Collaborating in online teaching: inviting e-guests to facilitate learning in the digital environment
Information and Learning Sciences
ISSN: 2398-5348
Article publication date: 15 June 2020
Issue publication date: 10 August 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Teaching and learning online during the Covid-19 pandemic has forced university instructors to consider online alternatives to the classroom. It is possible to facilitate students’ learning in the digital environment in similar ways to the traditional face-to-face classroom. The inclusion of e-guests in the digital learning space presents one such opportunity. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of e-guests in online learning.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a case study, following a postgraduate class and the role of the e-guest in students’ synchronous online learning.
Findings
E-guests facilitated student learning. Their approaches to learning ranged from slides to discussions. Students responded well to this method of learning.
Practical implications
There is potential for enhancing student learning through the inclusion of e-guests, who bring their expertise to the classroom. E-guests from different regions offer students an opportunity to learn from specialists they would not necessarily have access to in the traditional classroom.
Originality/value
E-guests offer one important potential means of enriching online teaching.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This article is part of the special issue, “A Response to Emergency Transitions to Remote Online Education in K-12 and Higher Education” which contains shorter, rapid-turnaround invited works, not subject to double-blind peer review. The issue was called, managed and produced on short timeline in Summer 2020 towards pragmatic instructional application in the Fall 2020 semester.
Citation
Fulton, C. (2020), "Collaborating in online teaching: inviting e-guests to facilitate learning in the digital environment", Information and Learning Sciences, Vol. 121 No. 7/8, pp. 579-585. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-04-2020-0116
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited