Abstract:

Digital learning objects (DLOs) are relatively short and self-contained digitally materials offering students a pedagogically complete learning experience without an (a)synchronous intervention of a faculty member (Topali & Mikropolous, 2018). While previous literature on the use of DLOs in higher education has focused on their advantages and disadvantages for teaching and learning (Dumitrica and Jarmula, 2022; Henderson et al. 2017; Mallidis-Malessas et al. 2021), less is known about their cross-institutional and cross-cultural adoption. In this paper, we report on the results of a pedagogical intervention where a set of DLOs developed at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands were re-used at FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences in Austria. We foreground the advantages and limitations of such DLOs through the student perspective at FH JOANNEUM, which we collect by means of a survey and an in-class written activity. The results are subsequently compared to the results of a previous study at Erasmus University Rotterdam (Dumitrica and Jarmula, 2022), connecting similarities and differences to the broader cultural contexts and the specific institutional demands across the two institutions.

References:
[1] Dumitrica, D., & Jarmula, P. (2021). Teaching qualitative research methods in media and communication: The benefits and limitations of digital learning objects. The Qualitative Report, 27(9), 1934-1951. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5256
[2] Henderson, M., Selwyn, N., & Aston, R. (2017). What works and why? student perceptions of ‘useful’ digital technology in university teaching and learning. Studies in Higher Education, 42(8), 1567–1579.
[3] Mallidis-Malessas, P., Iatraki, G., & Mikropoulos, T. A. (2021). Teaching physics to students with intellectual disabilities using digital learning objects. Journal of Special Education Technology, 37(4): 510-522. https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434211054441
[4] Topali, P., & Mikropoulos, T. (2018). Digital learning objects for teaching computer programming in primary students. In M. Tsitouridou, A. J. Diniz, & T. Mikropoulos (Eds.), Technology and innovation in learning, teaching and education (pp. 256-266). Springer Nature Switzerland

Keywords:

Undergraduate education, technology in education, open educational resources.