Bringing pedagogy back to the forefront of online teaching : old principles, new medium

With the evolution of Web 2.0 coupled with a changing higher education sector, the use of online technologies are regarded as essential for institutions to both deliver education as well as to remain competitive within a global environment. However, practitioners have been wary to embrace the new technology and the perceived set of skills that go with it. Using Chickering & Gamsons’ (1987) ‘Seven Principles for Good practice in Undergraduate Education’ the authors examine how traditional face-to-face teaching principles can be used as a framework for online practice. The focus of this paper is to bring pedagogical practice to the forefront of the learning and teaching debate, regardless of the teaching context. The arguments in this paper form a theoretical exploration of the pedagogical practice required for online teaching.