Educational Technology Commons^™

Overcoming Current Challenges In Higher Education Through Team Teaching, Carol Rogers Shaw, Corinne Brion, Katelyn Case

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

Team teaching in online higher education courses provides an innovative approach to meeting the needs of students and enhancing the teaching experiences of instructors. In this study, two instructors collaborated to team teach a course in an online doctoral program; this article shares their experiences. A multi-method qualitative approach was utilized to explore the benefits and challenges of team teaching. Data included questionnaire responses from students, journal entries written by instructors, and interviews with program administrators. The findings offer possible solutions to common challenges in higher education today such as increasing …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 10, Issue 1, Spring 2026

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2026 issue (Volume 10, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

This issue of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence brings together articles that explore innovative instructional approaches and emerging technologies for strengthening teaching and student learning in higher education. The contributions examine team teaching as a model for building instructor collaboration and reducing burnout in online doctoral courses, cross-curricular instruction in speech-language pathology clinical education, guidance for graduate students undertaking single-case research design in the social sciences, an experiential SNAP Challenge assignment for …

Exploring Educational Affordances Of Interactive Murals, Alyshia Bustos

Computer Science ETDs

Interactive murals are a new technology that blend traditional mural painting and embedded electronics. My work contrasts traditional STEAM projects by introducing youth to programming, building electronics, and interaction design principles within the context of designing and constructing interactive murals. Accordingly my dissertation addresses the following: 1) How can we integrate traditional mural practices and ubiquitous computing in an interactive mural, 2) How do interactive murals support youth in learning how to program and build electronics, and 3) How can we design learning activities that support youth as interaction designers?

To address my research questions, I first conducted technical tests …

To Post Or Not To Post, That Is The Discussion: An Exploration Of Students’ Perceptions And Experiences With Using Online Collaboration Tools In Threaded Discussion Board Postings, Sherietta Farron Lane

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods action research study was to explore how instructor presence, cognitive presence, and social presence impact students' perceptions and experiences when interacting, communicating, and collaborating in asynchronous discussions and collaborative activities during an introductory-level English literature course at a Southern career college. Online courses can create a sense of isolation due to a lack of student-to-student or student-to-instructor interaction. Discussion forums are a key communication tool to foster interaction in online courses. This action research focused on three questions: (1) How does the use of selected collaboration tools impact students’ perceptions of instructor presence in …

Empowering Special Education Teacher Candidates With Artificial Intelligence (Ai): A Chatbot For Transition Planning Interviews, Sohyun Yang, Jerrie Brooks

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This project began with developing an AI-powered chatbot using Claude.ai to enhance learning experiences in a master-level special education teacher preparation course. Specifically, the chatbot will be utilized in the course SPED 860: Transition: Early Childhood to Adulthood in Special Education during Spring 2025. The course requires teacher candidates who are currently working as special education teachers to interview a parent and a professional (e.g., general education teacher, special education teacher, related service provider) to develop a transition plan for a student with a disability. By simulating these interviews, the chatbot will act as a proxy for the parent and …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 8, Issue 2, Fall 2024

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2024 issue (Volume 8, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Fall 2024 issue presents practical ideas and prompts for those who teach at colleges and universities in a variety of disciplines. Articles ways to use popular culture (in this case, reality TV) to teach higher-level concepts; strategies for adapting Lesson Study techniques for preservice teachers; and a review of McNair et al.'s 2022 book on creating student ready colleges.

Inside The Lab. Students Create. Reflect. And Evolve., Divonna M. Stebick, Joshua Wagner

Education Faculty Publications

The authors examine how creativity and personal growth are nurtured in student-centered educational environments across two courses, revealing six key themes: creativity, failure, reflection, the role of instructors, collaboration, and experiential learning. By embracing failure, promoting reflection, and encouraging collaboration, educators empower students to explore new ideas, develop resilience, and engage deeply with hands-on learning experiences.

Undergraduate Nursing Education Simulation Training Using Virtual Reality Goggles And Teamstepps Methodology, Jennifer Koalenz

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Abstract

Due to changes in educational processes during global pandemic restrictions and the rapid pace of innovation and developments in virtual reality technology, this modality of education is expected to become a common presence in healthcare education. Immersive simulation activities can be an effective way to facilitate collaboration and communication skills in a constructivist-based classroom. Evidence shows that virtual simulation improves critical thinking skills, psychomotor skills, and decision making (Padilha et al., 2019). In addition, the availability of an on-demand, customizable scenario is highly useful to supplement clinical learning when necessary. But many caution that virtual simulation, just like any …

Exploring The Potential Of Utilizing Esports In The Development Of Workforce Communication And Collaboration Skills, Anthony Gray, James Bartlett

