Heutagogy in Postgraduate Education: Cognitive Advantages for Higher Degree Online Students

Abstract

As the nature of postgraduate education changes with the inclusion of diverse groups of students who may live at a distance (sometimes in remote areas) and new and emerging technological affordances, shifts are signaled in relationships with peers, teaching staff, and higher education organizations. Heutagogy, as a self-directed approach to learning, supports higher-level cognitive function, double-loop learning, and a shift from educator centered to learner initiated and driven learning. Provided is an account of heutagogy in the form of three case studies that illustrate heutagogy in the teaching, learning, and supervision of online postgraduate education students through a variety of traditional, immersive, and engaging emerging online tools. By discussing the use of both traditional and emerging innovative ICT tools, provided is an overview of how postgraduate students can demonstrate heutagogical approaches to learning, offering readers ideas and alternatives to use in their profession as online educators.