Implementing technology-enhanced learning

Abstract

In this chapter, we look at the implementation perspective from the starting point of the fundamental educational aims that unite the academic community. We argue that interactive and cooperative digital media have an inherent educational value as a new means of intellectual expression. Our primary concern is not the optimisation of knowledge transmission but the use of digital technologies to enhance intellectual expressiveness and creativity: helping the students in their appropriation of the world with a special emphasis on their intellectual development, it is essential for the education system to incorporate new digital media as tools for intellectual expression and production. We outline the main issues relevant to the implementation of technology-enhanced learning (TEL)-the link to overall educational aims, the relationship between innovation and practice, the importance of user engagement, the nature of TEL research, and the characteristics of the local context, and the nature of TEL as a catalyst for change. The chapter concludes with some of the key lessons learned in recent research and development projects that will help to develop more successful ways of ensuring that the technology achieves its potential to enhance learning. © 2009 Springer Netherlands.