Harnessing the Internet for Authentic Learning:

Towards a New Higher Education Paradigm for the 21st Century

Abel Nyamapfene

ECEL – 2011, University of Brighton10 November 2011

Complexity, Connectedness, Technology, Confusion!!

Ref: wgraziadei.home.comcast.net

Ref: wmht.org

The Internet in 21st Century Learning• Multiple Information sources:

– WWW resources e.g. Wikipedia, Educational institutions, non-educational institutions etc

• Leading to:– Lecturer no longer the authoritative knowledge source– Decision making and choice now more critical than knowledge access

• Necessitating learning involving both:– Discipline-specific explicit knowledge– Implicit knowledge (know-how knowledge)

• Best delivered through:– Active learning and practice – hence authentic learning

The Internet & IT Technology Learning

IT students now live, learn, study and experience learning through the Internet

Ref: connectamarillo.com

Communication Systems Course Delivery Design

• Knowledge and Information Sources

• Teaching Approaches

• Assessment Methods

Information Sources

• VLE resources• Lectures• Directed Internet resources• Student Experiences – Individual, and other

students• Practitioner input – Student make contacts

with practising professionals • Directly• Professional forums

Teaching Approach

• Introduction and clarification of key concepts through lectures

• Class room discussions

• Individual and group activities• Students actively work with learning resources to

get answers

• Out of class lecturer contact – akin to consultancy

Assessment Methods

• Two tutor-marked assignments (10% each) • One network study project (20%) • Two-hour, closed-book/note examination (60%)• Assignments designed to explore material beyond

lecture materials• Assignments and project progressively build up

into an authentic study of a key communication systems concept – e.g. Network security

Student EvaluationBased on Official End of Course Student Feedback

Student Course Evaluation

• Students generally found course to be interesting and intellectually stimulating

Representative Positive Comments:• “Enjoyed the module lots of interesting topics

covered”• “Best course I have taken at this university.” • “Fun coursework, enthusiastic teaching.”

Student Course Evaluation

• Some Negative Comments:

• “Lots of different topics covered so hard to recall it all in the exam”

• “In most lectures, the actual teaching was not very apparent. We were asked to answer questions but we had not been taught the material very well.”

In Conclusion:

“The performance of the student cohort in the authentic assessments as well as in the end-of-course examination suggest that Internet-enabled authentic learning is now a viable option for university level courses.”

However:

• What is the optimal pedagogy for the Internet-based student-led learning like the one described in this talk?

• What is the likely future nature of learning and teaching in an environment where the lecturer and the student’s own institution are no longer the only authoritative sources of knowledge and information in the student’s learning environment?

THANK YOU – NOW QUESTION TIME!!