Learning technologies in engineering education

At first glance, information and communication technology (ICT) and education might not appear the most obvious and compatible bedfellows. Surely lecture theatres, tiered seating, whiteboards and marker pens define a good learning environment, don’t they? Well, you have only to scratch the surface of the literature associated with learning and teaching to quickly see that the learning environment is awash with opportunities to innovate with ICT for the support and enhancement of education. The whiteboards and marker pens still have their place but, increasingly, so too do interactive whiteboards, tablet pcs and other technologies which capture and display the socalled digital ink.

Students might still sit in tiered lecture theatres but in some cases their seats are equipped with devices that allow them to respond to questions set by the teachers. Electronic Voting Systems, for instance, beyond being mobile devices for lecture theatre interaction, are being considered in the design and development of new learning spaces. Furthermore, quality education does not only take place in the lecture theatre — formal and informal teaching and learning interactions take place online, too. Managed Learning Environments are now mainstream systems that have progressed from being digital repositories to systems of functionality that can stimulate interaction, peer dialogue, reflection and ultimately learning. Online interactions now supplement, extend, enhance and, in some cases, replace the more traditional teaching and learning interactions bounded by the lecture theatre.

ICT is at the heart of these interactions and is increasingly helping engineering academics to rethink their teaching practice. To borrow (and slightly modify) the title of a book by Friedman (2007), I might argue that the classroom is flat too, and it is the ICT which is flattening the walls for a richer, technology-supported learning experience.

Given the context and the ever increasing use of ICT in education, this special edition is particularly timely. ICT developments are opening up new and different ways to interact and engage with our students and I believe it has the potential to respond to many of the educational challenges of the 21st century. Personalised learning in a mass higher education system, curricula that provide student choice, flexibility and multi-modal engagement and learning environments that provide authentic internationalised perspectives are just some of these challenges.

The papers presented in this special issue demonstrate a range of examples of technology-supported learning. The six articles and three cases studies have been selected because of their relevance to the edition, the rigour the authors have demonstrated in locating their work alongside the literature and the potential interest to the sector.

The first two articles deal with the use of ICT to support the lecture from two different perspectives. Davis, Connolly and Linfield introduce and discuss the use of lecture capture — a facility that records the traditional lecture and subsequently makes it available for students to revisit after the ‘live’ session has finished. In the knowledge that the lecture is being recorded and will be made available to them, students are now presented with the opportunity to focus on understanding the topic areas as the lecture is happening, rather than simply note taking. The second lecturerelated article is presented by Edirisingha and Fothergill. In this example the authors describe the use of e-lectures for campus-based students and note the unique opportunity the work has presented to compare and contrast e-lectures with more traditional forms of delivery. The e-lectures comprise a range of activities and the authors remind us of the importance of student activity and task variation to support learning.

With both examples I was reminded of two great books on my shelf. Bligh’s What’s the use of lectures? (1998) and Angelo and Cross’ Classroom assessment techniques (2005). Not only do we need to remind ourselves what good teaching looks like but, since the pressure on lecture theatres is likely to grow, the use of alternative methods of engagement is likely to continue to grow.

Following the use of technology-supported lectures to campus-based students, Jordan presents an example of the use of ICT to support distance learning students. A significant feature of the paper is collaborative learning and Jordan describes how ICT has provided meaningful opportunities to develop cooperation and reciprocity amongst students. Jordan’s article presents an honest reflection of the issues surrounding distance learning and demonstrates that reference to researchinformed principles of good education are essential to create an environment where learning can flourish.

The DaSh project is introduced and described by Page, Levesley, Read, Hanson and Gallagher. Like the first article, the DaSh project was established to focus the students’ attention on learning. This is achieved by engaging them in a laboratory setting where they are sharing data via a web-based facility devised and developed by the project team. Two benefits immediately flow from the real-time data sharing. First, the students’ data can be checked there-and-then with the group for errors and second, the students are now able to engage in studies using multiple data points/ data sets from the same experiment.

A deviation from the norm, where content is typically generated by the lecturer, is presented by Rossiter, Nortcliffe, Griffin and Middleton. In describing the use of student generated podcasts the article highlights the importance of personalised learning and learning styles as well as the use of audio. Too often ‘content’ appears to be text-based and this article gainfully demonstrates the use of alternate media to support learning.

A desire to support personalised learning, provide flexibility and student choice were significant drivers for the work presented by Stewart and McKee. In their article they discuss the use of a range of technologies and resources. The article concludes with some useful student-informed findings relating to size, format and the importance of providing student ownership of the resources.

Three case studies conclude this special edition. Chan and Fok explicitly note the advancements in ICT and how such advancements have facilitated the development of virtual laboratory activity. The developments of virtual laboratories in the context of electrical and electronic engineering are presented.

Malik, Khusainov, Zhou and Adamos describe their Technology Assisted Project Supervision (TAPaS) facility. The importance of supervisor guidance is discussed and a range of ICT tools to supplement the traditional forms of supervisor guidance are introduced. Importantly, the tools presented provide opportunities for formal and informal dialogue between the supervisor and the student(s).

The final case study is presented by Uren and Uren. In their contribution they describe the development of a range of so-called eTeaching and eLearning initiatives to engage students both on and off campus. Teacher and student perspectives of a range of technology-rich initiatives are discussed.

All of the contributions have stimulated my thinking and had me asking myself many questions. I wanted to talk with each of the authors and find out a little more about their activities and what stimulated their innovation and developments. That, for me, is the sign of a good read.

It has been an absolute delight to see the articles progress from ‘abstracts’ through to full, type-set submissions, none of which could have happened without the diligence and tireless commitment of the Engineering Education journal team and the contributing authors. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to guest edit this edition and, in doing so, to support the journal. As ever, the significant efforts of the many referees involved in supporting this special edition is much appreciated — thank you.