Faculty of Education and Arts
School of Education
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/education
COURSE OUTLINE
v 1.02.10
Central Coast Campus
Chittaway Road
OURIMBAH NSW 2258
Room: H01.43
Phone: 02 434-94934 or 02 434-84323
Fax: 02 434-84075
E-mail: ASU-Ourimbah@newcastle.edu.au
Hours: Mon – Fri 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Newcastle Campus
University Drive
CALLAGHAN NSW 2308
Room: HA80
Phone: 02 492-16428
Fax: 02 492-17887
E-mail: education@newcastle.edu.au
Hours: Mon – Fri 8:00 am to 5:30 pm
EDUC6018: Contemporary Issues in ICT and Education
Course Coordinator Greg Preston
E-mail
Greg.Preston@newcastle.edu.au
Student Consultation
Please email your lecturer
Callaghan
Port Macquarie Campus
Cnr Oxley Hwy & Widderson St
PORT MACQUARIE NSW 2444
Room: BG12
Phone: 02 658-16262
Fax: 02 658-16263
E-mail: kim.thompson@newcastle.edu.au
Hours: Mon – Fri 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Phone
02 49215891
Fax
02 4921 7887
Office
HC72
If other teaching staff will be working on this course, their contact details will be advised:
on the course Blackboard website.
Issued as Correct
Semester 1 2012
Course Overview
Course Type
Elective: 11008 – G Cert Educational Stud
Directed: 10418 – M Educational Studies
Directed: 11146 – M Educational Studies [CW][DL]
Student Workload
Mode of Delivery
Requisites
Assumed Knowledge
Attendance Requirements
Unit Weighting
Timetabled Self Directed Learning: 2 hours per Week for the Full
Term
10 Units
Expected Personal Study: 100 hours per Term
hours
100
Total Workload
hours
126
Equivalent of 2 hours per week face to face
Weblearn (distance/online)
Nil
Nil
Nil
Withdrawing Without Penalty
The last date for withdrawing from this course without academic penalty is the HECS
census date of the semester.
hours
26
EDUC6018: Contemporary Issues in ICT and Education
Calla
ghan Weblearn (distance/online) Semester 1 2012
Course Description /
Handbook Synopsis
Student Learning
Outcomes / Objectives
Required Texts or
Learning Materials
Lecture Materials and
Recommended Readings
Course Structure
and Content
Curriculum Information
Provides an in-depth study of contemporary issues in the use of information
technologies in educational environments. Particular attention will be paid to theories
and research focused on using information technologies in learning and teaching, and
critical reflection on ICT research to improve professional practice.
This course provides students with the opportunity to:
1. Critically engage with contemporary issues and debates in ICT Education.
2. Critically engage with theories and research focused on using information
technologies in learning and teaching
3. Critically reflect upon processes of educational knowledge production in the field of
ICT Educational Research
Schrum, L.(ed) (2010). Considerations on technology
and teachers: The Best of Journal of Research on
Technolo
gy in Education, ISTE, Eugene, Oregon.(supplied)
Reading materials will be made available via Blackboard. An additional suggested
readin
g list will be provided.
The course will cover the following:
* Contemporary issues in the use of information technologies in educational
environments;
* Theories and research focused on using information technologies in learning and
teaching;
* Frameworks for critical reflection on ICT research;
* Approaches for usin
g ICT Research to improve professional practice.
Page 2 of 6
EDUC6018: Contemporary Issues in ICT and Education
Calla
ghan Weblearn (distance/online) Semester 1 2012
Page 3 of 6
EDUC6018: Contemporary Issues in ICT and Education
Calla
ghan Weblearn (distance/online) Semester 1 2012
Assessment Information
Students must make a reasonable attempt on all assignments in order to pass this course, as assignments are
tied to meeting accreditation requirements.
Task 1 of 2
Analysis of Research Report
This assignment is worth 50%.
Len
gth (±10%): 2500 words.
