Policy and contextual considerations for enabling learning support roles in digital environments

Abstract

This paper is in response to Nacu et al.'s (Educ Technol Res Dev 66(4):1029-1049, 2018) guidelines to enable educators to fulfill learner support roles in online education from a contextual perspective and how their heuristic method can be utilized in today's current pandemic. It also explores how learner support roles can be leveraged to balance affordances offered by the learning environment and the learners themselves. Additionally, this paper discusses the implications for addressing social inequities in digital environments and education policy reform.

University outreach during the pandemic: digital technologies to teach energy efficiency and climate protection

“…The booklets are a resource typically used in initiatives to raise awareness of these different themes. As in the game case, these resources were wellreceived by some of the students, which are among the favorable aspects associated with using digital technologies indicated by Qazi (2020) and Stefaniak (2021).…”

“…Furthermore, it avoided interrupting the learning-teaching process. However, its implementation made students' social conditions even more evident, considering that not all had access to the technologies needed to participate in the classes (STEFANIAK, 2021).…”

Pedagogy on the Fly

“…Course redesign, under typical circumstances, has required an iterative, reflective process that is objective driven from the top down (Bennett et al, 2017). However, the pandemic forced rapid shifts without the careful consideration that occurs when employing an instructional design model (Karakaya, 2021), often without the organizational support in place needed to make these shifts (Meier, 2021;Stefaniak, 2021) or the professional development needed to understand the new technologies being employed (Curtin, 2021;Glantz et al, 2021;Istenič, 2021) or how to manage practical skill and application content (Dickson-Deane, 2021;Gamor, 2021;Iwanaga et al, 2021). Recent work in student efficacy demonstrates the important role of faculty on campus (Ferguson, 2021), but the notion of teaching and learning in online-only capacities during a pandemic complicates how real presence can be measured and understood.…”

Extensão universitária na pandemia: tecnologias digitais para o ensino de eficiência energética e proteção climática

“…Essa alternativa envolveu tecnologias digitais diversas que costumam ser atrativas para os alunos, assim como permitiu uma ampla gama de atividades interativas e significativas, além de evitar a interrupção do processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Em contraste, sua implementação tornou as diferenças entre os estudantes no tocante às condições sociais mais evidentes, posto que nem todos tinham acesso às tecnologias necessárias para participar das aulas (STEFANIAK, 2021).…”