Novice Online Research Articles

Using threshold concepts about online teaching to support novice online teachers

As online learning expands across the higher education sector, individual university lecturers are required to take on roles that incorporate responsibilities for designing and teaching online courses. Their growing capacities to fulfil these roles are sometimes supported by professional development (PD) programs within their institutions while some staff engage in staff development activities outside their home institutions. These programs and activities may take place within Communities of Practice (CoPs) while others are conducted on an individual basis. While much research has been undertaken into the field of online teaching and learning, including investigations into the most useful technological tools to incorporate into the design of online courses, the design of PD curricula to support the needs of novice teachers of online courses has not been as extensively explored. This paper reports on the outcomes of an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) funded project which purposely set out to identify the threshold concepts about online teaching that university lecturers develop as they engage in both the individual and communal aspects of designing and teaching online courses. The paper explains how the identification of threshold concepts about online teaching informed the development of a set of curriculum guidelines for the PD of novice online teachers. Recommendations for the design of PD for individual teachers (at the “me” level) are provided along with recommendations for the institution (at the “us” level).

Adoption of online teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic: a systematic analysis of changes in university teaching activity

ABSTRACT Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Spring 2020, universities around the world have quickly adopted online teaching as an emergency measure. Informed by activity theory, the present qualitative case study aims to better understand the nature of the rapid institutional transition and its impact on academics’ pedagogical experiences during this period. A multiple set of qualitative data was collected in a national university in South Korea that rapidly made the online transition, following government directives in February 2020. This article provides useful accounts of the changes that occurred in interconnected teaching activity systems at the university while adopting online teaching, highlighting the complex factors underpinning individual academics’ experiences. The sudden shift in institutional teaching activities and conditions created a range of contradictions that were experienced as dilemmas by academics, the main subject of the activity systems. The results demonstrate that two groups of university faculty, separately identified as novice online teachers and expert online teachers, faced different dilemmas and challenges. An essential lesson learned from this analysis is the need for a more holistic, realistic, and sensitive approach to emergency teaching scenarios that may enable educational institutions to better respond to such emergencies in the future.

Advancing Online Teaching: Creating Equity-Based Digital Learning Environments by Kevin Kelly and Todd Zakrajsek

Reviewed by: Advancing Online Teaching: Creating Equity-Based Digital Learning Environments by Kevin Kelly and Todd Zakrajsek E. Nicole Meyer Kelly, Kevin, and Todd Zakrajsek. Advancing Online Teaching: Creating Equity-Based Digital Learning Environments. Stylus, 2021. ISBN 978-1-62036-722-3. Pp. xv + 248. While the move to online teaching caused by the Covid-19 pandemic was sudden (March 2020), the push to online teaching will continue to increase. For many French instructors, the notions of diversity, equity, and inclusion are on our minds due to the global reach of French, and our continuing efforts to include other French-speaking cultures into our teaching. This volume successfully incorporates inclusion, learning equity, and universal design for learning (UDL) into course design, writing course outcomes, course structure(s), activities and assessment. Thus, Kelly and Zakrajsek’s work helps French teachers to create an “instructor presence,” address different modes of learning, augment multiple paths for student success, and create the human connection our students crave. Many will appreciate the evidence-based ways to make adjustments to online courses, concrete teaching tips, and the differentiation between assessing teaching and student learning. The authors convincingly argue that to “advance online learning,” we must “teach in an increasingly inclusive, equitable, and compassionate way” (3). Divided into three parts, the first section concisely defines underlying concepts such as UDL, fostering human connectedness, and equity. It also addresses (re)writing SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Related) learning outcomes for equitable, inclusive online courses, and suggests concrete ways to establish a transparent organizational framework. To optimize engagement with course content, emerging technologies prove crucial to many. Best practices include aligning activities and assessment strategies with desired outcomes. The second section of the volume provides useful ways of promoting respectful, engaging discussions and other meaningful, often interactive, online activities. French teachers all invest immense time building authentic and engaging learning situations. Learning to manage student and instructor expectations through workload management strategies while assuring truly diverse, equitable and inclusive learning environments is essential to our well-being. The final part of the volume aids us to make effective adjustments to our online courses. A growth-minded approach to teaching online underlies the authors’ suggestions. Useful recommendations for authentic assessment of both our courses and of student learning translate well to our discipline. The complete bibliography, lists of URLs and applicable technologies are helpful. The strengths of this work are multiple: its usefulness for experienced and novice online instructors, its solid theoretical grounding, as well as a truly inclusive approach that includes Quality Matters (QM) considerations and goes beyond. Together, these features can remind instructors of essential factors for all students, including the building of a respectful equity-minded learning community. Suggestions of engaging, inclusive thinking, and diverse discussion and other activities prove applicable for language and more advanced French students. For teachers seeking primarily French-speaking examples or French-focused tools to create safe classroom environments [End Page 211] welcoming LGBTQIA+ students, this volume will prove less useful. Rethinking the French Classroom: New Approaches to Teaching Contemporary French and Francophone Women (Routledge 2019) and Teaching Diversity and Inclusion: Examples from a French-Speaking Classroom. (Routledge 2021) better serve that purpose. While not targeting those specific lenses, this current volume should prove useful to French teachers as they design and enact their online courses. [End Page 212] E. Nicole Meyer Augusta University (GA) Copyright © 2022 American Association of Teachers of French

