Higher education teachers' perceptions of online teaching at MCAST : affordances and challenges

Abstract

Considering the rise of online courses worldwide in the past two decades in addition to the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic years, this study explores online teaching (OT) through educators’ perceptions. By prioritising Higher Education (HE) lecturers’ voices this inductive study aimed to uncover their broader outlook on OT including its place in the future HE landscape, their viewpoints on the affordances and challenges encountered and how these impact the students’ learning and teacher’s teaching. Participants constituted educators teaching at Level 5 or higher at a local Further and Higher Education Institution (FHEI), the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). The study addresses a knowledge gap in the local HE scene, concurrently empowering educators by valuing their outlook, enhancing their expertise and consequently that of students. In doing this the researcher implemented a qualitative study involving 12 participants who selfenrolled to participate in the research. Data collection took the form of individual, semistructured interviews, the strength of which lies in the rich data they yield. Interview transcriptions were later analysed using a thematic analysis (TA) technique. The research uncovered three overarching themes, mainly Technology-, Pedagogy- and Human-related aspects of OT, with multiple sub-themes in answer to the three research questions (RQs). The results illustrate a complex web of both positive and negative perceptions of OT, concurrently an acknowledgment of OT’s growing place in HE, the possible move to blended learning as the mainstream teaching modality and a need for upskilling. The need for institutional support is key, not least in the provision of Continuous Professional Development (CPD), which comes through the research participants’ own recommendations for training in technological and pedagogical aspects of OT. The study also conveys possibilities for future research about OT, which apart from extending this narrative, can further explore novel aspects such as the vocational element and learning difficulties in OT.