Abstract:

This study was undertaken as part of a UK government funded project to develop new approaches to personalised learning. Part of this work involved using Rich Pictures, a problem structuring inquiry technique used in Soft Systems Methodology to identify “the main entities, structures and viewpoints in the situation, the processes going on, the current recognised issues and any potential ones” (Checkland and Poulter, 2006, p. 25). In this case, the problematical situation being future learning in universities. We identify this as a significant issue in our context as, arguably, the existing university system is designed around the convenience of the institution and its lecturers, rather than the learners, and that as model this is becoming increasingly unsustainable. We observe this tension through challenges with student attendance at university, their need to increasingly work to fund their studies, and the increasing complexity and deterioration of the boundaries between work, study and leisure brought about by increased use of technology. We see that a change is desirable towards a university system with flexibility and personalisation to individual needs and wants and that this change in capabilities, both institutional and individual, can only be brought about by the increased use of technology. Technology has promised much in this respect since the late 1990’s, but delivered disappointingly little beyond small scale innovations, and the data suggest that, for example, the growth of online learning has at best paused recently (Observatory for Borderless University report, 2018). For this study, twenty students were introduced to the Rich Picture Technique and then participated in focus groups to explore the issue of future learning in universities using stimulus questions:
- what is rewarding & enjoyable, and annoying & disagreeable about your experience of university?
- what would university look like if we designed it for students? and
- having thought about living and learning in the real world, think about how you would design a ‘university’ experience.

Findings revealed for these students a tension between the two sets of competing desires. On the one hand, they valued highly the face-to-face interaction provided by a physical campus that seemed to afford opportunities for engagement not just with course-related content but sports and friendships. Competing with this, students identified significant financial and time pressures they experienced when attending university. In this paper will explore this dichotomy.

Keywords:

Distance learning, innovation, problem structuring, technology enhanced learning, higher education.