Technology in Lls

The economic, social and technological changes which have occurred within the tertiary sector have impacted the nature of practioner’s roles in terms of increased diversity within students. The expectations of HE and FE students is varied and the essence to educate rather than train is more prevalent. Within the context of art based teaching, didactic methods may not be as enabling and empowering as a collaborative relationship between the teacher and learner. There are no rights and wrongs within art and therefore the process is the learnt outcome rather than the finished piece. As Phil Race (1993) stated ‘Never mind the teaching, feel the learning’, the need to provide tools in which to practice art and create opportunities thus empowering confidence is imperative rather than the need to ‘hand feed’ the learners which would not allow the learners to be self-motivated.
Technology has provided a whole new dimension in learning and whilst this could provide many connotations for art, especially with New Media, from the angle of Fine Art, the pedagogical methods that could be more effective involves a more holistic approach to learning, focusing more on the learners, the materials and processes and the teacher. Effective evaluation and feedback within a group setting provides a voice for the learners amongst their peers enabling constructive and subjective debate, thus enabling confidence and effective critical analysis.
The concept of professional training for teachers within the HE/FE sector support the above mentioned changes within the sector. It could be argued that this formal training could impair or interrupt the teachers ‘core beliefs’ and ‘passion’, however with the ever increasing changes mentioned the need to ‘professionalise’ the sector supports plausible and desirable pedagogical practice. This interruption of ‘passion’, it is suggested in Pickering’s (2006) research of novice lecturers suggests that practioner's completing such formal training may... [continues]

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