Professional Documents
Culture Documents
13th European Conference
on e‐Learning
ECEL‐2014
Aalborg University
Copenhagen, Denmark
30‐31 October 2014
Edited by
Dr Rikke Ørngreen
and
Dr. Karin Tweddell Levinsen
Copyright The Authors, 2014. All Rights Reserved.
No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual authors.
Papers have been double‐blind peer reviewed before final submission to the conference. Initially, paper ab‐
stracts were read and selected by the conference panel for submission as possible papers for the conference.
Many thanks to the reviewers who helped ensure the quality of the full papers.
These Conference Proceedings have been submitted to Thomson ISI for indexing.
Further copies of this book and previous year’s proceedings can be purchased from http://academic‐
bookshop.com
E‐Book ISBN: 978‐1‐910309‐69‐8
E‐Book ISSN: 2048‐8645
Book version ISBN: 978‐1‐910309‐67‐4
Book Version ISSN: 2048‐8637
Published by Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited
Reading
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Contents
Paper Title Author(s) Page
No.
Preface vii
Committee viii
Biographies xii
Research papers
Self‐ and Peer Assessment in Massive Open Online Wilfried Admiraal, Bart Huisman, Nadira Saab, 1
Courses Ben Smit, Brigitte Theeuwes, Maarten van de
Ven, Roeland van der Rijst, Jan van Driel and
Marja Verstelle
Open Educational Resources: Higher Education Paulo Alves, Luísa Miranda and Carlos Morais 11
Students’ Knowledge and use
A Framework for the Analysis of Collaborative and Rasmus Kvist Andersen, Kristian Garp, Kevin 19
Interactive Elements in MOOCs Nellemann; Melissa Frost Nielsen and Rikke
Ørngreen
i
Paper Title Author(s) Page
No.
Creating a new Model of Technology‐Driven Paula Charbonneau‐Gowdy 130
Learning for Teacher Training in Chile
Learning Pedagogies and On‐Line Assessments in Athina Chatzigavriil, Kris Roger and Sunil Ku‐ 139
Higher Education: Innovations and Challenges mar
ii
Paper Title Author(s) Page
No.
Team‐Based Learning in a UK Medical School: Shihab Khogali, Alisdair Smithies, Alison Gray, 273
Using Mobile‐Friendly Technology to Support the Annalisa Manca and Natalie Lafferty
In‐Class Individual Readiness Assurance Test
Affective Learning Manifesto – 10 Years Later Agnieszka Landowska 281
Imagined and Actual Practices Using ICT: Incongru‐ Karin Levinsen, Birgitte Sølbeck Henningsen 289
ity and Consequences for Inclusion and Sofie Paasch
iii
Paper Title Author(s) Page
No.
Can Wikis Exploitation be a Teaching “Promising Eleni Rossiou 427
Land” in Secondary Education? A Complementary
Teaching Tool in PROJECT Course in Secondary
Education
The Memory of Links: A Consequence of ICT and Javier Sarsa 437
Connectivism
Understanding and Utilizing the Effectiveness of e‐ Signe Schack Noesgaard and Rikke Ørngreen 445
Learning: A Literature Study on the Definitions,
Methodologies, and Promoting Factors of e‐
Learning Effectiveness
Status quo of Media Usage and Mobile Learning in Katharina Schuster 455
Engineering Education
Technology on CALL: Improving English Language Beatrice Segura‐Harvey and Sue Greener 464
Learning in a Spanish Context
Achieving Flow Through Gamification in the Martin Sillaots 470
Course of Computer Games
Learning Biology With Interactive Digital 3D Leo Siiman, Mario Mäeots and Margus 478
Content: Teacher Attitudes Pedaste
iv
Paper Title Author(s) Page
No.
Continuous Competence Development Model for Charlotte Lærke Weitze 578
Teacher Teams: The IT‐Pedagogical Think Tank for
Teacher Teams (ITP4T) in Global Classrooms
Meeting the Online Needs of Part Time Stephen Wilkinson and Duncan Folley 589
Postgraduate Engineering Students
Analysis of e‐Learning Outcomes at Higher Ibrahim Zincir, Tohid Ahmed Rana, Samsun 599
Education: A Case Study Basarici and Sabah Balta
PHD Research papers 605
Quality of Women's Learning Experiences in the Nourah Alshaghdali, Sue Greener, Avril Love‐ 607
Digital Age in Higher Education in Saudi Arabia less
v
Paper Title Author(s) Page
No.
Educating for Competencies Development in Maite Fernandez, Georgeta Ion and Elena 704
Higher Education With Technology Cano
vi
Preface
These Proceedings represent the work of contributors to the 13th European Conference on e‐Learning, ECEL
2014, hosted this year by the Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark on the 30‐31 October 2014. The Con‐
ference and Programme Co‐Chairs are Dr Rikke Ørngreen and Dr. Karin Tweddell Levinsen, both from the Re‐
search LAB: IT and Learning Design, Department of Philosophy and Learning, Aalborg University, Copenhagen,
Denmark.
The conference will be opened with a keynote address by Prof Chris Dede, Graduate School of Education, Har‐
vard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA on the topic of “New Wine in No Bottles: Immersive, Person‐
alized, Ubiquitous Learning”. On the second day the keynote will be delivered by Torben Elgaard Jensen, Head
of the Techno‐Anthropology Research Group at AAU Copenhagen. Torben will address the topic Reconfiguring
Users: Tracing how users find their way into the world of developers and designers
As usual the papers cover a wide spectrum of issues, all of which are pertinent to the successful use of e‐
Learning applications. It is clear that the role being played by e‐Learning in the pedagogical process is consid‐
erable and that there is still ample scope for further development in this area.
The ECEL Conference constitutes a valuable platform for individuals to present their research findings, display
their work in progress and discuss conceptual advances in many different branches of e‐Learning. At the same
time, it provides an important opportunity for members of the EL community to come together with peers,
share knowledge and exchange ideas.
With an initial submission of 173 abstracts, after the double blind, peer review process there are 74 academic
papers, 9 Phd Papers, 1 Masters research Paper,and 10 Work in Progress papers in these Conference Proceed‐
ings. These papers reflect the truly global nature of research in the area with contributions from Algeria, Aus‐
tralia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Is‐
rael, Italy, Jordan, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, RSA, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, The Neth‐
erlands, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, UK, USA, Zimbabwe.
A selection of papers – those agreed by a panel of reviewers and the editor will be published in a special con‐
ference edition of the EJEL (Electronic Journal of e‐Learning www.ejel.org ).
We wish you a most interesting conference.
Dr. Karin Tweddell Levinsen
Dr Rikke Ørngreen
Programme Chairs
October 2014
vii
Conference Committee
Conference Executive
Dr Rikke Orngreen, Aalborg University, Denmark
Dr Karin Levinsen, Aalborg University, Denmark
Mini track chairs
Andrea Benn, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK
Sarah Cornelius, University of Aberdeen, UK
Rachel Fitzgerald, Northampton Business School, University of Northampton
Wilfried Admiraal, Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching, The Netherlands
Committee members
The conference programme committee consists of key people in the e‐learning community around the world.
The following people have confirmed their participation:
Ariffin Abdul Mutalib (Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia), Dr. Siti aishah Abdullah (University Technology
Mara, Kelantan, Malaysia), Babajide Abidogun (Faculty of Education, University of Plymouth, South Africa), Dr.
Wilfried Admiraal (Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands), Ass.Prof.Dr. Zainal Abidin Akasah (Universiti
Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Malaysia), Dr. Ali Alawneh (Philadelpia University, Jordan), Shafqat Ali (University
of Western Sydney, Australia), Prof. Dr. Maizam Alias (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia), Prof. Dr. Abdallah
Al‐Zoubi (Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Jordan), Prof. Antonios Andreatos (Hellenic Air Force
Academy, Greece), Dr. Anca‐Olga Andronic (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Spiru Haret Uni‐
versity, Romania), Dr. Razvan‐Lucian Andronic (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Spiru Haret
University, Romania), Sara Archard (University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand), Dr. Ezendu Ariwa (London
Metropolitan University, UK), Prof. Mohamed Arteimi (Libyan Academy of Graduate Studies, Libya), Dr. William
Ashraf (University of Sussex, UK), Dr. Bunyamin Atici (Firat University, Turkey), Marc Augier (SKEMA Business
School , France), Stephanos Avakian (Brighton Business School, University of Brighton, UK), Dr. Anders Avdic
(Orebro University, Sweden), Simon Bachelor (Gamos, Reading, UK), Prof. Alina Badulescu (University of
Oradea, Romania), Dr. Samira Bakr (National Center for Examination and Educational Evaluation, Egypt), Dr.
Nimalathasan Balasundaram (University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka), Dr. Joan Ballantine (University of Ulster, UK), Dr.
