Swedish upper secondary school teachers’ experiences with coping with emergency remote teaching (ERT) – emerging pedagogical issues in pandemic times

Acknowledgements and funding This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council [No. 2014-1762].Peer reviewedPublisher PD

As simple as pressing a button? A review of the literature on BigBlueButton

BigBlueButton is an open source virtual classroom software. Since this software was released in 2009, many studies have explored how to use it, especially for e-learning. However, to date, there is no published systematic synthesis of the relevant literature on the subject. This literature review appraises the effectiveness of BigBlueButton in educational settings and pulls relevant pieces of information together into a readable format. The main conclusion is that BigBlueButton is intuitive, interoperable with other software and has the potential to positively affect the learning performance of students. Despite the features and functionalities of BigBlueButton, several limitations are apparent: web conference educators have less control over online teaching compared with their face-to-face counterparts, practical subjects are difficult to teach through web conferencing, technical challenges may affect web-conferencing sessions, web conferencing requires skills additional to those of conventional teaching, cultural differences may affect students' attitudes towards web conference-based learning and educators that teach through web conferencing may feel isolated in their role, both geographically and collegially. By reviewing the features, potential impacts and limitations of BigBlueButton, this study contributes to the growing literature on web conferencing systems and provides insights into the role of BigBlueButton in e-learning. © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

God kvalitet i livestreamet undervisning – fra underviserens point of view

Bioanalytikeruddannelsen, VIA University College i Aarhus, har etableret et undervisningskoncept, som kombinerer traditionel og livestreamet undervisning.  Teknologiske udfordringer og begrænsninger i dialog er blandt de vigtigste udfordringer, eftersom undervisere anvender dialog og diskussion i traditionel undervisning. I artiklen præsenteres uddannelsens fornyede rammer og tekniske løsninger for livestreamingen og de didaktiske design, som disse forventes at understøtte, diskuteres. Resultaterne indikerer, at undervisningen ikke redidaktiseres i livestreamet undervisning, men er påvirket af undervisernes ønske om mulighed for dialog gennem anvendelse af kendte undervisningsformer og et lavt niveau af teknisk kompleksitet. Resultaterne viser desuden, at underviserne er afhængig af visuel kontakt med studerende for at etablere god undervisning baseret på dialog.

Web-based videoconferencing for teaching online : continuance intention to use in the post-COVID-19 period

Web-based videoconferencing has gained a great momentum worldwide, with extremely high adoption rates during the COVID -19 pandemic. The current study aims to investigate the use of web-based videoconferencing for teaching in the post-COVID-19 landscape. The study proposes and evaluates a model to predict continuance intention to use videoconferencing systems, from the perspective of University teachers. The proposed model combines constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Expectancy Confirmation Model (ECM). Sixty-six academic staff members filled out a survey questionnaire about their attitudes towards continuing using videoconferencing systems for teaching in the post-Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) period. Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used to test the measurement and the structural model. The model explains and predicts 73% of the total variance in continuance intention to use. User satisfaction with web-based videoconferencing and perceived usefulness are the top two strong predictors. Implications for school administrators and instructional designers are discussed

A Quantitative Study Comparing Student Engagement and Student Achievement for Non-Traditional Graduate Students in Blended Synchronous or Asynchronous Online Learning

Enrollment in online learning has continued to grow; different types of learning environments are being utilized because of the flexibility they provide. Higher education instructors must understand how to effectively develop asynchronous and blended synchronous environments to maximize student engagement and achievement. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to investigate the possible cause-and-effect relationship between the learning environment and student engagement and achievement at a free-standing seminary. A convenience sample of 144 non-traditional seminary students between the ages of 35-and 70 years attending classes in two different learning modalities, blended synchronous and asynchronous online were utilized in this study. Participants completed Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES) and the Online Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire (OSLQ) to measure student engagement and student achievement. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to investigate possible cause-and-effect relationship between the learning environment, student engagement, and student achievement. The results of the MANOVA were statistically significant for student achievement based on learning environment. There were no statistically significant differences between the type of learning environment and student engagement. Further research is recommended to determine if these results can be generalized to different types of institutions, both public and private, for traditional students

Navigating the challenges of delivering secondary school courses by videoconference

The purpose of this research is to unpack and learn from the experiences of teachers who deliver courses to remote secondary school students by videoconference. School districts are using videoconferencing to connect students and teachers who are separated geographically through regular live, real-time conferences. Previous studies have shown the inadequacy of videoconferencing to create effective learning communities when used solely as a lecturing tool, but there is limited research into understanding how to mitigate the challenges in order to leverage the tool for what it affords. This collective case study uses qualitative methods to examine those challenges and propose strategies for overcoming them. Five obstacles were identified (insufficient time, feelings of isolation, scheduling and logistics, unreliable technology and limited personal connection) with the following recommendations: leverage supporting tools, intentionally build presence and prioritize the programming within the district