Higher Education and Digitalization: E-Service-Learning, A New Methodology for Developing Professional Competences

Abstract

Higher education has to develop personal and professional competences of students and to improve their knowledge and skills as well as their sense of civic engagement and understanding of cultural and social issue. Moreover, higher education research suggests that the use of technology, e-learning and online course can provide a powerful learning experience for students (Volman, 2005). Thus, e-service-learning (E-SL), “…an electronic form of experiential education and incorporates electronically supported service learning” (Malvey, Hamby, & Fottler, 2006, p. 187) could be a teaching and learning methodology to reach these goals. Indeed:

it is delivered online and uses the Internet and state of the art technologies that permit students, faculty, and community partners to collaborate at a distance in an organized, focused, experiential service-learning activity, which simultaneously promotes civic responsibility and meets community needs. (Malvey et al., 2006, p. 187)

Starting from a theoretical analysis of the evolution of E-SL, this chapter describes a case study of the use of E-SL in English Language Teaching (ELT) education and reveals the effects that it produces on the development of digital skills, teaching abilities and professional identity of pre-service teachers.

Citation

Selmo, L. (2020), "Higher Education and Digitalization: E-Service-Learning, A New Methodology for Developing Professional Competences", Sengupta, E., Blesinger, P. and Mahoney, C. (Ed.) International Perspectives on Policies, Practices & Pedagogies for Promoting Social Responsibility in Higher Education (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 32), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 133-145. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120200000032010