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Achieving flexibility? The rhetoric and reality of the role of learning technologies in UK higher education
University of York, UK
Richard Walker
ascilite2014November 23 - 26 2014
Coventry University, UK
Martin Jenkins
Imperial College London, UK
Julie Voce
Flexibility
The drive toward greater flexibility is influenced by:
– the marketisation of higher education;
– the emergence of students-as-consumers, exerting wishes for new kinds of educational provision;
– the potential of new digital technologies; and
– the apparent potential (that new educational environments are opening) for widening higher education at reduced unit costs. [our emphasis]
Barnett (2014: 8)
Barnett’s interpretation of flexibility
Sector flexibility:
– enabling flexible entry points for students to higher education study programmes
Institutional flexibility:– having institutional responsiveness to student
expectations and needs
Pedagogical flexibility: – having flexibility within teaching and learning
processes, including allowing academic staff control over teaching methods and the latitude to respond to different circumstances
Learner flexibility:
– student choice within their learning experience
What does the data say?
The Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) has surveyed UK higher education institutions on the use of learning technology tools since 2001
http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/tel
Institutional flexibility
Investment has focused on:– E-assessment tools
– Plagiarism detection
– VLE/LMS platforms
– Lecture capture systems
Infrastructure development
Management & control of learning (mainstreaming)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2003 2005 2008 2010 2012 2014
A
Bi
Bii
Biii
C
Pedagogical flexibility
Still an emphasis, though slowly reducing, on transmissive teaching methods
Category A – web supplementedCategory Bi – web dependent, contentCategory Bii – web dependent, communicationCategory Biii – web dependent, content and communicationCategory E – fully online (categories adapted from Bell et al., 2002)
Learner flexibility
Student experience
– Service oriented provision
– Expectations focused on connectivity and access to resources (Jisc, 2014)
– Instant and on-demand access to learning (Bone, 2013)
Achieving flexibility?
Institutional clarity in use of technology-enhanced learning– But potential conflicts in flexibility
Beware of disempowering academic staff– broadening the range of technologies but with
enterprise-wide goals in mind - not necessarily encouraging pedagogic flexibility?
Case study: Coventry
Institutional priorities– Student experience
– Digital literacy
Investment in TEL– E-assessment
– Plagiarism detection
Lack of awareness of TEL
Recognised need for pedagogic innovation
Disruptive Media Learning Lab
Case study: York
Institutional priorities- Enhancement of student learning experience
and delivery of services
Investment in TEL- Investment in electronic management of
assessment; lecture capture; BYOD provision
Challenges– short-term pressures (National Student Survey)
& quick fixes: assessment and feedback
– longer-term embedding of e-learning vision within curriculum review and academic practice (staff development and digital literacies)
Sector challenges
Consumerism and the mainstreamingof student services throughlearning technologies– speed of change / diversity of systems and
focus of change in TEL development
Can this be compatible with pedagogic flexibility and the academic freedom to experiment and ‘freedom to fail’?
(Price, 2013)
Questions?
University of York, UK
Richard WalkerCoventry University, UK
Martin Jenkins Imperial College London, UK
Julie Voce
References
Barnett, R. (2014). Conditions of flexibility: securing a more responsive higher education system, The Higher Education Academy: York.
Bell, M., Bush, D., Nicholson, P, O’Brien, D., & Tran, T. (2002). Universities online: A survey of online education and services in Australia. Canberra: Department of Education, Science and Training.
Bone, E. (2013). Improving learning experiences: Student attitudes towards the use of technology. NUS research study sponsored by Desire2Learn. Insights Roadshow, 16 December 2013.Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom.