|
Online Learning News and Research
|
Saturday, March 19, 2005
UK Online assessment initiative setting a course for success - Mark Samuels, Computing
When the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) set out its blueprint for online assessments last April, it said that no technological and educational barriers stood in the way of the adoption of online testing. But at that time, the organisation made it clear that a lack of political will remained a significant impediment to success. All that has changed in the past month. First, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly unveiled the government's education White Paper, which announced its aim to ensure young people acquire higher standards in basic skills by the age of 14. Central to this strategy was the proposal to introduce a new online test of pupils' information and communication technology (ICT) skills. (0) comments
European Universities 'expand e-learning' - BBC
Universities across Europe plan to increase their use of e-learning over the next two years, a survey suggests. Three quarters of the 150 institutions asked said computer-based learning had a major role in most of their courses or would do so within three years. The survey was carried out by an e-learning solutions provider, WebCT. It said the findings highlighted the way universities now saw e-learning as "mission critical" and offering greater access to better quality education. Almost two thirds of its customers (63%) planned to collaborate with other institutions - both nationally and internationally. (0) comments
OCLC Research Publications Repository - Shirley Hyatt and Jeffrey A. Young, DLib
Conducting research on behalf of the library community has, for 27 years, been part of the mission of OCLC, and we believe that if research is worth doing, it's worth telling people about. Making our research outcomes known is integral to our mission, and we do this both by writing about it and by demonstrating it. Accordingly, in September 2003, OCLC's Office of Research set about to create a repository of its staff's publications. The goal of the repository was to maximize the visibility, usage, and impact of OCLC's research output. A secondary goal was to make the publication section of the OCLC Research web site more nimble. (This portion of the site had previously been one long straggle of citations, not particularly searchable in a helpful manner.) A third, de facto, goal was to demonstrate OCLC Research technologies. The publications repository achieved all of these goals. The site was launched in June 2004, and by November 2004 it included metadata for all OCLC Research's 900+ publications and full text for half of them. The project was completed with .25 FTE, which included project management, cataloging labor, copyright permissions handling, scanning, archiving, and one-time development time. (0) comments Friday, March 18, 2005
Central Queensland University’s Course Management Systems: Accelerator or Brake in Engaging Change? - Jeanne McConachie, et al, IRRODL
Central Queensland University (CQU) is a highly complex institution, combining campuses in Central Queensland and distance education programs for Australian domestic students with Australian metropolitan sites for international students and a number of overseas centres, also for international students. In common with many other universities, CQU has recently reviewed its course management systems (CMSs). In doing so, CQU has signalled its desired strategic position in managing its online learning provision for the foreseeable future. This paper analyzes that strategic position from the perspective of the effectiveness of CQU’s engagement with current drivers of change. Drawing on online survey results, the authors deploy Introna’s (1996) distinction between teleological and ateleological systems to interrogate CQU’s current position on CMSs – one of its most significant enterprises – for what it reveals about whether and how CQU’s CMSs should be considered an accelerator of, or a brake on, its effective engagement with those drivers of change. The authors contend that a more thorough adoption of an ateological systems approach is likely to enhance the CMS’s status as an accelerator in engaging with such drivers. (0) comments
WebCT expands e-learning market in China
WebCT, provider of higher education's most flexible and widely used e-learning solutions, today announced that Chinese universities are rapidly adopting WebCT solutions as their e-learning platforms. Even before appointing a new executive to oversee China operations, the company had signed up more than 25 universities in greater China as customers, including The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The University of Hong Kong and National Taiwan Normal University. More than 1,700 colleges and universities worldwide use WebCT products. To continue its expansion in China, WebCT also announced it will establish a formal office in Shanghai and has appointed Shaun Rein as managing director of the country. With a stronger presence in China, WebCT will be well positioned to foster an increasing number of academic exchanges between Chinese universities and institutions from around the world. (0) comments
Bridging the Education Gap - Wezi Tjaronda, All Africa
OPEN and distance learning has become the only solution for expediting the process of addressing the literacy and educational deficit glaring at the sub-Saharan region and Africa in general. These were the remarks of Professor David Mosoma, deputy vice chancellor and vice principal of operations of the University of South Africa, in his keynote address to a Round Table Discussion on the role of Open Distance Learning (ODL) in the SADC region. In his reflection on the role of ODL in SADC and how Distance Education Association (DEASA) would add value to it, Mosoma said: "Clearly, distance education provides a unique delivery model which should be appropriated to address the educational needs of the region. It offers a paradigm shift from conventional or contact mode of delivery to one that removes education barriers." (0) comments Thursday, March 17, 2005
Breaking Down the LMS Walls - Michael Hotrum, IRRODL
