International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Volume 1, Number 2, 2007

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Research Article

Abstract

Exploring Staff Perceptions:  Early Childhood Teacher Educators Examine Online Teaching and Learning Challenges and Dilemmas

Early Childhood teacher educators at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have been engaging with online teaching and learning since the mid 1990s. On campus students have lectures and tutorials supported by information and communication technologies via QUT’s home grown learning management system, Online Learning and Teaching (OLT). We surveyed academic staff to identify their perceptions of online provision. Of significance were issues around transmission, constructivism, and interactivity, especially for external students, with a perceived preference amongst all students for knowledge transmission. There are also constraints for staff, specifically the technological limitations of the learning management system and our own limitations as online curriculum developers. The findings of this study suggest a need to develop staff capacity to work more effectively in an online environment and to consider the efficacy of blended approaches to teaching and learning.

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Bios

Julie Davis
j.davis@qut.edu.au

I am a lecturer in the School of Early Childhood, QUT where I teach Studies of Society and Environment, and Health education. After receiving my original teaching qualifications in primary school education, I taught for a number of years in Indigenous communities in northern Australia. I later studied for a B.Sc. (Environmental Studies), a Masters of Environmental Education, and a doctorate in environmental education, all from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.  My main research interest is in the newly emerging field of early childhood education for sustainability, focussing on organisational cultural change and transformative pedagogies. A more recent research focus is the scholarship of teaching, and, in particular, investigations into the potential of web-based learning tools for creating ‘virtual communities of learners’.

Sandra Lennox
s.lennox@qut.edu.au

I teach across a number of literacy curriculum subjects for preservice undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Early Childhood at Queensland University of Technology. My research focus has been on young children's literacy learning and development. I completed a Master of Education by research at the University of Queensland. I have also pursued an interest in adult education, completing the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education at QUT. I am currently collaborating with colleagues in research projects investigating student and staff perceptions of online teaching and learning and undergraduate preservice students' epistemological beliefs and how their ways of knowing are enacted in their practice, both pre-service and in-service.

Sue Walker
sue.walker@qut.edu.au

I am a lecturer in the School of Early Childhood at Queensland University of Technology and have been teaching preservice education students since completing my Ph.D. on peer acceptance in early childhood at QUT in 2001. I have also completed a MEd (Research) and BEd (Hons) at QUT. My teaching and research focus is in the area of child development and inclusive practices. Past and current research has focused on social and emotional development in early childhood particularly with respect to peer relationships and friendships. A second strand to my research interest concerns the scholarship of learning and teaching particularly with respect to online learning and teaching and the ways in which staff and students engage with online communities.

Kerryann Walsh
Centre of Learning Innovation
Queensland University of Technology
Kelvin Grove & Brisbane, Australia
k.walsh@qut.edu.au

I am a Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator in the School of Early Childhood at Queensland University of Technology. My undergraduate (honours) teacher qualifications were obtained from the University of Southern Queensland (formerly Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education) and the University of Queensland. My Ph.D. is in from the Queensland University of Technology. My ongoing SoTL projects include first year experience initiatives (including the MATES program), final year student transitions, and student teamwork in field placements. In 2006 I was the recipient of a Queensland University of Technology teaching award for excellence in teamwork.

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