Session 2: Learning Resources and Technologies

  

With changing time there has been an integration of learning technologies in higher education. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have had a significant impact on the pedagogy of learning in higher education (Azma, 2011). ICTs include gathering, organizing, and using the information in various forms, including sound, images, and text, through the use of computers or other derivatives of telecommunications (Hamidi et al., 2011). The decrease in the cost of access to technologies and the ease of connecting to the Internet have overcome some of the barriers to the adoption of ICTs (Cabaleiero-Cervino & Vera, 2020). However, some of the remote areas still face the issue of access to technologies and good internet connect. The impact of learning technology is that it benefits both the teacher and the student. Teachers can teach students from a remote area and use interesting ways to teach for instance using YouTube videos.

There are many online tools used to teach. The most used tools in this new educational era are multimedia technology, online learning or e-learning, mobile learning or m-learning, blogs, and social networks (Fojtik, 2014). From my experience I have seen that students are frequent users of facebook, Instagram, viber, and twitter. They also have study groups/buddy on these apps which allows them to be easily connected with their peers. The students help each other through these platforms to learn or catch up on things they have missed in class.

 

We should not forget about assistive technologies that are used for inclusive education. At USP, efforts are made to ensure inclusive education is being offered to all the regional member countries. USP has a Disability Resource Centre (DRC) which caters for students with special needs. The DRC team works on different aspects of inclusiveness. It works closely with ITS staff to equip their computer lab with assistive technologies software to promotes inclusiveness.

Open educational resources (OERs) have indeed opened up a whole new chapter in the area education in terms of sharing resources in a public domain. The educational information/materials are published under open licenses (i.e Creative Commons) that specify how materials can be used, reused, adapted, shared and modified according to specific needs. Both, the teacher and students’ benefits from using OERs. For teaching staff, OERs can supplement and add value to existing curriculum resources. At the same time, it can reduce the cost of education for the students, i.e. reducing the financial stress by removing textbook purchases as it is becoming expensive nowadays.

For students, using OERs can expose students to a wider range of digital learning opportunities in the form of open texts, open images, open courseware, and self-assessment tools. Students can benefit from OERs by enhancing the quality and flexibility of obtaining resources, seeing/applying knowledge in a wider context than the course may otherwise allow and support for learner-centered, self-directed, peer-to-peer and social/informal learning approaches.

While doing an online course on understanding of OERs offered by Commonwealth of Learning, I am delighted to say, that I have earned a certificate of completion. In the online course I have learnt a lot of things which I probably did not know about such as the different types of Creative Commons licensing. The course was very informative.

All the resources (articles and videos) provided in this session has allowed me to further enhance my knowledge in educational resources.

 

References

Azma, F. (2011). The Quality Indicators of Information Technology in Higher Education. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 2535-2537. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-07052016000100017

Cabaleiro-Cerviño, G., & Vera, C. (2020). The Impact of Educational Technologies in Higher Education. GIST Education and Learning Research Journal, 20, 155-169.

Fojtik, R. (2014). Mobile Technologies Education. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 143, 342-346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.417

 

Hamidi, F., Meshkat, M., Rezaee & M., Jafari, M. (2011). Information Technology in Education. Proceedings Computer Science, 3, 369-373. Doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2010.12.