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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, June 01, 2002
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~webteach/cases/christesen.html Presenting Visual Data to Online Students Paul Christesen, Dartmouth College Professor of classics Paul Christesen got involved with the Web while addressing larger issues in classical studies. The classics department at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire, has been rethinking its approach. "We're concerned about building a curriculum that blurs the distinction between different kinds of data. One problem that has always been an issue for classical scholars is that people tend to specialize in one particular body of information: historians are text-driven, archaeologists specialize in artifacts, literature people read a specialized subcategory of text. And there has been a general sense that we could all use the other bodies of information quite handily and that this would be better for the students because it would assemble a more complete and, I think, more entertaining picture for them. So we've been trying to encourage students to be more broadly defined in their field of information." To this end the classics department introduced Theories and Methods in Ancient History. Designed for midrange classical studies, this course exposes students to the various bodies of evidence people studying the classical world use, along with the relevant methodologies for interpreting them.... (0) comments http://www.dartmouth.edu/~webteach/cases/losh.html Ressources for Large--Enrollment Online Courses Elizabeth Losh, University of California at Irvine Many educators and administrators see instructional technology as a way to solve at least some of the challenges inherent in offering large-enrollment courses. When hundreds or even thousands of students are enrolled in a single course, the limitations of the traditional lecture/discussion model become all too evident. For instructors, the logistical challenges of coordinating a large course are daunting, and students often feel alienated in a course where their voice is only one in a thousand. Many institutions look to IT for solutions; indeed, much of the grant monies available in support of educational computing initiatives is earmarked for projects that attempt to overcome the pedagogical and fiscal shortcoming of high enrollments.... (0) comments http://66.8.39.94/sections/techforum/2002/0205300725.asp?A=&O=F A blended e-learning approach ensures success MADELISE GROBLER, DIRECTOR, CS HOLDINGS While Web-based e-learning has proven largely successful, effective knowledge transfer can only be achieved if e-learning is blended with instructor-led training. This is the view of CS Holdings director Madelise Grobler, who believes that the key to mixing and matching these two approaches to training is to identify those that are best handled by e-learning technology and those that can be maximised using more traditional methods.... (0) comments Friday, May 31, 2002
http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002053101t.htm New Service Allows the Public to Pose Reference Questions Without Visiting the Library SCOTT CARLSON Starting on Monday, members of the public will be able to use the World Wide Web to seek answers to reference questions from librarians around the world, including some at college libraries. The service, called QuestionPoint, will operate through a Web browser and may make some visits to the library unnecessary. The Library of Congress and the Online Computer Library Center, better known as OCLC, developed it. A patron will gain access to QuestionPoint through his or her local library's Web site. Questions will be routed to local libraries first. If those libraries aren't open, the question will be sent to an open library -- one that has strengths in disciplines that match the nature of the question. A librarian will pick up the question and help the patron find an answer. QuestionPoint offers a reduced subscription price for any library that agrees to help answer its inquiries.... (0) comments http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002053101u.htm An Online Course Tracks Lewis and Clark's Footsteps and Their Scientific Contributions BROCK READ Environmental Science 50-586 "Science in the American West: The Lewis and Clark Expedition" Drake University Instructor: Richard S. Wacha, a professor and chair of the department of biology "I think of Lewis and Clark's expedition as an American saga," says Richard S. Wacha, a professor and chair of the department of biology at Drake University. But the journey was also a watershed event for biology research, he says; to prove his point, Mr. Wacha has created a new online course profiling the contributions that the pair of explorers made to modern science. The course's initial run this summer comes at an opportune time: Next year marks the bicentennial of the commissioning of Lewis and Clark's expedition, which took the duo from the Ohio River to the Pacific Northwest over a period of more than three years. "Most states are really gearing up for the bicentennial," says Mr. Wacha, citing exhibits at state parks and events planned for college campuses.... (0) comments http://www.irrodl.org/content/v3.1/davis.html