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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, March 05, 2005
What Makes an Online Group Project Work? - Brenda I. Lopez-Ortiz and Lin Lin, ITDL
In this paper, we examine factors that make an online group project work. We asked the students in an online class to share their past group experiences at the beginning of the semester. We then used the categories derived from the students’ responses as baseline and asked the students to talk about their online group experiences at the end of the semester after they completed the online problem-based learning projects. We compare the responses, analyze similarities and differences, and provide suggestions on what makes an online group project work. (0) comments
E-Learning, Jane Beckerdite, St. Louis Commerce
Neither time nor distance are excuses any longer for having a lack of education. Most colleges and universities in the St. Louis region offer Internet-based coursework, also called distance learning. With little more than a home computer, students can master the works of Shakespeare or earn an MBA–all from the comfort of their homes. State Rep. Clint Zweifel, of Florissant, did just that. In 2001, Zweifel received his master of business administration degree through the online MBA program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. “I picked the online MBA program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis for several reasons,” Zweifel says. “The time factor was the main one, since I was already involved in politics and didn’t have the time needed to dedicate toward a weekly classroom course. The program at UMSL is one of the best. Having the same cohort group of people together throughout the program allowed me to meet a great mix of folks from different fields outside of my own,” he says. (0) comments
Virtual education goes global on the Internet through California Virtual College - Agatha Braganca, Viking News
While LBCC offers about 88 online courses, California Virtual College also is designed to bring higher education for full-time and part-time students through the Internet. The program offers its services to students all over the world . Virtual College estimates 500,000 new students will enter California’s higher and post-secondary colleges over the next decade. Throughout its website, Virtual College explains that its mission is to “promote California as the global leader in educational programs on the net.” Created by the chancellors’ office for California Community Colleges, Virtual College is maintained by El Camino and Santa Monica College. (0) comments Friday, March 04, 2005
Landmark Study Yields First-Ever Data on Distance Education in American Elementary and Secondary Schools
Eighty percent of public school districts said that offering courses not available at their schools is one of the most important reasons for having distance education, according to a new report that provides the first national data on distance learning in public K-12 schools. In addition, half cited distance learning as very important in making advanced placement or college-level courses available to all students. "Distance Education Courses for Public Elementary and Secondary School Students: 2002–03," released today by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), showed that one-third (36 percent) of public school districts and 9 percent of public schools had students enrolled in distance education courses in 2002–03. (0) comments
Duke evaluates iPod experiment - The Chronicle
Six months after the Duke University iPod First-Year Experience began, a stack of unopened iPods line Lynne O'Brien's office. As the director of the Center for Instructional Technology, her office has become the temporary storage room for the leftover devices. She laughs as she recalls the plethora of square boxes that were there earlier in the year. Her horde would be depleted shortly, as CIT had just approved iPod proposals for two more classes. As the year-long "experiment" of providing 20-gigabyte Apple iPods to all freshmen winds to an end and the media frenzy slowly dies down, administrators have begun to evaluate the future of the project. Critics ask: Have students used them for educational purposes? Did teachers find innovative ways to integrate this technology into their curricula? Was it worth the $500,000? (0) comments
Online Degrees Magazine Premieres on Newsstands Nationwide
With so many adults adopting the philosophy of lifelong learning, ClassesUSA -- the Web's leading online higher education portal -- is stepping in to educate readers about the ins and outs of eLearning with Online Degrees Magazine. Online Degrees, available on newsstands today, is the most comprehensive tool available in print for adults seeking advancement through online education. "With total enrollment in eLearning programs expected to hit the one million mark in 2005," says Jordon Keltz, ClassesUSA CEO, "the publication addresses a tremendous need by informing and empowering adults interested in this exciting and exploding facet of education." (0) comments Thursday, March 03, 2005
Effects of Gender with Respect to Empathy and Immersion - Stef G. Nicovich, Gregory W. Boller, T. Bettina Cornwell, Journal of CMC
The concept of presence has generated much discussion over the past few years. There is a consensus that presence exists and that it can be experienced as a reaction to environmental stimuli. However, less has been written on the psychological mechanisms of engaging in presence. We argue that presence is closely linked to empathy and that strong empathic tendencies will lead to high levels of experienced presence. In this study we investigate the relationship between presence, empathy, and gender. A 2x2 experimental design was administered to participants who interacted with a flight simulator. Our results indicate that men and women engage in presence in different ways. Men appear to engage in presence via the interaction afforded by the virtual environment, whereas women appear to engage in presence via watching the environment. Both men and women appear to use empathic ability as a means of engaging in presence. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. (0) comments