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study explores the potential of esports in workforce development, specifically for enhancing the communication and collaboration skills of Generation Z. As Generation Z enters the job market, a gap in necessary communication and collaboration skills has become evident. Esports, previously studied for its social skill development benefits (Nielson & Hanghoj, 2019), offers a unique platform for skill enhancement. Adopting a social constructivist framework (Shabani et al., 2010), this research investigates how esports participation can bridge this skill gap, crucial for career retention and progression. Through a mixed-method approach involving surveys and player evaluations, the study aims to assess skill …

Differences In Student-Ai Interaction Process On A Drawing Task: Focusing On Students' Attitude Towards Ai And The Level Of Drawing Skills, Jinhee Kim, Yoonhee Ham, Sang-Soog Lee

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Recent advances and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have increased the opportunities for students to interact with AI in their learning tasks. Although various fields of scholarly research have investigated human-AI collaboration, the underlying processes of how students collaborate with AI in a student-AI teaming scenario have been scarcely investigated. To develop effective AI applications in education, it is necessary to understand differences in the student-AI interaction (SAI) process depending on students' characteristics. The present study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the differences in the SAI process amongst students with varying drawing proficiencies and attitudes towards AI in …

Attitudes, Perceptions, And Quality Of Learning Experience Design In Head-Mounted Virtual Reality For Preservice Educators, Jonathan Steven Spike

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

As more and more students seek out online educational opportunities, emerging technology and platforms must provide the most effective experience for learners to expand their knowledge and skill sets. The research study aimed to investigate social presence, collaboration, and design opportunities in head-mounted, virtual reality as compared to the more common synchronous video communication. A convergent mixed methods study was conducted using participant quantitative questionnaires regarding social presence and collaboration in both head-mounted virtual reality and synchronous video communication, expert scores of learning experiences designed by groups in each group, as well as qualitative interviews of the head-mounted virtual reality …

Rebranding Originality For The Age Of Ai, Jason Gulya

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

"Originality" has been a longstanding focal point within the college classroom, with students being encouraged to embrace creativity and boldness. The traditional view of originality, relying solely on one's wit and imagination, has lost its effectiveness in the present era. The concept of learning has undergone a significant transformation, no longer resembling the isolated ivory tower of the past where individuals would immerse themselves in books, hoping to be inspired. Instead, modern learning has become more social and collaborative. Students compare and contrast class material with online resources, engaging in conversations, both in person and virtually, to solidify their understanding. …

Allied Health Faculty Members’ Perspective On Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Prajakta Khare-Ranade, Margaret Newsham Beckley, Mary Geders Falcetti

Dissertations

A framework for interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) (WHO, 2010) in response to the need to address the complicated conditions that exist in today’s health systems. Much of the focus of today’s health service delivery is predicated on the social determinants of health (Barzansky et al., 2019), which refer to the environmental conditions associated with where people are born, live, go to school, work, play, age, and worship that have an impact on health, function, quality of life, and risks (Healthy People 2030, n.d.). IPCP is thought to be the only approach effective …

The Modern Classrooms Project: Student Efficacy And Achievement, Rhiannon Dunn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quasi-experimental, quantitative study was completed to determine if a Modern Classroom approach to teaching had a significant relationship with student self-reported efficacy measures and end-of-course test data when compared to classrooms taught with traditional instructional methods as well as if there was a difference in results for Honors and College Prep-level students. Participants were students enrolled in a ninth-grade English classroom in a suburban school in East Tennessee. The study focused on survey data collected from both types of classroom at the mid-point of the semester and then from the Modern Classrooms participants at the end of the semester, …

Canvas Research Modules: Meeting Students Where They Are, Denise Woetzel, Lynn Riggs

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Since Fall 2020, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College librarians discovered some new post-COVID realities for our college including: more online asynchronous classes being offered; short semester sessions; the declining number of instructors requesting information literacy sessions for their classes; and fewer students visiting our campus libraries. During the Fall 2020 semester, librarians started to discuss how we could create research modules in our Canvas learning management system. Instructors could then request to be added to a specific Canvas research module so they can copy over the module into their course sections in Canvas. Considering the fact that the our librarians …

Lessons We Learned From Avatars: Cultivating Meaningful Preservice Teacher Online Experiences During Covid-19 And Beyond, Kristin M. Murphy, Janna Jackson Kellinger

Pedagogy and the Human Sciences

Like flight simulators used to train airline pilots prior to flying an actual airplane, mixed reality simulations provide an opportunity to interact with avatars in order to practice newly learned behaviors in an online environment. As teacher educators, we have used mixed reality simulations as a part of our coursework for the past five years. In this article, we discuss implications and lessons learned for teacher education practice and research in the online environment during COVID-19 and beyond based on our experiences using mixed reality.

