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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, August 24, 2002
http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/2002/2/boyle-02-2-paper.html A Theoretical Base for Educational Multimedia Design Tom Boyle, Learning Technology Research Institute (LTRI) Abstract: The aim of this paper is to contribute to the construction of a systematic theoretical base for educational multimedia design. The paper delineates different layers of explanation. It then argues for the interactional layer as the most appropriate for multimedia learning environment design. It proposes 'context' as the central construct at this layer. The relationships between multimedia contexts are explored, especially the concept of different levels of contexts corresponding to different educational demands. Further meta-theoretical clarification on the difference between procedural and declarative modes of explanation precedes the final section of the paper. This section explores how the internal structure, the morphology, of contexts might best be delineated for capture in a systematic knowledge base. The paper argues strongly that this type of theoretical clarification is required if we are to move towards a more systematic, 'scientific' base for the construction of educational multimedia systems.... (0) comments http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/AUG02_Issue/article03.html A Design For Learning: The Escalator Guy Bensusan INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND: An escalator is a moving set of stairs. Metaphorically, I picked this name for the twelve-step assignment stairway I use in my courses because ESCALATOR implies two things; one can be carried up by the mechanism or also exert an effort to climb. In considering the analogy of being carried upward, each learning activity, experience and subsequent written report is based on what was done before while anticipating what is coming next. This connection is consciously cultivated through all twelve steps; the very act of DOING each assignment lifts the learner level by level into higher planes of understanding. If the learner chooses actively to climb, he or she can ascend to the top faster, with better connective understanding and greater personal satisfaction.... (0) comments http://www.wiche.edu/wcet/resources/publications/ocw.pdf MIT’s OpenCourseWare Initiative: Reading the Implications WILLIAM AND FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION This is the report of a forum concerning implications of the MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative, convened in San Diego during December 2001 by the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET), a project of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Three background papers were prepared for forum participants, and their substance is incorporated here. Their authors are Clara Lovett, President Emerita, Northern Arizona University, on institutional implications; Georgia Harper, of the University of Texas System, on intellectual property issues; and John Rose and Tarek Shawki of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), on implications for developing countries. Briefing papers concerning programs under development at Princeton University and Carnegie Mellon University were prepared by Serge Goldstein and Joel Smith respectively. Related Web sites and portions of the project proposal to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation were also consulted. John Witherspoon prepared this report.... (0) comments Friday, August 23, 2002
http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_3_2002/jung.html Interactivity in Distance Learning: The Digital Divide and Student Satisfaction Larry R. Irons, I.C. Technologies J. Jung, Southeast Missouri State University Robert O. Keel, University of Missouri-St. Louis ABSTRACT: Like any other complex communications infrastructure, the network connecting different locations of virtual classes in university systems has developed over time with differing combinations of synchronous and asynchronous communication technologies at the various university locations. This research focuses on graduate nursing students’ satisfaction with the learning experience in seven distinct virtual classes during the 1998-99 academic year of a midwestern state university system. Each virtual class included course offerings from multiple campuses at eight locations, two urban and six non-urban. Differences between student perceptions of satisfaction for host and remote sites are analyzed, as well as differences between students at urban sites and non-urban sites whether remote or host. When geographic location is controlled, separating the data into urban and non-urban settings, students attending classes with a web requirement in urban settings were more likely to express positive degrees of satisfaction than students attending classes with a web requirement in non-urban settings. The relationship holds for both host and remote classes.... (0) comments http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_3_2002/oliver.html What does ‘impact’ mean in the evaluation of learning technology? Martin Oliver, University College London Jen Harvey, Dublin Institute of Technology ABSTRACT: Whilst many projects in Higher Education are expected to demonstrate their impact, quite what this requirement means is often left unspecified. This paper draws on the experiences of the EFFECTS project in an attempt to illuminate this issue. The EFFECTS evaluation framework is used to structure this discussion, which explores the complexities associated with identifying impact in terms of student learning, changes in practice for academics, changes within an organisation and national development. Common themes arising from these areas are then identified. Importantly, while practical issues are considered, the purpose of this discussion is