Trevor Barker (University of Hertfordshire, UK), Dr. Josep‐Maria Batalla (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya,
Spain), Catherine Beaton (Rochester Institute of Technology, USA), Hans J.A Beldhuis (University of Groningen,
The Netherlands), Prof. Orlando Belo (University of Minho Campus de Gualtar, Portugal), Dr. David Benito
(Public University of Navarre, Pamplona, Spain), Andrea Benn (University of Brighton, UK), Dr. Yongmei Bentley
(University of Bedfordshire, UK), Daniel Biella (University of Duisburg‐Essen, Germany), Eric Bodger (University
of Winchester, UK), Dr. Tharrenos Bratitsis (University of Western Macedonia, Greece), Dr. Ann Brown (CASS
Business School, London, UK), Dr. Mark Brown (Massey University,Palmerston North, New Zealand), Mel
Brown (Plymouth College of Art, UK), Giuseppe Cannavina (University of Sheffield, UK), James Carr (University
of Newcastle, UK), Maggie Carson (Edinburgh University, UK), Dr. Antonio Cartelli (University of Cassino,, Italy),
Dr. Rommert Casimir (Tilburg University , The Netherlands), Dr. Ivana Cechova (University of Defence, Czech
Republic), Maria Celentano (University of Lecce, Italy), Dr. Valentina Chappell (Friends University, USA), Athina
Chatzigavriil (LSE, UK), Dr. Phaik Kin Cheah (University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia), Dr. Esyin Chew (Uni‐
versity of Glamorgan, UK), Satyadhyan Chickerur (B V Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology,
Hubli,, India), Dr. Lucian Ciolan (University of Bucharest, Romania), Dr. Melanie Ciussi (SKEMA Business School,
Sophia Antipolis, France), Dr. Barbara Class (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Cleve (Wismar
University, Germany), Dr. Lynn Clouder (Coventry University, UK), David Comiskey (University of Ulster, North‐
ern Ireland), Prof. Thomas Connolly (University of West of Scotland, UK), Prof. Grainne Conole (University of
Leicester, UK), Sarah Cornelius (University of Aberdeen, UK), Dr. Eduardo Correia (Christchurch Polytechnic
Institute of Technology, New Zealand), Dr. Marija Cubric (University of Hertfordshire, UK), Ken Currie (Edin‐
burgh University, UK), Dr. Valentina Dagiene (Vilnius University, Lithuania), Cristina De Castro (IEIIT‐CNR, Na‐
tional Research Council of Italy, Italy), Mark De Groot (Leeds Metropolitian University, UK), Antonio De Nicola
(ENEA, Italy, Italy), Prof. Dr. Carmen De Pablos Heredero (Rey juan Carlos University, Spain), Dr. Faiza Derbel
(University of Manouba, Tunisia), Dr. Prof. Dorien DeTombe (International Research Society Methodology of
viii
Societal Complexity , The Netherlands), Dr. Rajiv Dharaskar (GH Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur, India),
Prof. Vicenzo Di Lecce (Politecnico di Bari, Italy), Dr. Martina Doolan (University of Hertfordshire, UK), Dr. Yan‐
qing Duan (University of Luton, UK), Dr. Jane Eberle (Emporia State University, USA), Dr. Colin Egan (University
of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK), Dr. Ibrahim M. Elbeltagi (Plymouth University, UK), Dr. Bulent Gursel Emiroglu
(Eskisehir Yolu 20.km. Baglica Mevkii, Turkey), DR. Marius Costel ESI (Stefan cel Mare University, Romania),
Dr/Prof Iancu Eugenia (Stefan cel Mare University, Romania), Foluke Eze (Federal College Of Educa‐
tion(Technical), Nigeria), Prof. Liz Falconer (University of the West of England Bristol, UK), Prof. Gert Faust‐
mann (Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany), Prof. Corona Felice (Faculty of Medicine and Surgery,
University of Salerno, Italy), Rachel Fitzgerald (University of Northampton, UK), Prof. Andrea Floros (Ionian
University, Greece), Duncan Folley (Leeds Metropolitian University, UK), Dr Olga Fragou (Educational Content
Methodology and Technology Lab, Hellenic Open University, Greece), Dr. Gabriele Frankl (Alpen‐Adria‐
Universität Klagenfurt, Kärnten), Dr. Michelle French (University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada), Dan‐Adrian
German (Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing, USA), Prof. Itana Gimenes (Universidade
Estadual de Maringá, Brazil), Dr. Katie Goeman (University of Leuven, Belgium (KU Leuven)., Belgium), Jetse
Goris (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), Dr. Susan Greener (University of Brighton, UK), Dr. Michael
Grosch (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany), Dr. David Guralnick (Columbia University and Kaleido‐
scope Learning, New York, USA , USA), Dr. Richard Hall (De Monfort University, Leicester, UK), Prof. Patricia
Harvey (Greenwich University, London, UK), Thanos Hatziapostolou (International faculty of the university of
sheffield, Greece), Dr. Tali Heiman (The Open University, Israel), Alan Hilliard (University of Hertfordshire, Hat‐
field, UK), Anita Hiralaal (Durban University of Technology, South Africa), Uwe Hoppe (Bildungswerk der Säch‐
sischen Wirtschaft gGmbH, Germany), Dr. Md. Fokhray Hossain (Daffodil International University (DIU), Bang‐
ladesh), Rob Howe (The University of Northampton, UK), Stefan Hrastinski (KTH Royal Institute of Technology,
Sweden), Dr. Maggie Hutchings (Bournemouth University, UK), Dr. Eun Hwang (Indiana University of Pennsyl‐
vania, USA), Balde Idiatou (Noble Group Organised Solutions, Guinea), Dr. Olimpius Istrate (University of Bu‐
charest, Romania), Dr. Antonin Jancarik (Faculty of education, Charles University, Czech Republic), Amor Jebali
(University of Manouba, Tunisia), Dr. Amanda Jefferies (University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK), Runa Jesmin
(Global Heart Forum, UK), Dr. John Jessel (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK), Aidan Johnston (University of
Strathclyde, UK), Geraldine Jones (University of Bath, UK), Paul Jones (University of Plymouth, UK), Dr. Jowati
Juhary (National Defence University of Malaysia, Malaysia), Dr. Michail Kalogiannakis (University of Crete, Fac‐
ulty of Education, Crete), Clifton Kandler (University of Greenwich, UK), Catherine Kane (Trinity College Dublin,
Ireland), Rishi Kapoor (Kaplan Australia, Australia), Jana Kapounova (University of Ostrava, Czech Republic), Dr.
Elisabeth Katzlinger (Johannes Kepler University, Austria), Dr. Andrea Kelz (University of Applied Sciences Bur‐
genland,Campus Pinkafeld, Austria), Kaido Kikkas (Estonian IT College + Tallinn University, Estonia), John Knight
(Bucks New University, UK), Dr. Renata Korsakiene (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania), Dr.
Jasna Kuljis (Brunel University, UK), Prof. Sunaina Kumar (Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi,
INDIA), Dr. Swapna Kumar (University of Florida, USA), Blair Kuntz (University of Toronto, Canada), Prof.
Eugenijus Kurilovas (Vilnius Gediminas technical university / institute of mathmatics and informatics of Vinius
University, Lithuania), Eleni Kyza (Cyprus University of Technology, Lemesos, Cyprus), Dr. Yacine Lafifi (Guelma
University, Algeria, Algeria), Dr. Jean Lai (Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong), Prof. David Lamas (Tallinn
University, Estonia), Dr. Maria Lambrou (University of the Aegean Business School, Greece), Andy Lapham
(Thames Valley University, UK), Dr. Mona Laroussi (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées et de la Tech‐
nologie, Tnis and Lille, Tunisia), Jake Leith (University of Brighton, UK), Kate Lennon (Glasgow Caledonian Uni‐
versity, UK), Mariana Lilley (University of Hertfordshire, UK), Dr. Jorgen Lindh (Jonkoping International Business
School, Sweden), Dr. Gi‐Zen Liu (National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan), Dr. Ying Liu (Cambridge University,
UK), Dr. Kim Long (Wiley College, USA), Jenny Lorimer (University of Hertfortshire, UK), Ana Loureiro (Politech‐
nic Institute of Santarem ‐ School of Education, Portugal), Prof. Sam Lubbe (NWU, South Africa), Dr. Robert
Lucas (Keylink Computers Ltd, Kenilworth, UK), Dr. Nick Lund (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK), Prof.
Zdena Lustigova (Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic), Dr. Martin Magdin (Constantine the Philoso‐
pher University in Nitra, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Slovakia), Adnan Mahmood (University of Jinan, China),
Dr. Chittaranjan Mandal (Dept of Computer Sc & Engg, IIT Kharagpur, India), Agostino Marengo (University of
Bari, Italy), Dr Mourad Mars (University of Monastir, Tunisia), Dr. Lindsay Marshall (Newcastle University, UK),
Dra Maria J Martinez‐Arguelles (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain), Dr. Gianina‐Ana Masari (Alexandru
Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania), Clyde Matava (University of Toronto, Canada), David Mathew (Univer‐
sity of Bedfordshire, UK), Erika Mechlova (University of Ostrava, Czech Republic), Dr. Cherifa Mehadji (Univer‐
sity of Strasbourg, France), Associate Director Rosina Merry (the school of Education The University of Waika‐
tio, New Zealand), Linda Joy Mesh (Universita degli Studi di Siena, Italy), Jaroslava Mikulecka (University of
Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic), Dr. Peter Mikulecky (University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic), Mike
ix
Mimirinis (Middlesex University, London, UK), Julia Mingullon (Universitat oberta de catalunya, Spain), Dr. Ali
Moeini (University of Tehran, Iran), Dr. Jonathan Moizer ( Plymouth University , UK), Johann Moller (University
of South Africa (UNISA), South Africa), Dr. Begoña Montero‐Fleta (Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain),
Prof. Lina Morgado (Universidade Aberta, Portugal), Kate Mottram (Coventry University, UK), Peter Mozelius
(Stockholm University, Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Sweden), Prof. Radouane Mrabet (EN‐
SIA, Morocco), Dr. Antoinette Muntjewerff (University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law, The Netherlands), Dr.
Minoru Nakayama (Tokoyo Institute of Technology, Japan), Dr. Michaela Nettekoven (WU Vienna University of
Economics and Business, Austria), Dr. Paul Newbury (University of Sussex, UK), Prof. Julian Newman (Glasgow
Caledonian University , UK), Prof. Emanuela‐Alisa Nica (Center for Ethics and Health Policy and , Petre Andrei
University from Iasi, Romania), Dr. Chetsada Noknoi (Thaksin University, Songkhla, Thailand), Dr. Abel Nya‐
mapfene (University of Bath, UK), Sinead O’Neill (Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland), Ass.Prof.Dr.
Birgit Oberer (Kadir Has University, Turkey), Dr. Maruff Akinwale Oladejo (Department of Educational Admini‐
stration, University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria), Dr. Kamila Olsevicova (Univeristy of Hradec Kralove, Czech Re‐
public), Laurence Olver (Brighton Business School, University of Brighton,, UK), Dr. Rikke Orngreen (Aalborg
University, Denmark), Dr. Abdul Jalil Othman (Faculty of Education, University of Malaysia, Malaysia), Dr. Kut‐
luk Ozguven (Zirve University, Turkey), Dr. Ecaterina Pacurar Giacomini (Louis Pasteur University, France), Dr.
Alessandro Pagano (University of Bari, Italy), Vasileios Paliktzoglou (University of eastern Finland, Finland),
Masouras Panicos (Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus), George Papadopoulos (University of Cyprus, Cy‐
prus), Prof. Kyparisia Papanikolaou (School of Pedagogical and Technological Education, Greece), Dr. Iraklis
Paraskakis (South East European Research Centre (SEERC) Research Centre of the University of Sheffiled, Thes‐
saloniki, Greece), Paul Peachey (University of Glamorgan, Treforest, UK), Dr. Arna Peretz (Ben Gurion Univer‐
isty of the Negev, Israel), Dr. Carmen Perez‐Sabater (Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain), Christine Perry
(University of the West of England, Bristol, UK), Dr. Donatella Persico (Istituto Tecnologie Didattiochje‐
Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche, Genova, Italy), Dr. Christopher Perumalla (University of Toronto, Canada), Prof.
Pit Pichappan (Annamalai University, India), Prof. Mário Pinto (Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Portugal), Prof.
Selwyn Piramuthu (University of Florida, Gainesville, USA), Dr. Michel Plaisent (University of Quebec in Mont‐
real, Canada), Lubomir Popelinsky (Masaryk University, Czech Republic), Dr. Maria Magdalena Popescu (Carol I
National Defence University, Romania), Dr. Francesca Pozzi (ITD‐CNR, Italy), Dr. Muhammad Abdul Qadir
(Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, Pakistan), Prof. Ricardo Queirós (ESEIG/KMILT & CRACS/INESC,
Portugal), Susannah Quinsee (City University, London, UK), Prof. Ali Raddaoui (University of Wyoming, USA),
Dr. Bilba Radu (George Bacovia University,, Romania), Abdul Rafay (Asia Pacific University College of Technol‐
ogy & Innovation, Malaysia), Dr. Liana Razmerita (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark), Hugo Ribeiro (Uni‐
versity of Porto, Portugal), Dr. Bart Rienties (University of Surrey, UK), Dr. Eleni Rossiou (Univerisity of Mace‐
donia, Greece), Dr. Danguole Rutkauskiene (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania), Dr. Florin Salajan
(North Dakota State University , Canada), David Sammon (Univesity College Cork, Ireland), Marie Sams (Coven‐
try University, UK), Gustavo Santos (Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal), Prof. Vitor Santos (New Univer‐
sity of Lisbon, Portugal), Dr. Venkat Sastry (Defence College of Management and Technology, Cranfield Univer‐
sity, UK), Dr. Guy Saward (University of Hertfordshire, UK), Brian Sayer (University of London, UK), Prof. Jeanne
Schreurs (Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, belgium), Dr. Jane Secker (London School of Economics, UK), Dr
Elena Seghedin (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Romania), Dr. Fabio Serenelli (Università degli Studi Milano
Bicocca, Italy), Dr. Nima Shahidi (Islamic Azad University‐ Noorabad Mamasani Branch, Iran), Zaffar Ahmed
Shaikh (IBA Karachi, Pakistan), Angela Shapiro (Glasgow Caledonian University, UK), Dr. Michael Shoukat
(UMUC, USA), Aileen Sibbald (The Business School, at Edinburgh Napier University, UK), Dr. Petia Sice (Univer‐
sity of Northumbria, Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne, UK), Prof. Ali Simsek (Anadolu University, Turkey), Dr. Gurmeet
Singh (The University of The South Pacific, Suva , Fiji, Fiji), Prof. Cees Th. Smit Sibinga (Academic insitute for the
international development of transfusion medicine, The Netherlands), Alisdair Smithies (Dundee Medical
School, UK), Dr. Keith Smyth (Napier University, Edinburgh, UK), Bent Soelberg (South Danish Educationscenter
(SDE), Denmark, Denmark), Dr. Yeong‐Tae Song (Towson University, Maryland, USA), Dr. Michael Sonntag
(FIM, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria), Dr. Sonia Sousa (Tallinn University, Estonia), Dr. Rumen Stainov
(University of Applied Sciences, Fulda, Germany), Dr. John Stav (Sor‐Trondelag University College, Norway),
Iain Stewart (Glasgow Caledonian University, UK), Caroline Stockman (University of Leuven, Belgium), Thomas
Strasser (Vienna University of Education, Austria), Karen Strickland (Edinburgh Napier University, UK), Dr.