De Bono's Six Hats Thinking Strategy For All Content Areas, Jamie Mahoney, Lynn Patterson, Carol Hall

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Problem-solving and collaboration require people to compromise, negotiate, and brainstorm to understand, create, manage, judge, and be intuitive and remain positive and calm while working as a team to address problems. Teachers can teach students to collaborate and problem-solve in any content area using de Bono's Six Thinking Hats Strategy. Using de Bono's strategy, university students in this study explored learning hats and ways to apply learning hat properties to collaborate and problem solve in group activities. Researchers employed a mixed-method study enlisting both general education and special education pre-service undergraduate and in-service graduate teachers to discover personal thinking hat …

Using A Virtual Format To Support Student Learning Across Cultures, Countries And Disciplines, Vicky G. Spencer, Cindy A. Smith

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Today, an increasing number of higher education institutions are recognizing the importance of preparing students to communicate, live, and work effectively with others from different cultural backgrounds (Appiah-Kubi, 2020; Eliyahy-Levi, 2020; Iuspa, 2019). Providing opportunities for students to travel abroad has been an integral part of the higher education experience for many years. However, with the global pandemic resulting in limited travel, universities are developing new and innovative ways to provide international experiences for students. The purpose of this project was to explore an international virtual student collaboration between two universities, one in the United States and one in Australia. …

Impact Of Technology Use On Early Childhood, Paige Davidson

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Technology is something that has evolved immensely over the last 20 years and only continues to grow and change. Technology has affected early childhood education, in the home and classroom. This literature review explores the impact of technology use on young children, as well as how educators can support students learning using technology. The literature review will analyze how technology can positively affect student learning through increased collaboration, enhanced engagement, strengthened motivation and creativity. In addition, the literature review will explain how technology can improve academic skills, such as reading and math. Educators are the key facilitators for improving student …

Technology As A Tool For Support: Classroom Teachers And Resource Specialists In Collaboration And Communication Practices, Mackenzie Jones

Education | Master's Theses

Classroom teachers and resource specialists face hectic schedules that include supporting students and meeting the core curriculum standards. In order to support students with disabilities in the classroom, collaboration between classroom teachers and resource specialists is essential. With busy schedules and increasing demands that teachers face, there is an urgent need to support teachers with effective systems of collaboration. This research focuses on the problem of unorganized and ineffective systems of support, which teachers face when trying to collaborate and communicate with their colleagues. While many prior studies address the significance of providing time for educators to collaborate in the …

Mapping Renewal: How An Unexpected Interdisciplinary Collaboration Transformed A Digital Humanities Project, Elise Tanner, Geoffrey Joseph

Digital Initiatives Symposium

Funded by a National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Foundations Grant, the UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture’s “Mapping Renewal” pilot project focused on creating access to and providing spatial context to archival materials related to racial segregation and urban renewal in the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, from 1954-1989. An unplanned interdisciplinary collaboration with the UA Little Rock Arkansas Economic Development Institute (AEDI) has proven to be an invaluable partnership. One team member from each department will demonstrate the Mapping Renewal website and discuss how the collaborative process has changed and shaped …

The Potential Of Artificial Intelligence In Higher Education, Helen Crompton, Donggil Song

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is seeping into many aspects of our everyday lives, with common internet applications, smartphones and even household appliances. Within education, AI is a rapidly emerging field and there is a strong potential for AI to greatly extend and enhance teaching and learning in higher education (Crompton et al., 2020). AI is defined as “computing systems that are able to engage in human-like processes such as learning, adapting, synthesizing, self-correction and use of data for complex processing tasks” (Popenici & Kerr, 2017). In the Horizon Report 2020 report (Brown et al., 2020), AI is listed as one of …

Promoting 21st-Century Learning: Online Collaboration Through Design Thinking Framework For Today's Esl Students, Hande Yildiz

Master's Projects and Capstones

Learners of the 21st-century engage and learn differently than ever before. Policymakers and teachers are now challenged to makeshift into the 21st-century education model and adapt their approaches to better prepare the students for the future work world. 21st-century ESL classrooms should reflect this learning model through a more engaging, collaborative, and student-centered approach. Collaboration and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills are vital in 21st-century learning. Research shows that ESL learners can benefit from collaborative activities and the use of technology improves students' language reception and production. However, due to the lack of understanding of the paradigm shift in …

Student Experiences, Attitudes, And Perceptions Toward Online Collaborative Tools: A Case Study, Jeremy Easley

