ICT Applications in U.S. Higher Education - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 48

the case of ICTs we are able to draw upon well
established ideas around the value of course-
based team-learning and collaborative learning
(also known as module-specific collaboration),
and use these grounded ideas as support for the
idea that ICT applications are best used in these
learning contexts.
Later in the chapter we explore the current use
of information and communications technology
in the USA as well as an emerging application
known as “virtual teaming” with the support
of two surveys. In this section we identify how
technologies are being used in higher education,
in what kinds of courses and for what purposes,
and also look at the drivers and barriers to integra-
tion. This discussion is then followed by a sec-
tion examining information and communication
technologies in the context of globalization, along
with the value and utility of using information
and communications technologies for selected
course-based international collaborations.

Demands upon human capital by manufactur-
ing and industry have played a large role in the
emergence and application of ICTs and are char-
acteristic of high income economies. That said,
there has been a precipitous downward shift in
the demand for skills in manufacturing over the
past century. For example, in 1800, 90 percent
of the labor force consisted of farmers, while by
1900 this percentage declined to 38 percent; today
less than 2 percent of the workforce participates
in farming occupations. Along with a downward
shift in demand for manufacturing, over the last
half-century there has been an upward shift in
the demand for skills required of the services
industry. Today, services account for over 85
percent of U.S. GDP and 60 percent of GDP for
all advanced countries. This trend has lead to
replacing physical capital with human capital.
Indeed, it is predicted that by 2010 the U.S. will
need over twice the number of computer software
engineers, data communications analysts and
computer support specialists than it had in 2000.
As reported in an OECD-PISA Report (2000) and
other studies, these trends signal that the knowl-
edge worker era has arrived and we are seeing
more and more people seeking access to higher
education (Schleicher & Stewart, 2008).
Due to these workforce trends and a host of
fundamental socio-economic changes in both
the USA and other forward-thinking economies
it, is no mystery that e-learning has emerged as
strongly as it has, and equally no surprise how
the use of ICT applications has penetrated the
university classroom. Students around the world
are increasingly exploring ways to access higher
education outside the traditional in-classroom,
in-person, and teacher-student paradigm. Internet
penetration in the classroom has also sufficiently
enabled students to collaborate and experience
learning in unprecedented ways.
ICTs have been used in the developing world
to help overcome teacher shortages as well as to
develop and upgrade teaching skills (Crede, 1998).
Likewise, use of information and communication

BACkgROUND

Information and communications technology
(ICT) is defined as any medium used to transmit
information, and is often used synonymously
with the term “information technology” (IT);
however, ICTs tend to be more inclusive as they
quite often refer to any device used to transmit
or record information including all computer
application software. Examples include popular
basics such as cellular phones, radio, video, and
even paper. What we hear about most frequently
today are innovative ICT applications such as
wikis, blogs, virtual teaming and multi-user virtual
environments (MUVEs). Wiki's, blogs, Google
Docs, MUVEs and other Web 2.0 applications
all use ICTs to create environments that meet
our changing social demands in all sectors. The
distinction between ICTs and ICT applications is
an important aspect of this chapter.