An exploratory study of how novice instructors pivot to online assessments strategies

ABSTRACT Increasingly, graduate student instructors (GSIs) teach online without prior formal training on how to design online assessments of learning and participation. We present findings from a collective case study of seven GSIs at a university in the United States of America to describe how these novice online instructors learned to enact assessment strategies in an online classroom. Findings reveal that the GSIs were influenced by professional learning networks such as peer communities of practice, the academic Twitter community, student feedback, and faculty gatekeeping of institutional resources and policies. With limited institutional and departmental support, the GSIs struggled to transform their face-to-face assessments to leverage technology but leaned on their professional judgment to prioritize traditional discussion and participation structures. Findings inform our understanding of how universities might prioritize professional learning networks on online teaching at differing institutional levels to increase GSIs’ access to online teaching information and knowledgeable role models.

Remote Online Teaching (ROT) in response to COVID‑19 pandemic: Exploring instructors’ experience

Background: Due to COVID‑19 pandemic, the whole world has experienced a rapid, mass university closure and a forced transition to online teaching to minimise disruptions to the academic year. The quick transition from in‑person to online teaching is presumed to be a challenging endeavour for many novice online instructors, and it is a ‘grand experiment’ that needs to be explored. Purpose and Research question: The aim of this research was to explore the Maldivian instructors’ experience of the COVID‑19 forced transitioning to remote online teaching. The research was guided by five central questions intended to gauge information focusing on teaching and learning and assessment strategies, support received, challenges and concerns, students’ reactions to the new learning experience, and recommendations from the instructors. Methodology: The study followed a qualitative multiple‑case study approach exploring the emergency remote online teaching experience of 7 instructors from three different higher education institutions that adopted a remote online learning strategy to allow educational continuity. Participants were selected through purposive convenience and snowball sampling method. The source of data for this research was a completed semi‑structured interview questionnaire and a phone interview conducted to confirm the information provided when deemed necessary. Manual thematic coding was applied to analyse open responses, and precoded aspects adopted from literature were analysed for its absence or presence in each of the cases. Cross and within case and institution analysis was performed to enable a coherent discussion. Findings: The findings of the study revealed that many instructors adopted a variety of strategies fit for an emergency online learning context and the main form of support was focused on technology integration rather than online pedagogy. The mains concerns identified related to student disengagement, instructor and student readiness and scepticism around online teaching influenced by traditional pedagogy. Conclusion and recommendations: Going forward, online teaching has to be carefully planned, systematically designed, to be effective. Instructors need to be supported to reformulate their teaching philosophy and develop competencies necessary for online teaching.

Re)engaging novice online learners in an educational programming game

Many people are learning programming on their own using various online resources such as educational games. Unfortunately, little is known about how to keep online educational game learners motivat...

