Designing Online

Why Use Technology and Online Education in the Classroom?

In 2004 'The Australian' newspaper published an article titled "Motherboard beats Blackboard: Australian Schools Expand Technology" ('The Australian', September 6, 2004). In it the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) says that technology has really and truly arrived and that they are now focusing on the teacher. They say that "Technology is a way of thinking".

The Aussie Educator Website (Apr 2011) says: “Not only has the range of technology changed, but it has widened access to knowledge to such an extent that students as well as others now have to accept they will be lifelong learners. As Alvin Toffler has said - ‘The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn’. Heidi-Hayes Jacobs says - ‘Teachers need to integrate technology seamlessly into the curriculum instead of viewing it as an add-on, an afterthought, or an event’. Encouraging students to learn how to learn is, in our opinion, the most important aspect of education. 

Far more important to the mission of the University of Adelaide is the clear and definite qualitative feedback received from many of the 1472 students who undertook a university wide survey during the month of May 2005. They said they want lecturers to make more consistent and effective use of technology (My Uni survey). Lecturers can no longer consider online learning and teaching the realm of distance education. It has become a way of thinking for students, when they are on campus and in the classroom, especially the students enrolling for the first time this year. The majority of these students are of the generation often called "millennials" or the "Net Generation" and educating the Net Generation is both a responsibility and a challenge that the University of Adelaide must address.

It has also been said that "A virtual learning environment is a Trojan horse that gets staff to think about how they teach. Once you make the move into e-learning, it definitely makes you think more about your face-to-face teaching." Alan Staley, Head of Learning Technology Development Unit, University of Central England.

Go to Instructional Design for information on how to design online.