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Higher Education Technology Outlook in Africa
This document provides an overview of technology trends and outlook for African higher education. It discusses key drivers and constraints to integrating technology, including motivators like access to resources and constraints like low digital fluency of faculty. Current trends include growing social media usage, blended learning, and data-driven assessment. The document outlines different modes of educational provision from fully offline to fully online. It provides an outlook on emerging technologies like flipped classrooms, learning analytics, and 3D printing and their potential impact on higher education in both the short and long term. The talk concludes by emphasizing that technology should support, not replace, good teaching practices.
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Higher Education Technology Outlook in Africa
- 1. Technology Outlook for AfricanHigher Education Greig Krull 13th March 2014 Linking Student Satisfaction, Quality Assurance and Peer Review in Higher Education Conference www.slideshare.net/greigk
- 2. Context – Driversand Constraints Key Trends and Challenges Higher Education Technology Integration Modes of Educational Provision Technology Outlook Discussion Agenda
- 3. Context 1. What isyour biggest motivator to integrate technology into your teaching and learning? 2. What is your biggest constraint to integrate technology into your teaching and learning?
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- 7. Growing Usage ofSocial Media Integration of Online, Blended and Collaborative Learning Rise of Data-Driven Learning and Assessment Shift from Students as Consumers to Students as Creators Agile Approaches to Change Evolution of Online Learning Global Trends in Higher Education The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition
- 8. Low Digital Fluencyof Faculty Relative Lack of Rewards for Teaching Competition from New Models of Education Scaling Teaching Innovations Expanding Access Keeping Education Relevant The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition Global Challenges
- 9. Integration of Technologyin Higher Education
- 10. Technology in HigherEducation Research Data Processing, Searching Teaching/Learning VLEs, eContent, eAssessment, Support Administration Records, Finance, Management
- 11. How do weuse technology? Efficient way to transmit content Access a wider range of resources Facilitate 2-way communication Shift from content provision/testing To exploration, co-creation & interaction
- 12. Institution Strategy Programme and Course Design Staff Professional Development StudentDigital Literacies Student and Academic Support Applications Hardware / Devices Network Physical Spaces Educational Technology Stack Adapted from Marquard, 2013
- 13. Implications for Educational Modesof Provision
- 14. Continuum of EducationalProvision Face to face (F2F) Mixed Mode Distance Education On Campus Off campus Spatial / Geographic distribution of teachers and learners
- 15. Delivery using Technology Nodigital support Digitally Supported Internet-supported Internet-dependent Fully online Offline Online Extent of ICT support
- 16. A D C B Fully Offline Internet Supported InternetDependent Fully Online Campus-based Hybrid / Blended Remote E Digitally Supported Mode of Delivery B
- 17. Course Flow Synchronous AsynchronousSemi-synchronous Students do all work at the same time as everybody else Students do everything at their own pace and have no deadlines Students do some parts of the course at their own pace and do other parts of the course on a fixed schedule • Good likelihood of peer support as all at same stage • Expect deadlines are fixed • Work at the pace set by lecturer, not at own pace • Work at their own pace • Limited peer support as others may be at different stages • Can finish “later” but procrastination leads to not finishing • Instructors release course materials on a fixed schedule, student can work on it anytime after • Live events e.g. Q&A sessions happen at a fixed date and time, archive versions • Assessments due by a fixed deadline Google (2013)
- 18. Anderson (2008) Collaborative and CommunityOnline Learning
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- 21. Developments in EducationalTechnology Short-term Flipped Classrooms Learning Analytics Mid-term 3D Printing Gamification Long-term Quantified Self Virtual Assistants The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition
- 22. Consumer Technologies The NMCHorizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition Digital Publishing Mobile Phones Tablets Wearable Technology 3D Printing Social Media
- 23. Technology is Disruptive No-name brand,Android OS, 7” screen with 3G, GSM etc. $134.00 Falling costs are making devices affordable – Tablets with 3G ($134) – Smart phones – Laptops (starting around $250) – Bandwidth costs reducing
- 24. Internet Technologies The NMCHorizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition Cloud Computing Internet of Things Quantifiable Self
- 25. Digital Strategies The NMCHorizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Flipped Classrooms Gamification Digital Identity
- 26. Top 20 Toolsfor Learning in 2013 © 2013 Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies
- 27. Learning Technologies The NMCHorizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition Badges Learning Analytics Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Open Educational Resources (OER)