Amanda Sykes (University of Glasgow, UK), Dr. Roxana Taddei (Université Clermont Ferrand 2, Montpellier,
France), Yana Tainsh (University of Greenwich, UK), Bénédicte Talon (Université du Littoral, France), Marian
Theron (False Bay College, Tokai, South Africa), Dr. John Thompson (Buffalo State College, USA), Dr Socaciu
Tiberiu (University of Suceava, Romania), Dr. Claudine Toffolon (Université du Mans ‐ IUT de Laval, France),
Florica Tomos (South Wales University, UK), Dr. Eulalia Torras‐Virgili (Open University of catalonia, Spain), Dr.
x
Melih Turgut (Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey), Christopher Turner (University of Winchester , UK),
Karin Tweddell Levinsen (department of Learning and Philosophy, at Aalborg University – Copenhagen, Den‐
mark), Dr. Aimilia Tzanavari (University of Nicosia, Cyprus), Prof. Catalina Ulrich (University of Bucharest, Ro‐
mania), Prof. Huseyin Uzunboylu (Near East University, Cyprus), Dr. Linda Van Ryneveld (Tshwane University of
Technology, Pretoria, South Africa), Dr. Carlos Vaz de Carvalho (GILT ‐ Graphics, Interaction and Learning Tech‐
nologies, Portugal), Prof. Andreas Veglis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece), Dr. Steven Verjans
(Open Universiteit of The Netherlands, The Netherlands), Anne Villems (University of Tartu, Estonia), Dr Po‐
rawat Visutsak (Faculty of Applied Science, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand),
Porawat Visutsak (Faculty of Applied Science, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, Thai‐
land), Prof. Steven Warburton (University of Surrey, Guildford, UK), Bruno Warin (Université du Littoral, Calais,
France), Fahad Waseem (University of Northumbria, Middlesbrough, UK), Garry Watkins (University of Central
Lancashire, UK), Dr. Anne Wheeler (Aston University, UK), Nicola Whitton (Manchester Metropolitan Univer‐
sity, UK), Roy Williams (University of Portsmouth, UK), Dr. Shirley Williams (University of Reading, UK), Dr.
Katherine Wimpenny (Coventry University, UK), Prof. Stanislaw Wrycza (University of Gdansk, Poland), Dr.
Panagiotis Zaharias (Open University of Cyprus, Greece), Dr. Prof. Qinglong Zhan (Tianjin University of Tech‐
nology and Education, China), Chris Zielinski (External relations and Governing Bodies, World Health Organiza‐
tion, Geneva, Switzerland), Anna Zoakou (Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Greece), Prof. Mounir Zrigui (University of
Monastir, Tunisia)
xi
Biographies
Conference and Programme Co‐Chairs
Dr Rikke Ørngreen, Assoc. Professor, at the ResearchLAB: IT and Learning Design, at the
Department of Philosophy and Learning, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Rikke is chairman of the study board: IT and Learning, and as such coordinator for the
Master of Science in Information Technology, Specializing in ICT, Learning and Organiza‐
tional Change. She is a member of several boards, has organized conferences, and acted
as project leader for EU and research projects with companies. Rikke researches the de‐
sign and use of educational designs, learning processes and resources, which integrate
digital and online technologies. Of particular interest are digital productions and video conferences, for teach‐
ing and learning, for collaboration and in competence development processes.
Dr Karin Levinsen is Ass. Professor at the Department of Philosophy and Learning at Aal‐
borg University, and a member of the Research Lab for ICT and Learning Design (ILD). She
has been a member of the Ministry of Education advisory board for ICT and Learning in
the Danish public school. She has participated in several research and development pro‐
jects regarding Design for Learning and Video Conferencing, and is a member of the edito‐
rial group at the Journal for Design for Learning. She has worked on a range of national
and European projects regarding distance learning – e.g. Lancelot on VC based language
teaching. In addition to the research projects into Video Conferencing, Karin are right now participating in sev‐
eral larger project in relation to ICT and learning in the Danish public school funded by the Danish Ministry of
Education.
Keynote Speakers
Chris Dede is the Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies at Harvard’s
Graduate School of Education. His fields of scholarship include emerging technologies,
policy, and leadership. His funded research includes grants from the National Science
Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, and the
Gates Foundation to design and study immersive simulations, transformed social interac‐
tions, and online professional development. In 2007, he was honored by Harvard Uni‐
versity as an outstanding teacher, and in 2011 he was named a Fellow of the American
Educational Research Association. From 2001‐2004, he was Chair of the HGSE department of Teaching and
Learning. Chris has served as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Foundations of
Educational and Psychological Assessment and a member of the 2010 National Educational Technology Plan
Technical Working Group. In 2013, he co‐convened a NSF workshop on “new technology‐based models of
postsecondary learning.” His co‐edited book, Scaling Up Success: Lessons Learned from Technology‐based
Educational Improvement, was published by Jossey‐Bass in 2005. A second volume he edited, Online Profes‐
sional Development for Teachers: Emerging Models and Methods, was published by the Harvard Education
Press in 2006. His latest co‐edited book, Digital Teaching Platforms: Customizing Classroom Learning for Each
Student, was published by Teachers College Press in 2012.
Torben Elgaard Jensen is Professor with special responsibilities in Techno‐Anthropology
and Science & Technology Studies and is Leader of the Techno‐Anthropology Research
Group | Department of Learning and Philosophy at Aalborg University Copenhagen.
xii
Mini Track Chairs
Wilfried Admiraal is full professor of Educational Sciences and chair of the research pro‐
gram Teaching and Teacher Learning of Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching.
His research interest combines Educational Sciences, Social Psychology and technology, in
secondary schools and higher education. He published journal articles on game‐based
learning, learning with web‐based video, the use of annotation tools in collaborative writ‐
ing and online communication in various collaborative projects.
Andrea Benn is a Senior Lecturer with the Business School at the University of Brighton
having joined the University in 2008. Her role now includes course leader for the BSc
(Hons) Business Management and deputy course leader for the BSc (Hons) Business
with Enterprise. Andrea has recently undertaken action research to develop and inte‐
grate pedagogical strategies such as blended learning and more recently problem based
learning as part of a project with colleagues, culminating in the validation of a new
honours degree course for the Business School.
Sarah Cornelius is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Aber‐
deen, UK. She supports teachers and lecturers to widen and improve learning opportuni‐
ties for adult and professional learners using technology. Her research explores learners’
and teachers’ experiences of technology enhanced learning and the use of technology to
create flexible, authentic and learner‐centred educational experiences. Her most recent
book: Live online learning: strategies for the web conferencing classroom is published by
Palgrave Macmillan in 2014. Sarah is a Senior Fellow of the UK’s Higher Education Acad‐
emy and co‐chair for the Association for Learning Technology 2014 conference.
Rachel Fitzgerald is the Head of Online Learning Development and a Senior Lecturer at
Northampton Business School, University of Northampton. Rachel is currently involved in an
ambitious project to transform online learning for a transnational audience, developing qual‐
ity frameworks and engaging staff in online curriculum design. She is the project manager of a
learning and teaching project to open postgraduate business education and overseas the de‐
velopment of distance learning within the School. Rachel has been involved in eLearning for
over a decade and previously managed a learning technology unit. Her current research is
focused on digital literacies, online education and collaboration, privacy and eLearning.
Biographies of Presenting Authors
Paulo Alves – Ph.D. in Technology and Information Systems, University of Minho, Portugal, and Master in Mul‐
timedia Technology from the University of Porto, Portugal. Is e‐learning coordinator and professor at the Poly‐
technic Institute of Bragança. The research interests include: e‐learning, web development and multimedia.
Maram Al Zaidi is currently a PhD candidate at the Department of Computer Science at the University of War‐
wick, and a member of the IAS‐ Intelligent and Adaptive Systems‐ group in the University of Warwick. She hold
a D.PE from the University of Jordan in e‐Gov. Her research interests include educational technology, m‐
learning, mobile technology and social network for education.
Nourah Alshaghdali is currently a PhD student at the University of Brighton, UK. She has graduated the MSc
course in Information Systems at the University of Brighton in 2012, and was awarded BSc degree from King
Abduaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Her main research interests are on e‐learning in higher education,
women learning, Business studies, virtual environment, and online education.
xiii
Diana Andone is the Director of the eLearning Centre responsible for planning and implementing eLearning.
She runs the team who developed and assure daily integration of the university award wining Virtual Campus
CVUPT. She is also lecturer at the “Politehnica” University of Timisoara, Romania, in the area of multimedia
and web technologies.
Lars Birch Andreasen is Associate Professor, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark, and PhD in Educa‐
tional Studies, the Danish University of Education. He is head of the coordination group for the Danish Master
programme in ICT and Learning (MIL). His research deals with collaborative and dialogic learning, social media
and new technologies, information literacy, and problem‐based learning.
Trish Andrews is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education with the Teaching and Educational Development Insti‐
tute (TEDI) at the University of Queensland and manages the Technology Enhanced Learning Group. Her re‐
search and scholarship focuses on learning spaces, mobile learning, learners' experience of ICT for teaching
and learning and capacity building.
Natalia Auer is a PhD student in the Institute of Learning Innovation at the University of Leicester. Her main
research interests are technology‐enhanced language learning, Spanish language learning as a foreign lan‐
guage, comprehension processes and strategies for reading digital texts. Her PhD research focuses on mobile
assisted language learning (MALL) and how metacognitive reading strategies can be facilitated by mobile tech‐
nologies.
Samira Bakr is a PhD holder. She is a Senior Assessment Specialist in The national Center for Examination and
Educational evaluation, Ministry of Education, Egypt. She worked as the ELT counselor, curricula specialist and
teacher trainer. She gave many presentations in local and international conferences. Her research interests are
e‐learning, teacher education and assessment.
Patricia Alejandra Behar holds a PhD in Computer Science, operates in Post‐Graduate Education and Graduate
Diploma in Computer Education at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil. She is coordi‐
nator of the "Center for Digital Technology Applied to Education" (NUTED) at UFRGS.
Dr Milena Bobeva is MBA Director at the Business School, Bournemouth University. She has actively exploited
and promoted the use of contemporary information and communication technologies as an enabler for effec‐
tive performance. Her background in business information systems management has underpinned her profes‐
sional and research practice in the areas of educational and business process enhancement.
Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani is a Senior lecturer in computer science at computer science department of Mouloud
Mammeri University of Tizi Ouzou, Algeria. She has got doctorate and HDR on knowledge representation and
evaluation process for e‐learning by doing environments. Farida’s research largely related to computer science
use in the education field.
Mie Buhl is Professor in ICT, Didactics and Visual Culture. Research Lab: ICT and Learning Design, Department
of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University Copenhagen. Research Interests: Visual Culture, Media
and ICT with an emphasis on University Education, Teacher Training, Primary School and with the focus on
visual learning.
Jeppe Bundsgaard is associate professor, working with ICT in primary and secondary education, mainly in rela‐
tion to Danish. Bundsgaard has participated in a number of projects developing scenario based digital learning
platforms. Currently he is National Research Coordinator in ICILS and Research Director in three research and
development projects called the Demonstration School Projects.
