Masters of the digital age?
 
Picture of Jane Alexen Shuyska Organization: University Of Oxford   
Names: Jane Alexen Shuyska
Liz Masterman 		 
Keywords:    
Location: QA120   
Date: 08 Jul 2008   
Time: 11:25   
Code: B4   
Email: jane.shuyska@education.ox.ac.uk   
Homepage:    
Full Title: Masters of the digital age? A study of the (e-)learning experiences of taught postgraduate students and the implications for scaffolding teachers’ engagement with technology.   
Abstract: Part of JISC's Learner Experiences of E-learning programme, the Thema project is exploring how students use digital technologies in their academic and social lives. It is currently tracking the experiences of 76 Master's students from a range of full-time and part-time courses at Oxford University. This will result in a small number of case studies, which will be contextualised within broader surveys yielding more quantitative data.
Data already gathered suggest that the provenance and previous education of Master’s students may have bearings on their overall experience of learning as well as on their perception of the institutional provision of technology at Oxford. Moreover, although the great majority of students are adept in their use of technology, the extent to which they spontaneously use newer tools such as Web 2.0 to support and manage their learning is less certain. They also appear to entertain a conservative perspective on pedagogy that suggests that we should instead look to teachers for innovation with respect to the roles of, and interactions between, teachers and learners. How the outcomes of Thema and related research might be integrated into staff training and development programmes, potentially through pedagogy planner tools, is an area for future research. 
  
Biography: Jane Alexen Shuyska is a research student at the Department of Education at Oxford University. She holds an M.Sc in E-learning and an M.Sc in Educational Research Methodology. Her doctoral work explores the use of computer based concept mapping and hypertext writing in wikis for promoting meaningful learning and understanding of highly complex material in history students. In this work she takes a design-based research approach in adapting ICT tools to classroom context.
Jane is currently working as part time research assistant on the JISC-funded “Thema” project (https://mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/thema/THEMA+Home), which investigates experiences of Masters students in technology-rich environments in both their social and academic lives.