Approaches to teaching and technology use among international award winning university teachers

Abstract

There is wide-spread acknowledgement of the benefits of well thought out online learning opportunities that provide students with active learning environments that extend the classroom space. This paper reports on the approaches to teaching in general, and in particular approaches to the use of technology, by award winning university faculty in Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. Findings indicate that the majority of these award winning teachers adopted an approach to teaching that was student centered and focused on changing the students’ conceptions of the material being studied, rather than an approach that was information focused. While technology as a tool to provide information resources was a part of their repertoire, their use of technology extended beyond content delivery to provide activities and resources for active learning. Examples of how they incorporated technology for active learning will be provided.