Technology enhanced learning in 21st century mass higher education. Aspects of design, practice and strategy for a necessary step change

Modern day mass higher education presents challenges for both learners and teachers. Whilst digital resources, Web 2.0 technologies and online connectivity can add significantly to the learning opportunities of 21st century students, many cross programme Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) provisions remain collections of somewhat disconnected and basic materials. In its early development, organised e-learning has generally been the province of specialist programmes and individuals championing the new technologies. However along with the adoption of technology enhanced learning, there is a growing need to develop, design and embed more fundamental and far reaching strategic approaches that embrace the core of traditional university learning and teaching programmes. This paper focuses upon a large undergraduate core module and discusses the implications of a practice based case study which explored how traditional campus based undergraduate learning and teaching could be redesigned and enhanced by the addition of online technology and e-pedagogy. It considers aspects of both pedagogical and technological design and examines how a VLE can support learners and teaching teams. Findings showed that students were extremely positive about the mix of onsite and online learning. They saw anytime, anywhere access as fundamental, and valued the flexible access and collaborative opportunities offered by Web 2.0 and mobile resources. Considerable operational benefits arose in supporting teaching teams and student marks increased. Drawing upon lessons learned from practice, and feedback gained from students and teachers, the paper examines how the approach may inform future curriculum delivery and programme specification. It considers the contribution that blended learning may make in addressing the needs of 21st century learners in mass higher education, and reflects on the implications of the case study in terms of aspects of design, practice and strategy

Pragmatic meta analytic studies: learning the lessons from naturalistic evaluations of multiple cases

This paper explores the concept of pragmatic meta‐analytic studies in eLearning. Much educational technology literature focuses on developers and teachers describing and reflecting on their experiences. Few connections are made between these experiential ‘stories’. The data set is fragmented and offers few generalisable lessons. The field needs guidelines about what can be learnt from such single‐case reports. The pragmatic meta‐analytic studies described in this paper have two common aspects: (1) the cases are related in some way, and (2) the data are authentic, that is, the evaluations have followed a naturalistic approach. We suggest that examining a number of such cases is best done by a mixed‐methods approach with an emphasis on qualitative strategies. In the paper, we overview 63 eLearning cases. Three main meta‐analytic strategies were used: (1) meta‐analysis of the perception of usefulness across all cases, (2) meta‐analysis of recorded benefits and challenges across all cases, and (3) meta‐analysis of smaller groups of cases where the learning design and/or use of technology are similar. This study indicated that in Hong Kong the basic and non‐interactive eLearning strategies are often valued by students, while their perceptions of interactive strategies that are potentially more beneficial fluctuate. One possible explanation relates to the level of risk that teachers and students are willing to take in venturing into more innovative teaching and learning strategies

Centralisation of assessment: meeting the challenges of multi-year team projects in information systems education

This paper focuses on the difficulties of assessing multi-year team projects, in which a team of students drawn from all three years of a full-time degree course works on a problem with and for a real-life organization. Although potential solutions to the problem of assessing team projects may be context-dependent, we believe that discussing these in our paper will allow readers to relate to their teaching cases and increase the general appreciation of team project related work. Findings discussed in this paper are based on the first cycle of action research in relation to an existing multi-year team project scheme. Based on the interpretivist perspective, this work draws on data from staff and student focus groups, semi structured interviews and surveys. Team project clients were also asked to comment on their experiences and the way they would like team projects to be improved in the future. Since issues affecting the success of team projects are quite closely inter-related, a systemic view is adopted rather than analysis of a single issue in isolation. Overall there is a feeling that multi-year team projects are a good idea in theory but can be challenging to implement in practice. It is argued that the main areas of concern are the assessment process, the dilemmas and tensions that it can introduce, and the related inconsistencies in stakeholder involvement, which can compromise the learning experience if not handled well. We believe that the assessment process holds the key to a successful learning experience in team project work

Responding to the vision of the information society: first steps towards a national virtual university.

Executive Summary 1. There is confusion, both in academic circles and the public more generally, about the definition of a virtual university. Hence in considering such an option, it is worth looking more fundamentally at the contexts for higher education, and the functions of a National Virtual University equipped to meet the needs of the 21st Century. 2. The increase in the use of ICT has caused a radical increase in demand for higher education globally, and increased access to higher education via the use of ICT. New suppliers in the form of private and corporate universities, now compete with universities in their home countries, and increasingly, overseas. 3. Although demands for higher education are growing rapidly, analysis of the new and changing demands on universities at local, national and international levels, within an increasingly global knowledge market, indicates that the role of a National Virtual University will be much broader than that of an existing university. Moreover, a NVU will need to successfully compete in an environment which is growing in competitiveness and complexity as corporate universities start to operate, but will have to do so with greater efficiency and lower funding. 4. The socio-economic environment in Finland is characterised by an internationally high (and growing) involvement with information and communication technologies in all spheres of life. Within this fast developing Information Society, there is a high need for increasing skills levels and retraining, especially with respect to ICT. However, like elsewhere in Europe, the use of technology for collaborative teaching in Universities and for promoting joint research with industry, is comparatively underexploited, although the existing higher education platform, provides a useful structure which could adapt to, and benefit from, the establishment of a National Virtual University. 5. The rationale for incorporating the use of new technologies in higher education by building a National Virtual University is well-established. Such a development would require a quantum leap in the design and development of a new learning method. However, in addition to educational benefits, the NVU would aid the creation of a knowledge based economy, the promotion of social cohesion, the protection of the existing Finnish university system, and the preservation of national language and culture. 6. The experience of previous virtual university ventures in the USA demonstrates that collaborative ventures, based on existing providers and reliant on reengineering of existing teaching and learning practices, are unlikely to be successful, even where they are well financed. A National Virtual University can be constructed with varying degrees of functionality, but where it covers all ranges of university activities (teaching, research and technology transfer), and is well-linked to the local community, the cost of development will be high but the returns on expenditure will be greatest. 7. A project of this size, complexity, cost and importance will only succeed in maximising its potential as a collaborative venture, if it involves all stakeholder groups in discussing its form, as consensus on the form of the NVU will be critical in ensuring the success of its implementation

