Technology in your context

Student's perceptions. This term either means comment on 'all students' or comment on the perceptions of a few individuals. In my opinion, commenting on perceptions of students is difficult. However, in my context I can comment on a range of perceptions/reactions that I have experienced since using email as the main mode of communication with students.

Students complete course survery and participate in focus group meetings. Such activities can produce robust data relating to their perceptions on the quality of their courses. We have been using email as the main mode of communication with students for over a year - feedback so far has been very good. Students enjoy the convenience of being able to communicate with staff at their own convenience. They can send work, ask questions, inform of absences, and get noticeboard information through their email accounts.

I am aware that at the present time all of us at the college -teachers and students - are in a transitional phase. Moving slowly away from traditional teaching/learning delivery methods towards something new but not yet identified. There is no doubt in my mind that this can only be a positive move towards a better place. Why? Because when the ability to communicate becomes easier then the ability to reach an agreed teaching/learning outcome becomes much easier too. We, at the college, are way behind many of our counterpart colleges but things are moving quickly. Soon our VLE will be used by students and staff alike.

Outlook was adopted by our college several years ago. At that time staff communicated with each other and students using traditional methods ie noticeboards, handouts, phone calls, letters etc. At first many staff said that emailing would never 'catch on'. It's funny to think back to those days. No one looked at computer screens in our dept then. Today, its the first thing that staff switch on and if you walk into our office at any time you would see a host of faces peeled to their screens.

The new technology does not embody the assumptions about the nature of teaching and learning in HE. On the contrary, it is slowly dismantling them and the 'traditionalists' in my area are very concerned. Why? Essentially because, communication is becoming more and more informal and information is becoming more readily accessible. This means that there are fewer and fewer secrets. It also means an even greater demand for teacher accountability.

On the 'flip-side', more efficient communication, has meant that students/learners cannot avoid their responsibilities by saying things like, 'I didn't get that message' or 'I couldnt contact you to tell you that I couldnt attend' etc.