Abstract:

On March 16th, 2020, professors at Institución Universitaria Colombo Americana -ÚNICA attended the first training session organized by the Educational Technology and Pedagogical Innovation Committee (ETPIC) from the same institution. In that session, professors who had been used to only teaching their classes face-to face and with little to no technology at all, learned to use Microsoft Teams for the first time. This was the first of many actions ÚNICA proposed to respond to the contingency emerging from COVID19. Since that day on, the ETPIC at ÚNICA has supported the institution in their pedagogical, strategic, managing and implementing role to ensure the quality of education offered at the institution regardless of the abrupt change in modality.

In 2020, the ETPIC, a modest group of teacher-researchers, was consolidated to face the challenge of preparing the community for a rapid change. Soon, a system of training sessions, customized in-house coaching and available technological resources made the community feel technology implementation was not an impossible task. Likewise, the administration response to this emerging needs approving funding for the investment in technology namely software and hardware aided the transition. This new environment helped everyone, including the more orthodox professors, develop a growth mindset towards technology use.

This paper will present a timeline of the actions held by the ETPIC in ÚNICA between 2020 and 2021 for achieving the implementation of digital technologies, the revision of pedagogical practices and the development of digital competences in professors who before the pandemic, were not inclined towards its use in their classes. The paper will also show the reactions of the community towards the professional development initiatives through data collected from questionnaires, focus groups and class observations during 2020.

Some of the actions taken to aid professors make the transition from face-to-face teaching to remote teaching mediated by technology were the offering of practical workshops on digital tools, webinars on best practices in online learning, asynchronous courses on the SAMR model and the design and construction of HyperDocs, as well as the creation of a digital tool hub for all teachers to use at their discretion, and one-to-one sessions, among others. These initiatives allowed the ETPIC to share some conceptual information to help professors inform their practice theoretically and soundly. As well as to aid professors in the development of a profound understanding of the implications of teaching virtually, asynchronously and synchronously.

The preliminary analysis of the instruments reveals the grateful attitude of ÚNICA professors towards the actions taken by the institution to support them in this arduous process. Professors mention the key role of the support provided in the successful overcoming of hurdles and the generation of innovative practices for their classes. Professors in all areas of knowledge started making substantial changes, not only to the practices in their virtual classroom, but also in their view of learning and teaching digitally.

Finally, there are more things to do in regards to the integration of technology in the program, teacher training, and support in this area. More recent actions in this matter include class observations, follow-up training sessions in SOFLA, and strengthening the in-house coaching model.

Keywords:

Teacher training, SOFLA model, digital mindset, digital literacy, Covid-19, educational tech tools.