not to ‘solve’ this complexity – instead, its purpose is to recognise it, and to consider the implications for evaluators of working in such settings.... (0) comments http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_3_2002/hasan.html Adaptive Web-based Engine for the Evaluation of eLearning Resources Lampros K. Stergioulas, Hasan Ahmed and Costas S. Xydeas; Lancaster University ABSTRACT: This paper discusses the architectural design and development of an adaptive, on-line data collection and presentation engine for the evaluation of eLearning resources in Higher Education. Design issues and evaluation results obtained from the real-life testing of such a prototype system are presented.... (0) comments http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2002/08/22_class.html UC Berkeley's first entirely online course could lead way to more classes without a classroom Robert Sanders, Media Relations The University of California, Berkeley, is offering its first course taught solely through the Web... "Gems and Gem Materials," an undergraduate class being taught this fall by Jill Banfield, a professor of earth and planetary sciences.... Philip Stark, professor of statistics and faculty assistant in education technology within UC Berkeley's Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs, said the campus supports such classes, if appropriate. "Our view is that online resources can enrich classes, and we favor anything that improves the quality of education at Berkeley. The administration wants to support faculty who desire to add online components to their classes, and we want to provide whatever infrastructure and consulting help we can to make it possible," he said. Choosing appropriate technological enhancements for courses, or whether to use technology at all, is up to the Academic Senate and individual faculty members and instructors, he noted. "Neither the administration nor the faculty think that a UC Berkeley undergraduate education should consist of sitting in front of a computer in lieu of face-to-face contact with an instructor," said Stark. However, many of us advocate a 'hybrid' approach that uses technology in appropriate and demonstrably effective ways to supplement lectures and other direct interaction between students and instructors. As I see it, Berkeley is a research university, and this course is an experiment - it's research into teaching - to see how well the approach works."... (0) comments http://oregonlive.com/metrosouthwest/oregonian/ Web-based university courses are the solution for a student with 'listening dyslexia' JANET GOETZE Ben Brink was eager to complete college, but with an unusual hearing impairment, he had trouble understanding discussions and instructions in a classroom. He's been using computers since he was 12 years old, however, and he honed his communication skills with the keyboard and the Internet. Those skills finally have brought him the bachelor's degree he has been seeking for nearly 20 years. Now Brink, 37, is starting courses he hopes lead to a doctorate.... (0) comments http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/access-2002/index.html An Educator's Guide To Access Issues: Ethical and Policy Issues in Information Technologies Nicholas Burbules, University of Illinois Kim Baker, Amy Craddock, Ann Orwig; University of Illinois Access to technology should be equally available for all students. However, research shows that there are several gaps in accessibility for students. While many efforts have been made in the past 3 years to increase computer access for all students, many complex issues remain surrounding equal technology access. These papers serve to address many of these issues.... (0) comments Thursday, August 22, 2002
http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_3_2002/creese.html Contrasts in learning: a collaborative evaluation by practitioners and students Liz Creese, RMIT University Jane Kemelfield, Learning Technology Services ABSTRACT: This paper documents some of the learning emanating from a learner-centred evaluation of a change from face-to-face to online lectures in an Organisational Behaviour course at RMIT University. An academic and learning technology mentor conducted the evaluation, working as co-researchers with ‘Managing Change’ students. Primarily, the evaluation aimed to illuminate the experience of using the online lectures, as perceived by Engineering students. As preliminary research to a wider study, the evaluation was also formative. The findings suggest that the Engineering students appreciated the flexibility of online lectures. However, they devalued the online experience because it lacked the interaction of face-to-face lectures and consequently adopted a surface approach to learning. The strong message emerging from the student evaluation data was the importance of social interaction for understanding organisational behaviour concepts. The practitioners could not initially ‘see’ this message, such were the demands of managing the logistics of the change to online delivery and the lack of adequate organisational support. The surface level of learning for the Engineering students is starkly contrasted with the deep level of learning for the researchers, leading to transformation for the Managing Change students and eventually the practitioners.... (0) comments http://www.distance-educator.com/dnews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=7334 Distance Learning Master's Degree Significantly Improves K/12 Teaching Effectiveness As millions of teachers prepare to return to their classrooms, Canter & Associates today released a research study indicating that teachers who had enrolled in a distance learning master's degree program experienced a significant improvement in their teaching effectiveness in eight areas tied to student achievement. The study found that when compared with graduates from traditional, on-campus master's degree programs, these