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Rural schools have typically been strong on community but weak on professional learning. Their small size and geographical isolation have meant that much of the recent reform movement focused on professional learning communities has passed them by. But there is no reason why rural educators cannot participate in professional learning networks (PLNs) and benefit from heightened levels of collegiality that can be experienced across schools. However, intentional design for deeper collaborative work and face-to-face connection is necessary for PLN members to reap the benefits from increased professional capital and teacher leadership opportunities. This chapter describes the work of the Northwest Rural Innovation and Student Engagement (NW RISE) network in the United States. NW RISE brings together rural educators in gatherings that take place every six months, helps them to form “job-alike” groups focused on academic subject matter or cross-contextual themes, and provides support for shared curriculum design. This chapter describes how rural educators have seized upon the resources in NW RISE to promote student engagement and to develop their professional capacity across the network’s schools.

The purpose of this paper is to describe an innovative model of teacher professional learning that has evolved over a decade (2006 to 2016).

Working in a range of different school contexts, in conjunction with an ongoing engagement with the research literature, has enabled the development over three phases of a robust yet flexible framework that meets teachers’ expressed needs. At the same time, the framework helps to shift teachers’ pedagogical orientations, as the learning design supports school-focused, job-embedded teacher professional learning, which challenges more traditional instructional environments by infusing digital technologies and other elements of twenty-first century skills into teaching and learning.

Building on the experiences of the first two phases, the paper reports the most recent phase which expands on the emergence of a fourth wave of online learning to design and develop a massive open online course (MOOC) that potentially enables the massive scaling up of access to this already validated model of teacher professional development. The importance of maintaining key elements, threshold concepts and signature pedagogies in the design of MOOCs for teacher professional learning are discussed, and the paper concludes with early lessons from this latest work in progress.

Challenges are identified relating to the design of the social supports within the MOOC structure to sustain the collaboration, dialogue and ongoing reflection observed across Phases 1 and 2 that are necessary for the changes in pedagogical orientation and classroom practices.

This chapter explores how experimental learning and transfer of learning can be designed in professional Master of Public Administration (MPA) programmes when external conditions constrain the application of learning formats that require the personal contact of students and/or the cooperation of the student’s employer.

The authors conduct a single case study of the professional MPA programme at the University of Kassel in Germany. The programme is based on the principles of blended learning with a high share of online teaching. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with students, document analysis and practical experience by one of the authors.

The study shows that attempts of bridging theory and practice have proved challenging in the past, which has, for instance, resulted in changes of course modules aiming directly at linking both domains. The findings are presented and discussed in the light of three different perspectives: (1) learning outcomes of professional MPAs and the theory-practice-nexus in a systems theory perspective; (2) the impacts of administrative culture; and (3) didactical/micro-level perspective. Furthermore, recommendations for practical purposes are derived.

The exploratory study does not provide strong generalisable results but aims at enriching the academic discussion as well as points to solutions for the practice.

Beyond useful insights on how (elements of) experimental learning are or might be implemented in the PA masters’ programme under study, the chapter offers a more generalised discussion of the challenges contextual factors might pose to the implementation of experimental learning formats and discusses possible solutions to overcome such challenges.

The purpose of the paper is to provide a personal, reflexive examination of the negotiation of the professional identity of governance services personnel as a specific role set in professional services in higher education (HE).

A reflexive framework is adopted, drawing on the author's own professional positioning and practice in a UK higher education institution (HEI). Drawing on, and challenging aspects of Whitchurch's typology of professional identities in HE, a “weak” social constructivist approach is adopted, through examination of the author's inter‐professional interfaces with the external members populating institutional governance structures. This epistemological approach resonates with an exploration in the paper of the author's interventions as secretary to the institution's audit committee, in production of documentation as a form of corporate knowledge‐creation and narrative production in a wider scheme of accountability.

The paper proposes that in contrast to Whitchurch's notion of “bounded” professionalism, the HE governance professional, in migrating to and from governance “space”, constitutes a mode of boundary‐crossing unexamined in the literature and policy.

While adopting a self‐reflexive stance, the paper provides a basis for undertaking empirical research into professional identity configurations in the corporate governance of HEIs, grounded in the experience of the actors populating governance structures, including professional services staff, ex officio, elected and external members of HE governing bodies.

The paper contributes to an emerging literature on professional identities in HE, and to qualitative approaches to HE governance.

This paper aims to present the results of a qualitative study of the continuing professional development (CPD) activities of academic librarians in Ireland. The benefits of CPD, the methods and strategies of engagement, and the role played by professional organisations are examined, with particular emphasis on the attitudes of librarians towards CPD.

In total, 25 academic librarians were interviewed in depth from four universities in the greater Dublin region. A qualitative approach was chosen to allow the collection of data which was rich and informative.

Academic librarians engage in CPD in multiple ways, both formal and informal, but it falls primarily to the individual librarian to find, participate in, or even create such opportunities, which raises the question of personal motivation and drive. Support from employers and professional organisations is key. Barriers to participation in CPD include time, financial restraints and lack of encouragement from employers.

The authors are cognisant of the inherent limitations in using interviews as a data collection method, including the possibility of bias.

Academic librarians need to exploit innovative and accessible modes of CPD if they wish to navigate the changes occurring within the profession. Professional library organisations must also reinforce their support of their members in this endeavour. Incentives to participate should build on librarians' personal motivation and job satisfaction, likelihood of career progression, and deepening working relationships with non-LIS colleagues.

