Faculty of Education - Theses

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Maintaining the human touch : defining the boundaries of new learning spaces

Wait, Lisa M ( 2001)

Organisations are implementing online and multimedia training to remain competitive in a rapidly changing global environment. Yet technology based training has failed to improve learning in the past. The importance of educators to the success of technology- based training has largely been ignored. This study proposes that people, not technology drive learning improvement. Therefore, organisations need to provide appropriate professional development for training practitioners as they move from classroom-based teaching to an online environment. The fieldwork uses an ethnographic approach to investigate how training practitioners perceive online and multimedia training before they become involved in an innovative online training program. The training practitioners were interviewed to understand how the program challenged their roles and identities as educators. Issues raised by the training practitioners included their need to maintain a physical presence, coping with the changing social context for teaching, erosion of authority and the need for cultural acceptance of the program.