distance learning graduates scored higher in all eight areas including classroom management and student motivation.... (0) comments http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/lessonslearnedteaching.htm Lessons Learned Teaching Online George Siemens Teaching online is a unique experience in a unique medium. Many of the skills and attributes of effective instruction in a classroom translate well to effective instruction online. At the risk of sounding fairly absurd - teaching online is very much like, and very much unlike, classroom teaching.... (0) comments http://chronicle.com/free/2002/08/2002082201t.htm Distance-Education Alliance Backed by Oxford, Stanford, and Yale Will Offer Courses to the Public SCOTT CARLSON A nonprofit distance-education company supported by three elite universities will begin offering online courses to the general public today. The company, until now known as the Alliance for Lifelong Learning, will also dump its unwieldy name for a more marketable one: AllLearn. The company previously offered courses only to the alumni of Stanford University, the University of Oxford, and Yale University, the three institutions that support the venture. Nancy D. Kelly, the director of marketing for AllLearn, says that the company always had the intention of marketing to "lifelong learners" among the general public; the company marketed to alumni at first to work out the kinks in the system. She says that AllLearn plans to advertise the courses through specialized and general-interest magazines.... (0) comments http://events.blackboard.com/featured/uc2003/proposals.cgi Blackboard Users Conference 2003 Call for Proposals You are invited to share your knowledge and expertise with your peers at the Blackboard Users Conference 2003, Empower, Enhance & Educate, being held 25-27 February 2003 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Deadline for all submissions is Friday, 30 August 2002. Timeline: 30 August 2002 – Deadline for submitting proposals 18 October 2002 – Selected presenters notified ... (0) comments https://www.amlink.com.au/secure/teched03a.htm Call for Presenations: TechEd 2003 It’s all about learning… You're invited to submit a proposal to present at the upcoming 7th annual TechEd International Conference & Exposition, March 24-26, 2003 in sunny Ontario, Southern California. TechEd is seeking inspiring presenters to share with educators from around the world their knowledge, experience, and successful practices in teaching and learning. Educators from community, two- and four-year colleges, K-12 schools, and universities attend TechEd in search of new information and skills to enhance and transform learning within their institutions.... (0) comments Wednesday, August 21, 2002
http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/AUG02_Issue/article02.html Salmon’s E-tivities: The key to active online learning Brent Muirhead Introduction: Today’s online instructors face curriculum challenges due to the absence of face-to-face interaction with their students. Currently, the majority of distance education schools must rely upon text based instructional strategies. Distance educators struggle with trying to develop activities that will promote interaction and reflective thinking in their classrooms. Gilly Salmon’s latest book (2002) E-tivities: The key to act ive online learning addresses the need to develop relevant online instructional activities that can be used in a diversity of academic disciplines. The term "E-tivities" refers to a conceptual framework for discussing interactive learning activities.... (0) comments http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_3_2002/storey.html Evaluating the usability of Web-based learning tools M.-A. Storey, B. Phillips, M. Maczewski and M. Wang; University of Victoria ABSTRACT: Web-based learning tools provide integrated environments of various technologies to support diverse educators’ and learners’ needs via the Internet. This paper reports the results from a study to experimentally compare two commercially available learning tools in a university course. We discuss the findings from this study in relation to basic usability issues that must be attended to when designing user interfaces for web-based learning tools. Findings regarding navigation, customization, student management and content creation as well as students' rating of tool features such as the 'online quiz' and 'assignment' are discussed in detail. We also report on students’ perceptions of whether the tools impacted positively or negatively their learning in the course and their recommendations to universities who may be considering campus-wide adoption of web-based learning tools. The article closes with recommendations for universities, educators and tool-developers for the development and use of web-based learning tools that take into account the importance of usability issues in the choice of web-based learning tools and recognition of the situatedness of students and educators within real life contexts.... (0) comments http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/aug2002/kaplan.html Building Communities--Strategies for Collaborative Learning Soren Kaplan In a recent survey by the Masie Center, nearly 2000 learning professionals ranked online communities as one of the top three most important components of e-learning portals. But the term community remains ambiguous, and CLOs are unsure how to start building and integrating them into their organizations. Here's a model that describes a number of practical applications for including community as part of a learning plan and specific strategies for building learning-focused communities.... (0) comments http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/7.2/binder.html?sectiontwo/enteen Teaching "Globalization and Intercultural Communication: A Virtual Exchange Project Jillana Enteen, Northwestern University; Radhika Gajjala, Bowling Green