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Activating Boxmind: an evaluation of a web‐based video lecture with synchronized activities
Get PDFThe aim of this study was to evaluate the use of synchronous computer‐mediated communication activities in a video e‐lecture. Previous research has reported that learning is facilitated when communication activities are added to a video lecture. Twelve postgraduate students participated in the study and they viewed a video e‐lecture on the perspective‐taking theory of communication. The lecture consisted of a video image of the lecturer, an audio track, slides, the transcript and a number of communication activities. They were given a pre‐test a week before the lecture and a post‐test a week after. They were also asked to rate the helpfulness of various aspects of the lecture. Students’ post‐test scores were statistically significantly higher than their pre‐test scores. They found the audio track, transcript, slides and activities helpful. The most helpful aspects were the communication activities. The implications of these findings are discussed
Reviews
Get PDFAlan Clarke, Designing Computer‐Based Learning Materials, Aldershot: Gower, 2001. ISBN: 0–566–08320–5. Hardback, xviii+196 pages, £45.00
Networking: A study in planning and developing cross‐cultural collaboration
Get PDFThis paper reports on a collaboration between the authors at the University of Brighton (UK) and the University of Delhi, South Campus. The collaboration came about as a result of the EU‐India Cross‐Cultural Innovation Network collaboration programme, a project involving several universities and organizations across Europe and India. The authors of this paper both lecture in the area of computer networking. Following meetings in Delhi, they agreed to work together to produce a Web‐based networking resource to be generated by the students of both institutions. The first phase of development involved the mounting of Web‐based tutorials and documents produced by the students. The second phase will centre on the development of a knowledge base generated by the interaction of the students within an asynchronous forum. Running alongside these phases will be a collaborative bookmarking system, a database in which the students will post URLs of Web‐based resources that they find useful in their studies. This system incorporates a form of collaborative filtering, an evolutionary mechanism which seeks to embody the qualities that students value in resources to provide a dynamic set of ratings to assist in the selection of those of most use. The planning of such a system raises some unusual issues, not least in the process of collaboration itself, with concerns as diverse as technical compatibility, institutional and cultural differences, time‐zones and the reliability of email. Limited bandwidth between our institutions causes special problems with the interactive elements of the resource. We present the methods we are investigating to reduce the impact of this. The fact that the students share an intellectual discipline but are otherwise separated by a cultural and geographical divide is expected to lead to fruitful diversity in thinking and approaches to problem‐solving
Online mentoring and peer support: Using learning technologies to facilitate entry into a community of practice
Get PDFA vital aspect of any professional education is the opportunity for students to engage in meaningful practical experiences. In pre‐service teacher education in Australia, this vital teaching practice component has undergone challenges in recent years due to increasing student numbers (linked to the increasing demand for new teachers) and limited resources in university and school sectors. As such, initiatives to enhance the practical component of this professional degree have been sought. This paper details the methodology and outcomes associated with a pilot project that utilized asynchronous Web‐based communication tools to facilitate mentoring and peer support through the teaching practice experience. Analysis of the online discussions and interviews with participants provides an indication of the nature of the interactions and the perceived value of the intervention, and informs the potential for larger‐scale implementation
Simulation modelling: Educational development roles for learning technologists
Get PDFSimulation modelling was in the mainstream of CAL development in the 1980s when the late David Squires introduced this author to the Dynamic Modelling System. Since those early days, it seems that simulation modelling has drifted into a learning technology backwater to become a member of Laurillard's underutilized, ‘adaptive and productive’ media. Referring to her Conversational Framework, Laurillard constructs a pedagogic case for modelling as a productive student activity but provides few references to current practice and available resources. This paper seeks to complement her account by highlighting the pioneering initiatives of the Computers in the Curriculum Project and more recent developments in systems modelling within geographic and business education. The latter include improvements to system dynamics modelling programs such as STELLA®, the publication of introductory textbooks, and the emergence of online resources. The paper indicates several ways in which modelling activities may be approached and identifies some educational development roles for learning technologists. The paper concludes by advocating simulation modelling as an exemplary use of learning technologies ‐ one that realizes their creative‐transformative potential
Technology‐supported environments for learning through cognitive conflict
Get PDFThis paper examines ways in which the idea of cognitive conflict is used to facilitate learning, looking at the design and use of learning environments for this purpose. Drawing on previous work in science education and educational computing, three approaches to the design of learning environments utilizing cognitive conflict are introduced. These approaches are described as confrontational, guiding and explanatory, based on the level of the designer's concern with learners’ pre‐existing understanding, the extent of modification to the learner's conceptual structures intended by the designer, and the directness of steering the learner to the desired understanding. The examples used to illustrate the three approaches are taken from science education, specifically software for learning about Newtonian physics; it is contended however that the argument of the paper applies more broadly, to learning environments for many curriculum areas for school levels and in higher education
Gender issues in computer‐supported learning
Get PDFContemporary research identifies significant gender‐related differences in performance and interaction style in computer‐supported learning (CSL) environments. Evidence suggests that initial perceptions of these environments as democratic and offering equal opportunities to all students were flawed because interactions that take place through electronic channels lose none of the sociocultural complexity or gender imbalance that already exists within society. This paper presents a summary of gender‐related issues identified by international research and academic practice together with the opinions expressed by participants in a discussion forum staged at Alt‐C in 2001. Two main questions were addressed during the conference forum. Firstly, if computer access and literacy levels are assumed to be equalizing as the literature suggests, how can educational designers using CSL technologies best serve all student groups? Secondly, does the existence of gender‐based differences in behaviour and interaction style in CSL environments mean that any student group is disadvantaged? The paper concludes with suggestions about how educational designers might increase the flexibility of CSL courses to offer equal opportunities to all students. A number of issues for further research are also identified
Grounded Theory as an approach to studying students’ uses of learning management systems
Get PDFThis paper presents the first phase of a qualitative study of students’ use of a Learning Management System (LMS). A group of students at Kingston University with experience of two different systems were afforded the opportunity to study the relationship between the interface to an LMS and the usability of the system