Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness

Self-Directed Learning, A Guide for Learners and Teachers

You have roughly 40 contact hours in a typical course. If all you do in them is lecture, you might as well just hand out your notes and let the students find something more productive to do with all that time. The only way a skill is developed—skiing, cooking, writing, critical thinking, or solving thermodynamics problems—is practice: trying something, seeing how well or poorly it works, reflecting on how to do it differently, then trying it again and seeing if it works better. Why not help students develop some skills during those contact hours by giving them some practice in the tasks they’ll later be asked to perform on assignments and tests?

Learning by doing

This paper reports on a study conducted in 2006 with more than 2,000 incoming first-year Australian university students. Students were asked about their access to, use of and preferences for an array of established and emerging technologies and technology based tools. The results show that many first year students are highly tech-savvy. However, when one moves beyond entrenched technologies and tools (e.g. computers, mobile phones, email), the patterns of access and use of a range of other technologies show considerable variation. The findings are discussed in light of Prensky's (2001a) notions of the 'Digital Natives' and the implications for using technology to support teaching and learning in higher education.

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First year students' experiences with technology: Are they really digital natives?

The term Technology-enhanced learning (TEL) is used to describe the application of information and communication technologies to teaching and learning. Explicit statements about what the term is understood to mean are rare and it is not evident that a shared understanding has been developed in higher education of what constitutes an enhancement of the student learning experience. This article presents a critical review and assessment of how TEL is interpreted in recent literature. It examines the purpose of technology interventions, the approaches adopted to demonstrate the role of technology in enhancing the learning experience, differing ways in which enhancement is conceived and the use of various forms evidence to substantiate claims about TEL. Thematic analysis enabled categories to be developed and relationships explored between the aims of TEL interventions, the evidence presented, and the ways in which enhancement is conceived.

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Technology-enhanced learning and teaching in higher education: what is ‘enhanced’ and how do we know? A critical literature review

This article reports on issues relevant for teachers and instructional designers anticipating using information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education, particularly those wishing to adopt a flexible learning approach aimed at improving the quality of the student experience. The data that are reported on span more than five years, and have been gathered from a range of large quantitative postal surveys and smaller qualitative surveys, with total respondents numbering around 80,000. The large‐scale surveys cover annual course reviews, computer access, students’ use of media, access to media technologies and ICT access and use. The smaller qualitative studies include students’ use of CD‐ROMs and online tuition. This article describes the students’ backgrounds and how this can affect their studies. It discusses students’ access to media technologies and what their perceptions of media are in the context of independent learning. The conclusion is that, although ICTs can enable new forms of t...

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Learners and learning in the twenty‐first century: what do we know about students’ attitudes towards and experiences of information and communication technologies that will help us design courses?

This paper 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

The widespread adoption of information and communications technologies (ICT) in higher education (HE) since the mid 1990s has failed to produce the radical changes in learning and teaching than many anticipated. Activity theory and Rogers’ model of the adoption of innovations provide analytic frameworks that help develop our understanding of the actual impact of ICT upon teaching practices. This paper draws on a series of large‐scale surveys carried out over a 10 year period with distance education tutors at the UK Open University to explore the changing role of ICT in the work of teachers. It investigates how HE teachers in one large distance learning university have, over time, appropriated ICT applications as teaching tools, and the gradual rather than revolutionary changes that have resulted.

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Information and communications technologies (ICT) in higher education teaching—a tale of gradualism rather than revolution

Despite substantial growth in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) throughout western societies, there is much evidence of technology‐led innovations within Higher Education (HE) failing to achieve the anticipated transformations in learning and teaching. This paper reviews evidence from research and evaluation studies relating not only to e‐learning, but also to wider HE practices. It argues that the use of ICT does not, in itself, result in improved educational outcomes and ways of working. It considers contextual factors that are of greater significance in determining how and why e‐learning is used in HE. Students' engagement with e‐learning relates to their expectations and conceptions of learning and to assessment demands. Academics need to re‐assess their own beliefs and practices concerning teaching and assessment and their impact on the experience of learners. Both teachers and learners need to understand why e‐learning activities are to be undertaken and the rewards expecte...

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Adrian Kirkwood

Papers

Technology-enhanced learning and teaching in higher education: what is ‘enhanced’ and how do we know? A critical literature review

Learners and learning in the twenty‐first century: what do we know about students’ attitudes towards and experiences of information and communication technologies that will help us design courses?

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

Information and communications technologies (ICT) in higher education teaching—a tale of gradualism rather than revolution

E‐learning: you don't always get what you hope for