Promoting preservice teachers? psychological and pedagogical competencies for online learning and teaching: The TEAC H. program

During the widespread COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face teaching was not viable because many schools were forced to close as a preventive measure. Educators abruptly shifted to online classes without sufficient time and resources to prepare for such an enormous transition. Although shifting from traditional face-to-face format to modern e-learning approach ensured that students could be educated outside of the classroom, its impact on the quality of learning and teaching (L&T) can be mixed. This study aims to address the knowledge gap in conventional teacher training by developing a web-based program called T.E.A.C.H. to enhance preservice teachers' psychological and pedagogical competencies for conducting online L&T. The program consisted of five modules, each focused on one dimension of psychological competence (creativity, curiosity, love of learning, judgment, and perspective) and applied to the 'three foci' for online L&T (attendance and participation, engagement, and assessment). Adopting a quasi-experimental design with matched sampling, a total of 314 preservice teachers were allocated into the intervention or control group. The intervention group was given access to the web-based program to receive training materials, learn about the content, and take part in the online L&T exercises. Program effectiveness was evaluated using pretest and posttest questionnaires, a teaching design task, short quizzes, and a program quality assessment. The results showed that the T.E.A.C.H. program was effective in promoting preservice teachers' psychological competencies, positive attitudes toward online L&T, self-efficacy to teach in an online format, intentions to use technology for L&T, and online pedagogical skills. The successful implementation of T.E.A.C.H. encourages school leaders, teachers, and teacher professional development providers to utilize this web-based program to enhance online teaching practices.

Learning in the New Normal Era: Students’ Perception on the Use of Open Educational Resources

The worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 has inevitably changed the teaching and learning practices in higher education, where online and blended learning are adopted to different extents. This paper reports the latest status of university students’ perception on the use of open educational resources (OER), based on a survey conducted in a university in Hong Kong. It is revealed that OER are often used for different learning purposes, and generally perceived to be useful, especially for supplementing course materials and doing assignments and projects. In comparing the results with earlier years’, there is a significant increasing trend in the frequency of use and the level of perceived usefulness, whilst the concerns about some known quality issues of OER, such as accuracy and comprehensiveness, are more or less similar. The findings confirm that, while teaching and learning practices are being transformed in this new normal era, OER have evolved as an indispensable source of learning materials, and that their usefulness has been more recognized than ever before. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Implication on Perceived Usefulness of Open Educational Resources After a Rapid Switch to Online Learning Mode

Evolved as open courseware, open online courses and tutorials, open access e-books and open source learning tools, open educational resources or OER are generally perceived as useful resources by university students. Over the last year, many higher education institutions have rapidly switched their usual classroom-based learning to online learning in order to accommodate the social distancing requirements arising from the outbreak of COVID-19. This paper investigates the implication on the students’ perceived usefulness of OER after the switch to online learning. Based on two identical surveys conducted in a university in Hong Kong before and after the change, it is revealed that the students’ perceived usefulness was generally increased, where the increase in perceived usefulness was more significant on open online complete courses, online tutorials, and open access e-books than other types of OER. It is also revealed that the students have become more aware of the shortcomings of OER, especially on accuracy and comprehensiveness. OER, especially open online courses, tutorials, and open access textbooks, are perceived to be useful for students to accommodate a rapid shift to online learning mode. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.