Insights into variation in teachers’ pedagogical relationship with ICT: a phenomenographic exploration in the Pakistani higher education context

ABSTRACT

The adoption of ICT to transform pedagogical practices is a complex phenomenon. Studies located within countries from the Global South suggest that overcoming socio-economic and technological problems will lead to improved forms of teaching. Based on a phenomenographic study located in a Pakistani university, the authors offer a different view of this body of literature. Firstly, they argue that no matter how well established the technological infrastructure, not all teachers will adopt ICT with the aim of encouraging higher-level learning experiences. Secondly, a closer investigation of variations in teachers’ prior exposure to technology, along with their beliefs as to the pedagogical use of teaching material and role of technology, is needed to better understand why teachers within the same higher education institution come to understand and use ICT differently. The authors offer insights that could be useful in designing professional development opportunities to support teachers in developing a complex pedagogical relationship with ICT.

KEYWORDS:

• ICT use
• pedagogy
• higher education
• phenomenography
• Global South

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants of this study, and also the host university. We also thank Professor Vivien Hodgson for her comments on the earlier draft of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Uzair Shah

Uzair Shah is a lecturer based at Lancaster University Management School. His research interests include studying use of ICT within management pedagogy. He was involved in a faculty-wide e-learning initiative within the Management School and was working on digitalising aspects of a UG module to support student learning experiences. He is also interested in understanding contextual cultural influences on learning experiences and management education within international (developing) contexts.

Shahadat Hossain Khan

Shahadat Hossain Khan completed his PhD from the University of Sydney, Australia. Currently, he is working as a Professor of the Department of Technical and Vocational Education at the Islamic University of Technology, Bangladesh. His research areas mainly explore two general directions: technology education and TVET sectors. More specifically, he has wide experience of ICT-enhanced teaching and learning, curriculum development in tertiary level, and professional development with a particular focus on scholarship in teaching (student-centred teaching, ICT-integration) at national and international levels. Currently his research also focuses on the TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy, Content, Knowledge) framework in higher education contexts.

Michael Reynolds

Michael Reynolds is an Emeritus Professor at Lancaster University Management School. His research interests include exploring the design and application of experiential learning events with particular interest in illuminating differences between tutor intentions and students’ experiences with an emphasis on: (a) issues of control in experiential and self-directed learning designs, and (b) the dimensions of experience-based approaches identified in the ways management teachers and management development professionals describe their understanding of these methods in practice.