Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking sites

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as Facebook are one of the latest examples of communications technologies that have been widely-adopted by students and, consequently, have the potential to become a valuable resource to support their educational communications and collaborations with faculty. However, faculty members have a track record of prohibiting classroom uses of technologies that are frequently used by students. To determine how likely higher education faculty are to use Facebook for either personal or educational purposes, higher education faculty (n = 62) and students (n = 120) at a mid-sized southern university were surveyed on their use of Facebook and email technologies. A comparison of faculty and student responses indicate that students are much more likely than faculty to use Facebook and are significantly more open to the possibility of using Facebook and similar technologies to support classroom work. Faculty members are more likely to use more “traditional” technologies such as email.     

Competence and usage of Web 2.0 technologies by higher education faculty

Literature on Web 2.0 experiences of higher education faculty in developing countries such as Pakistan is very limited. An insight on awareness and practices of higher education faculty with these tools can be helpful to map strategies and plan of action for adopting latest technologies to support teaching–learning processes in higher education of such countries. This survey study was aimed to examine the competence and practices of higher education faculty in Pakistan with Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, Wikis, Google Docs, Skype, Flickr, YouTube, and social networks. The study was also focused to look for what type of role faculty play while using these tools; and to find whether any significant differences in terms of age, gender, or academic discipline exist in competence and usage of these tools by the faculty. The data were collected from a sample of 246 university teachers in the spring 2014 semester. The findings of the study indicated that faculty participants reported to use Web 2.0 social tools more frequently than instrumental tools. Similarly, their competence with social tools was higher than their competence with instrumental tools. Additional results indicated that their competence with Web2.0 tools significantly differed with respect to their age, gender, and academic disciplines.     

Socio‐demographic factors relating to perception and use of mobile technologies in tertiary teaching

In 2014, we investigated how socio‐demographic factors such as gender, teaching disciplines, teaching experience and academic seniority were related to the perception and use of digital mobile technologies in learning and teaching of a group of university teachers from one research‐intensive university in New Zealand. Three hundred and eight teachers from this university completed an online questionnaire and 30 of them participated in a follow‐up interview. Survey results showed that while there was a strong positive correlation between using mobile technologies for personal learning and their use in teaching, only a small number of participants utilised mobile technologies in their learning and the vast majority also did not use these technologies in their teaching, More female teachers and humanities teachers used mobile devices and applications more frequently than male teachers and teachers from other academic disciplines. Also, female teachers had a more positive perception in learning and using mobile technologies. Junior teachers also tended to be more positive in technology use. While the overwhelming majority of the interview participants also perceived positive benefits of incorporating mobile devices and applications into their teaching, it was found that female teachers paid greater attention to pedagogy when considering mobile technology use and the lack of professional development limited their use in teaching.     

“Virtually mandatory”: A survey of how discipline and institutional commitment shape university lecturers’ perceptions of technology

Although there have been many claims that technology might enhance university teaching, there are wide variations in how technology is actually used by lecturers. This paper presents a survey of 795 university lecturers’ perceptions of the use of technology in their teaching, showing how their responses were patterned by institutional and subject differences. There were positive attitudes towards technology across institutions and subjects but also large variations between different technologies. Two groups of technology were identified—“core” technologies, such as Powerpoint, that were used frequently, even when lecturers felt that they were not having a positive impact on learning, and “marginal” technologies, such as blogs, that were used much less frequently and only where they fitted the pedagogic approach or context. Rather than there being “leading” universities that were the highest users of all technologies, institutions tended to be heavier users of some technologies than others. Similarly, subjects could be associated with particular technologies rather than being consistent users of technology in general. The study suggests that university technology policy should reflect different disciplines and contexts rather than “one size fits all” directives.     

Doctoral Programs: What Factors Attract Students

ABSTRACT

The study surveyed (questionnaire) 222 doctoral business students from private and public universities in Northeastern United States. The objective was to identity important criteria used to select a university. In addition, this study compared the responses of students from these schools to determine whether selection criteria differ.

Using a Likert scale of important to unimportant, students from these universities rated ten of the 52 criteria important to their selection. They included: programs, academic reputation, degree marketability, faculty contact time, accreditations, assistantship/campus employment, financial aids, placement reputation, completion time, and library size. However, they rated academic reputation and completion time significantly different. The private school students rated academic reputation significantly (0.00) more important, whereas the public school students rated completion time significantly (0.03) more important.