- 28. Open Education Movement OpenSource movement -> cost effective tools – Learner Management Systems (Moodle, Sakai, Canvas) – Student Information Systems (Fedena, Kuali, Open SIS) Open Education movement -> free quality content – Open Education Resources – Open Courseware – Massive Open Online Courses Open Research movement -> expand research – Open Access Journals – Open Access Publishing
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- 30. A Final Thought Goodteaching may overcome a poor choice of technology but technology will never save bad teaching Tony Bates, 2012
- 31. Thank you greigk@saide.org.za greigk_za Greig Krull Discussion www.saide.org.za Thiswork is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
- 32. References • Anderson, T(2008). The Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University Press. (2nd ed) • Bates, T (2012) http://www.tonybates.ca/ • Bates, T and Sangra, A (2011) Managing Technology in Higher Education: Strategies for Transforming Teaching and Learning. John Wiley & Sons. • Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (2013) Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013 • Google (2013) CourseBuilder https://code.google.com/p/course- builder/wiki/CourseFlow • Isaacs, S and Hollow, D, (eds) (2013) The eLearning Africa 2013 Report, ICWE: Germany. • Johnson, L, Adams Becker, S, Estrada, V & Freeman, A (2014). NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. • Marquard, S (2013). Educational Technology Stack. • Saide (2013) Considering Mode of Delivery in Education
Editor's Notes
- #5 Enablement of technology: improve learning motivation, improve quality, introduce new methods of learning, increase access to resources, improve understanding in how to use technology
- #8 New Media Consortium (NMC) – international community of educational technology experts – research looks at impact of educational technology globally in next 5 yearsSocial media – students and staff use social media to share & find information & developments, possibilities for learning communitiesIntegration – best of both f2f and network, more universities turning to itData-driven – personalise learning and measure performance – analytics and dashboardsCreators – active hands on learning, creating videos, makerspacesAgile – progressive learning practices, nurturing entrepreneurship and innovation programmesOnline learning – viable alternative, quality
- #9 Fluency – no staff training on digital literacyRewards – rated lower than research, Competition – Rise of MOOCs, Scaling – moving teaching innovations into mainstream Access – drive to increase numbers – need academic background to be successfulRelevant – rethink the value, other business models
- #11 Teaching - Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) - Content dissemination and student support, Online AssessmentResearch - Growing interest in the social networking in education working sites, wikis, communication tools and folksonomiesAdmin - systems for: admission and records, examination and transcripts, finance and management information
- #15 The mode of education provision is typically viewed on a continuum from purely face-to-face tuition through to education purely at a distance, the latter traditionally conceptualised as correspondence tuition with no face-to-face interaction between teachers and learners. However, there is now more resource-based (independent) learning in f2f programmes, more f2f interaction in distance. Prediction that, especially with growing use of educational technology there will be rapid movement to the centre. From purely face-to-face (contact) tuition through to education solely at a distance
- #16 An expanded definition of e-learning includes the use of all digital resources, systems, devices/computers, and electronic communication in the support of education. e.g. a course may supported digitally by the use of CDs, but it is not necessarily an online course.A second continuum could represent another dimension by plotting the extent of supporting ICTs – ranging from fully offline to fully online. Note the inclusion of ‘digitally supported’ in the ICT dimension. Furthermore, the commonly used terms of ‘web-supported’ and ‘web dependent’ are deemed to be too specific and have given way to ‘Internet-Supported’ and Internet-Dependent’. In internet-supported programmes, participation online is an option or alternative for learners. In internet-dependent programmes, participation via the internet is a requirement, and could include online interaction, communication and access to course materials via the web. In fully online programmes, there is no physical face-to-face component, although there could be a virtual face-to-face component. In our African context, it is pertinent to also consider digital forms of support that do not require internet access. The digital forms of support for learning could be offline via a CD/DVD, and a further detail could be expressed by clarifying exactly which elements of the ICT dimension may be on- or offline. Of course, within a particular course, learning could be supported both online and digitally offline at various stages.The continued evolution of e-learning is contributing to the blurring of the distinction between face-to-face and distance education provision. It is useful to conceptualise the two continua in relation to each other as horizontal and vertical axes.
