Incentivos Económicos derivados del Convenio

The research study makes the following contributions to knowledge and practice:

Firstly, this study offers a unique vignette into the enactment of fully online learning as experienced by students in a higher education institution in Ireland. In this regard, it revealed the deployment of a ‘pared down’ model of fully online learning by the Higher Education Institution (HEI), with students being offered real-time access to on-site face- to-face lecture sessions that were streamed live during day-time hours, as well as access

student-lecturer and peer-to-peer communications included: Adobe Connect, Panopto, Moodle discussion forums, and email. This provision of fully online courses directly responds to calls by the HEA (2019), DBEI (2018; 2019) and the European Commission (2014) for provision of more flexible access to higher education to prepare citizens for the knowledge economy. The students reported being very satisfied with the overall course design and structuring of learning within this model of fully online learning, and indeed the student participants of this study were all successfully progressing with their online courses showing that the programmatic learning outcomes were achieved despite the pared down model of fully online learning. However, some students did point to the need for more timely communications and feedback from lecturers, and more opportunities for interaction with peers and lecturers, thereby enabling connection, inclusion and belonging as outlined by Kebritchi et al. (2017). They further suggested that face-to-face contact would be preferable for more practical modules.

Secondly, the study revealed interesting information about the profile of students undertaking this fully online mode of learning including but not limited to the fact that many already had undergraduate degree level qualifications, and the majority were in full-time employment. The participants in this study were all undertaking an undergraduate degree programme in fully online mode, so the fact that many of them already had been awarded an undergraduate level of degree was of interest. As some of the participating students mentioned the ‘Springboard’ programme - the Irish government’s career re-orientation programme that was established in 2008 during the onset of austerity in Ireland - it is likely that the re-engagement by some of those (who already had been awarded degrees in undergraduate studies) was linked to this initiative i.e. they needed to re-orient or change their degree to get full-time employment. However, this profile of learners seeking a second undergraduate degree level qualification may also be suggestive of a new trend in education, where even those with degrees in full-time employment will engage in re-education to strengthen or safeguard their likelihood of employment in the future economy. In their review of an online distance-learning course in Russia, Leshem and Davidovitch (2011) also found that the majority of students accessing the online course had a bachelor’s degree or higher and that they intended to complete the programme to earn a degree (even when this level

which are delivered through online mode of learning have resulted in the creation of high quality pedagogical practice in higher education and the emergence of high quality technology contexts which support and improve the learning experience for students who participate in this mode of learning (HEA 2019).

The future of education and training in the digital age and the move towards the automation of work along with transitions to a low carbon economy, brings new opportunities for employment but also a degree of uncertainty about the nature of work and careers, particularly the danger of not being able to find employment as highlighted in the Government of Ireland, and Irish Department of Business Enterprise and Innovation’s (DBEI) Future Jobs Ireland reports in 2018 and 2019. Expectations of a linear career pathway (a so-called ‘job for life’) of our citizens will need to be moderated, as they will likely need to re-engage with, and re-orient their education at multiple points in their lifelong learning trajectory. The Higher Education Authority of Ireland in 2019 called on higher education institutions to ‘facilitate flexible learning pathways, so

that citizens can access educational opportunities and develop relevant skills to tackle current and future global challenges, throughout their lives’ (HEA, 2019, p.1). This study

provides some evidence of career re-orientation in action, and in this regard, provides a further warrant for asking those involved in higher education in Ireland to critically consider their programmatic offerings in terms of the much needed flexibility in learning pathways, particularly online modes of learning, to enable transitions towards future employment. This study also raises the question as to whether supports offered in such programmes should remain the same or differ from those offered to the novice undergraduate students i.e. there is a need for further investigation into whether the needs of more experienced undergraduate students are different to those of novice undergraduate students, and what the impacts of this are for course design and implementation.

Thirdly, the study affirms and further contributes to knowledge about the fully online model of learning. In this regard, the study traced factors impacting the student experience of fully online learning that aligned with existing findings highlighted within

study undertaken by Phirangee and Malec (2017), of frustration with delays in lecturers responding to queries or with feedback on assignments which pointed to the need for timely feedback as highlighted by Lister (2014), and of inadequacies in the provision of courses with practical sessions as also shown in a study by DeVaney (2010). The study further traversed new territory in its mapping or identification of a new pattern of engagement within the context of the fully online model of learning deployed in the targeted higher education institution, specifically the reported emergence of the two separate communities of learning – one of which formed through contact made among the fully online students who were accessing the ‘live-streamed lecture’ sessions, and the other which was formed by those fully online students accessing ‘recorded lectures’ archived within the institutional learning management system. In both cases, the students tended to migrate off institutional forums to use their own personal social media/ networking applications for communication about the course and sharing their experiences of engagement in the fully online mode of learning.

Fourthly, the research reveals the need for professional development of lecturers, particularly in terms of the skills required to be interactive online with students, in addition to the technical training required to carry out and deal with technical issues should they arise during an online session. Raising the lecturers awareness of appropriate pedagogical approaches for online learning, and of ways to foster communities of learning, within the fully online mode of learning. Alvarez et al.’s (2009) classification of roles and competencies of the university educator - designing, social, cognitive, technological and managerial - might be useful in framing the training needs. This training needs to further improve understanding among lecturers of the need for timely responses and feedback to students. The study also pointed to the need for re- consideration of workload allocation for lecturers by higher education institutions, in light of the additional time-load associated with fostering meaningful interaction and engagement within communities of learning, in the fully online mode of learning.