Teaching Novice Teachers to Enhance Learning in the Hybrid University

Abstract

Hybrid learning spaces are often associated with ‘blended’ education and defined by the presence of a mediating technology. In this paper, we shift the focus from technology to practice in the search for a relationist perspective that understands hybrid space as emerging from a sociomaterial assemblage. In this perspective, learning and teaching involve blurred boundaries and spatiotemporal configurations in a context of radical uncertainty. The paper presents a qualitative study of an ongoing project called Teknosofikum, a course/concept for the professional development of novice higher-education teachers in Denmark. The project addresses the complexity of distributed learning in (post-)pandemic hybrid spaces and times. It aims at generating imaginative pedagogies through the use of technology while also nurturing ontological aspects of the teaching profession. The paper presents and discusses data from the first iteration, which included co-designed processes of prototype content development and a mini-trial with seven course participants. Two key findings about teacher professional development emerge from the study. The first is the need to focus on multiple and situated teaching activities, providing a bridge between learning theories and educational practices. The second is the importance of knowing-in-practice, rather than acquiring knowledge, to create space for imagination in teaching with technologies and face up to the dynamic evolution of higher education.