A professional learning program for novice online teachers: Application of professional development guidelines using threshold concepts and online learning perceptions

The professional development of online teachers is now commonplace in most universities. Alongside the relatively straightforward decision to provide professional learning support for novice and experienced online educators within universities, decisions about the nature and content of such support are not always as clear cut. The study aimed to gather evidence about the experiences and views of current students and staff which, in turn, informed a set of pedagogical guidelines that could be used as the basis of professional learning programs for novice online teachers. Using a mixed methods research design, data were gathered using questionnaires, reflective journals and focus groups to determine the threshold concepts about online teaching, and perceptions of ideal online learning contexts. As well as identifying threshold concepts about online teaching and perceptions of teachers’ and students’ ideal views of online learning contexts (reported elsewhere), the study produced curricular guidelines to inform the design of professional development outputs for online teachers in higher education contexts. This article reports on an example of how these professional development guidelines were implemented at one higher education institution to provide wide-scale implementation of a professional development program for academic staff engaged in online teaching.

Award-winning faculty online teaching practices: Elements of award-winning courses

The purpose of this study was to explore award-winning instructors’ insights on elements of their course design that were “award-winning” and the differences between expert and novice online instructors. Interviews were conducted with eight award-winning online faculty members from across the United States who had received online teaching awards from one of three professional associations. The five main areas that emerged from the data analysis were, a) authentic and relevant course materials that connect to practice, b) the use of multimedia resources c) student creation of digital content individually and collaboratively d) students’ reflection on learning and e) the instructor’s explanation of the purpose of activities, technologies and assessments in the online course. Additionally, award-winning faculty emphasized the importance of using data and evaluation practices and reflecting on course offerings in the development of an excellent online course. Award-wining faculty described expert online instructors as being experienced and comfortable in the online environment, using a wide range of strategies, being willing to learn, using data and analytics, and engaged in continuous improvement. The findings add to the literature on best practices and what constitutes excellence in online courses.

Training model for online nurse educators

Background and objective: Online instruction is very different from teaching in a face-to-face setting and educators may lack formal pedagogical training specific to online instruction; in addition, online instructors may feel isolated and have less access to direct support than their counterparts on campus. The objective of this study was to promote best practice in online education through faculty support and professional development; a structured online training process was created.Methods: Design: Instructors that teach in the online venue need teaching and training to feel comfortable with the technology and online pedagogy strategies that support best practice in online education. A structured training process was created to support novice online educators. Setting: Nursing faculty and Masters of Science in Nursing education track students co-taught one online class together. Participants: Faculty and senior level Masters of Science in Nursing education track students were asked to reflect on their one-year teaching and training experience as educators. Methods: Qualitative analysis using Denzin’s interpretive interactionism was used to elicit meaning from participant experiences.Results: Four themes emerged from the data; online pedagogy, knowledge acquisition, mentor-mentee role, and online nurse educator. These themes align with the scholarship of teaching, discovery, application, and integration, respectively. The Training Model for Online Nurse Educators was developed to show this relationship.Conclusions: Using Boyer’s model of scholarship as a framework for online training can prepare instructors for the online nurse educator role. Online instructional delivery is a mainstay in education necessitating nurse educators who are prepared to apply best practice strategies in online education.

Novice online educator conceptual frameworks: a mental model exploration of mindful learning design

ABSTRACTThis research study explores the relationship between the socio-cognitive concept of mindfulness and university educators’ learning design conceptualisations. The multi-method research strategy utilises a concept-mapping exercise to reveal learning designer mental models for comparison with Langer Mindfulness Scale scores and critical event interviews to further illuminate the conceptualisations and factors that impact educators’ thinking when designing online units. Research participants were asked to create a concept map of their learning design and to be mindful of concepts incorporated into a Graduate Certificate of Tertiary Education. The analysis highlights some congruence between educators’ mindfulness dimensions and their learning design conceptual frameworks. The mindfulness scores appear to indicate a propensity to be more mindful in designing curriculum, as indicated by participant concept maps, yet not necessarily towards the adaptive use of technology or learner/activity-based pedagogies. The authors suggest metacognitive strategies to encourage learning design reconceptualisation.

