Digital Technologies in Higher Education: Sweeping Expectations and Actual Effects

192 Pages·2009·6.44 MB·English

by  Sarah Guri-rosenblit

D T
IGITAL ECHNOLOGIES
H E :
IN IGHER DUCATION
SWEEPING EXPECTATIONS
AND ACTUAL EFFECTS

No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no
expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No
liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information
contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in
rendering legal, medical or any other professional services.

D T
IGITAL ECHNOLOGIES
H E :
IN IGHER DUCATION
SWEEPING EXPECTATIONS
AND ACTUAL EFFECTS

SARAH GURI-ROSENBLIT

Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
New York
Copyright © 2009 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher.

For permission to use material from this book please contact us:
Telephone [phone]; Fax [phone]
Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com

NOTICE TO THE READER
The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed
or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No
liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of
information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special,
consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers’ use of, or
reliance upon, this material.

Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained
in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or
damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or
otherwise contained in this publication.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the
subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not
engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert
assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A
DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
ISBN: 978-1-60692-238-5
Guri-Rosenblit, Sarah.
Digital technologies in higher education : sweeping expectations and actual effects / Sarah
Guri-Rosenblit.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-61728-369-7 (E-Book)
1. Education, Higher--Computer-assisted instruction. 2. Education, Higher--Effect of
technological innovations on. I. Title.
LB2395.7.G87 2009
378.1'734--dc22
2008037250
Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York
(cid:0)
CONTENTS

Preface vii
Acknowledgements xi
Chapter 1 The Tower of Babel Syndrome 1
Confusing Terminology 1
'E-Learning' and 'Distance Education':
Not the Same Thing 6
Chapter 2 A New Paradigm in Learning/Teaching Practices? 15
Sweeping Expectations 15
Academic Faculty: Traditional Roles Throughout History 17
Academic Faculty in the Digital Era: New Roles and
Challenging Demands 20
Principles of Good Practice in University Teaching as
Benchmarks 30
Revolution or Evolution? 36
Chapter 3 Some Erroneous Assumptions 47
Space and Time as Barriers to Overcome 47
The Urge to Broaden Access 50
Self-Evident Advantages of the New Technologies 52
Natural Study Inclinations of Young Students 54
Imparting Information Versus Constructing Knowledge 58
Making Profits and Achieving Economies-of-Scale 62
vi Contents
Chapter 4 Diverse Higher Education Environments 69
Developing and Developed Countries 69
National Academic Cultures and Policies 78
Academic Versus Business Cultures 85
Different-Type Institutions 89
Diverse Subject-Matters 96
Chapter 5 Navigating between Contrasting Trends 101
Globalization Versus National Needs 102
Broadening Access Versus Marketization 107
Competition Versus Collaboration 113
Intellectual Property Versus Intellectual Philanthropy 117
Chapter 6 Quo Vadis? – Some Future Trends 123
Promoting Institutional Diversity 124
Enhancing Flexibility 128
Changing Roles of Academic Faculty 130
Consolidating Research Findings on
Teaching and Learning 133
Gradual Change of Academic Environments 134
Emergence of New Technologies 136
References 139
Index 167
PREFACE

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 worldwide 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
viii Sarah Guri-Rosenblit
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.
These multiple contrasting trends, and the visible gap between some
sweeping expectations echoed in the 1990s as to immense impacts of the
digital technologies on higher education environments and their actual
implementation, are dealt in this book. The various chapters in the book
provide a critical and reflective view on the implementation of the digital
technologies in higher education from various perspectives, based on
hundreds of comprehensive reviews, books, monographs, policy statements,
articles and research reports.
Chapter 1 – This chapter deals with the 'The Tower of Babel Syndrome', a
confusing language and misleading conclusions, resulting from the fact that
people refer to totally different roles of the digital technologies while using
the same generic terms, and vice versa - use many different terms to describe
the same functions. Even a modest exploration of the growing number of
articles and publications describing technology innovations in higher
education settings yields a long list of hard-to-distinguish terminology of more
than twenty different terms which describe the employment of the new
technologies in education settings. The multiple terms reflect the lack of a
standardized language in the discourse on the digital media in educational
settings, as well as portray different foci in relating to their impact. Some
terms focus on the 'communication' and 'interaction' functions facilitated by
the technologies' abilities, while other terms refer to the whole process of
learning or to the overall study environment, and so on. Chapter 1 also
distinguishes between 'distance education' and 'e-learning' (or any other term
describing the applications of the digital technologies in educational settings),
since there is a noticeable tendency to confuse between them, though marked
differences exists between these two concepts.