ICT Transformation in Education: Its Impact on Language Teachers' Professional Identities

Rapid and continuous changes in digital technologies have changed both classroom practices and teacher profiles in education. It can be argued that a new context of teaching may lead some teachers to develop a different teacher identity in order to meet the needs of the era. Within this perspective, this case study attempts to explore the impacts of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) revolution in education on teachers' professional identity through the lens of three English instructors from three different contexts in Turkey. The study particularly focuses on reflections of teachers during the pandemic. As a theoretical framework, the study adopts Wenger's (1997) social theory of learning and, within this framework, it discusses these teachers' professional identities in relation to their ICT usage. In particular, three modes of belonging, Engagement, Imagination and Alignment, are underlined. A qualitative approach is employed based on the written history documents of the participants and semi-structured interviews as data collection tools. The findings are gathered with a deductive thematic analysis, and they illustrate that teachers have some external and internal difficulties regarding their ICT usage, and they form a new shape of professional identity mainly through collaboration, community expertise and contributing new ideas in their school contexts. Although the use of new digital technologies mostly enables them to adopt a positive and modern teacher identity in their teaching contexts, it also leads some of them to sometimes question their teacher identity due to their limited ICT knowledge and competence. Thus, the study suggests some implications both for language teachers to invest in their digital identities, and for school administrations to create a friendly atmosphere where the community of expertise can be shared freely among teachers.

Interdisciplinary Teaching Reform of Financial Engineering Majors Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process in the Post-Pandemic Era

In the post-epidemic era, the labor market has become increasingly complex, making it even more crucial to incorporate sustainability into employment demand. As we enter the post-pandemic era, a globalization trend has become more apparent. It is crucial to modernize employability through educational reform in order to assist employees in enhancing their professional skills. This study began by analyzing the importance of financial engineering practice instruction and graduate employability in the post-epidemic era. Second, the study proposed the content and a plan for inter-disciplinary teaching reform to address talent cultivation needs based on labor market requirements. Third, a face-to-face survey and interview were conducted with students affected by changes in teaching, and the results were analyzed and summarized. On this basis, the impact of education reform was evaluated using both the expert scoring method and the analytic hierarchy approach. The results indicated that the suggested financial engineering teaching reform program improved the school's discipline strength, enrollment rate, employment rate, and competition awards, especially discipline strength. This research can be used to inform the teaching of financial engineering majors in various countries, assist job candidates in enhancing their professional skills, and build a formidable talent pool for the labor market.

The Sociological Role of Empathy in the Classroom

Teaching during a global pandemic has prompted many discussions about how faculty can best support students and create classrooms where deep learning and engagement occur. In this conversation, we argue there is a role for empathy in college classrooms. We present data from interviews with faculty at a small, Midwestern, teaching-focused university during the fall of 2020. We map these perspectives onto the empathy paths framework and suggest that the therapeutic and instrumental paths are most useful for understanding empathy in the classroom. We also discuss why it is important for faculty to think about empathy and the role sociology can play in these conversations. Finally, we present a series of empathetic practices individual faculty can incorporate into their pedagogy and structural supports that departments and universities can provide to help faculty engage in empathetic practices in the classroom.

Navigating old and new terrains of academic practice in higher education: indelible and invisible marks left from the Covid-19 lockdown

Higher education has been (re)shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic in ways which have left both indelible and invisible marks of that period. Drawing on relevant literature, and informed by an exchange catalysed through a visual narrative method, authors from four European universities engage with two reflective questions in this article: As academics, what were our experiences of our practice during the lockdown periods of the Covid-19 pandemic? What might we carry forward, resist or reimagine in landscapes of academic practice emerging in the post-Covid future? The article explores how academics experienced and demonstrated resilience and ingenuity in their academic practice during that turbulent time. Particular insights include entanglements of the personal and professional, and the importance, affordances and limitations of technology. In addition, the authors reflect on some of the ongoing challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, such as education inequalities. The article concludes by reprising the key points about what marks are left behind in the post-Covid present, and how these relate to the future in which relational pedagogy and reflexivity are entangled in the ways in which we cohabit virtual and physical academic spaces. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of London Review of Education is the property of UCL Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Evaluating the Federal Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority: Early Implementation and Progress of State Efforts to Develop New Statewide Academic Assessments. Evaluation Report. NCEE 2023-004

Education officials have long hoped that the statewide academic assessments most students take each year could be used not only for accountability but also to guide instruction. Congress established the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) program in 2015 to help address this goal, offering up to seven states temporary flexibility from federal testing requirements so that they may more easily make progress toward replacing their current assessments with more innovative ones. The key incentive to participate in IADA is that students trying out the innovative assessment are not required to also take the state's current assessment. However, states approved for IADA must still show that their innovative assessments meet most requirements for federal accountability, and they are expected to implement the new assessments statewide within 5 years. This report describes the progress of the first five assessment systems approved under IADA in order to help policymakers consider expanding the program to more states. The report is primarily based on an analysis of states' IADA applications and performance reports to the U.S. Department of Education through the 2020-2021 school year and is part of a broader evaluation of IADA required by Congress. [For the Appendix, see ED627873. For the Study Highlights, see ED627880.]

