Online Learning

A Review of the Relevant Merits and Disadvantages of the Current Assessment Methods used in the Photography BTEC Extended Diploma Course

by Ben Macloughlin

This paper explores the current assessment method used in a Photography BTEC course. It reveals the role of formative... more This paper explores the current assessment method used in a Photography BTEC course. It reveals the role of formative and summative assessment methods in Photography. It identifies the differences between the use of sketchbooks, PowerPoint and blogs to track learner progress and for receiving feedback. The research takes into account the views of the learners and their tutors and offers an insight into teaching and learning styles. The aim of the paper is to discover which assessment method best suits Photography and can possibly raise the standards of teaching and learning in the UK.

Development of a Hybrid Simulation Course to Reduce Central Line Infections

by Timothy Clapper

Clapper, T. C. (2012). Development of a Hybrid Simulation Course to Reduce Central Line Infections. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 43(5), 218-224. doi:10.3928/00220124-20111101-06.

Clinical educators are continually looking at ways to effectively deliver large amounts of information to their... more Clinical educators are continually looking at ways to effectively deliver large amounts of information to their learners. Whether as a part of pre-course work or as a separate phase of training, there are numerous benefits to making information available to learners before conducting sessions that allow the learners to practice the skills. Hybrid courses consist of a mixture of online and on-site instruction and offer a viable option for clinical educators to consider, especially when their intended audience consists of thousands of learners. This article describes the experiences of a medical simulation center and the use of a hybrid curriculum technique to reduce central line infections.

Misyurov D.A. Dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas // Credo New. 2012. №2

by Dmitry Misyurov

The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with... more The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with dominant and the non-dominant elements; universal formula; formula with symbolic weight of elements; tautological formula. For example, it suggests an opportunity to use the dialectical formulas for modeling and artificial intelligence creation, etc.

Effect of Social Networking Sites in Communication of Information in Distance Education” - A literature review.

by Muntajeeb Ali

Social Networking Sites (SNS) are making people addictive because of their features like sharing and communication and... more Social Networking Sites (SNS) are making people addictive because of their features like sharing and communication and has become part of daily life. These websites has made information to share in real time and communicate with learners and teachers in real time. In this paper, the author explores the effect of SNS in Sharing and Communication of information in Distance Education. SNS are used for entertaining and distracts learners from learning academic studies, but if used under proper supervision of teachers and if it is based on sound pedagogical principles it is very effective and useful in distance education where distance between teachers and learners are more and it takes much time for learners to communicate with their teachers and other learners.

Design and Application of E-learning to Enhance Quality and Accessibility to Education

by Muntajeeb Ali

Advent of Internet made modern world like a global village, and it has reduced the distances between the learner and... more Advent of Internet made modern world like a global village, and it has reduced the distances between the learner and teacher. A learner can use e-learning to take education not only for a limited period of time but for the whole life thus e-learning facilitate continuing and life long education. This article deals with the Design and Application of E-learning to Enhance Quality and Accessibility to Education and also makes learning materials accessible to learner. E-Learning also supports the concept of classrooms without walls where learner and facilitator have the flexibility to make contact with each other, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; this develops Social Networking, Collaboration and Self learning among learner, which helps in effective learning.

Role of Instructional Design Models And Their Place in Distance Learning

by Muntajeeb Ali

Eric Ashby asserts that “any technology which increases the rate of learning would enable the teacher to teach less... more Eric Ashby asserts that “any technology which increases the rate of learning would enable the teacher to teach less and the learner to learn more”, (as cited in (Singh, 2005, p. 2)). In our daily life we see, that learner learn better when taught through, haptic games, movies, animations and graphics, thus attractive, animated and learner centred activities helps retention of information in learner for longer duration of time. Also learner are more, enthusiastic and interested in using, sharing and communication tools like, Blogs, Instant Chats, Video conferencing and Social Software. Thus we adopt these technologies in distance education, to give better experiences to learner and to make our teaching learning process effective, efficient and accessible for learners. Therefore it is important to have understanding of a variety of instructional design models to give experiences and satisfy learners’ needs in an ever rapidly changing environment (Taylor, n.d.). As there are myriads of instructional design models, suited to distance learning, it is imperative that the proper model should be employed for the desired learning outcome.

