Page 3 - CT Innovation in Education, June 2022

Even before the pandemic, researchers cited the importance of course design and the need for a pedagogical shift to ensure success in blended learning. Now, many believe that as faculty and students become more proficient with the technology and adapt to online education, outcomes will improve.
One UCLA professor said remote technology is already enriching his classes in part because students who might not speak up have the opportunity to compose their thoughts and share them via a chat function. While acknowledging the equity problems
THE PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON SUPPORT FOR IT IMPROVEMENTS:
59% said there is more support 16% said there is less support 25% said the level of support
has stayed the same
associated with unequal access to broadband connections, the same professor points out that the ability to attend college in person raises its own equity issues.
A Partnership Between
Teaching and Tech
The Educause Review article notes that “a HyFlex implementation can only be successful if multiple stakeholders are involved in the planning, strategizing and design process.
A HyFlex approach includes investments in technology, personnel, faculty development and student support.”
During the pandemic, professors gained valuable experience with online teaching and began designing activities that were equally engaging for in-person and remote students to boost their skills even further. Fortunately, many online platforms have evolved to give users a
variety of options for encouraging connections between instructors and students and among students themselves. For example, professors can set up multiple chat streams and create breakout rooms for small groups of students to work on projects together.
Close collaboration between faculty and technology teams is also important as both groups adapt to new teaching models. To ensure clear communication, many institutions will need to invest in cameras, microphones and speaker systems, and many classes would benefit from a technology assistant who keeps track of the messages students post and resolves any technical issues.
Incorporating such modern tools alongside institutions’ legacy solutions presents a diverse set of challenges. In the Campus Technology survey, staying within budget constraints (44%) was the top challenge cited by respondents, and it goes hand in hand with choosing the right products, services and solutions (41%). Technological challenges also include getting legacy and modern solutions to work together (36%), sharing data between legacy and
CHALLENGES TO BALANCING LEGACY SOLUTIONS AND MODERN TOOLS:
• Staying within budget constraints
• Choosing the right products, services and solutions
• Overcoming resistance to change among users
• Getting legacy and modern solutions to work together
• Minimizing the productivity impact for employees, teachers and students
TOP FIVE
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