MAKING ROOM TO RECONCEPTUALISE LEARNING IN BUSINESS: EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES AND TEACHING SPACES

Carolyn Woodley
Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning
Victoria University
Australia

Theo Papadopoulos
Faculty of Business and Law
Victoria University
Australia

This paper considers ICT usage in three Professional Development (PD) units of study at Victoria University (VU), Melbourne, Australia. The PD units were developed in response to an employer and graduate survey as part of a review of the Bachelor of Business at VU. The question of how well we have integrated the collaboration, communication and constructivist capabilities of available technologies into PD curriculum is considered in the light of preliminary responses of staff and students to the new units of study, the innovative learning spaces and the educational technologies available to facilitators. In the 2006 survey of business practitioners, Business academics and VU Business alumni recommended the PD units be introduced into Business degrees after respondents emphasised the importance of developing undergraduates’ employability skills including, most importantly, ICT skills. Acknowledging student preference for, and effectiveness of, learning by doing, the lecture/tutorial format at VU had to change to effectively develop these skills. Lectures and tutorials were replaced by a 3-hour seminar of 40 students in seven purpose-built rooms that boast a range of ICT. The 3-hour seminar in new learning spaces allows for ways of developing and assessing students’ skills in ICT, information literacy, communication, team work and problem solving. This paper begins a consideration of how, and even if, ICT in PD units is being exploited to its full educational potential.

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