A CRITICAL STUDY OF EFFECT OF WEB-BASED SOFTWARE TOOLS IN FINDING AND SHARING DIGITAL RESOURCES: A LITERATURE REVIEW.

by Muntajeeb Ali

Web-based software tools, digital resources, sharing, finding, web 2.0, Social Software

The purpose of this paper is to review the effect of web-based software tools for finding and sharing digital... more The purpose of this paper is to review the effect of web-based software tools for finding and sharing digital resources. A positive correlation between learning and studying through online tools has been found in recent researches. In traditional classroom, searching resources are limited to the library and sharing of resources is limited to the walls of classroom, but with the advent of internet and electronic media it is possible to search and share resources beyond four walls. The objective of the study is to review effect of web-based tools and enlist web-based tools for sharing and finding digital resources using web 2.0 technologies. Open Educational Resources were used to study effect of Web 2.0 tools for finding and sharing digital resources. This study, found that, Web 2.0 tools are versatile and effective, because of the features like, user centre, user control & communication, and making teaching learning process learner centric.

A critical study of effectiveness of online learning on students’ achievement

by Muntajeeb Ali

An experimental design was carried out to study the effectiveness in learning of the X grade students in Physics, when... more An experimental design was carried out to study the effectiveness in learning of the X grade students in Physics, when taught through online and face to face. A mash-up of different online tools and learning environment is used for the study. Website ‘Wiziq.com’ provides these online tools and learning environment hence it is used for the study of effectiveness of online learning on students’ achievement. A high score in achievement among students taught and studied through online tools and online learning environment was found through this research. Similarly achievement among students of face to face teaching was found low, this is because in face to face learning, collaborating and sharing of resources is limited to the walls of classroom, but online learning made possible to learning, collaborating, and sharing of resources beyond four walls. Online learning provides the features such as, user center, user control and communication, and making teaching learning process learner centric.

Informing Parents with the Victorian Education Ultranet

by Dr Eva Dakich

Tatnall, A. and Dakich, E. Proceedings of Informing Science & IT Education Conference (InSITE) 2011

Parents of school children want to be well informed and know as much as possible about their
children’s school... more Parents of school children want to be well informed and know as much as possible about their
children’s school and how their children are progressing at school. In mid-2010 in Victoria, Australia the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development launched the Ultranet, a
new web-based product designed to support knowledge sharing, curriculum delivery and online
learning and teaching. This paper describes the Ultranet, how it has been developed and how it is
to be used to inform parents, but as the Ultranet was only beginning to come into operation in late
2010 it has not been possible to include any research findings. With its facilities to inform parents
and to offer collaboration features to teachers, the Ultranet appears to be something not attempted
anywhere before. The paper is thus a theoretical one discussing the Ultranet’s design and possibilities, and is framed by using both an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Siemens’ Theory of
Connectivism. Later papers will examine how the Ultranet performs in practice.
Keywords: Informing communities, Ultranet, Web 2.0 technologies, knowledge sharing, school
communities, curriculum delivery, online learning, actor-network theory, connectivism.

Unravelling knowledge practices: the assistances and resistances of ANT

by Sanna Rimpilainen

Co-authored with Terrie Lynn Thompson, University of Alberta, Canada

As work and workplaces become increasingly distributed, professional knowing practices are more complex and now... more As work and workplaces become increasingly distributed, professional knowing practices are more complex and now reflect an interconnected array of people, ideas, technologies, and other objects. Indeed, sociomaterial sensibilities suggest that it takes both human and nonhuman actors to enact any practice. Actor Network Theory (ANT) is part of the contemporary turn to the relational and material and is well suited to studying hybrid and fluid practices, including connectivity between diverse network elements and the effects generated by such connections.

