Online teaching and learning in higher education: a case study

Abstract

This study involved an investigation of the practice of online teaching and learning in the Faculty of Education at the University of Southern Queensland. It examined this context at a particular point in USQ’s history, namely at a stage where it is grappling with the emergence of online education. The purposes of the study were to assess the applicability of online education for higher education institutions, to document the issues with which teachers have to come to terms in the online environment, and to determine whether there might be a ‘pedagogical framework’ that is unique for online education in higher education. The study is unique in that it draws upon quantitative statistics concerning the number and types of interactions that staff and students have with the online platform as well as qualitative data designed to elaborate upon those interactions. It should be cautioned, however, that the study focused on only one institution, only one discipline area (although views from other Faculties were collected and have been reported in this report) and only on postgraduate students.