What Are Learners Doing?

There is an emerging belief that young people in western society now relate horizontally, or laterally, more than vertically. They relate more effectively to their friends, to the internet and to the interactive media in general than they do to 'authority' or to their families. (David Watson,'What ever happened to the student experience'⁹)

Good communications are at the heart of successful relationships. It is no surprise then that young people make extensive use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in fostering and developing their networks of relationships. The students who attend our universities and colleges today have a view of technology that is integrated into their daily lives.

Institutions with a high proportion of non-traditional learners may rightly criticise an over-emphasis on how young people learn but there is no denying that people in all walks of life interact with information and communications technologies in ways that were unimaginable 20 years ago. The challenge for educators is to find ways of making the simplest and most ubiquitous tools support the learning experience.

For most educational institutions, however, whilst this integration, or embedding of technology, is what they are trying to achieve, it remains somewhat elusive. ICT is often something that is 'over there' in a separate computer lab, or bolted onto traditional library settings. It seems obvious that a goal of ICT integrated into curricular activity is only likely to be achieved if the technology is ubiquitous and deeply embedded in our learning spaces.