This paper reports on a small-scale study into how the Internet might be used for tutorial teaching in archaeology, which was undertaken by the authors as part of their project work for a Teaching Diploma at Oxford University. Condron was also involved in a more extensive study of the use of C&IT (communication and information technologies) in small-group teaching across a range of subjects (the ASTER project), to which the Oxford case studies have contributed.
Within the UK, the higher education funding councils have introduced a range of services and guidelines for enhancing the quality of teaching in universities. As a result, many universities have developed courses in teaching and learning for academic staff, and these courses are invariably recognised by the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (established in 1999 as the professional body for teaching and support staff in UK universities). The Oxford Diploma in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education was set up in 1999 and the authors were participants on this pilot course. The practical work included an investigation of the role that the Internet might play in tutorial teaching and, in particular, how to support students to make effective use of online multimedia resources. In addition to teaching duties, a workshop was held in April 2000 on the general theme of 'The Internet, images and archaeology', with a volunteer group of staff. Although the workshop targeted teachers of first year undergraduates, the material is of wider application.
The aims of this workshop were:
"Students need guidance on how best to negotiate the wealth and complexity of new data and teachers must be conversant with the underlying assumptions, limitations and possibilities of multimedia"
Students need guidance on how best to negotiate the wealth and complexity of new data for their studies, as well as instruction in the fundamental principles of their subject, critical reading and visual literacy, if understanding is to result. Teachers must be conversant with the underlying assumptions, limitations and possibilities of these multimedia, as well as the preferred styles and strategies of learning adopted by their students, for effective learning to occur.
The prototype workshop was modified and expanded after intense discussion. This revised version, accessed via the Appendix, is presented here as an online tutorial for consultation.
An outline of the tutorial learning experiences that necessitated a teaching workshop, as well as the value of incorporating C&IT resources into tutorial teaching is given in Section 3. Section 2 provides a brief overview of previous work in the use of C&IT in archaeology education.
Last updated: Wed Aug 21 2002
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