Academics launch e-learning investigation

The benefits of learning technology are to be explored by a new committee that brings together some of the most high-powered names in e-learning .

The committee, formed by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), is to investigate how new technologies can be used by students in further, higher and adult education.

The aim, said John Cook, president of ALT and vice-chair of the committee, is to develop proposals for the use of technology in learning, such as electronic assessment. The committee hopes to run “high-quality research” events, said Cook, and to bring together practitioners and policy-makers: “We almost think of ourselves as a think-tank. We want to really set the agenda in terms of learning technology.”

Membership of the committee, which is chaired by Professor Robin Mason of the Open University and includes senior academics from Leicester and Nottingham universities, will be fluid, said Cook: “People are appointed initially for a length of two to four years, but the personnel will change, so that we can benefit from different perspectives.”

The committee was particularly interested in looking at the effects of the increasingly pervasive nature of technology , said Cook: “One of the big things for the future is ubiquitous computing – your TV becomes smarter, your phone becomes smarter, your watch becomes smarter. But as you get driven towards ubiquitous computing, you don’t want to exacerbate the digital divide,” he said citing f ears that many students could be left behind without access to the latest technology.

Most students have mobile devices, said Cook: “We can use them to send SMS messages to say to students ‘Your assignment is due, and have you looked at this resource?’”

The committee was interested, he said, in addressing some of the problems posed by competing standards and the lack of interoperability posed by technology.

www.alt.ac.uk

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