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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, January 15, 2005
Ontologies and the Semantic Web for E-learning - Demetrios G Sampson, et al; Journal of Educational Technology and Society
The Semantic Web is the emerging landscape of new web technologies aiming at web-based information and services that would be understandable and reusable by both humans and machines. Ontologies, generally defined as a representation of a shared conceptualization of a particular domain, is a major component of the Semantic Web. It is anticipated that Ontologies and Semantic Web technologies will influence the next generation of e-learning systems and applications. (0) comments
Evaluating the Development of Online Course Materials - George P. Schell, eLearn Magazine
If online courses are to become a permanent feature of higher education—not merely a fad of the dot-com era—college faculty must believe that developing online materials has academic value. In addition, such online education requires certain resources to be in place. Resources technological in nature are easy to identify: computers with browser software, Internet access, servers, and so forth. Other resources are less obvious: computer skills of both students and the developers of online materials, and, an essential component: the resources needed to sustain that development. As content and concepts in college courses evolve, so must online materials. And as technology changes, so do the delivery methods for online materials. Faculty must be motivated to update and renew their course materials and keep up with advances in their delivery. Is faculty motivated? And just how do the perceptions of academics in the US compare with the views of their counterparts abroad? (0) comments
eTwinning : a new initiative from the European Commission
eTwinning is one of the four initiatives of the eLearning programme for 2004-2007. It was created to give schools the opportunity to learn from and with each other. It promotes the awareness of the multilingual and multicultural European model of society. The goal of eTwinning is to give education a European dimension. It is a crossroad for two important issues for schools: Europe and ICT. eTwinning can be defined as a long term partnership where at least two primary or secondary schools from at least two different European countries use ICT to carry out some form of pedagogically relevant activity together. It can take place at several levels: an exchange between two individual teachers, two teams of teachers or subject departments, two librarians or two head teachers. (0) comments Friday, January 14, 2005
Update on Regional Accreditation Issues for E-learning - Sally M. Johnstone, WCET
In 2000 the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) contracted with WCET to create a set of Principles of Good Practice for Distance Learning to which all of them could ascribe [1] . It was a helpful document and is still being used, but five years have passed since its publication. Much has changed in the intervening years. The use of the World Wide Web has exploded. There are many more traditional non-profit institutions engaging in e-learning for students both on- and off-campus. In addition, the number of for-profit institutions has expanded enormously. Eduventures estimates the tuition revenues from fully on-line programs is well over $5,000,000 this fiscal year, with over two million of that coming from for-profit institutions [2] . (0) comments
Los Angeles Virtual Academy Incorporates Blended Learning Model and Wireless Laptops - Rajeev Arora, TMC
To graduate, high school students in California must pass Algebra 1 as well as the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). How does the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) meet the needs of its students while closing the achievement gap that sometimes happens with traditional classroom education? The answer is the Los Angeles Virtual Academy (LAVA), a learning portal to the future that provides instruction to enable equity and access to a quality education for all district students. (0) comments
Students take calculus via Web - JAMES MERRIWEATHER, The Wilmington, Delaware News Journal
....Shah, Parsons and Bouchard all seniors, are the first members of the advanced placement calculus class at Polytech High School in Woodside. And they're also the first Polytech students to take a school-sanctioned class over the Internet. Shah's teacher, Dave Wright, sends out his lesson plans from Kent, Wash., while Parsons and Bouchard get instruction from Albert Galus of Colorado Springs, Colo. If they have questions, they submit them by e-mail, and their teachers respond the same way. "It's not exciting to watch," said Joseph L. Crossen, assistant superintendent of the Polytech School District, "but it's amazing that they're being taught by teachers way across the country." (0) comments Thursday, January 13, 2005
Stanford 2.0: Online courses draw top profs - Laura Carwile, Daily Stanford
You can do almost anything today over the Internet. You can buy your groceries, pay your mortgage, and even find your soulmate. But who knew you get a Stanford education as well? The Alliance for Lifelong Learning, or AllLearn, started out in 2000 as a non-profit effort by four institutions — Stanford, Yale, Princeton, and Oxford — to offer non-credit online courses to their alumni. In the past four years, more than 10,000 people have taken AllLearn classes, but the service has also changed in many ways. For example, enrollment in AllLearn courses is no longer restricted to alumni at the member schools but is open to anyone who is willing to pay tuition. Also, in 2001 Princeton dropped out of the partnership, and the service is currently searching for other academic institutions to become affiliates, according to its Web site. (0) comments
Online May Not Be Such a Lonely Place - Noha Kabaji, techLearning
It all began with the online instructor. Her introduction was detailed and trendy. She had an autobiography that brought her to life as a real human being: feminine, dreamy, yet hardworking, smart and ambitious. Then came the classmate introductions. I could not remember ever going to a class where students introduced themselves beyond their names the first day. But in the first week I learned not only the names of all my fellow students, but something about their lives, their achievements, and their aspirations. That was very inspiring. Then there were the responses and the welcoming notes that students wrote to each other. I felt surrounded by real human beings. Soon after the course started, we did some collaborative assignments and I was amazed at the cooperation and support that I received from the members of my group. More and more I felt part of a community as the course progressed and I participated in and responded to discussions, peer reviews, Emails, and more collaborative projects. (0) comments
Belleville - Loyalist College offers winter classes to ban the blahs - Kate Everson, Community Press
Is winter getting to you already? Time to ban the blahs and set your sights on spring.... The online learning by Internet has also expanded considerably. “It has grown a lot,” she says. “Some people like to stay at home and take a course in their own time.” Their website has a full list of courses available. If you are interested in the online courses all you need is a computer that can support Netscape or Internet Explorer and an Internet connection and you are away! You will also need word processing ability. “You should also have enough Internet experience to send an e-mail,” she smiles. (0) comments Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Experiencing Knowledge - Donald Norris, Jon Mason, Paul Lefrere, Innovate Online
To succeed in the Knowledge Age, people who have passed through today's formal education system—meaning most adults in Western economies—will need an order-of-magnitude leap in their capacity to acquire, assimilate, and share knowledge. Between now and the year 2010 (a target date for landmark changes in education worldwide, such as the establishment of a European Learning Space covering all college-level education in Europe), best practice in knowledge sharing will be substantially reinvented in all settings—education, business, government, associations, and other not-for-profits. We recently completed a fifteen-month collaboration, supported by an international advisory group, that explored current indications of this coming revolution from all over the world. Our findings are captured in Transforming e-Knowledge: A Revolution in the Sharing of Knowledge (Norris, Mason, and Lefrere 2003). One of our most compelling conclusions is that not only will we be expected to handle more knowledge faster and to greater effect, but the very nature of the knowledge experience will change. What does it mean to "experience knowledge?" (0) comments
Calling all Moodlers! - Scoop
Waiariki Institute of Technology will be playing host to an international conference about Moodle software next month. Moodle, an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, is a learning management system used by many of New Zealand's top e-learning establishments. The conference, which will take place on February 3 and 4, 2005, will be attended by representatives from universities and polytechnics as well as private training organisations such as airlines and defence forces. (1) comments
Blackboard Accelerates e-Learning in China - PRNewswire
Blackboard Inc. announced today that it is helping to bring teaching and learning online throughout the People's Republic of China. More than 40 universities and schools across China have chosen The Blackboard Learning System(TM), provided by CerBibo Corporation, to power their online learning environments. Established in late 2003, CerBibo is a joint venture company established by Blackboard and CERNET Corporation, a spin-off of China's Ministry of Education. A number of China's most prestigious universities, including Renmin University of China, Peking University Medical School, Sun Yat-Sen University, Ocean University of China, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Nankai University have chosen CerBibo's e-Learning software solutions. In addition, schools such as Shanghai Minhang Second Middle School have taken the lead in implementing e-Learning at the K-12 level. (0) comments Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Distance Learning and eLearning in European Policy and Practice: The Vision and the Reality - European ODL Liaison Committee
eLearning in 2000 and 2004: Two Different Pictures: When the so called “Lisbon Strategy” to make Europe the most competitive and socially inclusive economy in the world by 2010 was defined the need to include education and training as a key component of the eEurope Plan was immediately perceived. At the same time it was recognised that the existing education systems in their traditional roles would not be able to cope with this need. An eLearning Initiative was therefore proposed shortly afterwards[1]. (0) comments
E-Learning Experts Share Their Visions for 2005 - Lisa Neal, eLearn Magazine
Where will e-learning take us in 2005? How will learning be impacted by the use of portable devices, blogs, and search engines? Will we better understand and have metrics for quality e-learning? Read on for predictions from some of the most thoughtful and opinionated people in the e-learning field. “I predict more advances in dedicated devices than in the Internet. I predict an infusion of clever and effective educational toys for children. LeapFrog has developed intriguing toys that make great educational sense (see their “Twist and Shout® Multiplication” tool). Intelligent toys already teach reading. But why restrict these to children? I expect language tutors for adults. Why not combine hand-held dictionaries, phrase translators, and CD-ROM courses into a portable device? Will educational tools for adults show up in 2005? They could.” —Don Norman, Nielsen Norman group, Northwestern University, and author of Emotional Design, USA (0) comments
Pew Internet Report on the Future of the Internet
Some 57% of of the experts responding to a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University agreed that virtual classes will become more widespread in formal education and that students might at least occasionally be grouped with others who share their interests and skills, rather than by age. 56% of them agreed that as telecommuting and home-schooling expand, the boundary between work and leisure will diminish and family dynamics will change because of that. (0) comments Monday, January 10, 2005
Investigating the Relationship Between Cost, Reach, and Richness in Distance Education - Lenn Annetta, Online Journal of Distance Learning Admin.
