A review of pedagogical support for online learning in the 21st century “please state the nature of the educational emergency!”

Iain Lambie*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper seeks to critically review online learning support in the 21st Century from a practitioner’s perspective. The paper is a review of 25 years of experience tutoring on distance learning courses with the Open University in the United Kingdom during which time there has been a considerable change in the use of technology to support learning. The Open University is now in competition with many Higher Education Institutions in the UK who seek to have a more significant digital footprint in the provision of Higher Education. However the role of the Pedagogue in the delivery of this learning is often unclear. The fundamental question that needs to be addressed is “Has technology enhanced the interaction between Tutor and Students and is the Tutor role still important?” This paper will argue that the live Pedagogue is more valuable than ever but that the role of the Tutor in supporting the 21st Century Learner now requires the Tutor to be much more pro-active in the use of technology. The need to be proactive is a result of the availability of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This distance learning approach has moved away from the idea that “Subject 101” is on a Thursday afternoon from 1pm to 3pm in Semester A and embraces the idea of “Learn what you want when you want” but still achieve the same end goal in terms of skills development and critical thinking. The learn “What you want when you want” is at the heart of the distance learning mantra and this paper will discuss the role that Technology has played in supporting this approach in the delivery of Higher Education at a distance. The paper will conclude by considering what the future may hold for distance learning approaches and will speculate as to whether the future involves some form of personal support system that students call up when they need some form of help. The speculation revolves around the idea of an expert system fronted by a holographic projection of a Pedagogue with whom the student will interact. This type of approach may fit better with the asynchronous behaviour that students show in the way they utilise some of the ICT technology available today.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 17th European Conference on e-Learning, ECEL 2018
EditorsAntonios Andreatos, Cleo Sgouropoulou, Klimis Ntalianis
PublisherAcademic Conferences and Publishing International Limited
Pages281-289
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9781912764075
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2018
Event17th European Conference on e-Learning - Athens, Greece
Duration: 1 Nov 20182 Nov 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings of the European Conference on e-Learning, ECEL
Volume2018-November
ISSN (Print)2048-8637
ISSN (Electronic)2048-8645

Conference

Conference17th European Conference on e-Learning
Abbreviated titleECEL 2018
Country/TerritoryGreece
CityAthens
Period1/11/182/11/18

Keywords

  • Delivery mechanisms
  • Distance learning
  • Online support mechanisms
  • Online tutorials

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Computer Science
  • Education

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