Charting the development of technology-enhanced learning developments across the UK higher education sector: a longitudinal perspective (2001–2012)

Abstract

This article reviews key findings from six surveys of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) across the UK higher education (HE) sector, conducted by Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association in association with Jisc. Updating the findings presented by Jenkins, Browne, Walker, and Hewitt [2010. The development of technology enhanced learning: Findings from a 2008 survey of UK higher education institutions, Interactive Learning Environments. First published on: 22 January 2010 (iFirst)], the article reports on the emerging and planned patterns of TEL across the UK HE sector over the last decade. Our analysis shows that against the backdrop of Higher Education Funding Council for England capital funding, institutions have made considerable investments in technology and infrastructure to support learning and teaching – specifically in the domain of learning management and assessment systems. While the drivers for TEL development have consistently focused on enhancing teaching and learning over the years, the subject of this investment has been directed to the implementation of enterprise-wide systems to manage and control learning processes, delivering efficiencies of scale and standardised learning experiences through centrally managed solutions, rather than support for student-controlled tools. In contrast, the diffusion of technologies supporting collaborative learning and knowledge sharing has been more a feature of local TEL provision, as evidenced through the informal learning practice of students and departmental projects. The evolution of course delivery models and pedagogic developments supported through the use of technology have been noticeably much slower to realise; growth in “web-dependent” rather than “supplementary” course design models has been quite limited across the sector and we have observed negligible growth in distance learning provision over this period. The evidence suggests that challenges remain in developing course delivery models which focus on active student learning, maximising the opportunities that web and mobile technologies now offer for interactive student-centred learning design. We speculate that the recent upsurge of interest in Massive Open Online Courses may act as a catalyst in this respect, in driving campus-based courses to embrace new learning models supported by TEL tools.

Keywords:

• technology-enhanced learning
• learning technology
• TEL services

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jisc for their generous funding and active interest in the TEL survey work over the years. Appreciation is also expressed to the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) and the Heads of e-Learning Forum (HeLF) for their guidance in reviewing questions for the survey and encouraging institutions to complete the survey. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the UCISA administrative team and The Research Partnership in managing the design and delivery of the surveys. Finally, we would like to recognise the contributions of members of UCISA's Academic Support Group over the years, which have helped to produce the six survey reports and the collective data sets on which this article is based, with particular thanks to Dr Elaine Swift (Nottingham Trent University) for her critical reviews of earlier drafts of this article.

Notes on contributors

Dr Richard Walker is E-Learning Development Team Manager at the University of York. He moved to York in 2003 to oversee the implementation of the University's virtual learning environment. Previously, he held research and teaching posts at Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands and at the Euro-Arab Management School in Granada, Spain. He has published on instructional design frameworks for blended learning in a variety of journals, as well as approaches to the institutional adoption of learning technologies. He is an active member of UCISA's Academic Support Group, serving as project manager and lead author for the Jisc-funded 2012 UCISA Technology Enhanced Learning Survey, as well as co-authoring previous TEL survey reports dating back to 2005.

Julie Voce is the E-learning Services Manager at Imperial College London. Prior to this she was the Learning Technologies Support Co-ordinator at UCL and a Research Assistant in Computer Assisted Language Learning at UMIST. She is Chair of the UCISA Academic Support Group (http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/en/groups/dsdg/asg.aspx) and was involved in the 2010 and 2012 UCISA Technology Enhanced Learning Surveys. For the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) she was an Editor for ALT's Online Newsletter (http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/) from 2005 to 2013, she Co-Chaired the 2012 ALT conference and authored for and tutored on the ALT Open Course in Technology Enhanced Learning (ocTEL). Alongside her role at Imperial, she is in the second year of a PhD in Technology Enhanced Learning and E-Research at Lancaster University.

Martin Jenkins is the Manager of the Centre for Educational Development (CED) at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. The CED supports learning design, programme developments, staff capability and the scholarship of teaching and learning. He has published in the areas of digital storytelling and management of LMS platforms. Previously, he was Academic Manager for the Centre for Active Learning (CeAL) at the University of Gloucestershire, UK. A National Teaching Fellow and Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University (2007–2010). He was a member of the UCISA Academic Support Group from 1996 to 2010, including serving as Chair of the Group when the UCISA surveys were initiated in 2001. He played a leading role in the 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2010 surveys and served as a critical friend to the survey team for the 2012 report.

Notes

1. Post-92 institutions refer to the list of former polytechnics, central institutions, or colleges of HE within the UK that were given university status by John Major's government in 1992 (through the Further and Higher Education Act, 1992) – as well as colleges that have been granted university status since then. For further details, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_universities. Pre-92 institutions refer to the list of institutions with a university charter which predate the Further and Higher Education Act of 1992. HE colleges refer to institutes or colleges without a university charter which deliver HE courses.

For further details on the UK HE sector, please consult: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/linksforstudents/Pages/Anoverviewofthehighereducationsector.aspx

2. The universities in the UK are diverse in their missions and location. A number of these have formed groups with common interests. These include the various regional university associations and also the so-called “mission groups”. The mission groups include the following:

1994 Group: http://www.1994group.ac.uk/

GuildHE: http://www.guildhe.ac.uk/

University Alliance: http://www.unialliance.ac.uk/

Million+: http://www.millionplus.ac.uk/

Russell Group: http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/

3. See http://celtrecord.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/the-vle-is-dead-debate-at-alt-c-2009 for a report and recording of the discussion on the “VLE is dead” debate conducted at the Association for Learning Technology's annual conference in 2009.

4. See http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/programmes-events/your-university/cll/index.cfm for details on the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education's Changing the Learning Landscape programme, which is dedicated to bringing about changes in UK HE institutions' strategic approaches to technology in learning and teaching.

5. Ten of the twenty-four Russell Group members had signed up to the Futurelearn consortium led by the Open University by December 2012. More details are available from: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Newsroom/News/Pages/OU-moocs.aspx