Hana Bydžovská is a PhD student of Computer Systems and Technologies at the Faculty of Informatics Masaryk
University Brno, Czech Republic. She has been employed as the university information system developer for
more than 5 years. Nowadays, she works as a system analyst. Her research interests include recommender
systems and educational data mining.
Lindsey Carey, Programme Director (MRes) and Deputy Director of the Graduate School. Subject specialisms:
Consumer Behaviour; Sustainable Practices and Research Methods
xiv
Maggie Carson is a Lecturer in Nursing Studies at the University of Edinburgh. She teaches both undergradu‐
ate and postgraduate students and has a special interest in e‐learning. She developed an asynchronous online
leadership course while on a part time internal secondment to the Institute for Academic Development last
year.
Ivana Čechová graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University in Brno with specializations in peda‐
gogy, English and Russian language and literature. She has worked in management positions as Head of Re‐
search and Deputy Head of the Language. Currently she works as a senior lecturer.
Miloslava Černá, Ph.D.1997 is a Lecturer at the Department of Applied Languages, Faculty of Informatics and
Management, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. Publications in the following areas: utilization of
social applications in higher education, language portals, usability testing, the other area of professional inter‐
est is blended learning: design, motivation, communication and virtual communities in e‐courses.
Paula Charbonneau‐Gowdy is assistant professor of English as a Foreign Language in teacher training at the
Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile. She worked formerly as Senior Advisor in Learning and Technology
to the Government of Canada and has published extensively in learning and technology while seeking to push
the pedagogical boundaries of technology to promote democratic change
Dr. Pieter Conradie is a senior lecturer in the Department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), focusing on e‐learning, specifically learning theories, Massive Open
Online Courses (MOOCs) and Virtual Learning Environments (VLE).
Susanne Dau: RN, MLP and Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg
University (AAU), Denmark. She is part of the research E‐learning Lab Centre. Her primary research interests
are within the fields of learning, knowledge development and way‐finding in blended learning environments.
She is a lecturer at University College North, Denmark.
Ahmed Dib received M.S degree in the department of computer Engineering at University of TiziOuzou. He is
also and also assistant researcher at the Grid Computing Research Center. He is current research interests are
E‐learning, cloud computing system, Hadoop.
Sibusisiwe Dube is a first year PHD student at the University of Cape Town in the Department of Information
Systems. Has worked as a lecturer since January 2008 in the Department of Computer Science at the National
University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe.
Stephanie Edel‐Malizia is an Instructional Designer for Penn State University. She completed her Doctorate of
Education with the dissertation "Design and Implementation of Faculty Development for Student Required
Internet Use". Stephanie is a 2013 graduate of the Institute for Educational Leadership Fellows program.
Maite Fernandez Ferrer graduated in Education by the University of Barcelona and she has a Masters’ degree
in Social and Educational Action by the same university. She is a member of the research group Interactive
Media Lab directed by Antonio Bartolomé. Since 2010 she has been part of various researches on compe‐
tences assessment in Higher Education.
Olga Fragou is an Instructional Designer in Educational Content, Methodology and Technology Lab, at Hellenic
Open University and is Head of the Learning Activities Team. During 2005‐2008 she worked as a PhD re‐
searcher and instructional designer in ICT Courses in the Educational Technology Laboratory, University of
Athens.
Mª Del Carmen Gallego Sánchez studied telecommunications engineer. Nowadays, she is studying studying a
postgraduate at the University of Alcala de Henares, the fundamental theme of the research is relational coor‐
xv
dination and quality in online education. I like conferences because you can communicate about your re‐
search.
Sue Greener is a Principal Lecturer at Brighton Business School, University of Brighton. She conducts research
in the fields of technology enhanced learning, blended learning and reflective learning and is particularly inter‐
ested in developing teachers’ interest and competencies in these areas. She is editor of the journal Interactive
Learning Environments.
Fatih GüllüI finished the higher education in 2001 in Kazan Pedagogical University, Russia. Fatih was a lecturer
in information technology at the Bugulme Turkish College, during the years 2001 – 2006. PhD candidate in the
Information Technology Institution at Tallinn University of Technology.
Mishack Gumbo is an Associate Professor at the University of South Africa’s College of Education and Depart‐
ment of Science and Technology. He holds these qualifications: PhD, MEd, MPhil, BEd (Hons), BA, UED, Inter‐
nat. Mishack has a Certificate in Technology Education. He is currently enrolled for MEd in DE and E‐learning.
Amani Hamdan is an award winning scholar her book: Muslim Women Speak A Tapestry of Lives And Dreams
won the Canadian Women’s Studies Association Book Prize in 2011. She has obtained her M.A. in Education
from Mount Saint Vincent University MSVU in Halifax Nova Scotia and Doctorate of Philosophy in Education
Studies specializing in Curriculum and Pedagogy from the University of Western Ontario UW.
Mohamed Ziad Hamdan (PhD) is Professor of education and educational psychology at some online American
and European universities; and the founder and director of Hamdan Academy for Higher Education Online. His
B.A from Damascus University Syria; M.Sc. from Bemidji State University‐ Minnesota, and Ph.D. from Kent
State University, Ohio‐ USA.
Thomas Hansen, a linguist by trade, is a former Ph.D. student and researcher in the area of language learning
and speech technology, from The University of Southern Denmark and University College London. His current
areas of interest is the use of speech recognition technology in Serious Games for language learning and
speech rehabilitation.
Herman Herman is a lecturer at Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia. His undergraduate was from Institut Teknologi
Bandung majoring in Math. He also has an M.A in Educational Psychology from University of Victoria, BC, Can‐
ada, and got PhD in Research and Evaluation from Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia.
Ellie Hothersall is a Consultant in Public Health Medicine, and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer and Co‐
Convenor of years 1‐3 at Univeristy of Dundee Medical School. Her interests are in social media for teaching;
professionalism both on‐ and off‐line; and in assessment of hard‐to‐assess subjects.
Margaret‐Anne Houston is a Senior Lecturer in Consumer Policy & Trading Standards. Subject specialisms:
Business Regulation; Consumer Education & Protection; Research Methods.
Adam Hudson graduated cum laude from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in 2004. He has a Master’s
in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and a Specialization in Web
Development from the University of Southern California. He teaches courses in front end web development at
UW‐Milwaukee and does freelance web development in both the corporate and non‐profit sector. His re‐
search interests include usability, front‐end web development, and competency based education
Amanda Jefferies is a Reader in Technology Enhanced Learning at the University of Hertfordshire, where she
leads the Technology Supported Learning Research group. Her research interests relate to students’ experi‐
ences of using technology to support their learning and the development of supportive pedagogies. She was
awarded a UK National Teaching Fellowship in 2011.
Mengjie Jiang Started their PhD studies in January 2013 at the University of Leicester. My main research inter‐
est is in digital literacy skills of students in higher education. Mengjie PhD research investigates and compares
digital literacy skills among Chinese post‐graduate students in Chinese and UK higher education institutions.
xvi
David Kalenda After the eight‐year study at the comprehensive grammar school in Liberec I studied informa‐
tion management at the University of Hradec Králové which I graduated from in 2013. Presently I am a Ph.D
student of information and knowledge management and also a software analyst at one IT company in the
most beautiful city of Hradec Králové.
Md. Saifuddin Khalid is an assistant professor at Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University,
where he teaches the master program in ICT, Learning and Organizational Transformation. He is part of
D4learning and techno anthropology research groups. Research interest: understanding, solving and circum‐
venting the barriers to the adoption and integration of ICT in education.
Shihab Khogali PhD, MMEd (Distinction), MBBS, FHEA is a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at the
University of Dundee, where he is currently convenor for the MBChB cardiovascular system course, transition
block 1 course, and co‐lead for physiology teaching. He has also been leading with the development of TBL
within the MBChB curriculum.
Elsebeth Korsgaard Sorensen, Professor in Digital Communication and Learning; Fellow at University of Cam‐
bridge (UK) is head of the research group D4Learning in Dept. of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University,
Denmark. For several years she was head of the online Master programme in ICT & Learning, offered collabo‐
ratively by three Danish universities.
Agnieszka Landowska since 2000 has worked for Gdansk University of Technology in Poland. She is a leader of
of Emotions in HCI Research Group (www.emorg.eu), that investigates diverse aspects of affective computing
and applications. She is a Chief Editor of scientific journal EduAction. Electronic Education Magazine (edu‐
kacja.eu) and a member of scientific organizations PTNEI and EDEN.
Qian Liu is a master student in epidemiology and biostatistics in Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University
of Science and Technology, China. She acts as a research assistant in the project “Asian Regional Capacity De‐
velopment for Research on Social Determinants of Health” funded by European Commission’s Seventh Frame‐
work Program.
Rob Lucas has been working on 3D immersive environments for science for the past eight years. In 2006 he
developed a telescope simulator as training package for those attending a residential course in observational
astronomy. He went on to show how 3d virtual environments could be used to create virtual experiments.
Rikke Magnussen is an associate professor at ResearchLab: ICT and Design for Learning, Department of Com‐
munication, Aalborg University. Her main research interest is how intelligent or game‐based technology can
open for new types of collaborative science practice and innovation processes to change science education in
school and science learning in in‐formal settings outside school.
Annalisa Manca Bed (hons), Med works as an Educational Technologist at Dundee Medical School; her main
interest is how teaching and learning in Medical Education can be improved through new technologies. She is
interested in the collaborative, dialogical and cognitive processes happening in social learning environments
and the educational features related to the social dimension of knowledge.
Bente Meyer is an Associate Professor at the Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University. Her
research interests include practice perspectives on ICT in educational change, global perspectives on ICT in
learning as well as computer assisted language learning (CALL). She has edited several books on media, ICT and
Learning.
Luísa Miranda ‐ Ph.D. in Education in the area of Educational Technology and Master in Educational Technol‐
ogy, University of Minho, Portugal. Is Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança. The research interests
include: educational technology and e‐learning.
Carlos Morais ‐ Ph.D. in Education in the area of Teaching Methodology of Mathematics and Master in in Edu‐
cational Technology, University of Minho, Portugal. Is researcher at ICCS‐Research Centre for Child Studies,
University of Minho, Portugal. Is Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança. The research interests in‐
clude: educational technology, ICT applied to mathematics.
xvii
Peter Mozelius has since 1999 been employed as a teacher and researcher at the Stockholm University in
Stockholm, Sweden. He is currently working at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences as an IT‐
pedagogue and researcher. Research interests are in the fields of game‐ based learning, technology enhanced
learning and ICT4D.
Mihaela Muntean is the chair of the Business Information Systems Department at the West University of Timi‐
soara and an IT independent consultant. With a background in Computer Science and a Ph.D. obtained both in
Technical Science and in Economic Science, professor Mihaela Muntean focused her research activity on topics
like information technology, knowledge management, learning organizations, business intelligence.
Lukáš Najbrt is a PhD student at the Department of ICT, University of Ostrava in Czech Republic. I work as a
designer of educational audiovisual projects. Under the program of our Department of ICT I am trying to ex‐
tend the personalized learning field to museum area. I have had several successful projects for museums and
lifelong learning.
Jarmila Novotná is a Professor at Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Education, Czech Republic. Main
fields of interest: Didactical conditions of transformation of students’ models of activities when grasping
knowledge and skills, transfer of research results into practice.
Lisa Oakley is programme leader for the only Abuse Studies undergraduate programme in the UK. She was
recently awarded a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education academy partly in recognition of the use of new
and emerging technologies within the programme. She has taught in HE for over 20 years.
osane Pagano is a Principal Lecturer in Project Management at Manchester Metropolitan University Business
School. Her research interests are in Education Management, Technology in Education, and Project Manage‐
ment. Rosane has a BSc (Hons) Systems Engineering and a PhD in Applied Sciences (Simulation in Education),
as well as international work experience in project management.
