TEL-lingit like IT is

Of fundamental importance of TEL implementation is the context in which it is applied. I like to draw a distinction between resource-based and lecture-based contexts. Both make different assumptions of how TEL should be implemented, and ultimately determine the shape TEL takes in education. The distinction between resource-based and lecture-based education was first made in: Seelig, Caroline, and Mark Nichols. “New Zealand: Open Polytechnic.” In Perspectives on Distance Education: Using ICTs and Blended Learning in Transforming TVET , edited by Colin Latchem. Vancouver: Commonwealth of Learning and UNESCO-UNEVOC, in press. Resource-based provision: Has a team of experts responsible for learning design; tends to be based on a division of labour Focuses on the generation of (usually written) course materials Typically assumes an independent learner Lecture-based provision: Has a lecturer or academic as subject expert and author; may also involve additional spec...

It's a curious thing, the acronym TEL. The 'Technology' part comes first. I much prefer "Learning Enhanced by Technology" for the subtle reason that it puts the horse in the right place. Anyway. In this blog, it's the 'Learning' bit that leads. So, an orientation to learning as I consider it. Learning is one of those terms used rather too casually, a word with such broad and everyday use it can describe almost anything. I recall the most memorable learning experience of my MA: defining the term "interactive", in the context of e-learning. Is merely clicking on something interacting with it? From a certain perspective, yes... but true interactivity implies reciprocation. The thing being clicked should be able to also interact with the one clicking. Once you think about "interactive" in this term you become that much more critical of claims related to it. How we define terms ultimately reveals our assumptions about them. For the...

OK, so the title’s try-hard. TEL is “Technology Enhanced Learning”, an aspect of education I’ve been professionally involved in since 2000. IT is “information technology”. This blog explores TEL from the perspective of a practicing theorist. I’ll try not to be too clever with the word plays. This blog’s domain is probably bad enough for geeky cleverness to be entirely out of my system! What I will always try to be, though, is informed by literature and primary studies. It’s important that I give some context for what will follow. I agree entirely with Anderson & Zawacki-Richter that online distance education: is a discipline in its own right. may apply a broad social sciences-based research methodology, and although it is most appropriate, the field is eclectic and should allow for, and value, a multiplicity of research paradigms including positivist, interpretive, critical, and pragmatic research paradigms. is relevant to both distance learning and information and co...