Faculty’s Pedagogical Knowledge for Technology-Enhanced Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

The inexorable growth of technological use amidst the pandemic of COVID-19 strengthens the emerging new paradigm in education and accelerates the need for technology supported-pedagogical knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the principles of the four learning theories; behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and connectivism, are implemented in the technology-enhanced learning environment to help faculty align their pedagogy and teaching methods with technology. To achieve this goal, a review is conducted to survey relevant literature concerning learning theories and pedagogical models. This review relies on four major bibliographic databases; Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar through which a large number of articles are identified. Twenty-seven articles are selected according to the scope of the study. Then, a qualitative analysis is conducted to identify the four learning theories as they are implemented in the online environment. The proposed pedagogical framework classifies the four learning theories in a pyramid in a hierarchical order according to their adherence to the student-centered learning approach. Connectivism is placed at the top of the pyramid due to the wide opportunities it offers for learners’ autonomy, interactivity, and diversity. Constructivism precedes as it is also centered on learners allowing for knowledge construction.