Student Learning Outcomes / Objectives Assessed: 1, 2, 3
Task Details
This assignment requires you to undertake a review of two (2) pieces of
Educational research which relate to ONE (1) of the issues affecting ICT and
Learning. You are required to select two (2) research articles which relate
to a single area and review those pieces of research. You should present
a formal review of the research articles you have selected. (You will find
further
guidelines about this task contained in Topic 8 on the Blackboard site)
Assessment Criteria
All assignments in this course will be assessed on factors such as
understanding of key issues, coherence of argument or discussion,
correct use of appropriate reference material, synthesis and analysis
evident in response, and demonstration of critical thought.
Additional details of the specific assessment criteria for this assignment
are available on the blackboard site, and are subject to negotiation with
your course coordinator
Marking Rubric
A marking rubric will be supplied prior to assignment submission.
Submission
Students must read the Course Outline Policy Supplement available on the Blackboard
website for this course and email the Course Coordinator to advise that you have done
so.
Submit assignment via e-mail
Due date and time: Monday, 16 April 2012 11:59 PM
Assignment will not be marked until any and all submission requirements are met
Return
Assignment will be returned via e-mail
Page 4 of 6
EDUC6018: Contemporary Issues in ICT and Education
Calla
ghan Weblearn (distance/online) Semester 1 2012
Task 2 of 2
Discussion Paper
This assignment is worth 50%.
Length (±10%): 2500 words.
Student Learning Outcomes / Objectives Assessed: 1, 2, 3
Task Details
Discussion Paper- This should provide a detailed analysis of the research that relates to
a specific area of ICT education. This assignment is designed to allow you to gain a
greater depth of understanding of the research issues which apply to an area which is
relevant to you.
Examples of topics which have been completed in the past include:
The use of ICT in Early Childhood education
An evaluation of the effectiveness of Laptop computers in school settings,
Gender issues in ICT.
Students are advised to consult with their lecturer about the suitability of
their topic prior to commencin
g this assignment.
Assessment Criteria
All assignments in this course will be assessed on factors such as
understanding of key issues, coherence of argument or discussion,
correct use of appropriate reference material, synthesis and analysis
evident in response, and demonstration of critical thought.
Additional details of the specific assessment criteria for this assignment
are available on the blackboard site, and are subject to negotiation with
your course coordinator
Marking Rubric
A marking rubric will be supplied prior to assignment submission.
Submission
Students must read the Course Outline Policy Supplement available on the Blackboard
website for this course and email the Course Coordinator to advise that you have done
so.
Submit assignment via e-mail
Due date and time: Monday, 4 June 2012 11:59 PM
Assignment will not be marked until any and all submission requirements are met
Return
Assignment will be returned via e-mail
Page 5 of 6
EDUC6018: Contemporary Issues in ICT and Education
Calla
ghan Weblearn (distance/online) Semester 1 2012
Policy and Procedural Information
Important Additional Information
This course outline must be read in conjunction with the Course Outline Policy Supplement. Assignments will not be marked nor marks
released, unless (and until) you indicate on the assignment coversheet (or via email or other agreed method to the course coordinator where
a coversheet is not required) that you have read the Course Outline Policy Supplement available on the Blackboard website for this course,
which covers:
Total Contact and Non-Contact Hours of Effort or Load per Course
Withdrawal from a Course Containing a Placement
Written Assignment Presentation and Submission Details
Turnitin Submission Information
Penalties for Late Assignments
Return of Assignments
Assignment Resubmission
Re-marks and Appeals
Alternative Assessment
Special Consideration for Assessment Items or Examinations
Assignment Resubmission due to Academic Literacy Standards
Studentmail and Blackboard
Preferred Referencing Style
Plagiarism
Changing Your Enrolment
Student Hubs
Faculty Website
Student Representatives
Student Communication
Contact Details for Dean of Students
Web Addresses for Rules Governing Academic Awards
Information for Students with a Disability or Chronic Illness
This course uses Blackboard and Studentmail to contact students, so you are advised to keep your email accounts within the quota to ensure
you receive essential messages. To receive an expedited response to queries, post questions on the Blackboard discussion forum if there is
one, or if emailing staff directly use the course code in the subject line of your email. Students are advised to check their studentmail and the
course Blackboard site on a weekly basis.
