Longing for connection : University educators creating meaning through sharing experiences of teaching online

• Published in: British journal of educational technology 2021-09, Vol.52 (5), p.2077-2092
• Main Authors: Fox, Brandi, Bearman, Margaret, Bellingham, Robin, North‐Samardzic, Andrea, Scarparo, Simona, Taylor, Darci, Thomas, Mathew Krehl Edward, Volkov, Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic staff attitudes; Autoethnography; CAI; Collaboration; College Faculty; Colleges & universities; Computer assisted instruction; Computer Mediated Communication; Computer Simulation; Distance Education; Education; Educational Change; Educational Practices; Electronic Learning; Ethnography; e‐learning; Higher Education; Interpersonal Relationship; Online Courses; Online education; Online instruction; Online teaching; Professional development; Professional Identity; professional learning; qualitative research; Questions; Self Concept; Sense of Community; Student Attitudes; Student Experience; Students; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher cooperation; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Time Management; University teaching; Web based courses
• ISSN: 0007-1013; 1467-8535
• DOI: 10.1111/bjet.13113

This paper presents a reflexive analysis of how university educators experience the shift to increasing online teaching in 2019. We explore what it means to be an online educator in contemporary higher education and aim to raise questions about how we approach online education and understand ourselves as educators, informed by a sociomaterial lens. The research utilised collaborative autoethnography (CAE) to facilitate meaning-making and uncover complex perspectives through collaboration and conversation. This enabled us to question what we as educators were losing and what we were gaining as a consequence of shifting to more online modes of teaching via university mandated platforms and processes. Through this methodology, various themes emerged: the role of corporeality; how we constructed ourselves through texts; how others materialised us in virtual spaces; the experience of online time; and our transforming practices and identities. This paper provides a snapshot of a significant cultural milieu in academia as we were afforded time to engage in reflexive practice about teaching online just as the academic world was abruptly mandated to shift almost wholly online. It also provides unique insights into the significance of understanding ourselves as both embodied and social, and the importance of community within academia. [Author abstract]