•  
  •  
 
Communications of the Association for Information Systems

Author ORCID Identifier

Nicole Draxler-Weber: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4462-227X

Fynn-Hendrik Paul: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9944-5717

Alicia Wittwer: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8648-610X

Uwe Hoppe: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9186-1468

Abstract

With the development of digital technologies, the demands on digital higher education teaching continue to grow, reinforced by diverse influencing factors. The COVID-19 pandemic specifically has been a catalyst. However, despite the rapid shift to digital teaching during the pandemic, the long-term effects of these changes at on-site universities remain unclear. To address this gap, this longitudinal multiple case study examines the evolution of digital teaching practices across 1,068 course executions at a German on-site university over eight years using trace data from the learning management system, which offers insights into digital functions used during the respective courses. By analyzing usage of digital functions across the periods pre-, during-, and post-COVID-19, the progression of digital higher education teaching is shown. The findings reveal three evolutionary patterns: (a) digital administration and learning materials remain consistently established, (b) digital communication practices expanded during-COVID-19 but declined afterwards, and (c) more pedagogically transformative functions such as digital exercises and exams, and content structuring remained at a comparatively low level, but show gradual growth relative to their pre-pandemic baseline. This study contributes behavioral evidence on the longitudinal evolution of digital higher education teaching, supplementing self-reported-based research to support institutions towards pedagogically motivated innovation and realization of transformative potentials of digital teaching beyond crisis-driven adoption.

Download

Share

COinS
 

When commenting on articles, please be friendly, welcoming, respectful and abide by the AIS eLibrary Discussion Thread Code of Conduct posted here.