The Role of Peer Learning among University Teachers in Integrating Digital Technologies into Higher Education Teaching

Abstract

The article is based on research aimed at exploring how teachers from the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University integrated digital technologies into their teaching in connection with the transition to emergency remote teaching. The main research question was aimed at identifying the role played by peer learning among university teachers in integrating digital technologies into higher education teaching. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 34 teachers from the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University in the fall semester of 2020. The results indicate that although teachers valued the support of a technological workplace, they more strongly considered consultations with and advice from their colleagues. I identified four main roles played by peer learning among university teachers in integrating digital technologies into higher education teaching. The roles are: offering emotional support, understanding needs, providing intelligible advice, and mediating experience. I also address two limitations to peer learning that need to be considered: the limited variety of technological tools and fragmented and unsubstantiated procedures. Studies have repeatedly shown that peer learning plays a long-term role in the process of integrating and adapting technologies into higher education; however, until now we have lacked information on the significance of peer learning for teachers in integrating digital technologies and on its limitations, both of which I address in this study.