The recently completed CST review process has led to an expansion of the Centre support for York instructors who wish to use computer-based technologies in their teaching in addition to its current programs. A copy of the final review report is available from the CST or on the CST website (http://www.yorku.ca/cst/aboutcst/finalreport03.html). In this issue of CORE we wish to introduce the community to some of the aspects of that expanded support as well as to the ideas and values that lie behind it.
The Centre support will be offered at two levels. One, at the level of the individual instructor, involves consultation, workshops and seminars that will be offered in much the same manner as our existing teaching support programs are offered. The other, at a broader administrative level, involves coordinating with the various technical support units across the university to facilitate planning about the use of technology in teaching and learning. At both levels, the CST primary goal will be to maintain a discussion grounded in pedagogical issues, insuring that emphasis is placed on the instructional goals that the computer technologies are designed to serve.
TEL is an acronym for technology-enhanced learning, a phrase that has gained ascendancy as the means for referring to the use of computer-based technologies in the teaching and learning process. That the technology is computer-based is understood, rather than stated; but this nuance is important because the phrase does not typically refer to the more traditional technologies of instruction such as chalkboards, discussion groups, multiple-choice examinations, etc.
The phrase technology-enhanced learning has the positive feature of emphasizing learning as the goal of the instructional process; and the word enhanced suggests that technology be seen as supplementing conventional instructional processes rather than replacing them. The phrase is sometimes criticized, however, for an implication that using technology in teaching will automatically enhance learning. Widely diverse technologies are lumped under the acronym TEL. Each of these can be employed in quite different ways by different instructors and in different situations, and the benefits and costs of each will be similarly variable. The CST helps both instructors and programs to assess the usefulness for their specific instructional purposes of various technologies, and we also assist with implementation of the technologies which seem appropriate to those purposes. We encourage York instructors to think of the CST as the starting point for consideration of whether and how to implement TEL in their courses.
Virtually every participant in the CST review process attached great importance to insuring that instructional goals and values would lead the use of new technologies in teaching at York. To lead with instructional goals and values means that participants in CST programs are asked to reflect initially on their teaching purposes and philosophies, to examine the teaching and learning problems they are trying to solve. The outcome determines the direction of subsequent conversations about any possible computer-based technological enhancements. The remainder of this article provides a sense of the ideas that might be included in such a conversation. A separate article describes how the CST has begun to lead technology planning at York through the TEL Coordinating Committee (see below).
The articles in this issue of CORE are based on just a few of the instructional goals for which promising technologies are available. Many long-standing instructional goals could have been considered. For example, lecturers seek to conjure up instructive images for their student audience; and while many are skilled at the use of words alone to accomplish this task, the availability of slides, films and videos has made evocation of such images more reliable. Today the possibility of visiting, under an instructor's audience, websites devoted to important people, locations, events, cultural artefacts and ideas extends this ability greatly.
Some other examples can be mentioned briefly. Many instructors seek to enhance opportunities for their students to interact with the ideas and processes under consideration in a course. Websites, online simulations, online case studies and electronic discussion groups all offer potential enhancements to the traditional classroom opportunities of this sort. Increased opportunities for practice and feedback can be gained from judicious design of self-testing materials to be posted on a course website. And instructors can also gain valuable teaching time by distributing course materials and maintaining course records electronically.
Despite the potential benefits of TEL initiatives for teaching and learning, many people point to the need to consider the potential costs as well. There are certainly financial costs involved, and the CST will encourage all those with whom we work to evaluate the success of their TEL projects in both academic and financial terms.
But not all the costs potentially associated with TEL are financial. Some educators fear that use of technology will sometimes result in technology-diminished rather than technology-enhanced learning. For example, many people point with enthusiasm to technology's potential to enable students to take greater responsibility for their own learning; but if self-responsibility is taken to mean that students need no guidance, or that there is no need for professional design of learning environments, then loss, rather than gain, seems very likely to follow for most students. Like the library, the internet is an invaluable resource for the learner; but well-designed instruction is needed in order to gain their full benefits.
A further issue involves the influence of TEL on the manner in which courses are prepared. As instructors contemplate a greater use of technology in their courses, many are likely to feel pulled away from their primary interests in order to learn and implement the associated technology. The CST has approached learning about technology use in a manner similar to learning about lecturing, leading discussions, designing assignments and other teaching skills. However, another approach frequently found in distance education settings is to divide the technological aspects from the overall design of the course and to involve others in the production of the course. What are the benefits and costs associated with thinking of a faculty member as the content provider a production team?
The CST wishes to be known as a site for full discussion of issues like these, as well as the starting point for good advice about how to move towards the potential benefits of TEL initiatives. We will be working over the next year to provide further opportunities for both.