The traditional packaging of electronic learning — the learning management system (LMS) — is progressively being regarded as a hindrance to effective online learning. Its design, functionality, complexity, price, and value are being questioned. A new generation of Web-based tools and approaches is evolving that are better suited to meet the need for dynamic online learning content, interaction, collaboration, and networking. Whereas traditional LMS approaches traditionally tend to relegate students to the role of passive recipients of information, these new tools and collaborative approaches allow learners to take proactive control of their own learning. This paper will discuss how the LMS has affected the design and delivery of e-learning, and the emerging technologies that are better suited to current learning and performance needs. (0) comments
WebWise 2005 -Bonita Wilson, DLib
The sixth WebWise conference was held in Washington, DC, early this month, sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Resources (IMLS) and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Like each of the earlier WebWise conferences, WebWise 2005 was a successful and enlightening event. From the first conference onward, WebWise themes have focused on the ways libraries and museums have served an expanding user base by creating and providing access to digital collections. This year, the theme was "Teaching and Learning with Digital Resources," and as in previous years, the WebWise 2005 project presentations and demonstrations were impressive and inspiring. (0) comments
More students hop online for classes - Judy Putnam, mLive
The number of students taking online courses at Michigan community colleges has skyrocketed over the past six years. From just 47 courses offered in 1999, there are now an estimated 30,000 "seats" filled in 856 virtual classrooms this semester, according to the Michigan Community Colleges Association. "It's really becoming part of the fabric of the way community colleges offer their programs -- it's just part of the way they do business,'' said Michael Wahl, executive director of the Michigan Virtual Learning Collaborative, run by the community colleges association. Twenty-five of the 28 community colleges offer online programs available through the collaborative, a little-publicized program started by the association in 1999. (0) comments Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Online Resources Repositories for Distance Learning - eLearning Europa
Funded by Minerva Programme, the e-Resources and Distance Learning Management (eDilema) project has been carried between 2001 and 2003 to promote access to efficient methods and high quality educational resources as well as to promote the access to the best practices in the field of e-learning. One of the tasks of eDilema has been to develop DILLEO, a repository for learning resources and related materials. This article summarizes the document E-Dilema: Expectations and Achievements, by J. Mikulecka In the following lines there is a brief description of DILLEO and four other Digital Libraries that has been analyzed by the authors. The following information could be useful to introduce good examples of what Digital Libraries can offer. (0) comments
RCGP examines e-learning opportunities for primary care - Medical News Today
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) will look at the future of e-Learning in primary care this week in a one-day conference in London. Designed and developed by the RCGP, Developing the future of e-Learning in primary care: responding to the challenge is the first primary care conference on the subject. It is to be held on Tuesday 15 March. The conference will look at the rapidly developing opportunities and the advantages and disadvantages of this particular approach to learning.... Dr Mayur Lakhani said: “This is an exciting opportunity to drive up standards by finding innovative ways of supporting GPs in their efforts to keep up to date. A high quality learning experience with an emphasis on improved patient outcomes is what we should be striving for. I am delighted to be able to chair this first ever primary care conference in e-learning.” (0) comments
IU Kokomo course pairs online learning with in-class instruction - ERIN SHULTZ, Kokomo Tribune
IU Kokomo isn't alone in the push for a marriage of technology and education. Entirely online classes are an increasingly common part of college. Across the country, students are showing up in their bathrobes and slippers. In fact, the National Center for Education Statistics estimates 93 percent of public four-year colleges offered online courses by the end of 2004. Kokomo is leading the IU system in this fusion, Hakes said. IUK is the only public college campus in Indiana developing this format. The fall semester boasted about 90 credits available in the hybrid classes. A student could take courses for a full three years this way, Hakes said. (0) comments Tuesday, March 15, 2005
A framework for Internet archeology: Discovering use patterns in digital library and Web–based information resources - Scott Nicholson, First Monday
Archeologists use artifacts to make statements about occupants of a physical space. Users of information resources leave behind data–based artifacts when they interact with a digital library or other Web–based information space. One process for examining these patterns is bibliomining, or the combination of data warehousing, data mining and bibliometrics to understand connections and patterns between works. The purpose of this paper is to use a research framework from archeology to structure exploration of these data artifacts through bibliomining to aid managers of digital libraries and other Web–based information resources. (0) comments
Jordan, Egypt to announce joint e-learning initiative - Jordan Times
The Ministry of Education confirmed Monday that the Kingdom and Egypt are to announce a joint e-learning initiative to connect the schools in both countries. "Students will interact with their peers in Egypt through an advanced e-learning network using up-to-date technologies in this field, " Ministry of Education Spokesperson Ayman Barakat told The Jordan Times. The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted Egyptian Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology Tariq Kamal as telling the Egyptian press in Germany, that Jordan and Egypt would announce the initiative during the World Economic Forum to be held in Dead Sea in May. (0) comments
Colleges getting in line with online classes - Judy Putnam and Chad Swiatecki, Flint Journal