Karen Bjerg Petersen, Ph.D., is an associate professor and coordinator of educations in the Department of
Education, Faculty of Arts, at Aarhus University, Denmark. She has been engaged in teacher education and
masters programs since 1999 within the area of adult DSOL teaching in Denmark. Her research is about im‐
plementing online teaching and learning in DSOL curriculum, and DSOL teaching.
Toomas Plank is deputy director of the Institute of Physics, University of Tartu. All his courses are supported by
e‐learning tools. He is the member of Estonian e‐learning quality assurance task force from year 2008.
Shana Ponelis Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies,University of Wisconsin‐Milwaukee (UWM)
teaching systems analysis/design,project management. Selected Fellow (2012‐2013) Wisconsin Teaching Fel‐
low and Scholars program, focusing on scholarship of teaching/ learning. Was Senior Lecturer with Dept of
Informatics,University of Pretoria,South Africa. Was consultant with Atos KPMG Consulting and Arthur Ander‐
sen. Researches empowerment of people enabling them to make decisions to develop themselves, their or‐
ganizations, their communities and society. PhD in Information Technology,University of Pretoria, South Af‐
rica.
Maria Magdalena Popescu, an associate professor at Carol I National Defence University in Bucha‐
rest,Romania. With an ESL major, an MA in British Cultural Studies, and a PhD in Humanities, she is one of the
military English blended learning initiators in the Romanian military. Author of more than 50 articles and 9
books, conference moderator and reviewer for Journals and Proceedings.
Juliana Raffaghelli is a Researcher fellow at the ITD‐CNR, within the context of the “Science & Technology Digi‐
tal Libraries” project. Coordinated by CNR Rome. Post‐doctoral researcher (2012‐2013) at the UNITN‐DIPSCO.
Coordinator of Univirtual eLearning Technologies Lab (2010‐2012) within the International center for Educa‐
tional Research and Advanced Training (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) under the direction of Prof. Umberto
Margiotta.
xviii
Eleni Rossiou BSc in Mathematics, MSc in Computer Science, MEd. In Adults Education, PhD In Apllied Infor‐
matics and Postgraduate Certification in Open and Distance Education. She is a ICT and Maths teacher in Sec‐
ondary Education, PostDoc Researcher, teachers’ trainer and member of various scientific Association. Her
research area includes blended learning methods and game‐based learning.
Thomas Ryberg Professor mso (Ph.D) in the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg Univer‐
sity, Denmark and a part of the research center E‐learning lab. His research interest is within Networked
Learning and Problem Based Learning. He is co‐chair of the International Networked Learning Conference. He
has participated in several international research projects and networks.
Javier Sarsa is an Electrical Engineer with a long professional record in educational technology. He is working
as full professor at the Faculty of Education of the University of Zaragoza, teaching about ICT since 1995. He
has published works in the fields of learning technology and e‐Learning, interactive multimedia, video lectures,
videoconferencing, LMS, e‐Learning quality and standards, etc.
Signe Schack Noesgaard is a Doctoral candidate at the IT and Learning Design Lab at Aalborg University and
the Universe Foundation, Denmark. Her research interests are within adult education, technology, and transfer
of learning. Of particular interest are measurements of transfer of learning to work practices and learning ef‐
fectiveness.
Katharina Schuster. With a degree in communication sciences, political sciences and psychology, Katharina
Schuster has been working as a scientific researcher at RWTH Aachen University since 2009. She is the leader
of the research group “Didactics in STEM fields” and focuses her research on virtual learning environments and
learning with immersive, natural user interfaces.
Libuše Svobodová, Ph.D. works for the Faculty of Informatics and Management of the University of Hradec
Králové from 2004 on the Department of Economics. Main focus in research is on the managerial and financial
accounting, advanced manufacturing technology and benefits, finance, economic and investment games and
social software.
Othman Talib received his first degree in Chemistry from the National University of Malaysia. He pursued his
Mater in Science from the Universiti Putra Malaysia, then received his Doctor of Education degree at the Uni‐
versity of Adelaide, Australia, specializing in the area of animation in science education.
Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman is a Digital Media Studies lecturer at Multimedia University, Malaysia.
She is the deputy chairman of the Centre of Interactive Media which focuses on research that employ the use
of technologies in interactive environments. Her research and publication interests include the impact of new
technologies on literacy and learning.
Ross Thompson is Head of PG Programmes, Northampton Business School. Ross Thompson is an experienced
academic specialising in corporate strategy, and finance. His research interests however lie in pedagogy and
especially the areas of MOOC development and graduate employability. Ross is currently completing a profes‐
sional doctorate at Oxford Brookes University.
Saraswathy Thurairaj is currently working in UTAR as an English Lecturer and pursuing her PhD in English Stud‐
ies in International Islamic University of Malaysia. She has vast teaching experience at the tertiary level particu‐
larly in the area of ESP. Her area of interest is in research in the teaching of English as a second language, Mul‐
tiple Intelligences, Multimedia Annotations, Gender Studies and First Language Acquisition.
Florica Tomos is an experienced Economist and Lecturer at South Wales University, and Ph D student at the
Department of Business & Entrepreneurship. Studies: BSc (Econ), MSc. Educ. (50%), (MA) PGD Costs & Ac‐
countancy, Dipl. Management & Business, (MA) PGC Professional Development, PGCE, ECDL, AAT. Her re‐
search interest include: education, entrepreneurship, mobile technologies, e‐learning, strategic management
and women entrepreneurs.
xix
František Tůma is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Research in School Education, Faculty of Edu‐
cation, Masaryk University, Brno. He specializes in research within foreign language didactics, namely in the
areas of learner language, interaction and the use of ICT in language teaching.
Patris van Boxel is an educational technologist with 20 years of international experience in the field of ICT‐
based innovative teaching and learning practice in higher education. Special interests include ICT educational
policy development, digital assessment, digital marking, peer review, active learning methods, staff develop‐
ment, grassroots teaching innovations.
Janneke van der Hulst is an education consultant, interested in how to enhance and innovate education, in‐
cluding the use the ICT’s. Specific expertise: course design for active learning; feedback and formative assess‐
ment; teaching the culturally diverse classroom; designing and using ICT applications in higher education;
training of lecturers on the use of VLE’s.
Jan Veřmiřovský is an academic staff of University of Ostrava. Jan Veřmiřovský focuses on using modern tech‐
nologies in education, the application of ICT into education and research of eyetracking applications in educa‐
tional research He is the author more than 90 scientific articles with the theme of ICT application in education.
Anne Villems is a lecturer in the Computer Science Department in the University of Tartu. She organized her
very first 100% e‐learning course with 600 participants in 1995. She is teaching databases and many teacher
training courses. She is the member of the Estonian e‐learning quality assurance task force from its creation in
2007.
Marcio Monterio Wariss teaches at the Department of Informatics and is currently the General Coordinator
for Distance Education of IFPA, Belém‐Brazil. Marcio’s research interest relies on socio‐cultural arrangements
configured by the use of digital devices in the contemporary world, especially e‐learning. Marcio is Interested
in the study of cultural keywords and argumentation in cybercultural contexts.
Charlotte Lærke Weitze is a PhD‐student at Research lab: IT & LearningDesign (ILD), Department of Learning
and Philosophy at Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark. Her PhD focuses on how to create innovative
methods, practices and evaluation tools concerning IT in teaching contexts. She is also interested in conceptual
design of learning games.
Chad Zahrt Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Operations, University of Wisconsin‐Milwaukee (UWM)
School of Information Studies. As assistant dean, responsible for student advising, retention and recruitment,
marketing, outreach, IT and administrative operations for one of fastest growing schools in University of Wis‐
consin system. Was project implementation lead (2004) for Endeavor Information Systems’ Voyager Integrated
Library Systems, providing OPAC design and rollout, best practice workflow, and change management for aca‐
demic libraries in US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. BA in English from University of Iowa and an MLIS from
UWM.
Miroslav Zamarsky is a PhD student of "Information and Communication Technologies in Education" at the
University of Ostrava. He specializes in the application of information and communication technologies in sci‐
ence education with a focus on measuring kit.
Ibrahim Zincir received his PhD degree from the School of Computing and Mathematics, Plymouth University,
UK in 2011. Currently, he is a Lecturer with the Department of Computer Engineering at Yasar University, Izmir,
Turkey. His research interests include mobile networks, data mining and web based systems. He is a member
of the IEEE.
xx
Self and Peer Assessment in Massive Open Online Courses
Wilfried Admiraal, Bart Huisman, Nadira Saab, Ben Smit, Brigitte Theeuwes, Maarten van
de Ven, Roeland van der Rijst, Jan van Driel and Marja Verstelle
Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching, Leiden, The Netherlands
w.f.admiraal@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
b.a.huisman@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
saab@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
smit@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
b.c.theeuwes@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
m.j.j.m.van.de.ven@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
driel@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
rrijst@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
verstelle@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
Abstract: Open online distance learning in higher education has quickly gained popularity, expanded, and evolved, with
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as the most recent development. New web technologies allow for scalable ways to
deliver video lecture content, implement social forums and track student progress in MOOCs. However, we remain limited
in our ability to assess complex and open‐ended student assignments. In this paper, we present a study on the quality of
self‐ and peer assessments in MOOCs. In general, the quality of self‐assessments and peer assessments was low to
moderate, suggesting that both self‐assessment and peer assessment should be used as assessment for learning instead of
assessment of learning. Based on low correlations with final exam grades as well as with other assessment forms, we
conclude that self‐assessments might not be a valid way to assess students’ performance in MOOCs. Yet the weekly quizzes
and peer assessment significantly explained differences in students’ final exam scores, with one of the weekly quizzes as
the strongest predictor. Future research on MOOCs implies a reconceptualization of education variables, including the role
of assessment of students’ achievements.
Keywords: MOOCs; peer assessment; self‐assessment
1. Introduction
In recent years, free access has been provided to content which previously had a price: searches, software,
music and references, to name but a few. Access to the Internet and broadband has increased rapidly and
huge growth in mobile connectivity has brought online content and interaction to a global audience. At the
same time, open online distance learning in higher education has quickly gained popularity, expanded, and
evolved. Recently, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) appear to be a significant force within higher
education.
However, while new web technologies allow for scalable ways to deliver video lecture content, implement
social forums and track student progress, we remain limited in our ability to evaluate and give feedback for
complex and often open‐ended student assignments. Self‐ and peer assessment might offer promising
solutions that can scale the grading of complex assignments in courses with thousands of students. In this
paper, we present a study on the general quality of self‐ and peer assessments in three Leiden University
MOOCs in the Coursera platform.
2. Massive open online courses (MOOCs)
A typical MOOC of 2014 might take place over 4 to 10 weeks. Students, on average, dedicate two to six hours a
week to the course. Materials are consumed in diminishing volumes throughout the MOOC as many learners’
commitment wanes. Course applicants can be numbered in the tens of thousands, while those who complete
and obtain certificates are usually numbered in the hundreds. As in regular higher education, the value of a
MOOC for student learning highly depends on how learning processes are facilitated, stimulated and assessed.
The most influential categorization of MOOC pedagogy relates to the notion that there are two main kinds of
MOOCs, each of which determines a particular pedagogical approach: the connectivist or cMOOC, driven by
pedagogical principles of social learning, and the institutionally‐focused xMOOC, reliant on video‐lecture
content and automated assessment. However, there is a move away from the cMOOC/xMOOC dichotomy
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Wilfried Admiraal et al.
towards recognition of the multiplicity of MOOC designs, purposes, topics and teaching styles, sometimes
using alternative terms such as Distributed Open Collaborative Course (DOCC; Jaschik 2013), Participatory
Open Online Course (POOC; Daniels 2013), Small Private Online Course (SPOC; Hashmi 2013) or Big Open
Online Course (BOOC; Tattersall 2013).
