Benchmarking for Technology-Enabled Learning

Abstract

The practice of institutions adopting technology-enabled learning (TEL) has been steadily increasing in momentum for a good two decades now. Although there are many similarities in the way institutions implement TEL, there are also many inconsistencies (Anthony, 2012). In many cases, these inconsistencies are brought to an institution’s attention when students comment on the irregularities they experience in the varied approaches taken to teaching with TEL. A number of institutions, professional bodies and associations have recognised this and have begun to establish a range of quality assurance mechanisms to assist higher education (HE) institutions in aspiring to a greater level of consistency in their TEL practice, at both the macro level (across the whole institution) and the micro level (at the individual course/unit level). One of the practices that has gained significant momentum is that of institutions benchmarking their TEL practices against an established suite of performance indicators. This involves HE institutions formally self-assessing their current practices across these indicators and then comparing the outcomes of this assessment with those from one or more other institutions who have undergone a similar activity against the same indicators. Very recently, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) published a new Benchmarking Toolkit for Technology-Enabled Learning that institutions can apply to their current practice, with the aim of making improvements across a range of performance areas (Sankey & Mishra, 2019). Although this particular tool is new, the concept of benchmarking, and more particularly the methodology of benchmarking TEL practices used in this tool, is not new, and there is now significant evidence for the value of undertaking formal and regular benchmarking activities. This chapter will first define the benchmarking paradigm to which this tool relates and discuss how this paradigm may be applied in practice. It will then report on the benefits that have been realised by some 58 institutions from five Commonwealth countries that have undertaken similar benchmarking activities over the last six years. It will also demonstrate that the value of benchmarking is seen across multiple levels within an institution, from the macro to the micro levels. The reassurance this can bring to an institution cannot be understated, and this chapter will look to provide some keys principles that, when applied, will help an institution realise similar levels of assurance.