Yesterday I did something totally out of character and bought a newspaper, rather than using my now preferred source of news and information … the web. The reason for this was that the Guardian had a very interesting (IMHO) supplement entitled ‘Digital Student’ and although I could view the contents online (as you can by clicking here) I found myself wanting to remove myself from the technology to read about technology.
Anyway, having perused the supplement a number of times my conclusions are that:
- The learner does really seem to be at the heart of things with regard to most of the colleges and universities featured in the articles in this supplement … a reassurance for a person like me who really does want this to be the case.
- There’s lots of evidence of good stuff (that is working) going on in the world of education with regard to technology … another reassurance for someone whose job is about ’stimulating and supporting innovation in learning’ through the effective use of technology.
- Despite there being negatives about the experiences with technology this hasn’t stopped the featured colleges and universities carrying on because the value to staff and learners outweighs the difficulties encountered. The first of 2 examples of this that stand out for me are the Oaklands College eMentors, where despite some staff being initially reluctant to accept the role reversal idea of the learners being the teachers when it came to using technology, they now appreciate it, as do the learners who have been given the responsibility of being eMentors. The second example is the use of audio feedback for learner’s assignments at Leeds Metropolitan University. Here a group of staff and students have been piloting (as part of the JISC Sounds Good project) audio feedback to establish whether this will save staff time and give students better feedback. The conclusions so far seem to be that although it generally takes staff longer to give audio feedback compared to the more traditional feedback, that they feel “they are giving students a better service” outweighs this and they will carry on.
… and so we come back to the learners being at the heart of everything we do … 
