Designing to facilitate learning through networked technologies: factors influencing the implementation of digital resources in higher education

Abstract : Recent advances in computers and telecommunications have allowed networked learning to play a significant role to play across the complete spectrum of higher education teaching. One of the most significant UK government initiatives to date has been the development the Information Environment (IE) originally called as the Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER), which is aiming to create a managed environment for accessing quality assured information resources on the Internet (IE, 2004). This paper draws on our formative evaluation of the IE and the investigation of the take up of digital resources produced by a number of projects selected for funding under JISC circular 5/99. Although we identified examples of good practice in using the IE to support learning and teaching and instances where digital resources were successful in addressing certain needs for the learners the benefits were less then anticipated. The digital resources produced by the projects seem to hold a potential to support teaching in higher education, however, the actual impact they had on learning was found to be less than anticipated. The findings suggest that the application and implementation of networked technologies is partly determined by the social context in which it operates. Finally, the paper advocates the need for action to influence educational practice and engage related parties in a genuine way in order to realise the transforming potential of networked learning. By exploring the implementation of information digital resources in teaching and learning under the framework of actor network theory, this paper makes a contribution to the development of theory and practice in the area of networked learning.