A Case Study on the Development of Digital Competences of Teachers at the University of Ljubljana

The renewed 2017 EU Higher Education Agenda expresses the intention to "develop and implement a digital readiness model" to assist higher education institutions, their staff, and students in implementing digital learning strategies and maximising the potential of cutting‐edge technologies such as learning analytics. The anticipated digital transformation will only be successful if higher education institutions and teachers strengthen their digital competences and skills and "become" digitally competent. Many of the incentives for these processes were prompted by the unexpected Covid‐19 crisis, which highlighted the importance of higher education teachers' digital skills in the need to digitise the higher education environment. The Covid‐19 crisis experience and the accelerating development of digitalisation are changing both the conditions for education and education itself, which is why higher education teachers face the challenging task of lifelong development of digital competences. To complete this task, they must learn about information and communication technology (ICT)/digital technologies and how they can be integrated into the pedagogical process. The challenge for higher education teachers is to develop ICT‐based teaching. This is not about how higher education teachers (and students) master ICT, but about how to make ICT one of the tools for carrying out pedagogical activities in general. The article addresses the development of digital competences among higher education teachers as a critical issue in the renovation of higher education didactics. To that end, various digital competence models and concepts are presented. Among other things, the European Digital Competence Framework for Teachers is highlighted. The case study of activities aimed at developing digital competences of higher education teachers at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), and thus higher education teachers working in the field of education for public administration. Based on the analysis of activities, we discover an increased interest in the development of digital competences, which is reflected in various forms of institutional (university) support for educators (e.g. training), as well as an increased interest in the development of digital competences among higher education teachers. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration & Policy is the property of Sciendo 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.)

Forum response: sustaining ourselves as scholars

In our classrooms, the trauma-informed practices and student-centered pedagogies can be read as resistance to enduring and outdated pedagogical practices as well as a "back to normal" or "business as usual" approaches to the ongoing effects of COVID-19 (Cartee;Raptis). As the COVID-19 pandemic and its lingering effects have shown us, long-term sustenance of ourselves and others as learners, teachers, scholars, and human beings is perhaps most worthy of our focus when cultivating a meaningful career - more so than traditional measures of productivity and success. Hosek and Verhoff complement these institutional and classroom-level considerations with their essay on crafting a sustainable career, emphasizing personal agency. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Communication Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd 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.)

Socio-Psychological Factors of Anxiety in Educational Institutions During a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, which entailed forced self-isolation, a change in the format of work and other epidemiological restrictions, led to a deterioration in the educator's emotional state, and subsequently a decrease in the educational process effectiveness. This work is intended to fill a gap in the lack of empirical research on the pandemic impact on the anxiety indicators among employees of educational institutions and organizations. This study was conducted over several months among 76 teachers of higher educational institutions and schoolteachers in Russia. The Spielberg's and J. Taylor's methods were used, aimed at identifying the personal and situational anxiety level, as well as the anxiety manifestations severity. With the use factor analysis, the main causes groups of emerging anxiety were identified, which were later confirmed in the semi-structured interview course. Based on the empirical analysis, recommendations in the checklist format were developed. This study results, namely the leaflets with recommendations, may contribute to the further development of ways to prevent the increased anxiety state and its consequences, as well as methods for preventing the anxiety on-set. © 2022, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education. All rights reserved.

Pandemic Lessons Learned: Educators' Experiences and Tool Checklist

The Coronavirus pandemic had a significant effect on teachers when traditional face-to-face classroom instruction abruptly shifted online in the spring of 2020. It also provided educators the unique opportunity for continued growth and development in incorporating technology into their instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine educators' s learning experiences in utilizing virtual learning technologies to provide instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers conducted two (2) online focus group interviews with participants (N = 9). The focus group transcriptions were qualitatively analyzed for themes. The findings from the focus groups are discussed in this article. The resulting implication is the 3E (Efficient, Effective and Engaging) application checklist to utilize when selecting instructional online tools and incorporating technology in the classroom. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Clearing House is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd 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.)

Academics like us ... : Creating a process for sustainability as teacher-scholars

Academics like us ...: Creating a process for sustainability as teacher-scholars In this essay, we call for teacher-scholars to honor the coconstructed nature of academic culture and to create systems that sustain us at individual and community levels. The COVID-19 pandemic created space for us to deeply question previously held ways of understanding and navigating the entwinement of our academic and personal lives. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Communication Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd 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.)

