Lectopia. More Convenience And Control to Learning in Tertiary Education - Essay Example

Lectopia: More Convenience And Control to Learning in Tertiary Education Lectopia is also known as iLecture, which is the audio-visual presentation of lectures through PowerPoint slides that can be viewed on a PC at any time. As an educational tool, Lectopia has been found useful for students in universities who belong to the Net Generation, so called because they grew up on Internet use. These are the people that compose the student population in today's universities since they were born between 1977 and 1998. Among the characteristics attributed by sociological studies to this generation include diversity, individualism, multitasking, networking and active learning. Educational planners recognized these traits as primed for an alternative tutorial system like Lectopia and so iLecture has been implemented in a number of universities in the US, UK and Australia. This paper examined the impact of Lectopia on the learning experience of students in selected Australian universities and found that the system is beneficial in many ways. However, no one has yet conducted the appropriate achievement tests to determine the actual influence of Lectopia in terms of faster and more efficient acquisition of academic skills and competencies. Introduction Technology is bringing social, economic and political development to new levels of efficiency through such ICT applications as e-mail, instant messaging, document sharing, Web conferencing, shared work spaces, and online training and events management. These ICT systems are revolutionizing almost all human activities (Ayers, 2002) to the point that e-commerce or e-business are becoming the platforms of choice because of lesser costs and more convenience. Education is the latest sector to join the ICT bandwagon because of the increasing realization that technology can provide academics with the tools to interact with students in a more flexible way and support a more student-centered approach to teaching (Collis & Moonen, 2001; Laurillard, 1993). The desire for an alternative system in the conduct of lectures was impelled partly by growing concerns that today's university graduates lack the skills and competencies that would make them competitive in the technology-driven workplace (Dunkin, 1999). In Australia, for example, employers' dissatisfaction rate with fresh graduates was increasing. Obviously with these concerns in mind, the University of Western Australia (UWA) developed the country's first iLecture system in 1998, followed by Macquarie University in 2005. According to McElroy & Blount (2006), another consideration for the introduction of Lectopia in these schools was the changing socioeconomic profile of students in Australia, which now runs third behind the US and UK in hosting the largest number of international college students. A non-English speaking background is a handicap for international students because they may go through a lecture with little comprehension (Bennett & Lockyer, 2004). Applicability remains one of the most compelling reasons for the adoption of Lectopia in Australian universities. The student population in Australian universities being dominated by the Net Generation, Lectopia is compatible with the characteristics identified with this generation, whose preferences include online communication, mobility and accessibility (Thielfold & Scheef, 2004). Williams & Pardon (2007) observe that the youth in the Net Generation are more comfortable with hypertext, laptop libraries, instant messaging and beamed messages such that they took to iLecture like fish to water. For this reason, a survey on the use of Lectopia by Macquarie students showed that 73.15 percent agreed to its capability to improve the quality of education (McElroy & Bount, 2006). The survey involved 828 students in a second-year accounting course, of which 202 were locals and 626 were foreign students. Methodology For the study, we collected both the primary and secondary data of research through the observation and direct communication methods. The observation method referred to our review of the literature, which gave special attention to studies that discussed Lectopia as a tutorial instrument and attempted to measure the impact of Lectopia on the learning practices and habits of students. In measuring how students perceive iLecture as an alternative to traditional face-to-face lectures, the studies used the 5-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree. As for the direct communication method designed to generate the primary data, we conducted a Web-based survey of universities that have implemented the Lectopia system, focusing on the rationale and motivations behind it. In effect, we wanted the primary data to validate the secondary data set in the literature, such as the information that Lectopia adds convenience, connectivity and control to students. Because iLecture can be accessed at the student's convenience, it improves accessibility and flexibility (Biggs, 2003), which is important for students who will soon enter the workplace that is not only technology-driven but where flexible working is now the increasing norm. Analysis of Research Material The general impression we gathered from the study is that Lectopia is user-friendly for reasons more numerous than attending traditional face-to-face lectures. For one, students can revisit difficult concepts that may have gone over their heads the first time and they can play back the lectures any time they choose, while doing something else. This is significant to non-English speaking students, those who live a distance from their schools, and the working students. If the survey of Lectopia-using Macquarie students is any indication, majority of the school population in English-speaking countries like Australia consists of foreign students whose number rises with globalization, which is matched by increasing number of students who need to work because of economic slowdown. Thus, international students dominated the McElroy & Blount (2006) survey, 626 against only 202 locals. The study in fact indicates that regular students outside of the above categories find traditional face-to-face lectures the better learning method. Critical Assessment In the McElroy & Blount (2006) survey, the subjects were asked if Lectopia really enhances teaching in their course. The strongly agree answer was given b 97 students and only 1 strongly disagreed. The non-English speaking students dominated those who favored iLecture in that sense at 34.95 percent, followed by those who need to travel a long way to school at 21.94 percent, and students who combined studies with work at 14.29 percent. Of the surveyed students, 189 said they found Lectopia handy in making up for missed lectures, 127 in reviewing for exams, 116 in checking notes, and 21 in listening to other class lectures on the same subject. All in all, 78.39 percent of the students said their learning experienced is enhanced by Lectopia, 70.37 percent said it gave them better understanding of topics being discussed in the course, and 84.26 percent said it was an effective learning tool ( (McElroy & Blount, 2006). However, the study showed that students are not prepared to accept iLecture as a whole replacement for traditional lectures (McShane, 2004). Asked if they think face-to-face lecture offers a better learning experience, 72 agreed strongly and only 2 disagreed strongly. This means that not all students derive benefit from Lectopia or find it desirable. Conclusion There are as diverse types of students as there are different learning styles and preferences. For this reason, it is not advisable and educationally beneficial to adopt Lectopia as replacement for traditional face-to-face lectures. As in other newfangled technologies, the one-size-fits-all approach will not work for this system since there as many foreign and working students as there are locals who are professional students. Bibliography 1) Ayers, E.L. (2002). "Technological Revolutions I Have Known." In O.V. Burton (ed), Computing in the Social Sciences and Humanities, Champaigne, IL: University of Illinois Press. 2) Bennett, S. & Lockyer, L. (2004). "Becoming an Online Teacher: Adapting to a Changed Environment for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education." Educational Media International 41 (3). 3) Brown, M. (2005). "Learning Spaces." In D. Oblinger & J/ Oblinger (eds), Educating the Net Generation. Webpage design (online) retrieved 19 October 2008 from: http://www.educause.edu/educatingthenetgen 4) Collis, B. & Moonen, J. (2001). "Flexible Learning in a Digital World: Experiences and Expectations." London: Koran Page. 5) Dunkin, R. (1999). "Teaching and Learning Reinvigorated: A Case Study." Tertiary Education and Management 5 (4). 6) McElroy, J. & Blount, Y. (2006). "You, Me and iLecture." Department of Accounting and Finance, Macquarie University. 7) McShane, K. (2004). "Integrating Face-to-Face and Online Teaching: Academics' Role Concept and Teaching Choices." Teaching in Higher Education 9 (1). 8) Williams, J. & Fardon, M. (2007). "Perpetual Connectivity: Lecture Recordings and Portable Media Players." Arts Multimedia Center, University of Western Australia. 9) Thielfoldt, D. & Scheef, D. (2004). " Generation X and the Millennials: What You Need to Know about Mentoring the New Generation." John Wiley & Sons Inc. . Read More