Using resource based learning to create sustainable learning ecologies in higher education

[摘要] English: Higher education in South Africa and the world have gone through various and evolving changes, including the funding of student fees, pedagogy of teaching and learning, access and throughputs rates. The use of technological devices and resources to enhance teaching and learning constitutes what in my career seems to be the most striking. This study focuses on the use of Resource Based Learning (RBL) tools in creating sustainable learning ecologies in Higher Education (HE). The United Nations (UN) reiterated the importance of implementation of sustainable development and sustainable learning ecologies through its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This study's aim was to look at the usage of RBL to create sustainable learning ecologies in HE. The methodology was qualitative research in which co-researchers were used to generate data. The data generated from this study was analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). However, the current pedagogical approach was dissected to achieve a deeper understanding of the democratic principles of teaching and learning. Education is supposed to be free for students, and allow them to be active participants collaborating in their curriculum. For understanding the democratic and emancipatory nature of student engagement through the usage of RBL tools, Critical Emancipatory Research (CER) was used as an approach. Research was used to clearly understand the relevancy of freedom, equality and the emancipatory nature of RBL in creating sustainable learning in HE. A similar approach of student-centred learning is supported by this study. The authoritative nature of learning in which the lecturers simply provides instruction to student is highlighted. Although the study was conducted in South Africa the results can be generalized to other countries and it replicated, both considered as strengths of this research. The findings indicated both positives and negatives regarding the use of the learning tools in higher education. There are also changes in the way learning is conducted as there is shift in the instructional or traditional way in which lecturers provide the learning material and offer the course. There is also an indication that through new learning methods, such as RBL, education can be made more easily accessible to the marginalized, with virtual education facilitating this. Some of the findings indicate that the traditional methods of teaching and learning disadvantage the freedom and emancipatory mechanisms of quality education. The study makes a strong contribution to knowledge, despite certain acknowledged limitations of this study.

[发布机构] University of the Free State