Author:
Gali Naveh
Affiliation:
Shamoon College of Engineering, Israel
Keyword(s):
Information and Communication Technology, Higher Education, Pedagogy, Stakeholders' Perspective, Garbage Can Model.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Computer-Supported Education
;
Course Design and e-Learning Curriculae
;
Distance and e-Learning in a Global Context
;
e-Learning
;
Social Context and Learning Environments
;
Theoretical Bases of e-Learning Environments
Abstract:
Unlike nearly every aspect of our lives that has changed enormously in the past decades, academic teaching
has changed very little, and a professor walking into a classroom populated with dozens of students who are
trying to grasp the material presented to them, is relevant today as it was a century ago. To discern this
phenomenon, this paper discusses some of the most promising technologies which have emerged during the
last quarter of a century (accessibility to the internet, smartphones and Massive Open Online Courses) while
indicating their failure to facilitate a large-scale pedagogical change in academia, in contradiction to high
expectations and predictions. A perspective is suggested on the perception and motivation of the three major
stakeholders of academic teaching – instructors, students and institutes, signifying the lack of incentives on
their part for large-scale change. Finally the gap between the volume of research in the field of information
technology integration i
n higher education pedagogy and the little change in academic teaching reality is
discussed, and a course of action that may change this state of affair is offered.
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