6. Concluding remarks and future
directions for research and
development
The overall aim of this research was to enable an informed answer to the question of how
Lectopia and similar web-based lecture technologies can be used to best effect to support
learning and teaching. The answer is complex; one size does not fit all thus necessitating
consideration of the particular context in which teaching and learning is taking place.
A whole of curriculum perspective is required to account for the diversity in disciplines,
students, approaches to teaching and the aims and outcomes of the curriculum. Because of
this and also the rapidly changing nature of web-based lecture technologies, we have taken
an issues approach. We have used the findings of this research to identify the teaching,
learning and curriculum design issues to take into consideration when planning for the use of
WBLT. These are presented as a Toolkit of resources for use by the higher education sector.
The Toolkit comprises guidelines for staff and students on how to make the best use of webbased lecture technologies, a compilation of frequently asked questions about using WBLT a
series of vignettes which provide snapshots of the experiences of staff and students; and a
series of case studies exploring the use of WBLT in different curriculum contexts – refer to
Appendix 11.
Overall, the guidelines emphasise that Web-based lecture technologies, such as Lectopia,
were designed to support a traditional pedagogical approach based around lectures. We
found that WBLT are effective tools when their use matches their purpose – supporting the
delivery of traditional lectures and providing access to students who cannot attend, or choose
not to attend.
Students who use WBLT perceive that it supports their learning while providing much-needed
flexibility in their study options. Staff appreciate the flexibility they provide for students, and
particularly the support for external students.
Nevertheless, the successful uptake of the technology by students has posed a challenge to
lecturers through falling attendance and the blurring of traditional boundaries and
expectations of internal and external students. The ways students learn and communicate are
changing. There appears to be a mis-match in the reality of the student experience and the
way they engage in learning and the corresponding conceptions of staff. This is bringing into
question the nature of teaching and in particular the role of lectures.
Our study concludes that WBLT can indeed support learning and teaching in certain
circumstances, but that it is a disruptive technology which may change the nature of university
teaching. WBLT have therefore become a driver for change. The lens offered by WBLT
prompts us to question the traditional pedagogy of university teaching, with its focus on the
lecture. Academic development units and learning and teaching centres have been
attempting to raise this issue in the collective consciousness of universities for at least the last
15 years, with little impact; however, the consequences arising from the introduction of
technologies such as WBLT is bringing these issues to the fore in a pragmatic way.
Successful adopters of WBLT are those who have take a whole of curriculum approach and
have used a range of teaching approaches and tools, rather than just one, to meet the needs
and expectations of students. They chose new tools because they wanted to provide a quality
learning experience which is relevant to students' circumstances and aims and outcomes of
the curriculum.
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6.1 Wider applicability to the sector and to Carrick
objectives
This study has shown that the issues which arise from the use of web-based lecture
technologies are remarkably consistent across the four universities involved. While not
representative of the whole Australian university sector, the four participating universities
cover a mixture of city-based and regional campuses, and internal and external enrolment
modes.
With the Lectopia product licensed to 17 universities in Australia, and numerous other
universities implementing or investigating WBLT, the results are likely to be applicable across
most universities in the sector. The Guidelines and FAQs developed as part of this project are
designed to assist staff and students in making considered decisions about how best to use
web-based lecture technologies.
The overall aim of this project was to enable an informed answer to the question of how
Lectopia and similar web-based lecture technologies can be used to best effect to support
learning and teaching. This objective and numerous sub-objectives have been met. A
summary of the outcomes and deliverables of this project, together with their status, is
presented in Appendix 12.
The outcomes of this study can inform two of the current Carrick funding priorities:
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curriculum renewal (directly)
teaching and learning spaces (indirectly, by foreshadowing the need for smaller and
more flexible spaces)
More broadly the relationship between the project outcomes and the objectives of the Carrick
Institute are shown in Table 6-1 below.
Table 6- 1: Relationship between this project and Carrick objectives
Carrick Objective
Relationship to this project
Promote and support strategic change in
higher education institutions for the
enhancement of learning and teaching,
including curriculum development and
assessment
The outcomes of this research will assist
institutional decision-making in enhancing
learning and teaching, particularly in making
effecting use of learning technologies to
support the increasingly diverse needs of
students.
Raise the profile and encourage recognition
of the fundamental importance of teaching in
higher education institutions and in the
general community.
Robust research into learning and teaching
issues, such as that reported here, serve to
raise the importance of teaching in the sector.
Develop effective mechanisms for the
identification, development, dissemination
and embedding of good individual and
institutional practice in learning and teaching
in Australian higher education.
The outcomes and deliverables of this
research directly contribute to this objective.
However, for effective embedding of good
practice to occur, a community should be
developed and supported within the Carrick
Exchange to enable continuing sharing and
discussion of issues around WBLT.
Develop and support reciprocal national and
international arrangements for the purpose of
sharing and benchmarking learning and
teaching processes
Some international dissemination has taken
place through the Journal and Conference of
the Association for Learning Technology.
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6.2 Future work
One of the acknowledged limitations of this study is that it focussed on student perceptions
about the usefulness of WBLT. Perceptions are different to the achievement of actual
learning outcomes. In addition, the present study drew largely on the perspectives of students
and staff who were users of WBLT. For a more comprehensive understanding of how these
technologies support learning and teaching, this needs to be broadened to include those who
do not make extensive use of technologies. Therefore, further work is needed to explore in
detail the learning approaches and processes used by students in the 21st century Australian
university to achieve specific outcomes.
The scope of this study was limited to the impact of a single technology on learning and
teaching practice. The technologies we explored were quite specific in their orientation and
function in that they were institutional solutions put in place for use by teachers to capture
lectures for web delivery. WBLT are essentially a one-way medium of communication
designed to deliver the lecture in close to real time. While the case studies began an
exploration of issues within a broader curriculum perspective, they revealed the need to
consider the interrelationship between all activities within an aligned and revised curriculum
including those that are technology-based, face-to-face, collaborative and individualistic. In
particular, the role of lectures in a technology-rich environment bears closer examination.
There are a range of other technologies that can be used to support lecture delivery as well
as offer functions to support communication and collaboration between participants. Adobe
Connect, Wimba Live Classroom and Elluminate, for example, offer audio and text two-way
communication, file, applications and screen sharing and whiteboard facilities that can be
used by both staff and students to create a rich interactive environment. When integrated into
social networking sites, Vodcasting / podcasting technologies (for example, Voice Thread
http://voicethread.com/about/) provide opportunities for staff and students to be part of an
environment where they can create, discuss collaborate. These new social networking
environments according to The Horizon Report (2008) help to change the focus from content
to connections with people. They provide real and exciting opportunities for transforming the
traditional lecture experience. It is important however, that we have some understanding of
the implications for teaching and learning so their use can be tailored effectively to specific
contexts. Explorations mentioned above would valuably be extended by considering students
studying units based on a well-designed curriculum which appropriately used a range of
learning technologies.
Other, potentially fruitful areas for further research that emerged from the study and are also
identified in The Horizon Reports (2007 and 2008) are:
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the role of lectures within a technology rich environment
misalignment between the expectations and perceptions of staff and students,
institutional policies, plans and infrastructure,
investigating the use of the web 2.0 and mobile technologies on university learning
and teaching
The research team intends to build on the findings of this project to submit a follow-on
application covering one or more of these themes.
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