Exploring the integration of educational technology for remote teaching and learning in higher education : a case study

Abstract

Remote teaching and learning have been popular since the outbreak of COVID-19. The use of educational technology plays an important role in maintaining and supporting remote teaching and learning. Although remote teaching and learning have brought many benefits for teachers and students, there are still difficulties and challenges in effectively integrating educational technology in teaching and learning. Therefore, it is useful to understand students’, teachers’, and technology management administrators’ experiences in effectively using educational technology in remote teaching and learning. This study focused on the successful implementation of remote teaching and learning in higher education institutions. In this study, I used the process of designing a qualitative case study suggested by Merriam (1998). An instrumental single-case design was used to explore the participants’successful experiences integrating educational technology into the remote teaching and learning process in higher educational institutions. These participants’ experiences helped me understand the effective use of educational technology in remote teaching and learning. Their experiences may also encourage more teachers to use educational technology competently to increase the quality of remote learning in higher education. This study had 30 participants (6 professors, 3 technology management administrators, and 21 students) from two higher educational institutions that were purposively selected according to specific criteria. The duration of the data collection was 2 months. I used observations, interviews, focus group discussions, documents (course outlines and lesson plans), and literature as data. The data collected from the participants show the following: (a) there are different technologies and technological tools that can be used to improve the effectiveness of remote teaching and learning, (b) efficient use of different technologies and tools can enhance teaching and learning and eliminate learning barriers, (c) teachers need to make adaptations of teaching strategies to online learning modality, (d) professors and students need to make changes and adjustments for remote teaching and learning, and (e) a process model of remote teaching and learning can be built. As a result of this study, it was found that (a) the use of educational technologies can also make teaching and learning more convenient, effective, and enjoyable; (b) educators need to adapt various teaching strategies to online modality and develop the curriculum; and (c) supportive activities and programs are valuable and helpful for both teachers and students to gain achievement in their teaching and learning. The study also provided a process model of remote teaching and learning.