The Integration and Effectiveness of Information and Communication Technologies in Canadian Postsecondary Education Dr. Carl Cuneo, Director, EvNet, Network for the Evaluation of Education and Training Technologies, McMaster University, Thanks to Brian Campbell and Delsworth Harnish

Communication & Information Technologies & the Seven Principles of Undergraduate Education 1.Student-faculty contacts Peer student cooperation 2. Online collaborative projects & group work 3. Active learning3. Online search, explore 4. Prompt feedback4. Real time chat, 5. Time on task 5. Efficient remote access to material 6. High expectations 6. Use web publishing as displays to class & others 7. Diverse learning 7. Linear v nonlinear hyperlinking (Chickering & Ehrmann, AAHE, 1996)

Methods of communication very important or important to students’ course experience Face to face in class84% Face to face outside class with students70% Telephone63% Face to face outside class with prof.61% with professors50% with students34% Newsgroups, listservs12% Live real time computer chat11% 10 campus student surveys (Campbell)

Double-Sided View towards ICTs: Per Cent Students Agreeing With “Computer skills are important for my student work” 83% “Communicating with instructors by is generally effective” 71% “Computer skills are important for most of the jobs in which I am interested” 67% “Computers do not replace the need for lectures and discussion” 90% “Communicating with instructors by is better than talking to them face to face” 18% “Computer based instruction should replace all face-to-face contact in some courses” 6% 10 campus student surveys (Campbell)

What Technologies Do Faculty & Students Use? TechnologyFacultyStudents Wordprocessor98%88% Personal 94%71% Web surf92%79% faculty or student89%49% Library search82%50% Computer presentation45%27% Database28%36% Games17%66% Programming13%15% 16 Campus Faculty & Student Surveys (Campbell)

Student Learning Styles, Faculty Teaching Styles and Appropriate Technologies Technology Policy Choices Appropriate Technology Infrastructure Student Surface Learning Student Deep Learning Faculty Guide on Side Faculty Sage on Stage Effective Teaching & Learning with Technologies New Economy Skills & Canada’s Global Compet- tiveness

Learning Styles: Students Who Restrict Communications to Registered Online Course Conferences Only Competitive learners (marks ultimate goal of learning) Surface learners (facts; memorization) Syllabus Boundness (stay within bounds of course) Extrinsic motivators (interested in paper certificates only) 3 campus online CMC surveys (Cuneo and Harnish)

Learning Styles: Students Who Communicate & Explore Across Non-Registered Online Courses Comprehension Learners (explore free association of ideas) Deep learners (seek the understand the meaning of what is leaned) Relate ideas (draw concept map of ideas) Intrinsic motivators (passionate interest in learning, no matter where it takes them) 3 campus online CMC surveys (Cuneo and Harnish)

Teaching Styles: How Do Sages on Stage Use Computers in Teaching? Prepare tests with word-processors Record grades in spreadsheets To deal with large class sizes To cover more material To transfer the faculty member’s knowledge of computing to teaching To compensate for the lack of teaching assistants To teach students more computing techniques 6 Campus Faculty Surveys (Campbell)

Teaching Styles: What Kinds of Technologies do Sages on the Stages Use? Course Management Systems (WebCT; Blackboard) Spreadsheets & Database programs Presentation software; computer projection; electronic slide shows File transfer protocols (ftp) on web Computerized testing; question & answer drill programs Preparation of paper tests with software Demonstrations/simulations 6 Campus Faculty Surveys (Campbell)

Teaching Styles: How Do Guides on the Side Use Computers in Teaching? Prepare lectures and class notes (writing) To get students to write more (normally not encouraged in large classes) To help students work in groups To build informal links between students To communicate more effectively between teachers and students 6 Campus Faculty Surveys (Campbell)

Teaching Styles: What Kinds of Technologies do Guides on the Side Use? Wordprocessors (creative writing) Web search engines (exploring hyperlinks on web) Library and other reference search engines (for exploring bibliographies) Group messaging systems so students can communicate with one another to students as formal part of course 6 Campus Faculty Surveys (Campbell)

Six Levels of Technology Integration into Teaching & Learning 1.Campus site license 2.Instructor adoptions 3.Integration into course design 4.Easy student access to the technology 5.Efficient use by students 6.Effective impact on student learning

Policy Recommendations: Investment Decisions Make evaluation of learning technologies an a priori requirement of implementation of ICTs. Incorporate learning and teaching styles into technology investment decisions –Too often, decisions are made by technical and administrative staff with little awareness of learning and pedagogical practices

Policy Recommendations: Diverse Teaching & Learning Styles Implement somewhat different technologies for: –Sages on the stage –Guides on the side –Deep and comprehension learners –Surface and syllabus bound learners Teachers and learners may be at risk if they are forced to work with technologies inappropriate to their learning and teaching styles