Exploring digital didactics: An explorative case study on learning to teach online

Online teaching became increasingly popular during the last decennia. Therefore, many teachers face a challenge in combining technology with content and didactical approaches. However, not all teachers have experience with online teaching or the didactical approach towards it. For this reason the ‘Digital Didactics’ programme is developed in the context of teacher professional development in Flanders, Belgium. ‘Digital Didactics’ strives to provide teachers with hands-on experiences regarding the didactical possibilities of online teaching. These experiences could be implemented immediately in the teachers’ own practice. The programme builds on scientifically supported knowledge on teaching with technology such as the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The research question this study addresses is first to investigate the reasons to participate in the Digital Didactics programme, and second how the participants and the coaches are experiencing this programme. Data was collected through qualitative online structured interviews and focus group interviews and analysed by using an inductive approach and thematic analysis. This paper presents the outcomes of the programme and clarifies the identified strengths and challenges of the ‘Digital Didactics’ programme. There are three main reasons for participation identified, namely: personal, professional and peer related motives. Next to that are the participants’ experiences divided into three levels, namely: content level, guidance level and practical level. The experiences of the coaches and participants were found to be similar: they agree on both the perceived merits as well as on the weaknesses of the programme. Conclusively, the study contributes to the knowledge on effective professional development strategies for online teaching and learning. This can be useful for practitioners or researchers in the field of online teaching and related professional development.

ISBN:978-1-911218-18-0

Jaar van publicatie:2016