Yet, not only are approaches to studying these gatherings and heterogeneous processes not well developed, the researcher’s toils in this respect are not often evident in ANT accounts. Having engaged with ANT in our own research, we have learned that it is often challenging to actually apply these approaches to one’s own research questions, methodology, and data. This paper focuses on how we drew on ANT to examine knowing practices of professionals in different work settings and how ANT assisted and resisted our efforts in doing this. We explore more nuanced approaches for the popular ANT edict to “follow the actors” and the importance of attending to multiple and contradictory realities enacted in knowing practices.

We draw on two empirical studies to inform our discussion. Thompson’s research examines how the everyday online work-related learning and knowing practices of the contingent workforce (i.e., self-employed workers) are changing as web and mobile technologies become integrated into globally distributed work-learning spaces. Web-enabled and mobile knowledge spaces are diverse, diffuse, often quite messy, and end up evoking questions of inclusion. Using several ANT-influenced heuristics in an effort to “interview” objects, Thompson examined practices in which human entanglements with objects, such as the posting, the delete button and one’s digital footprint work to shape the learning practices enacted in online spaces. ANT was also used to question the politics of such assemblages. Rimpiläinen carried out a longitudinal, ethnographic case-study, following the unfolding processes of educational research and technology development in an interdisciplinary higher education project called Ensemble, which studied case-based learning in order to develop semantic technologies to support that learning. By drawing on ANT as theoretical practice, approaching the topic through critical ethnographic participation, and using multiple methods for data generation and accumulation, Rimpiläinen opened up to scrutiny the practices, the doing of research and technology development, and was able to trace the emergence of a piece of educational technology through the multiple, at times competing and conflicting, knowledge practices enacted in the project.

Deciding to engage with ANT propels the researcher down a path, influencing the questions asked, the way researchers explore phenomena, what is attended to, how one understands and thinks with their data, and how it might be represented. By exploring the philosophical and practical tensions generated in ANT-influenced research, we hope to create an opportunity for conference participants to interrupt their own knowledge practices as researchers and educators.

Continuing professional development through reflexive networks: Disrupting online communities of practice

by Gurmit Singh

Singh, G., McPherson, M. & Sandars, J. (2012). Continuing professional development through reflexive networks: Disrupting online communities of practice. Paper presented at ProPEL International Conference 2012, University of Stirling, UK, May 2012.

Online peer assessment: helping to facilitate learning through participation

by Geoff Walton

Co-authored with Jamie Cleland, published in Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 2012

The focus of this article is on the combination of enquiry-based learning, information literacy and e-learning and how... more The focus of this article is on the combination of enquiry-based learning, information literacy and e-learning and how they are embedded in an online peer assessment exercise. What it shall present is a structure and strategy that aids student learning in the short and long-term. Ninety-eight students completed a questionnaire before and after a three-week online peer assessment exercise during a first year undergraduate research and study skills module. Qualitatively, the results demonstrate that a significant number of students valued the design of the exercise and the benefits it can have on their future learning and development. Quantitatively, a comparison between formative and summative assessment results indicates statistically significant differences in the grades obtained prior to and post the peer assessment learning intervention. The article concludes by suggesting that new and innovative ways of assessment are needed to keep engaging students and develop their learning in different ways.

A Framework for Conceptualising the Impact of Technology on Teaching and Learning

by Martin Oliver

Price, S. & Oliver, M. (2007) A Framework for Conceptualising the Impact of Technology on Teaching and Learning. Educational Technology & Society, 10 (1), 16-27. Available online: http://www.ifets.info/journals/10_1/3.pdf

Although there is great interest, and considerable investment, in adopting technology within Higher Education, it is... more Although there is great interest, and considerable investment, in adopting technology within Higher Education, it is less clear what this change means to the people who implement or experience it. Presently, there is no consistent framework used to study and explain this phenomenon. In this paper, we propose a framework that can structure and guide work in the area. Work carried out as part of a Kaleidoscope-funded project (see Price et al, 2005) to explore the impact of technology, providing an overview of current research in this area is described, outlining a framework of approaches to researching this topic, and providing an example of empirical work that fits within this methodological framework. Findings from the case study reported here focus on the role that models of teaching and learning play in the process of technology adoption and will be used to elaborate on the themes emerging from the review of existing research. The paper will conclude by considering the framework’s role as a foundation for further work in this area.

