Digital Learning – Page 66 – Digital Learning Dispatches

The short answer to the above question is yes! History still matters. This message is evident in President Michael D. Higgins speech earlier in the month where he voiced his concerns about the downgrading of history to an optional subject at secondary school in Ireland. The President stated that history is:

“Intrinsic to our shared citizenship, to be without such knowledge is to be permanently burdened with a lack of perspective, empathy and wisdom”

Studying history enables people to think and write critically, be aware of source quality and effectively interpret information. These are highly desirable skills according to the GradIreland 2015 survey of Irish employers, amongst the skills they highly prize are communication, analysis, working independently and the application of knowledge. In fact, the Irish National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 describes critical thinking as one of the key characteristics of future graduates. This clear statement poses the question why are we downgrading school history in Ireland?

Is History Stuck in the Past?

The digital revolution has not bypassed history which has embraced the potential of digital technology to democratise access to primary sources. In fact, the impact of technology, in particular, the digitisation of artefacts and historical sources has influenced and changed how we learn about the past. Over the past 30-years millions of primary sources have been digitised by libraries and archives and made available online. From an Irish context, in the lead up to the commemoration of the 1916 Rising, there was a major drive to survey and digitise relevant archival material.

These digitisation projects share a common ideal to make Ireland’s cultural heritage widely available to everyone and to enrich the historical narrative. The Decade of Centenaries has contributed archival developments such as the digitisation of the Bureau of Military History Military Service Pensions Collection.

The History Lab

The recent digitisation movement has created a wealth of rich content for historians and history students. However, the sheer scale of online materials, websites and questions about source quality make it a challenging research environment for students. In response to this challenge, a team led by Orna Farrell and Conor Curran from the BA Humanities offered through the DCU Connected platform at Dublin City University (DCU) designed an open education resource (OER) called The History Lab.

The aim of the History Lab is to support and foster university students’ digital historical skills, with a particular emphasis on online primary sources. The online resource is made up of four elements: an A-Z guide of historical online sources, video tutorials, add to the A-Z, and student voices on historical research videos.

New Online Study Options

You can learn more about history and the “History Lab” by studying for a BA in Humanities online with DCU Connected. In our degree programme(s) students can explore a wide breadth of Humanities subject areas such as Psychology, History, Sociology, English, and Philosophy, while also specialising in at least one of the subject areas you find most rewarding and professionally valuable in a flexible part-time undergraduate degree. This new resource means there are relatively few barriers to enhancing your careers prospects through the range of opportunities available with a BA.

To Recap

History is still very much relevant in the 21st century. As President Higgins made abundantly clear in this response to the demise of the subject at secondary school level, historical skills such as analysis and an awareness of source quality are becoming more valuable, particularly in this era of fake news.

If you want further information about our DCU Connected online courses and programmes, then please contact us.

This opinion piece was originally published by Orna on her personal Linkedin site.

Digital Learning, Learning Futures, Research

Open Sesame: Unlocking the Potential of Open Textbooks in Irish Third-Level Education

By Tiziana Soverino

Traditionally, textbooks have been part and parcel of education across various levels, from primary level all the way up to higher education (third level). In primary school, I was occasionally given a book for rent, provided by my school for pupils who were not well-off (which was always, invariably out of date, or an older edition). I can also vividly remember that every year, at the end of summer, I and my parents went to our local bookshop to purchase all the books on my school’s reading list for the upcoming academic year.

It was a yearly ritual, pregnant with expectations and a sense of purpose. Yet, it also imposed a substantial financial burden on my parents, who have never been rich. Moving on to college, I found myself buying some books — brand new from the campus bookshop, but also second-hand, online and in quirky shops around Dublin. I also regularly borrowed books from the library (the Short-Term collection was great in that sense, for it secured a quick turnover of the books which were required reading in the courses I attended), made copies of relevant parts of books (many a happy hour I spent beside copying machines…. the feeling of accidentally copying your own hand into the book pages has no price!), and, in more recent years, got online access to relevant content.

Bob Marley

“Bob Marley became a printer” (CC BY-NC 2.0) by amonfog

Now I am working for the National Institute for Digital Learning in DCU (my move from UCD to DCU came with an epic move from the Southside to the Northside of Dublin!), on a project exploring the potential of Open Textbooks in Irish higher education institutions. One thing is clear from a desktop research previously conducted by my colleagues: there is a dearth of research on textbooks in Irish universities. So, the first step is to fill this gap, by conducting focus groups with students and staff, and then a survey to be circulated more widely nationally, on the topic. The focus groups and surveys will also investigate awareness of Open Educational Resources among students and staff. The hope is that the project will act as a catalyst to encourage the creation and adoption of Open Textbooks in Irish universities.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (CC BY-SA 4.0) by Rena Xiaxiu

A paper, entitled ‘From Books to MOOCS and Back Again’, was nominated as a finalist for Best papers at the 27^th EDEN Conference, held in Genoa, Italy, in June 2018. EDEN is the largest professional body for European educators with an interest in Distance and Digital Learning and our NIDL Director, Professor Mark Brown, serves on the Executive Committee.

Mark Brown Genova

Mark Brown (fourth from left) at the EDEN conference, June 2018.

In this research project we want to know if traditional textbooks are still central to the third-level student learning experience. More specifically our project aims to investigate the current and potential future usage of open digital textbooks in Irish higher education.

So far we have found that the mean cost of textbooks currently prescribed in DCU is (US) $56.67, corresponding at the time of writing to around €50.00. You can read a pre-print version of our paper “Textbook costs and accessibility: Could open textbooks play a role?” for more details of this research.

The world is changing and digital technologies have become pervasive in areas of our live. But to what extent are commercially produced (print) textbooks under threat of being replaced by Open Digital Textbooks? There is some evidence of displacement occurring in at least parts of the USA and Canada and commercial digital textbooks appear to be becoming more common alongside their print counterparts.

Is it possible that in the future Open Digital Textbooks will become the norm in Ireland? Apart from the obvious issue of reduced cost what would be the wider benefits to students? We are now conducting focus groups to gain insights into higher education students’ practices involving textbooks in Ireland. Some work has been done; there is much more to be done and in addition to student focus groups we are currently developing a survey of academic staff. Watch this space for more information.