Exploring Staff Perceptions: Early Childhood Teacher Educators Examine Online Teaching and Learning Challenges and Dilemmas

Early Childhood teacher educators at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have been engaging with online teaching and learning since the mid 1990s. On campus students have lectures and tutorials supported by information and communication technologies via QUT’s home grown learning management system, Online Learning and Teaching (OLT). We surveyed academic staff to identify their perceptions of online provision. Of significance were issues around transmission, constructivism, and interactivity, especially for external students, with a perceived preference amongst all students for knowledge transmission. There are also constraints for staff, specifically the technological limitations of the learning management system and our own limitations as online curriculum developers. The findings of this study suggest a need to develop staff capacity to work more effectively in an online environment and to consider the efficacy of blended approaches to teaching and learning