Students as co-creators of technology-rich learning activities in higher education

Begoña Gros,Marta López

doi:10.1186/s41239-016-0026-x

Abstract

This article describes an ongoing study that, ultimately, aims to help students become co-creators of their courses. It discusses methodologies to support student empowerment and engagement. It uses the Learner Centric Ecology of Resources perspective (Luckin 2006) to explore the experiences of teachers and students from two different universities as they participated in co-design processes for selecting digital resources during the design of the courses. The data presented in the study was collected during the design workshops with the participation of teachers and students. The Ecology of Resources Design Framework was identified by the participants as a good facilitator during the co-design process. However, time seems to be a critical factor. A sustained dialogue over time is required to generate the context of trust needed between students and teachers and to explore the different levels of expertise.

Highlights

Researchers claim that it is essential for educational systems to establish a dialogue between learners and educators about educational reform, as a vital requirement for developing new mediation tools and practices either in the school (Clark, Logan, Luckin, Mee, & Oliver, 2009) or university context (Conole, Creanor, Irving, & Paluch, 2007)
The Ecology of Resources Design Framework was identified by the participants as a good facilitator during the co-design process
Students were more deeply involved in the selection of digital resources and the Ecology of Resources Design Framework proposed by Luckin (2010) and described previously was applied

Summary

Introduction

Researchers claim that it is essential for educational systems to establish a dialogue between learners and educators about educational reform, as a vital requirement for developing new mediation tools and practices either in the school (Clark, Logan, Luckin, Mee, & Oliver, 2009) or university context (Conole, Creanor, Irving, & Paluch, 2007). Students can take an important role in providing information about how learning should take place and which technologies and learning environments best meet their needs. While the literature is rich in case studies of children participating in the design of technology products, it is limited when it comes to the critical design perspective of undergraduate students. There are few studies that focus on exposing their thoughts and desires from a design perspective (Palaigeorgiou, Triantafyllakos, & Tsinakos, 2011). “powerful learning begins to manifest when students take responsibility and ownership for their learning when they become co-creators of their learning experience, rather than their education being something that is done to them. True student empowerment and engagement begins when we cross the threshold of co-creation” (Wright, 2012)

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Conclusion