Teaching Crisis Management before and after the Pandemic: Personal Reflections

This reflective contribution tells the story of a veteran public sector crisis management (CM) researcher's 35-year journey with educating students and CM practitioners. It offers preliminary insights about how the pandemic experience might -- and should -- induce a significant rethink of how educators conceptualize the nature of crises and the challenges governments and public agencies face in coping with them.

Perception of teachers towards on-line education with specific context to hospitality education in India

Background: On-line education in a way was a forced introduction in our education system in wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers as well as students became a part of this shift in education delivery mostly by force and rather by choice. However, in the short run itself it was realised that while shifting to this new-medium has its own challenges it also comes with its own set of advantages. Background: This research paper attempts to study and analyse the perception of teachers in hospitality education towards on-line education. Objective of study is to identify the major challenges and benefits of hospitality education as perceived by faculty members. Methodology: Descriptive research design was employed. The study was conducted by administering a structured questionnaire among faculty members of various IHMs and analysis of data was done. Locale is pan-India reached through google questionnaire method with a sample size of 50 faculty members from different IHMs in the country. Data was analysed with the help of excel tools, bar diagrams and graph. Results: Research revealed that in spite of the sudden paradigm shift in the macro environment faculty members responded well to the challenge of optimising learning for students in an on-line mode. Initially 80% faculty members found this shift challenging but now 80 percent believe that blended learning is future. Assessments and sustaining interest of students however are major challenges with 82 and 84 percent of faculty members respectively agreeing to this being a major issue. Conclusion: Teachers perceive blended learning to be a norm in future. It is perceived that while it's very difficult to impart skill training in an on-line mode, for theoretical classes this could be a preferred mode.

The Impact of Disadvantage on Higher Education Engagement during Different Delivery Modes: A Pre- versus Peri-Pandemic Comparison of Learning Analytics Data

The pandemic forced many education providers to pivot rapidly their models of education to increased online provision, raising concerns that this may accentuate effects of digital poverty on education. Digital footprints created by learning analytics systems contain a wealth of information about student engagement. Combining these data with student demographics can provide significant insights into the behaviours of different groups. Here we present a comparison of students' data from disadvantaged versus non-disadvantaged backgrounds on four different engagement measures. Our results showed some indications of effects of disadvantage on student engagement in a UK university, but with differential effects for asynchronously versus synchronously delivered digital material. Pre-pandemic, students from disadvantaged backgrounds attended more live teaching, watched more pre-recorded lectures, and checked out more library books than students from non-disadvantaged backgrounds. Peri-pandemic, where teaching was almost entirely online, these differences either disappeared (attendance and library book checkouts), or even reversed such that disadvantaged students viewed significantly fewer pre-recorded lectures. These findings have important implications for future research on student engagement and for institutions wishing to provide equitable opportunities to their students, both peri- and post-pandemic.

Teaching quantitative and non-quantitative courses: Online and remote delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper presents the experiences and perspectives of two Yorkville University faculty members teaching quantitative and non-quantitative courses to BBA students remotely and online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors discuss new issues faced while teaching online during the crisis. Most universities have shifted their existing courses to the online remote mode of delivery without making any changes to the course design. This study examines teaching differences for quantitative and non-quantitative courses online with a view to make recommendations based on our teaching experiences for transitioning such courses to remote synchronous delivery online. This paper also explores new methods that have been applied during online teaching while conducting different assessments (e.g., quizzes and exams). The authors share their challenges and issues based on two specific courses - Statistics for Business and Introduction to Marketing, which are typical examples of quantitative and non-quantitative courses. The paper suggests teaching approaches and how to conduct assessments online for these types of courses. These recommendations invite further discussion and research into online teaching. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Using Descriptive Inquiry to Make and Do Philosophy in School: Creating Shared Educational Principles at City-As-School during the Coronavirus Pandemic

