Allen, I. E., Seaman, J., Lederman, D., & Jaschik, S. Digital Faculty: Professors, Teaching and Technology. Inside Higher Ed & Babson Survey Research Group, Washington, DC, 2012. Pages: 58.

This study is the second report presenting the results of two independent but related surveys conducted amongst higher education faculty members and administrative and academic administrators. While the first report, Conflicted: Faculty and online education, focused on attitudes and practices related to online education (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe,  June 2012), the current report examines which aspects of digital life are being adopted, or resisted to, by faculty members, as perceived by themselves and by administrators.

Some of the interesting outcomes include the following:

• A large proportion of faculty believed that digital communication has had a positive effect on their productivity (48.8%), creativity (51.7%), and connection to the scholarly community (53.5%) and to their students (75.4%);
• 43% of professors reported creating their own digital teaching materials;
• 65% of professors considered that digital communication has increased the number of hours that they work;
• The largest mismatch in the perceptions of administrators and faculty practices was on the use of learning management systems (LMS).

Inside Higher Ed