Is the money allocated to institutional distance education getting the results on the back end in terms of student achievement? A literature review of cost analysis studies on distance education is presented with three themes factored out from those studies: Costs (Institutional and student costs), Reach, and Richness (cost to the student). A synopsis of a study that produced evidence regarding the relative effectiveness of three distance educations strategies ( live , video , and web ) for enhancing the science learning of 94 midwestern elementary school teachers who were participating in a five-year professional development project is referred to throughout this piece. The results of this analysis suggest there is a sliding scale when looking at cost, reach, and richness in distance education. (0) comments
Selecting Research Areas and Research Design Approaches in Distance Education: Process-Issues - B. K. Passi and Sudarshan Mishra, IRRODL
The purpose of this paper is to study the process used for selecting research areas and methodological approaches in distance education in India. Experts from the field of distance education in India were interviewed at length, with the aim of collecting qualitative data on opinions on process-issues for selecting areas for research, research design, and appropriate methodological approaches in distance education. Data collected from these interviews were subjected to content analysis; triangulation and peer consultation techniques were used for cross-checking and data verification. While the findings and recommendations of this study have limited application in that they can only be used in the specific context outlined in this paper, respondents in this study nonetheless revealed the pressing need for more process-oriented research in examining media and technology, learners and learning, and distance learning evaluation processes. Our research, which yielded interesting empirical findings, also determined that a mixed approach – one that involves both quantitative and qualitative methods – is more appropriate for conducting research in distance education in India. (0) comments
E-learning gets top marks - PAUL VECCHIATTO, ITWEB CAPE TOWN
Electronic learning is set for take off as learners graduate from learning basic IT skills to using information technology to round off their education, say companies offering such courseware. Ronel Bornman, general manager at online degree institution eDegree, says she expects the growth in online learning to triple this year for the whole South African market. “Online learning, whether it is for a degree or a course of some kind, is growing fast as people and companies realise the benefits,” she says. (0) comments Sunday, January 09, 2005
Measuring Student Perceptions in Web-Based Courses: A Standards-Based Approach - Joe Jurczyk, Susan N. Kushner Benson, John R. Savery, OJDLA
This paper outlines a method of identifying student perceptions throughout a distance learning course. Using a questionnaire based on standards from the Institute of Higher Education Policy (IHEP) as a guide, instructors and administrators can measure various aspects of the distance education experience and their importance to students. By implementing the questionnaire before, during, and after a course, the results can be analyzed at each individual point in time and also in terms of change over time. Similarly the results can be compared to benchmarks for the IHEP standards to assess class perceptions relative to other students. Such measurements can provide insight into the perceptions of the distance learning student during the educational process where few other accepted measurement methods exist. (0) comments
Gwinnett Tech leads state in Web students - Jaime Sarrio, Gwinnett Gaily News
Gwinnett Technical College leads the state in online course enrollment, according to college officials. Last fall, the college had 1,665 students enrolled in 133 online courses, according to the college. DeKalb Technical College had the second-highest enrollment in the state with 1,465 students. The growth is due to repeat students who try online courses and decide to take them again, said Britt Watwood, director of online learning for Gwinnett Tech. He expects enrollment will continue to grow. (0) comments
Designing course web sites for supporting lecture-based courses in higher education – some pedagogical aspects - Moti Frank, Abigail Barzilai, ITDL
This paper discusses the benefits that may be derived from a course web site that accompanies a lecture-based course given in higher education institutions. The organizational and operational issues are presented first, following by a discussion of pedagogical aspects. Three pedagogical issues related to course web sites are discussed in detail – active learning, computerized feedback, and the effects on learning of using multimedia. Some findings, based on collected data and the authors’ experiences, are also presented and discussed. (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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