Examining some assumptions and limitations of research on the effects of emerging technologies for teaching and learning in higher education

This article examines assumptions and beliefs underpinning research into educational technology. It critically reviews some approaches used to investigate the impact of technologies for teaching and learning. It focuses on comparative studies, performance comparisons and attitudinal studies to illustrate how under-examined assumptions lead to questionable findings. The extent to which it is possible to substantiate some of the claims made about the impact of technologies on the basis of these approaches and methods is questioned. We contend researchers should ensure that they acknowledge underlying assumptions and the limitations imposed by the approach adopted in order to appropriately interpret findings

‘A double-edged sword. This is powerful but it could be used destructively’: Perspectives of early career education researchers on learning analytics

Learning analytics has been increasingly outlined as a powerful tool for measuring, analysing, and predicting learning experiences and behaviours. The rising use of learning analytics means that many educational researchers now require new ranges of technical analytical skills to contribute to an increasingly data-heavy field. However, it has been argued that educational data scientists are a ‘scarce breed’ (Buckingham Shum et al., 2013) and that more resources are needed to support the next generation of early career researchers in the education field. At the same time, little is known about how early career education researchers feel towards learning analytics and whether it is important to their current and future research practices. Using a thematic analysis of a participatory learning analytics workshop discussions with 25 early career education researchers, we outline in this article their ambitions, challenges and anxieties towards learning analytics. In doing so, we have provided a roadmap for how the learning analytics field might evolve and practical implications for supporting early career researchers’ development

Performative ontologies. Sociomaterial approaches to researching adult education and lifelong learning

Sociomaterial approaches to researching education, such as those generated by actornetwork theory and complexity theory, have been growing in significance in recent years, both theoretically and methodologically. Such approaches are based upon a performative ontology rather than the more characteristic representational epistemology that informs much research. In this article, we outline certain aspects of sociomaterial sensibilities in researching education, and some of the uptakes on issues related to the education of adults. We further suggest some possibilities emerging for adult education and lifelong learning researchers from taking up such theories and methodologies. (DIPF/Orig.

Reconceptualising teacher education in the sub-saharan African context

No description supplie

Linking students' timing of engagement to learning design and academic performance

In recent years, the connection between Learning Design (LD) and Learning Analytics (LA) has been emphasized by many scholars as it could enhance our interpretation of LA findings and translate them to meaningful interventions. Together with numerous conceptual studies, a gradual accumulation of empirical evidence has indicated a strong connection between how instructors design for learning and student behaviour. Nonetheless, students' timing of engagement and its relation to LD and academic performance have received limited attention. Therefore, this study investigates to what extent students' timing of engagement aligned with instructor learning design, and how engagement varied across different levels of performance. The analysis was conducted over 28 weeks using trace data, on 387 students, and replicated over two semesters in 2015 and 2016. Our findings revealed a mismatch between how instructors designed for learning and how students studied in reality. In most weeks, students spent less time studying the assigned materials on the VLE compared to the number of hours recommended by instructors. The timing of engagement also varied, from in advance to catching up patterns. High-performing students spent more time studying in advance, while low-performing students spent a higher proportion of their time on catching-up activities. This study reinforced the importance of pedagogical context to transform analytics into actionable insights

Evaluating Practice-based Learning and Teaching in Art and Design

The University of the Arts London is host to the Creative Learning in Practice Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CLIP CETL), which has funded a number of small course-based evaluative and developmental projects. These projects have been designed by course tutors in conjunction with the CLIP CETL team, who are evaluating them to better understand and extend the pedagogies of practice-based teaching and learning. Practice-based learning is a way of conceptualising and organising student learning which can be used in many applied disciplinary contexts. Such pedagogies we argue are founded on the claim that learning to practice in the creative industries requires engagement with authentic activities in context (Lave and Wenger 1991, Wenger 2000). This short paper will describe some of the initial evaluation and research activities in two colleges; identify and define practice-based activities in the context of the courses where the research is being carried out; identify emerging pedagogic frameworks; and discuss implications for further development. Activities identified in the projects undertaken include: Opportunities to develop students‟ direct contact with industry Simulating work-based learning in the University Event-based learning Enhancing professional practice and PPD The authors are seeking to elicit, analyse and evaluate what is often implicit in practitioner-teachers, and the experience of developing pedagogies for extending practice-based learning. We will be theorising from statements made by practitioners in semi-structured interviews and evidence provided in progress reporting from the project teams

Beyond control : will blended learning subvert national curricula?

Blended Learning seems to entail a relatively innocuous set of techniques, but closer examination reveals some of these carry implicit assumptions – of constructivist philosophy, peer collaboration and situative learning – which may make their export to other countries and national cultures problematic. They also provide a route to the Internet: a storehouse of Westernised, unauthorised and anarchic content. So will Blended Learning subvert national curricula? This paper contributes to the debate by examining the milieu of national educational policy, relating it to forms of knowledge. Web 2.0 applications and Open Educational Resources are discussed in relation to the growing gap between traditional curricula and the digitally-enabled communities of mass collectivism and direct action. Blended Learning is shown to pose cultural threats, but also open opportunities, and whether these threats can be turned to advantage depends crucially upon how national policies are formulated and implemented. The conclusion poses key questions for policy-makers and practitioners. Publisher: Information Science Reference Peer-reviewed In: Ng (ed.) Comparative Blended Learning Practices and Environments. (2010

Exploring Faculty Perceptions about Classroom Technology Integration and Acceptance: A literature Review.

In examining the complexity of how higher education institutions integrate and adopt classroom technology, this study explores literature regarding classroom technology integration and acceptance that appears in research articles published from 2012 – 2018. The literature review of 148 articles was centered on a deeper understanding of faculty perceptions regarding classroom technology integration and acceptance. The evidence suggests that there is not a simple model when it comes to augmenting classrooms with classroom technology. Additionally, for the appropriate adoption of technology tools, it is important to understand how faculty perceive the integration of classroom technology tools

Fold-Back: Using emerging technologies to move from quality assurance to quality enhancement

&lt;p&gt;Emerging technologies offer an opportunity for the development, at the institutional level, of quality processes with greater capacity to enhance learning in higher education than available through current quality processes. These systems offer the potential to extend use of learning analytics in institutional-level quality processes in addition to the widespread focus on business analytics, and to deliver well-constructed mixes of information from different data sources. Borrowed from music amplification, the term &lt;em&gt;fold-back&lt;/em&gt; is proposed as a way to describe such a mix. This paper begins the design-research project of designing effective fold-back systems by expanding the theoretical assumptions about learning embedded in higher education quality processes. A number of theories building on Vygotsky’s cultural-historical approach are discussed to imagine quality in higher education in terms of what students actually do and how they engage in addition to what the institution does. The discussion is summarised in a fold-back matrix capturing the sorts of evaluation questions the systems might address. The paper concludes by providing two initial design sketches for re-purposing emerging technologies with the capacity to support expanded quality processes in education. These sketches are based on the Experience Application Programming Interface (xAPI) and Dedoose technologies.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p