ABSTRACT

Technology has dominated discourse on the future university and how digital technologies disrupting wider societal activities can be leveraged in higher education. To gain an insight into UK institutional perspective on technology adoption in teaching and learning and visions for the future, two corpora of text are analysed: Teaching Excellence Framework statements (n = 88) and university strategy documents (n = 88), totalling 1, 129, 736 words. Quantitative empirical analysis reveals that institutions write about how they ‘use’ technology for teaching and learning. Interpretative analysis found that technology is ‘used’ as an end in itself as well as a means for specific ends (such as assessment and feedback and flexible learning). Using concepts from science and technology studies and philosophy of technology, these perspectives are theorised as instrumentalist, substantivist and essentialist and problematised when viewing technology in education as apolitical, neutral and inevitable. Perceived neutrality ignores the many competing ideologies and interests at play. In this context, a dichotomy of ‘pedagogy first’ or ‘technology-led’ design is explored. Critical theory of technology is used to bridge these binary discourses which are described as reductive in a complex sociotechnical university assemblage.

摘要

在未来的大学中，技术占据着主导地位，在高等教育中如何利用数字技术破坏更广泛的社会活动。为了深入了解英国关于在教学中采用技术的机构观点以及对未来的构想，分析了两种语料库：卓越教学框架声明（n  = 88）和大学战略文件（n = 88），总计1，129，736个字。定量的实证分析表明，各机构撰写有关如何“利用”技术进行教学的文章。解释性分析发现，技术本身是“用途”，也是特定目的（例如评估和反馈以及灵活学习）的一种手段。利用科学技术研究的概念和技术哲学，这些观点被理论化为工具主义，实在主义和本质主义，并在将教育技术视为非政治，中立和不可避免的情况下受到质疑。感知到的中立忽略了许多竞争意识形态和利益。在这种情况下，探索了“教学论优先”或“技术主导”设计的二分法。