Domain and Pedagogical Competency and Currency: A Framework for Capability Development of Adult Educators

This article proposes a framework for capability development of adult educators (AEs) in Singapore. Globalisation, demographic changes and digital innovation, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, have accentuated the importance of adult education and changing role of AEs. The immediate implications of these effects on the professionalism of AEs and the significance of their development trajectories are acute. With an increased focus on the need to ensure AEs are current in both their pedagogic and domain competences, we introduce discussions on the need to develop a conceptual framework to generate a deeper understanding of their knowledge, skills, attitudes, beliefs and practices of AEs. This framework can be used by practitioners as a tool to facilitate professional reflection and development, and by policy makers to support continued improvements to the quality of adult education. Our overall aim is to promote the importance of varied and continued opportunities for the professional development of AEs at policy, organisational and individual levels.

Patch leaks in the pipeline post-pandemic by preparing a resilient and sustainable community: classroom to college

Women faced barriers in academia during the pandemic, and the implications on higher education, their career, and students are meaningful. Research focuses on how the pandemic has affected college students' mental health (Son et al., [12]) and the effects of the pandemic on student success (Lederer et al., [7]). (Re)membering pre-COVID leaks to build resilient community Factors causing the "leaky pipeline" phenomenon, pre-COVID, were not fully understood or addressed;then, we experienced societal upheaval and a pandemic. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Communication Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd 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.)

An Action Research Study of Using Group-Based Remote Learning with ESL High School Students in English Language Arts

At the time of writing, New York City high schools had been working remotely for a year, with educators facing some great challenges. Working remotely marked a significant difference in the way we teach and the way our students learn. Classroom spaces were no longer room numbers on doors;they were virtual meeting room numbers on platforms like Teams or Google Classroom, and they were accessible from anywhere by Wi-Fi. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2020), school closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic affected over 1.5 billion students and families. The Covid-19 pandemic presented multiple challenges for teaching students with English as a second language in an online instructional environment, but also opportunities for collaboration, training, and communication for inclusive educators to strive to meet the needs of their students. This article addresses the following teacher-researcher questions: 1) What opportunities do I find most rewarding teaching in an online environment to students for whom English is a second language? 2) What do I find to be most challenging teaching English second language (ESL) students in the online context? 3) How can media play a part in online teaching and learning, and how do students respond to online learning with these mixed media platforms? 4) What recommendations can be offered to other inclusive educators who are teaching online? The researcher discusses the methodological approach used to conduct the research, using methods including surveys and field notes. Further research conducted was based on the researcher's journal of field notes kept throughout teaching a unit titled "Beowulf.” An analysis of student assessment data is also provided to show progress, where applicable, for one class of English Second Language students.

An Exploratory Investigation of Teacher Perceptions of Education and Communication at the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In March 2020, teachers in the K–12 school system were forced to transition from in-person instruction to a variety of virtual teaching models due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This unprecedented change required extensive communication between teachers, students, parents, and administrators. This study explored communication during the March–May 2020 transition period, utilizing Uncertainty Management Theory as an overarching framework to investigate how teacher comfort with online learning, communication overload, administrative clarity, and student–teacher interaction influenced the effectiveness and happiness of teachers. Across these four variables, communication overload was shown to be a strong negative predictor of teacher well-being;student–teacher interaction predicted positive teaching outcomes.

How student-led wards can build skills and confidence: Nursing students on collaborative learning programmes make decisions about care and gain clinical experience

When Beth Dennis first set foot on a hospital ward as a Birmingham City University nursing student she felt underprepared. COVID-19 had disrupted everything, including face-to-face learning and time to practise clinical skills. Many of her student peers had worked previously in healthcare, but Ms Dennis had entered nursing straight from school. 'I basically knew nothing,' she says. But by her second year, with more experience, she felt she could offer help to others starting out who felt as anxious as she had. 'So me and a few other nursing students decided to run sessions to ease nerves about placements,' she says.

Education and ICT Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: Teaching Reflections of Indonesian Educators

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and learning institutions globally had to shift from the classical learning mode to online learning. Doing so in such a short time posed challenges and problems for Indonesian teachers. Further, many Indonesian educators, including the authors, were not familiar with online delivery and the technological aspects of online learning. In this chapter, four authors who are educators in different Indonesian educational settings apply autoethnography to explore their experiences of teaching in online classrooms. First, we attempt to address issues that arose by utilizing four educational lenses. Then, we discuss several points to consider when teaching in online classrooms. We conclude that student disengagement is the main issue in online learning. Finally, we present some recommendations for future practice and research. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Making the shift to virtual professional learning