Cooperation vs. Deliberation: Computer Mediated Conferencing and the Problem of Argument in International Distance Education Michael Davis, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden Albert Rouzie,Ohio University, USA Abstract The idea that Internet-based distance education offers the potential to globalize higher education has not been matched by significant interest in the pedagogical and methodological issues at stake. This essay discusses a two-year experimental course conducted between two college classes in Karlskrona, Sweden and Ohio, in the United States. The goal of this course was to use online debate to augment intercultural understanding. This experiment involved both synchronous and asynchronous computer mediated conferencing (CMC) as well as various types of assignments intended to emphasize the discursive strengths of each CMC form. We discovered, however, that our assumptions about CMC discourse were challenged by the way it developed in our international contexts. Ultimately, we developed and propose a methodology that delimits and makes productive the playful agnostics of synchronous debate by employing asynchronous conferencing for the pre-debate development of common ground and the post-debate development of formal arguments.... (0) comments http://www.irrodl.org/content/v3.1/mioduser.html The Development of Social Climate in Virtual Learning Discussion Groups Avigail Oren, David Mioduser, Rafi Nachmias Tel-Aviv University, School of Education Abstract As the educational use of computer mediated communication (CMC) increases there is growing interest among researchers as to social processes evolving within the varied models of group work using Internet, e.g., special interest groups, topical discussion groups, discussion forums attached to virtual courses, and learning communities. In this paper we present a synthetic summary of five studies that explored social climate issues in synchronous and asynchronous online activities in academic courses, focusing on the following questions: Does a social atmosphere develop in online learning discussion groups? What are the different modes of social interaction are manifest in online learning discussion groups? What is the role of the virtual teacher with regards to the social climate in online learning discussion groups? Discussed are the implications of these five studies' on the design of virtual-learning-discussion-groups, and the results for the characterization of teacher moderation functions.... (0) comments Thursday, May 30, 2002
http://www.irrodl.org/content/v3.1/belawati_rn.html Electronic Tutorials: Indonesian Experience Tian Belawati, Mohamad Toha Anggoro, A.P. Hardhono, Tri Darmayanti Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia Abstract As in other developing nations, important concerns surrounding education in Indonesia involve two issues: quantity versus quality. Quality concerns have now been somewhat addressed by the establishment of the Indonesian Open Learning University (Universitas Terbuka) in 1984. The concern for quality, however, has not yet been completely resolved. Learning support, believed to be key for achieving good quality distance education, has been limited. This paper presents the results of two pilot projects that examined tutorials provided via Internet and Fax-Internet technologies. It is a report that also shows that the Universitas Terbuka is faced with both visible and invisible challenges. Visible challenges include limitations in the availability of technology infrastructure and issues of inadequate access, while invisible challenges include the readiness of Indonesian people to adopt and take advantage of new technology for educational purposes. Despite the results of the pilot project, it is suggested that Universitas Terbuka should continue to utilize Internet and Fax-Internet as two of its communication channels with students.... (0) comments http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/MAY02_Issue/statex04.html University of British Columbia Online Master of Educational Technology UBC Faculty of Education and UBC Distance Education & Technology (DE&T) Applicants are now being accepted for a new Master of Educational Technology (MET) Program, opening in September 2002. Choose a joint University of British Columbia/Tec de Monterrey Masters degree or one of two associated post-graduate certificate programs. All courses will be delivered online.... (0) comments http://www.irrodl.org/content/v3.1/nickel_rn.html Online Learning Activities: Beginning An International Collaboration Tom Nickel, Utah State University Introduction Early Sunday morning, April 1, 2001, a U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet, causing the death of the Chinese pilot and forcing an emergency landing by the U.S. aircraft on Hainan Island, in the People’s Republic of China. Political relations between the United States and China had been deteriorating for months during the Spring of 2001 –- it was the stated intention of newly-elected President George W. Bush to move American policy toward China from “strategic partnership” to “strategic competition.” Against this backdrop, Chinese and American students from three different graduate-level programs participated in a series of collaborative learning activities through the Internet, under the direction of the Department of Instructional Technology, at Utah State University (USU). Two of the programs were based in Utah: Twelve USU graduate students enrolled in an on-campus course in Distance Education, and a cohort of ten elementary and secondary in-service teachers in an online Distance Learning Endorsement (DLE) Program. The third group consisted of four English-speaking Chinese students in a Masters program in Educational Communications at South China Normal University (SCNU), Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, as well as a recent graduate of that program.... (0) comments Wednesday, May 29, 2002
