CAD Wiki: Online Learning and Teaching

Online Learning &Teaching (OLT)

Introduction

The OLT section of the website provides a resource to help you understand issues behind implementing your course design for online learning and teaching. This section spans several pages which you can access by using links from this page and return to access others you are interested in. You can link directly to the Solutions page or you can link to the solutions through the Q&A section. The Keywords page includes terms and phrases (search strings) that may be useful in getting further information. These can be used in conjunction with other keywords related to your specific topic or discipline. The search strings on that page are linked to search results pages that will update automatically when new resources are added. There are also pages of OLT Resources detailed in the Resources section.

The OLT section deals with a subject matter that is in a constant state of change. In the past, most educators subscribed to a view that it is the pedagogy that should drive the use of technology. The main premise on which this belief is based is no doubt accurate - successful use of technology hinges on good understanding of the processes of course and instructional design, and is commonly associated with some form of learning-focused teaching philosophy. A meta-analysis of technology integration (Schmid et al., 2009), for example, indicates that effect sizes pertaining to computer technology used as “support for cognition” were significantly greater than those related to computer use for “presentation of content.”

However, we have to acknowledge today that the relationship between technology and pedagogy is more complex and can be conceptualised as bi-directional or iterative. New online applications and tools appear almost daily and create opportunities for exciting innovative course design and teaching ideas. Web 2.0, for example, has changed the way students locate and access information, interact with each other and create new knowledge. In line with this new philosophy of active participation, we invite you to contribute to the OLT site by submitting your own questions about online teaching and learning, and by sharing your successes and lessons to be learnt. At this stage to do this is to email Irina Elgort, but we are also working on interactive options which will be available soon.

Schmid, R. F., Bernard, R. M., Borokhovski, E., Tamim, R., Abrami, P. C., Wade, C. A., . . . Lowerison, G. (2009). Technology’s effect on achievement in higher education: A Stage I meta-analysis of classroom applications. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 21(2), 95–109.