Mark Hepworth

 Do the changes that have taken place reflect a reprioritisation of norms and values or are they something fundamentally new?

 Are the new technologies driving change or enabling us to do what we already know should be done?

The cultural and social context

Over the last 20 years we have seen greater value being placed on human capital – skills and knowledge and the commodification of information (World Bank, 2007) – and the services that facilitate access to information in both domestic and organisational domains (Hepworth, 2007), whether they identify the ‘best buy’ or are sophisticated corporate or scientific data-mining solutions.

This has been accompanied by a desire by governments and employers for all people, rather than a select minority, to have what has been termed key transferable skills, and phrases such as information literacy, digital literacy and media literacy have become commonplace (Hepworth and Walton, 2009). Such key skills include the ability:

These skills are recognised as important for individuals, furthering personal empowerment and enhancing a person’s quality of life, and for members of organisations or society at large.

There is no longer a small number of highly disciplined learners who are used to and willing to accept relatively dull forms of learning delivery, or people who seek out information and intellectual stimulus independently, or even produce information and knowledge as part of their being well-rounded, fulfilled, individuals. There are no longer people who were destined for a small number of professional roles and the higher echelons of society, who consumed and produced relatively scarce information products and services.

Independent learning norms and the value previously placed on them for the few is, as implied above, not new. However, these norms have become an expectation for a larger proportion of people in our society and this to some extent may explain the decision by governments in the developed world to encourage all young people to aim for a place in FE or HE. This in turn has led to changes in the educational environment where the number of students has exploded and students come from a greater range of socioeconomic backgrounds than in the past.

This has also been associated with an exponential growth in the number of technologies that enable the production, organisation and dissemination of information – formal and informal – commonly linked with concepts such as ‘information overload’, ‘self-publishing’ and ‘social media’.

The learner

Numerous terms have been used to describe the ‘new’ learners – ‘the Google generation’, ‘digital natives’, ‘the Y generation’, ‘millennials’ – as if they were a completely new phenomenon. The ‘new’ learners have been characterised (Howe and Strauss, 2000; Prensky, 2001; Windham, 2005) as being pragmatic (only doing what is necessary to achieve reward or concrete outcomes); unable to concentrate for long periods of time; wanting an active learning environment where they can access learning when they want, in a form they want (brief, colourful, with little text, to the point, using multimedia); multitasking; and expecting learning to be entertaining. Learners seem to be highly gregarious, enjoying social interaction and being part of a social cohort. The latter may not have changed. However, the consumer society with its attendant expertise at branding and marketing may mean that this feeling of alliance with a group – a reflection of the need for market segmentation, and the associated transient commodities and technologies, such as the MySpace or the Nintendo generation – has been enhanced.

In contrast learners are expected to be highly motivated and independent, and to have the key skills identified above. Educators are often frustrated by this contradiction between society’s expectations and the apparent characteristics of the ‘new’ learner, but I would argue that the characteristics of learners have not changed. Most people, whatever their age or background, get bored and lose attention after 20 minutes of listening to a speaker who uses the old-fashioned lecturing style that many of us older folk were used to in our school and university days. It has long been recognised that people use the method that requires least effort from them when they seek information. However, we knew no different and had no choice. Nowadays people can choose how they learn and are presented with information and learning in a variety of forms and media – video, animation, music, printed text, web text, chat and so on, via phones, the internet, television, theatre or magazines. The professions associated with information dissemination, including school teachers, have also honed their art, drawing on the long history of communication and using the expanding range of media, hence raising expectations.

This has meant that learners are perceived and perceive themselves as consumers of education, particularly in HE where they now have to pay tuition fees. They have high expectations about information provision and the learning environment. This includes expecting the learning experience to meet their needs, wants and desires, and being less used to adapting passively to a traditional conception of learning. This trend is likely to continue as educators in primary and secondary schools gradually introduce more active forms of learning, use materials presented in a more imaginative way, draw on the available information and communication technologies (ICTs), and in general teach in a way that relates to the needs of learners, including, for example, their individual learning styles. In addition there is likely to be a shift away from assessment-driven learning in schools to a more flexible approach where independent learning is encouraged (QCA, 2007).

The teacher and teaching interventions

The teacher in FE and HE has experienced:

In addition, as younger students move into FE or HE they bring with them different norms, values and skills, in particular ICT skills and a familiarity with new media. Furthermore the regrading of polytechnics as universities has meant that people with a greater focus on teaching have joined the HE sector. These factors have encouraged a reevaluation of current practice and a more professional approach to teaching and learning.

This has been reflected in the creation of more personalised, active learning environments that relate more to the needs of learners. This has been accompanied by a conscious effort to encourage independent learning and to develop the key transferable skills and aptitudes discussed above, partly through more attention being paid to vocational skills. In addition, greater use has been made of ICT, in particular virtual learning environments (VLEs). In turn these environments have enabled the incorporation of multimedia, discussion forums and so on. The development of teaching and learning material for these environments has also led to a reappraisal of how teaching materials should be delivered, incorporating ideas and good practice from domains such as human computer interface design, instructional design, e-learning and distance learning.

