Belgian Visiting Prof Talks on Digital Teaching and Researching
by J-roel B. Semilla, CED-DPRE
Through a Google Meet virtual conference, the College of Education (CED) met its third visiting professor, Prof. Dr. Ir. Wim Van Petegem, from the Faculty of Engineering Technology of Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, Belgium.
The Belgian professor talked about teaching and researching in a digital world with CED faculty and students during the March 4, 2021 online lecture.
He also discussed with them the different models of digital literacy and emphasized the characteristics of a digital scholar using his Digital Scholar Framework.
Dr. Petegem said that “a digital scholar is someone who is involved in teaching, research and service, who thinks about how he positions himself in the digital world, and who behaves as an author, storyteller, creator, integrator and networker.”
A digital scholar is someone who employs digital networked and open approaches to demonstrate specialism in the field, he added.
During the question and answer session, Assoc. Prof. Onnah Pierre P. Talle of the English Department of the College of Arts and Social Sciences asked Dr. Petegem what was the most important in his Digital Scholar Framework: teaching, research, or service.
“I think they are all important in a way that the turning arrows symbolize that you cannot teach without doing research if you want to become a digital scholar. Even as a teacher, you always have to ask yourself, ‘Am I doing it the right way?’ and trying to answer the question means that you engage in research. And as a teacher and researcher, you have a responsibility towards society particularly to your students”, the Belgian professor said.
As part of his visiting professorship, Dr. Petegem has a consultation session with the different research groups of CED on March 8, 10, and 11, 2021, to guide the teams in the initial steps of their research projects.
A follow-up consultation will be conducted on July 5, 8, and 14, 2021 to help the teams in the analysis and discussion of their data. The final output of this endeavor will be a paper presentation or publication so that the CED researchers can share with others the results and insights gained from the research projects.
Dr. Petegem was the head of KU Leuven’s Media and Learning Center from 2001 to 2012. Later, he became Director of the Teaching and Learning Department. He regularly gives training in different countries on innovation in education. He is actively involved in different networks of universities to improve education in an international context.
Dr. Petegem is also a regular panel member of review committees to assess the quality of education in Flanders and the Netherlands, and a partner in many implementation and development projects financed by the European Commission.
Dr. Petegem’s lecture was also live-streamed through CED-AVMC’s Youtube channel and was hosted by the CED’s Department of Professional Education.
Topics : digital world digital scholar