scholarly journals Learning technology in Scottish higher education - a survey of the views of senior managers, academic staff and 'experts'

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Haywood ◽  
Charles Anderson ◽  
Helen Coyle ◽  
Kate Day ◽  
Denise Haywood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Culture Shift ◽  
Technology In Higher Education

Central concerns within the field of learning technology in higher education have been the promotion of institutional change and staff awareness and development. This focus on the need to bring about a 'culture shift' and the importance of 'change agents' is reflected in the Dearing Report (DfEE, 1997) and in Funding Council initiatives such as TLTP and TLTSN (Davies, 1995). It is common for many of us who work in this area to feel that although we see clearly the task ahead, we have little at our disposal by way of evidence about how far we have come. Much of the evidence which does exist, and which has been incorporated into lectures and reports, is anecdotal, local and small scale, although there have been some larger studies, notably the Information Technology Assisted Teaching and Learning project (ITATL, 1997), and a 1999 study of C&IT materials funded by the Funding Councils (HEFCE, 1999a), and in the United States the national survey of desktop computing and IT in higher education (Green, 1989-99). These showed a rapidly increasing use of learning technology in higher education, and some of the limitations and restrictions which staff feel, such as technical support. However, there had been no indepth study of the subject and institution-specific influences on academic staff use of, and attitudes to, learning technology.DOI:10.1080/0968776000080202 

scholarly journals Enabling learning through technology: some institutional imperatives

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey McCartan ◽  
Barbara Watson ◽  
Janet Lewins ◽  
Margaret Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Higher Education Funding ◽  
Institutional Practice ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Technology Programme

The imminent completion of many Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) projects means that a considerable number of courseware deliverables will soon be available to Higher-Education (HE) institutions. The Higher Education Funding Council's intention in funding the Programme (HEFCE Circulars, 8/92, 13/93) was to ensure their integration into academic curricula by providing institutions with an opportunity to review their 'teaching and learning culture' with regard to the embedding of learning technology within their institutional practice. Two recent workshops, conducted with a representative sample of newly appointed academic staff in connection with the evaluation of materials to be included in a staff development pack whose purpose is to encourage the use of IT in teaching and learning (TLTP Project 7), strongly suggested that the availability of courseware alone was insufficient to ensure its integration into educational practice. The establishment of enabling mechanisms at the institutional level, as well as within departments, was crucial to ensure the effective use of learning technology.DOI:10.1080/0968776950030115

New Knowledge - New Learning?

2013 ◽  
pp. 530-539
Author(s):  
Maria Slowey ◽  
Ekaterina Kozina
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
New Learning ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Bologna Process

The landscape of university undergraduate and postgraduate education in Ireland has undergone a significant change within the broader context of the Bologna Process in Europe. In recent years, a range of national steering initiatives have sought to promote curriculum reform, enhancement of teaching and learning, use of new learning technology, new forms of student support, and professional development of academic staff. The aim of this chapter is to analyse both underlying challenges and some significant achievements. The latter include examples of collaborative initiatives between academics and centres for academic practice and student learning in universities and joint projects across an alliance involving eight institutions of higher education. The authors also talk about the drivers of curriculum reform in higher education and illustrate how these are translated in practice through the introduction of a major curriculum reform initiative, the Academic Framework for Innovation (AFI) in one university.

scholarly journals The Need to Focus on Digital Pedagogy for Online Learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Halvdan Haugsbakken ◽  
Shaun Nykvist ◽  
Dag Atle Lysne
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Online Technologies ◽  
Digital Pedagogy

As pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning continue to evolve to meet the needs of students in a rapidly changing, globalized world that is heavily influenced and reliant on digital technologies, it is anticipated that the learning environments in Higher Education will also be transformed. Consequently, this transformation of learning environments is often synonymous with the adoption of and continued focus on the potential benefits of online learning in the Higher Education sector. It is within this context that this paper reports on a small-scale case study in a large Nordic university where the learning management system, Blackboard was piloted and implemented using a top-down approach consisting of the comprehensive training of academic staff, students and support staff. The explorative approach used in this study identifies three common themes in the data as it follows a group of academic beta testers (N=23) who are involved in the initial phases of implementation. The study explores the educators’ primary use of Blackboard, whilst attempting to understand how academics perceive and interpret the role of online technologies to support effective pedagogical practices. Drawing on data from participant interviews, the study highlights the need for increased academic support for online learning design and a renewed focus on staff development of effective pedagogical practices

The Implementation of Wi-Fi Technology in Higher Education in the United States

2011 ◽  
pp. 365-382
Author(s):  
Xubin Cao ◽  
Eric Y. Lu ◽  
Hongyan Ma
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Ohio University ◽  
Technology In Higher Education

This chapter discusses the implementation of Wi-Fi technology in higher education of the United States. It includes Wi-Fi standards, security, the adoption of the technology, Wi-Fi to support teaching and learning, and challenges of Wi-Fi implementation. The last section is a case study of Wi-Fi at Ohio University. Although Wi-Fi technology has a great promise in higher education, institutions are still at the beginning stage of adoption. Institutions need to make a long-term sustainable plan to develop instructional strategies, successful practices, and technology supports to improve teaching and learning using Wi-Fi technology

scholarly journals A collection of suggested electronic course templates for use in higher education

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill W. Fresen ◽  
Robin K. Hill ◽  
Fawei Geng
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Teaching Context ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
A Site

