By Steve Ranger, 13 July 2006 11:05
NEWS
Universities and colleges are looking at how technology can improve their teaching and bring their content to wider audiences.
And it's not just about sitting students in front of PCs to type up their essays either.
It's a broader issue exploring how technology can change the way teaching is done, how learning can be extended beyond the college gates and whether new buildings can have technology embedded in them to create a better learning environment.
Speaking at a Cisco-sponsored round table, Rowland Foote, principal of Bournemouth College, said: "Our oldest building was built in 1865. We do need a 21st century infrastructure rather than the 19th century weight around our necks. It should be routine that we are making these investments because China is."
One example of a tech-enabled learning centre is at Glasgow Caledonian University, which has recently opened the 1,800-seat Saltire Centre, featuring RFID-tagged books, VoIP phones and wireless throughout. It also includes a 600-seat learning café, 500 computers and 150 laptops to borrow.
Les Watson, the university's pro vice chancellor of learning and information services, said: "We've spent a long time thinking about learning and e-learning but it's the same thing. It's about technology-enhanced learning rather than e-learning."
Lewisham College has developed an 'E-kitchen' which allows students - including the students at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant - to watch broadcasts of lessons and masterclasses. But the use of such technologies doesn't need to remain within the walls of the college.
Bournemouth's Foote predicts that within a couple of years internet users could - for a fee - be downloading snippets of what his catering students learn in the classroom.
He said: "We are just learning to capture that and build it up and develop it. If you have a masterclass of 10 dishes why not buy it at home? With broadband you will be able to get a fantastic view of what the chefs are doing, and if you want to know how to do the lesson you just pay your money."
Comments
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1. Roger Huffadine
Ummmm.... Well I work as an ICT Technician in a School [I was a director of a Next plc subsidiary but retired] - and I can tell you that SCHOOLS ARE NOT GIVEN THE MONEY FOR THIS TYPE OF PROJECT - yup that was SHOUTING. this financial year we shall not purchase a single new computer, we will not have the resources to properly develop the network, our server room will continue to age components by running at 35 degrees C, we will buy items from e-bay to canibalise and all in all we will do our best to keep the existing 200+ PCs up and running. The LEA forces the School to adopt a student intake that causes a non optimal budget - so we have to absorb the extra costs of the IMPOSED budget. Add to that all of the extra crap that descends from the DfES and you have an answer to the question - "why are exam standards falling?" - I really hope I get fired for posting this - 'cos at least it would mean that someone with influence has read it :))
2. John Gadson
"exam standards falling"!
What planet have you been on for the last 20 years?
3. Richard
Expensive UK materials vs Cheap Imports ...
Guess which will be used most?
Hard-pressed schools & students both in the UK & overseas will choose cheap or free imported e-learning materials rather than expensive UK products.
Does the desire to provide the UK's publicly funded educational institutions with a comparatively trivial income from these UK e-learning products, really outweigh the resulting loss of influence over the content of the learning material actually used by most students?
Compared with the vast costs of the "War on Terror," wouldn't it be better to offer good quality educational material which reflects British values, free to the world?
4. anonymous
when we all begin to see the benifits of a digital driven resource system,human nature takes over, because we all want the best for our children and now we have no more restrictions on where we can go,why don't we go globally if it benifits the whole and it might put the death nell into the establishment that exists at the moment.
Education 2.0 bring it on,its the future,not what we have today.
5. anonymous
when we all begin to see the benifits of a digital driven resource system,human nature takes over, because we all want the best for our children and now we have no more restrictions on where we can go,why don't we go globally if it benifits the whole and it might put the death nell into the establishment that exists at the moment.
Education 2.0 bring it on,its the future,not what we have today.