“FREE SHIPPING” OR “DOLLAR OFF”? THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF LIST PRICE AND E-SHOPPING EXPERIENCE ON CONSUMER PREFERENCE FOR ONLINE DISCOUNT

The use of online shopping has grown exponentially over the last decade. Although traditional and internet shopping behaviors are similar in some ways, there are some significant differences. To this end, this paper investigates the role of different types of pricing discounts in shaping consumer evaluations when shopping online. In particular, we examine the moderating effects of the list price value and online shopping experience on the consumer evaluation of “free shipping” and “dollar off” discounts. Past research suggests that the free shipping offer will be more attractive than the dollar-off offer when they are of the same economic value. This study contributes to our understanding of research by examining the moderating effects of changes in list price and the consumers’ online shopping experience. The results of the quasi-experimental design suggests that the free shipping offer works better than a dollar-off discount for lower-priced goods, but there is no difference between the two for higher-priced goods. Additionally, seasoned online shoppers are more receptive to both types of pricing discounts, no matter the list price, than are novice online shoppers. To cite this document: Shimi Naurin Ahmad and Michael Callow, FREE SHIPPING” OR “DOLLAR OFF”? THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF LIST PRICE AND E-SHOPPING EXPERIENCE ON CONSUMER PREFERENCE FOR ONLINE DISCOUNT , International Journal of Electronic Commerce Studies, Vol.9, No.1, pp.55-70, 2018. Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.7903/ijecs.1542

Threshold concepts about online pedagogy for novice online teachers in higher education

ABSTRACTThe use of threshold concepts to define key points of curricula is a relatively recent development in educational research. Threshold concepts represent crucial stages of learning, the acquisition of which enables learners to progress from one level of achievement to another. In this context, the learner is described as passing through an unsettling liminal space in which they may encounter troublesome knowledge and experience uncertainty or anxiety. When applied to online pedagogy in higher education contexts, academic staff become the learners as they extend their on-campus teaching knowledge into the online realm. In this setting, the identification of threshold concepts has the potential to inform the content of professional development (PD) programmes for novice online teachers. Because little research has yet been reported on threshold concepts associated with online teaching, this study identified these threshold concepts and investigated their specific nature. Funded by an Office for Learning and Teaching Australia Grant, the project employed a mixed-methods research approach. A mixture of qualitative and quantitative data was gathered from responses to questionnaires and reflective journal entries provided by university educators who were teaching in online contexts. Also, experts in the fields of PD, online teaching and threshold concepts were consulted using a modified Delphi technique that incorporated two rounds of surveys. Results of this study are discussed in association with potential applications to PD design for novice online educators, informed by the most fundamental learning experiences encountered by their more experienced colleagues.

