Abstract
WITH THE CONTINUED ADVANCES in information technology and associated communication comes the interconnectivity of all businesses and all industries. Either by default or association, this process will have an effect on the traditional education system. The information age has encouraged the ubiquity of a seemingly endless supply of information that is there just waiting to be internalized by students who have the ability and the inclination to interrogate the vast range of information systems available.
Futurists suggest that all facets of education will change. Virtual education, online teaching, global universities, demise of traditional teaching methods are just some of the terms used to describe this euphoria. Much has been written about new models of teaching and learning emerging, driven by accessible new media. Associated with these writings claims that the role of the teacher and trainer is becoming one of a facilitator of learning discovery are not uncommon.
This paper will consider the relationship between pedagogy and technology in driving the changes to the education process in the 21st Century, and what outcomes will determine the efficacy of these new learning environments.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angell, I.O. (1995, October 12). I have seen the future…and it works (for some)!Third Annual Clifford Barclay Enterprise Lecture. Working Paper LSE53. Department of Information Systems, London School of Economics.
Applegate, L.M., Cash, J.I., & Quinn Mills, D. (1994). Building the information age organisation: structure, control and information technologies.Informational Technology and Tomorrows Manager, 3, 473–482.
Barnard, J. (1997) The World Wide Web and higher education: Promise of virtual universities and online libraries.Educational Technology, 37, 30–35.
Berge, Z.L. (1999). Interaction in post secondary web-based learning.Educational Technology, 38, 57–61.
Campbell, A. (1996).The culture of the virtual organisation: Creating competitive advantage. University of Warwick.
Cornell, R. (1999, May/June). The onrush of technology in education: The professor’s new dilemma.Educational Technology, 39(3), 60–63.
Cox, P. (1999).Online Learning: Old Wine, New Bottles or a New Way to Learn in a Post-Modern Society? The Office of Post. Compulsory Education, Training and Employment, Department of Education, Employment and Training (Victoria, Australia).
Dertouzos, M.L. (1998).What will be: How the new world of information will change our lives. San Francisco: Harper Collins.
English, S., & Yazdani, M. (1999). Computer-supported co-operative learning in a virtual university.Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 15, 2–13.
Hardin, J., & Ziebarth, J. (1995).Digital technology and its impact on education — A white paper (Draft) [Online] Available: http://www.ed.gov/Technology/Futures/hardin.html
Herrington, A., Herrington, J., Sparrow, L., & Oliver, R. (1999). Investigating mathematics education using multimedia.Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 7(3), 175–186.
Hopper, K. (1999). Mastering the invisible technologies in education: who are the real technology prodigies among college teachers?Educational Technology, 39(3), 50–55.
Hutchison, C. (1998). The virtual university and the culture of learning.Education Libraries Journal, 41(1), 5–11.
Jones-Delcorde, D.H. (1999). The information age: The instructor-computer dilemma.Education Today, 45(2), 32–33.
Joo, J.E. (1999). Cultural issues of the internet in classrooms.British Journal of Educational Technology, 30(3), 245–250.
Kershaw, A. (1996). People, planning and process: The acceptance of technological innovation in post-secondary organisation.Educational Technology, 36(5), 44–48.
Knight, J. (1996, Mar/Apr). The virtual classroom.Business Education Today, 14–35.
MacFarlane, A.G.J. (1997).Information, knowledge and learning. Paper presented to the Learning Environments and Technology Working Group of the University of the Highlands and Islands Project.
Morrison, L.J. (1999).The technology source. [Online] Available: http://horizon.unc.edu/ts/vision/1999-09.
Morrison, A. (2000, May).Critical hyperreading for online news: A case study from zimbabwe. A Symposium for New Competencies for Production & Consumption of Computer-based Media. Roskilde University (Bornholm), 10–12.
Oliver, R., & Herrington, J. (1997). Multimedia, magic and the way students respond to a situated learning environment.Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 13(2), 127–143.
Pantelidis, V.S., & Auld, L. (1995). Virtual reality in the schools.Virtual Reality And Education Laboratory, 1(1), East Carolina University Greenville, North Carolina, USA. [Online] Available: http://www.soe.ecu.edu/vr/vrits/1-1-cont.htm
Roberton, D.S. (1998).The new Renaissance: Computers and the next level of civilisation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Salomon, G. (2000).It’s not just the tool, but the educational rationale that counts. Keynote address at the 2000 Ed-Media World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications. Montreal, Canada. [Online] Available: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/00/salomonkeynote.htm
Schurer, G. (1997).Liberation from the slavery of time and space. Discussion Presentation Group 28, Paper 489. Association for Learning Technology Conference (ALT-C 97). University of Wolverhampton: UK.
Shenk, D. (1997).Data smog: Surviving the information glut. New York: Harper.
Thomas, G. (1996). Education and technology in the third wave.Oxford Review Of Education, 12(3), 223–231.
Trowler, P. (1997). Beyond the Robbins trap: Reconceptualising academic responses to change in higher education (or…quiet flows the don?Studies in Higher Education, 22(3), 15–22.
Westera, W. (1999, Jan/Feb). Parodies in open, networked leaning environment: Toward a paradigm, shift.Educational Technology, 17, 23.
Wilson, A. (1996, May 24). The virtual university? Myth or reality?Capability 2. 62–65.
White, C. (1998).The role of technology in teacher education: A postmodern critique. University of Houston. [Online] Available: http://www.coe.uh.edu/insite/elec_pub/HTML1998/th_whit.htm.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
John O’Donoghue’s background covers a wide range of educational experiences. In his early career he taught in a social priority area school, moving later to post graduate lecturing, advising and consultancy for both initial teaching training and education departments and more recently a position as the senior education officer within a large education authority.
In 1991 he was granted the position of Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Keele. He hosted the largest U.K. academic technology conference in 1997, attracting most of the U.K. Higher Education community and a significant number of overseas delegates. In August 1998 he was invited to join a team of researchers as part of a UNESCO funded project looking at the use and development of technology in educational applications. The same year he was appointed Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong, Australia, specializing in the development and delivery of flexible course material via multiple media. He now holds a visiting research chair at the University of Wollongong and is a consultant to a major project with the Australian Universities Teaching Committee on Information and Communication Technologies and Their Role in Flexible Learning.
As an advocate of the “global classroom,” O’Donoghue continues to write and publish extensively on the use and exploitation of the information in information technology. In his present post, he is responsible for the academic and pedagogical aspects of networked learning technologies with special emphasis on the education and training sector.
Gurmak Singh is a subject leader for Finance and Information Management at the University of Wolverhampton in the Business School. His primary research thrust involves social learning, facets of designing teaching and learning software. He has research papers accepted and published in a number of conferences proceedings and in journals.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
O’Donoghue, J., Singh, G., Caswell, S. et al. Pedagogy vs. Technocentrism in virtual universities. J. Comput. High. Educ. 13, 25–46 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02940943
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02940943