This qualitative research involved the development of 12 weeks of twice-weekly virtual maker professional learning (PL) sessions for K-12 and post-secondary educators at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sessions were developed by four researchers from a maker lab in Ontario, Canada that moved entirely online in March 2020. The research question driving the study was: what are best practices related to virtual maker professional learning? Findings and implications related to this question include: a) technical issues should be anticipated and addressed in advance of each session;b) simple, hands-on activities are most effective for online maker professional learning;c) collaboration are pivotal to a rich online maker professional learning experience;d) using free, virtual tools is imperative for equitable access and learning;and e) adaptability is key when working with a diversity of learners/teachers from varied subjects and divisions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Cultivating support during COVID-19 through clinical supervision: A discussion article.

AIM: This article aims to discuss how clinical supervision is an important approach in supporting frontline nurses and students during and post COVID-19 through the lens of the nursing metaparadigms. DESIGN: Discussion article. METHODS: Discourse of the literature considering the importance of working collaboratively with healthcare and educational organisations in operationalising clinical supervision. RESULTS: The evidence base supporting clinical supervision as an effective support strategy for nurses exists, however, its implementation and practice has become sporadic. A resurgence is required to support student's and nurse's during this pandemic. It is timely for nurse educators to creatively engage with clinical partners in supporting clinical supervision to enhance both nurses and students pandemic practice experiences. Clinical supervision is proposed as one strategy to support and guide both nurses and students to develop, strengthen and challenge the effectiveness of their care during COVID-19.

Association between neighbourhood composition, kindergarten educator-reported distance learning barriers, and return to school concerns during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada.

Introduction: Research to date has established that the COVID-19 pandemic has not impacted everyone equitably. Whether this unequitable impact was seen educationally with regards to educator reported barriers to distance learning, concerns and mental health is less clear. Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the association between the neighbourhood composition of the school and kindergarten educator-reported barriers and concerns regarding children's learning during the first wave of COVID-19 related school closures in Ontario, Canada. Methods: In the spring of 2020, we collected data from Ontario kindergarten educators (n = 2569; 74.2% kindergarten teachers, 25.8% early childhood educators; 97.6% female) using an online survey asking them about their experiences and challenges with online learning during the first round of school closures. We linked the educator responses to 2016 Canadian Census variables based on schools' postal codes. Bivariate correlations and Poisson regression analyses were used to determine if there was an association between neighbourhood composition and educator mental health, and the number of barriers and concerns reported by kindergarten educators. Results: There were no significant findings with educator mental health and school neighbourhood characteristics. Educators who taught at schools in neighbourhoods with lower median income reported a greater number of barriers to online learning (e.g., parents/guardians not submitting assignments/providing updates on their child's learning) and concerns regarding the return to school in the fall of 2020 (e.g., students' readjustment to routines). There were no significant associations with educator reported barriers or concerns and any of the other Census neighbourhood variables (proportion of lone parent families, average household size, proportion of population that do no speak official language, proportion of population that are recent immigrants, or proportion of population ages 0-4). Conclusions: Overall, our study suggests that the neighbourhood composition of the children's school location did not exacerbate the potential negative learning experiences of kindergarten students and educators during the COVID-19 pandemic, although we did find that educators teaching in schools in lower-SES neighbourhoods reported more barriers to online learning during this time. Taken together, our study suggests that remediation efforts should be focused on individual kindergarten children and their families as opposed to school location.

TA reflection activity among preschool educators

The health, economic and social crisis caused by COVID-19 has forced many preschool educators and kindergarten directors to define and redefine the limits of their professional identities repeatedly. However, to date there is not enough evidence on how reflective activities that seek to help these professionals to negotiate their identities should be articulated, especially in virtual contexts. Nor do we have examples that show us the deployment of this type of activities in practice. For these reasons, in this article we analyze the design and implementation of a training activity aimed at a broad group of preschool educators and kindergarten directors assigned to a local public education ser vice (hereinafter, SLEP) in Chile. The objective of this activity was to develop a reflective activity in such a way that it effectively promoted the construction and reconstruction of the participants' subjective learning experiences, a key issue for them to be able to negotiate and renegotiate their professional identities. Our analysis allows us to conclude that these types of activities must have a series of characteristics to be useful and, at the same time, that there are a series of key aspects that must be considered to adequately assess the quality of the reflective processes. This information is key to promoting the negotiation of the professional identity of preschool educators and kindergarten directors.