To attract prospective private school students to public schools, public school administrators would benefit by emphasizing the quality and reputation of its faculty and programs. Private school administrators are likely to attract more students if they are able to improve the quality and increase the quantity of computer facilities. Moreover, they would profit from designing flexible programs and classes that would allow for a more rapid completion time.     

COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY DEVELOPMENT: BRINGING TECHNOLOGY INTO INSTRUCTION

Community college faculty development programs assist faculty in the development of quality curricula, using current and expanding teaching technologies. The first step in helping faculty reach their respective goals is to help them articulate their instructional needs. Eighteen faculty members participated in this study, using a personal in-depth interview as the research method. Several implications for community college faculty and administration resulted from this study including: the need to emphasize information literacy, the faculty as lecturers who want to use technology as a means of enhancing that lecture, the need for more time to accomplish their instructional ideas, the need for help to incorporate technology in the classroom themselves, and the desire for training classes that fit their time schedules and location.     

Selection of course evaluation items by high and low rated faculty of varying academic rank

The intent of the study was to identify attitudinal and behavioral instructor characteristics considered important by instructors selecting Cafeteria evaluation items. Also investigated were item selection differences between instructors rated as above and below average by their students and between instructors of varying academic rank. Item-content selection differences were reported for high and low rated faculty and for faculty of varying academic rank.     

Technology’s role in learning at a commuter campus: The student perspective

Patterns of technology ownership and usage, as well as skills with and preferences for various technologies, affect the college experience (Educause 2012). Students at a commuter campus of a large Midwestern public university were surveyed about technology and the learning process: 94% of the respondents believed that technology had the potential to benefit learning and 85% thought it was central to their academic success. Students credited technology-enhanced courses with increased and more effective communication with instructors, the ability to better manage course activities and expanded opportunities for practice and reinforcement. Students’ prior experiences with a course management system affected their perceptions of the role of technology and their subsequent beliefs about the benefits of its use in their university courses. Implications for administrators who make decisions about faculty development, student retention and funding for technology-enhanced course offerings are discussed.     

大学教师工作时间影响因素的实证研究

对全国11个省份68所大学3612名大学教师的调查发现,教师的性别、职称、所在大学层次等因素,都对其工作时间长短和工作时间分配产生了显著的影响。与女教师相比,男教师工作时间长,科研时间比例较高,教学时间比例较低。高职称与低职称教师相比,正教授工作时间最长,讲师工作时间最短。与一般大学教师相比,985大学教师的工作时间长,科研时间多但教学时间少。尤其是,985大学男性正教授的工作时间最长,985大学的助教在服务与管理上占用的时间太多。这些结论为大学教师发展提供了政策参考。     

The Benefits &; Drawbacks of Integrating Cloud Computing and Interactive Whiteboards in Teacher Preparation

Twenty-first century technology has changed the way tools are used to support and enhance learning and instruction. Cloud computing and interactive white boards, make it possible for learners to interact, simulate, collaborate, and document learning experiences and real world problem-solving. This article discusses how various technologies (blogs, wikis, GoogleDocs, and interactive white boards) have been used at one private university in teacher preparation courses. Authors discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each tool for students and faculty and how technologies are made user-friendly for learners of different technology ability. Authors highlight tool usage and issues encountered by students and faculty and how the use of these tools can be useful for the students in their careers.     

Faculty and student perceptions of outstanding university teachers in the USA and Russia

The majority of research that relates teacher characteristics to student learning in the university has come from Western universities. Using various methodologies, research continues to examine the characteristics of outstanding university teachers. Much of that research in the USA assesses faculty and student perspectives. However, there are nearly no cross‐cultural comparisons on this issue. We examined faculty and student perspectives about outstanding university teachers in the USA and in Russia. Faculty members and students at the University of Central Arkansas, Orel State University and Moscow City University rated the qualities of outstanding teachers on the Teacher Behaviors Checklist (TBC). Results showed significant positive correlations for the relative importance of teacher characteristics across the six participant groups. There did not appear to be any substantial differences between the American and Russian counterparts for 21 of the 28 specific teacher characteristics. The comparison of American and Russian faculty and students suggests more universality than cross‐cultural differences in the characteristics of outstanding university teachers.     

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM

In a time of declining resources and restricted faculty mobility, faculty mobility, faculty development has become increasingly important. This study addressed faculty development activities, their evaluation, and their perceived impact on the improvement of instruction in the community colleges of Illinois. Data gathered through the use of a questionnaire mailed to the chief academic officer of each of the state's community colleges were analyzed and interpreted. It was found that a wide variety of activities — orientation, inservice, professional, individual, and group — are available to faculty members. Orientation activities were viewed as being moderately useful for the improvement of instruction. Respondents saw professional activities as somewhat more useful than inservice activities. With some qualifications, group activities were perceived as being more useful than individual activities. Evaluation efforts, for the most part, are as yet sporadic and unsophisticated.

