Positioning the case to tell the story: developing the narrative or presentational account

This paper is drawn from a doctoral study (in its final stages) about the use and adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance the face-to-face teaching by six academic staff, who represent different disciplines and different campus locations, in a large, regional university in Australia. A collective case study was adopted as the framework for the study, and field data comprised semi-structured interviews, curriculum guides, teaching and learning resources, websites, and included results of a Teaching Practices Inventory completed by each of the research participants.

Case study is a popular choice of qualitative researchers. There are numerous examples in the literature of case study as the vehicle for examining issues concerning teachers' use of new technologies in teaching and learning. This paper situates the research study in the qualitative, interpretative research paradigm, and matches the choice of case as the research strategy to accepted characteristics of good case studies. The focus of the paper then moves to the practical, yet difficult problem faced by the researcher of ways of presenting the case, seeking a balance between the demands of prescribed, social scientific writing for an academic audience, and the need to create texts that are interesting, vital and that “make a difference”(Richardson, 2003). Using a sample case from the study, the paper examines approaches to constructing meaning from the field data to create the narrative or presentational account and, ultimately, the research text.

Moving from face-to-face to online classrooms: the reflective university teacher

This study explores the similarities, differences and possible interaction between two small groups of Canadian and Australian university teachers’ face-to-face and online teaching approaches and philosophies. The paper compares their perspectives on teaching face-to-face and online at two comparable Canadian and Australian universities, both of which offer instruction in these two modes. Teaching philosophy data were gathered with the ‘Teaching Perspectives Inventory’ developed by Pratt and Collins at the University of British Columbia, which assessed participants’ teaching approaches and philosophies in terms of their beliefs, intentions and actions in both modalities. The study upon which this paper is based builds upon a well established research partnership of the two authors who have previously explored emerging philosophies of learner centred teaching in distributed classrooms in Canada and Australia.

Using ICT to support literacy and numeracy in rural schools

This project grew directly from the SiMERR national forum of 2003 and involved a partnership between SiMERR Victoria and the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria to evaluate a PD model for rural independent schools. The initiative was that of AISV and the Deakin team conducted a formative and summative evaluation.

The impact of information and communications technology on teaching and design of flexible, online and distance education courses at Deakin University

This paper describes the use of an online learning environment which has been established for postgraduate students studying at Master’s level in Professional Education and Training Deakin University. A detailed evaluation of the use of computer conferences in an Open and Distance Education specialism was undertaken during 2000 as part of a CUTSD funded project, Learner Centred Evaluation of Computer Facilitated Learning Projects in Higher Education. As the Open and Distance Education specialism is being revised and new units are written, the information gathered in this evaluation is being integrated into the pedagogical planning and the technological decisions being made about the design of the new master’s program.

IFIP TC3/WG3.6 : Quality education @ a distance : IFIP TC3/WG3.6 Working Conference on Quality Education @ a Distance, February 3-6, 2003, Geelong, Australia

This work considers several aspects of providing quality education at a distance - quality of systems that support online learning, quality support infrastructure, quality of technical access and support, materials distribution. Issues in each of these areas are considered.

Teaching philosophy : moving from face-to-face to online classrooms

This article explores the similarities and differences between Canadian and Australian university teachers’ face-to-face and online teaching approaches and philosophies. It presents perspectives on teaching face-to-face and online in two comparable Canadian and Australian universities, both of which offer instruction in these two modes. The key research question was to determine if moving from face-to-face instruction to on-line teaching results in new teaching approaches or in a creative blend of those developed within each teaching modality. Qualitative data were collected using an open-ended survey, which asked participants for their thoughts on their face-to-face (f2f) and online teaching experiences. Quantitative data were collected using the “Teaching Perspectives Inventory,” which assessed participants’ teaching approaches and philosophies in terms of their beliefs, intentions, and actions. The authors’ conclusions address the issue of assisting teachers to successfully make the transition from traditional teacher-centred to newly emerging learner-centred teaching approaches in distributed classrooms.