This piece describes how the faculty of City-As-School used Descriptive Inquiry to generate shared educational principles during the 2020-21 school year during the coronavirus pandemic. City-As-School is a public experiential learning school in New York City serving older adolescents seeking an alternative to traditional high school. Descriptive Inquiry is an inquiry process developed by Patricia Carini and faculty at the Prospect School in Bennington, Vermont, that supports educators in understanding children and their own educational practice to teach for human dignity, ethical well-being, and holistic growth. The piece provides an introduction to City-As-School and briefly describes how faculty members have used Descriptive Inquiry to foster whole school professional learning and growth. The piece then details how the faculty used Descriptive Inquiry to surface and concretize shared educational principles during the 2020-21 school year, a poignant example of Patricia Carini's notion of "making and doing philosophy in a school."

Strategies and Challenges to Teaching Students with Special Needs during a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to immediate school closures resulting in online learning. Online learning under such circumstances has presented challenges for teachers of students with mild to extensive support needs. The current study interviewed twenty special education teachers about the strategies they used when teaching online and the challenges they faced. Teachers discussed several strategies including the use of direct instruction, providing active engagement, caregiver involvement, and their frequent use of informal assessments. Challenges included time constraints and student inattention. Findings of this study can be used to inform strategies to use when teaching students with special needs online and in future online emergency teaching environments.

Les apéros académiques : une expérience entre collègues en temps de pandémie

Cet article vise a relater l'émergence d'une communauté d'apprentissage professionnelle (CAP), intitulée les aperos académiques, au sein du département de français de la Escuela Nacional de Lenguas, Lingüística y Traducción (ENALLT) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Ledit projet consiste a mettre l'accent sur l'importance et la valorisation du partage d'expériences entre enseignants de français langue étrangere (FLE), issues des pratiques de classes ayant eu lieu dans un contexte d'enseignement a distance lié a la pandémie de COVID-19.Alternate :El presente artículo tiene como objetivo relatar la creación de una Comunidad Profesional de Aprendizaje (CAP), que hemos nombrado los apéros académiques, en el Departamento de francés de la Escuela Nacional de Lenguas, Lingüística y Traducción (ENALLT) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Dicho proyecto tiene por objetivo destacar la importancia y el valor del intercambio de experiencias entre docentes de Francés Lengua Extranjera (FLE), que resultan de las prácticas de clase en un contexto de educación remota de emergencia en tiempos del COVID-19.Alternate :This article describes the creation of a Professional Learning Community (PLC), called the apéros académiques, at the Escuela Nacional de Lenguas, Lingüística y Traducción (ENALLT) in the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). This project aimed to enrich opportunities for teachers of French as a Foreign Language (FLE), in order to discuss and exchange experiences with emergency remote teaching practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital Transformation of Education Toward Successful Internships: A Methodology Developed Over Seven Years and Tested During COVID-19

Contribution: This article provides a teaching methodology which combines project-based learning, self-regulated learning (SRL), and design projects (DPs) to improve the preparedness of students for computing science-related internships. The methodology is supported by the implementation of the educational technology that transforms the way teaching and learning is transformed to benefit on-campus and off-campus students equitably, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: Success in the workspace is governed by the ability of an individual to learn on-the-job and independently. Online learning has led to a shift from instructor-led learning to SRL. This requires individuals to discipline themselves, and be in control of their learning and education. Outcome: The success of internships is improved with skills learnt in class through hands-on real-world projects. Both on/off-campus students gain equitable relevant experience. The teaching methodology developed over several years combines project-based learning, SRL, and DPs. Application Design: The methodology was applied using a flipped classroom approach. The educational technology was used to enhance SRL before in-class learning. This way, in-class rote learning was replaced with hands-on projects. Exam assessments were replaced with DPs where soft skills and technical skills are applied. Findings: The effectiveness of the developed methodology is measured through quantitative and qualitative evaluation tools. The evaluation demonstrates that combining well-designed education technology for SRL, with in-class project-based learning and DPs, can improve students' chances in getting high-impact internships.

