Search results

For several decades, universities have been trying to implement new technologies in their teaching methods, intending to create skills for the twenty-first century. In the literature, this process is called digital transformation. This chapter is based on an integrative revision and solid work of the authors in their university, providing students with technological devices, such as laptops, tablets, and other gadgets to invest in digital education skills. Concluding that investing in digital education is crucial for improving the student experience and preparing students for the future workforce.

How can academic libraries unlock staff capacity for new initiatives as they transition their collections from print to digital? The following are four strategies for recapturing staff time as libraries adopt new formats while still supporting older ones at a smaller volume. First, librarians should employ strategic collection development that takes into consideration opportunities for efficiencies as they make the print to digital transition. Second, libraries should implement creative reorganizations in order to scale down print services and effectively manage new digital formats. Third, libraries should rightscale their infrastructure, that is, choose the appropriate level – local, consortial/regional, national, or global – where collection management activities should take place. Fourth, libraries, library software vendors, and publishers should develop purchasing and resource discovery infrastructures that harness shared data to enable network level electronic resource management.

As a result of the rapid technological innovation and its disruptive power also on the educational sector, teaching and learning practices changed fundamentally and new forms of education, as well as totally new degree programmes emerged. Today, higher education institutions (HEIs) make use of different online resources and new collaborative tools by integrating digital technologies and the internet fully within the curricula. However, although online education offers numerous advantages and has the power to overcome traditional barriers in education as time and space, many higher education institutions are still struggling with issues such as fostering student collaboration on one hand and reducing feelings of social isolation on the other. In the present case study, we analyse a blended Bachelor degree programme in Management at a European business school with the aim to provide practical suggestions and inspiration for implementing e-learning and online education in higher education. The introduced case demonstrates how collaborative learning aspects, organisational and pedagogical structures, philosophical assumptions and educational settings can be combined to decrease one of the main challenges in online education, namely distance.

Metaphor is a powerful change agent when applied to course redesign. In this chapter, we examine the influence mental models have on our thinking and the potential consequences they have for our learners. By choosing a metaphor to frame our redesign process, we reveal our ideas about our content, our learners, and our instructional style and how they fit together. This all-important first step in the redesign process can be a game changer; leading us to create the kind of learning experience we seek for our students and for ourselves. Metaphor provides means to break away from default patterns of thinking, inspiring us to play and develop new approaches to teaching and learning – facilitating the redesign necessary to bring about learning in an online context. We examine real examples of courses redesigned using metaphor, and then we embark on an exploration of other metaphors and their likely influence on decisions related to course redesign. In the end, we revise the course redesign model to include metaphor.

Using a case study approach, this chapter examines two primary changes to global health education prompted and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. First, is the acceleration of digital education into the typical global health classroom. Second, is the integration of transnational networks and partnerships between intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and higher education institutions (HEIs) to create, adapt, and disseminate digital materials in fast-changing information environments. The chapter examines the potential positive and negative impacts of the proliferation of digital content created by IGOs and international NGOs that is being rapidly integrated into use in HEIs for Global Health. The growth of tools and access through these new partnerships may lead to increased access to global health information for professionals. However, these changes may have long-term implications for global health regarding equitable access to culturally appropriate and accurate information. Furthermore, there may be additional implications for equity, as the proliferation of tools may still leave out the most vulnerable that do not have access to digital platforms.

While some may perceive technology as disruptive in higher education, this chapter makes a case that video technology can be used to increase collaboration and engagement in learning and teaching. It is argued that digital storytelling can be integrated as part of the assessment in graduate-level courses without compromising expectations related to academic rigor. Rather, digital storytelling advances multimedia literacy for the individual and supports the generation of bounded learning communities, specifically in online and blended programmes. Covering social presence, teaching presence and cognitive presence, the chapter draws on two examples of digital storytelling used in the MA in Conflict Analysis and Management and the MA in Global Leadership at Royal Roads University, Canada. Overall, the chapter makes a contribution to the conversation of how assessment formats can be updated to match the shift from traditional, lecture formats and brick-and-mortar institutions to applied, collaborative programmes that are often delivered in blended and online formats. Thus, as the field of higher education continues to evolve and adapt alongside technological innovations, the chapter suggests that digital storytelling can be one way to complement and update assessment formats to match the evolution of the twenty-first century.

This chapter explores the contribution of The Open University (OU) Library to influencing curriculum decisions about embedding digital and information literacies in an online environment. Recommendations can be applied to higher education (HE) institutions as they develop permanent e-learning strategies to prepare for a long-term solution to online learning experiences. Learning providers are creating strategies for online content creation, student engagement, and skills development. It is an opportunity to demonstrate their value by making an effective transition to online learning, streamlining services to create student-centered experiences.

It investigates existing e-pedagogical approaches developed pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic to embedding digital literacies in practice, drawing on the OU’s experience of developing effective frameworks for online teaching programs. The aim is to review institutional preparedness for effective transition, so that staff members and students can adapt to post-COVID realities. This draws upon student-centered, holistic design of programs to embed accessible and inclusive processes in distance learning, utilizing technological solutions to create optimal teaching and learning environments.

It will also make recommendations about how embedding digital literacies within the curriculum will equip graduates for post-education experiences within working and social contexts, by building activities into module that develop digital capabilities. For effective learning experiences to take place, institutions require development of born-digital support material to develop staff confidence and ability to produce effective, accessible online learning objects. As more organizations move to online, hybrid, and flipped learning interventions, high-level university strategy can future-proof learning design by developing the support that staff need to provide the best experiences for their learners.

Hungarian school communities also faced with the challenging situation posed by COVID-19 in March 2020. The transition to emergency remote teaching could be affected by many factors. The attitudes of educators are important as their decisions largely determined the methods of digital education. In the present study, 147 high school teachers and 58 academics’ data were analyzed. Academics were more likely to maintain interactions during their courses, and they preferred to make their own material for the lessons, while high-school teachers more often borrow material from pre-existing sources. The authors also found that the effect of self-efficacy on resilience is mediated through the intention to create teaching materials and through the willingness to adopt them as well. It can be concluded that the assistance cannot be one-dimensional, as teachers of different ages, with different IT competencies, teaching at different levels of education, teaching different subjects, have different needs and need to be supported in different ways.