Capturing and sharing professional practice on mediating 'live' online tutorial sessions - A case-study from Hibernia College

Abstract

This case-study is set within the context of a new online Masters Programme for teachers within Hibernia College, the Masters of Arts in Teaching and Learning (MATL). It explores how tutors and students interact using synchronous computer mediated conferencing (SCMC) technologies during live tutorial sessions. The study found that students and tutors did not have an agreed set of ground rules for these online events and thus there was a need for a signature pedagogy to clarify this. It was observed, using the Flanders Interaction Analysis Categories (FIAC) and tutor interviews, that the level of interaction during these tutorials was predominantly teacher led with little evidence of student voice. The study developed a toolkit to allow tutors engage in professional practice discussions. The toolkit is designed to enable tutors to reflect on their tutorial practice. Using a cyclical process tutors can capture, codify and analyse their existing knowledge with a view to developing more student-centred tutorials. This paper focuses on the use of FIAC to code and analyse an online live tutorial and how this information can then be used to inform a tutor’s professional development practice.