Displaced but not replaced: the impact of e-learning on academic identities in higher education

Abstract

Challenges facing universities are leading many to implement institutional strategies to incorporate e-learning rather than leaving its adoption up to enthusiastic individuals. Although there is growing understanding about the impact of e-learning on the student experience, there is less understanding of academics" perceptions of elearning and its impact on their identities. This paper explores the changing nature of academic identities revealed through case study research into the implementation of elearning at one UK university. By providing insight into the lived experiences of academics in a university in which technology is not only transforming access to knowledge but also influencing the balance of power between academic and student in knowledge production and use, it is suggested that academics may experience a jolt to their "trajectory of self" when engaging with e-learning. The potential for elearning to prompt loss of teacher presence and displacement as knowledge expert may appear to undermine the ontological security of their academic identity.

The effects of online professional development on higher education teachers' beliefs and intentions towards learning facilitation and technology

“…Despite the innovative, perhaps radical design, results published elsewhere (Rienties, et al, Submitted) seem to indicate that most participating academics were very satisfied with the program. Given the rather unusual design, one might expect that academics with a stronger affinity towards technology would have been more inclined to continue, while others with greater anxiety (Hanson, 2009) would be more likely to drop out.…”

“…The pressures on academic staff are substantially different from teachers in primary and secondary education (Alvarez, et al, 2009;Kinchin, 2012;Kinchin, Lygo-Baker, & Hay, 2008;Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, & Nevgi, 2007). As also argued in the next section, many academics primarily identify their own identity based upon their (research) discipline, and how pedagogy is used to deliver and share knowledge and skills with their students (Hanson, 2009;Lueddeke, 2003). In addition, higher education is characterised by a wide diversity of pedagogical approaches, with some academic staff having a student-centred approach, while others primarily adopt a teacher-centred approach (Kinchin, 2012;Lueddeke, 2003;Rienties, Kaper, et al, 2012).…”

“…This reflects concerns in the literature that although professional development of academics in higher education may have begun at encouraging a greater focus on the learner (Asmar, 2002), the stimuli for this has been administration-led and not teacher-led (Hanson, 2009;Knapper, 2000) resulting in programs that reflect institutional goals rather than actually enhancing student learning. Furthermore, Stes et al (2011) argue that it is important to conduct research into the characteristics of participants who volunteer to participate in professional development, as well as better understand why some academics successfully persist and complete such a program while others drop out.…”

“…teaching increasingly diverse students (Alvarez, Guasch, & Espasa, 2009;Hanson, 2009;Rienties, Beausaert, Grohnert, Niemantsverdriet, & Kommers, 2012;Volman, 2005).…”

Exploring students' perception and efficiency of technology-mediated ESP teaching

“…British methodologist Marsh (2012) and western scholars such as Brodsky (2003), Chapell (2001, Rutven-Stewart (2003), Hanson (2009), Brown (2006 pointed out the need for a competent approach to the development and introduction of e-learning courses in teaching English in order to form a student's positive attitude towards this type of learning using ICT.…”