Factors shaping faculty online teaching competencies during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

In the rush for the Covid-19 pandemic's online transition, the pursuit of quality online learning was frequently overshadowed by the urgency of emergency instruction online. As blended and online teaching became an integral part of education, there emerged a need to investigate how faculty coped with this transition and what competencies they might be acquiring. In this paper, we report on international research about higher education faculty’s elicited dispositions and needs while they engaged with online teaching (OT), as these shape aspects of teacher competencies for integrating technology. This study aims to identify factors that shaped faculty competencies as pandemic restrictions forced transitions to OT. Snapshot surveys were conducted at two different phases of the pandemic, i.e. during the acceleration phase and the stasis one, approximately twelve months later. The surveys inquired about internal (e.g. enthusiasm and resolutions) and external (e.g. support) factors of faculty’s OT perceptions during two phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, enabling monitoring of the phenomenon beyond the assessment of the first response to the emergency. Results revealed different patterns of dispositions and diverse uses of technological affordances to foster online learning. These patterns were also found to differ over time, highlighting conditions possibly enabling or hindering the development of competencies for OT during different phases of the pandemic. One important finding is that there was a change from internal confidence to institutional support being a strong predictor of intentions to continue OT, over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Online Teacher Professional Development (oTPD) for Digital Competencies in Higher Education: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…In addition, Adi et al (2022) and Vaill and Testori (2012) stress the need for ongoing pedagogical and technical support after a professional development programme stops, in addition to mentoring and pedagogical introduction to the online format. This is further illuminated by Trevisan et al (2023), who document that some educator profiles were more positive towards online teaching in the context of COVID-19 than others, but also that their enthusiasm declines over time without institutional support and professional development. Cutri and Mena (2020) and Dorfsman and Horenczyk (2022) highlight the importance of a nuanced understanding of educators' transition to online learning during COVID-19 that takes their academic identity, digital literacy (before COVID-19), their student-centeredness, and affective perspectives into consideration in professional development initiatives.…”

Research and postgraduate supervision during the Coronavirus-19 pandemic: Lessons learned

“…On a much positive side, some researchers (Trevisan et al 2023), have argued that because most learning had to move to online platforms, we can realise the affordances of educational technology on pedagogy beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers are of the view that "all areas of research can be performed much more swiftly and efficiently" while using online platforms (Sohrabi et al 2021, 61).…”