Abstract
The rapid shift to online teaching and learning in postsecondary education during COVID-19 forced institutions to provide additional support and resources to instructors, especially those who were teaching online for the first time. The Online and Blended Teaching Readiness Assessment (OBTRA) was designed to assess the perceptions and competencies of instructors undertaking the move to online teaching to identify strengths and limitations. The present study identified the underlying factor structure and evidence of construct validity of the OBTRA for a sample of 223 postsecondary instructors (data collected from November 2019 to January 2020). An exploratory factor analysis revealed 5 factors that were interpreted as Technology, Engagement and Communication, Pedagogy, Perceptions of Teaching Online, and Organization. OBTRA scores were also found to be positively correlated with scores obtained from measures of instructional practices and teacher efficacy. The next steps in the development of the OBTRA are to examine how it can be used to enable academic units to provide the most appropriate support and resources aligned with instructor needs and to guide instructors to the initial steps required for successful transition to online teaching.
Highlights
Online courses are increasingly more common given the COVID-19 pandemic
The results suggest that, with further development, the Online and Blended Teaching Readiness Assessment (OBTRA) has the potential to be a useful tool to enable academic units to provide the most appropriate support and resources for instructors as they transition to online teaching and further develop their online teaching skills
We found preliminary evidence for construct validity of the OBTRA by examining relationships between its scores and scores obtained from other similar instruments
Summary
Instructors who taught students in face-to-face classes for much of their careers were forced to shift to the online teaching and learning environment rapidly and with little preparation. Self-assessment instruments that can determine areas for individualized development quickly are important for instructors and academic units (e.g., teaching and learning centres) to ensure resources are aligned with instructor needs. An inability or unwillingness to adopt student-focused approaches and the perception that online courses provide low quality learning environments (Gibson et al, 2008) and are not Online and Blended Teaching Readiness Assessment worthwhile (Allen and Seaman, 2015) can be important barriers to the successful transition to teaching online
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