A literature review of the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher Education

Page 42

challenges
with
trying
to
embed
such
practices
in
institutional
systems.
Promoting
Web
 2.0
approaches
challenges
traditional
forms
of
assessment
and
current
validation
 mechanisms.
We
address
these
questions
in
relation
to
existing
evidence
regarding
 drivers
for
adoption
in
higher
education
at
international
and
institutional
levels. Teachers
and
learners;
teaching
versus
learning.
There
is
now
a
significant
body
of
 research
on
learner
experiences
and
their
use
of
technologies.
What
is
evident
is
that
 learners
and
teachers
are
not
homogeneous.
In
addition,
there
is
a
gap
between
the
 expectations/promise
of
the
use
of
technologies
and
the
actual
experiences
and
uses.
 The
digital
divide
is
still
evident;
within
the
student
body,
but
also
between
tutors
and
 learners.
As
we
noted
earlier,
the
expansive
learning
domain
challenges
traditional
 teaching
practices,
yet
evidence
also
suggests
that
expert
guidance
is
required
(JISC,
 2009;
Ipsos
Mori,
2008;
OECD,
2009)
and
that
a
more
explicit,
learning
design
based
 approach
to
the
creation
of
courses
is
needed.
This
raises
a
set
of
fundamental
 questions.
What
are
the
implications
of
shifting
from
the
notion
of
teacher
as
instructor
 to
teacher
as
facilitator?
What
are
the
barriers
for
low
levels
of
experimentation?
What
 institutional
infrastructures
and
support
mechanisms
will
be
required
to
shift
to
 greater
use
of
technology?
More
importantly,
what
are
the
ways
in
which
new
 technologies
can
enhance
the
process
of
research
into
teaching
and
as
result,
teaching
 methodologies
and
strategies? Skills,
media,
information
and
networked
literacies.
New
literacies
are
needed
to
 make
sense
of
and
to
participate
with
these
new
technologies.
Yet,
despite
widespread
 agreement
about
the
impotrance
of
digital
literacies,
integration
of
training
 programmes
in
the
field
of
higher
education
remains
scant.
While
academic
tutors
need
 to
ensure
technical
proficiency,
reflection
on
approaches
to
teaching
and
learning,
e‐ pedagogy
(learning
with
and/or
through
technology)
is
also
paramount. Multi‐ located/fragmented
content
and
the
potential
for
multiple
pathways
through
content
 have
an
impact
on
how
educational
interventions
are
designed.
And
although
such
 multiplicity
offers
increased
choice
in
an
educational
context,
this
also
has
the
potential
 to
lead
to
confusion.
How
familiar
are
learners
and
education
practitioners
with
the
 tools
of
editing
and
blending
digital
material?

What
are
the
novel
perceptions
of
 creativity
and
originality?
What
is
the
scale
of
the
responsibilities
that
the
nuances
of
 literacy
brings
to
educators?
Is
there
a
representation
of
the
wider
literacies
in
 institutions
and
in
the
projects
they
pursue? The
need
for
a
better
connection
between
research,
policy
and
practice.
There
is
 now
a
significant
body
of
research
exploring
technologies
and
how
they
can
be
used
to
 support
all
aspects
of
Higher
Education
practice
–
learning
and
teaching,
research,
and
 administration.
E‐science
and
e‐social
science
research
is
giving
fascinating
insights
 into
exploitation
of
large,
distributed
research
datasets
and
more
recently
into
the
use
 of
cloud
computing.
Openness
is
becoming
a
trend,
both
in
terms
of
the
production
and
 sharing
of
educational
materials,
as
well
as
making
research
publications
(and
even
 research
data)
freely
available.
However,
as
Conole
(forthcoming)
has
argued,
this
 research
is
neither
feeding
properly
into
policies
on
the
use
of
technology,
nor
is
it
 impacting
on
actual
teaching
practice.
 The
challenges
of
trying
to
change
embedded
practice
and
culture.
Despite
 increasing
evidence
on
the
benefits
of
Web
2.0
in
supporting
constructivist
and
 situative
learning
approaches,
as
this
report
reviews,
the
challenge
of
translating
this
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