The results of this study suggest that perhaps the traditional inservice‐type activities may not be the “one best way” to deliver quality faculty development aimed at the improvement of instruction. Faculty‐development planners may want to examine more closely the needs of their faculty in relation to the activities available. In addition to continuing the most useful of the group and inservice activities, attention should be directed toward those individual and professional activities not frequently offered but rated as highly effective in improving instruction.     

Teaching Styles and Occupational Stress among Chinese University Faculty Members

The primary aim of this research is to investigate the predictive power of occupational stress for teaching style among university faculty members. A sample of 144 faculty members from a large university in the People’s Republic of China rated themselves on three ability scales and responded to the Thinking Styles in Teaching Inventory and to four scales from the Occupational Stress Inventory‐Revised (role overload, role insufficiency, psychological strain, and rational/cognitive coping). Satisfactory reliability and validity data were obtained for the Chinese version of the four occupational stress scales. After self‐rated abilities were taken into account, occupational stress remained a significant predictor of teaching style. A stronger feeling of role overload and more frequent use of a rational/cognitive coping strategy were conducive to employing both creativity‐generating and conservative teaching styles; a stronger feeling of role insufficiency and psychological strain had a negative impact on the use of creative‐generating teaching styles. The implications of this research for both university faculty members and university administrators are discussed.     

Faculty satisfaction in the online environment: An institutional study

A study of online faculty satisfaction was conducted at a public research university in the United States. Overall level of online faculty satisfaction at the institution, major concerns and motivating factors associated with online faculty satisfaction, and the differences between more and less satisfied online instructors were identified. One hundred two online instructors responded to the online faculty satisfaction survey. Results indicate a moderately positive level of faculty satisfaction with online teaching. Major frustrations were associated with technological difficulties, the lack of face-to-face contact, and student involvement. Satisfying elements pertained to flexibility, access, and student diversity. More satisfied online instructors reported a higher degree of student-to-instructor interaction than their less satisfied counterparts. The classification analysis resulted in 88.5% of online instructors being correctly classified.     

Technology use and learning characteristics of students in higher education: Do generational differences exist?

As digital technologies form an inextricable part of young people's everyday lives, some commentators claim that the current generation of learners think and learn differently from their predecessors. This study investigated the validity of this claim by surveying 799 undergraduate and 81 postgraduate students at a large research‐intensive university in New Zealand to document their use of digital technologies on university and social activities and comparing three age groups of students (under 20, 20–30 and over 30) to see whether there were any differences in their learning characteristics. The findings of the study showed that while students spent a large amount of time on digital technologies, the range of digital technologies they used was rather limited. There were also no practical generational differences in the technology use pattern and learning characteristics found in this study. The results of this study suggest that generation is not a determining factor in students' use of digital technologies for learning nor has generation had a radical impact on learning characteristics of higher education students.     

Factors explaining faculty technology use and productivity

This study examines factors related to technology use in teaching by university faculty. An EFA analysis of multiple questions of technology use in the classroom found two factors: one loaded with Web use and the second with email use. Therefore, three research questions were asked: What factors explain faculty use of the Web or email? Are these factors the same for both Web and email use? What is the relationship of technology use to faculty productivity? The sample included full-time faculty at doctoral and research institutions selected from the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty:1999 (NSOPF:99) dataset. Independent variables included measures of teaching, research, and service productivity, along with other contextual, demographic, and professional variables. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to prepare eight models (email and Web use for Doctoral I, Doctoral II, Research I, and Research II institutions). Results confirmed that age and Internet access were important factors related to faculty technology use. The relationship between email and Web use to teaching productivity in particular is intriguing and may indicate that productive faculty use technology to help them be more productive or that technology use impacts productivity. Research and service productivity also exhibited distinctive patterns with email and Web use.     

Technology Usage Among Community College Faculty

Community colleges are increasing their use of part-time faculty who are taking a leading role in utilizing technology for instructional purposes. Part-time faculty are less likely than their full-time counterparts to use technology for instructional purposes and are less likely to teach non-face-to-face classes. For community colleges to be successful in expanding technology-based education, they must promote technology use by all faculty. This quantitative, national study reports factors found to predict faculty use of technology for instructional purposes.