TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison of voluntary and forced digital leaps in higher education
T2 - Teachers’ experiences of the added value of using digital tools in teaching and learning
AU - Kallunki, Veera
AU - Katajavuori, Nina
AU - Kinnunen, Päivi Anneli
AU - Anttila, Henrika
AU - Tuononen, Tarja
AU - Haarala-Muhonen, Anne
AU - Pyörälä, Eeva
AU - Myyry, Liisa
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - The study examines the benefits of digital tools in teaching and learning as experienced by university teachers in two different time periods: 1) during the controlled digital leap before the Covid-19 pandemic (2017–2019) and 2) during the emergency imposition of remote teaching in response to the lockdown aimed at containing the Covid-19 pandemic (2020). Teachers in different academic fields at a large multidisciplinary Finnish university (N1 = 303 and N2 = 265) responded to two open-ended questions as part of a broader questionnaire. The research identified four kinds of benefits related to digital teaching: (1) practical and administrative and (2) independence of time and place, implying practical and technical benefits; as well as (3) enhancing learning and (4) developing teaching, which are primarily pedagogical benefits, related to teaching and learning. Voluntary and forced digital leaps provided different kinds of consequences in teaching and learning. Digital tools generally provided practical and technological benefits for teaching and learning during the controlled digital leap, but they also had positive pedagogical effects. The forced digital leap, in turn, demonstrated the value of time-and-place-independent online teaching and learning. It also exposed differences among academic fields in how teachers experienced the benefits of using digital tools. Support of and training for university teachers should take into account the different needs of faculties and disciplines, and promote dialogue between pedagogical and technological interests.
AB - The study examines the benefits of digital tools in teaching and learning as experienced by university teachers in two different time periods: 1) during the controlled digital leap before the Covid-19 pandemic (2017–2019) and 2) during the emergency imposition of remote teaching in response to the lockdown aimed at containing the Covid-19 pandemic (2020). Teachers in different academic fields at a large multidisciplinary Finnish university (N1 = 303 and N2 = 265) responded to two open-ended questions as part of a broader questionnaire. The research identified four kinds of benefits related to digital teaching: (1) practical and administrative and (2) independence of time and place, implying practical and technical benefits; as well as (3) enhancing learning and (4) developing teaching, which are primarily pedagogical benefits, related to teaching and learning. Voluntary and forced digital leaps provided different kinds of consequences in teaching and learning. Digital tools generally provided practical and technological benefits for teaching and learning during the controlled digital leap, but they also had positive pedagogical effects. The forced digital leap, in turn, demonstrated the value of time-and-place-independent online teaching and learning. It also exposed differences among academic fields in how teachers experienced the benefits of using digital tools. Support of and training for university teachers should take into account the different needs of faculties and disciplines, and promote dialogue between pedagogical and technological interests.
KW - 516 Educational sciences
KW - Added value
KW - Digital leap
KW - Digital tools in teaching and learning
KW - Higher education
KW - Teachers' beliefs
KW - Benefits
U2 - 10.1007/s10639-022-11559-7
DO - 10.1007/s10639-022-11559-7
M3 - Article
SN - 1360-2357
VL - 28
SP - 10005
EP - 10030
JO - Education and Information Technologies
JF - Education and Information Technologies
IS - 8
ER -