Blackboard: http://www.blackboard.newcastle.edu.au
Studentmail: http://studentmail.newcastle.edu.au
Online Tutorial Registration
Students are required to enrol in the Lecture and a specific Tutorial time for this course via the Online Registration system. NB: Registrations
close at the end of week 2 of semester: http://studinfo1.newcastle.edu.au/rego/stud_choose_login.cfm
Problems with tutorial registration or timetable clashes should be directed to the Tutorial Registration System administrator by emailing:
EduArts-TRS@newcastle.edu.au
Changing your Enrolment
To check or change your enrolment online, please refer to myHub – Self Service for Students: https://myhub.newcastle.edu.au
Essential Online Information for Students
Information on Class and Exam Timetables, Tutorial Online Registration, Learning Support, Campus Maps, Careers information, Counselling,
the Health Service and a range of free Student Support Services can be found at: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/students/current
Approval
Only course outlines that are copies of an original signed by the Director, Teaching Quality or the Deputy Head of School, Teaching and
Learning, are deemed official and approved. No change to this course outline will be permitted after the end of the second week of the term
except in exceptional circumstances and with written Head of School approval. Students will be notified in writing of any approved changes to
this outline.
Digitally signed by Dr Heather Sharp
DN: cn=Dr Heather Sharp, o=University
of Newcastle, ou=School of Education,
email=heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au
, c=AU
Date: 2012.02.24 12:52:15 +11’00’
Signature
Page 6 of 6
SOLUTION
ICT in the Area of Higher Education
Introduction
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have changed the landscape of modern world. The transformation brought about by ICT in areas like business, engineering, architecture and medicine are phenomenal. ICT has also affected Education; however, the magnitude of change here has been limited. The 2000s saw gradual increase in the use of ICT in higher education, with tutors using ICT to support their teaching methods and to communicate with students (Kirkup and Kirkwood, 2005). Higher education has seen the incremental use of ICT for research, communication and administrative work; however, ICT is still seen by many tutors as a supporting tool to their teaching methods and not as a potential tool to bring about radical changes in learning and teaching (Haynes et al., 2004).
The key stakeholders for ICT’s use in higher education institutes are Teachers, Students, Administrators and Management, Recruiters and Government (Oliver, 2002). ICT has been seen to affect these stakeholders in some or the other way. While Government’s involvement has been mainly as a financial investor and control authority, recruiters have been more concerned with what the students are learning rather than how they are learning. The stakeholders who have been seen to impact largely from the use of ICT in higher education are teachers, students and administrators. From giving flexibility to students to decide content, time and place of education to enabling the teachers to deliver better presentations, ICT has improved the delivery of teaching and learning.
ICT has faced a lot of challenges in the initial period to finally gain acceptance at major levels in colleges and universities. Some of the challenges were high set-up cost, lack of motivation among teachers and administrators to change the existing methods, lack of training and support at the institutions (Starr, 2001). At present, the successful implementation of ICT has been confined to the developed world, with developing countries still grappling with the effort to incorporate basic ICT into their teaching systems at higher learning institutes.
This paper tries to review the existing literature on ICT in higher education to assess its impact on the process of teaching, learning, research and administration in higher education. The challenges faced by ICT are examined, followed by a discussion on the future of ICT in the area of higher education.
ICT in Higher Education Learning
The critics of ICT in higher education field often comment that ICT has acted as just a support to already existing teaching methods, and has not resulted in radical shift in teaching and learning methods (Zemsky and Massy,2004; Kirkup and Kirkwood, 2005). However, the 21st century has seen initiatives towards creating new-curriculum and adopting teaching methodologies which take advantage of ICT to create a new teaching and learning experience. Some of the major contributions to the field of learning in higher education are described below.
