Why Pedagogy First?

We spent some time talking about the challenges and opportunities in online education. Let's look at our real situation here. We may be assigned to move one existing course online and teach it online with only a few weeks' notice. We may have to create a hybrid course in preparation for a situation like the COVID-19 crisis. We may be expected to design or redesign a course from scratch in response to a curriculum change. Imagine all of these situations. So, what is absolutely critical for us to get ready in order to teach an online course?  Is that a set of technology tools, materials, or pedagogy (i.e., the methods and strategies a teacher uses to teach)?

We may say that technology tools come first because we cannot teach online without technology. True. With technology, it is possible for us to design an online experience similar to those we may have designed for a face-to-face environment. Have you ever felt that it's daunting to choose and use technology tools? (Remember the helpful tools listed in Module 1A?) Often times, we need some guidance and help to make a technology and design decision that best achieves our teaching goals. So, here comes the importance of pedagogy. It takes priority over technology and materials because it guides us in making the most important design and teaching decisions to best achieve the results.

Let's take this moment to look at effective strategies for online teaching. We hope that knowing the pedagogy at the beginning of this course will help you build a good foundation to design and deliver an effective and satisfying online course for your students.

The teaching approaches and strategies on the following pages are pedagogical, and they are the science of how to design and facilitate your online courses. They are rooted in constructivist learning theory, which holds that actively engaging with materials, peers, and instructors constitutes the best way to learn (Mayo, 2010). In this type of learning environment, learners construct and create their own knowledge structures that are personally relevant and important to them through what they already know, what they pay attention to in their environment, and what they process deeply.

We will cover the following teaching strategies:

  • Authentic Learning
  • Community of Inquiry
  • Active Learning
  • Universal Design for Learning

References

Bruner, J. (1963). The Process of Education. New York, NY: Vintage Books

Mayo, J. A. (2010). Constructing undergraduate psychology curricula: Promoting authentic learning and assessment in the teaching of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.