The collection of electronic course templates suggested in this article results from collaborative investigation between instructional support staff and academic staff users of the virtual learning environment (VLE) at two institutions, one in the United Kingdom and the other in the United States. The particular VLE in use at both institutions was Sakai, although the experience described here can be applied to the design process and workflow using any VLE that allows the selection and some configuration of standard tools.We applied the lattice model of Hill, Fresen and Geng (2012) to design and build a set of six course site templates, which are used as the basis on which site owners can easily build new sites in the VLE. As the ultimate goal of template provision is to underpin pedagogy, academics are free to use a template or build a site from scratch, based on their own teaching context, and they may adapt any template according to the pedagogical purpose and nature of the course. The underlying assumptions are that academic staff retain full control over the content, tools and permissions in their new site. The templates are not mutually exclusive – that is, aspects from any template may be incorporated, where applicable, into another one.We conclude that it is helpful for the VLE support team to take the lead in proposing a set of templates according to the predominant teaching and learning models in use at a particular institution, which may contribute to consistency across course sites and ultimately result in an improved student learning experience.Keywords: virtual learning environment; learning management system; course templates; pedagogical dimensions; course site properties; faculty support(Published: 01 April 2014)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2014, 22: 21669 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v22.21669 

scholarly journals Technology Integration in Higher Education: Situations of Faculty Members

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-733
Author(s):  
Erkan Çalışkan ◽  
Nezih Önal ◽  
Semirhan Gökçe
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Technology Integration ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
High Level

Since the use of technology in education is considered critical in terms of both teaching and learning, technology integration into instructional methods and teaching environments is a must. This requirement is indispensable for the education organizations at all levels of education, including higher education organizations. The use of instructional technology not only increases the success of the students but also offers many advantages to the academic staff. To benefit from technology for educational purposes, the staff must first adopt the technology and use it to support their teaching and then restructure their teaching experience with technology. The purpose of this study is to investigate the issues in technology integration of academic staff at a Turkish university located in Central Anatolia. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques were used in this study designed as a correlational survey research. The results showed that the techno-pedagogical competence of academic staff was almost at the advanced level. Moreover, the staff had high level of information and communication technologies (ICT) acceptance so they used technology in their teaching quite often. The participants reported that they used technology during the presentation of slides, and listed their major problems as insufficient infrastructure, limited ICT skills, inadequate technical support, and student- and software- related problems. The findings indicated that it was the daily life experiences of the academic staff rather than the in-service trainings that enhanced their technological and pedagogical skills.

scholarly journals Doing staff development: Practices, dilemmas and technologies

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Hannon
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Development ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Learning Technology

<span>Online learning technologies now pervade higher education institutions, and the convergence of teaching and learning onto technological systems has created new work practices and a demand for staff development. Educational developers are located at a nexus between the institutional and pragmatic imperatives, from which tensions and incongruencies emerge and need to be resolved in daily practice. In this paper, this nexus is explored by analysing accounts of educational development practice from one institution, based on interviews with educational developers. This paper considers staff development practices in higher education in response to the processes of change associated with learning technology, and the strategies used to resolve incongruencies and conflicts that emerged from these practices were analysed. The discourse analytic method of "interpretative repertoires" (Potter &amp; Wetherell, 1987) is used to explore the resolution of dilemmas in practice. In this case study, two contrasting repertoires are used to account for staff development: one that 'enables' academic staff in their use of learning technologies, and another which 'guides' staff in their online teaching towards specified technologies. The intersection of the two repertoires in the institution presented dilemmas for educational developers. The responses to these contexts and the implications for educational development are explored.</span>

Practical Approaches to Higher Education

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Kotzmann
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The United States ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
Higher Education Systems ◽  
Human Rights Based Approach

This chapter explores the real-life operation of six higher education systems that align with the theoretical models identified in Chapter 2. Three states follow a largely market-based approach: Chile, England, and the United States. Three states follow a largely human rights-based approach: Finland, Iceland, and Sweden. The chapter describes each system in terms of how it aligns with the particular model before evaluating the system in relation to the signs and measures of successful higher education systems identified in Chapter 3. This chapter provides conclusions as to the relative likelihood of each approach facilitating the achievement of higher education teaching and learning purposes.

scholarly journals The Neoliberal University in Ireland: Institutional Bullying by Another Name?

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Margaret Hodgins ◽  
Patricia Mannix McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

New managerialism and the pervasive neoliberalisation of universities is by now a well-established phenomenon. Commentaries explore the political and economic drivers and effects of neoliberal ideology, and critique the impact on higher education and academic work. The impact on the health and well-being of academic staff has had less attention, and it is to that we turn in this paper. Much academic interest in neoliberalism stems from the UK, Australia and the United States. We draw particularly on studies of public Irish universities, where neoliberalism, now well entrenched, but something of a late-comer to the new public management party, is making its presence felt. This conceptual paper explores the concept of neoliberalism in higher education, arguing that the policies and practices of new public management as exercised in universities are a form of bullying; what we term institutional bullying. The authors are researchers of workplace culture, workplace bullying and incivility. Irish universities are increasingly challenged in delivering the International Labour Organisation (ILO) principles of decent work, i.e., dignity, equity, fair income and safe working conditions. They have become exposed in terms of gender imbalance in senior positions, precariat workforce, excessive workload and diminishing levels of control. Irish universities are suffering in terms of both the health and well-being of staff and organisational vibrancy. The authors conclude by cautioning against potential neoliberal intensification as universities grapple with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper reviews neoliberalism in higher education and concludes with insight as to how the current pandemic could act as a necessary catalyst to stem the tide and ‘call out’ bullying at the institutional level.

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