Evolving Strategies for Online Learning in Graduate Courses in Education

Internet-based learning is becoming more commonplace in post-secondary settings in canada and internationally, though, often, instructors struggle to develop effective programming for their students. In this article, we present three cases in which instructors critically reflect on their experiences designing and implementing online learning environments for various courses in the graduate programs in education at the university of ontario institute of technology (uoit) in oshawa, canada. The first case focuses on an instructor’s efforts to develop courses involving problem-based learning (pbl) on the basis of a faculty-developed conceptual framework. In the second case, an instructor describes how her experiences as a graduate student influenced her efforts to create community-centred online courses at uoit. In the third case, an instructor and his students reflect on the implementation of a major course assignment involving student-facilitated small group discussions. These cases provide insights regarding theory-informed graduate course development; consideration of meaningful past experiences in graduate course development; and strengths and weaknesses of hybrid online learning systems

Developing Learning Communities in Fully Online Spaces: Positioning the Fully Online Learning Community Model

The Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC), developed at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), is a social-constructivist model, addressing a paradigm shift in employment skills, and supporting key elements of transformational learning. Adopting a Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach to activity design, FOLC has served as basis for both undergraduate and graduate, fully online degree programs for almost a decade. In this time, it has demonstrated its ability to facilitate richly collaborative, socially cohesive, and constructively critical, learning communities supported by a flexible array of synchronous and asynchronous digital affordances. FOLC represents a “divergent fork” of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) design to foreground the synergistic dynamics of social and cognitive presence, the role of professional educators as co- learners, the community-oriented nature of knowledge construction, the mediating role of digital competence and open technologies in fully online learning, and the transformational potential of democratized communication and assessment practices. Having positioned FOLC conceptually, a developing research agenda, aimed at grounding the FOLC on a broader body of empirical data, is presented. The underlying argument is that rich, transformative learning communities can be established in fully online programs, and these communities can have a significant democratizing effect on participants and the broader social context

Examining Student and Educator use of Digital Technology in an Online World

Over the past thirty years, institutions of higher learning across the world have increasingly embraced digital technology for teaching and learning. Many institutions have begun to offer mobile, hybrid, and online courses and programs for enhanced relevance and accessibility. Universities and colleges employ digital technology through learning management systems for maintaining and processing educational information/records, offering blended/hybrid learning using asynchronous online student/instructor interaction and collaboration, and web conferencing software for synchronous and asynchronous virtual classroom functionality. Thus, it is critical for us to gain a better understanding the nature of these technological changes and the factors affecting the online realities of 21st Century teaching and learning. The study reported here involved students and instructors at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa, Canada using the General Technology Competency and Use (GTCU) Survey, in which they assessed the purpose and frequency for which they used a variety of digital technologies, and the confidence they had in using various digital technologies. Preliminary results indicated high scores in both confidence and frequency of use for computers/laptops and smartphones, and low scores for frequency of use and confidence with newer technologies, such as “wearables” and the “Internet of Things”

Examining Academic Performance Among Pathway and Non-Pathway Health Sciences Students

Pathway programs providing opportunities for students to more efficiently earn university degrees and college diplomas are proliferating in Canada and internationally. In Ontario, Canada, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and Durham College (DC) have jointly provided pathway programs for over a decade. These programs, in fields including science, health sciences (allied health sciences, kinesiology, nursing), social science and humanities (legal studies, criminology, commerce), nuclear power, and education (adult education, early childhood studies), facilitate inter-institutional transitions, and enable college graduates to obtain a 4-year (honours) university degree with as little as two additional years of study. This paper provides a quantitative, comparative analysis of the academic performance of pathway students (college-to- university transfer students) and their non-pathway, traditional counterparts (students who enter university directly from secondary school) enrolled in UOIT’s Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) and Bachelor of Allied Health Sciences (BAHSc) programs, and the collaborative UOIT-DC Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program. Results indicate that pathway students in these health sciences and nursing programs generally outperformed their traditional classmates in overall academic achievement; such results supporting the conclusion that college diploma programs in these areas tend to provide adequate preparation for successful pathway program completion

Exploring Student and Advisor Experiences in a College-University Pathway Program: A Study of the Bachelor of Commerce Pathway