Tenure-track Faculty Determine the Success of Online Graduate Education

Tenure-track Faculty Determine the Success of Online Graduate Education Carmen King de Ramírez Keywords courses/cursos, faculty/profesoriado, graduate/graduado, language/lenguas, online/en línea Response 1 to "Meeting Twenty-First-Century Needs: Spanish for the Professions as the Future of Spanish Graduate Education?" "Meeting Twenty-First-Century Needs: Spanish for the Professions as the Future of Spanish Graduate Education?" provides insights to how one particular university is confronting the decreased student enrollments seen across foreign language (FL) graduate programs in the United States. The author discusses the importance of online post-graduate language courses through examples of how such courses would meet a variety of working professionals' needs as well as increase languishing enrollments in post-graduate FL programs. This argument is followed by an overview of an existing online Spanish for the Professions Master of Science degree (SPMS). While the SPMS clearly fills a gap in FL education, the widespread skepticism that many language educators harbor regarding online language courses may impede the quality, vitality, and implementation of such programs (Blake 2007). Elizabeth Harsma (2017) briefly alludes to and refutes common objections to online FL language education but admits that faculty interest continues to be an issue since two faculty members primarily teach the courses. While the programmatic structure is innovative and promising, the reader is left to question the longevity and quality of the program as the author fails to mention strategies for training and recruiting tenured and tenure-track faculty who are qualified to teach at the post-graduate level. The lack of tenured and tenure-track faculty interest in online education (Allen and Seaman 2010; Kim and Bonk 2006) is illustrated by the numerous studies on non-tenured online faculty in comparison to limited publications regarding online tenured and tenure-track faculty (Drewelow 2013; LoBasso 2013). One factor that may contribute to this phenomenon is that tenured and tenure-track positions are evaluated largely on research production with little incentive for undertaking new pedagogical endeavors (Zhao and Cziko 2001). The lack of incentive that the tenure track system places on pedagogical innovation is compounded by the fact that novice online instructors must invest a considerable amount of time in familiarizing themselves with course materials, digital platforms, and resources provided by ancillary staff such as instructional designers and web programmers (Bartolic-Zlomislic and Bates 1999; Stone and Perumean-Chaney 2011). Such distractions from academic research may explain why part- time and adjunct faculty are more frequently assigned online teaching assignments than full-time faculty (Seaman 2009). Despite the aforementioned challenges in recruiting tenured and tenure-track faculty to teach online, experienced online professors reported an increase in productivity as the flexibility of online instruction allowed them to spend more time on service or research (Meyer 2012). In order to help T/TT faculty reconceptualize online teaching, departmental training and faculty [End Page 153] mentorship programs are an indispensable means of helping faculty integrate technology in a way that presents minimal disturbances to their established academic routine (Gabriel and Kaufield 2008; Zhao and Cziko 2001). In conclusion, the future of online graduate programs such as SPMS does not depend on the clever creation of online courses but the department's commitment to training/incentivizing tenured and tenure-track faculty members to teach online. Carmen King de Ramírez University of Arizona WORKS CITED Allen, I. Elaine, and Jeff Seaman. (2010). "Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010." Sloan Consortium. Print. Google Scholar Bartolic-Zlomislic, Silvia, and AW Tony Bates. (1999). "Investing in On-line Learning: Potential Benefits and Limitations." Canadian Journal of Communication 24.3. n.p. Print. Google Scholar Blake, Robert J. (2007). "New Trends in Using Technology in the Language Curriculum." Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 27: 76–97. Print. Google Scholar Drewelow, Isabelle. (2013). "Exploring Graduate Teaching Assistants' Perspectives on their Roles in a Foreign Language Hybrid Course." System 41.4: 1006–22. Print. Google Scholar Gabriel, Martha A., and Kandra J. Kaufield. (2008). "Reciprocal Mentorship: An Effective Support for Online Instructors." Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning 16.3: 311–27. Print. Google Scholar Harsma, Elizabeth. (2017). "Meeting Twenty-First-Century Needs: Spanish for the Professions as the...

The Impact of Previous Online Course Experience on Students' Perceptions of Quality

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether experienced online students (who have completed seven or more online courses) perceive the quality of their courses differently than novice online students (who have completed three or fewer online courses) or students with an intermediate level of online course experience (those who have completed four to six online courses). Overall, 3,160 online students completed a survey which asked them to indicate the extent to which statements derived from the Quality Matters rubric contributed to student success. The results indicate that students rated some items differently based on their previous online course experience. Novice online learners felt that having netiquette guidelines clearly stated was more important than experienced online learners. Experienced learners rated several items as being more important than novice and/or intermediate online learners, including items related to self-introductions, appropriateness of assessments, relevance and quality of instructional materials, clarity of requirements for interaction, ease of navigation, and availability of required technologies. The implications of these findings for course designers and instructors are discussed.

Using TPCK as a scaffold to self-assess the novice online teaching experience

How does one evaluate one’s own online teaching? Do novice online instructors depend on end-of-semester course evaluations or a Quality Matters rubric? Perhaps their professional development is driven by a personal belief that seeking multiple perspectives from different lenses is core to reflective practice. This work explores one way to interrogate one’s own online teaching practices through a systematic reflection on technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK). It involved identifying and reflecting upon instances in which TPCK was evident in the design and facilitation of the online learning environment in an undergraduate online course. Ways to improve online teaching based on increased meta-cognitive awareness of TPCK are considered. Implications of this self-study for distance learning professional development are discussed.

Corrective Feedback in Asynchronous Online Interaction: Developing Novice Online Language Instructors

This design-based research study investigates the instructional moves employed by novice online tutors to provide form-focused feedback to Belorussian college-level English language learners during written interactions in an online asynchronous language course. The investigation focused on the amount and effectiveness of implicit and explicit corrective feedback provided by instructors during online interactions. The findings of the study suggest that tutors mostly saw themselves as conversational partners and rarely provided form-focused feedback. By prioritizing communicative meaning-centered interaction, the novice online tutors missed plenty of opportunities to improve the quality of their students’ L2. Implications for more targeted forms of teacher preparation which expose novice online teachers to theory and practice of providing form-focused feedback are discussed.