Data Mining Online at Babson College - Campus Technologies
At Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., there’s a strong emphasis on data mining. Students are learning to think about large datasets in new ways, and they’re becoming fluent with data mining techniques. The college is using SPSS Inc.’s Clementine, a data mining tool, in their online curriculum. Data mining allows students to extract information sets from large databases and to identify trends and relationships among the data in order to solve marketing problems. “We use Clementine as one application along with SPSS statistical analysis software in the advanced applied statistics course for undergrads, and it is part of the core curriculum for the MBA students,” explains Dr. Elaine Allen, associate professor at Babson. (0) comments
Online nursing program accredited - Pacific BizJournal
The University of Hawaii has won accreditation for the first online Ph.D. program in nursing. The Ph.D. program prepares students to teach in nurse-education programs, especially those with minority student populations. It received accreditation in February from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Hawaii's shortage of registered nurses is expected to quadruple by 2020, yet there are few faculty in public nursing schools to meet the increasing demand. Hawaii nursing schools turn away hundreds of qualified applicants each year. (0) comments Wednesday, March 02, 2005
E-Journaling: Achieving Interactive Education Online - Jonnie Jill Phipps, Educause Quarterly
One teaching strategy successfully being implemented in the high-tech environment of online education is that of electronic journaling, or e-journaling. It enhances traditional face-to-face classrooms and courses offered at a distance to multiple sites using video technology. E-journaling provides an opportunity for learners to express opinions, ideas, and concerns about the course materials that would not be shared otherwise. The intellectual exchange allows faculty members to encourage, guide, and engage students in an academic venue. E-journaling builds a rapport between faculty and students that contributes to positive learning experiences and successful outcomes. Although effective in a number of educational settings, e-journaling proves essential for successful interaction in Web-based courses where materials are delivered completely online. (0) comments
Hagel engages in Global Classroom Project - JOEL GEHRINGER, Daily Nebraskan
Sitting around a large wooden table, talking and closely watching two projection screens, about 20 students at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain are waiting for the arrival of Sen. Chuck Hagel. Meanwhile, about 20 students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, sitting in an Architecture Hall classroom, talking and watching the projection screen, also await Hagel’s arrival. But when the U.S. senator from Nebraska finally arrived in the UNL classroom, students from both sides of the Atlantic cheered and greeted him simultaneously, with one group watching his arrival in person and another watching on screen. Hagel visited UNL Friday to experience the university’s Global Classroom Project, which connects American students with students across the globe through teleconferences and Internet communication. (0) comments
Classes make virtual leap into blogosphere - Taryn Martinez, Brown Daily Herald
Imagine not having to rouse yourself from a nap and run out the door still in your pajamas to make it to section on time. Imagine not having to walk back to your dorm in the dark when your section ends at 9:30 p.m. Sound too good to be true? Some professors and students are taking the matter into their own hands and making sections a little closer to home - by communicating from the comfort of their rooms. The answer lies in using Internet technology, specifically blogs and "virtual sections." Student blogs can be personal or available for public comment. Virtual sections are discussion boards where anyone can start a new topic or comment on a topic, or "thread," already present. (0) comments Tuesday, March 01, 2005
A Learning Object Approach to Personalized Web-based Instruction - Mohammad Issack Santally and Alain Senteni, EURODL
The concept of web-based learning and the use of the Internet in teaching and learning have received increasing attention over the recent years. It is postulated that one of the main problems with e-learning environments is their lack of personalisation (Cristea, 2003; Rumetshofer & Wöß, 2003; Ayersman & Minden, 1995). The concept of extending the learning object metadata to cater for psychological factors has been proposed by Rumetshofer & Wöß (2003). In this article, the latters’ approach has been extended in three ways: (1) More factors relating to individual differences are included in the metadata extension as well as fields related to the pedagogical value and level of difficulty of the learning content, (2) The introduction of fuzzy (or belief) values for each aspect that is modelled, (3) A mechanism is provided to adapt to changing attitudes, characteristics and performance of a student both in the student model and in the learning object attributes model. A method is devised to select the most appropriate learning object from a pool of potential objects that exist in the repository and a first evaluation of the proposed algorithm is carried out and reported in the article. (0) comments
A Quality Framework for Producing Clinically Competent Nurses Through Distance Education - Judith Hurst and Susannah Quinsee, EURODL
