ICTs and the Design of Sustainable Higher Education Teaching Models: An Environmental Assessment of UK Courses
The research involved a carbon-based environmental assessment and data analysis of 30 Higher Education (HE) courses in campus-based and distance education systems in fifteen UK institutions that were using a range of teaching models to provide teaching, l
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Abstract The research involved a carbon-based environmental assessment and data analysis of 30 Higher Education (HE) courses in campus-based and distance education systems in fifteen UK institutions that were using a range of teaching models to provide teaching, learning and assessment. The increasing pervasiveness of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) combined with new pedagogical approaches and practices to using them, is creating innovative teaching models. There has been little research on the environmental sustainability of complex HE teaching models whether face-to-face, distance-taught (printbased), online, or blended. This raises questions about whether greater use of ICTs in HE has better or worse environmental impacts than more traditional models. To be able to compare environmental impacts across a wide range of HE courses, we developed a classification of teaching models, using lecturers’ ratings to establish the use of online, face-to-face, print-based distance, or ICT-enhanced blended teaching models. Next the environmental assessment methodology was designed to inform data gathering and analysis of the key sources of carbon impacts associated with HE courses, including: staff and student travel; purchase and use of ICT devices and educational materials; residential energy consumption; and campus site operations. This chapter examines the role of ICTs in UK-based HE teaching models and their carbon-based environmental impacts and identifies models and practices that will benefit sustainability drives in HE.
Keywords Sustainable higher education teaching models Greening pedagogical design with ICTs Carbon-based environmental assessment
S. Caird (&) A. Lane E. Swithenby The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK e-mail: [email protected]
S. Caeiro et al. (eds.), Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-02375-5_21, Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013
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Introduction Low carbon Higher Education (HE) teaching systems are part of the carbon reduction strategies needed to meet the targets set by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), which refer to reductions of 43 % by 2020 and 83 % by 2050 compared with 1990 baseline levels (see HEFCE 2010). Carbon reduction initiatives are often presented under the sustainability banner, although sustainability may refer to economic, social or pedagogical sustainability as well as environmental sustainability. Furthermore, environmental sustainability applies to more than carbon reduction, including issues with waste; waste water management; water use; wildlife protection and supply chain issues in the procurement of products and services. The focus of this chapter is on the energy consumption and carbon impacts of HE teaching models. HE drives toward sustainability have been mainly about: greening campus buildings; Education for sustainability; and sustainability action projects (see Tilbury 2011). The challenges of supporting
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