Challenges and opportunities for academics adopting an online peer review innovation

The growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the emerging needs of higher education students have emphasised the need to incorporate digital developments into learning and teaching activities. ICTs afford innovative and active engagement of the learner, recognise good teaching and promote lifelong learning. On the other hand, there are considerable challenges associated with implementing and integrating ICTs in course environments as academics and institutions struggle to keep abreast of rapidly evolving technologies and pedagogies, thereby wrestling with these emerging technologies and often wrangling to ensure that they support learning and teaching strategies directly and effectively. This paper reports on the incorporation of a comprehensive peer review system into a course within a Faculty of Business and Law at an Australian university, and the experiences, challenges and issues faced by academics with regard to integrating technologies with teaching, learning and assessment practices and outcomes. The peer review approaches reported in the paper first featured in a postgraduate level course and incorporate a peer review system, a course management system, an electronic assessment management system, electronic discussions and a feedback system, which are provided in conjunction with the traditional mode of teaching. After successfully running the course for two years, the course team won a grant to extend its development. The peer review system was developed and trialled within the faculty, focusing on the blended learning environment across the wide range of disciplines and contexts within the faculty. The findings showed that the systems were successful at incorporating a combination of simulative and formative assessment items. While there were challenges about trust, quality and independence, they were minimised through a structured, peer review approach and moderation process. Participants acknowledged that the blended learning environment was challenging and complex; however, learning and teaching in this environment were effective and efficient. Another challenge in developing such a strategy was the requirement to accommodate a wide range of teaching and assessment practices adopted by a large number of academics. It was concluded that blended learning can be innovative and effective, thereby reaping the rewards of wrestling and wrangling with the associated emergent ICTs, but that it requires careful management on the part of academics and a change in student attitude if the potential rewards of academics adopting a blended learning peer review teaching model are to be reaped.