Peripatetic electronic teachers in higher education

Abstract

This paper explores the idea of information and communications technology providing a medium enabling higher education teachers to act as freelance agents. The notion of a 'Peripatetic Electronic Teacher' (PET) is introduced to encapsulate this idea. PETs would exist as multiple telepresences (pedagogical, professional, managerial and commercial) in PET-worlds; global networked environments which support advanced multimedia features. The central defining rationale of a pedagogical presence is described in detail and some implications for the adoption of the PET-world paradigm are discussed. The ideas described in this paper were developed by the author during a recently completed Short-Term British Telecom Research Fellowship, based at the BT Adastral Park. IntroductionMost people would agree that the role of teachers in higher education will be changed by the advent of modern information and communication technology (ICT). At the very least open and distant learning (ODL) will become an established feature of educational provision rather than a specialist aspect. This is already evident in the increasing use of ODL in combination with conventional forms of course delivery by universities. More radically it is claimed that there will be a fundamental change in the nature of educational institutions, leading to the notion of virtual university, e.g. the Western Governors University (http://www.wgu.ed). These claims have in common the notion of utilizing the distributed nature of ICT to provide partnerships between teachers and learners that are not defined by either spatial or temporal constraints.While the concept of a virtual university is radical, there is an implicit assumption that educators will still be primarily affiliated to one institution. An even more radical claim is that ICT will break exclusive links between educators and a single institution. Just as future learners may be seen as clients contracting to receive educational provision from a range of providers, educators may be seen as independent workers offering their services to learners on demand. These educators will not be confined to the classroom, rather they will be electronic workers providing a virtual presence in public spaces, the workplace and the home. A new type of peripatetic electronic teacher (PET) will emerge. Aristotle, the first peripatetic teacher, used to walk around the Lyceum as he taught; PETs will surf around the Net as they teach.These changes were foreseen in principle long before the advent of the Web. In 1970 Ivan Illich (1971 introduced the idea of a 'learning web' providing global access to learning resources and enabling free communication between learners and teachers. A combination of the idea of a learning web and the possibilities afforded by ICT leads to the notion of a peripatetic electronic teacher. PETs will act as information brokers, providing routes for learners to search networked information systems. They will provide virtual asynchronous tutorials for small groups and individuals, act as the teach...

Development of interactive and reflective learning among Malaysian online distant learners: An ESL instructor’s experience

“…Computer-mediated communication tools, both synchronous and asynchronous, allow learners to participate in interactive activities with their peers in a virtual environment. These tools are becoming so interactive and collaborative that they provide opportunities for instructors to achieve diverse pedagogic goals (Squires, 1999). For instance, Salmon (2002) successfully developed, moderated, and explored reflect-on-practice activities with an asynchronous text-conferencing system, while Lazarowitz and Natan (2002) combined computer-mediated communication (CMC) with cooperative learning to promote the power of a cooperative learning environment.…”

IRRODL Volume 11, Number 3

“…Computer-mediated communication tools, both synchronous and asynchronous, allow learners to participate in interactive activities with their peers in a virtual environment. These tools are becoming so interactive and collaborative that they provide opportunities for instructors to achieve diverse pedagogic goals (Squires, 1999). For instance, Salmon (2002) successfully developed, moderated, and explored reflect-on-practice activities with an asynchronous text-conferencing system, while Lazarowitz and Natan (2002) combined computer-mediated communication (CMC) with cooperative learning to promote the power of a cooperative learning environment.…”