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Abstract

This case study (Merriam, 1998) describes the experiences, attitudes, and perceptions of four twelfth-grade students at Bob Jones High School (pseudonym) with literacy deficiencies as they used collaborative technology tools in an online after-school tutoring program that focused on reading and writing skills. Leveraging the sociocultural theory of reading (Freebod & Luke, 1990), participants worked collaboratively to strengthen skills while completing tasks. In addition, students used online collaborative tools, based on the principles of the New Literacies Studies (Gee, 2010), to construct and share meaning. Data collection included semi-structured interviews, participant observation and student artifacts. The data from these …

The Effects Of Mobile-Assisted Problem-Based Language Learning On Speaking Proficiency Of Iranian Language Learners In The Second Language, Ansarian Loghman

Student Works (2020-2029)

Problem-Based Language Learning (PBLL) is a cognitive and collaborative approach to language learning which has gained attention of language educators in the last two decades. Although previous researches have revealed that PBLL is a promising approach to language learning, a detailed look at the effects of mobile-assisted PBLL on linguistic features of speaking proficiency of the learners and the learners' views with regard to this approach are absent. In an attempt to shed light on this issue, a confirmatory sequence mixed-methods study in the EFL context of Iran was conducted. The effects of mobile-assisted PBLL was compared to the conventional …

The Effects Of Teacher Professional Development And Self-Efficacy On Classroom Uses Of Information And Computer Technologies, Elif N. Gokbel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The uses of new technologies during mathematics instruction are essential for maintaining opportunities for students to gain better understanding of the content and become digital learners in the information age. Although scholars found technology integration is helpful in improving students’ mathematics achievement, the role of teachers’ preparedness for technology integration remains critical.

Technology professional development and self-efficacy are two major factors impacting teachers’ successful integration of instructional technologies. The purpose of this study was to provide a more in-depth look into (i) mathematics teachers technology uses during direct instruction, dialogic instruction, and assessment; (ii) the relationship between various types of …

"Collaboration" (Digital Pedagogy In The Humanities), Katina Rogers, Amanda M. Licastro, Danica Savonick

Publications and Research

Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities is a peer-reviewed, curated collection of reusable and remixable resources for teaching and research. Organized by keyword, the annotated artifacts can be saved in collections for future reference or sharing. Each keyword includes a curatorial statement and artifacts that exemplify that keyword. This focus of this chapter is "Collaboration." In research, writing, and teaching, ideas build on countless others, weaving a complex network of influences. Collaborative work foregrounds this network, celebrating the value that many hands bring to a project. It includes diverse perspectives, flips the dichotomy of expert and novice, and explores alternative ideas. …

Makerspace Collaboration As Dialogue And Resistance, Sanjeet Mann

Library Faculty Publications & Presentations

Collaboration is central to the work of librarianship, including technological initiatives such as the establishment of a makerspace. Librarians typically understand collaboration as a rational process in which partners reach agreements to yield efficiencies. However, this predominant understanding of collaboration ignores the nature of institutions founded on structural inequities and aligns with neoliberal ideology and objectivist understandings of technology.

In this chapter from an edited anthology that critically examines makerspaces and the Maker Movement, I reframe technology as relational and grounded in the needs of human communities, and I propose an alternative understanding of collaboration as a process of dialogue, …

Curriculum Design With Systematic Analysis, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, And Research, Juhong Christie Liu Ph.D., Eric M. Stauffer, Jim R. West, Dominic "Nick" D. Swayne

Libraries

As the instructional design of courses and learning activities become a normal practice of professional development for teachers and faculty members, curriculum design has risen to tag the expertise of instructional design professionals. These curriculum design projects demand a high level of collaborative efforts to look into discipline-specific accreditation standards, to analyze existing resources including course catalogues and technology infrastructure, to update emerging pedagogy and technology, and to evaluate diverse teaching team and student compositions. This presentation will share the practical knowledge gained through several curriculum design projects from the perspectives of systematic analysis, interdisciplinary collaboration, and research.

Collaborating Online: Tools For Improving Teacher Preparation In Literacy, Jennifer Van Allen, Lenora Forsythe

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Teacher preparation programs face the continual challenge to provide experiences that foster collaboration between teacher candidates and go beyond the boundaries of particular programs and classrooms. Collaborative learning structures improve learner achievement, attitudes, engagement, satisfaction, and retention rates when interactions between learners are facilitated and fostered. These structures have the potential to foster genuine collaboration in which groups create products and processes that change individuals’ understandings and actions as well as those of the collective group. In this format, learning occurs not only from the instructor but from other classmates as well. Many agencies and professional associations are calling for …