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0502/051602b1.htm Central e-learning site for federal workers takes shape Brian Friel A Transportation Department Web site will be transformed into a one-stop e-learning portal for workers throughout the federal government, according to the Office of Personnel Management. The Transportation Virtual University site will be recast as the National Learning Center, and will offer a host of courses to federal workers. These will include mandatory training in such areas as ethics and sexual harassment; managerial training in such topics as interviewing techniques; and computer courses in such areas as database management and Web development. http://www.nlc.gov/nlc/index.html (0) comments http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002052901u.htm A British University Uses a Murder Mystery to Teach the Craft of Online Writing MICHAEL ARNONE A project at Nottingham Trent University, in Britain, is bringing writers together from around the world to create a murder mystery online. The exercise, titled "M is for Nottingham?" offers online-writing students and the general public the chance to learn firsthand how to collaborate online to create narratives, says Sue Thomas, artistic director for the trAce Online Writing Centre at the university. The center provides an online forum where writers can collaborate on experiments in online writing. Through its Online Writing School, the center provides accredited courses over the Internet to students in 111 countries.... (0) comments Tuesday, May 28, 2002
http://www.irrodl.org/content/v3.1/rovai.html Building Sense of Community at a Distance Alfred P. Rovai, School of Education, Regent University, Virginia Abstract This article challenges the belief that strong sense of community is limited to the traditional classroom and proposes that the virtual classroom has the potential of building and sustaining sense of community at levels that are comparable to the traditional classroom. Drawing on research literature, the concept of learning community is applied to the virtual classroom by taking on the issue of how best to design and conduct an online course that fosters community among learners who are physically separated from each other. Course design principles are described that facilitate dialogue and decrease psychological distance, thereby increasing a sense of community among learners.... (0) comments http://catalyst.washington.edu/partner/distance.html U Washington Guide to Teaching and Learning Online The University of Washington has offered distance learning since 1912. In this time, the UW has become a national leader and innovator in distance learning, focusing on the Web and other creative ways to deliver classes and forging partnerships with other universities and industry groups. The UW offers 11 degrees, 24 certificate programs and 306 courses in online and video formats, attracting over 10,000 enrollments a year. Most of the distance learning resources listed below were created through a partnership between UWEO and Catalyst.... (0) comments http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i38/38a03101.htm The 24-Hour Professor JEFFREY R. YOUNG ...Is technology turning college teaching into a 24-hour job? The growth of e-mail, course Web sites, instant-messaging software, and online courses has forced many professors to rearrange their daily routines and has made them more accessible to students than ever before. Before the Internet, the only opportunity most students had to speak with their professors was during scheduled class sessions or office hours. Now, more professors can be in touch with students at any time -- morning, noon, and night, seven days a week. That is especially true for online courses, which are advertised as allowing students to study at their convenience.... (0) comments Monday, May 27, 2002
