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	Teaching the Arts & Humanities with C&IT 14th July, University of Durham

Using C&IT in the Arts and Humanities: Opportunities and Obstacles

Dr Frances Condron

C&IT in Teaching and Learning Initiatives

Through the '90s, there have been numerous initiatives promoting and supporting the use of C&IT for teaching and learning, as illustrated in the following figure:

ALT (Association for Learning Technology); CTI (Computers in Teaching Initiative); EHE (Enterpreise in HE); ELTHE (Evaluation of Learning Technology in HE); FDTL (Forum for the Development of Teaching and Learning); ILTHE (Institute of Learning and Teaching in HE); JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee); LTDI (Learning Technology Dissemination Initiative); MAN (Metropolitan Area Networks); SCONUL (Standing Conference of National and University Libraries);TLTP (Teaching and Learning Technology Programme); TLTSN (Teaching and Learning Technology Support Network); UMI (Use of MANs Initiative).

Based on LTRG (1999) Use of TLTP Materials in UK Higher Education. Available online at http://www.flp.ed.ac.uk/LTRG/TLTP.html.

User-needs surveys:

Surveys in 1998 highlight the following opportunities and obstacles to the use of C&IT in teaching and learning:

Opportunities:

• Access to information, resources and people
• new methods of presentation and analysis
• new ways of teaching and assessing, creation of new learning environments
• new collaborations within and between institutions, libraries etc.

Obstacles:

• lack of suitable quality resources
• limited awareness of available resources
• copyright and other restrictions to access
• usage is dependent on available equipment and support (technological and pedagogical)
• failure to recognise research value of creating and using digital resources
• no rewards for innovative use of C&IT in teaching and learning

Based on AHDS (1998) Scholars' Information Requirements in a Digital Age, available online at http://ahds.ac.uk/public/uneeds/un0.html and LTRG (1999) Use of TLTP Materials in UK Higher Education. Available online at http://www.flp.ed.ac.uk/LTRG/TLTP.html.

Funding innovation

A range of new initiatives are underway:

The Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund:

• institutional funding (grants of £300k - £400k are available per institution), to support individual institutions and the creation/strengthening of regional networks
• subject areas - the ILT (institute for learning and teaching) and LTSN (learning technology support network). In total, around £6m per year will be available
• individual funding - individuals can receive funding where their projects have been identified within an institution's strategic plans.

The ILT (institute for teaching and learning) http://www.ilt.ac.uk/:

• co-ordinate and manage the LTSN
• accreditation framework recognising the importance of teaching and learning in higher education
• direct and institutional routes to ILT membership
• financial benefits!

The RDN (resource discovery network) http://www.rdn.ac.uk/:

• HUMBUL (Humanities Bulletin Board) http://users.ox.ac.uk/~humbul/
• BIOME (life sciences, health); EMC (engineering, maths, computing); SOSIG/BizEd (social sciences, business, law).

The UfI, NGfL, Lifelong Learning?

What works in the humanities?

• Communication tools: email, bulletin boards, discussion lists, collaborative learning tools
• Customisable resources: templates for learning
• Resource-based learning: using databanks such as LION, epigraphy databases, image databanks

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HTML author: Frances Condron

This page last modified: 13th July 1999