Bretag, T. & Hannon, J. (2009) Online close and personal: Developing a community of inquiry using computer mediated communication. In Meeri Hellsten and Anna Reid (Eds). Researching International Pedagogies: Sustainable Practice for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, (pp. 221-239).Netherlands: Springer.

by John Hannon

Co-authored with Tracey Bretag

Adult Learning Styles and Technology-Driven Learning for Online Students

by Aikyna Finch

Authors: Dr. Aikyna Finch and Dr. Emad Rahim

Towards Automatically Detecting Whether Student Learning is Shallow

by Jaclyn Ocumpaugh

Co-Authored with S.J.d. Baker, Ryan, Sujith Gowda, Albert Corbett. For the 11th International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems.

Dynamical Information Retrieval Modelling: A Portfolio-Armed Bandit Machine Approach

by Marc Sloan

Co-authored with Jun Wang, poster paper published at WWW2012

The dynamic nature of document relevance is largely ignored by traditional Information Retrieval (IR) models, which... more The dynamic nature of document relevance is largely ignored by traditional Information Retrieval (IR) models, which assume that scores (relevance) for documents given an information need are static. In this paper, we formulate a general Dynamical Information Retrieval problem, where we consider retrieval as a stochastic, controllable process. The ranking action continuously controls the retrieval system’s dynamics and an optimal ranking policy is found that maximises the overall users’ satisfaction during each period. Through deriving the posterior probability of the documents evolving relevancy from user clicks, we can provide a plugin framework for incorporating a number of click models, which can be combined with Multi-Armed Bandit theory and Portfolio Theory of IR to create a dynamic ranking rule that takes rank bias and click dependency into account. We verify the versatility of our algorithms in a number of experiments and demonstrate improved performance over strong baselines and as a result significant performance gains have been achieved.

Stream-based Joint Exploration-Exploitation Active Learning

by Timothy Hospedales

CPVR 2012

Learning from streams of evolving and unbounded data is an important problem, for example in visual surveillance or... more Learning from streams of evolving and unbounded data is an important problem, for example in visual surveillance or internet scale data. For such large and evolving real- world data, exhaustive supervision is impractical, particularly so when the full space of classes is not known in advance therefore joint class discovery (exploration) and boundary learning (exploitation) becomes critical. Active learning has shown promise in jointly optimising exploration-exploitation with minimal human supervision. However, existing active learning methods either rely on heuristic multi-criteria weighting or are limited to batch processing. In this paper, we present a new unified framework for joint exploration-exploitation active learning in streams without any heuristic weighting. Extensive evaluation on classification of various image and surveillance video datasets demonstrates the superiority of our framework over existing methods.

Lim, C. P. (2002). Online learning in schools: Some lessons from pole-vaulting. International Journal of Educational Technology, 3(1).

by Cher Ping LIM

Drawing a parallel between the introduction of Internet technologies in schools and the introduction of a new vaulting... more Drawing a parallel between the introduction of Internet technologies in schools and the introduction of a new vaulting pole to pole-vaulting, this paper explores key issues of successful integration of online learning in schools. It highlights the need for a paradigm shift in learning to build a learning culture in schools and a strategic plan in schools to enculturate their students to be lifelong learners.

Determining the Feasibility of an E-Portfolio Application in a Distance Education Teaching Practice Course

by Mustafa CANER

In this study we aim to conduct a complete evaluation of the e-portfolio application in the distance teaching practice... more In this study we aim to conduct a complete evaluation of the e-portfolio application in the distance teaching practice course that is part of the Distance English Language Teacher (DELT) program at Anadolu University from the perspective of three groups: university supervisors, preservice teachers, and cooperating teachers. Using a survey on the needs of preservice teachers and how well these were met according to the three groups’ perspectives, we gathered qualitative and quantitative data on the feasibility of the e-portfolio application. Our analysis of the findings revealed that all three groups agreed about the needs of preservice teachers. And despite some minor variance in the perspectives of each group, we determined that e-portfolio applications can meet the majority of the planning, teaching, and reflection needs in the teaching process. We offer suggestions to improve e-portfolio applications so they will better meet preservice teachers’ needs.