How Tech Can Help Overcome Challenges of Accelerated Degrees
An article in the Times Higher Education discusses the advantages of new and emerging digital technologies in accelerated two-year degrees.
Issues with accelerated degrees and solutions provided by technology mentioned in the article include:
- Higher cost of developing and delivering the degree – The Times Higher Education 2017 report published with the Higher Education Policy Institute, offers research evidence to show that tech-centred curriculums reduced cost as well as improving learning outcomes.
- Teaching over summer period between first and second years – Augmented Reality applications can be used outside classrooms to give students access to learning facilities over the summer.
- Difficulty of fitting three years’ worth of content into a limited space of time – The ‘flipped classroom’ approach can be applied. Before class, students complete online work so that lecture time can be used more efficiently.
Augmented reality, along with other emerging technologies are mentioned in the article within examples of how new technology is already being used to enable education providers to overcome the barriers mentioned above.
The article concludes by claiming that, despite the barriers of accelerated degree courses, universities are already making use of technology to aid learning. Staffordshire University is a UK pioneer of accelerated courses, and claims that this type of degree is a “catalyst for the development of technology enhanced learning.”