Among teachers there is also a genuine desire to create that ‘magic moment’ where learners engage with learning and gain new knowledge. This is accompanied by excitement and an appreciation of relevance, which are reflected in animated discussion and active participation. This is in itself a challenging desire bearing in mind the large number of students and relatively small number of teachers – compared with the past when there were fewer students and their backgrounds were more attuned to traditional academic study. Furthermore, even in research-led HE establishments it is increasingly unrealistic for academics to focus primarily on research and to treat teaching as an unfortunate necessity, partly because of the continuous institutional and public assessment of teaching quality. In Chapter 4 Jenny Yorke and Helen Walmsley suggest a possible way forward as they show how an online community of practice for teaching staff can be created and sustained.

A combination of these factors has led to a greater degree of rigour and an ‘unpicking’ of the practice of teaching and learning in FE and HE. Hence we are now seeing some systematic research into various aspects of teaching and learning, including the use of specific pedagogic practice – such as scaffolding, reflective practice, and the value of discourse, publication and peer-to-peer instruction – hoping to engage learners and encourage deep learning. In addition there is an exploration of new learning environments and strategies that foster learning, including problem-based learning, learning zones and e-discussion forums, and the role of teachers is changing to one of facilitator. The facilitator role in itself is challenging because it is unfamiliar, so teachers may experience feelings of loss of control and status. In Chapter 3 Geoff Walton suggests what the structure of a new e-pedagogy might look like in order to realise this challenge.

Tools and technologies

A host of new technologies is having an impact on the changing teaching and learning environment. These have evolved in recent years formally, for example as VLEs, and informally, for example as Web 2.0 technologies and freely accessible learning tools. The VLEs include software such as Blackboard and Moodle. The Web 2.0 technologies include software such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and wikis. The freely accessible learning tools include applications such as note-taking software (e.g. NoteMesh), mind-mapping software (e.g. Thinkature), study guides (e.g. SparkNotes or Wikipedia) and bookmarking software (e.g. delicious). In addition there are freely available information retrieval tools such as Google, iBoogie, Exalead and Quintura, to name a few.

Many of these applications pose a challenge to formal learning environments. They tend to be easy to use and have evolved in a more user-centred way, often having a look, feel and functionality that directly address learners’ needs. For example, they have an element of fun and informality, appealing to the emotional needs of learners. They have the ability to incorporate easily multimedia such as videos, which in themselves can draw on the power of narrative and face-to-face communication. In addition, some meet the cognitive needs of learners. For example, Quintura and WebBrain help users identify appropriate search terms, a cognitively complex task largely unsupported by traditional search tools such as academic online databases. Moodle provides a fresher interface that students are more likely to relate to, and has the ability to integrate a wide range of media including podcasts relatively easily, hence providing a learning environment that may relate to different learning styles and generally be more engaging.

Podcasts can be used to broadcast not only lectures but also, for example, videos of students reflecting on their learning, leading to peer-to-peer learning, which tends to engage students more than formal instruction by a person in authority. Facebook, an incredibly successful application (over 60 per cent of students at Loughborough University have a Facebook page), provides an excellent space for collaborative group work between students. Twitter, blogs and wikis provide a venue for self-publishing leading to individuals having a sense of being producers of knowledge and information as well as consumers. This can help learners feel that their work is valued and prepares them to be active contributors to a community of practice. Self-publication can also be used to encourage group- and self-reflection. However, not all students are comfortable with self-publication. They may feel self-conscious about stating their opinions or nervous of criticising others.

These technologies pose challenges and raise issues about privacy, quality control and how to integrate them into the formal learning environment. They also set a benchmark that students may use to judge the traditional learning environment. The setting up, monitoring and management of these tools can be extremely time-consuming, and the constant evolution of these applications is in itself demanding. For example, Second Life and other virtual reality multiplayer ‘games’ are currently being explored by teachers as possible learning environments. Brian Kelly in Chapter 5 and David Ley in Chapter 6 attempt to address some of these issues. David Ley in particular explores in some detail the new and emerging technologies at our collective disposal.

Conclusion

It can be seen that a host of factors – cultural and social, learners and their experience, teachers’ professional knowledge, teachers’ workplaces and evolving technologies – are having an impact on the teaching and learning environment. It is open to debate whether these factors are causal, coincidental or part of the interplay between the world around us and the sense we make of it or a combination of these factors.

In relation to the questions posed at the outset:

it appears that primarily there has been a reprioritisation of norms and values. It is now possible to take advantage of the functionality offered by new technologies, and teaching and learners’ experience will change for the better, so the needs of learners and society at large are met.

References