The transformative potential of the DiAL-e framework

Crossing boundaries, pushing frontiers

Abstract

This paper investigates the responses and impact upon a group of adult learners (educators) to a novel framework for the use of digital artefacts in tertiary education settings (the Digital Artefacts for Learner Engagement Framework: DiAL-e). The framework was developed as part of a UK project, sponsored through the Joint Information Services Committee (JISC), to encourage academics and other educators to adopt digital artefacts (in this case video) as part of their teaching, learning and research strategies. Eighty academics were involved in a series of focus groups to pilot the framework during 2006-2007, and the data from these workshops (recorded in video format) is analysed using Mezirow’s transformative learning theory as a lens to gauge the extent to which they have experienced perspective transformations. The study categorises a number of different responses and proposes a tentative model for professional development in tertiary education settings based on the centrality of critical reflection and discourse.