Since 2001, Adam Mikolajczak of Grand Blanc has taken 20 college courses sitting in front of his computer instead of listening in a lecture hall. The convenience of online classes is a blessing for the Baker College of Flint student, one of more than 19,000 Baker enrollees across the state working toward degrees either partially or completely online. Some 890 students at the local campus, on Bristol Road in Flint Township, are taking classes entirely online. Students such as Mikolajczak enjoy the flexibility. "Working in retail like I did, you never know if you'll be able to get available the same time every week, so taking classes online let me do the work when I was able to find the time," said Mikolajczak, 26, who currently works at the book store for Baker Online. (0) comments Monday, March 14, 2005
The “Sticky” ePortfolio System: Tackling Challenges and Identifying Attributes - Ali Jafari, Educause Review
At some point, the electronic portfolio, or ePortfolio, will become a fully implemented, successful tool. I am convinced that ePortfolio systems will play a significant role in higher education. However, the process of developing and implementing a successful ePortfolio project—one that is “sticky,” one that works and is adopted by users—will first involve many challenges. Higher education will need to tackle those challenges in order to turn the ePortfolio concept into a working system. In addition, higher education will need to identify those ePortfolio system attributes that will lead to success. But by learning from past experiences with other electronic educational tools and by studying difficulties already encountered in those earlier projects, ePortfolio developers can more easily understand and more readily address potential future problems. (0) comments
Open Source 2007: How Did This Happen? - Brad Wheeler, Educause Review
Developing sustainable economics and advancing the frontiers of innovation are the dual challenges for application software in higher education. Sustainable economics means that an institution’s base budgets can support the licensing fees, developers, maintenance, training, and support required for application software. For example, it means that the viability of a course management system (CMS) is not dependent on the next grant or on a one-time budgetary accommodation. Since making changes to application software invokes cost, minimizing change is one tactic for achieving sustainable economics through lower IT costs. In higher education, however, the creative nature of colleges and universities motivates faculty and staff to innovate with new pedagogy and with the use of online resources. Application software that fails to evolve or to allow experimentation and innovation in teaching is unlikely to be well received. Higher education is in search of a new model to address these dual challenges, and open source application development has been proffered as a solution. (0) comments
Internet a good tool for professors - Lindsay Reiter, Colorado State Collegian
As technology has become more advanced, the Internet has become a vital part of nearly everyone's day, especially students and professors who use it to communicate about classes and assignments.... Jeff Collett, professor and acting department head for the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, has been teaching at CSU for 11 years. He has watched the use of the Internet evolve and become more integrated in the classroom. "One thing that's changed is we can pull up data in real-time rather than having to bring in less-current information on transparencies," Collett said. (0) comments Sunday, March 13, 2005
Net Generation Students and Libraries - Joan K. Lippincott, Educause Review
The University of Southern California’s Leavey Library logged 1.4 million visits last year.1 That remarkable statistic illustrates how much a library can become part of campus life if it is designed with genuine understanding of the needs of Net Generation (Net Gen) students. This understanding relates not just to the physical facility of the library but to all of the things that a library encompasses: content, access, enduring collections, and services. Libraries have been adjusting their collections, services, and environments to the digital world for at least 20 years. Even prior to ubiquitous use of the Internet, libraries were using technology for access to scholarly databases, for circulation systems, and for online catalogs. With the explosion of Internet technology, libraries incorporated a wide array of digital content resources into their offerings; updated the network, wiring, and wireless infrastructures of their buildings; and designed new virtual and in-person services. However, technology has resulted in more modernization than transformation. There is an apparent disconnect between the culture of library organizations and that of Net Gen students. This chapter will explore how libraries might better adapt to the needs of Net Gen students in a number of specific areas. (0) comments
Survey Ranks Top 20 Best Buys Online Computer Science Degrees
GetEducated.com, LLC, America's online degree clearinghouse, has released their biennial rankings of the top 20 Best Buys in online computer science master's degrees. The natonwide survey, the only one of its kind, identified several trends in online degree pricing that directly impact consumers. Eight of the top ten best buys come from public universities, with East Carolina State University snagging the number one spot. While costs are skyrocketing at residential college programs, online learning offers unprecedented bargains as publicly funded universities in low cost education states in the South and Midwest begin to offer their degrees online for one low flat fee. Essex Junction, VT (PRWEB) March 10, 2005 -- GetEducated.com, LLC, America’s only consumer-oriented, online degree clearinghouse, has released the results of their biennial survey of tuition costs at accredited, distance-learning computer science and information systems graduate degree programs nationwide. (0) comments
Soldier spends time taking online classes - Jessica MacIntosh, The Chart Online
Many servicemen wait until they have finished their service to finish their education, but not Pfc. Duane West. "I think it displays the power of distance learning," said Dr. Jack Spurlin, vice president for lifelong learning, "that it really doesn't matter where you are at and what you are doing. If you have access to a computer, you have access to an education." Stockton native West, sophomore undecided major, has been serving in the U.S. Army for 16 months and is taking nine credit hours. "Education has always been an important priority in my life, so I am continually striving to learn," he said. "Education and the pursuit of a degree is a great goal to set whether you are serving overseas in a combat zone or working full time in the states." (0) comments Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
Online Learning Update 
