Professionalizing Online/Blended/Hybrid Education

Online/blended/hybrid education is nowadays emphasized by higher education institutions as part of their long-term strategy. As teachers take the main responsibilities in course design, professionalizing teachers in online/blended/hybrid education matters, especially in the context of the transition from Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) during the coronavirus pandemic to effective online/blended/hybrid education is crucial. There is much literature on teachers’ experiences in teaching with technology, instructional design principles, and online/blended/hybrid learning experiences. However, there is little research on the mechanisms of online/blended/hybrid education, how to transition from the ERT to effective online/blended/hybrid education, as well as the impact of different online/blended/hybrid practices on students’ learning experiences.

The research project Professionalizing Online/Blended/Hybrid Education aims to tackle these knowledge gaps. With four studies in two research tracks: the informative track and the intervention-based track, the project investigates the mechanisms of online/blended/hybrid education and how to facilitate teachers to design effective online/blended/hybrid education. To this end, the research project will explore how teachers decide to teach with technology, their willingness in teaching with technology, the course design standards for online/blended/hybrid education through students’ perceptions as well as teachers’ practices, and how the different design practices impact on students’ learning. Furthermore, this project also looks into professional development practices and investigates which innovations ‘work’, how they ‘work’, for whom they ‘work’, and under which conditions they ‘work’.

The project will generate new insights into how to professionalize university teachers in online/blended/hybrid education, construct course (re)design standards of high-quality online/blended/hybrid education and guidelines; not only for the local research context at the University of Groningen, but also other higher education institutions in the Netherlands and beyond.

This research project is one of the interdisciplinary Teaching Academy Groningen (TAG) projects. The other two projects are about wellbeing and employability in online/blended/hybrid education.

Other colleagues involved in this research are:

- MSc. Ha Nguyen (GION)

- Prof.dr.Jan-Willem Strijbos (GION)

- Prof.dr. Hanke Korpershoek (GION)

- Dr. Angeliki Mali (ISEC - Institute of Science Education and Communication, Faculty of Science and Engineering)

- Dr. Jolien Mouw (GION)