A Technology management framework for the implementation of Hyflex formal education in higher education institution/ Solita M. Costales

Dissertation

College of Industrial Education Doctor of Philosophy in Technology Management Technological University of the Philippines 2022

Higher education institutions must use this post-pandemic reality as the impetus for recreating and redefining their value by investing in tools to improve student success. The collective learning space physical and virtual must be incorporated into pedagogical practices and teaching and learning strategies at colleges and universities worldwide. Enhancing course offerings by implementing a HyFlex strategy for academic programs will augment the student experience and help higher education institutions remain relevant in the changing educational landscape (Penrod, 2022). Formal education and school services should continue amidst pandemics. The global COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge in education. Stay at home during schooling does not assure the best quality of education. Integrating technology in every program needs a study to fit with the learners' learnings and organize a user-friendly tool that can be fitted to any type of university or college. These adaptive technologies could help for limited subjects. This study focuses on the development of a Technology Management Framework in the Implementation of HyFlex Formal Education and in Recalibrating the Educational Services in Higher Education Institution (HEI). Substantive mixed method was used in this study. Descriptive-Quantitative-Qualitative Research Designs with the element of Feasibility Study was the strategy in conducting the study. The researcher-made survey questionnaire was employed to gather information about the needs of the institution during the pandemic. Utilized quantitative-qualitative research design to determine the feasibility includes technical (hardware and software requirements of technology (technoware), operational (orgaware), socio-economic (peopleware), and management of risk. On the other hand, the researcher used the qualitative research method in determining the available resources and needs of the HEIs. The qualitative responses to the open-ended questions were analyzed thematically. The study was conducted in three types of HEIs, namely: three (3) Local Colleges, three (3) state universities, and two (2) private schools. The respondents of the study were the school administrators, personnel, faculty members, and learners. Selected thirty-six (36) school administrator and personnel, ninety-five (95) faculty members and eight hundred forty-one (841) learners were randomly selected. Findings shown that the available resources and needs of the Higher Education Institution during the pandemic, in terms of the following: a) Technology and technical support - Office eLearning as the central hub of the university's online learning portal, The web-based platform can monitor the personnel during work from home arrangement and Subscription of LMS, b) Infrastructures- room and offices should be Updated or replaced ventilation systems of the classrooms/offices, laboratories should have Combination of remote devices and simulation models in a mixed-reality electro-pneumatics experiment and for laboratory is to provide Access and utilization of electronic library and/or available Open Educational Resources (OER) as references c) General administrators should Extend classes for learners in times of pandemic and provide Policies made are available in printed or electronic copy, and for personnel development, HEIs should support Grants and/or support capacity-building programs for administrators, faculty, and staff on transitioning to flexible learning d) Mental Health and well-being of personnel and leamers- HEIs should hire Proficient number of Registered Guidance Counselors (RGC) in ratio with the learners and university teaching and non-teaching staff, e) Support and services- the HEIs should have Online transactions for registrar, f) Partnership between universities and industries- HEIs may share Resources and Massive Open Online Courses, course materials or lecture videos. Furthermore, the plan to transition in the delivery of learnings to maintain academic continuity amidst pandemic in terms of: a) Learning Management Systems and Platforms-Google classroom was majority used by HEls as their LMS and for submission of outputs, Google meet and zoom were used for Online meeting, FB messenger was preferred as Online communication platform. HEIs preferred Google drive as their storage and Google form for learners' assessment. Faculty used PPT with video in uploading lectures. b) Professional development of faculty on effective online instructions or reskilling- Faculty members revealed that they need the workshops in using tools for online delivery of leamings are TikTok, Jamboard and the use of software for laboratory experiments, c) Delivery of learning outcomes- the engineering program have difficulty in their laboratory experiments. However, the issues and challenges that were encountered in the implementation of the technology to be used in the new normal of the HEls revealed are no access to internet and unprepared shift to online teaching. The intervention that HEls did was to ask support from the government and for faculty members, they attended webinars to be flexible during the delivery of learnings. The technology framework that can be adopted for formal education and its services was formulated and the recommended roadmap was developed-Author's abstract