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Technologies for Supporting Academic Development: Comparison
Please note this is a comparison between Version 2 by Perry Fu and Version 1 by Michele Domenico Todino.

Academic Development (AD) represents a fundamental strategy for improving the quality of university teaching in the digital era. This entry proposes a critical analysis of technologies supporting AD, examining theoretical models, emerging practices, and contemporary challenges through a systematic review of academic literature. The TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) framework emerges as a crucial model for the effective integration of educational technologies, while innovative approaches such as blended learning, flipped classroom, and communities of practice demonstrate significant potential in promoting teaching innovation. However, the analysis highlights structural criticalities: resistance to change, lack of institutional recognition, technological pedagogical gaps, and identity tensions related to the teaching role. The concept of “Age of Evidence” orients future perspectives toward evidence-based, personalized, and collaborative programs. The entry concludes with operational recommendations for policymakers and institutions, emphasizing the need for systemic investments that valorize teaching as a core scholarly activity. The original contribution lies in the critical integration of established theoretical frameworks with analysis of post-pandemic transformations and in identifying strategic directions to make universities “transformative” in addressing global challenges of sustainability, technological innovation, and critical thinking education.

  • AD
  • educational technology
  • higher education
  • digital pedagogy
  • professional learning
  • innovation
  • TPACK

Contemporary universities are undergoing a profound transformation that is redefining the role of the academic teacher. The digital revolution, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has made evident the necessity to rethink not only teaching modalities but the entire ecosystem of faculty professional development [1]. In this scenario, AD emerges as a crucial strategy to ensure quality, innovation, and sustainability in higher education. The concept of AD, originating in the Anglophone world starting in the 1970s, designates the set of activities that academic institutions adopt to foster the renewal and development of the multiple roles of university teachers [2,3][2][3]. The founding idea is that university teaching is not an innate ability nor is it automatically derived from disciplinary expertise but requires specific competencies developable through structured training pathways. Over the decades, AD has evolved from atheoretical programs to initiatives founded on robust conceptual models, primarily derived from learning theories [4[4][5],5], reflecting an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the complexity of university teaching that integrates didactic, personal, professional, and organizational dimensions [6]. The integration of educational technologies into AD constitutes one of the most significant transformations of the last two decades. Learning Management Systems, synchronous and asynchronous communication tools, collaborative platforms, and learning analytics have enormously expanded the possibilities for instructional design [7]. However, as highlighted by the literature, mere technological availability does not guarantee pedagogical innovation. Recent empirical studies demonstrate this challenge: Tondeur et al. [8] found that 73% of faculty with access to advanced LMS (Learning Management Systems) platforms continued using them merely as content repositories, failing to leverage interactive features. Similarly, Bond et al. [9] documented that despite significant institutional investments in educational technology, only 28% of faculty reported meaningful changes in their pedagogical practices. These findings from the literature reveal three critical challenges educators face: (1) the overwhelming pace of technological change that outstrips faculty development programs, (2) the lack of discipline-specific models for technology integration, and (3) the absence of institutional incentive structures that reward pedagogical innovation. A deep understanding of the relationships between technology, pedagogy, and disciplinary content is therefore necessary, synthesized in the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) framework [10]. This entry addresses these challenges by providing an integrated analysis that bridges the gap between technological potential and pedagogical reality. The COVID-19 pandemic represented a turning point, transforming Emergency Remote Teaching into an opportunity to radically rethink consolidated practices, highlighting systemic fragilities and innovative potentialities [11]. Despite the extensive literature on AD, a critical gap exists in understanding how post-pandemic transformations intersect with emerging technologies to reshape academic development practices. Current research lacks an integrated framework that simultaneously addresses technological evolution, pedagogical transformation, and institutional change in the post-COVID-19 era. This gap becomes particularly evident when examining the rapid adoption of AI-enhanced learning tools, hybrid pedagogies, and data-driven approaches that have emerged without corresponding theoretical frameworks to guide their implementation. This entry offers a critical and systematic analysis of technologies supporting AD through three interconnected dimensions: theoretical frameworks, emerging practices, and future challenges. The objective is to provide an integrated overview that goes beyond the cataloging of technological tools, instead offering critical reflection on pedagogical assumptions, organizational implications, and ethical issues [12]. The entry is addressed to researchers in university pedagogy, faculty developers, academic decision-makers, and all those involved in processes of teaching innovation in higher education. The methodological approach, including literature search strategies and the analytical framework, is detailed in the Supplementary Materials.

References

  1. Rapanta, C.; Botturi, L.; Goodyear, P.; Guàrdia, L.; Koole, M. Online university teaching during and after the COVID-19 crisis: Refocusing teacher presence and learning activity. Postdigital Sci. Educ. 2020, 2, 923–945.
  2. Sorcinelli, M.D.; Austin, A.E.; Eddy, P.L.; Beach, A.L. Creating the Future of Faculty Development: Learning from the Past, Understanding the Present; Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA, USA, 2005.
  3. Lampugnani, P.A. Faculty Development: Origini, framework teorico, evoluzioni, traiettorie. In Faculty Development in Italia: Valorizzazione Delle Competenze Didattiche dei Docenti Universitari; Lotti, A., Lampugnani, P.A., Eds.; Genova University Press: Genova, Italy, 2020; p. 2741.
  4. Steinert, Y. Faculty Development: From workshops to communities of practice. Med. Teach. 2010, 32, 425–428.
  5. Steinert, Y. Faculty Development in the Health Professions: A Focus on Research and Practice; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 2014.
  6. De Rossi, M.; Ferranti, C.; Castelli, L. Esperienze sul campo di didattica universitaria con l’uso delle ICT—Information and Communication Technology. In Preparare alla Professionalità Docente e Innovare la Didattica Universitaria; Felisatti, E., Serbati, A., Eds.; Franco Angeli Edizioni: Milano, Italy, 2017.
  7. Inamorato dos Santos, A.; Gaušas, S.; Mackevičiūtė, R.; Jotautytė, A.; Martinaitis, Ž. Innovating Professional Development in Higher Education: An Analysis of Practices; Publications Office of the European Union: Luxembourg, 2019.
  8. Tondeur, J.; van Braak, J.; Ertmer, P.A.; Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. Understanding the relationship between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and technology use in education: A systematic review of qualitative evidence. Educ. Technol. Res. Dev. 2023, 71, 555–575.
  9. Bond, M.; Marín, V.I.; Dolch, C.; Bedenlier, S.; Zawacki-Richter, O. Digital transformation in German higher education: Student and teacher perceptions and usage of digital media. Int. J. Educ. Technol. High. Educ. 2023, 20, 48.
  10. Mishra, P.; Koehler, M.J. Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teach. Coll. Rec. 2006, 108, 1017–1054.
  11. Hodson, J.; Wong, P.P.Y. Teaching the “heads, hearts, and hands” of futures literacy in sustainability education using radical seeds of change. Ecol. Soc. 2025, 30, 48.
  12. Sabato, A. Integral Human Development. Contemporary Humanism Network. 2022. Available online: https://www.contemporaryhumanism.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Sabato_LUMSA.pdf (accessed on 16 December 2025).
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