State University In Fall 1999, two classes from two different geographical locations, the Honors College of University of Central Florida and the Communications Department at Bowling Green State University, came together via the Internet to collaborate. These courses, Jillana Enteen's "Globalization/Intercultural Communication" and Radhika Gajjala's "Intercultural Communication/Globalization" required a series of student interactions that took place using electronic media, culminating in a Virtual Exchange Project. In what follows, the two instructors describe the project and share some observations regarding the experience. It is our belief that this kind of virtual exchange can be carried on with regard to other subject matter as well. In fact, as Jillana Enteen points out in her comments regarding the project, she is continuing such efforts with other collaborators.... (0) comments http://www.distance-educator.com/dnews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=7323 WebCT Continues To Post Record Financial Results Source: WebCT.com WebCT, ... today announced that revenues for the first half of 2002 have more than doubled over the same period last year. Total revenue is up 122 percent, license revenue is up 131 percent, and publisher/content revenue is up 560 percent over the first half of 2001. WebCT added more than 400 new customers in the first half of 2002, a number that is ahead of last year's pace. The healthy growth in customers is attributed to the expanded product line along with the customer-driven enhancements made to existing product offerings.... (0) comments Tuesday, August 20, 2002
http://www.ed.psu.edu/acsde/deos/deosnews/deosnews12_2.asp Accounting Faculty Members' Perceptions of Distance Learning: An Exploratory Study Michael Mosebach and Richard I. Newmark ABSTRACT: This study measures the perceptions of faculty members who teach accounting with recent distance learning (DL) experience towards DL. Subjects are from universities with nationally recognized DL programs. Seventy-six of the 230 surveys were returned, but only 22 of the respondents have recently taught a DL course, with 15 respondents using interactive television as their primary delivery medium. These faculty members believe their DL courses are equally rigorous in terms of quantity and complexity of material. While subjects generally feel accounting poses no unusual problems for DL delivery, some faculty members feel journal entries and complex solutions are difficult to present via the Internet or interactive television. Other concerns are that students are intimidated by DL media, and interaction and information retention is lower for DL students. Another finding is that accounting departments at these DL-committed universities are slow to adopt DL. Finally, subjects overwhelmingly acknowledge that their opinion towards DL changed after actually teaching a DL course.... (0) comments http://www.ed.psu.edu/acsde/deos/deosnews/deosnews11_4.asp Distance Education, the MBA, and the Internet Mawdudur Rahman Abstract: Distance learning has a significant impact on management education. As the demand grows worldwide for persons with a US MBA (Master’s of Business Administration) degree, the number of universities participating in distance education will grow more quickly. Technology vendors try to offer reliable and robust distance education systems. For many institutions, quality distance education programs would not be possible without the availability of outsourcing options. Distance education technologies encompass various forms and formats with a diverse mix of hardware and software. This article provides useful information for universities and colleges exploring the offering of an MBA by distance education. The article identifies the top distance learning MBA programs and offers a look at selected comparative data on some programs. This information can be used as background information to prepare proposals for a distance-learning MBA, or by students to evaluate distance-learning MBA programs. Researchers in distance learning may use the information in this article to study how distance learning is gaining ground in many MBA programs. (0) comments http://www.ed.psu.edu/acsde/deos/deosnews/deosnews11_2.asp Teaching Algebra Online Nora Strasser Abstract: Examining alternative delivery systems for algebra is important for providing adult students with options for completing their degrees. The use of Web sites and Web-based quizzes has proven to be a successful method for teaching algebra to adult students. This article reviews the first implementations of such a course to gain insight into the problems and success of the course.... (0) comments http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage/sub_page.cfm?section=7&list_item=2&page=1 Is Digital Learning Effective in the Workplace? Larry G. Moyer Introduction: One should probably expect the title of this paper to be a statement instead of a question. However, the question is one that arises with ever increasing frequency in both corporations and academic instituitions throughout the world. Hence, it is a question that deserves more attention than a recounting of the plethora of anecdotal accounts and projections from technology and business analysts. As a start toward providing reasoned answers to the question, this paper reviews existing research literature concerning digital learning effectiveness in academic contexts when compared to traditional classroom events.... (0) comments Monday, August 19, 2002
