All have students engaged in online learning. In the school system, completing two credits online is now required for high school graduation. Online learning has grown faster in Ontario than in other parts of Canada and across Canada. Registrations in online courses in higher education are growing faster than registration in face-to-face learning. This presentation will explore how Ontario became a hub for online learning.
Online registrations in Ontario have grown faster than the rest of Canada, with the college sector leading the way. Ontario’s success in online learning is a system-wide activity, and other jurisdictions would benefit from emulating its policy leadership, investment, and support infrastructure. Recently, Ontario has announced new investments in online learning, including additional funds for micro-credentials and other student supports.
The key elements of the strategy pursued by the Government of Ontario, working in partnership with Ontario’s colleges, universities, indigenous institutes and other education and training providers, digital learning partners such as Contact North I Contact Nord, eCampusOntario and OntarioLearn, and with enhanced academic pathways provided by the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT), involves these elements:
- Digital content – development and/or adaptation of virtual learning content.
- Digital capacity – deployment of targeted supports for institutions in need of digital capacity to enable high-quality online learning and supports to expand. institutional access to broader and more sustainable markets, both domestically and globally.
- Digital fluency – deployment of supports to equip faculty and students with the skills and resources required to effectively teach and learn online.
- Digital delivery – identification, procurement and deployment of educational technologies to support fully-online program and course offerings.
- Digital infrastructure – Ontario has the most substantial digital infrastructure in Canada (including 5G networks) and is investing $4 billion CAD to ensure that all citizens have access to broadband by 2025.
The aim of these activities is to support three key outcomes:
- Be the Future: Ensure learners have high-quality education: anytime, from anywhere. This requires quality and innovation, better data, and digital access to enable lifelong learning and fuel Ontario’s global competitiveness.
- Be Lifelong Learners: Enable learners to meet the needs of the rapidly evolving labour market at any stage of their careers by providing digital support and infrastructure for new short-duration training.
- Be a Global Leader: Strengthen Ontario’s leadership domestically and globally, by expanding access for Ontario’s institutions to the global marketplace for virtual learning. With this, the ministry aims to position Ontario as a global leader for virtual innovation in teaching and learning.
Backed by a $70 million CAD investment (€48 million) and supported by a significant infrastructure, the Virtual Learning Strategy is also seen as a way of encouraging the growth and development of Ontario’s burgeoning EdTech sector. Experimentation and collaboration between public institutions and between public institutions and these companies are explicitly encouraged.
Keywords:
Virtual learning strategy, policy-driven development, collaboration, support infrastructure
TOPICS
- Transformative Education
- Future Pedagogies
PRESENTED BY
Mr. Maxim Jean-Louis, Contact North I Contact Nord
AUTHORS
1.Mr. Maxim Jean-Louis1
1. Contact North I Contact Nord
2:00pm – 2:45pm
Plenary 4 – Chair Dr Wim Van Petegem
– Dr Maren Deepwell
Abstract: Over the past five years we have seen digital education scaled up, with fully virtual, blended and hybrid learning expanding to more and more learners. As we move beyond education in crisis response mode, we have a unique opportunity to shape what’s ahead and also a responsibility to apply the lessons learnt in 2020/21.
We saw what’s possible in an emergency, and also what isn’t. I want to acknowledge that we are seeking hope at a time when many are battling burnout, still picking up the pieces in a world in which many are still feeling the lingering impact of the global pandemic.
How do we find optimism, and a vision for a better future? Grounded in new research from ALT, on how professional practice in digital education is changing, and aligned with the Framework for Ethical Learning Technology (FELT), I will explore:
- Who has a say in shaping the future and whom we may be missing?
- What the future will hold for our students moving from hybrid learning to hybrid working?
- What do we need to consider in order to avoid going back as well as moving ahead into a future that doesn’t deliver?
Let’s find inspiration to create our visions of the future, without losing a critical perspective on digital innovation but with a renewed sense of hope and empowerment.
