Abstract
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an exploratory study that investigates Portuguese academics’ conceptions concerning the temporal properties of e-learning, in the context of traditional Higher Education Institutions.Design/methodology/approach– Grounded Theory methodology was used to systematically analyse data collected in semi-structured interviews with 62 academics. Data analysis followed the constant comparative method and its three-staged coding approach: open, axial and selective coding. Data collection and analysis developed until theoretical saturation was reached.Findings– Emergent academics’ conceptions concerning the temporal properties of e-learning indicate the existence of unregulated and unaccounted for dynamics, which are a direct consequence of transitioning from campus-based lecturing to teaching online using the affordances of virtual learning environments. This transition produces disruptions to established workload metrics and work patterns, as well as conflicts with dominant modes of instructional delivery that are not synchronised with the demands of online interaction and immediacy.Originality/value– This paper is valuable to e-learning strategists and administrators. An understanding of the temporal properties of e-learning as perceived by academics provides actionable knowledge that is directly applicable to the design of suitable work arrangements, normative frameworks and e-learning practices that address perceived time-related barriers. To mitigate the time-related conflicts and disruptions identified in the study the authors suggest the establishment of university-wide norms of virtual presence and the implementation of temporal protocols to sustain the productive engagement between instructors and learners.
Highlights
Previous research into social systems has established the complexity of theorising time (Adam, 1990; Giddens, 1994; Moore, 1963; Zerubavel, 1981) and temporality, understood here as the collective experience of time (Ballard and Seibold, 2003; Goméz, 2009)
By exposing the contingencies under which particular aspects of time in online teaching become more salient in the context of Higher Education Institutions, the findings reported in this paper contribute to the process of initial theorising on the topic of academics’ conceptions of time in e-learning
Emergent academics’ conceptions concerning the temporal properties of e-learning indicate the existence of unregulated and unaccounted for dynamics, mainly deriving from changes in the approaches to teaching online. The consequences of these changes result in perceived disruptions to established workload metrics, work patterns and conflicts with dominant modes of instructional delivery that are not synchronised with the demands of online interaction and immediacy
Summary
Previous research into social systems has established the complexity of theorising time (Adam, 1990; Giddens, 1994; Moore, 1963; Zerubavel, 1981) and temporality, understood here as the collective experience of time (Ballard and Seibold, 2003; Goméz, 2009). Contemporary social theory suggests an alternative to this duality and proposes the existence of interlacing forms of temporality: the day-to-day experience that is constituted in repetition (durée), the life-span of individuals in a biological sense and the time of institutions (longue durée) (Giddens, 1987). Drawing on Giddens and taking a practice-based perspective, Orlikowski and Yates (2002) focus on how time is enacted in organisations. Throughout this paper it is this practice-based perspective that will allow us to examine temporality from the perspective of academics doing their work and their interactions with the temporal features of e-learning
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