Researchers at the University of Illinois Springfield have developed the Assessing MOOC Pedagogies Tool
(Swan, Day, Bogle and Van Prooyen 2014). They used this tool to characterize the pedagogical approaches
taken in 13 MOOCs of Coursera (5), Udacity (7) and EdX (1). The MOOC pedagogy is described along ten
dimensions that are adapted from similar scales developed by Reeves (1996) for describing the pedagogical
dimensions of computer‐based instruction and by Harris and Hofer (2009) to situate pedagogical decisions on
which they suggest technology integration should be grounded. These ten dimensions are Epistemology
(objectivist to constructivist), Role of the teacher (teacher centered to student centered), Focus of activities
(convergent to divergent), Structure (less structured to more structured), Approach to content (concrete to
abstract), Feedback (infrequent and unclear to frequent and constructive), Cooperative learning (unsupported
to integral), Accommodation of individual differences (unsupported to multifaceted), Activities and assignment
(artificial to authentic), and User role (passive to generative). Ratings for each set of courses were quite similar,
although there were some clear differences between the two platforms Coursera and Udacity. Coursera
courses, more than Udacity courses, followed a format that resembles the traditional lecture/text‐testing
routine of traditional university courses spread over multiple weeks with hard deadlines.
In a review of the literature and debate, Bayne and Ross (2013) extracted three emerging issues for MOOC
pedagogy: 1) the role of the teacher, 2) learner participation and 3) assessment. Firstly, the role of the teacher
in the MOOC has been under‐examined as most research has investigated the learner perspective
(Liyanagunawardena, Adams and Williams 2013). Two main teacher roles appear from the literature, which are
connected to the way the MOOC is designed: the academic celebrity teacher in xMOOCs and the facilitator in
cMOOCs. The academic celebrity teacher is the role of a respected authority based in an elite institution. These
lecturers are not available to MOOC participants in any interpersonal way, but primarily through the
recordings of their lectures. The recordings are supplemented with automatically marked quizzes, discussion
posts and pass/fail tasks. In cMOOCs, the teachers’ role focusses on facilitating self‐directed learning. A more
sophisticated distinction between teacher roles in MOOCS is necessary in order to get a better understanding
of effective pedagogies. Literature on moderator roles in computer conferencing from the 90s (cf., Admiraal,
Lockhorst, Wubbels, Korthagen and Veen 1998; Paulsen 1995) might be helpful in this.
Secondly, learner participation is one the most examined aspects in literature and debates about MOOCs. The
key dilemmas in MOOCs center on what participation actually means, how it should be measured, and what
metrics of success and quality are appropriate. Milligan, Littlejohn and Margaryan (2013) describe a continuum
of active, lurking and passive participation and Hill (2013) distinguishes five archetypes of no‐shows, observers,
drop‐ins, passive participants and active participants. The notion that people might sign up for a course not
intending to complete the assessments is common in free courses where the barrier to entry is usually as low
as clicking a registration button and entering an email address. This means that new measures of success and
quality are required, because participant behaviors and intentions are so diverse.
Assessment is the third emerging issue in literature on MOOCs leading to questions like “What sorts of
learning can be assessed at scale?”, “How should individuals be authenticated so that the correct person’s
work is being assessed?”, “How can cheating be prevented?”, and “Who should decide how much university
credit a MOOC is worth?”, to name a view (cf. Bayne and Ross 2013). It becomes clear that “openness” of a
MOOC has a very different future in a system of accreditation than that it does in informal learning settings.
Self‐ and peer assessment ‐ which has been historically used for logistical, pedagogical, metacognitive, and
affective benefits ‐ might offer promising solutions that can scale the grading of complex assignments in
courses with thousands of students. How to design self‐ and peer assessments is a challenge in itself as MOOCs
have massive, diverse student enrollment. In order to be able to develop effective self‐ and peer assessments,
we first need to gain more insight in the quality of these grading procedures in MOOCs. More specific, we
formulated the following research questions:
What is the reliability of self‐ and peer assessment implemented in MOOCs?
What is the relationship between self‐ and peer assessment and quizzes?
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To what extent do self‐ and peer assessment and quizzes explain differences in students’ final exams
scores?
3. Methods
3.1 Context of the study
In two MOOCs organized at Leiden University in the Netherlands, intermediate self‐assessments and peer
assessments were used in addition to final exams. The first MOOC, The Law of the European Union: An
Introduction, was a 5‐8 weeks MOOC, run in June 2013. This course included small video clips, discussion fora,
quizzes, a case study and a voluntary exam. The second MOOC, Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Comparing
Theory and Practice, was a 5‐weeks MOOC in Fall 2013 with weekly videos, quizzes and peer assignments as
well as a voluntary final exam. This MOOC was rerun February 2014. All three courses required 5 to 8 hrs.
student work per week.
3.2 Assessments
In all three MOOCs, four types of assessments were implemented: weekly quizzes, self‐assessment, peer
assessment and final exam.
3.2.1 Weekly quiz and final exam
The weekly quizzes and final exam were automatically marked multiple‐choice quizzes, testing declarative
knowledge of the course content. In MOOC 3 (Terrorism 2014), it was possible to follow a certification track,
which means that students who completed all quizzes, self‐ and peer assessments and the final exam could
receive a certificate. Of the total of 18,622 registrants, 410 students signed up for the certification track.
3.2.2 Self‐ and peer assessment
In each of the three MOOCs, students could complete an essay on a topic that was relevant for the particular
MOOC. In the first MOOC, this topic was provided; in the other two MOOCs students could choose from four
topics. The essay assignment started with a case description in which an authentic context was pictured,
followed by some prompts. Students were encouraged to prepare this assignment with the use of information
which was available in the course environment (video, syllabus, background materials). Then the procedures of
how to complete the assignment were introduced along with a rubric of how to assess it. Students had to
assess their own essay and then the essay of at least two (MOOC 1) or four (MOOC 2 and 3) of their peers. The
nature of the rubrics differed slightly between MOOC1, on the one hand, and MOOC 2 and 3, on the other
hand. The rubric of MOOC 1 had a pre‐structured format with four items with several sub‐items on the
accuracy of the content of the essay and one item with four sub‐items on the structure and presentation of
the essay. Each possible score on each sub‐item was clearly described. The rubric of MOOC 2 and 3 was less
structured with four (assignment 1) or five (assignment 2) items. The first three items referred to the accuracy
and adequacy of the content of the essay; the last item assessed the structure of the essay. Students were
instructed about the deadlines and they were reminded that they agreed with the Coursera Honor Code about
plagiarism. Students were instructed to assign a score of 0 to plagiarized work.
3.3 Data
Thousands of participants were registered in each of the three MOOCs, although substantial less data was
collected on quizzes, self‐assessments, peer‐assessment assignments and final exam. In Table 1, we present
descriptive indices of each assessment (mean scores, standard deviations in scores, range of scores and
number of valid assessments, respectively).
From Table 1 it is clear that in all three MOOCs the number of participants who completed the quizzes
decreased over time. The number of participants who completed self‐assessments and peer assessments was
a small portion of the total student enrollment. Participants who completed the voluntary final exam formed
about 10% of the total student enrollment (from 6% in MOOC 1 to 12% in MOOC 3).
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3.4 Analyses
In addition to descriptive statistics, reliability indices and correlations between all assessments, regression
analyses were used to explain differences between students in their final exam scores.
Table 1: Descriptive indices of assessment types (N=number of registrants; Mean=mean score; s.d.=standard
deviation in scores; Min/Max=range of scores; n=number of valid assessments)
MOOC1 MOOC2 MOOC3
N= 52559 N= 26890 N= 18622
Mean (s.d) Min Max n Mean (s.d) Min Max n Mean (s.d) Min Max n
Quizzes
1 3.75 (1.41) 0 5 7472 8.83 (1.48) 0 10 5399 8.83 (1.69) 0 10 44
2 3.42 (1.38) 0 5 4322 9.03 (1.37) 0 10 4077 9.01 (1.47) 0 10 59
3 4.21 (1.18) 0 5 3349 12.07 (2.22) 0 14 3593 8.59 (1.82) 0 10 32
4 3.80 (1.32) 0 5 3050 13.34 (2.18) 0 15 3230 8.83 (1.72) 0 10 88
5 ‐‐ ‐‐ ‐‐ ‐‐ 9.02 (1.56) 0 10 3014 8.98 (1.62) 0 10 28
10
24
66
22
96
Self‐assessment
1 17.94 (4.34) 4 25 397 28.30 (2.99) 10 30 706 18.58 (2.85) 0 20 57
2 ‐‐ ‐‐ ‐‐ ‐‐ 37.95 (3.71) 5 40 561 37.37 (5.24) 5 40 2
47
5
Peer assessment
1 15.29 (5.42) 0 25 688 25.23 (5.20) 10 30 824 16.38 (4.45) 0 20 63
2 ‐‐ ‐‐ ‐‐ ‐‐ 32.86 (7.52) 5 40 579 33.71 (6.70) 5 40 5
49
1
Final exam
1 11.44 (5.48) 0 20 3168 17.26 (5.58) 0 25 2988 17.44 (5.81) 0 25 22
74
4. Results
4.1 Reliability of self‐ and peer assessment
4.1.1 MOOC 1 EU law
The case assignment, which was used for both self‐assessment and peer assessment, included five items. The
homogeneity of the test in terms of Cronbach’s α, was high, both for self‐assessment (α=.83) and peer
assessment (α=.90, α=.89 α=.87 for peer reviewer 1, 2 and 3, respectively). The correlations between the three
peer assessment grades is moderate (between r=.42 to r=.57, see Table 2). The fourth peer grade was not
included as only 6 students had 4 peer grades.
Table 2: Correlations between peer assessments of MOOC1 (PMCC and number of valid assessments).
Peer2 Peer3
Peer1 .50*** .42***
684 80
Peer2 .57***
80
*** p <.001; ** p= <.01; *p=<.05
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Wilfried Admiraal et al.
4.1.2 MOOC 2: Terrorism 2013
The two case assignments, which were used for both self‐assessment and peer assessment, included four
(assignment 1) or five items (assignment 2). The homogeneity in terms of Cronbach’s α was moderate for both
self‐assessments (for both assignments α=.59) and high for all peer assessments (peer assignment 1 between
α=.72 and α=.79 and peer assignment 2 between α=.74 and α=.80). In all cases, the item that refers to the
presentation (structure, layout, and language use) of the completed assignment showed the lowest item‐rest
correlations (between r=.55 and r=.64). The other items referred to an assessment of the content quality of
the completed assignments. The correlations between the assessments of the five peers is moderate (around r
= .40 for assignment 1 (see Table 3) and around r = .30 for assignment 2 (see Table 4)). The assessments of the
sixth peer were not included as only 4 students received 6 peer grades. The correlations indicate a low to
moderate agreement between peers.
Table 3: Correlations between peer assessments of assignment 1 of MOOC 2 (PMCC and number of valid
assessments)
Assignment 1 Peer2 Peer3 Peer4 Peer5
Peer1 .42*** .42*** .40*** .57***
842 842 618 54
Peer2 .44*** .40*** .38**
842 618 54
Peer3 .39*** .28*
618 54
Peer4 .27
54
*** p <.001; ** p= <.01; *p=<.05
Table 4: Correlations between peer assessments of assignment 2 of MOOC2 (PMCC and number of valid
assessments)
Assignment 2 Peer2 Peer3 Peer4 Peer5
Peer1 .30*** .31*** .39*** .38**
592 592 573 64
Peer2 .37*** .33*** .27*
592 573 64
Peer3 .32*** .40**
573 64
Peer4 .36**
64
*** p <.001; ** p= <.01; *p=<.05
4.1.3 MOOC 3: Terrorism 2014
The two case assignments, which were used for both self‐assessment and peer assessment, included four
(assignment 1) or five items (assignment 2). The homogeneity in terms of Cronbach’s α was moderate to high
for self‐assessments (α=.60 for assignment 1 and α=.75 for assignment 2) and moderate to high for all peer
assessments of both assignments (peer assignment 1 between α=.59 and α=.67 and peer assignment 2
between α=.71 and α=.79). An exception was the homogeneity of the assessments of the fifth peer of the first
assignment: Cronbach’s α=.18 based on 42 assessments.
