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"In dreams begins responsibility" - choice, evidence, and change. Conference Proceedings, 16th International Conference, 8-10 September, Manchester, UK
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Is there a Net generation coming to university?
Get PDFThis paper reports the first phase of an ESRC funded research project to investigate first year students’ use of technology in relation to the idea of young people born after 1983 forming a distinct age cohort described variously as the Net generation or Digital Natives. The research took place in five English universities in the spring of 2008. The research found a far more complex picture than that suggested by the rhetoric with student use of new technologies varying between different universities and courses. Some of the more discussed new technologies such as blogs, wikis and virtual worlds were shown to be less used by students than might have been expected. The Net generation appears if anything to be a collection of minorities with a small number of technophobic students and larger numbers of others making use of new technologies but in ways that did not fully correspond with many of the expectations built into the Net generation and Digital Natives theses
All hands on deck: CREWED for technology-enabled learning
Get PDFThe University of New South Wales’ (UNSW’s) Faculty of Engineering is introducing a new process for designing and developing blended and fully online (distance) courses, as part of action research to support curriculum renewal. The process, referred to as CREWED (Curriculum Renewal and E-learning Workloads: Embedding in Disciplines), is being used to develop key courses that add flexibility to student progression pathways. By integrating the design of learning activities with the planning and organization of teaching and support work, CREWED addresses some of the known barriers to embedding innovative use of learning technologies within disciplines. CREWED incorporates key features of two course development models from the UK, one emphasising team building and the other emphasising pedagogical planning. It has been piloted in priority curriculum development projects, to ensure that the disciplinary organizational context is supportive. One pilot is a fully online distance version of a postgraduate course. The other is a blended version of an undergraduate course. Both are core (required) courses in accredited professional engineering degree programs and were previously available only in face-to-face mode. The UNSW pilots have confirmed the importance of articulating clear pedagogical models, and of planning ahead for the resources required to put these models into practice, as part of departmental capacity building, especially where teaching has primarily been treated as an individual classroom-based activity that competes with disciplinary research for academic staff time and resources
When the shoe doesn’t fit: supporting students who are challenged by online educational technologies
Get PDFTaking 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
Editorial: Engagement in learning and development
Get PDFAfter the previous special issue on immersive virtual worlds, this issue of ALT-J returns to more familiar territory. The opening paper from Carol Russell continues to build ALT-J’s corpus of knowledge around institutional embedding of technology; this time through an evaluation of the effectiveness of a staff development programme. The following four papers all explore the challenge of learner engagement from a variety of different angles: instructional design, student support and the pedagogy of innovative, technology-mediated learning environments. As a relative newcomer to ALT-J it seems to me that the distinctiveness of the journal lies in its ability to bring together such a broad range of work
