Affordances of Learning Technologies in Higher Education Multicultural Environments

A cluster of research has been conducted in higher education to investigate the affordances (action possibilities) and the influence information and communication technologies (ICT) may have on students’ learning experiences and outcomes. Such studies have given rise to the implementation of a wide range of educational frameworks with a great deal of empirical evidence on the benefits of using technologies to improve learning. However, these benefits do not appear to have fulfilled higher education expectations for more meaningful and transformative learning experiences. In this paper, I argue that part of the problem is either the content or teacher–centric perspective of these frameworks and the need to explore the benefits from a more student–centric perspective. Learning is contextual, with learners having different abilities to learn and varying preferences for educational technologies with greater potential to facilitate their learning activities. Drawing on an ethnographic study of culturally diverse computing students and teachers within learning environments that blend online and face-to-face pedagogies, I argue that our understanding of what ICT has to offer for the design and implementation of transformative learning activities is a far more complex issue than is often anticipated, particularly in the design and implementation of learning for computer science programs.