Teaching and learning with telematics: an overview of the literature

A review of telematics (information and communication technologies) in teaching and learning with particular reference to developments in higher education in the United Kingdom (UK) is presented.Five themes are developed: the context of teaching and learning, the measurement of learning, the development of core curricula, the design of courseware and emergent educational frameworks; themes and issues are established in each.It is suggested that the current educational paradigm in which telematics operates, which is influenced by both behaviourist and constructivist theories of learning, is problematic in a field which is both complex and chaotic.socio-cultural definition of technological literacy.If Beynon's argument about the cultural, social, organisational, and political contexts of technological practices is taken in reverse, this suggests that the range of initial conditions which could prove sensitive is vast.This suggests a need for a 'total environment' approach to the entire converging field of telematics and flexible and distance learning.This would require an ecological paradigm which is sensitive to change.Such a paradigm may help resolve some of the tensions between behaviourist and constructivist approaches and instructional design and theories of learning.It implies inter-and multidisciplinary approaches to research and development, drawing on, for example, computer science, cognitive engineering, psychology, education, instructional design and telematics.This may at least generate a framework through which information and communication technologies can merge seamlessly into education, much like literacy and numeracy.