TRACING THE EMMERGING USE OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION:

A LITERATURE REVIEW

MARTA PINTO, FRANCISLÊ SOUZA, FERNANDA NOGUEIRA, ANA BALULA, LUÍS PEDRO, LÚCIA POMBO, FERNANDO RAMOS, ANTÓNIO MOREIRA

UNIVERSITY OF AVEIRO | DE-PROJECTO-TRACER@UA.PT

CSEDU 2012

1- INTRODUCTION

Adoption and promotion of Communication Technologies (CTs) is happening throughout the world of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

2/17

CSEDU 2012

Research about CTs and their use in HEI embraces different perspectives, according to:

3/17

CSEDU 2012

2- METHODOLOGY

Looking specifically for publications concerning web 2.0 tools, services and platforms use in HE.

International online bibliographic databases used: Scopus, Eric, Springer, B-On and Google Scholar. Search was also performed directly in the UNESCO and OECD websites.

Keywords: higher education, communication technologies, information and communication technologies, web 2.0, e-learning, blended learning, mobile learning, immersive worlds, personal learning environments

4/17

Systematic literature review search from June to November 2011 - attempting to answer 2 questions:

a) Which CTs are being used in HE?b) How are CTs being used in HE?

ANSWERS NEEDED in relation to the development of the project TRACER - “Portuguese Public Higher Education Use of Communication Technologies”

CSEDU 2012

5/17

CSEDU 2012

3- CTs USED IN HE TO SUPPORT TEACHING AND LEARNING PRACTICES

6/17

…has evolved alongside the evolution of web technologies:

From Web1.0 - void of interactive components.To Web2.0 - interaction and promotion of social network media tools and applications, driving new web experiences that potentiate connection and collaboration between users

Massive transformation of educational organizations and institutions

CTs have become “an icon of early 21st century higher education provision” in developed and developing countries, and as universities attempt to “‘blend’ ICTs into all aspects of face-to-face teaching and learning, as well as into students’ independent study”, investments of the universities on computer infrastructures have increased over the last decade (Selwyn, 2007)

CSEDU 2012

7/17

Research with an international range concerning the specific use of web 2.0 in HE identifies:• disparities between and within developed countries, concerning:

• broadband infrastructure;• teacher training.

• need of faculty training in HE to effectively integrate and use CTs in both established and emerging teaching and learning methodologies.

The emergence of multimedia environments and technologies simultaneously driven change to occur and contributed towards disruption of teaching and learning practices.

Disruption:• Teaching methods• Teacher continuously negotiates authority• Students able to create knowledge and

manage information in different ways (Wesch, 2009)

• Teaching and learning into a more student centred experience (Garrison & Anderson, 2003)

• Roles of teachers and students (Bielaczyc & Blake, 2006)

No disruption:

• In the assessment methods and activities.• Web tools which demand either

collaboration or reflection are less used than face-to-face teaching (Blin & Munro, 2008)

CSEDU 2012

3.1- TEACHING AND LEARNING SUPPORTED BY CTs

8/17

Distance Learning

All the systems referred to teaching and learning as being supported by CTs in both the delivery of face-to-face and distance modes (Panda, 2005; Bryant, Kahle & Schafer 2005).

Comprises 3 learning paradigms: e-learning, b-learning, m-learning, c-learning

e-learning b-learning

A significant part of learning content made available via the Internet (Punie & Cabrera, 2009), facilitating access to resources and services, exchanges and collaboration (CEC, 2003);

Mix of face-to-face and online learning (Dias, 2010; Garrison & Hanuca, 2004), requiring a restructuring of the class, contact hours and approach although “it is not clear how much or how little, online learning is inherent to blended learning”(Garrison & Hanuca, 2004);

CSEDU 2012

9/17

m-learning c-learning

Mobility of people and knowledge supported by mobile devices (Sharples, Taylor & Vavoula, 2007);

New trend in the development of e-learning, in which mobile devices help students get access to course materials anytime anywhere (Giorgieva, Smrikarov, Georgiev, 2011);

Considered disruptive, particularly for supporting learning outside the classroom, making education an integrated activity of learning with life and work (Kukulska-Hulme, 2010; El-Hussein & Cronje, 2010);

Allows teachers and students to dedicate more time to the development of higher levels of thinking and group intelligence. In cloud learning, learners are at the centre of learning, giving them more responsibility and opportunities to actively engage in their own learning and offering them a richer experience (Bai, Shen, Chen & Zhuo, 2011).;

This interconnects with other learning modes such as blended and mobile learning, which emphasize that learners become active in sharing and collaborating, creating content and personalizing their learning environment;

3.2- CTs USED IN HEIs TO SUPPORT TEACHING AND LEARNING

10/17

Aiming to find patterns and obtain an understanding of the wider adoption and use of CTs in HE, it was made the attempt to answer 2 questions:

a) which CTs are being used in HE? b) how are CTs being used in HE?

