Review by: Ronteltap, Frans (2005-09-21)

Learning technology is emerging from its infancy. So much is evident from a new book published on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the British Association for Learning Technology (ALT). In ten chapters, a wealth of interesting subjects are discussed from a broad spectrum of perspectives, including a decline in the prevalence of learning contents, the promotion of expertise, the integration of technology into educational practice, and experiences in the Netherlands and Australia. In addition, the current situation regarding scientific research into educational technology also receives the attention it merits.

Everyone is familiar with the feeling that progress is rapid when viewed retrospectively and that surprising advances have been made, especially when one recalls ones’ expectations . That is the spirit in which this book is written, making it no simple task to give a comprehensive summary of it. I have therefore decided to refrain from doing so and concentrate instead on a number of chapters that drew my attention. This is a review of chapter 6, entitled “From Pioneers to Partners: The Changing Voices of Staff Developers”

Promotion of Expertise
In this chapter Allison Littlejohn and Susi Peacock describe successes achieved in support offered to users – predominantly teachers – over the last ten years. Their historical account is divided into five eras, recognisable from my own experience:

1. The ‘pioneer era’, in which the prevailing – optimistic – idea was that a rich multimedia learning environment is in itself sufficient to motivate students. At the time, teacher support focused primarily on the development of courseware with authors’ programmes.
2. The ‘practice era’, which was characterised by the rapid growth of access to facilities. Surprisingly, however, this did not result in an increased use of technology in educational practice. A national programme was launched in which 24 regional centres were set up to provide support to education.
3. The ‘policy era’, which was marked by the establishment of the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE). Guidelines were developed for integrating technology into educational practice. In vogue were case studies, descriptions of good practices and the development of online courses including the application of various pedagogical ideas.
4. The ‘educational era’, which was accompanied by a requirement for collaboration in the field of educational support, thereby bringing together technologists without any educational background and educationalists without any technological background.
5. That brings us to the ‘partnership era’, in which people have become aware that expertise across a range of disciplines has to be combined. This means that educational technologists, educational researchers, information and communication technology developers, material developers, library assistants, specialist teachers and policy assistants will have to join forces to find answers to issues currently facing educational practice.

Current issues regarding professionalisation of teachers
Following a historical account, current practices are subjected to a critical examination and a number of searching questions posed:Do these developments in teacher professionalisation connect with the needs of both teachers and students? Answer: Yes, but the realization that such connection is necessary was late in coming.

Do support staff devote sufficient attention to the changing roles of teachers in education? The answer given to this question seems to me somewhat vague. The authors suffice with a plea for abundant communication in which both parties get to know each other well and keep abreast of relevant developments.

Is educational technology embedded in education? Not yet. This will continue to be the case for as long as e-learning and educational strategies are separate, links are lacking between central facilities and decentralized support, and where scientifically founded support and more practically oriented support, much of it more service oriented, continue to exist side by side.

Plea for reorientation
The authors conclude with a wish for the future, which I will not keep from the reader of this review: it is a plea for reorienting the way in which support is organized. It is conventional to distinguish a top-down approach from a bottom-up one, i. e. course policy from learning policy. Littlejohn and Peacock refrain from making a choice: both are important, but must be supplemented with a third so-called middle-out approach in which communities co-operate in attaining strategic goals. However, they add, “All three are seldom simultaneously implemented within an institution,” implying that we still have a long way to go.

This review is originally published on the SURF E-learning Themesite http://e-learning.surf.nl