ICT and Innovation in Teaching Learning Methods in Higher Education: Volume 45

The role of information and communication technology (ICT) in education is increasingly gaining importance in institutions of higher education. Operationally, ICT has helped to cut costs and speed up transactions by streamlining and automating processes. Pedagogically, it has enabled online, hybrid, and technology enhanced learning as well as a host of other capabilities, from learning management systems to student information system, and from student affairs to academic affairs. ICT is now embedded in every aspect of university life. The role of ICT is found to increase the value of classroom delivery, it has helped in the growth of research, expanding horizons for students mainly with limited accessibility to education and it has created an overall positive impact in the teaching–learning environment in general. There are always two sides to the coin and in this case inaccessibility, economic disparity, and ineffective implementation of ICT has also created impediments for effectively adopting and diffusing integration of ICT into pedagogy. This volume is a collection of interventions and collaborative practices across the world that showcases the multifaceted ways of how various institutions have been engaged in supporting teaching and learning with the use of technology and how it is equipping our future generation with the skills required to face a changing job market.

This chapter reports on the design-based research study aimed at the re- and codesign of the third-year course “Introduction to Biostatistics,” part of the Bachelor program in Medicine. The authors aimed to make teaching more interactive, student-based and future-proof by empirically testing theoretical assumptions during iterative studies, including both quantitative and qualitative results from the perspective of the students and the teacher. The authors’ conclusion is that teacher–researcher collaboration can be an effective approach for professional development and improving innovative practices. At the same time, it allows to get a better theoretical understanding of effective teaching and learning practices. The authors hope that this chapter can inspire others to transform toward a progressive institution and looking for concrete innovative classroom practices in the context of innovative learning spaces.

This chapter provides the multifaceted ways of how the institution has been supporting teaching and learning (T&L) with the use of technology and how it is equipping the younger generation with the skills required to face a changing job market. The prevailing status of use of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4th IR) in T&L was evaluated through: (i) outcomes of a survey approved by the institution undertaken with academics and students for its external audit in 2018; (ii) the continuous support being provided by the Center for Lifelong Learning for fully online programs through the Moodle Platform; and (iii) use of Google Classroom, smartphones, and tablets in faculty-based teaching by the information and communication technologies (ICT) department. This study aimed to identify gaps with a view to enhance the quality of blended/online learning. Findings of the survey reveal that 59.2% of academics who responded were satisfied with the applications of ICT in their teaching, with 42% indicating that there is a need for improvement. Similarly, 55.1% of students who responded indicated that they were satisfied with the use of technology in the classroom. The case studies support the surveys and provide indications of ongoing advancement in the use of ICT following the external audit. The advent of the pandemic has further accelerated our plans in the digital transformation process, leaving us with no choice but to innovate with the use of ICT in the classroom.

In the spring of 2018, Abilene Christian University’s College of Education and Human Services created a task force to explore opportunities for an integrated program of interprofessional education through both curriculum and experiential learning. In the fall of 2019, the program was launched with a shared case study assignment and simulation across 13 courses from all five departments within the college and the School of Nursing, allowing students to develop important interdisciplinary practice skills. Over 400 students were involved in the experiential learning activity across two years. In the spring of 2020, the program launched three interdisciplinary courses, focused on developing interdisciplinary skills and knowledge in the areas of ethics, vocation, and practice skills through further simulation. In this chapter, the authors will describe the development, implementation, and outcomes of this innovative curriculum, along with the challenges and benefits of implementing an innovative curriculum across a college. Challenges discussed will include consideration of traditional higher education structures and the need for flexibility and adjustment to allow for innovation.

Meaning-centered education situates meaning at the center of teaching and learning (Kovbasyuk & Blessinger, 2013). By incorporating learning objectives from additional learning domains – namely the affective domain – meaning-centered learning should enhance students’ personal and professional identities, as they reinforce existing knowledge through the continuous conscious acquisition of knowledge across learning domains. For this study, instructors integrated the human resource development (HRD) constructs of Level 1 and Level 2 evaluations into an online doctoral strategic planning course to achieve three goals: (A) increase student engagement, (B) assess affective domain learning outcomes, and (C) practice innovative teaching to reinforce creative meaning-centered learning. Infusing an online curriculum with affective learning domain outcomes and weekly formative assessment activities allowed instructors to monitor and address affective attributes. Results suggest that the implementation of Level 1 and Level 2 evaluations as weekly formative assessments increased student engagement. Extended analysis promoted a deeper understanding of the roles that emotions and attitudes play in online learning. Affective learning outcomes were attained as these additional weekly exercises promoted meaning-centered collaboration with students while decreasing the power-related distance between learners and instructors.

This chapter reports on a course that is designed to facilitate the students’ transition out of college and into life after graduation. It describes how the course foregrounds the problems students face, both the technical aspects of the transition and the emotional experience, unthought out ideas about what the students want, their goals, and how they might go about achieving their goals. The authors report on the course culture, assignments, observations from teaching the course, student feedback from focus groups, surveys, behavior, as well as summaries of data on the student’s experience.

The need for this course is supported by the research literature on emerging adulthood. In addition, the authors report on focus group and survey data gathered. The modern discourse on the post-college transition commonly emphasizes economic and practical hurdles, such as educational loan debt, student employability, skill transferability, career networking, and job interviewing. Receiving far less attention are the psychosocial and developmental dimensions that color the student experience of the graduation transition.

Yet very few colleges and universities have paid attention to this glaring need, especially public institutions with many first-generation college students. This chapter describes a college course dealing with the problem of transitioning to life after college taught in an intellectual, communal, and personal atmosphere.

Higher education has seen an unprecedented amount of change in recent decades, with technological advancements impacting on the very essence of teaching and learning. As there are an abundance of digital tools available to educators, it can be a challenge to select the most appropriate online platforms to incorporate into the classroom. This chapter discusses the topic of digital storyboarding by providing a case study of how the author adopted the online platform Storyboard That to enhance student engagement and co-creativity within a UK higher education institution. The chapter debates the benefits and challenges of technology-enhanced learning as part of a blended approach, and concludes with advice for educators wishing to adopt digital storyboarding within their own educational context.

Online learning continues to grow year after year and majority of the growth is seen in public institutions of higher education. The purpose of this book chapter is to acquaint the readers to group-based learning in an online environment as an innovative practice for engaged learning. Diverse facets of group-based learning are discussed such as role of instructors, role of learners, challenges of group-based learning and finally role of social media in designing such group-based learning projects. A comprehensive prototype application of a group-based learning project walks the readers through applying group-based learning in their respective courses at the undergraduate and/or graduate level. Finally some instructor designed rubrics for assessing group-based learning are shared for effective assessment of a group-based learning project.

This chapter explores how cloud-based office productivity suite(s) such as Google Workspace have been used to engage students in their learning while also preparing them for the workplace. Using these types of tools can make group-based in-class activities, assignments and projects highly engaging for a diverse student body while also developing skills valued in the workplace. Practical examples are shared regarding how the tools have been used with accounting and business students in courses such as communications and computing, introduction to business, sustainability and leadership. Some examples include how students can use the tools to collaboratively: provide feedback to a post-secondary institution regarding its orientation activities; complete a PESTLE and SWOT analysis of a business; use Google Forms with mobile phones to record observations of the emotional state of individuals and discuss in relation to emotionally intelligent leadership; and create a sustainability report for a post-secondary institution. The examples provided can be adapted as is or modified to engage learners in nearly any discipline at any education level in a face-to-face classroom or via remote delivery.