Enhancing Learning Through Technology: When Students Resist the Change

Gerlese Åkerlind and Chris Trevitt
Centre for Educational Development and Academic Methods
and School of Resource and Environmental Management
Australian National University
Gerlese.Akerlind@anu.edu.au

"As a general matter, innovation represents change, and there is usually built-in resistance to change" (Maier and Weidner, 1975, p. 70).

Where the introduction of computers in learning involves providing students with greater autonomy as learners, this commonly conflicts with students' past educational experiences and can require a shift in their conceptions of what learning involves and what constitutes appropriate roles of students and teachers. Student resistance to the inevitable stress of such change is to be expected, irrespective of the potential learning benefits of introducing the technology. Factors that can aggravate or alleviate such resistance are discussed, with some illustration from a computer facilitated, problem based course in Forestry.

Keywords

computer-aided learning; self-directed learning, conceptions of learning, conceptual change, stress; change management


titles full paper
menu