About change: How institutionally aligning online pedagogy, design and technology impacts higher education teachers

Abstract

[EN] Emerging empirical evidence in e-learning research is revealing the advantages of aligning learner-centred pedagogical practice with social learning-based instructional designs and appropriate interactive technologies to bring about systemic changes to learning online. This inquiry forms part of a larger qualitative action research study. Our aim was to to determine the impact of such a cross institutional change initiative on a group of instructors, teaching in multi-disciplinarian fields in a higher education technical institute in Chile. Findings from questionnaires, field notes and in-depth faculty interviews revealed that evolvement towards teachers’ roles as mediators and identities as empowered faciltators and community builders occurring over the initial years of the initiative were accompanied by encouraging signs of the development of 21st century skills and identities on the part of students. In our post pandemic era, as online learning becomes more the norm, understanding such effective pathways to excellence in digital spaces is paramount.