Student-centered learning:The traditional teaching methods were mostly transmission-of-knowledge oriented. Teachers presented their theories in class, while students listened on. Students had limited choice options for what subjects to learn, where to go to college to, and rarely got chance to experience application-based learning. However, ICTs have changed this situation to make the learning process more student-centered (Oliver, 2002). The curriculum is slowly transforming towards capability or competency focused curriculum, with application-based teaching (Oliver, 2002). Internet has empowered the student community to get data and information to assist them in their learning process.
Student flexibility in terms of place, time and content: ICT has empowered students with the freedom to decide when to learn, what to learn, where to learn and from whom to learn. Newer models of learning are evolving every day. Previously, students had very limited choices in courses. In case of working students, they found it difficult to take out time from their work schedule for attending classes. Even if a student wanted to enroll in a foreign university, financial problem or some other location problem held him down. ICT has provided solutions to all these issues and provided student with flexibility to decide their learning process on their own. Now, students can opt for studying anytime and anyplace with web-based teaching options available. Fully online synchronous and asynchronous distance learning environments have evolved (Sife, Lwoga and Sanga, 2007). Students are now able to learn from their workplaces, resulting in cost savings related to travel and time away from work (Oliver, 2002). New courses which involve partnerships among different universities have resulted, whereby students are able to get degrees from all the participating universities. Virtual learning universities have removed geographical and temporal barriers.
Online Teams and Learning Communities: Web-based communities have cropped up in the recent years, built up around certain specific areas of interest. Students can become members of these communities and discuss with fellow members about their doubts, news in the field, recent innovations and many more. These communities connect students across the world, and provide a great learning platform. Experts and tutors are also part of this community, and take part in discussions.
ICT inHigher Education Teaching
1990s mainly saw adoption of ICT into teaching methods by innovators and early adopters of the teaching community (Kirkup and Kirkwood, 2002). However, by 2005 the late adopters had also become involved in the use of ICT for teaching. A study conducted by Kirkup and Kirkwood (2002) showed the growing acceptance of ICT as a support tool for teaching purposes. Tutors rated e-mail as the highest form of contact method used for communicating with students outside classroom. Tutors have also started using specific course-based software while teaching. Some of the major contributions of ICT in the field of teaching are discussed below.
Communication with students: Tutors find e-mail a more suitable alternative to face-to-face contact and telephone (Kirkup and Kirkwood, 2002). ICT has helped in improving the communication between tutors and students, with e-mail being used as a popular tool for intimating about class reschedules, feedbacks on individual reports, call for meetings, collecting assignments and so on.
Better Presentation and Teaching Methods: The use of power-point slides has made teaching process very easy and exciting for teachers. The power-point slides can be easily transferred to students for their use as well. Video presentations have added a variety to the teaching methods, and have been found to capture the students’ attention more effectively. Use of conferencing to interact with distance learning students and conducting doubt-clearing sessions over internet via video-call and chat has made the teaching process very easy for the teachers. 70% of Tutors accepted that the quality of their teaching had improved using ICT and has enabled them to better handle students’ queries in a survey by Kirkup and Kirkwood (2002).
Student Support: Tutors are expected to provide general academic support to students outside the normal class schedules to help them in learning process. Mostly, face-to-face contact between tutors and students are limited to occasional group sessions (Kirkup and Kirkwood, 2002). However, use of ICTs has helped tutors in providing student support thorough online discussion forums, e-mail interaction for clearing doubts, and video-conferencing for students unable to attend group sessions and providing rapid feedback on students’ work.
Simplification of administrative-aspects of Tutoring:ICT has helped tutors with the administrative aspects of tutoring by reducing the complexities of the procedures and the time involved in the process. For contacting the administrative people of the college/university, email has become a popular choice. Collecting feedback from students, designing course-outline, interacting with other tutors has been made easy by ICT.