When the shoe doesn’t fit: supporting students who are challenged by online educational technologies

Taking an action research approach, this paper explores the experiences of graduate level students who found a technology enabled classroom challenging. After taking part in an online orientation activity, the students began their studies in a three week face-to-face residency, followed by two distance learning sessions. At the end of the second session, 15% of the students had either taken a leave of absence, or left the program permanently. Current literature focuses on several issues that have a negative influence on students’ ability to achieve their educational goals in an online environment. These issues include isolation, lack of preparedness, and feeling overwhelmed. Building on this, we explored the following question: How can educational technology be used to increase retention for students enrolled in an online course? Aimed at identifying approaches to overcoming some of the problems associated with studying online, we sought to examine the perceptions of MBA students by asking the participants to take part in a focus group discussion. This paper will discuss the challenges found by the graduate level students who worked in a computer-mediated educational environment, as well as highlight some of the solutions aimed at increasing student retention by enhancing the online classroom. Findings revealed that technologies aimed at encouraging student presence in the online classroom, as well as those that allow them to interact socially online could positively increase student retention. In addition, employing tools that support the students’ desire to repeat and reflect on material serves to improve the experience for those studying online. Finally, instructors who display comfort with the use of technology also have a positive impact on student learning. By providing a heightened awareness of the issues faced by graduate students working online, as well as spotlighting some key solutions, this study underscores the importance of targeting appropriate technologies when designing the online classroom. Further studies in this area could explore undergraduate engagement, generational differences, as well as learning preferences in the context of online learning

Strength in diversity: enhancing learning in vocationally-orientated, master's level courses

Postgraduate education in geography, especially at the Master’s level, is undergoing significant changes in the developed world. There is an expansion of vocationally-oriented degree programmes, increasing recruitment of international students, integration of work place skills, and the engagement of non-traditional postgraduate students as departments respond to policies for a more ‘inclusive’ higher education. This paper sets the context by outlining some programmatic changes in selected countries (Australia, the UK, and the USA). We briefly reflect on how postgraduate ‘bars’ or ‘levels’ are defined and explore in detail what ‘diversity’ or ‘heterogeneity’ means in these new postgraduate settings. The paper then explores some examples of practice drawn from our own experiences, whilst recognising that relevance will vary in other contexts. Finally we consider how diversity can be harnessed as a strength that has potential to enhance taught elements of contemporary postgraduate education in and beyond the discipline

1st INCF Workshop on Sustainability of Neuroscience Databases

The goal of the workshop was to discuss issues related to the sustainability of neuroscience databases, identify problems and propose solutions, and formulate recommendations to the INCF. The report summarizes the discussions of invited participants from the neuroinformatics community as well as from other disciplines where sustainability issues have already been approached. The recommendations for the INCF involve rating, ranking, and supporting database sustainability

The learning technologies of the future: technologies that learn?

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) operate in a borderless and complex environment, abundant in potentially useful information. The Creating Academic Learning Futures (CALF) research project, carried out in partnership by the University of Leicester and University College Falmouth in the UK, involves the development of approaches and tools for structuring and filtering information, in order to facilitate institutional decision-making in participative and creative ways. One of the aims of the CALF project is to involve students in creating and exploring a variety of plausible ‘alternative futures’ for learning and teaching technologies in higher education. This paper discusses some of the issues that are emerging in the course of the research process and presents ideas for the future, grounded in and emergent from ‘student voices’ from the CALF research project. Students expected the technologies of the near future to enable them to become co-creators in their own education processes. The future scenarios imagined the rise of learning technologies which instead of becoming outdated with use, become more valuable as more user-generated content is invested, technologies which are truly learning in that they learn about their users and constantly morph/adapt to their users’ needs. Finally, increasing virtualisation was a recurrent theme across most student-generated scenarios. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the strengths and limitations of using technologies for involving students in creative activities for generating future scenarios for higher education. The technologies used by the project enabled collaborative creative thinking across a broader spectrum of possibilities about the relationship between the present and the future of higher education

A systematic literature review on synchronous hybrid learning : gaps identified

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