Expanding the accredited literature pool on use of emerging technology in education
It seems the more I delve into my research on the real-world use and effectiveness of blogs in education the more questions I have and challenges I see.
Courtesy of Kate Olson from Reflection 2.0 and @kolson29 on Twitter I’m currently neck-deep in the reading of “Edublogging: Instruction for the Digital Age Learner“, which is the doctoral dissertation of Jeff Felix.
I’m incredibly excited in this document - all 283 pages of it - because the findings outlined in the dissertation summary directly support the theories I’ve had and discussed here on several different occasions.
This is not to say I’m some super-genius or visionary, because in many ways these theories are common sense. What is significant of Felix’s dissertation is that his research data assesses the real world use of blogs in education, and his observations actually support the theories.
Herein lay the importance of expanding the pool of research literature in this area - and not just in the form of theoretical musings, but real findings based on concrete research methodology.
Karen Olson and I discussed this on Twitter the other day, as I mentioned here. And as she noted, much of the discussion on edublogging is being disseminated informally via blogs.
To be effective in influencing and informing change it is absolutely critical that studies be widely published through recognised and accredited journals - and not just technical or eLearning journals, but ideally traditional educational publications as well. This would have the effective of adding much needed legitimacy to the best practice uses and awareness of eLearning technologies.
Educational technology and eLearning is still widely perceived as an add-on to the “real” learning that takes place in the classroom. As such the integration of eLearning is often given minimal consideration, which has the affect if reducing its effectiveness. I’ve even heard it argued that ineffective use of educational technology can actually distract from the learning process rather than add to it.
Therefore it’s critical that sufficient evidence and information be made available to academics interested in using emerging technology in the classroom. Else I fear new eLearning tools will fall prey to the bolt-on syndrome that has become all too commonplace.
Importantly this information needs to filter through all levels of education, from instructors on the front line, through administrative staff, to technical support staff, and perhaps most important of all, to policy makers in the upper eschalons of institutions, schools and government.
Despite its criticality, it is simply not enough for instructors alone to understand the significance of properly embedded use of emerging technologies. Adequate support, resources, and policy frameworks must be in place as well.
Not only could this have the impact of much needed recognition and reward for the scholarship of teaching - and thus inspire further uptake - an embedding of eLearning in educational policies could provide leverage for proper assessment frameworks and quantitative measuring of the real impact of eLearning projects on student learning. This in turn could be fed back into the research streams to inform additional studies.