This paper considers the challenges of attempting to apply national quality standards for distance education onto online programmes designed for clinical practitioners. It addresses some of the quality frameworks available for UK Higher Education and their potential weaknesses in addressing learner needs. In contrast, we continue by describing how a framework constructed around a problem-based learning (PBL) approach has been used at City University to offer a more appropriate and robust mechanism for ensure quality standards in clinical practice education. The PBL approach offers adult learners a flexible and responsive method of learning whilst simultaneously meeting national quality guidelines. (0) comments
University of Philippines Open University Perspectives and future directions - FELIX LIBRERO, Manila Bulletin
Digital learning in the Philippines is of very recent vintage, full of problems, brimming with exciting prospects, a growing population of enthusiasts, and still some non-believers whose number, we are happy to observe, is getting smaller. In its forefront today is the University of the Philippines Open University, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in February 2005. (0) comments Monday, February 28, 2005
Online Education Flunks But New Focus May Spark Revival - Conrad de Aenlle, International Herald Tribune
Diane Harley, director of the Higher Education in the Digital Age Project at the University of California at Berkeley, said that Asian and Australian universities, as well as many in the United States, had implemented successful online learning programs. Educators say these initiatives, and other online ventures that are broader but less deep in scope, herald a second wind for e-learning. When the Internet was still new and e-anything was touted as holding all the promise of tomorrow, e-learning was expected to revolutionize education. It was promoted as a way to help stretch resources on crowded campuses and to teach people who might otherwise be unable or unwilling to attend conventional institutions. (0) comments
DOD sets up Web training system - Dawn S. Onley, GCN
The Defense Department has established a new Internet training and information system dubbed the Joint Knowledge Development and Distribution Capability. The system, which was developed by merging separate distance-learning systems in the military, Coast Guard, and other government agencies, has both classified and unclassified sites. The system supports Defense transformation goals and furthers joint operations, Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack L. Catton Jr. said during a demonstration at the Pentagon. Catton is the Joint Staff’s director of operational plans and joint force development. (0) comments
E-learning on a budget - Brian Skelly, SiliconRepublic
Limerick-based e-learning company PrimeLearning has launched a new online training programme for consumers in Ireland and the UK that it claims cuts training costs by two thirds. Here2learn.com, which goes live tomorrow, will provide accredited adult training across hundreds of subject areas including IT training, stress management, financial basics and project management. PrimeLearning will continue to offer separate courses to the business community under the Primelearning.com brand. (0) comments Sunday, February 27, 2005
World-Wide Asynchronous Graduate Program in Educational Leadership and Higher Education - Sheldon L. Stick and Nataliya V. Ivankova, OJDLA
The manuscript explains the rationale, development, and success of a computer-mediated asynchronous learning (CMAL) program of graduate studies in Educational Leadership and Higher Education offered through the University of Nebraska – Lincoln . It details the evolution of the concept focusing on an integrated sequence of high-quality learning to: (1) enhance student learning experiences; (2) provide greater accessibility by removing barriers of time and space; (3) deliver learning opportunities to participants around the world on a conventional university semester schedule; (4) develop learning cohorts representing many cultures and nationalities; (5) foster active and substantial participation in the learning process; (6) provide multiple pathways to learning; and (7) facilitate the development of a world-wide community of learners. The Program allowed for asynchronous interactions, and enabled students to access to the contributions of all other participants. Additionally, there were opportunities for real-time technology-based collaboration between and among participants. (0) comments
Alliance to ease teacher shortage - ASHLEY SIMMONS, Daily Tar Heel
The UNC system is set to join forces with community colleges in the battle against a statewide teacher shortage. Under a plan announced by Gov. Mike Easley during his State of the State address Monday, the system’s 16 universities would collaborate with the state’s 58 community colleges on the “2+2 Program,” which UNC-Chapel Hill helped pilot in 1999. The program allows students to pursue a teaching degree through two years at local community colleges followed by two years at a four-year university through distance learning. (0) comments
Distance learning catches on in Mesa: Online program luring students - JJ Hensley, The Arizona Republic
Children with cellphones are ubiquitous. Teens and text messaging go hand-in-hand. So it's little surprise that the greatest growth in Mesa's distance learning program is coming from learners who can barely reach the keyboard. The program, which teaches students off-site by computer, started in 1999 and now boasts more than 600 students. Much of the recent growth came with the addition of about 165 kindergarten through sixth-grade students this year. Many of those students are home-schooled and their families are using the program to supplement the education they get at home and through the district's Eagleridge Enrichment Program for home-schooled students. (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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