The Impact of Online Teaching on Higher Education
[Pages:281]THE IMPACT OF ONLINE TEACHING ON HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY'S PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY: THE COMING OF AGE OF THE VIRTUAL TEACHER: By EDWIGE SIMON M.A., Universit? Lille III, 2000 M.A., Indiana University, 2003 M.S., Indiana University, 2005
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy ATLAS Institute 2012
UMI Number: 3508146
All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
UMI 3508146 Copyright 2012 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346
This thesis entitled:
The Impact of Online Teaching on Higher Education Faculty's Professional Identity and the Role of Technology: The Coming of Age of the Virtual Teacher: written by Edwige Simon has been approved for the ATLAS Institute
_______________________________ John K. Bennett
_______________________________ Sarah Hug
_______________________________ Diane E. Sieber
_______________________________ Doug C. Sicker
_______________________________ Charlotte N. Gunawardena
Date
The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards
of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline.
IRB protocol # : 0310.6
iii
Edwige Simon (ATLAS Institute)
The Impact of Online Teaching on Higher Education Faculty's Professional Identity and the Role of Technology: The Coming of Age of the Virtual Teacher
Thesis directed by John Bennett, Archuleta Professor of Computer Science
This dissertation employs a mixed method approach to investigate the impact of online teaching on higher education faculty's professional identity, and the role played by technology in this process. Previous work on faculty preparation to teach online does not recognize that before changing practices, it is necessary to examine the values and belief systems that underlie those practices. I examine the results of two qualitative studies that compare different groups of teachers. The first group was comprised of teachers who teach both online and face-to-face, but who expressed a clear preference for the face-to-face classroom, and who reportedly experienced difficulty enacting their professional identity in the online classroom. The second group was comprised of online teachers with a record of online teaching excellence, and who reportedly enjoyed both modalities equally. I then examine the results of a survey of 223 higher education faculty that considers the degree to which findings from the first two studies can be generalized. This research helps identify how online learning is changing both teachers and the teaching profession within higher education, why many faculty remain ambivalent about online teaching, and suggests ways to address these challenges.
iv
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1
I. Background ......................................................................................................................... 1
II. Prior Research ................................................................................................................... 2
III. Research Goals ................................................................................................................. 2
IV. Methods ............................................................................................................................. 3
CHAPTER II: RELATED WORK ............................................................................................. 5
I. Online Teaching and Learning .......................................................................................... 5
1. Definitions........................................................................................................................ 5
1.1 Distance Education ..................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Face-to-Face Learning ................................................................................................ 6 1.3 Web Facilitated........................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Blended/Hybrid Learning ........................................................................................... 6 1.5 Online Learning .......................................................................................................... 6
2. Brief History of the Field ................................................................................................. 7
3. Online Learning in 2012 .................................................................................................. 8
3.1 Significant Growth ..................................................................................................... 8 3.2 The Main Actors of Online Learning ......................................................................... 9 3.3 Learning Outcomes .................................................................................................. 10
4. Practical Barriers to Online Teaching ............................................................................ 12
4.1 Pedagogy and Technology ....................................................................................... 12 4.2 Student Readiness..................................................................................................... 12 4.3 Time Commitment and Compensation..................................................................... 13 4.4 Perceptions of Online Learning ................................................................................ 14
II. Identity, Teaching Identity and Online Identity........................................................... 15
1. Identity ........................................................................................................................... 15
v
2. Identity Attributes .......................................................................................................... 16
2.1 The Social Construction of Identity ......................................................................... 16 2.2 Multiple Identities .................................................................................................... 17 2.3 Changing Identities................................................................................................... 18 3. Teaching Identity ........................................................................................................... 19
3.1 Definition.................................................................................................................. 19 3.2 Importance of Teaching Identity .............................................................................. 21 3.3 Academic Identity .................................................................................................... 21
4. From Classroom to Online Identity ............................................................................... 22
4.1 Embodied and Disembodied Identities..................................................................... 22 4.2 Online Teaching Selves ............................................................................................ 23 4.3 Identity Enactment Online........................................................................................ 24
III. Technologies of Distance Learning ............................................................................... 24
1. History of Distance Learning Technologies History ..................................................... 24
1.1 Garrisson and Anderson's Model ............................................................................. 25 1.2 Taylor's Model ......................................................................................................... 28
2. Technology Packages..................................................................................................... 29
2.1 The Course Management System ............................................................................. 29 2.2 Social Media ............................................................................................................. 31
3. From Text to Virtual Reality.......................................................................................... 32
