The rhetoric and reality of technology-enhanced learning developments in UK higher education: reflections on recent UCISA research findings (2012–2016)

ABSTRACT This article reviews the investment that UK higher education institutions have made in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) services in recent years, and considers the impact this has had on academic practice. Drawing on UCISA survey and case study research, our analysis shows that whilst the range of centrally supported TEL tools and services in support of teaching and learning has increased across the sector, evidence of transformational change in pedagogic practice through their use has been harder to discern. We observe an increasing number of TEL systems that instructors are being encouraged to engage with as part of their academic practice; however, there have been limited changes in the mode of course delivery, with content-focused and supplementary uses of the web still very much in vogue. The evidence suggests a gap between the institutional rhetoric on TEL developments and the reality of academic practice across the sector. Using Barnett’s “conditions of flexibility” as a frame of reference [Barnett, R. (2014). Conditions of flexibility: Securing a more responsive higher education system. York: The Higher Education Academy. Retrieved from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/conditions_of_flexibility_securing_a_more_responsive_higher_education_system.pdf], the article discusses the factors behind this mismatch, exploring how a balanced institutional focus on service development and academic support may be needed to foster transformative and sustainable changes in the way that TEL tools are employed in course design and delivery.

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