ABSTRACT
Social scientists in higher education are users of new technologies but, in that respect, they are no different from other academics. Bates has identified a number of factors which are relevant to the selection of an educational technology or system: the accessibility of the medium, whether it is widely available or can at least be provided cheaply; convenience and ease of use by students, without undue additional training; academic control over the design and preparation of materials, again without undue additional training; the “human touch”, making possible relatively natural communication between learners and teachers; cost; and what is available. In theory, the benefits of an educational system, in terms of learning experiences and achievements, and its costs can be brought together into a single comparison. Marginal costs are those incurred when producing one more unit, whatever the unit is. Again, marginal costs could be couched in terms of courses or students.
