Flipped out in the blended classroom, the good, the bad and the ugly: When academics become students

Abstract

This article explores the well-being of three academics from different higher education institutions and disciplines, as they engage in professional academic development (PAD) courses using technology. A collaborative autoethnographic approach is applied to reflect on our professional development experience. The higher education landscape is shifting to a cloud-based ICT infrastructure, opening up multiple educational opportunities in teaching and learning. Lecturers in higher education institutions (HEIs) are required to use a range of new technological tools and applications and engage in new learning methodologies. This is modelled in professional academic development courses, which integrate technology and digital tools into the teaching and learning process. Participant perspectives on PAD within a blended learning environment are examined through the lenses of an ethic of care and authentic learning to uncover social justice pedagogy. Using a diffractive approach in a collaborative autoethnographic study, the possibilities, tensions and contradictions of using technology to enhance pedagogy are explored. Findings point to the importance of an Ethic of Care and authentic learning, in order to enhance a social justice pedagogy in PAD.

Student Challenges with the University Access Program in South Africa

“…Van den Berg, Verster, and Collett (2018) proposed, "Care-giving associated with the moral element of competence" (p. 444). Additionally, Tronto (2013) elaborated that caregiving requires one "to be competent to care" and is "not simply a technical issue, but a moral one" (p. 35). Tronto (2013) qualified competence as including caregiving that addresses accessing materials and resources such as time and skill.…”

“…Additionally, Tronto (2013) elaborated that caregiving requires one "to be competent to care" and is "not simply a technical issue, but a moral one" (p. 35). Tronto (2013) qualified competence as including caregiving that addresses accessing materials and resources such as time and skill. Hansen and Reich (2015) found that "free wikis were more likely to be created in affluent schools, and in these schools, wikis were more likely to be used to support collaborative problem-solving and new media literacy.…”

Práctica, formación y competencia docente en el ejercicio de la modalidad académica virtual

“…El uso de las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TICs) en los procesos formativos de la educación superior crea nuevas posibilidades didácticas relacionadas con escenarios docentes, metodologías, recursos de enseñanza y aprendizaje, además de un acceso al patrimonio de conocimientos de la humanidad que no tiene paralelo en la historia. Los modos de interacción maestro-alumno adquieren una nueva connotación a través de actividades sincrónicas y asincrónicas de mayor exigencia con respecto a la autorregulación del aprendizaje por parte del educando (Chaves et al, 2016;Fombella, 2018;Rodríguez-Chueca et al, 2020;Van-den-Berg et al, 2018).…”