No abstract

In recent years there has been widespread interest in the implementation of online courses in universities. While most studies about online learning environments primarily focus on technology‐related issues or instructional methods, little attention has been given to online teachers and their teaching approaches. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of how teachers approach online teaching and the factors affecting individual teachers’ approaches to teaching online, particularly in a fully online university. Nine hundred and sixty‐five (965) online teachers belonging to the Open University of Catalonia were surveyed. The dependent variables include three approaches to teaching online: the Content Acquisition approach, the Collaborative Learning approach, and the Knowledge Building approach. The explanatory variables are socio‐demographics, academic background, online teaching experience, studies taught, online teaching dedication, and teachers’ roles in teaching online. Multiple regression analyses are used to make inferential judgements and test the effects of the independent variables. Findings suggest that age, academic background, online teaching dedication, and especially teachers’ roles in teaching online are important predictors of the adoption of a particular approach to teaching online.

The aim of this paper is to understand the emotions associated with the experience of teaching online in an online university and the factors that influence these emotions. Nine hundred and sixty-five (965) online teachers at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (www.uoc.edu) were surveyed. Three emotions linked to teaching online were identified: satisfaction, relief and pleasure. Multiple regression analyses were used to make inferential judgments and test the effects of the teachers' demographic and professional variables. Findings suggest that satisfaction is associated with the instructional design and learning support roles and with the knowledge building approach; relief is inversely related to the content acquisition approach; and pleasure is linked to variables such as academic background and amount of online teaching hours, as well as the knowledge building approach. The practical implications of these results are discussed.

This study investigated the frequency of use of information problem‐solving (IPS) skills and its relationship with learning outcomes. During the course of the study, 40 teachers carried out a collaborative IPS task in small virtual groups in a 4‐week online training course. The status of IPS skills was collected through self‐reports handed in over the course of the 4 weeks. Learning was evaluated by means of open‐ended questionnaires before and after the group task. Three types of knowledge learning were evaluated: declarative, procedural and situational. Teachers exhibited a recurrent use of all skills during the whole collaborative task, although periodic use differed from week to week. Results showed a relationship between some IPS skills and declarative and procedural knowledge. The skills that were statistically significant were share information, read peer's information and analyse information. Implications for learning support and instruction are discussed.

No abstract