- #17 Rather than view these two continua separately, it is useful to conceptualise them in relation to each other as horizontal and vertical axes. Situating various courses or programmes on the resulting grid allows one to describe both the extent of spatial or geographic distribution and the ICT supported dimensions of a course or programme. The circles positioned on the grid represent examples based on courses or programmes at actual higher education institutions. This would enable for an HEI to position a particular course or programme (such as B) on the grid in terms of where they are situated right now, and then determine where the institution would like them to move to over a period of time. This could assist in identifying what changes would be required in order to move or reposition the course in terms of this grid, and the other influencing factors or aspects of the course would need to be taken into account.
- #18 Synchronous flow: If they ask questions, they reasonably expect other people to be working in the same area and so the likelihood of getting their questions answered by peers is good. Students also expect that aspects of the course, such as availability of material and assessments, have inflexible deadlines. Students must do the coursework at the pace set by the course designers, not at their own pace. Asynchronous flow: Students can work at their own pace. If students ask questions, there’s an excellent chance that nobody else is working on the same area; there is less likelihood of someone answering the question in a timely manner. The lack of deadlines means students can always finish the course “later”. Procrastination seeming to be a universal human tendency when there are no deadlines, many people do not finish at all. https://code.google.com/p/course-builder/wiki/CourseFlow Semi-synchronous flow:for example, a new unit on each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the course. Students can work on the units any time after their release. FAfter the event, the instructors may post the video for students to watch at their own pace. Live events focus students around particular topics. Fixed deadlines such as assignment hand-ins, assessments.
- #19 Probably the most important and perhaps the most difficult transition for both the instructor and learner is that of adjusting to the online communication medium, be it used synchronously or asynchronously. This includes concepts and practise surrounding teaching and learning interaction, engagement, and facilitation. In the first instance, interactions would typically be: tutor/instructor to learner, and learner to learner. However, the online environment offers greater potential for an expanded environment as shown in Anderson’s (2008) multidimensional model depicting a collaborative, community of enquiry and learning. This leads to an important issue concerning the level of mediation possible or planned (individual vs interactive) for the provision of a particular course or programme. The deployment environment would be guided by an upfront decision concerning the level of mediation that is to be employed in the online course by the academic. This decision could be influenced by a number of factors including many of the aspects listed previously. In particular, large student numbers would indicate the employment of tutors to manage small virtual group online interaction if a high level of support were required by the student demographics and the pedagogical approach. Laurillard (2002) has consistent arguments by educational theorists that deep, meaningful learning requires active student engagement including interactions between students and content, students and other students, students and faculty and, when appropriate, students and workplaces and/or communities. The extent to which this community driven model would be desirable in an online course would be determined by the pedagogical approach to the course, and with reference to the aspects shown in the table.
- #21 Major constraints:Bandwidth, Limited electricity, Financial resources, Human resources, Hardware, Training
- #22 Flipped – rearrange how time is spent, more active project-based learning, access resources outside classAnalytics – apply data to improve engagement and personalise learning3D – building prototypes, examine objectsGames – integration of gaming elements (rewards, challenges, level ups)Quantified – track data relevant to daily activities (fitness, weight, sleep)Virtual – AI e.g. Siri conversational interface
- #24 NB: tablet with aerial – mini ‘iPad’ – cheap as $130! Off set price of pad with price of text booksLow end laptops now coming in at $250
- #27 Note:Number of web appsNumber of “non-educational” appsNumber of Social networking toolsWhat are your most useful tools…?
- #31 Preserve the integrity of the teaching and learning process and environment by:using ICT to support (not drive) teaching and learning Employ flexibility to ensure the ICT support is appropriate for:the topic, level of study, student contextand the expertise of the lecturer / tutors / studentsThe way in which we use digital technology models particular values for our students and places particular kinds of demands both on them and on their teachers. Therefore, we need to make conscious choices to use suitable technologies in appropriate ways taking cognizance of both our learning purposes and the technology profile of our target learners and staff.