A Scope Review of the Teacher Well-being Research Between 1968 and 2021

This review aimed at portraying a nuanced picture of the trajectory of teacher well-being research during 54 years from 1968 to 2021. This review used descriptive quantitative analysis with a dataset of 774 journal articles. The developmental trend demonstrates a considerable change in the volume of publications conducted during the most recent 14 years. Findings of the current review identify that research foci have covered the antecedents, nature, and effects of teacher well-being in a descending manner. Quantitative methods were observed as the most frequently used method in research studies. Moreover, the use of qualitative and mixed research methods increased in recent times. However, due to the considerable absence of mixed methods, longitudinal, and experimental research designs in this review's corpus, our interpretation has been restricted to the ways in which teacher well-being can affect as well as be affected by associated constructs. Research on teacher well-being positions itself at the intermediate stage focusing on fusion relations combining new and recognized structures and adopting qualitative as well as quantitative practices. This review supports the evolution of the teacher well-being literature and poses recommendations for future research.

Reported Self-Efficacy of Health Educators During COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many public health professionals to take on new roles such as online teaching, communicating, and managing; serving on the frontlines of patient care; and serving as health education resource personnel. Researchers of this study posed the question: How has the pandemic impacted those who serve to help others? Seven aspects of self-efficacy in professional practice were examined via an online survey sent to health educators. Respondents were extremely confident communicating with their colleagues and supervisors (60%) and with students (51%), but only 19% were extremely confident in maintaining a work-life balance and 22% in managing personal and professional stress. Respondents reported being confident in all areas of responsibilities, overall, but they were most confident in Area 8 (ethics and professionalism) and least confident in Area 1 (assessing the needs and capacity of a community) since COVID-19. Findings imply a need for more professional development opportunities to foster professional and personal self-efficacy and to improve self-efficacy in needs assessment, leadership, and advocacy. Findings also show a need for workplace or state-based interventions to support resiliency and self-care among professionals who work to serve others.

Worry about COVID-19 and other extreme events amongst educators in Australia

The significant disruption of COVID-19 on schooling has heightened concerns about its impact on educators' wellbeing. The current study examined how educators' worry regarding the COVID-19 pandemic compared to their worry about other extreme events, such as natural disasters and critical incidents (a death or suicide of a child, young person, or colleague). Educators report that they were most worried about COVID-19. Educators working in preschools were more worried about COVID-19 and natural disasters than those in primary and secondary schools. However, worry regarding critical incidents increased with the age of students taught. Worry was influenced by socio-economic advantage (SEIFA), whereby educators working in higher SEIFA communities were less worried about natural disasters and critical incidents but shared similar levels of worry about COVID-19 as educators in lower SEIFA communities. With a better understanding about how different types of worry and levels of worry vary across different educator groups and different contexts, more effective supports can be developed and offered. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Australian Journal of Education (Sage Publications Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. 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.)

The use of technology to provide greater student access to highly qualified educators: A post COVID perspective

How can Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) in Missouri take lessons from the COVID-19 global pandemic to use technology to provide greater student access to highly qualified educators? Research on this question examined what impacts, influences, and disruptions occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically during the 2020-2021 school year. How did those lessons learned change the way public schools in Missouri provided online instruction to PK-12 students. Efforts undertaken by LEAs, to provide greater student access in public schools to highly qualified educators using technology, were reviewed. According to Missouri's Every Student Succeeds Act plan, "all students deserve the opportunity to have the best learning environments and access to highly qualified teachers (Missouri's ESSA Plan - Federal Accountability, (2015), pp.24-25). In this study voices of LEA representatives were captured in real-time during the academic school year of 2021-2022 as they shared their struggles to meet students' educational needs during the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Female music educators' stress and well-being in the height of a global pandemic in the United Stated

Stress can affect teachers' mental and physical health, student-teacher relationships, and energy levels. During the COVID-19 pandemic, educators around the world experienced stress in terms of worry for their students and for their own well-being in terms of energy levels, sleep and anxiety. The purpose of this study was to examine female music educators' stress, stressors, and well-being during 1 year in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined these factors with participants, approximately 1 year into the pandemic in spring 2021 and this study explored the same educators' stressors 1 year later in spring 2022. Through this comparative case study, eight self-identified female music educators completed a questionnaire and participated in focus groups. We approached data collection through the theory of wellbeing and uncovered four themes;(a) self-care and mental health;(b) pressure and frustration;(c) scheduling and reprioritization;and (d) accommodation. Results suggest female participants experienced personal and professional stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted their well-being, with feelings of burnout, anxiety, and desires to possibly leave the teaching profession. © The Author(s) 2023.