A4 Refereed article in a conference publication
Teachers' viewpoint on online courses
Authors: Päivi Kinnunen, Taina Eriksson
Editors: Bruce M. McLaren, Rob Reilly, Susan Zvacek, James Uhomoibhi
Conference name: International Conference on Computer Supported Education
Publishing place: Setúbal
Publication year: 2018
Book title : Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU
First page : 412
Last page: 417
ISBN: 978-989-758-291-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5220/0006786904120417
Web address : http://www.scitepress.org/DigitalLibrary/Link.aspx?doi=10.5220/0006786904120417
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/32497973
Many universities that have previously focused on offering blended learning or face to face courses are currently starting to offer more and more also online courses. This paper takes a closer look at the background and perceptions of eight teachers who are about to teach an online course for the first time. More specifically, we take a look at the teachers' perceptions of themselves as adopters of new pedagogy and new technology as well as their perceptions of strengths and weaknesses of online courses. The preliminary results suggest that our teachers feel rather comfortable with the new technology and especially with the new teaching methods. Most of the teachers identified themselves as innovators or early adopters of new teaching methods. Teachers perceived flexibility and efficiency as the most prevailing strengths of online teaching. On the other hand, weaknesses included workload, technical challenges, and various topics that relate to the lack of face to face interaction. We conclude by discussing what kind of pedagogical support and training the online teachers would benefit from.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |