This review covers those aspects of communications which are relatively new and will probably have a continuing impact for at least two years — although this forecast, like nearly…
Abstract
This review covers those aspects of communications which are relatively new and will probably have a continuing impact for at least two years — although this forecast, like nearly all other forecasts, is likely to be mostly wrong. A small amount of essential basic material is included — such as the section entitled ‘The bandwidth/speed imperative’, So much effort is being devoted to this subject, particularly in the case of POTS ( Plain Old Telephone System) improvements, that a few words about it seems to be in order.
Diana D. Woolis and Gail O. Mellow
Global Skills for College Completion (GSCC) offers transformative use of social media – a Guided Digital Environment – a unique set of online tools and processes to capture…
Abstract
Global Skills for College Completion (GSCC) offers transformative use of social media – a Guided Digital Environment – a unique set of online tools and processes to capture, consolidate, and advance the effective faculty classroom work. The ambition of GSCC is to achieve a quantum increase in the historically low pass rates of basic skills students in American community colleges. The goal is to produce a rate increase so dramatic, consistently 80%, that it is “visible to the naked eye.” This increased success rate in basic skills would have the effect of accelerating remediation and increasing the probability of college completion. We believe community college basic skills faculty possess all the wisdom necessary to figure out how to improve these rates, given the right tools. In this chapter we describe the GSCC project, the Guided Digital Environment and the Tools and Routines provided to faculty to allow them to be research-practitioners in the project, and the research we drew on to build it. We include early information and observations on the essential design elements for identifying effective basic skills pedagogy. We also describe the innovative technological tools used to create an engaged community and leave a digital trail for analysis. GSCC is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through a grant to the League for Innovation as part of its goal to double the number of young adults in the United States with a postsecondary credential by 2020.
Discusses Gordon Pask’s contributions to educational technology and his influences on the author’s own work.
Abstract
Discusses Gordon Pask’s contributions to educational technology and his influences on the author’s own work.
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Susannah Quinsee and Neal Sumner
To examine how introducing an institution‐wide managed learning environment impacts on the processes of organisational change using City University, London as a case study.
Abstract
Purpose
To examine how introducing an institution‐wide managed learning environment impacts on the processes of organisational change using City University, London as a case study.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature‐based discussion of current issues around the introduction of online learning to provide theoretical framework. Action research methodology used for interviews with leading members of the institution.
Findings
There is a significant amount of literature available on institutional change and managed learning environments; however, how the introduction of such systems operates in practice depends on the context of the institution. In the interviews with key stakeholders six significant themes are identified for the management of change in this area: pedagogic direction; operational connections and development; organisational structure and change; system process; professional development; strategic vision and perception. Any implementation project regarding the introduction of managed learning environments should encompass these key themes.
Research limitations/implications
Based on interviews with a small number of stakeholders at the institution. Further research could compare the experience at City with other institutions and revisit a wider selection of stakeholders at City to assess their views at a later stage in the implementation.
Practical implications
Provides guidance after the experiences encountered at the institution which could assist other universities both during the planning phases of such a project or during the implementation itself.
Originality/value
Identifies a number of key areas to shape and formulate project management. Combines empirical evidence with theoretical context.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the question of whether modern digital information technologies damage their users' cognitive capacities in some way, and to speculate on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the question of whether modern digital information technologies damage their users' cognitive capacities in some way, and to speculate on how librarians should adapt their services as a consequence of the controversy surrounding this question.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews some recent literature on this subject, combined with an examination of the role played by technology, librarians and government in determining the nature of our society's response to problematic aspects of the use of digital, internet‐based applications in education.
Findings
The paper finds that highly differentiated and highly polemical attitudes to this subject mean that librarians have to acknowledge the existence of important challenges to the apparent consensus about the way information technologies should be used in education in Western societies. This has important consequences for the approach to collection building (the balance between digital versus print provision), for library building design, and for the value which should be placed on systematic information literacy teaching. The existence of such an important debate should also embolden information professionals to make their own insights into these issues more widely known.
Research limitations/implications
Some of the findings in this paper are amenable to further development through practitioner‐oriented research; however, the bulk of the content used for this paper is derived from the literature on this topic, so there is no original research data presented to back up the assertions made by the author. It is simply an account of a debate which has to be acknowledged by librarians.