To sustain the review analysis we have adopted the major categories of web 2.0 activities and tools proposed in the BECTA Report (Crook, C., Cummings, J., Fisher, T., Graber, R., Harrison, C., Lewin, C., Oliver, M. (2008). Web 2.0 technologies for learning: the current landscape – opportunities, challenges and tensions. In Becta (Ed.): Becta. )

CSEDU 2012

3.2.1 Web2.0 activities and tools used in HE

11/17

Findings based on the BECTA categories

There is no evidence in the literature concerning the use of trading tools in educational contexts

Mash-up websites: a set of tools and environments of emerging interest in HE (Wesch, 2009). Personal Learning Environments may be understood as an aggregation kind of tool, personally built or institutionally created the space for the people of the education community to build their own PLE

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Ning or Elgg, are frequently used to create communities of practice in HE (Conole, 2010), to include group settings in formal learning, and for library and administrative applications. They are used by students to communicate with colleagues and teachers about coursework (Dahlstrom, Boor, Grunwald & Vockley, 2011): Facebook is commonly used by students and faculty teachers, to include group settings in formal learning, communicate easily with the school community, easily communicate and market school events (Dahlstrom, Boor, Grunwald & Vockley, 2011; Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman, and Witty, 2010)

CSEDU 2012

Wikis are used for collaborative writing in a peer group wiki (Armstrong & Franklin, 2008); teaching support in the design for learning, a single space where teachers can share the materials for a lecture (Armstrong & Franklin, 2008)

3.2.1 Web2.0 activities and tools used in HE

12/17

Immersive worlds / virtual worlds, classifiedas an emerging trend likely to impact HE (Horizon Report, 2007). In HE virtual world can enable authentic and scenario-based learning contexts; over 250 HEIs worldwide are teaching using Second Life, given the opportunities to interact in new ways, to add value to HE teaching and learning in supporting interactions in virtual lectures, and supporting activities like seminar and lectures, social interactions with realistic contexts (Conole and Alevizou, 2010; Freitas, 2008)

Media sharing tools, allow sharing content in open access and open participation contexts. Video media sharing tools, in an open access and open participation context, are being used by HEIs to have an official presence in video sharing services such as YouTube Education or iTunesU. YouTube Education is a space to support academia, where education is a strong category and where Universities set their official channels, make lectures available and use technology to record and distribute video online, allowing students to keep up with the lectures, and also as a form of advertising, widening their audiences.

CSEDU 2012

4- DISCUSSIONS AND RESEARCH AIMS

13/17

CSEDU 2012

4- DISCUSSIONS AND RESEARCH AIMS

14/17

CSEDU 2012

15/17

CSEDU 2012

5- FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

16/17

CTs have a confirmed use in HE

Use of social Web tools and environments is a trend in teaching and learning practices in HE, placing challenges to teachers, students, and institutions, at the level of the interaction, production and delivery of educational content

Ubiquity of web2.0 tools revealed a strong relation to the idea of disruptive changes of more traditional forms of education in HE

Use of CTs may not always potentiate innovation: social web tools are also used as a support for already existing educational processes and structures of teaching and learning previously used. The expectation is for teaching and learning practices to change along with an effective integration and innovative use of CTs.

But there is change, considered by some to be a disruptive change, showing that teaching and learning practices have a progressive, effective and innovative integration of CTs in HE. This reflects on the changing roles adopted by teachers and students.

Keeping up-to-date with the information related to the adoption of CTs in HE and to its' impact in teaching and learning practices, has become more and more difficult due to the vast and fragmented publications, leading to the need of serious and expedite systematising. That is the ultimate goal of the online information visualization tool proposed by the ongoing project TRACER.

CSEDU 2012

2/

CSEDU 2012

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

http://cms.ua.pt/TRACER