Title

Online Teaching: Challenge or Opportunity for Communication Education Scholars?

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2021

Abstract

Online education is a pedagogical innovation that often represents a significant challenge for faculty in most, if not all, disciplines in higher education (Mansbach & Austin, 2018). Over time, several factors have coalesced, resulting in increased interest in online instruction. Concerns about decreases in college enrollment (Fain, 2019) and cuts in state funding (Knox, 2019) have exacerbated that interest. More recently, the coronavirus pandemic accelerated unexpected “instant transitions” to remote learning at colleges and universities across the country. Professors and administrators alike quickly became aware of the need to replicate the face-to-face classroom’s teaching and learning experiences in the digital environment (Wong, 2020). However, many faculty across academic institutions and disciplines have faced a plethora of instructional challenges during this transition. The combination of these factors offers a unique opportunity for communication education scholars to extend our discipline’s influence across the academy (Morreale et al., 2019).

Publication Title

Communication Education

Volume

70

Issue

1

First Page

117

Last Page

119

DOI of Published Version

10.1080/03634523.2020.1811360

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