Konference om it og innovative læringsmiljøer

A gap between potential and practice

It is commonly said that we only use a small part of our brainpower. But this is a tenacious myth without any evidence in research.

However, in many fields I believe there is a gap between potential and practice. The untapped potential of using new technologies in teaching and learning is one of them.

Currently, we are not making full use of the promises of new technology. My claim is that we can do much more to integrate ICT in the educational practices at our universities. This is the incentive for today's conference.

Potential

If we want to ensure growth and maintain Denmark's position as a leading knowledge society, we need education and teaching of the highest quality. A constant focus on the didactical aspects of teaching is crucial.

ICT pledge great potential in this context:

• ICT can create new ways of learning and ease dialogue between students and teachers.
• ICT gives teachers access to vast resources, both in terms of knowledge and in terms of methods and tools, which can support their teaching.
• ICT can facilitate global networking for students, researchers and teachers making distance irrelevant.

Integrating new technologies in education can be – and should be – a vehicle for the didactical development of teaching and an engine to strengthen international cooperation.

Visions

Universities have to respond to the demands from a generation of students born and bred with cell phones, the internet and Facebook. Our universities must be digital spearheads.

My vision for the future is that students are online from the first day at the university to their final exam. My vision is that students access their teacher's comments in the morning and revisit lectures as podcast by the end of the day. My vision is that lectures at international partner universities are followed online and that students share notes digitally with students from all over the world.

I will work proactively to ensure that this vision becomes a reality. 

Support and commitment from management

Dedicated people at the universities have taken the new technologies to heart. Several universities have developed globally oriented courses with telepresence and video podcasts opening up a new global world of knowledge and cooperation.

Some enthusiastic teachers use blogs, wikis and other types of social media to apply a student-centred approach to learning. This is excellent.

But to move forward, it is essential that executive management is actively committed. The development of teaching and learning at the universities does not happen by itself. It requires continued top level commitment and leadership.

Looking forward

Development and improvement of university education is a high priority for me. Thus, I have initiated an annual forum aimed at discussing teaching quality and teaching development. The forum will focus on sharing best practice in excellent teaching and learning.

In the wake of the conference today, I will establish a national network ensuring exchange of best practice within the field of ICT-supported learning. The aim is to use of new technologies in teaching and innovative learning environments at universities. We need to exchange experiences and inspire more universities to take advantage of the new possibilities, offered by ICT.

Conclusion

The universities must be digital spearheads. We need to bridge the cap between potential and practice. In this process we can learn from both national and international experiences. I look forward to learn about the experiences from Stanford, MIT and Queensland. So a special welcome to Professor Phillip Long and Dr. Renate Fruchter.

I said earlier, that it is a myth that we only use a small part of our brainpower. Let us make it history that we only employ a small part of the potential ICT offer teaching and learning. The possibilities are without borders.

I am looking forward to the conference, and I hope you all will have two fruitful days.

Thank you.