Faculty perceptions of ICT benefits

Universities are caught within a time of accelerating political, socio-economic and technological change. The many internal and external pressures on universities have created the need to view teaching and learning patterns and practices from new perspectives to meet the challenges created by knowledge-based societies (Pittinsky, 2003). These pressures include a demand for a greater number of higher education places with no corresponding increase in funding (Phillips, 2005); a larger ‘clientele’ of learners from a wider variety of backgrounds, with diverse needs, motivations, abilities, learning preferences, time availability and course content requirements (Bates, 2005). There is a demand for more client responsive and flexible courses (Ryan and Stedman, 2002; Mclnnis and Hartley, 2003) and an imperative to seek alternatives to government funding (HEFCE, 2001). With more technology opportunities there is increasing pressure to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) in teaching and learning (Allen and Seaman, 2004; Challis, Holt, and Rice, 2005). Based on data collected from one university, this paper examines the use of ICT within one faculty, focussing on staff perceptions of how ICTs benefit learning and teaching. The acronym ICT in this paper refers to digital technology, primarily online, which is used to provide elearning opportunities to supplement or replace conventional face-to-face teaching and learning.