Teachers´ Conceptions of E-learning in Chinese Higher Education: Findings of Phenomenographic Study

This paper reports on preliminary findings of phenomenographic interviews with higher education teachers in China working in `conventional, campus-based universities concerning their conceptions of e-Learning. The interviews were analysed from a grounded theory perspective that resulted in a set of preliminary conceptual categories namely the centrality of the lecture, online cooperative learning, network learning, student learning, and infrastructure and access. Discussion of these categories is presented which illuminates the state of e-Learning in Chinese higher education. We conclude that the dominance of traditional teaching methods in China is unlikely to present the conditions for mainstreaming e-Learning in the near future.