scholarly journals Editorial 32(2): From Tinkering to Systemic Change

Author(s):  
Eva Heinrich ◽  
Michael Henderson ◽  
Barney Dalgarno

<p>We applaud the work in educational technology innovation and research that adds to our understanding of how technologies can improve the teaching and learning experience within well-defined learning systems. However, we also see a potential for critical research around digital technologies in relation to higher education as a system. In this edutorial ee encourage researchers to report on empirical studies or rigorously supported conceptual work that fundamentally reconceptualises teaching in higher education and critically questions existing configurations.</p>

Author(s):  
Kwok-Wing Lai

<span>This paper discusses how the use of digital technologies may support a shift of cultural practices in teaching and learning, to better meet the needs of 21st century higher education learners. A brief discussion of the changing needs of the learners is provided, followed by a review of the overall impact of digital technologies on teaching and learning. In the final section we suggest how digital technologies may provide a more active and flexible learning experience by adopting a participatory pedagogical approach and by blending formal learning with informal learning.</span>


Author(s):  
Shahrokh Nikou ◽  
Milla Aavakare

AbstractDigital technologies fundamentally transform teaching and learning in higher education environments, with the pace of technological change exacerbating the challenge. Due to the current pandemic situation, higher education environments are all now forced to move away from traditional teaching and learning structures that are simply no longer adaptable to the challenges of rapidly changing educational environments. This research develops a conceptual model and employs Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using Partial least Squares (PLS) to examine the impact of information and digital literacy on 249 Finnish university staff and students’ intention to use digital technologies. The findings show the complex interrelationship between literacy skills and digital technologies among university staff and students. The results illustrate that information literacy has a direct and significant impact on intention to use; while, unlike our expectation, digital literacy does not have a direct impact on the intention to use. However, its effect is mediated through performance expectancy and effort expectancy. The authors suggest that to understand the changes that are taking place in higher education environment, more attention needs to be paid to redefining policies and strategies in order to enhance individuals’ willingness to use digital technologies within higher education environments.


Author(s):  
Geraldine Lefoe ◽  
Robyn Philip ◽  
Meg O'Reilly ◽  
Dominique Parrish

<span>The ALTC Exchange (formerly the Carrick Exchange), is a national repository and networking service for Australian higher education. The Exchange was designed to provide access to a repository of shared learning and teaching resources, work spaces for team members engaged in collaborative projects, and communication and networking services. The Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) established the Exchange for those who teach, manage and lead learning and teaching in higher education. As part of the research conducted to inform the development of the Exchange, models for peer review of educational resources were evaluated. For this, a design based research approach was adopted. Findings from the literature and feedback from key practitioners and leaders within the sector are discussed in this paper. Finally, key recommendations for implementation are identified.</span>


2012 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin K. Hill ◽  
Jill W. Fresen ◽  
Fawei Geng

Lecturers in higher education often consider the incorporation of web technologies into their teaching practice. Partially structured and populated course site templates could aid them in getting started with creating and deploying webbased materials and activities to enrich the teaching and learning experience. Discussions among instructional technology support staff and lecturers reveal a paucity of robust specifications for possible course site features that could comprise a template. An attempted mapping from the teaching task as understood by the instructor to the envisaged course website properties proves elusive. We conclude that the idea of an initial state for a course site, embodied in a template, remains useful and should be developed not according to a formula but with careful attention to the context and existing pedagogical practice. Any course template provided for the use of lecturers should be enhanced with supporting instructions and examples of how it may be adapted for their particular purposes.Keywords: course template; learning platform; pedagogical dimensions; course site properties(Published: 17 December 2012)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2012, 20: 18665 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v20i0.18665


Author(s):  
Niccolo Capanni ◽  
Daniel C. Doolan

During the course of this chapter, the authors will examine the current methods of pedagogical teaching in higher education and explore the possible mapping into a multi-user virtual environment. The authors consider the process of construction and delivery for a module of student education. They examine the transition of delivery methods from the established, slow changing traditional media, to the modern flexibly of community based, open source driven methods which are the foundation of virtual environments.


Author(s):  
Diane A. Matthews

Technology-based distance education is emerging as an increasingly visible feature of post-secondary education in the United States (U.S. Department of Education, 1999). Educators have the opportunity to define, design, and manage effective and robust teaching and learning systems, programs, and courses. As distance learning becomes a serious alternative to the standard classroom environment, enormous opportunities and dilemmas present themselves for the players. This chapter examines the technology used in distance education; the type of student utilizing distance education; advantages and disadvantages for the student, the instructor, and the institution in the use of distance education; and the players involved—including higher education institutions, virtual universities, states, and consortia.


Author(s):  
Kathryn Janet Meldrum ◽  
Kristi Giselsson

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has been suggested as an ideal vehicle for engaging faculty with professional development for teaching in higher education. However, previous authors have identified that faculty find writing about SoTL difficult. The aim of this chapter is to support educational developers (EDs) to collaborate with faculty to support writing. Two theoretical frameworks to support collaboration are proposed: the first, the Knowledge Transforming Model of Writing, to assist with the process of writing; the second, an adaptation of Brigugilio's working in the third space framework to support collaboration. The authors utilise both frameworks to reflect on their own SoTL collaboration and subsequently pose questions to support faculty and EDs to do the same. Ultimately, it is proposed that collaboration not only enhances the practices of faculty and EDs but improves what should be an important priority for the wider academy: the learning outcomes of students.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Imathiu

Although the curricula content for similar study disciplines may differ from one higher education institution to another and from one country and/or region to another, it is without any doubt that for all, they promote active learning rather than passive learning. A recent shift has been observed where emphasis is placed on student-centered, collaborative and practical participation of learners in knowledge creation in a learning environment which is more engaging and stimulating. This has particularly been made possible by emerging educational technology mediation tools that does not only promote hands-on learning but also make the whole learning experience fun. Most of these technological tools have been effectively used by More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) in scaffolding the learners, and they have also been directly used by learners themselves as their MKO in addressing Vygotsky’s concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which is defined by Vygotsky1 as ‘the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem-solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers’. This literature reviews how YouTube as an example of Web 2.0 technology has been used as a mediation tool to facilitate teaching and learning in higher education.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia M. Schütte ◽  
Gert Van der Sypt ◽  
Alexander Gabriel ◽  
Saskia Kretschmer

The COVID 19 pandemic is a worldwide phenomenon: On the one hand, it poses challenges to all social subsystems, on the other, it tests the extent to which they can cope with such situations. This is also the case in higher education. In this context, digitization, which has been driven forward in the field for years, provides approaches and instruments for adapting to such situations by converting the system as far as possible to operation in virtual space. This has been done in many places in universities and universities of applied sciences. It remains to be seen how this is perceived by those involved. Therefore, the following article addresses the question: To what extent has the conversion of teaching and learning as a result of the restrictions on teaching caused by COVID 19 worked from the point of view of the teachers? To answer it, this paper presents empirical results of an online survey among teachers of the Cooperation Network for Risk, Safety &amp; Security Studies (CONRIS). The results indicate a broad use of various digital tools for teaching and communication with students, but also deficits in the area of crisis structures as well as in social regards.


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