Computer based learning in tertiary education and industry : the Australian experience

Thesis (M.Ed.) -- University of Melbourne,1989This study describes the influence of information technology on the changing nature of tertiary education and industrial training. It describes an historical precedent for the present changes, and suggests that computer-based teaching and learning has a role in helping society cope with these changes. The study examines the pedagogical background for using computers in teaching and learning, and describes how this use has evolved around the world and in Australia. It also considers the economic implications of using computers in teaching and learning, both in macro-economic terms and as an influence on the administration of organisations implementing computer-based teaching and learning. From an Australia-wide survey of practitioners in computer-based teaching and learning, the study examines the state of development in Australia in 1988. It demonstrates a considerable experience base in academia and in industry, but it also identifies some weaknesses in the experience. In particular it show the difficulty some users have justifying computer-based teaching and learning against other forms of training; ambivalence about the importance of self-paced learning; ambivalence about the importance of learner response, evaluation and certification; little support from organisations in which users work; and little access to business and marketing skills for marketing the product of research and development in computer-based teaching and learning. The study identifies four necessary and sufficient conditions for the successful development of computer-based teaching and learning. It suggests that it is the lack of people with skill and experience, not lack of physical resources which is holding development back. Development can, it suggests, be speeded by enlightened administrations supporting innovative development; by motivating individuals to contribute to development; and by establishing a centre of excellence in which such development is encouraged. Finally, it suggests that we are leaving behind a cottage industry model of computer-based teaching and learning development, and entering an era of large scale production of useful resources