Currently, there is great interest across Ontario in the expansion of pathway programs between colleges and universities. Through strategic partnerships, two Ontario-based postsecondary institutions (a college and a university) have developed innovative and effective pathway programs that facilitate the transition of students between institutions for the completion of degrees, diplomas, and certificates. These programs support the training of highly qualified, market-ready graduates. This paper reports on a mixed-methods study of the successes and challenges of a particular Ontario college and university pathway program, with a focus on the Bachelor of Commerce Pathway program. Preliminary results indicate that pathway students were more academically successful than their traditional university student counterparts but did experience a number of challenges in transitioning from college into university. Principal challenges included inefficient communication between program administrators, academic advisors, and students; lack of orientation activities for pathway students; lack of college student preparedness in communication and critical thinking skills; and difficulties experienced by college students integrating into the social-cultural life of the university.  Il existe présentement un grand intérêt partout en Ontario pour l’expansion de programmes de transfert entre collèges et universités. Grâce à des partenariats stratégiques, deux établissements postsecondaires localisés en Ontario (un collège et une université) ont créé des programmes de transferts innovateurs et efficaces qui facilitent la transition des élèves entre les établissements pour l’obtention de diplômes et de certificats. Ces programmes soutiennent la formation de diplômés hautement qualifiés, prêts pour le marché du travail. Le présent article présente une étude de méthodes mixtes portant sur les succès et les défis d’un programme de transfert particulier entre une université et un collège de l’Ontario, en misant particulièrement sur le programme de transfert du baccalauréat en commerce. Les résultats préliminaires indiquent que les étudiants du programme de transfert obtenaient de meilleurs résultats scolaires que leurs homologues aux études universitaires traditionnelles, mais qu’ils ont dû surmonter quelques défis pendant la transition du collège à l’université. Parmi les principaux défis, on trouve une communication inefficace entre les administrateurs de programmes, les conseillers pédagogiques et les étudiants; un manque d’activités d’orientation pour les étudiants des programmes de transfert; un manque de préparation en matière de communication et de pensée critique chez les collégiens; et des difficultés pour les collégiens à intégrer la vie sociale et culturelle de l’université

Symposium: Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education: Canadian Perspectives

This symposium examines Canadian perspectives on environmental and sustainability education in teacher education (ESE-TE) through the newly published Springer book volume titled, Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education: Canadian Perspectives (2019). The book’s contributors, from diverse faculties of education across Canada, employed a range of research methods in exploring various aspects of Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education (ESE-TE). The book includes the results of empirical and non-empirical studies, including case studies, mixed methods studies, self-study and narrative inquiry, as well as theoretical, conceptual and philosophical inquiries on ESE-TE. The book volume concludes that ESE-TE in Canada depends on the determined, persevering and passionate efforts of faculty members working in varied contexts while exhibiting a fair degree of autonomy. While provincial policy directives for ESE-TE are the exception rather than the norm, the degree of autonomy that post-secondary instructors enjoy could be further supported and strengthened by consistent policy directives that help further local curriculum development by faculty members representing different curricular areas. Additional empirical research is needed to identify specific factors—including a) approaches employed in Canadian ESE-TE programs, b) theoretical frameworks informing such approaches, c) curricular emphases and outcomes implemented in these programs, and d) experiences of ESE-TE students, instructors, administrators and policy-makers—that facilitate or hinder the enhancement of ESE-TE

Democratizing digital learning: theorizing the fully online learning community model

Abstract The integration of digital technologies at institutions of higher education are profoundly influencing formal learning on a global scale. Social-constructivist models of fully online learning are well-positioned to address the demands of government, and economic and social-development organizations for civically-engaged individuals with strong problem-solving, critical-thinking and collaboration competencies. With an established record of performance at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Canada, the Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) is one such model. This paper theorizes FOLC as a response to several problematics, including (a) the aforementioned demand for greater educational focus on higher-order competency development, (b) the deficiencies of distance education and MOOCs as learning models, and (c) a quest for new learning models that strengthen deliberation skills and deepen democratic experience. As a divergent fork of the Community of Inquiry model, FOLC describes collaborative learning as a symbiosis of social and cognitive interactions amplified through effective use of synchronous and asynchronous digital affordances. Furthermore, it models democratized learning communities that reduce transactional distance between learners and educators, incorporates authentic assessment, and encourages negotiated technology affordances and cognitive outcomes while distributing responsibility for constructive criticality. Having positioned FOLC conceptually, and addressed current limitations, a research agenda for extending its empirical foundations, and leveraging UOIT’s EILAB affordances, is presented. The underlying argument is that self-regulating and transformative learning communities can be established and sustained in fully online environments, and that such communities (a) produce a diversity of beneficial learning outcomes, and (b) deepen the democratic functioning of learners and their social contexts