What Really Happens When Educators Make and Evaluate TEL Innovations?

摘要

This social practice research focuses on what educators in higher education (HE) actually do when they make technology enhanced learning (TEL) innovations. Using the concept of self-evaluation presented.by Saunders et al. (2011) I focus on the self-evaluative practices educators use to make judgements about the worth or value of their TEL innovations, rather than the technology itself. One prominent view, regarding TEL in HE is "that effective change will emerge by equipping the main participants with a proper understanding of their needs, and then with the ability to use technology effectively to meet them" (Mayes, 2009:46-47). However, how is this "effective change" to be achieved? .Perhaps self-evaluation might contribute? The methodological approach in this qualitative study is co-construction - the researcher and participants working together to generate data through dlalogical conversation before also using RUFDATA (Saunders, 2000) (an established evaluation tool). The rich data we generate provides evidence from which I typologise features of self-evaluative practices. Participants display recurrent behaviours as they engage iteratively with the processes of self-evaluation; their questioning, responsive acts involving both stakeholders and reflexivity. These efforts cohere to move their TEL projects forward, from one provisional state to the next, via a process of evaluative creep which achieves pedagogical change. The significant output of this research is the SEPT4TEL (self-evaluative practices typologies for TEL) framework which offers a robust understanding of what is meant by self-evaluative practices in this study's context. This new knowledge exemplifies Reckwitz's (2002) description of people as carriers of practice within their social mêlée. The SEPT4TEL framework is a means to guide and inform educators' judgements about their TEL innovations; thereby supporting the transformative potential of TEL. It promotes authentic, systemised use of self-evaluation within evaluative cultures where educators' learning about their professional practice is fundamental.