Oscail lecturer wins Government of Ireland senior research scholarship
26 May 2003

Kay Mac Keogh

Kay Mac Keogh, Senior Lecturer in Oscail, the National Distance Education Centre is one of eight Irish academics who have been awarded the Government of Ireland senior research scholarship by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences . The scholarship provides funding to replace Kay for one year while she completes her PhD research on open distance learning and elearning policies.

The aim of Kay's research is to situate the evolution and impact of EU and national policies on open distance learning and eLearning within a social, political, pedagogical and individual learner context. ELearning, defined as the use of information and communications technology (ICTs) to learn and teach, extends beyond the traditional aims and target groups of open distance learning. It has been promoted as the new paradigm for teaching and learning even in full-time on campus education. This pioneering study is intended to shed light on the transformation of open distance learning - traditionally a marginal activity designed to offer opportunities to those who had failed, for whatever reason, to attend full-time education - to eLearning - now advocated as the vehicle to radically reform the entire education and training system to cope with the demands of the new knowledge society.

The research addresses current concerns of educational policy makers with issues such as maximising quality, implementation of technology, improving pedagogy, extending access, and reducing costs while also considering their implications for society, institutions and individuals in terms of access, expertise, attitudes and perceptions. The research also investigates the tension between policy makers imposing innovation from a top down perspective and the concerns of potential adopters - institutions, teachers and students. As part of this research, Kay has recently completed a report on student perceptions of ICTs in European education (available at http://www.oscail.ie/picture.htm).