December 20168 Technologies in Higher Education: The Predicted, the Predicaments and the PossibilitiesEstablished in 2009, SUTD is an autonomous university which was established in collaboration with MIT to advance knowledge and nurture technically grounded leaders and innovators to serve societal needs.By Nachamma Sockalingam, Assistant Director, Singapore University of Technology and DesignRapid advancements in technol-ogy have transformed many spheres of work- be it Business, Finance, or Arts. Higher education is no exception. Experts predict that technology will bring about massive changes to teaching and learning. However, the ground reality is a far cry. Emerging data suggest that tech-nologization in higher education is moving at a much slower pace.For instance, the NMC Horizon identified Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) as a Near Term Adoption- that is, technologies that are expected to achieve widespread adoption in less than one year or less. Interestingly, the reports from 2015 and 2016 also identified BYOD to be a Near Term Adoption. This example illustrates the slow pace of technology adoption in teaching and learning. This raises questions on the slow pace of technology adoption in higher education. To address this, I propose taking a historical perspective of teaching and learning­ so that we may understand the possible challenges and solutions for adopting technology in higher education.Teaching and Learning in Higher EducationTraditionally, universities and even K-12 schools across the globe have practiced teacher-centered teaching methods­ where teaching is considered to be transfer of knowledge to students. Although students will learn in this method, numerous research studies indicate that learning is deeper through active, experiential, inquiry-based, and collaborative learning. The latter is often modelled in student-centered teaching methods such as problem/project-based learning.While educational institutions recognize the value of moving towards student-centered teaching methods, I feel that universities face more inertia than K-12 schools in institutionalizing student-centered pedagogies. This is because student-centered pedagogies require smaller student groups to a teacher. Unfortunately, this requirement does not align well with the existing infrastructure and support system of traditional universities that are lecture-based.Technology in Teaching and LearningAlong with this evolution of pedagogies, we notice a sudden influx of technologies in higher education.While both teacher-centered and student-centered teaching models could utilize technology to increase productivity and efficiency, the student-centered teaching models tend to go one step further. Characterized by active, engaged, experiential, inquiry-based and collaborative learning, they tend to integrate technology for transformed learning, rather than just enhanced learning.If we take stock of the present day technologies in education, most seem to be tailored towards teacher-centered teaching. Broadly, teaching and learning can be classified into 5 activities. They are (1) Course management, (2) Content delivery, (3) Participation with content and instructor, (4) Collaboration and (5) Assessment and feedback. I call this the "Teaching and Learning Activity Framework".Commonly used existing technologies in universities (e.g., as Learning Management System) tend to be strong in course management, content delivery and in promoting participation through self-directed, independent learning activities that are more aligned with teacher-centered teaching. However, tools for collaboration and assessment that contribute to peer learning and online assessment are comparatively less developed. The latter activities tend to be more prominent in student- centered pedagogies. Integration of Technology in Teaching and LearningWhile educational scholars propose that pedagogy should underpin the use of technology, lecturers, in practice, IN MY VIEW
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