The correlations between the four peer assessments of the first assignment (the fifth peer was left out
because of the low reliability) was moderate (around r=.50 ;see Table 5). The correlations between the five
peer assessments of the second assignments were generally lower (mostly between r=.30 and r=.40, see Table
6). The assessment of the sixth peer was not included in both assignments as only 5 (for assignment 1) or 7 (for
assignment 2) students received 6 peer assessment grades. The correlations indicate a low to moderate
agreement between peers.
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Wilfried Admiraal et al.
Table 5: Correlations between peer assessments of assignment 1 of MOOC 3 (PMCC and number of valid
assessments)
Assignment 1 Peer2 Peer3 Peer4
Peer1 .50*** .48*** .38***
635 635 600
Peer2 .50*** .51***
635 600
Peer3 .51***
600
*** p <.001; ** p= <.01; *p=<.05
Table 6: Correlations between peer assessments of assignment 2 of MOOC3 (PMCC and number of valid
assessments)
Assignment 2 Peer2 Peer3 Peer4 Peer5
Peer1 .35*** .34*** .39*** .32**
491 491 491 78
Peer2 .27*** .36*** .43***
491 491 78
Peer3 .40*** .53***
491 78
Peer4 .58***
78
*** p <.001; ** p= <.01; *p=<.05
4.2 Relationship between assessment types
4.2.1 MOOC 1 EU law
In Table 7, we present the correlations between student performances in the weekly quizzes, self‐assessment,
average peer assessment, and the final test. In general, both self‐assessment and peer assessment show low to
moderate correlations with the weekly quizzes and the final test. The highest correlations are between quiz
scores and the final exam (between r=.50 and r=.60).
Table 7: Correlations between quizzes, self‐assessment, peer assessment and final exam (PMCC and number of
valid assessments)
Quiz2 Quiz3 Quiz4 Self Peer Final
Total
Quiz1 .54*** .55*** .50*** .17** .26*** .51***
4295 3333 3027 394 669 2937
Quiz2 .55*** .53*** .18*** .28*** .52***
3315 3027 391 658 2871
Quiz3 .60*** .17** .28*** .53***
3018 390 648 2842
Quiz4 .26*** .33*** .60***
384 631 2827
Self .40*** .30***
396 383
Peer .42***
Total 623
*** p <.001; ** p= <.01; *p=<.05
4.2.2 MOOC 2: Terrorism 2013
In Table 8, the correlations are presented between all assessments. In general, the correlations of all quizzes
are quite high (between r=.48 and r=.68). The correlations between both self‐assessments (r=.55) and both
peer assessments (r=.47) are higher than the correlations between self‐ and peer assessment of the same
assignment (r=.38 and r=.20 for the first and second assignment, respectively). All assessments are moderately
correlated with the final exam (around r=.40), except for both self‐assessments (r=.22 and .16, respectively).
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Table 8: Correlations between quizzes, self‐assessments, peer assessments and final exam (PMCC and number
of valid assessments). MOOC2 Terrorism 2013 above the diagonal and MOOC Terrorism 2014 below
the diagonal
MOOC2 Quiz1 Quiz2 Quiz3 Quiz4 Quiz5 Self1 Self2 Peer1 Peer2 Fina
MOOC3 l
Quiz1 .63*** .60*** .57*** .48*** .24*** .13** .27*** .29*** .38*
4061 3577 3214 3001 684 559 787 575 **
292
3
Quiz2 .65*** .64*** .57*** .50*** .29*** .12** .28*** .29*** .43*
3275 3572 3219 3003 670 555 751 572 **
291
0
Quiz3 .60*** .66*** .65*** .55*** .27*** .18*** .26*** .31*** .46*
2789 2789 3217 3011 652 552 716 569 **
289
9
Quiz4 .54*** .54*** .64*** .68*** .24*** .20*** .21*** .26*** .42*
2458 2457 2460 2999 630 546 690 561 **
288
5
Quiz 5 .51*** .52*** .63** .77*** .21*** .21*** .12** .15*** .46*
2288 2288 2289 2285 611 536 665 551 **
283
2
Self1 .23*** .11* .10* .14** .11* .55*** .38*** .22*** .22*
560 548 530 510 490 518 691 525 **
609
Self2 .19*** .17*** .13** .17*** .13** .42*** .17*** .20*** .16*
470 471 469 465 453 445 534 547 **
535
Peer1 .37*** .31*** .38*** .24*** .28*** .35*** .15** .47*** .40*
617 600 577 554 530 569 459 548 **
666
Peer2 .36*** .30*** .30*** .27*** .31*** .13** .38*** .43*** .45*
484 484 481 475 464 451 471 468 **
551
Final .44** .43*** .49*** .48*** .52*** .32*** .26*** .45*** .38***
2191 2189 2185 2168 2142 492 452 531 462
*** p <.001; ** p= <.01; *p=<.05
4.2.3 MOOC 3: Terrorism 2014
In Table 8, the correlations are presented between all assessments (below the diagonal). In general, the
correlations between all quizzes are quite high (between r=.51 and r=.77). The correlations between both self‐
assessments (r=.42) and both peer assessments (r=.43) are higher than the correlations between self‐ and peer
assessment of the same assignment (r=.35 and r=.38 for the first and second assignment, respectively). All
assessments are moderately correlated with the final exam (between r=.38 and r=.52), except for both self‐
assessments (r=.32 and .26, respectively).
4.3 Relationship with final exam
In Table 9, the results of the stepwise regression analyses for each MOOC are summarized. As could be
expected on the basis of the correlations presented earlier, both self‐assessments did not significantly explain
differences between students in their final exam grade. The strongest predictor was in all cases one of the
quizzes, although peer assessments were also significantly related to the final exam grade.
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Wilfried Admiraal et al.
Table 9: Stepwise regression analyses with final exam as dependent variable
MOOC 1 MOOC 2 MOOC 3
EU Law 2013 Terrorism 2013 Terrorism 2014
B (s.e) R2 change1 B (s.e) R2 change2 B (s.e) R2 change3
Weekly quiz 1 1.08 (0.26) 0.04 n.s. n.s.
Weekly quiz 2 0.82 (0.20) 0.03 0.91 (0.25) 0.20 1.06 (0.32) 0.02
Weekly quiz 3 n.s. 0.56 (0.15) 0.04 n.s.
Weekly quiz 4 1.43 (0.22) 0.28 n.s. n.s.
Weekly quiz 5 n.a. 0.58 (0.22) 0.01 1.10 (0.26) 0.17
Peer grading 1 0.31 (0.03) 0.08 0.10 (0.04) 0.01 0.25 (0.06) 0.09
Peer grading 2 n.a. 0.17 (0.02) 0.10 0.12 (0.03) 0.03
Self‐grading 1 n.s. n.s. n.s.
Self‐grading 2 n.a. n.s. n.s.
Adjusted R2 0.41 0.35 .30
Degrees of freedom 4, 379 5, 475 4, 414
n.a.= not applicable; n.s.= not significant with α=0.05
1
Entered with the following sequence: Weekly quiz 4, Peer assignment 1, Weekly quiz 1, Weekly quiz 2
2
Entered with the following sequence: Weekly quiz 2, Peer assignment 2, Weekly quiz 3, Weekly quiz 5, Peer
assignment 1
3
Entered with the following sequence: Weekly quiz 5, Peer assignment 1, Peer assignment 2, Weekly quiz 2
The correlations between the number of assessment attempts (Quizzes, self‐assessment, peer assessment)
and the final‐exam grade were moderate to low (MOOC 1 r=.41 (p<.001); MOOC 2 r=.26 (p<.001); MOOC 3
r=.30 (p<.001). This means that there seemed to be a weak relationship between the number of assessments
students took and their final exam grade. This finding contradicts other MOOC research that finds a strong
positive relationship between the number of student activities and their final course grade (cf., DeBoer, Ho,
Stump and Breslow 2014).
In MOOC 3 it was possible to sign up for a certification track, which required completion of all quizzes, self‐ and
peer assessments and final exam in time. Student who registered for a certification track received significantly
higher scores on their final exam, compared to the other students (Mcertification track = 19.2 and Mother students =
17.1; (t(574.5) = 7.41; p<.001)). We repeated the regression analyses for students following a certification
track and the other students separately. The results are presented in Table 10.
Table 10: Stepwise regression analyses with final exam as dependent variable for students following the
certification track and the other students in MOOC 3
Certification track Other students
B (s.e) R2 change1 B (s.e) R2 change2
Weekly quiz 1 1.34 (0.38) 0.07 n.s.
Weekly quiz 2 1.42 (0.39) 0.22 n.s.
Weekly quiz 3 n.s. n.s.
Weekly quiz 4 n.s. n.s.
Weekly quiz 5 n.s. 1.87 (0.31) 0.18
Peer grading 1 0.20 (0.09) 0.11 0.27 (0.08) 0.07
Peer grading 2 0.10 (0.04) 0.02 0.11 (0.04) 0.02
Self‐grading 1 0.26 (0.10) 0.02 n.s.
Self‐grading 2 n.s. n.s.
Adjusted R2 0.42 0.27
Degrees of freedom 5, 157 3, 256
n.s.= not significant with α=0.05
1
Entered with the following sequence: Weekly quiz 2, Peer assessment 1, Weekly quiz 1, Self‐assessment 1,
Peer assessment 2
2
Entered with the following sequence: Weekly quiz 5, Peer assessment 1, Peer assessment 2
From Table 10 it is clear that the assessments explained more differences between students in final exams
score if they followed a certification track: the first two quizzes, both peer assessments and the first self‐
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Wilfried Admiraal et al.
assessment significantly explained differences in the final exam scores. The total amount of variance explained
in the final exam score is less for the other students.
5. Discussion and conclusion
In general, the quality of both the self‐assessment and the peer assessment was moderate. These assessments
showed a homogenous structure, but the correlations between peer assessments of the same assignments
were low to moderate. The latter means that peers did agree on their grades for the assignments only to a
limited degree. The correlations between the various peer assessments of the last MOOC were moderate to
high. In this MOOC, the procedures and criteria for peer assessment were adapted on the basis of the 2013
run. Moreover, there is only a weak correlation between self‐assessment and peer assessment, and the
correlations between different self‐assessment assignments are higher than the correlations between self‐
assessment and peer assessment of the same assignments. In addition, self‐assessments did not significantly
explained variance in students’ final exam scores. This suggests a bias of self‐assessments and led us to
conclude that self‐assessments might not be a valid way to assess students’ performance in MOOCs. Yet the
weekly quizzes and both peer assessments significantly explained differences in students’ final exam scores,
with one of the weekly quizzes as the strongest predictor in all three MOOCs. Finally, the number of
assessment attempts of students was not significantly correlated with their final exam scores. The latter result
does not confirm conclusion from earlier research that found a strong positive relationship between the
number of student activities and their course grade (cf., DeBoer et al. 2014).
With this study we provided insight in the quality of the various assessments in MOOCs and how these are
related to the final exams. We conclude that self‐assessments and peer assessments should be improved if
they are used as summative indicators of one’s achievements (assessment of learning). In the current MOOCs,
they only can be used for self‐reflection and peer feedback, emphasizing the formative function of assessment
(assessment for learning). Future research might go deeper into the quality of assessment assignments of
MOOCs including both assessment of learning and assessment for learning.
However, we agree with DeBoer et al. (2014) that we also should reconceptualize educational variables in
research on MOOCs. Differences between traditional classroom data and MOOC data refer to the magnitude
of data gathered in terms of numbers of registrants per course, observations per registrant and type of
information, the diversity of registrants in reasons for registration as well as in their background, and the
registrant use of course tools which is asynchronous and relatively unrestricted in sequence (DeBoer et al.
