Technology Enhanced Learning and

Teaching in Higher Education

The title of this article requires focus on a number of key areas including
the following:
1. Definition of Technology Enhanced Learning
2. Determination of the variables to be used in an evaluation of enhancement
3. An assessment of the impact of Technology-Enhanced Learning

Also paramount to this discussion, is a definition of enhanced. The term implies

strengthening or upgrade. This is supported by the Oxford Dictionaries Online
(2016) definition which states an increase or improvement in the quality, value, or
extent of a given thing.
It is difficult to encounter a clear and concise meaning of the term Technology
Enhanced Learning (TEL) as it is connoted differently from one context to another. It
is most often aligned with equipment and infrastructure. In other fora, it is
considered as software or systems. The United Kingdom Universities and Colleges
Information Systems Association provides a technical definition of TEL as Any
online facility or system that directly supports learning and teaching (Walker, et al
2012, 2). The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) posits that TEL
is Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of technology (HEFCE Revised
E-Learning Strategy, 2009).
In the above-mentioned report, the HEFCE also mentioned some variables to
consider when evaluating technologys role in enhancing learning. According to the
Report, the efficiency of the technology after it is implemented, whether there is
improvement in the existing process as well as any positive change that may result
in the introduction of new processes are to be reflected upon before such an
evaluation is made. These variables however, answer only one part of the equation;
how can enhancement be determined? The other half, which begs the question;
what is enhancement concerned with? necessitates an assessment of:

The environment within which educational activities take place (classroom

context)
Whether there is any improvement in teaching practices as a result of the
employment of technology
Whether there is an increase in the use of technology (by learner or
instructor)
Any improvement in student learning outcomes

Analysing these points would provide a more holistic approach in determining the
impact of TEL on Higher Education.

In education, it is usually assumed that technology must enhance learning.

Consequently, the writers of the article indicate that the point of analysis is not
whether technology enhances learning but how can technology that enhances
learning be developed. This would result from a fusion of the differing types of
interventions currently utilized to integrate technology in higher education. There
are three types of interventions for technology enhanced learning. These are,
replicating existing teaching practices, two, supplementing existing teaching and
three, transforming teaching and/or learning processes and outcomes. It is
important to account for the interventions as survey highlighted that most teachers
use the technology to support existing teaching methods rather than for innovation
of teaching practices. The sharing of best practices among members of the higher
education community was also cited by the authors as useful for the development
of technologies that can enhance learning.