Academics and Digital Technologies at Work (Preliminary Stage)

Abstract

Digital technologies are transforming education and dramatically increasing access that students have to global education, besides overcoming many limitations especially to students who are disadvantaged by traditional approaches to teaching. Academics can also harness digital technologies as a powerful educational tool which also allows for temporal and spatial flexibility. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has forced both the student and academic to adapt quickly to the use of digital technologies especially in the unpresented push to online learning and teaching. Research suggests that the challenge to many lecturers in adopting digital technologies so quickly has been the lack of support in terms of training and resources provided. Limited research, however, has examined the impact on academics from international branch campuses that are blessed with an abundance of resources and support to help with online teaching. This study therefore aims to explore the impact of digital technologies in learning and teaching among academics from international branch campuses in Malaysia together with its impact on these academics' personal resources (e.g., time, energy, and frame of mind).