Digital Transformation in Tourism Education

Abstract

Purpose -Digital technology is an undeniable prime mover of society, and the ongoing digital transformation seems to be increasing the challenges within Tourism Education. Thus, this study aims at identifying, in the literature, advantages and constraints it poses to the area. Methodology -This work follows a literature review methodology, focusing on peer-reviewed, open source, recently published research, and the selected papers were analysed though a content analysis. Findings -The results yielded that teachers and students agree that some of the clear advantages of using digital technology in Tourism Education are: i) time and space flexibility, ii) the development of technical/systemic competencies, and iii) the possibilities it opens for authentic/situated teaching and learning. Furthermore, even though the use of digital technology appears to have a positive effect on students' engagement, there is still some way to go to fully address the development of the students' and teachers' digital competence. Contributions -This study makes a valuable contribution to the current discussion around the need to reshape Tourism Education by addressing not only students' but also faculty members' needs. It has a dual focus, i.e. on the use of digital technology in teaching and learning; and on the development of digital competence. Even though it concerns Tourism in specific, the results of this paper can be seen as a contribution to the state of the art of upcoming and ongoing projects in the Educational areae.g. "Future Proof Your Classroom -Teaching Skills 2030" (ref. 2017-1-AT01-KA203-034984).

The effectiveness of ICT-enhanced learning on raising intercultural competencies and class interaction in a hospitality course

“…The above responses also revealed that the activities adopted in this study benefitted the students by increasing interaction and collaboration, as promoted by Kinyanjui (2019), and providing a learnercentered approach, as emphasized by Inoue and Bell (2006) and He et al (2019). These results echo the needs raised by Balula et al (2019) and Patiar et al (2017) to integrate ICT with professional developments in tourism and hospitality education.…”

“…Several studies adopted an ICT learning environment into curricula and found that instructors' pedagogical strategies for building a successful supportive learning environment can improve peer interaction and enhance learning motivation and course-directed learning interest (Chang et al, 2010;Xue, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020) The tourism and hospitality industries have seen a rise in the use of ICT, as these advancements have become an indispensable asset for businesses (Law et al, 2019). Balula et al (2019) emphasized the need for higher educational institutions to embed ICT skills in tourism curricula. The industry's adherence to globalized technological developments has raised the critical need for future professionals to possess digital literacies (Silva et al, 2019, March, 14-15).…”

“…Smith and Walters (2012) further developed this with the notion that ICT can engage students with easy access to course contents. Digital media was also seen as a method for rejuvenating conventional teaching methods (Balula et al, 2019). Yeh (2018) explored students' perceived benefits in relation to multimodal video-making.…”

Digital Transformation in Higher Education: A Case Study on Strategic Plans

“…The fact that the strategic plans of the universities included in the study, such as providing pieces of training on technological transformation to in-university academic staff, can be considered a positive strategy for eliminating generation conflicts in the form of digital native and digital immigrants [38]. Actually, as in the study of A. balula et al [39], negative attitudes towards digital technological innovations may be seen in academicians and pieces of awareness training are recommended for such resistances.…”

A transformative educational framework in tourism higher education through digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…As the current tourism education is considered traditional, changes in learning environments, educational methods, and curricula are required (Kalogiannakis, 2010;Hsu, 2018). The crucial role of digital technologies in the tourism sector brings a revolution leading to innovation, changing customers' behaviors, and enhancing their experiences (Balula et al, 2019;Law et al, 2014).…”