ICT in Higher Education Research
Internet has been a powerful contributor in the research arena. Arrival of computers with higher computing powers, processing speeds and increase in bandwidth have made it possible for doing complicated analysis on large data sets (Balasubramaniamet al., 2009). Communication across teaching community has evolved with partnerships in research among different tutors from different parts of the world. Internet is serving the purpose of big global library for the tutors. New software, availability of open-source software and cloud computing systems is helping to propel research activities. Some major contributions of ICT in the area of higher education research are listed below.
Simplified and Quality Research: The use of ICTs for research purposes have increased considerably over the years. They have improved the quality of research through the availability of qualitative journals and research materials easily. Large databases and online libraries provide researchers with any data they need, and they can obtain all this data sitting at their homes/workplace. Doing research through interviews have been widely replaced by sending questionnaires to the respondents. This helps in maintaining the anonymity of the respondents and thus enables them to provide honest opinions. Interacting with eminent personalities through their websites or email-ids has become easy, and is used by most researchers to conduct interviews without directly going to meet the person.
Data Processing: The enormous growth in bandwidth and computing power has enabled researchers to analyze large data sets (Balasubramaniamet al., 2009). The availability of special software like SPSS for data processing has made the process even simpler and faster. Moreover, computer-data analysis facilitates quick and error-free data analysis of the research data. Newer tools help in doing calculations impossible/ time-taking through manual calculations, for example projections into future.
Connecting Researchers World-wide:Newer forms of collaborative research have evolved through the implementation of ICT in research. Researchers from worldwide are connected through different communities where they can share ideas and clarify doubts. Social networking sites and blogs have become happening places for discussion of ideas and forming alliances for research.
ICT in Administrative Work
The three main areas of administrative work where ICT is playing a major role in simplifying the tasks are: student administration, staff administration and general administration (Krishnaveni and Meenakumari, 2010). The rapidly increasing student base calls for computerized processes to store, retrieve and process data. Some examples of ICT’s use in administrative work are online registration and admission of students, online access to course materials, and course webpage containing course outlines and related information, online examinations, etc. An example of a success story is the UK Open University with 200,000 students (Balasubramaniamet al., 2009).
General Administration: With the help of ICTs, quick and accurate processing of voluminous data is possible. Moreover, the storage facilities provide easy search and retrieval of data when required. Software like Learning Management System (LMS) enables online registration of students, collection of fees online etc. Financial management can be easily done through computers. Other areas of general administration where ICTs are playing role are: timetabling, medical services, procurement and store management, and data distribution and management (Krishnaveni and Meenakumari, 2010).
Student Administration:Student administration includes various activities like admission process, conducting exams, providing exams results, collecting feedback, and providing discussion forums(Krishnaveni and Meenakumari, 2010). ICTs have made all these processes online and effective.
Staff Administration: Some of the tasks associated with staff administration are recruitment of faculty, work allotment, leave management, performance appraisal, and attendance management (Krishnaveni and Meenakumari, 2010). ICTs have helped in making these processes quick and accurate.
Challenges for ICT and its Future in Higher Education
The major challenges for ICT in higher education have been lack of funds in the institutions to set up the required infrastructure, lack of trainers to provide training to tutors and administrators for effective use of ICT, lack of motivation in tutors to adopt new technologies, belief among administrators that the new technologies may replace them in their jobs and lack of awareness among the tutors about the benefits of ICT for education.
However, 21st century has seen widespread adopting of ICTs in colleges and universities due to encouragement from Government by providing the institutions with funds.Growing awareness about the benefits of ICTs has led to removal of fear of becoming redundant by administrative office workers.Easy availability of computers, laptops, mobiles has made these devices ubiquitous with teachers and students alike, thus, helping in the facilitation of ICTs. Even the late adopters are finding that ICTs can be used to enhance and support their teaching methods.
