Literature Review - The positioning of educational technologists in enhancing the student experience

The project and primary contacts
Participate using Cloudworks
The Challenge
What's in it for you?
The Questions
Supportive literature

The project and primary contacts

The University of Exeter has obtained funding from the Higher Education Academy to undertake a review of the literature pertaining to: The positioning of educational technologists in enhancing the student experience.

The primary contact for the project is Dr Tom Browne, Education Research and Evaluation Advisor, Education Enhancement, Academic Services, tel:01392 72 3232, email: t.j.browne@exeter.ac.uk

Participate using Cloudworks

We are using Cloudworks as a place where you can share awareness of, and critically evaluate the literature in order to inform a literature review funded by the HEA, which aims to assist HEIs in determining what they really expect from, and how they may choose to develop, their educational technologists. The resultant Cloudscape will be referenced in the final report to the HEA and in appreciation of your contributions, you will be acknowledged explicitly in the report. All comments will be subject to a Creative Commons Attribution licence.

The Challenge

Over a decade ago, the UK Dearing report recommended that all institutions should review the changing role of staff as a result of [ICT], and ensure that "staff and students receive appropriate training and support to enable them to realise its full potential". In a recent UCISA(1) survey contribution of  technology enhanced learning (TEL) was identified as a major driver in enhancing the student experience, permeating all institutional strategies, policies and actions. To what extent has the subsequent literature identified and acknowledged the role of the educational technologist in achieving such an objective, in an environment where institutions are increasingly emphasising the pre-eminence of improving the student experience and where TEL is increasinly being regarded as institutionally relevant?

What's in it for you?

Establishing a better understanding of the contexts within which educational technologists can flourish, should assist institutions in overcoming the barriers to the successful deployment of TEL as part of an overarching ambition of improving the students' experience.

The Questions

A series of questions have been posted to assist in framing the sharing of pertinent literature. They have been added as Clouds at the bottom of this page, click on a question to view, contribute a reference and participate in the discussion. You will first have to register with Cloudworks, but this is a quick process and free of charge. More information about the site can be found here. Once you have registered, email alerts will be sent to you when someone contributes to a Cloud you are following.

For the purposes of our research this conversation will run from late August through to early September 2009, although it is very much hoped that the conversation will continue to run and be updated over time providing a persistent resource for researchers in this area.

When you click on the questions below, you will observe that each has been 'seeded' with a quote taken from a reference list listed in Shurville et al (2). Do not be constrained by, or feel obligated to agree with the quote! They are merely there to stimulate your thoughts in identifying pertinent literature.

Supportive literature

1. Tom Browne, Roger Hewitt, Martin Jenkins and Richard Walker (2008). Survey of Technology Enhanced Learning for higher education in the UK.  UCISA. http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/publications/tel_survey.aspx

2. Shurville, S., Browne, T. and Whitaker, M. (2009). Accommodating the newfound strategic importance of educational technologists within higher education: A critical literature review, Campus-Wide Information Systems, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp.201-231. http://eric.exeter.ac.uk/exeter/handle/10036/78389 

NEW (28/9/2009)

A big thank you to all contributors to this Cloudscape.  I've was on holiday last week but on my return was delighted to note a flood of new contributions.  Keep them coming.  I will digest and follow them up asap.   Tom Browne