Technology affects nowadays practically most activities in our life. The new digital technologies have permeated economy markets, politics, our workplaces, the ways we communicate with each other, our home activities, as well as operation of all levels of education from kindergarten to doctoral studies. The impact of the new technologies has changed the speed of production and distribution of knowledge, as evidenced by the increased publications of scientific papers and the number of patent applications. The new technologies challenge higher education institutions world-wide to redefine their student constituencies, their partners and competitors and to redesign their research infrastructures and teaching practices. The digital technologies have also generated many conflicting claims and predictions as to the present, and mainly future, effects that Internet and World Wide Web might have on higher education environments.Some futurists tell us that the information and communication technologies have already produced an era of a 'digital tsunami' and are driving the restructuring of academe by forcing educators to realign and redesign their academic work dramatically, while many others contend that the use of technology has remained, and will remain, on the margins of the academic activities and is unlikely to change in any fundamental way the dominant campus cultures. On one hand, the emergence of the new technologies has broadened access to many new student clienteles and in such a way contributed greatly to social equity in higher education, and on the other hand, the continuous development of advanced and complex technological infrastructures widens the digital divide between developed and developing countries, and between rich and poor.Most academics have adopted eagerly the many technological capabilities provided by the Internet in their research activities, and at the same time, many professors still feel reluctant to incorporate the technologies in their teaching. The digital technologies gave rise to many new providers of higher education and increased the competition in the academic global market, and at the same time we witness a growing trend of collaborations and convergence of academic practices enhanced by the new media. The World Wide Web encouraged 'digital piracy' and led to the enactment of stringent copyright and other intellectual property laws, while concurrently has enhanced an open source movement that advocates the opening up of academic work and research to the public.
Author(s): Sarah Guri-rosenblit
Publisher: Nova Science Publishers
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 192
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: SWEEPING EXPECTATIONS AND ACTUAL EFFECTS......Page 3
CONTENTS......Page 7
PREFACE......Page 9
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 13
CONFUSING TERMINOLOGY......Page 15
'E-LEARNING' AND 'DISTANCE EDUCATION': NOT THE SAMETHING......Page 20
On Remoteness and Proximity......Page 22
Target Populations......Page 25
SWEEPING EXPECTATIONS......Page 29
ACADEMIC FACULTY: TRADITIONAL ROLES THROUGHOUT HISTORY......Page 31
ACADEMIC FACULTY IN THE DIGITAL ERA: NEW ROLES AND CHALLENGING DEMANDS......Page 34
Distributed Teaching Responsibility......Page 35
Time Consumption and Lack of Incentives......Page 36
Lack of Technological Literacy and Support Systems......Page 39
Burnout......Page 40
Intellectual Property Rights......Page 43
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE IN UNIVERSITY TEACHING AS BENCHMARKS......Page 44
1. Good Practice Encourages Student-Faculty Contact......Page 45
2. Good Practice Encourages Cooperation Among Students......Page 46
4. Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback......Page 47
6. Good Practice Communicates High Expectations......Page 48
7. Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning......Page 49
REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?......Page 50
Add-on Functions......Page 51
Impact Studies on Students' Achievements......Page 55
Institutional Policies......Page 56
SPACE AND TIME AS BARRIERS TO OVERCOME......Page 61
THE URGE TO BROADEN ACCESS......Page 64
SELF-EVIDENT ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES......Page 66
NATURAL STUDY INCLINATIONS OF YOUNG STUDENTS......Page 68
IMPARTING INFORMATION VERSUS CONSTRUCTING KNOWLEDGE......Page 72
MAKING PROFITS AND ACHIEVING ECONOMIES-OF-SCALE......Page 76
DEVELOPING AND DEVELOPED COUNTRIES......Page 83
China, India and Some other Emerging Economies......Page 85
Digital Divide......Page 87
Africa......Page 88
The Potential of the Mobile Technologies in Developing Countries......Page 90
Mass Media in Distance Teaching Universities......Page 92
Government Policies......Page 94
Advantages of Anglo-Saxon Countries......Page 95
Continental European Countries......Page 96
Unique Attributes of the US Higher Education Culture......Page 97
ACADEMIC VERSUS BUSINESS CULTURES......Page 99
DIFFERENT-TYPE INSTITUTIONS......Page 103
Communication: Merits and Problems......Page 107
Access: On Equality and Duplication......Page 108
Update of Study Materials: Potential and Difficulties......Page 109
DIVERSE SUBJECT-MATTERS......Page 110
NAVIGATING BETWEEN CONTRASTING TRENDS......Page 115
GLOBALIZATION VERSUS NATIONAL NEEDS......Page 116
BROADENING ACCESS VERSUS MARKETIZATION......Page 121
COMPETITION VERSUS COLLABORATION......Page 127
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY VERSUS INTELLECTUAL PHILANTHROPY......Page 131
QUO VADIS? – SOME FUTURE TRENDS......Page 137
PROMOTING INSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY......Page 138
ENHANCING FLEXIBILITY......Page 142
CHANGING ROLES OF ACADEMIC FACULTY......Page 144
CONSOLIDATING RESEARCH FINDINGS ON TEACHING AND LEARNING......Page 147
EMERGENCE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES......Page 150
REFERENCES......Page 153
INDEX......Page 181
