Opinion: Paradigm Lost?

Abstract

The paper draws together a number of arguments from speakers at a University of Ulster symposium to warn against the too rapid adoption of a technological ‘fix’ in response to rising student numbers. Several specific points are made: (1) we are tending to shift emphasis on to the learner as the primary resource without properly equipping learners for this role; (2) effective learning should involve an element of performance, of active construction by the learner, and yet too much computer‐assisted learning does the performing and constructing for the user; (3) learning can be superficial or deep and we need to make certain that independent learning methods encourage ‘deep’ learning; (4) group work, problem‐based learning and self‐assessment are all key features of ‘deep’ learning but have not yet received sufficient attention from the designers of computer‐based independent learning systems.