Facilitating professional development of mobile and eTextbook technologies: A special interest group approach
Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
ISSN: 2050-7003
Article publication date: 13 April 2015
Abstract
Purpose
While the integration of mobile and eTextbook technologies is rapidly growing throughout higher education learning environments, these technologies are often challenging to implement across the university landscape. Professional development tailored to these fluid and evolving technologies is essential to supporting effective classroom integration. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate a special interest group approach to professional development regarding mobile and eTextbook technologies implemented by one university in the USA. Issues such as recruitment of members, selection of face-to-face and online spaces, and curriculum design are addressed.
Design/methodology/approach
To evaluate effectiveness, a survey was given to the participants that asked about sense of community, perceived increase in knowledge and teaching practices, and overall satisfaction with the experience.
Findings
The interrelated factors of sense of community, knowledge, and teaching practices were identified as valuable, along with group organization. Survey results revealed that participants highly valued the opportunity to share best practices with others they typically would not, and benefitted from the expertise of guest speakers. Online spaces were found to serve as a repository of on-demand resources and dissemination of information, while face-to-face meetings capitalized on interactivity and nurtured community. Sharing the work of the members with the university and beyond was critical to incentivizing members to produce, and also built further professional networks. The planning team identified a tension between encouraging active involvement from instructors and offering it in convenient ways given their other commitments.
Originality/value
Although this is a single case, this analysis suggests generalizable strategies that may create and sustain a community interested in mobile and eTextbook technologies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge all of the members of the Mobile/eTextbook Focus Group for their participation and commitment to the group.
Citation
deNoyelles, A. and Seilhamer, R. (2015), "Facilitating professional development of mobile and eTextbook technologies: A special interest group approach", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 55-67. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-03-2014-0030
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited