Things we’ve been reading about

Things I’ve read in the last week:

Disrupting ourselves: The problem of Learning in Higher Education by Randy Bass.

If you have a spare 10 minutes read this article – it may offer a different perspective on the nature and causes of disruptive innovation in higher education.

ECAR study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology 2012 report

The findings included in the most recent ECAR report echo some of the priorities of our TEL strategy; the importance of supporting students to use their own mobile devices on campus, the need to use existing technology better (rather than “better technology”) and a focus on blending TEL with face-to-face teaching are all present. Interestingly in this US study staff  are decreasingly perceived as lacking the skills needed to use TEL effectively by their students.

Report on the 2012 Survey of Technology Enhanced Learning by Ucisa.

The Ucisa survey offers a rare glimpse into longitudinal data on TEL activity in post-compulsory education in the UK.  Some things are surprising e.g.  the decline in the perceived importance of local “champions” to promote TEL and  separate e-Learning strategies to define and shape TEL provision.

Less surprising is that the top ranked drivers for TEL are:

  1. Enhancing the quality of learning and teaching
  2. Meeting student expectations.
Key factors in encouraging TEL development:
  1. Availability of TEL support staff
  2. Central university and departmental senior management support.

—Access to tools (2nd in 2010)  and availability of local champions (1st in 2008 and  2003) are no longer key  for TEL development. (Hilary)