http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/7.2/binder.html?sectionone/brooks Communication as the Foundation of Distance Education Robert F. Brooks, Florida State University ...My purpose in this chapter is to build a theoretical framework for designing web-based distance learning courses that goes beyond a simple transmission model of communication. The goal is to provide a model to guide the development of online teaching and learning practices that will elevate students to becoming more interactive and thoughtful citizens in our democratic society. By necessity, the construction of this model relies upon theoretical insights from communication, information studies, education, and psychology. I approach the task by (a) providing an introduction to distance learning, (b) addressing the link between communication and information, (c) relating learning to interaction with material information and other people, and (d) building the framework for practical application of the model. I close with a recommendation for building communities of learning.... (0) comments http://www.elearningmag.com/elearning/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=28415 The ABCs of E-learning Al Zollar The portable classroom is here, courtesy of the Internet. In schools, businesses, and organizations, e-learning may be the biggest step in education since children left the one-room schoolhouse. The arrival of e-learning could not be more timely. To keep up with the demands of careers in which dimensions change at breakneck speed, it has become increasingly important that learning not stop with a high school or college degree. People must continue to push forward in their quest for knowledge to ensure that they keep pace with today’s complex society.... (0) comments http://www.ed.psu.edu/acsde/deos/deosnews/deosnews12_1.asp Faculty Development Programs: Teaching professional educators to drink from the fire hose Pat Cravener, University of Texas at Arlington Traditional poetic images of the scholar's life include ivory towers, Muses, still waters, and the Pierian spring (Pope's "a little learning is a dangerous thing . . ."). Rarely, if ever, are fire engines and raging infernos held up as images of teaching and learning. On the other hand, the flow of information on the Net has been described as being like water gushing from a fire hose: "The Internet is causing a revolution in scholarly communication by changing the way research information is produced and disseminated. . . . This enormous flow of information (and junk) is an opportunity and a challenge -- namely, how do you drink from a fire hose?" (Henderson, 1992). It is an apt analogy. Even in the new century, we find (not surprisingly) that many college and university faculty members would rather not grapple with the Internet fire hose, but are content to work with more traditional communications media in their college classrooms.... (0) comments http://www.ed.psu.edu/acsde/deos/deosnews/deosnews11_1.asp Faculty Strategies for Learning to Teach at a Distance with Instructional Technology Rebecca D. Armstrong Introduction: The expansion of distance education technologies provides unique opportunities for institutions of higher education to deliver credit courses and continuing education courses to geographically diverse adult audiences. This phenomenon has required institutions to reevaluate how they support and facilitate faculty members’ continuing professional development as distance instructors (Olcott and Wright 1995). The problem is that the adoption of interactive distance education technologies to teach students at a distance exceeds faculty members’ adaption of their teaching to accommodate the new technologies (Green and Gilbert 1995).... (0) comments Sunday, August 18, 2002
http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage/sub_page.cfm?article_pk=5081&page_number_nb=1&title=COLUMN Staying the Course Lisa Neal, eLearning Magazine No one has exact numbers, but there is a general agreement that attrition is higher in online courses than in classroom-delivered courses. High drop-out rates have been attributed to the demographics of online students, the inexperience of online faculty, poorly designed e-learning technologies, flawed course design, and low bandwidth. Whatever the root cause, I believe the problem can be largely solved through accountability. But how can student accountability be achieved?... (0) comments http://www.certmag.com/issues/aug02/feature_yost.cfm CertMag’s Guide to e-Learning Denny Yost Critical Characteristics of Effective IT Training Programs: The e-learning industry is one of the fastest-growing areas of the high-technology sector and will continue this trend far into the future. Yet there is a great deal of confusion surrounding e-learning for learners, investors and sometimes even for vendors themselves. The intent of this article is to explore and explain the different training facets of e-learning to provide insight and clarity for Certification Magazine readers who review, buy and use various types of training to maintain and advance their careers. Since actual training comes from content presented in some form, the focus of this article will be limited to the two methods of content delivery through the Internet—self-paced (commonly referred to as asynchronous) and live (commonly referred to as synchronous) e-learning. ... (0) comments http://www.syllabus.com/syllabusmagazine/article.asp?id=6596 Louisiana State University: Nursing Faculty to Online Health Jennifer Couvillon, Barbara Donlon, Cristina C. Hendrix Although plenty of anecdotal information is available on students’ perspectives on online education, information on how to manage faculty members’ transition to online instruction is scarce, especially for professional schools and small colleges and universities. To be able to effectively offer courses online, a faculty must be both inspired and guided. Unfortunately, technology is often installed before an understanding of the system itself occurs. At Louisiana State University, the School of Nursing tacked this problem, aiming to maintain high standards of teaching while moving toward next generation learning resources, such as online teaching software and World Wide Web applications.... (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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