Maren Deepwell is the chief executive of the Association for Learning Technology, the leading professional body for learning technology in the UK with around 3,500 members. She has led the organisation since 2012 including a strategic transition to becoming a virtual team in 2018. Her particular focus is on professional recognition for learning technologists, the development of a new ethical framework for professional practice and the future of technology in education. As a trained sculptor and anthropologist, she brings both her creative and executive expertise to her professional practice as a leader, strategic adviser and coach.
3:00pm – 4:00pm
Understanding Student Readiness for Online Learning: Lessons from a a Systematic Literature Review
ABSTRACTAbstract
This paper reports what is known about student readiness for online learning. It draws on the COVID-19 experience and is based on the premise that learning how to learn online is now a crucial life skill; it must not be left to chance. As part of the Erasmus+ DigiTeL Pro project, the paper establishes that student readiness for online learning has a long history. However, different conceptions of the concept exist with a lack of consensus in the literature.
The paper describes a systematic analysis of the literature published during the global pandemic, focusing on student readiness (Beirne et al., 2022). This study sought to answer three main research questions: i) What research has been published reporting student readiness for online distance learning during the COVID crisis? ii) How strong is the “learner voice” in COVID- related research reporting on student readiness for online distance learning? iii) What lessons can be taken from the COVID-related literature on student readiness for new digital education models?
A brief description of the literature search methodology is provided, with a sample of over 40 relevant publications identified. The related data extraction template and analysis techniques are shared along with a descriptive profile of the literature. Overall, the paper confirms a previous finding that a lot of emergency remote research was conducted during the COVID-19 crisis (Bond et al., 2021), alongside what became known as Emergency Remote Teaching (Hodges et al., 2020). Notably, with few exceptions, there is limited evidence of previous student readiness literature on online learning informing how higher education institutions (HEIs) responded during the pandemic. There is even a risk of some research literature undoing or reinventing what is already known.
Secondly, the findings raise questions about the current conception of readiness and new and emerging domains that must be better understood in supporting online learners in the post-pandemic future, including the implications for those undertaking micro-credentials. The importance of the educational context and the notion of relational readiness is discussed in efforts to support learners and promote student success. Thirdly, the study argues that most of the survey-based research published on the student COVID-19 experience is not a good proxy for encapsulating the learner’s voice, with important implications for the methodological design of future research. Hence, a significant gap remains in telling the student story of their learning experience and personal readiness for online learning in their own words.
Finally, the value of the student’s voice is briefly illustrated through the experience of a free online course developed during the pandemic to help bridge the readiness gap and translate contemporary theory and research into practice. The paper concludes with a challenge to HEIs committed to a learner-centred approach to heed the lessons from this experience by developing digital supports and resources with a stronger underlying ethos of ‘for learners by learners’. The paper underscores the value of working in partnership with students to help develop new online solutions to the challenges and opportunities posed by new digital education models in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
Keywords:
Student readiness, online learning, literature review, COVID-19, learner voice
References
Beirne, E., Mac Lochlainn,C., Brown, M., & Nic Giolla Mhichíl, M. (2022). Student readiness for online learning: A systematic literature review. European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU). https://digitelpro.eadtu.eu/images/IO5A1_Student_Readiness_for_Digital_Learning_Literature_Review_FINAL_250822_1.pdf
Bond, M., Bedenlier, S., Marín, V.I., & Händel, M. (2021). Emergency remote teaching in higher education: Mapping the first global online semester. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 18 (50). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-021-00282-x
Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, A., (2020). The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. Educause Review, 27th March. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning
TOPICS
- Next Generation Teachers and Learners
- Research Designs for Uncertain Times
PRESENTED BY
Dr. Elaine Beirne, Dublin City University
Prof. Mark Brown, Dublin City UniversityAUTHORS
1.Dr. Elaine Beirne1
2.Prof. Mark Brown1
3.Dr. Conchur Mac Lochlainn1
4.Dr. Mairéad, Nic Giolla Mhichíl,11. Dublin City University
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