Being subject-centred: A philosophy of teaching and implications for higher education

Being subject-centred as a higher education teacher offers a rich and illuminating philosophical and practical understanding of learning. Building upon previous research on subject-centred learning, we draw on reflection, literature review and a phenomenological approach to show how our ways of being infuse the teaching and learning environment. Philosophically, it is our way of being with our subject as teachers that influences the learning within our students. We show how posing the question: 'What is the best way to teach this subject?' helps a teacher find the best way to enhance the learning experience. It entails moving away from reliance solely on approaches that simply 're-present' content, such as lectures and online learning management systems, to interactive classrooms where space is created for the students to enter into their own engagement with the subject in a shared pursuit with the teacher, resulting in more effective teaching and learning. We illustrate this with personal accounts of our own journeys as teachers. We acknowledge that it takes courage to teach and to fully be subject-centred in the face of prevailing trends and pressures for other ways of teaching currently prominent in the higher education sector. But, ultimately, it is who we are as teachers that matters most, and being subject-centred provides the most effective way for us to most meaningfully reach our students

Engaging Students with Flipped Classes Using 3D Video Collaboration Technology

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of 3D video collaboration technologies to engage students with the learning materials prior flipped classes. The study uses iSee designed for 3D video collaborative classes and compared it with online learning management systems. An experiment has been reported on 273 students in an undergraduate Information System course. It was revealed that the correlation between either the students’ engagement on the online quizzes or their engagement on iSee discussions with their learning outcomes were high. However, our statistical analysis showed that the relationship between iSee engagement and students’ learning outcomes was stronger. The qualitative observations during this experiment are also discussed. The results have been discussed in the lens of Theory of Peer Learning and the future research have been suggested. This study motivates teaching practitioners in Information Systems to use 3D video collaboration technologies in flipped classes

Joomla as a Tool for Hybrid or Online Course Development

Joomla is a freely available content management system that streamlines development of complex websites. It is well-suited to the development of hybrid educational environments where online resources augment traditional classroom learning. While requiring more time and effort than most online learning management systems (e.g. Blackboard), Joomla-developed content can be made easily accessible to those not enrolled at an institution and can be maintained on department or college servers where faculty members can have greater control over their course materials. A user-friendly graphical user interface allows easy creation and management of individual webpages, while numerous freely available plugins and extensions requiring little to no programming expertise add capabilities such as online quizzes and easily displayed photo galleries. A website developed in Joomla for a sophomore level dendrology course will be demonstrated as an example of the advantages and disadvantages of this content management system for hybrid educational environments. Results of student surveys assessing this educational approach will be presented

Rural online learning in the context of COVID 19 in South Africa: Evoking an inclusive education approach

This paper discusses the challenges faced by rural learners in South Africa in the context of the world pandemic commonly known as COVID-19. Rural learners face unprecedented challenges in adjusting to a new mode of life and learning, the latter being characterised by the predominant use of online, learning management systems and low-tech applications. The paper is informed by critical emancipatory research, I used participatory action research. A total of 10 learners and five teachers participated via Whatsapp. The paper answers two questions: what are the learning challenges faced by rural learners in South Africa, and how can online learning be enhanced in the context of COVID-19? The findings suggest that, while the South African government is promoting online learning as the only alternative in the context of COVID-19, this mode excludes many rural learners from teaching and learning, due to a lack of resources to connect to the internet, the learning management system, and low-tech software. The paper argues that rural learners are critical stakeholders in education and in the fight against COVID-19, and they cannot be left behind in efforts to fight the pandemic.

Students' Interaction in the Online Learning Management Systems: A Comparative Study of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Courses

The quality of interaction between learners and online content is one of the imperative factors in determining the efficacy of web-based teaching-learning towards the creation and maintenance of sustainable learning communities. Interaction with content is an internal dialogue of reflective thought that occurs between learner and the substance. Interaction is often triggered and supported by events in the learning environment – focusing on how the learner interacts with what is to be learned. This paper looks at the difference in learners' interaction on the online Learning Management System (LMS) of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Based on a framework developed for investigating learners' interaction with online content in Wawasan Open University, data from the LMS log and activity database was extracted. The data is then analyzed based on the pattern and behavior of learners' interaction with the online content of the courses. Further analysis is done by transcribing the discussions and exchanges of teacher and learners within the online forums, specifically investigating the dimension, depth and category of exchanges that occurred. Based on the findings, several recommendations are made to enhance the design and delivery of web-based content, aiming at maximizing the efficacy of the online learning environment of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in open distance learning (ODL)

Effective User Experience in Online Technical Communication Courses: Employing Multiple Methods within Organizational Contexts to Assess Usability

In teaching online technical communication courses, shaping an electronic interface requires extensive consideration of the user experience, both for students and for faculty members who design and teach the courses. Technical communication faculty members should provide strong examples of effective user experiences and should be leaders in making the interfaces of online learning management systems as usable as possible. Principles of usability designed for general web sites may or may not apply to learning management systems designed for educational purposes. In order to create effective online technical communication courses, one needs to consider both usability concerns and pedagogical concerns. To assess the usability and pedagogical effectiveness of online courses, faculty members may use indirect means such as heuristic analyses. In addition, they may use direct means such as usability testing, student feedback, and analytic tools. Each approach has advantages as well as limitations. Faculty members will gain the richest information through using multiple approaches. In assessing usability and pedagogical effectiveness, faculty members also need to consider the situational constraints and resources in their unique contexts. Understanding and adapting their approaches to use resources well and to work within constraints will benefit their abilities to enhance their student users' experiences with online courses

Level Three Tutor Foundation Training Workbook

Tutor Training and EducationThe Learning CentresLevel IIITutoring is a key element in the wide range of student learning support services provided by the Learning Centres at KPU. The word tutor comes from late Middle English: from Old French tutour or Latin tutor, from tueri 'to watch, guard'. Ross MacDonald, in his guidebook The Master Tutor, refers to tutoring as “an act which facilitates or provides a structure for another’s learning.” And that a “tutor is a person, who, in a structured and supervised educational context, enters into a peer teaching and learning relationship with one or more others.” (p.6, 2000). While teachers are responsible to present approved content materials in a variety of ways that will engage and be accessible to a large number of learners. They are often working with groups of 24 to 35 to many more students at a time. They may provide instruction face to face or through online learning management systems. Peer Tutors are working with one or, at most a few, students who are trying to learn course content materials more deeply and the tutor will be coaching them in this learning. This workbook is part of the Level Three Tutor Training and Education program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.Peer reviewe