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0235.pdf Support for Teaching and Learning: the Dilemma Carole A. Barone During a question-and-answer session at the 2002 National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII) annual meeting, a participant asked two students: “What is the most difficult thing about being a student these days?” The students had the same answer: “Having to sit through a class lecture without being able to check e-mail, surf the Web, and listen to music.” Another participant then asked a faculty member: “How would you have answered that question?” The faculty member thought for a moment and said, “I would have answered calculus.” This enlightening exchange typifies the current clash between faculty and students’ cognitive styles on college and university campuses.... (0) comments http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0233.pdf Teaching as Coaching - Helping Students Learn in a Technological World Newton Smith, Western Carolina University Technologies in Teaching and Learning Colleges and universities today have to constantly scramble to keep up with the latest technology, where the advancements seem to be progressing geo-metrically in keeping with Moore’s law. Every college and university classroom, regardless of the discipline, has been profoundly affected. The Internet, computerization, and the development of information technologies have changed the way we think about knowledge, the way we think about teaching and learning, and perhaps even more important, the way we think about the relationship between economics and education. But the most dramatic change is not even at our doors yet: it is our future students, those elementary and middle-school kids who have always had computers in their lives and who will enter our classrooms with expectations that will dwarf the technological capabilities we have today.... (0) comments http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/story/0,10577,721497,00.html Rivals threaten BBC with court for £150m online learning push John Cassy, The Guardian Several media and software companies are demanding a judicial review of the BBC's plans to spend £150m of licence money on expanding its online education service over the next five years. The BBC faces a battle with a coalition of 18 software firms, which say their industry will be "decimated" if the BBC plans are approved by the government. They believe the plans go beyond the corporation's public service remit.... In its submission to the culture department, the BBC argues that its proposed free service "is the latest development of the high quality educational resources which the BBC has provided since the 1920s". It goes on to promise students access to "a broad range of learning resources". The programmes and content would be "distinctive", of "high quality" and in strong demand from teachers and pupils.... (0) comments http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_2_2002/eseryel.html Approaches to Evaluation of Training: Theory & Practice Deniz Eserye, Syracuse University ABSTRACT There is an on-going debate in the field of evaluation about which approach is best to facilitate the processes involved. This article reviews current approaches to evaluation of training both in theory and in practice. Particular attention is paid to the complexities associated with evaluation practice and whether these are addressed in the theory. Furthermore, possible means of expediting the performance of evaluations and expanding the range and precision of data collection using automated systems are discussed. Recommendations for further research are also discussed.... (0) comments Sunday, May 26, 2002
http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol7/issue3/gammack.html Mindscapes And Internet-mediated Communication John Gammack, Murdoch University Abstract Cultures are considered to be epistemologically heterogeneous, and it is assumed that epistemologically similar individuals exist across distinct cultures. Epistemological type is viewed as prior to, and transcendent of, nationality and culture. Identifying a shared epistemological basis for communication will be more likely to succeed in dialogical contexts where conformity to prevailing national stereotypes may fail. Two levels of communication are distinguished: explicate (here seen as conformity to social and cultural symbolic norms and conventions), and implicate (the level at which implicit, abstract communicative intention originates). Cyberspatial interactions potentially undermine normative cultural influences and permit multicultural or transcultural environments in which new codes extending from epistemological types (rather than cultural) become possible, limited only by media potential and symbolization itself. Drawing upon Maruyama's (1980) theory, implications for an alternative to the homogenization of verbal communication, and potential elements of codes for universal understandings are considered.... (0) comments http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol7/issue3/vehovar.html Design of Web Survey Questionnaires: Three Basic Experiments Katja Lozar Manfreda and Vasja Vehovar, University of Ljubljana Zenel Batagelj,CATI Center Abstract Despite increased use of Web surveys, relatively little is known about standards for designing Web questionnaires. Since there is no help from an interviewer for the respondent taking a Web survey, the design of self-administered Web questionnaires is even more important in order to achieve high data quality. Question wording, form and graphic layout of the questionnaire are particularly important. This paper presents some basic experiments to address these issues: one vs. multiple-page design, use of logotypes, and survey topic. The research was performed within the national RIS – Research on Internet in Slovenia - project (http://www.ris.org) in extensive testing since 1996.... (0) comments Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
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