These successes have, however, been confined to developed countries. The developing countries, especially countries in Africa continue to be far behind in the road of ICT implementation in Higher Learning Institutions (Jaffer, Ng’ambi and Czerniewicz, 2007). The major challenges that these countries face in education are improving efficiency and addressing the equity needs of the population. Although, the Government has established policies and support framework for implementation of ICT in higher education institutes, there continue to be other challenges like unavailability of experienced trainers and technical experts, student diversity in language and academic background, low motivation among teachers, and curriculum design Jaffer, Ng’ambi and Czerniewicz, 2007).
Even in the developed countries, the use of ICT for transforming teaching practices is yet to be achieved. The core teaching methodologies remain the same, with ICT being used as a support tool. The challenge to radically transform the teaching and learning process continues to exist for ICTs in higher education.
ICT in the near future will be used to radically transform the teaching process, rather than just being used as a support tool. There have been certain advancements towards achieving this, but they are mostly in their preliminary stages. Creation of competency and performance-based curricula is one such initiative. Such curricula require access to wide sources of information, student-centered learning techniques, problem-based teaching approach and the role of teachers as coaches and mentors. ICTs will be able to support such curricula quite efficiently (Oliver, 2002).
Conclusion
Information and Communication Technologies in the field of higher education has evolved at a slow pace when compared to other fields like medicine or business. Even then, ICT has become an accepted support tool for teaching by majority of tutors worldwide. ICT has found uses in teaching, learning, research and administrative activities of the higher educations. It has empowered students to decide what to learn, where to learn and from whom to learn. The tutors have been using ICTs for communicating with students, and teaching through presentations and wen-conferences. The work of administrators has become simple and less time-consuming through use of ICT. ICT is helping the researchers by providing large databases, efficient computing software and by linking them to other researchers world-wide. However, these advancements are not enough. Initiatives to use ICT to radically transform the teaching and learning process should be taken. Developing countries are still facing troubles in implementing ICTs in their education system. There is a long path ahead for realizing optimum utilization of ICT in the field of higher education.
References:
Balasubramaniam, K., Clarke-Okah, W., Daniel, J., Ferreira, F., Kanwar, A., Kwan, A., Lesperance, J., Mallet, J., Umar, A. and West, P. 2009, ‘ICTs for Higher Education’, UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, Paris, 5-8 July 2009, [Accessed 10th August 2004] Available on-line from:http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/ED/pdf/WCHE_2009/FINAL%20COMMUNIQUE%20WCHE%202009.pdf
Haynes, P., Ip, K., Saintas, P., Stanier, S., Palmer, H., Thomas, N., Reast, G., Barlow,
J. and Maillardet, F. 2004, ‘Responding to technological change: IT skills and the academic teaching profession’, Active Learning in Higher Education, Vol. 5, pp.152-165.
Jaffer, S., Ng’ambi, D. and Czerniewicz, L. 2007, ‘The role of ICTs in higher education in South Africa: One strategy for addressing teaching and learning challenges’, International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), Vol. 3, Issue 4, pp. 131-142.
Kirkup, G. and Kirkwood, A. 2005, ‘Information and communications technologies (ICT) in Higher Education teaching – a tale of gradualism rather than reVolution’, Learning, Media and Technology, Vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 185–199.
Krishnaveni, R. and Meenakumari, J. 2010, ‘Usage of ICT for Information Administration in Higher Education Institutions- A Study’, International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, Vol. 1, No. 3 (August).
Oliver, R. 2002, ‘The Role of Higher Education for the 21st Century: ICT as a change agent for education’, at HE 21Conference.
Sife, A. S., Lwoga, E. T. and Sanga, C. 2007, ‘New Technologies for teaching and learning: Challenges for higher learning institutions in developing countries’, International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), Vol. 3, Issue 2, pp. 57-67.
Starr, L. 2001, Same time this year, Available at
http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech075.shtml [Accessed May 2012].
Zemsky, R. and Massy, W. F. 2004, ‘Thwarted Innovation: What Happened to e-learning and Why’, a Report from The Learning Alliance, University Pennsylvania. [Accessed 10th August 2004] Available on-line from: http://www.irhe.upenn.edu/WeatherStation.html
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