Abstract:

It’s impossible to deny that we live in the information age. The importance of technology in all facets of our lives in the 21st century cannot be understated. Yet, many universities have been slow to take up this technology, especially in the classroom. As an example, previous work by the authors on the use of social networking in the classroom was predicated on the fact that less than 8% of students have access to the Twitter medium in a classroom setting [1]. Worse still, academics in these institutions are wary of technology, with many concerned that 21st century technologies such as social networking might be more of a distraction in the classroom than a help [2].
Armed with this knowledge, the authors set out to integrate technology into a classroom setting as a means to improve pedagogy and as a case study to measure the technology ‘buy-in’ for traditional university academics. A first year Diploma course in the business area was selected as the case study instrument. Tools were used such as the Twitter social networking platform for student communication within classrooms; Blogging software for the collation and marking of student Reflective Journals; and the Moodle Learning Management System for the online distribution of notes and interaction of students across forums and online discussion boards. Challenging this implementation of technology was the factor that the course in question is delivered across four campuses locations in geographically separate areas, facilitating the need for the course coordinator to communicate primarily via e-mail and telephone. Throughout the semester, these mediums were used to collect data from staff in a qualitative fashion as part of their usual communication regarding the teaching and learning. This data was then collated by the researchers, with several significant themes emerging.
Specifically, the findings demonstrate that the technology competence of academic staff and the technology ‘buy-in’ for campus management staff are significant factors in the uptake of technology in the classroom and are perhaps the most important factors that need to be overcome. The cost of technology and equitability of availability of the technology to all staff and students also appears to be a factor. It is concluded that, while the research in the field shows that technology can be a useful tool in the classroom, these implementation factors will need to be addressed. Only through addressing not only the pedagogical issues but also the technology competency and technology implementation issues will universities ever be able to truly move into the information age.

References:
[1] Taylor, D. (2008, Winter2008). Connect you to humanity? Phi Kappa Phi Forum, vol. 88, no. 4, pp. 18-21.
[2] Grosseck, G. & Holotescu, C. (2008) Can we use twitter for educational activities? The 4th International Scientific Conference eLSE "eLearning and Software for Education". Bucharest.

Keywords:

Technology competency, information age, social networking, blogging, 21st century pedagogy.