Trends in higher education 

The higher education learning environment is undergoing extensive changes as it embraces technology to deliver courses more innovatively and creatively (Viberg et al., 2018). New trends and applications include; learning analytics, BYOD, M-learning, VR and AR, and maker space. All these enable instructors to deliver courses in a more creative way.

At USP learning analytics is used by various course coordinators as they use the moodle platform to facilitate learning. Learning analytics is used to monitor student log-ins, how students perform in online assessments, quizzes, and how often students log in. Those who don’t login can be reminded, sent an email to check on their performance or basically to find out if they are facing any problems. Moodle also has a feature that alerts the teaching staff that a particular student has not logged in for some time, this allows the teaching staff to get in touch with the student to find out what the problem is and appropriate action is taken (Leitner et al., 2017). It is very helpful as the instructor is able to attend to the student and assist accordingly. At USP learning analytics has helped students in their first year, as there is a first-year coordinator who assists students and connects them to SLS as well as the course coordinator. This has increased retention levels at 100 levels and kept students continuing with their second-year studies.

BYOD is basically where students are encouraged to bring in their own devices (laptops, tablets, smart phones and other devices) which assists them in learning. Students can be asked to use their devices to do research and then present the findings in class. This increases student engagement and encourages cooperative and peer learning.

Mlearning was used at USP some years ago and was very popular in sending messages to students about classes, changes in class times, exam time, venue, etc. it was an efficient way to communicate with students if only students had the same mobile number. One of the limitations was that there was only one-way communication – from the instructor to the student.

In management studies VR, AR and maker space can be further explored as there is a lot of scope since it stimulates learning. VR and AR have not been used but maker space is used in Marketing classes (MG 206) where students are encouraged to come up with original products and design marketing strategies for the local market. This enables students to contextualize what they are learning in the course.

I plan to use makerspace in my management classes as it will enhance creativity in students and increase student engagement. I am also interested in using free games that will further help students understand and apply what they have learnt (Beuk, 2016; Cook & Swift, 2006; Wellington & Faria, 1996). This can be used in setting up a new business (MG 305 Entrepreneurship) or making strategic decisions whether to diversify the business and the product lines. I plan to use game stimulations as an assessment (10%).

 

 

References:                     

Beuk, F. (2016). Sales simulation games: student and instructor perceptions. Journal of Marketing Education, 38(3), 170-182.

Cook, R. W., & Swift, C. O. (2006). The pedagogical efficacy of a sales management simulation. Marketing Education Review, 16(3), 37-46.

Leitner, P., Khalil, M., & Ebner, M. (2017). Learning analytics in higher education—a literature review. Learning analytics: Fundaments, applications, and trends, 1-23.

Viberg, O., Hatakka, M., Bälter, O., & Mavroudi, A. (2018). The current landscape of learning analytics in higher education. Computers in Human Behavior, 89, 98-110.

Wellington, W. J., & Faria, A. J. (1996). The use of simulation games in marketing classes: Is simulation performance due to luck or skill?. Journal of Marketing Education, 18(2), 50-61.

 Using Google Classroom and OERs to improve the learning experience of students in higher education institutions

The first section will highlight web tool usage to teach online followed by a discussion on open education resource (OER) usage.

Facilitating online learning can be challenging and at the same time fascinating as it allows the instructor to explore a wide range of resources.  There are a number of web tools that can be used to facilitate online learning and one of these is Google classroom. This is an interesting platform as it allows the instructor to place learning materials, course notes, PowerPoint slides, and even video recordings on the google classroom platform. I have used this platform to a certain extent last year in my MG 302 class and it was very helpful. G-mail credentials can be used to access and create the google classroom. The google classroom can be used as an alternative when moodle is down. Assessments can also be conducted using the google classroom platform and the best part is it is free of charge both for the instructor and the students. The instructor has to share a code with the students which allow students to access the online classroom. Announcements made using the google classroom can be accessed by students using their g-mail. There are many other features that can be further explored which is just amazing. The only drawback is that students will need access to the internet and appropriate electronic gadgets. In comparison to moodle this platform does not offer a plagiarism checking system hence students can cheat on their assignments by copying. Teaching operations management which involves teaching calculations can be a challenge as well.

