Abstract:

This paper reflects on recent developments in the adoption of technology enhanced learning (TEL) tools across the UK higher education sector and their impact on educational change and innovation. The paper will report on the headline findings from the 2016 Survey of Technology Enhanced Learning conducted by the Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) - the eighth survey of its kind - and will provide a longitudinal perspective of TEL developments over a 15-year period within UK higher education (2001-2016), focusing on the current, emerging and planned patterns of learning technology use across the higher education community.

The 2016 TEL Survey tracked the range of learning technologies currently in use, building on previous UCISA studies over the years (Walker, Voce and Jenkins, 2013), exploring the balance between centrally supported tools and student-owned devices and their penetration across institutions as a feature of course delivery. Investment in new student-centred TEL provision has been a key priority for higher education providers - driven partly as a response to the more competitive marketplace for student recruitment that has emerged across the sector, with students increasingly being recognised as consumers and, in some cases, partners in educational development. We will discuss the progress that UK higher education institutions have made in developing their services and enhancing the student learning experience through the provision of flexible and online learning opportunities.

The paper will identify current and emerging challenges for TEL support provision within the UK HE sector and will draw comparisons with European TEL developments, drawing on studies such as the European University Association e-learning survey (2013) and other recent published studies (Cosgrave et al., 2011; Matušů et al., 2012) to support a wider comparative discussion of our findings, inviting delegates to contribute their own national and institutional insights.

Results from the earlier UCISA TEL surveys can be accessed at: http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/bestpractice/surveys/tel/tel.aspx

References:
[1] Gaebel, M., Kupriyanova, V., Morais, R., & Colucci, E. (2014). E-learning in European Higher Education Institutions: Results of a mapping survey conducted in October-December 2013. European University Association Publications. http://www.eua.be/Libraries/publication/e-learning_survey
[2] Matušů, R., Vojtěšek, J., & Dulík, T. (2012). Technology-enhanced learning tools: A survey of use in European higher education. WSEAS Transactions on Information Science and Applications.
[3] Walker, R., Voce, J. & Jenkins, M. (2013). Charting the development of technology-enhanced learning developments across the UK higher education sector: a longitudinal perspective (2001-2012), Interactive Learning Environments, Routledge: London. First published on: 11 December 2013.

Keywords:

Institutonal technology adoption, flexible learning, student-owned devices.