Instructional designers’ shifting thinking about supporting teaching during and post-COVID-19

ABSTRACT

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic provided the opportunity for institutions of higher education to increase their use of online instructional delivery models and tools. Instructional designers played a role in supporting instructors to make this transition. This support included professional learning opportunities in the form of workshops and coaching. The purpose of this study was to investigate instructional designers’ shifting thinking about the professional learning experiences they are providing and will provide for instructors in institutions of higher education during the pandemic and beyond. Six instructional designers from four universities participated in two focus groups for this study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The instructional designers in this study viewed professional learning during the pandemic as a time to address what they saw as persistent problems with online learning. Moreover, they indicated a willingness to engage in extended faculty development to explore mutually identified challenges with online teaching and learning in their contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• instructional designers
• shifted thinking
• student engagement
• online learning
• humanizing online teaching
• professional learning

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the instructional designers who participated in this study for their time and willingness to share their experience and perspectives in spite of their busy schedule in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Jingrong Xie

Jingrong Xie is an instructional designer at University of Missouri System. She provides quality course design and review and faculty consultation. Her research focuses on universal design for learning and mobile learning to develop cognitive and social skills for students with disabilities in postsecondary education, faculty professional development, and online learning.

Gulinna A

Gulinna A is an instructional designer in Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies at Fort Hays State University. She helps faculty with blended and online course design, as well as consultation for effective teaching and learning strategies. She also develops online professional learning communities for faculty.

Mary F. Rice

Mary F. Rice is an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico. Her research considers how access to digital literacies enables and (dis)ables curriculum possibilities when teaching and learning online. She is an Online Learning Consortium Emerging Scholar and a Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute fellow.

Deborah E. Griswold

Deborah E. Griswold is an assistant professor of practice at the University of Kansas Department of Special Education. She teaches in the autism graduate program and other areas. Her research interests are in autism, emotional-behavioral disorders, teacher education, and online learning.