Open Education Resources (OER) has allowed instructors around the world to use, share as well as mix and match resources while teaching. There are a lot of opportunities for instructors and students as they can learn and gain access to notes and learning materials from some very prominent universities (Knox, 2013). OERs can be reused, and remixed (text and videos) as well as other teaching material can be contextualized to suit the learning needs of students (Hylen, 2021).

The best license is the CC BY where there is no restriction while using the resource. The instructor or facilitator can use, reuse, and remix without any restrictions. At times certain OERS can be difficult to access, for example, it will require the instructor to upload a teaching material before accessing the free OERS. OERS should be readily available so that it can be used to facilitate learning.

 

 

References:

Hylén, J. (2021). Open educational resources: Opportunities and challenges.

 

Knox, J. (2013). Five critiques of the open educational resources movement. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(8), 821-832.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using Technology to enhance learning at higher education institutions

 Technology-enabled learning and the future of higher education present a lot of opportunities that instructors can explore as well as use to enhance students’ experiences (Ramlo, 2021). There has been a lot of experimenting with technology prior to the COVID 19 pandemic in higher education but in the last two years’ technology has helped educators to take delivery of higher education to greater heights (Olivera et al.,2021; Rapanta et al., 2021).

Face-to-face teaching was what staff were mostly accustomed to hence a bit reluctant to adopt online teaching. At times humans can refuse to adopt changes because they are so accustomed to or comfortable with and this is how academics felt about online learning (Ramlo, 2021).

 Before the pandemic, moodle was used as a platform to communicate, inform and place required learning materials for students. Big Blue Button was used from time to time to facilitate discussions and classes. Zoom, google classroom, Microsoft teams, etc. were hardly used. During the pandemic, academics had to explore other options and obviously face-to-face was not an option. During this time zoom became very popular. Online classes were facilitated using zoom, assessments were given using google forms, and assignments (more authentic ones) had to be given to students, these were marked and feedback was given online (Arity & Vesty, 2020). Screen-O-Matic was another free app that was used to record and place PowerPoint slide discussions online.

The COI model was more appropriate to the courses taught in Management and Public Administration discipline as it was based on constructive social learning theory. This will be further discussed as follows; social presence – encouraging students to discuss in groups by creating breakout rooms that allowed students from different campuses to discuss their ideas, opinions, and examples. This helped students to engage in peer learning, contextualize, work on problem-solving questions (business problems or managerial problems) as well as engage in critical thinking. The second aspect is cognitive presence – here students are able to construct and reflect on what they have learned during their classes or lecture discussions. In class, students are given activities where a company is restructured and 10 employees need to be selected who will be made redundant. Students need to apply their knowledge and state how they will make employees redundant, the processes and procedures they will follow, etc. The last point is teaching presence where attention has to be paid to the designing, facilitation, and instructions given to students during a class. Designing the class and facilitating discussions online can be challenging but giving precise instructions can be helpful for example when asking students to design a process map for a service industry using Lucid Chart app. Students can be further encouraged with the use of emojis, thumbs up, or even applause.

All these gestures really help students in the online learning environment and motivate them as they are able to engage in class activities online (Ma et al., 2021).

 

 

References:

Arity, V., & Vesty, G. (2020). Designing authentic assessments: Engaging business students in flow experience with digital technologies. In Tertiary Education in a Time of Change (pp. 21-38). Springer, Singapore.

 

Ma, G., Black, K., Blenkinsopp, J., Charlton, H., Hookham, C., Pok, W. F., ... & Alkarabsheh, O. H. M. (2021). Higher education under threat: China, Malaysia, and the UK respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 1-17.

 

Oliveira, G., Grenha Teixeira, J., Torres, A., & Morais, C. (2021). An exploratory study on the emergency remote education experience of higher education students and teachers during the COVID‐19 pandemic. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(4), 1357-1376.

 

Ramlo, S. (2021). The coronavirus and higher education: Faculty viewpoints about universities moving online during a worldwide pandemic. Innovative Higher Education, 46(3), 241-259.

 

Rapanta, C., Botturi, L., Goodyear, P., Guàrdia, L., & Koole, M. (2021). Balancing technology, pedagogy and the new normal: Post-pandemic challenges for higher education. Postdigital Science and Education, 3(3), 715-742.