Extending Learning Environments in Higher Education: Online Peer-to-Peer Counseling in Professional Degree Programs of Social Work

Abstract

There has been a lot of discussion about the role of digital media in higher education. Principal advantages of incorporating educational technologies into higher education teaching are generally conceived to manifest themselves at three different levels (HEFCE, 2009): (a) efficiency can increase as regards cost-effectivity, time-effectivity, sustainability or scalability, (b) enhancement of both the learning and teaching experience can occur by multimedia, more international and authentic learning resources, (c) transformation may be achieved with substantial qualitative change in learning and teaching processes or radically new processes.