Online Learning and its Users

Lessons for Higher Education

1st Edition - April 25, 2016

Author: Claire McAvinia

Paperback ISBN:

9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 1 0 0 6 2 6 - 9

eBook ISBN:

9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 1 0 0 6 3 3 - 7

Online Learning and Its Users: Lessons for Higher Education re-examines the impact of learning technologies in higher education. The book focuses particularly on the introduction… Read more

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Online Learning and Its Users: Lessons for Higher Education re-examines the impact of learning technologies in higher education. The book focuses particularly on the introduction and mainstreaming of one of the most widely used, the virtual learning environment (VLE) or learning management system (LMS). The book presents an activity theoretic analysis of the VLE’s adoption, drawing on research into this process at a range of higher education institutions. Through analysis and discussion of the activities of managers, lecturers, and learners using the VLE, lessons are identified to inform future initiatives including the implementation of massive open online courses (MOOCs). A replicable research design is included and explained to support evaluation and analysis of the use of online learning in other settings. The book questions accepted views of the place of technologies in higher education, arguing that there has been a repeated cycle of hype and disappointment accompanying the development of online learning. While much research has documented this cycle, finding new strategies to break it has proved to be a more difficult challenge. Why has technology not made more impact? Are lecturers going to be left behind by their own students in the use of digital technologies? Why have we seen costly and time-consuming failures? This book argues that we can answer these questions by heeding the lessons from previous experiences with the VLE and early iterations of the MOOC. More importantly, we can begin to ask new and different questions for the future to ensure better outcomes for our institutions and ultimately our learners.

Series Page
List of Figures
List of Tables
About the Author
Foreword
Acknowledgment
Introduction
- Reasons for Writing
- Aims and Scope
- A Note on the Study
- A Note on Terminology
- An Overview of This Book
Chapter 1. Enter the VLE
- 1.1. Introduction
- 1.2. The Development of Online Learning in Higher Education
- 1.3. Virtual Learning Environments
- 1.4. How Has the Virtual Learning Environments Been Mainstreamed and Supported?
- 1.5. Conclusion
Chapter 2. Challenges and Disappointments
- 2.1. Introduction: The Virtual Learning Environment at the Crossroads
- 2.2. The Literature of Disappointment
- 2.3. A History of Disappointment
- 2.4. Explanations and Proposed Solutions
- 2.5. Critiquing Disappointment: The Case of the Virtual Learning Environment
- 2.6. Conclusion
Chapter 3. Activity Theory
- 3.1. Introduction
- 3.2. What Is Activity Theory?
- 3.3. Important Concepts in Activity Theory
- 3.4. What Is the Relationship of Activity Theory to E-Learning?
- 3.5. Operationalising and Applying Activity Theory
- 3.6. Conclusions
Chapter 4. Lessons for e-Learning Management and Support
- 4.1. Introduction
- 4.2. The Adoption and Mainstreaming of the Virtual Learning Environment: The Activities of Managers
- 4.3. The Adoption and Mainstreaming of the Virtual Learning Environment: Activities of Central Supporters
- 4.4. Discussion: Learning from Contradictions
- 4.5. Conclusion
Chapter 5. Lessons for Teaching in Higher Education
- 5.1. Introduction
- 5.2. Lecturers’ Use of the Virtual Learning Environment
- 5.3. Discussion: An Unshared Object Between Lecturers and Central Supporters
- 5.4. Conclusion
Chapter 6. Lessons From Our Learners
- 6.1. Introduction
- 6.2. Students’ Use of the Virtual Learning Environment
- 6.3. Discussion: An Unshared Object Between Students and Lecturers
- 6.4. Conclusions
Chapter 7. Learning to Break the Cycle
- 7.1. Introduction: Revisiting Contradictions and Unshared Objects
- 7.2. The Story of the Virtual Learning Environment
- 7.3. Identifying Points for Development
- 7.4. Recasting the Debate About Online Learning in Higher Education
- 7.5. Conclusion
Chapter 8. Lessons for the Future – The VLE and the MOOC
- 8.1. Introduction
- 8.2. What Is the MOOC and What Is Its Significance?
- 8.3. Does the MOOC Work?
- 8.4. Modelling the MOOC
- 8.5. Discussion
- 8.6. What Can the Virtual Learning Environment Really Tell the MOOC?
- 8.7. Conclusion
Chapter 9. Conclusions
- 9.1. Introduction
- 9.2. Five Lessons for Higher Education
- 9.3. Why It Matters
- 9.4. Conclusion
Index