The Integration and
Effectiveness of Information
and Communication
Technologies in Canadian
Postsecondary Education
Dr. Carl Cuneo, Director,
EvNet, Network for the
Evaluation of Education and
Training Technologies,
McMaster University,
http://evnetcanada.org/
cuneo@mcmaster.ca
Thanks to Brian Campbell and Delsworth Harnish
(Chickering & Ehrmann, AAHE, 1996)
Communication & Information Technologies &
the Seven Principles of Undergraduate Education
1.Student-faculty contacts
1. Email
2. Peer student cooperation
2. Online collaborative
projects & group work
3. Active learning
3. Online search, explore
4. Prompt feedback
4. Real time chat, email
5. Time on task
6. High expectations
7. Diverse learning
5. Efficient remote access to
material
6. Use web publishing as
displays to class & others
7. Linear v nonlinear
hyperlinking
Methods of communication very important
or important to students’ course experience
Face to face in class
Face to face outside class with students
Telephone
Face to face outside class with prof.
E-mail with professors
E-mail with students
Newsgroups, listservs
Live real time computer chat
10 campus student surveys (Campbell)
84%
70%
63%
61%
50%
34%
12%
11%
Double-Sided View towards ICTs:
Per Cent Students Agreeing With
“Computer skills are important for my student
work”
“Communicating with instructors by email is
generally effective”
“Computer skills are important for most of the
jobs in which I am interested”
“Computers do not replace the need for
lectures and discussion”
“Communicating with instructors by e-mail is
better than talking to them face to face”
“Computer based instruction should replace all
face-to-face contact in some courses”
10 campus student surveys (Campbell)
83%
71%
67%
90%
18%
6%
What Technologies Do Faculty & Students Use?
Technology
Faculty
Students
Wordprocessor
98%
88%
Personal email
94%
71%
Web surf
92%
79%
Email faculty or student
89%
49%
Library search
82%
50%
Computer presentation
45%
27%
Database
28%
36%
Games
17%
66%
Programming
13%
15%
16 Campus Faculty & Student Surveys (Campbell)
Student Learning Styles, Faculty Teaching Styles and
Appropriate Technologies
Student
Surface
Learning
Technology
Policy
Choices +
+
Student
Deep
+
Learning
+
Appropriate +
Technology
Infrastructure
-
-
Effective
Teaching &
Learning with
Technologies
Faculty +
Guide on
Side
Faculty
Sage on
Stage
-
New
Economy
Skills &
Canada’s
Global
Compettiveness
Learning Styles: Students Who Restrict
Communications to Registered Online
Course Conferences Only
• Competitive learners (marks ultimate
goal of learning)
• Surface learners (facts; memorization)
• Syllabus Boundness (stay within
bounds of course)
• Extrinsic motivators (interested in paper
certificates only)
3 campus online CMC surveys (Cuneo and Harnish)
Learning Styles: Students Who
Communicate & Explore Across
Non-Registered Online Courses
• Comprehension Learners (explore free
association of ideas)
• Deep learners (seek the understand the
meaning of what is leaned)
• Relate ideas (draw concept map of ideas)
• Intrinsic motivators (passionate interest in
learning, no matter where it takes them)
3 campus online CMC surveys (Cuneo and Harnish)
Teaching Styles: How Do Sages on
Stage Use Computers in Teaching?
•
•
•
•
•
Prepare tests with word-processors
Record grades in spreadsheets
To deal with large class sizes
To cover more material
To transfer the faculty member’s knowledge of
computing to teaching
• To compensate for the lack of teaching assistants
• To teach students more computing techniques
6 Campus Faculty Surveys (Campbell)
Teaching Styles: What Kinds of
Technologies do Sages on the Stages Use?
• Course Management Systems (WebCT; Blackboard)
• Spreadsheets & Database programs
• Presentation software; computer projection; electronic
slide shows
• File transfer protocols (ftp) on web
• Computerized testing; question & answer drill
programs
• Preparation of paper tests with software
• Demonstrations/simulations
6 Campus Faculty Surveys (Campbell)
Teaching Styles: How Do Guides on the
Side Use Computers in Teaching?
• Prepare lectures and class notes (writing)
• To get students to write more
(normally not encouraged in large classes)
• To help students work in groups
• To build informal links between
students
• To communicate more effectively
between teachers and students
6 Campus Faculty Surveys (Campbell)
Teaching Styles: What Kinds of
Technologies do Guides on the Side Use?
• Wordprocessors (creative writing)
• Web search engines (exploring
hyperlinks on web)
• Library and other reference search
engines (for exploring bibliographies)
• Group messaging systems so students
can communicate with one another
• E-mail to students as formal part of
course
6 Campus Faculty Surveys (Campbell)
Six Levels of Technology
Integration into Teaching &
Learning
1.
2.
3.
4.
Campus site license
Instructor adoptions
Integration into course design
Easy student access to the
technology
5. Efficient use by students
6. Effective impact on student learning
Policy Recommendations:
Investment Decisions
• Make evaluation of learning technologies an
a priori requirement of implementation of
ICTs.
• Incorporate learning and teaching styles into
technology investment decisions
– Too often, decisions are made by technical and
administrative staff with little awareness of
learning and pedagogical practices
Policy Recommendations:
Diverse Teaching & Learning Styles
• Implement somewhat different technologies
for:
–
–
–
–
Sages on the stage
Guides on the side
Deep and comprehension learners
Surface and syllabus bound learners
• Teachers and learners may be at risk if they
are forced to work with technologies
inappropriate to their learning and teaching
styles