To date there has been no comprehensive Irish study which has addressed the question of how academic librarians engage with the professional body of knowledge through pursuing professional development activities. This research seeks to present an Irish perspective, but also explores issues which are globally applicable within the profession.

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the specific roles information professionals have adopted in the past 14 years. It aims to identify the roles reported in the literature concerning developments in the Library and Information Science (LIS) profession.

This study adopted the method of systematic review. Searches were conducted in February and March 2014 on different LIS databases. From a total of 600 papers, 114 were selected, based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. A thorough full-text analysis of the papers revealed six roles that librarians have adopted: teachers, technology specialists, embedded librarians, information consultants, knowledge managers and subject librarians.

New and evolving roles were identified, mainly in the context of academic libraries. Librarians’ educational responsibilities and their active involvement in the learning and research process were highlighted in all role categories identified. Collaboration among faculty and librarians was reported as a way of ensuring successful instruction. Librarians’ personal views of their new and emerging roles were more frequently reported; further research is needed to shed light on academics, students and other users’ perceptions of librarians’ engagement in the learning process.

The study considered only peer-reviewed papers published between 2000 and 2014 in English. It focused on information professionals’ roles and not on librarians’ skills and their changing professional responsibilities.

This review paper considers the development of the LIS profession in a changing environment and offers an understanding of the future direction of the LIS profession.

This chapter delves into the evolving identity of professionals within the field of research management and administration (RMA), examining the shifts in their roles and expectations in the changing landscape in higher education. After the introductory section, Section 2 offers a conceptual framework that emphasises identity as a dynamic process rather than a static concept. This framework sheds light on the changing roles and expectations that define the RMA profession. In Section 3, we explore the contextual backdrop of shifting expectations surrounding RMA roles while stressing the importance of recognizing the multiplicity of identities to comprehend the nuances of the RMA profession. Section 4 analyzes empirical data and explore the diverse pathways that lead individuals into the RMA profession. We uncover that a notable proportion of RMAs possess scientific training and research experience and highlight the complexities surrounding the identity of RMAs with doctoral training (DRMAs). Lastly, Section 5 discusses key observations that yield valuable insights for future research on the evolving professional identity of RMAs. We emphasise that, through self-exploration and introspection, practitioners in the field can contribute to a deeper understanding of their roles and actively shape their professional identity.

The study is aimed at analyzing the perceptions of students and teachers regarding the effectiveness of massive open online courses (MOOCs) on learning efficiency of students and also evaluating MOOCs as an ideal tool for designing a blended model for education.

The analysis was carried out by using the data gathered from the students as well as teachers of University of Mysore, Karnataka, India. Two separate sets of questionnaires were developed for both the categories of respondents. Also, the respondents were required to have prior experience in MOOCs. Further, the collected data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).

The study showed that MOOCs have a more positive influence on learning efficiency, as opined by both teachers and students. Negative views such as cheating during the assessment, lack of individual attention to students and low teacher-student ratio were also observed.

Many educational institutions view that the MOOCs do not influence learning efficiency and also do not support in achieving their vision. However, this study provides evidence that MOOCs are positively influencing the learning efficiency and also can be employed in a blended model of education so as to promote collaborative learning.

Technology is playing a pivotal role in all fields of life and the education sector is not an exception. It can be rightly said that the technology-based education models such as MOOCs are the need of the hour. This study may help higher education institutions to adopt MOOCs as part of their blended model of education, and, if already adopted, the outcome of the present study will help them to improve the effectiveness of the MOOCs they are offering.

Catherine Althaus, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria in Canada. Her present research interests focus on public policy and public administration as well as bioethics, leadership in the public service, and the interface between politics and religion. She teaches online courses in the Master of Public Administration and Master of Arts in Community Development programs.

The aim of this study is to develop a model grounded by the institutional theory to investigate blended learning (BL) implementation among faculty members in higher education and further validate the model.

Quantitative methodology was employed, and data were gathered through questionnaires among 188 e-learning directors, managers and coordinators at faculty/department in institutions, which implement BL.

Findings reveal that BL implementation by faculty members is significantly influenced by coercive, normative and mimetic pressures. Findings from this study also identified institutional initiatives that influence BL implementation. Accordingly, findings from this study provide insights into the institutional theory perspective toward BL. The findings support higher education to plan and initiate BL policies.

Data were collected from faculty members in universities, colleges and polytechnics only. Besides, this research is one of the limited studies that explore BL deployment from the lens of faculty members.

This research contributes to the existing literature on the institutional theory and BL by presenting significant initiatives as practical suggestions for educationalist and policymakers. Therefore, this study provides practical implications to better understand BL initiatives by providing insights into how institutions can improve faculty members' satisfaction levels, improving course management, enriching teaching quality and enhancing learning content.

The findings provided in this study can be employed to design practices, policies and a culture that support continuance use of BL systems among faculty members to achieve an effective institutional outcome.

This study contributes to existing BL adoption and develops a model to examine faculty member implementation of BL approach. This research has several suggestions for higher education in terms of practice to support adoption of BL. The developed model can also be employed by academics, administration and institutions to determine success initiatives for achieving an appropriate change in adopting BL in their institutions.