Teaching university students through technology-mediated experiential learning: Educators' perspectives and roles

Abstract

Experiential learning (EL), the creation of knowledge through experience, has gained considerable importance in education in recent years. However, little is known about (1) how technology use, which has increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, influences experiential learning and (2) the implications of these changes for educators and their teaching. Based on qualitative interviews, this study sheds light on how technology-mediated experiential learning (TMEL) draws implications for educators. In particular, we identified four areas in which technology-mediated experiential learning differs from traditional experiential learning that does not involve technology: process and progression, personal growth and skills, relationships and team experience, and outcomes and performance. All four areas present both positive and negative consequences, described in detail. We discuss how these findings have changed the educators’ roles. To this end, we derived three strategies from our data for educators to address these challenges, proposed a new model describing the expanded roles of educators, and derived propositions for future research.