Computer-assisted learning and teaching in library and information studies in Australia

摘要

The interest of Australian academics in library and information studies is manifest in two themes: technology for information practice, and technology for learning. These themes underlie the integration of information technology into education for information professionals. Surveys carried out in the early 1980s highlighted the applications of technology, particularly in online cataloguing and online searching. The study reported in this paper aimed to explore the extent of use and non-use of computer-assisted learning and teaching in Australian schools of library and information studies in the early 1990s. The results indicate more widespread use of computer-assisted learning than computer-assisted teaching. There is considerable diversity in courses where computer-assisted learning is included in the packages used by students. More than half of the schools surveyed have plans to extend computer-assisted learning over the next three years. In order to take full advantage of the potential of computer-assisted learning, academics in schools of library and information studies in Australia will need to cooperate with each other, with academics and industry-based colleagues in computer-based training and education, and with similar schools in overseas countries.