3.1 Text-Based Technologies ......................................................................................... 32 3.2 Audio-Based Technology ......................................................................................... 34 3.3 Video-Based Technology: Exploring Telepresence ................................................. 35 3.4 Virtual Reality: Exploring Identity Construction ..................................................... 37
4. Limitations of Previous Work........................................................................................ 39
CHAPTER III: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................. 41 I. Teaching Identity and Communities of Practice ........................................................... 41 1. Why Look at Teacher Identity?...................................................................................... 41 2. Identities within Communities of Practice..................................................................... 43
vi
II. Identity Challenges of the Transition to the Online Classroom.................................. 44 1. Draw a Teacher .............................................................................................................. 44 2. Challenges to Cores Values and Beliefs ........................................................................ 45 3. Challenges to Traditional Modes of Enactments ........................................................... 46 4. Challenges to Professional Fulfillment .......................................................................... 47
III. Dealing with Dissonance ................................................................................................ 48
CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND PILOT STUDY ....................................... 49 I. Research Questions........................................................................................................... 49 II. Pilot Study ........................................................................................................................ 50 1. Framework ..................................................................................................................... 50 2. Methods.......................................................................................................................... 51 3. Findings.......................................................................................................................... 51 4. Significance.................................................................................................................... 52 5. A Reciprocal Impact ...................................................................................................... 52
CHAPTER V: METHODS ........................................................................................................ 54 I. The Choice of Mixed Methods ......................................................................................... 54 II. Qualitative Methods ........................................................................................................ 55 1. Research Strategy: Collective and Instrumental Case Studies....................................... 56 2. Participants..................................................................................................................... 57 2.1 Characteristics and Selection.................................................................................... 57 2.2 Recruiting Method .................................................................................................... 58 3. Data Collection and Recording ...................................................................................... 59 3.1 Interviews ................................................................................................................. 60 3.2 Observations ............................................................................................................. 61 3.3 Document Analysis .................................................................................................. 62
vii
3.4 Audio-Visual Material .............................................................................................. 63 4. Data Analysis and Interpretation.................................................................................... 63 5. Organization and Preparation of the Data ...................................................................... 63 6. Data Coding ................................................................................................................... 64 7. Findings and Discussion ................................................................................................ 64 8. Strategies for Findings Validation ................................................................................. 65
8.1 Role of the Researcher.............................................................................................. 65 8.2 Triangulation of Sources .......................................................................................... 65 8.3 Presentation of Negative Findings............................................................................ 66 III. Quantitative Research Methods.................................................................................... 66 1. Choice and Purpose of the Survey ................................................................................. 66 2. Survey Characteristics.................................................................................................... 66 3. Population and Sample................................................................................................... 67 4. Instrumentation .............................................................................................................. 68 5. Data Analysis ................................................................................................................. 69
CHAPTER VI: CASE STUDY ONE ........................................................................................ 70
I. Case Study One Findings ................................................................................................. 70
1. Finding 1: Participants' Professional Identities are Dominated by Teaching Identities 70
1.1 Participants are Professionally Fulfilled Classroom Teachers ................................. 70 1.2 Participants' Sources of Professional Fulfillment are Tied to the Face-to Face Nature of Classroom Teaching ......................................................................................... 71 1.3 Participants Have Mostly Stable Classroom Identities ............................................ 72 1.4 Discussion................................................................................................................. 74
2. Finding 2: Participants' Teaching Identities are Dominated by Classroom Teaching ... 75
2.1 Most Participants Prefer Face-to-Face Teaching ..................................................... 75 2.2 Few Participants Prefer Online or Report No Preference ........................................ 76 2.3 Participants Find Online Teaching Time Consuming .............................................. 77
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.
Related download
- transitioning to online a swot analysis by first time online
- bridges and barriers to teaching online college courses a
- digital literacy in higher education adobe inc
- online teaching and opportunities for professional development
- faculty development for online teaching as a catalyst ed
- the impact of online teaching on higher education
Related searches
- the impact of technology on education article
- articles on higher education benefits
- the impact of culture on education
- online teaching jobs higher education
- online teaching jobs higher ed
- the impact of online shopping
- the impact of the scientific revolution
- impact of online education articles
- the impact of video games on children
- teaching in higher education certificate
- the impact of social media on society
- council on higher education accreditation