Past, present, and post(?)-pandemic future: Instructional designers in higher education

At the onset of widespread COVID-19 in early 2020, institutions of higher education were abruptly faced with the need to rely on educational technology as a primary mode of teaching students, referred to as emergency remote teaching (ERT). Almost overnight, there was a corresponding and urgent need for instructional designer support and expertise. The realities of sudden, ubiquitous online educational delivery may have impacted the practice, practitioners, and future of instructional design in higher education. This dissertation is composed of three studies focused on instructional designers' experiences in higher education, before, during, and following the COVID-19- associated shift to ERT.With this dissertation as a whole and within each study individually, it is possible to begin to understand what it is like to be an instructional designer in higher education: what has changed for them since the height of the pandemic;what has not changed;and most importantly, what do they need as professionals and who can provide it for them?The first study is a literature review focused on identifying the roles, challenges, supports experienced by instructional designers in higher education as captured in scholarship from 2000-2020. The second study extends the body of research outlined in the first study by taking a participatory, qualitative approach to explore the challenges experienced by instructional designers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the supports they think can help them address these challenges. The third study presents a qualitative investigation focused on the future of instructional design in higher education as envisioned by instructional designers, including exploring their ideas of the agency they possess to influence that future. Together, the second and third studies aim to update and contextualize the findings of the first study in the current post-/pandemic era. These three studies, individually and together, illuminate instructional designers' experiences in higher education during what may ultimately prove to have been a tipping point for technology-supported education and the field of instructional design in general. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching mathematics and students' knowledge, skills, and grades

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures to secure public health, many processes have moved to the online space. The educational process is not an exception. Our main goal, which is presented in this article, was to re-design the educational process from face-to-face to distance learning in the Mathematics 1 course at the Technical University of Kosice. This article describes our approach to teaching, observations, and experience. This case study examines three factors: Firstly, the impact of distance education on overall assessments of students. Using descriptive statistics, the results of student evaluations were compared from the overall assessments for the last six academic years. It was found that distance learning does not affect excellent students and eliminates the number of students who do not pass. Secondly, the participation of students during online lessons, and thirdly, the use of electronic materials. The questionnaire survey and the data from the learning management system Moodle were used to examine the second and third factors. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the questionnaire survey data (frequencies, percentages and averages). An exploratory factor analysis was performed in order to assess the underlying key concepts regarding student evaluation of the teaching process. The exploratory factor analysis confirmed that this questionnaire followed the four key concepts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Flipped Classrooms in Undergraduate Statistics: Online Works Just Fine

Background The flipped classroom method requires that students engage with homework before coming to the classroom so that class time can be spent on active and collaborative learning exercises. Research has demonstrated that this can improve student performance versus traditional lecturer-led teaching methods. Objective During the COVID-19 pandemic, the vast majority of teaching has been entirely online such that even ‘in-class' time has been virtual. The current article examined whether online-only delivery affects the efficacy of the flipped classroom approach. Method Grades for a research methods and statistics module and a statistics portfolio assignment were compared across consecutive cohorts of undergraduate psychology students taught by different methods. Results Overall grades on the module did not differ significantly across teaching methods but student performance on statistics tests did. Flipped classrooms, whether accompanied by on-campus or synchronous online classes, led to significantly better performance than traditional methods. No detriment was observed by teaching entirely online. Conclusion The key advantages of the flipped classroom method appear driven by active learning which can occur irrespective of classroom context. Teaching Implications Using flipped classrooms can be a useful tool, particularly in subjects where students may otherwise be less engaged with the content.

Fuzzy logic approach to assess the effectiveness of online course delivery in management education: a case of B-school from India

PurposeThe future of management studies is invariably steering towards online and hybrid modes of course delivery. Therefore, assessing the effectiveness of online course delivery is exceptionally crucial. This study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of online course delivery in management education involving the instructor, participant and technological component. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in three ways. First, the study proposes an approach to assess the effectiveness of online courses in management education. The study demonstrates this by taking a case study of a business school (B-school) in southern India. Second, the study identifies the shortcomings and areas that need improvement to enhance the overall effectiveness further. Third, the study outlines suggestive measures to improve the effectiveness of online course delivery by addressing technical, infrastructural, instructor and student behavioral components.Design/methodology/approachTo accomplish the objectives, a case study approach has been adopted and fuzzy logic has been used as a methodology to assess the effectiveness of online course delivery in management education.FindingsThe findings suggest that instructors' use of cases and animation during online sessions, use of whiteboards, digital pens and other tools, attempts to draw participant's interest and the users' sense of belongingness in the online cohort, self-discipline and motivation from students' side, easy to use Learning Management System (LMS), audio-visual platforms, active electronic communication and training on the technical aspect of the online platform need to be improved to enhance the effectiveness of online course delivery further. The current effectiveness of online course delivery in the case of B-school was found to be "Fair,” which is average in relation to the effectiveness labels.Research limitations/implicationsThis study doesn't investigate the factors that moderate the effectiveness of online course delivery and how the factors influence each other. Future research endeavors can be extended in this direction to enrich the body of knowledge with new insights. Apart from this, the results outlined in this study are about the status quo of the case B-school and can't be generalized. However, the methodology and approach can be adopted by other B-schools or higher educational institutes to measure the schools' and institutes' current level of effectiveness in online teaching.Originality/valueSo far, only a few studies have paid attention to the empirical assessment of the effectiveness of online course delivery consisting of engagement from the technical, instructor and participants' dimensions. This study proposes a novel approach to measure the level of effectiveness and identifies the shortfalls that impede good effectiveness in online course delivery.

