“Simply the best”: Professors nominated by students for their exemplary technology practices in teaching

Abstract

Our goal was to explore the technology related pedagogical practices of college professors deemed by their students to be excellent in using technology in their teaching. We explored the views of 114 community / junior college professors who were nominated by their students as excellent in using technology in their teaching using both questionnaires and interview methods. Results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show no gender or years teaching in college differences in professors' self rated proficiency or comfort with technologies. Results also show that most professors taught themselves how to use technologies with the help of online resources, through trial and error, and with help from colleagues and support staff. Challenges using technology were related primarily to technical problems, such as technologies not working and the institution's computers and networks being slow. However, professors in our sample usually had a back-up plan and found ways to carry on even if the technology failed. Our findings report on the most and least frequently used technologies in face-to-face teaching, on how professors typically used the course management system, on how professors communicate with students, including the very small number who used social media to do this, and the likelihood of allowing students to use their personal mobile technology in class. Our findings also show that the professors showed their students how to use technologies required for the course. We discuss the practical significance of our findings and their implications for faculty, students, and the institution itself. In particular, we make recommendations about the need for ongoing collaboration between the institution, the professors, and the students and about technology related professional development professors would like to see their college provide.

Information and Communication Technologies: Views of Canadian College Students and “Excellent” Professors

“…It is possible that students can feel that they are expert because they use more social media and other non-academic ICTs. But this expertise may not transfer to academic ICTs, and professors may need to teach students how to use the ICTs needed for the course (Jorgensen, et al, 2018). Nevertheless students are not homogeneous in their level of ability, so it may be helpful if professors were to add Google references or YouTube videos to show students how to use required software.…”

“…This consists of a study which only examined students' experiences with the use of ICTs in post-secondary education (Fichten, et al, 2015) and a study which examined professors' perspectives (Jorgensen et al, 2018). Here we use a comparative framework to compare and contrast professor and student views.…”

“…Once an appointment time was set we met with the professor, who signed the consent form. Professors were interviewed (see Jorgensen, et al, 2018), and they then completed the Checklist of ICTs Used in Teaching, followed by the use of personal technology in class item and the perceived expertise and comfort in the use of technology questions. Table 1 presents the results from the Checklist of ICTs Used in Teaching.…”

Understanding the lived experience of faculty that integrate instructional technologies into their teaching : an interpretative phenomenological analysis

“…This research aligns with the interviews undertaken by Jorgensen et al (2018), which looked at the use of technology in pedagogy when teachers feel that their students are highly competent in the use of technologies. Their findings showed no variation between competence and willingness to employ technology between male and female teachers.…”

“…These outcomes replicate those of other studies that have found that educator technology training is most effective when it focuses on the use of the technology within the educational context and when the faculty members involved are trained in small groups. Jorgensen et al (2018) examined the technology-related pedagogical approaches that were employed by instructors who were of the perception that their students were excellent at using technology. The results revealed that male and female professors reported equal aptitude and comfort in the use of technology.…”