Practical implications
The implications of the issues under discussion in the paper are presented in clear practical terms, and the consequences for library management made explicit.
Social implications
The clash between two different theories of learning and information provision is debated and the links with issues of government policy are explored. The social connections between education and wealth generation are brought into this debate.
Originality/value
The paper provides a useful, up‐to‐date briefing on recent controversial issues in education, information management and socio‐economic policy making.
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The development of information technology (IT) networks in the delivery of a range of material to learners in higher education is explored. Factors which influence the application…
Abstract
The development of information technology (IT) networks in the delivery of a range of material to learners in higher education is explored. Factors which influence the application of IT are described and learner characteristics and needs are enumerated. The range of learning material appropriate to, and the mechanisms for, IT delivery are examined. Some examples of provision are noted. Strategic issues and the strengths and weaknesses of networked access are analysed. Prospects for developing systems and the requirements are discussed. The results of a small scale survey of provision in academic institutions are reported and discussed in a second part of the paper.
Explores the strategic management of document and information supply with reference to developments in higher education and the academic library and information services and…
Abstract
Explores the strategic management of document and information supply with reference to developments in higher education and the academic library and information services and systems context. It emphasises the evolutionary nature of the issue and performs a generalised environmental analysis of the situation. It identifies and discusses critical factors including: the availability of resources, the nature of demand, the dynamics of information, and changes in culture. Strategic factors of information demand and delivery are considered from both the users’ and LIS managers’ perspectives. Various information and document access scenarios are contrasted, including: traditional collections, interlibrary loan, document delivery and “virtual” networked collections. A section on access issues critically interprets the character of the various approaches currently available. Management’s need for adequate and appropriate information for planning document supply is identified and some observations are made on the contribution of the e‐Lib programme and its components to the issue. The Loughborough‐based FIDDO project is specifically mentioned.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach to managing complexity in postgraduate teaching by increasing the variety of educational provisions and creating opportunities…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach to managing complexity in postgraduate teaching by increasing the variety of educational provisions and creating opportunities for individualisation of learning.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study examines an approach to course design and delivery based on the attenuation‐amplification metaphor of resolving complexity.
Findings
The results of the study suggest that a balanced approach to managing complexity can be effective is helping students develop their personal learning path through the course, making postgraduate study more relevant and meaningful.
Originality/value
This approach offers an alternative to the reductionist approach in dealing with complexity in the tertiary study context.
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Chris Trevitt, Aliya Steed, Lynn Du Moulin and Tony Foley
The study aims to review the entrepreneurial and educational innovations in technology-enabled distance education in practical legal education (PLE) accomplished by a unit “on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to review the entrepreneurial and educational innovations in technology-enabled distance education in practical legal education (PLE) accomplished by a unit “on the periphery” of a strong research-led university. It also aims to examine the learning organisation (LO) attributes associated with this initiative.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a longitudinal case study based on interviews and reflective analysis, and reviewed using three “models” drawn from the literature: breaking the “iron triangle” (containing costs; widening access; enhancing quality); a tailored version of distance education appropriate for research-intensive universities; a strategy for successful adoption of disruptive technologies in higher education.
Findings
Entrepreneurialism yielded growth (PLE student numbers went from 150 to 2,000 in 15 years) and diversification (two new programmes established). The PLE programme advanced in two “waves”: the first centred on widening access and the second, on enhancing quality. Costs were contained. Both the presence and absence of LO attributes are identified at three different organisational levels.
Research limitations/implications
Challenges to academic identity may act to inhibit educational change, especially in research-strong settings.
Practical/implications
Business logic, and the creation and institutionalisation of educational development support – an “internal networking” group, were keys to success. “Organisational learning” in complex institutional environments such as universities involves understandably lengthy timescales (e.g. decades or more).
Practical/implications
Technology-enabled disruption in higher education appears relentless. While institutional and individual performance metrics favour research, proven cases of “how to do things differently” in education may well not get exploited, thus opening the market to alternative providers.
Originality/value
This is the only empirical example of a tailored version of distance education appropriate for research-intensive universities that we know about.