Identifying training needs of novice online english language tutors

El aprendizaje en linea y mixto son de creciente interes en la comunidad de aprendizaje del idioma ingles. En Colombia, se han lanzado iniciativas y politicas nacionales que promueven programas educativos y cursos de ingles en linea. Como resultado, la demanda de tutores virtuales para este tipo de programas se hace mayor cada dia. Este articulo se centra en la capacitacion como una manera de preparar a los profesores de aula de clase para que se conviertan en tutores en linea capaces de apoyar los procesos de aprendizaje de idiomas virtuales y mezclados (virtuales y presenciales). El estudio fue realizado utilizando el metodo de analisis de necesidades para la recoleccion de la informacion. Durante el estudio, se uso un cuestionario para recoger datos sobre las necesidades que los docentes percibian en materia de formacion para convertirse en tutores de ingles en linea. Los resultados del estudio sugieren que los tutores virtuales novatos tienen que familiarizarse con las caracteristicas especificas de las plataformas de aprendizaje de idiomas en linea y, ademas, requieren capacitacion en las competencias y habilidades necesarias para convertirse en tutores. Los hallazgos sugieren la capacitacion continua en e-moderacion para los tutores del manana.

On the motivating impact of price and online recommendations at the point of online purchase

Do online recommendations have the same motivating impact as price at the point of online purchase? The results ( n = 268) of an conjoint study show that: (1) when the price is low or high relatively to market price, it has the strongest impact (positive and negative) on the likelihood of an online purchase of an mp3 player, (2) when the price is average to market price, online recommendation and price are equal in their impact at the point of online purchase, and, (3) the relative impact from price increases when online shopping frequencies increases. The implications these results give are that online retailers should be aware that online recommendations are not as influential as a good offer when consumers purchase electronics online. However, other customer recommendations have a stronger impact on novice online shoppers than towards those consumers that shop more frequently online.

Perspectives on Online Teaching and Learning: A Report of Two Novice OnlineEducators

Population growth (Broad, 1997), institutional competition (Daniel & Cox, 2002), and changing learner needs (Willis, Tucker, & Gunn, 2003) are among the issues influencing the increase in online teaching and learning. Related to this, emergent and expanding distance learning technologies have subsequently pitted “brick and mortar” against “online” paradigms. This has resulted in a need for research to clarify the relevance, effectiveness, restrictive and facilitative dimensions of online courses. For example, faculty are increasingly expected and encouraged to develop and teach online courses often with misperceptions about required pedagogical skills and without adequate support and preparation (Choi & Park, 2006). This qualitative study is therefore, aimed at sharing the experiences and perspectives of two novice online instructors’ operating within two colleges in the eastern US. These instructors initially shared that a key motivation for the teaching of their online courses was fear of becoming professionally out of date and of ‘giving in’ to technophobia. This paper reports on the background to--and different approaches adopted towards--developing two online courses as well as providing student perceptions of their on-line learning experience. Findings and recommendations from this research are aimed at providing an insight into some of the fundamental issues that other novice ‘online’ instructors will need to consider in developing their own technology mediated courses.

Adult learners’ emotions in online learning

The aim of the research study reported in this article was to investigate how adult learners talk about their emotions in the context of a year‐long online course, the first online course these adults take, as part of a distance education program. The theoretical and methodological approach focused on formulating an account of how emotion discourses are used by learners, what role they play in online learning, and how they change over a one‐year period (if they do so). The findings of this study provide three insights: (1) they show how adult learners (who also happen to be novice online learners) respond emotionally and talk about their emotions in relation to online learning; (2) they call attention to the ways in which emotion talk changes from the beginning of the course to the end, always in response to specific demands and dimensions of online learning; and (3) they reveal the differential emotional responses between men and women in relation to their social and gender roles and responsibilities. Empirical and policy implications of this study are discussed at the end.