Online versus traditional instruction: Teachers' perspectives on the challenges facing students with disabilities

As the need for virtual instruction increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers faced changes in the way they had to instruct students. This sudden change impacted the delivery of information by middle school teachers who had been accustomed to the traditional (face-to-face) method of instructing their students with disabilities. This study was designed to explore teachers' perspectives on the challenges facing middle school students with disabilities in a virtual classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three research questions guided the study: (a) What were teachers' perspectives on their preparation to deliver virtual instruction? (b) What strategies were implemented to serve students with disabilities in the virtual classroom?(c) What were teachers' perspectives on the benefits and challenges of virtual instruction for students with disabilities? The researcher used data from a demographic survey and interview questions from 15 special education and regular elementary, middle, and high school teachers of students with disabilities to explore the teachers' perspectives on the transition from traditional instruction to virtual instruction. Three themes evolved: Professional Development/Training in technology and adapting virtual learning to students with disabilities, Strategies to better assist these students in virtual learning, and Challenges and Benefits of teachers' transition from traditional to virtual instruction. The results of this study showed a need for professional training to provide new strategies to assist educators as they transition from traditional to virtual instruction. The study also revealed that teachers faced challenges while instructing students virtually, although teachers acknowledged some benefits. Study implications were that teachers found the transition difficult and encountered many problems with their students not experienced in the traditional classroom. Further research is needed with larger populations to explore teachers' transitions from traditional to virtual instruction, their needs for professional development and training, and means of support for students with disabilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Professional shariah audit training via the e-learning approach during COVID-19: challenges and prospects

PurposeThis study aims to explore and identify potential challenges and prospects for conducting the professional shariah audit training programme via an e-learning approach during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires were administered to 296 participants who were enrolled in the professional shariah audit training programme via e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020. These participants were final-year students from selected Malaysian public universities.FindingsFindings show that several main challenges are faced in adopting an e-learning approach for conducting the professional shariah audit training programme such as the inability to do more hands-on, group and physical activities, different understandings based on academic backgrounds, difficulty in learning practical and technical topics, technical issues and problems during e-learning sessions. These lead to the unsuitability of conducting professional training via the e-learning approach. In terms of prospects of knowledge learnt via the e-learning approach, participants showed that they are able to master all six modules covered in the professional shariah audit training programme via the e-learning approach. These include (1) shariah principles;(2) shariah governance;(3) Islamic financial transactions;(4) shariah risk management;(5) shariah audit planning and programme;and (6) shariah audit fieldwork and communication.Practical implicationsBased on the findings, it is suggested to have more time spent and earlier preparation on the learning contents and sessions, more discussion on actual contents and practical exercises and competency of the trainers in delivering e-learning sessions.Originality/valueThis study is believed to be one among the pioneering studies on the potential challenges and prospects in adopting e-learning for conducting the professional shariah audit training programme due to COVID-19.

Ivory Tower or Tower of Babel? The challenge of multilingualism for the globally embedded university

Higher education organizations in countries where English is not the native tongue must function in a multilingual mode, using English as their primary language for scientific exchange and academic publication and relying on the native language for instruction and administration. When operating in a multilingual mode of communication and identity expression, a higher education organization runs the risk of becoming a "tower of Babel";however, by operating solely in single-language mode, it may become an "ivory tower." Investigating Israeli higher education organizations and focusing specifically on their mission statements, we analyzed the built-in tension of this multilingual self-identification through how they introduce themselves in the lingua franca of global academe, namely English, and in the local language, Hebrew. In our analysis, we found: (a) differences between the English- and Hebrew-language mission statements in length, style, and context;(b) differences in thematic emphases and thus in the narration of organizational identity;and (c) that such thematic differences patterned according to the three categories of state-mandated higher education organizations and, to some degree, time. We conclude that multilingualism serves both as an arena for the negotiation of organizational identity and as a state of being for higher education organizations in non-English-speaking countries. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Higher Education (00181560) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)