Hitting the nail on the head: the importance of specific staff development for effective blended learning

Abstract

Developing effective teaching practices within the higher education sector is an area of growing concern. Universities within the UK are judged on their competence in this area by mechanisms such as the National Student Survey and universities are anxious to be perceived as offering good quality teaching and learning experiences. The use of technologies, such as online learning environments, has pervaded many university courses and the teaching 'blend' increasingly relies upon these technologies to contribute towards programme delivery. It is claimed that student learning is supported by these systems; however, many academics remain frustrated with these teaching mediums. This paper reports results from a survey of 529 UK university lecturers who answered questions on their pedagogical beliefs and online teaching practices. The survey found a considerable difference between university lecturers' reported pedagogical beliefs and their actual practices when teaching online and concludes that online learning environments are rarely used effectively to promote student learning and any benefits attributed to their use can, therefore, be assumed to be largely rhetorical. Some student-centred practice was found, however. Those lecturers with teaching qualifications who had received specific training in the use of online learning environments were significantly more likely to use these environments in an effective way. Notably, more general forms of learning and teaching development appeared to contribute little to effective practice in this area. As UK universities face challenging financial constraints, the proportion of the online teaching 'blend' seems likely to increase in order to achieve more cost-effective programmes. The empirical research reported here suggests that in order to ensure that this blend is effective, and promotes student learning, specific pedagogical and technological staff development in this area is vital.

Identifying engagement patterns with video annotation activities: A case study in professional development

“…Rather than focusing solely on developing the technological skills of academic teaching staff, their understanding of effective socio-constructive learning strategies will further allow them to adjust their lecturing role to that of a facilitator guiding students' knowledge and skill development. Hence, professional development programs should provide opportunities for teaching staff to develop their conceptions of learning and teaching, and guide them towards more facilitation (Owens, 2012). One such way to foster reflection and understanding of effective learning strategies alongside experiencing the use of new online technologies, is by integrating multimedia case-based learning providing opportunities to broaden awareness, views, and understanding (Koury et al, 2009).…”

Practising what they preach? An investigation into the pedagogical beliefs and online teaching practices of National Teaching Fellows

“…In the non-expert sample (Owens, 2012), there were only a small number of correlations, compared to the expert teacher sample that had many correlated items. In particular, the non-expert teachers had few correlations between each subset's Belief and Practice and only three subset pairs correlated, namely: 'training for jobs' (r = .354, p < .001); 'using media' (r = .327, p < .001); and 'knowledge of subject' (r = .323, p < .001), i.e.…”

“…This instrument has been used by others subsequently (Owens 2012;Richardson, Dawson, Sadlo, Jenkins, & McInnes, 2007), and found to be valid and reliable. This questionnaire was amended for the present research so that the questions on teaching practices focussed specifically on online teaching practices.…”

Percepciones de estudiantes del Grado de Maestro sobre el proceso y resultados de la enseñanza semipresencial -Blended Learning

“…Ello pasa, en muchos casos, por recibir una formación continua en aspectos como el manejo de la tecnología. De hecho, otros estudios avalan que la recepción de formación sobre entornos formativos online aumenta sustancialmente la eficacia y satisfacción con su empleo (Owens, 2012).…”