2014). These authors suggest a reconceptualization of enrollment in MOOCs (e.g., based on registration,
course activities, course assignments and assessment, or final exam), participation (the authors show 20
participation metrics which are linked to students’ general attendance, their clicks, the hours they spent on
course activities, and the assessments), curriculum (curriculum activities showing a variability in sequence),
and achievement (which can be based in various indicators of performance and participation). In order to
understand the relationship between self‐ and peer assessment and other gradings and activities in MOOCs we
have to think thoroughly what kind of metrics for achievement should be used, how we should define
enrollment and participation, in what way the curriculum is implemented, and –therefore‐ how assessments
should be applied.
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http://mfeldstein.com/emerging‐student‐patterns‐in‐moocs‐arevised‐graphical‐view/ [Accessed 12 September
2013].
Jaschik, S. (2013) “Feminists challenge Moocs with Docc”, Times Higher Education. Available at:
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May 2014].
Liyanagunawardena, T.R., Adams, A.A. and Williams, S.A. (2013) “MOOCs: A systematic study of the published literature
2008‐2012”, The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 14, No 3, pp 202–27.
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Learning and Teaching, Vol 9, No 2.
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mediated communications and the online classroom (Vol. III; pp. 81–103). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Reeves, T. (1996) “Evaluating what really matters in computer‐based education”. Available at::
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Swan, K., Day, S, Bogle, L. and Van Prooyen, T.. (2014) “AMP: A tool for characterizing the pedagogical approaches of
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Tattersall, A. (2013) “Gold rush or just fool’s gold ‐ A quick look at the literature”, ScHARR MOOC Diaries. Available at:
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2014].
10
Open Educational Resources: Higher Education Students’
Knowledge and use
Paulo Alves1, Luísa Miranda1, 2 and Carlos Morais1, 2
1
Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Bragança, Portugal
2
CIEC – University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
palves@ipb.pt
lmiranda@ipb.pt
cmmm@ipb.pt
Abstract: Information and communication technologies represent one of the main innovation factors within the teaching
and learning process, especially in Higher Education. In this context, the search for building useful and grounded
knowledge using strategies which meet students’ needs and interests requires the use of innovative resources, among
which we highlight digital educational resources, particularly open educational resources (OER). The open educational
resources issue has deserved the attention of teachers, students and institutions. Considering the present situation as well
as the importance given to OER and to the role these may play in supporting learning, the aims of this paper are as follows:
assess the digital educational resources features most valued by higher education students; verify the extent to which
students’ IT knowledge influences their assessment of digital educational resources; identify the knowledge that higher
education students have of OER; assess the knowledge that higher education students have of open educational resources
platforms. In order to achieve the proposed aims, we focus our attention on open educational resources, starting by
assessing digital educational resources’ features as well as the connection between students’ IT knowledge and that same
assessment. We also assess the knowledge that higher education students have of OER as well as of their corresponding
platforms. The data was obtained through a questionnaire conducted within a sample of 315 students at a Portuguese
higher education institution. Among the results obtained, we highlight that the most valued features of digital educational
resources are: free access; any time access; allows reuse; and free and open. The results show that there is a positive, low,
or very low correlation between students’ IT knowledge and the features associated with digital educational resources. In
addition to this, the results show an almost inexistent knowledge of the OER concept and of their uses as well as of the
existing OER platforms. The data indicates that there is still a long way to go so that OER may be part of the resources used
by students to improve their learning.
Keywords: open educational resources, digital educational resources, higher education
1. Introduction
Considering their features and potentialities, information and communication technologies constitute the
major innovation factor within the various contexts of society. Among these contexts, we highlight the higher
education context, within which the teaching and learning process is particularly important, as it is based on it
that we build useful and grounded knowledge, through strategies that should essentially meet students’ needs
and interests. Digital educational resources, particularly open educational resources (OER) represent an
important way to enrich those strategies. Within the present times and bearing in mind the importance given
to OER as well as the relevance these resources might have in supporting students to build their own learning,
the aims of this paper are as follows:
Assess the digital educational resources’ features most valued by higher education students;
Verify the extent to which students’ IT knowledge influences their appreciation of digital educational
resources
Identify the knowledge that higher education students have of OER;
Assess the knowledge that higher education students have of open educational resources platforms.
In order to reach the proposed aims, a study was carried out among higher education students. The data was
collected through a questionnaire conducted during the school year of 2013/2014, to a sample of 315
students.
The paper development is presented under the following headings: open educational resources; methodology;
results; conclusions; references. Within the topic of open educational resources, we develop the concept of
OER and present a framework to the topic based on literature supported by the opinion of experts in the areas
of digital educational resources, OER and open education.
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Paulo Alves, Luísa Miranda and Carlos Morais
In the part concerning methodology, we characterize the study and describe the main procedures leading to
the results which enable us to respond to the formulated aims. In the results, we present and organize the
obtained data, and discuss and analyze it. In the conclusions, we present a summary of the most relevant
results obtained through this study. Finally, in the references, we can find the books, journals and other
sources cited in the article.
2. Open educational resources
Under the movement associated with open educational resources lies the idea that knowledge must be built,
disseminated and shared through the network free of charge, for the benefit of society as a whole. Thus, it is
important to promote the OER philosophy within education institutions. These institutions generally possess
better scientific and technological conditions that allow them to contribute to the evolution of digital
educational resources, particularly to the evolution of OER as well as of all the features associated with them.
Therefore, these institutions may become the motors of creation, dissemination, sharing and use of OER. The
OER movement started in 2002 and was later named OER community. Despite the significant progress made in
the introduction of OER in higher education, within the OER UNESCO community, and through a series of other
similar initiatives, the concept of OER is not yet widely known or understood, especially by the political
stakeholders and institutional managers (Wyk, 2012).
According to Ramos, Teodoro, Fernandes, Ferreira, and Chagas (2010), educational resources follow the
evolution of society, as printed material models give way to digital models, accompanying the change of
technologies as well as their role in society. In addition to this, information society floods us with a huge
amount of information, tools, knowledge and resources from all parts of the world and from the most diverse
communities and cultures. Also, Littlejohn, Falconer and Mcgill (2008) highlight that over the last two decades,
huge changes have been witnessed regarding teaching methods and availability of new types of resource
based on digital technologies.
The concept of OER is complex due to the dimensions that it involves, thus allowing several approaches which
enable the identification of its main features.
OER are educational resources provided by information and communication technologies which allow a
community of users to consult, use and adapt them in a noncommercial way. When defining OER, the
following elements must be considered: the aim ‐ offer a noncommercial educational resource; the view to the
service ‐ free access to the resource with a possibility of adaptation; the method of availability ‐ provided by
information and communication technologies; the target audience – a diversified community of users (Unesco,
2002).
For Atkins, Brown and Hammond (2007), OER are teaching, learning and research materials which reside in the
public domain and were made available under an open license which allows access, use, recovery, reuse and
redistribution without any restriction. OER are normally placed in a public domain for others’ free use or reuse
and they can vary from complete courses to individual modules (Downes, 2007). Butcher (2011) presents a
different concept of OER, considering them as any educational resource including curricular maps, course
materials, books, videos, multimedia applications or podcasts which have been projected to be used in
teaching and learning and which are openly available to be used by both educators and students without any
necessary supervision, tax payment or copyrights.
Also regarding OER concept and approach, Downes (2013) states: “OER are a network of words that we use in
whatever vocabulary we are using to conduct whatever activity it is that we’re doing or that we’re
undertaking. They are the signals that we send to each other in our network” (p. 218). This author adds that
“Understanding OER as though they were words in a language used to facilitate communications between
participants in a network should revise our understanding of what it means to be open, and what it means to
support OER. It is clear, from this perspective at least, that openness is not a question of production, but rather
a question of access” (p. 220).
OER potentialities in learning can be huge, however, as Conole (2012) claims, in order to make them useful to
students and teachers it is important to know and understand the way students and teachers are using them
12
Paulo Alves, Luísa Miranda and Carlos Morais
and can benefit from them as well as what their global perceptions are regarding the importance of OER in
supporting learning.
Knox (2013) states that as far as higher education learning is concerned, two different OER models are being
promoted. One of them promotes an availability restricted to the higher education institution, and the other
proposes independent study and learning, reserving the institution’s role of evaluation and accredited
certification. The author calls the institutions’ attention towards the need to consider the implications of these
two models as well as the potential problems associated with the two approaches.
OER are generally developed by teachers who expect to share them and see them being used and reused by
other teachers, thus promoting a culture which supports both teachers and higher education institutions so as
to provide students with free or very low cost quality didactic resources resulting from individual effort or joint
effort through formal collaborations (Lane, 2012).
Regarding the use of OER in higher education, Pawlyshyn, Braddlee, Casper, and Miller (2013) suggest that: an
effort must be made to implement initiatives which enable an easy introduction of OER rather than follow top‐
down institutional directives; connections must be promoted and ideas must be shared, not only with other
institutions but also among teachers who use OER actively; resources of professional development must be
provided, including those used by teachers in OER conferences presentations; the institutional integration of
OER modules with teams of educational design must be promoted; models for assessing OER use must be
established and the results of such assessments must be disclosed, thus promoting continuous institutional
support to the use of OER.
Institutional support to the use of OER can be provided in various ways such as through encouraging, within
each institution, the creation and updating of OER repositories as well as projects associated with OER.
Regarding the latter, Downes (2013) highlights “MIT’s OpenCourseWare project (OCW). Something that’s also
received a lot of attention recently (because it was featured on the TED videos) is the Khan Academy, which is
a whole series of YouTube videos on mathematics, physics and similar science and technology subjects.
MERLOT is a project that was created by a consortium of North American educational institutions” (p. 213).
It is essential to assess OER regarding their importance to learning and the benefits they can provide to
students. As Pawlowski and Bick (2012) refer, one of the current research key‐issues is the adaptation of
resources and the corresponding efforts, highlighting that OER success greatly depends on how easily they can
be adapted and modified for reuse. According to Wiley (2010), OER offer the previously unimaginable
opportunity of using technology to maintain the quality of educational resources reducing costs significantly.
Therefore, OER represent tools which enable anybody in the world to get the education they want at a very
low cost. The same author adds that the new means of communication and technology will play a crucial role
in the future of education, namely regarding sharing, donation and generosity towards others.
3. Methodology
The study assumes an approach of quantitative nature. As stated by Creswell (2014), the quantitative
approach enables us to test the relation between variables that provide figures which can be treated through
statistical procedures. Kumar (2011) points out that a study can be considered quantitative when it intends to
quantify the variation of a phenomenon, situation, problem, or issue; the information is obtained through
predominantly quantitative variables; and the information is oriented to assess the variation amplitude.
The data collection tool was a questionnaire, built by the authors of the study. The questionnaire is composed
of closed‐ended questions, which implied the collection of figures corresponding to the frequency of answers
regarding each of the options given in the questions presented. The questionnaires were administered within
the classroom context in the presence of the class teacher as well as of one of the authors of the study. The
questionnaires were filled in at the beginning of the lesson, before starting developing the plan prepared for
the lesson in which the questionnaires were administered.
The sample is non‐probabilistic, voluntary or convenience. The selection method of a voluntary or of a
convenience sample bears in mind the availability and accessibility of the population elements that it
13
Paulo Alves, Luísa Miranda and Carlos Morais
integrates, and the sample of this study is composed of units which are accessible to the researchers and who
voluntarily offered to integrate it.
The sample was selected during the 2013/2014 school year within two schools of a higher education
institution. One is a school of Education and the other is a school of Technology and Management. In the year
mentioned, there were 1617 students enrolled in the School of Education and among these, 210 integrated
the sample. In the School of Technology and Management, there were 2285 students enrolled, among which
105 integrated the sample. Considering the population of the sample to be all the students enrolled in both
schools, we verify that the population is 3902 students, from which a sample of 105 was extracted, which
corresponds to approximately 8% of the population.
Among the sample elements, 93 (29.5%) are male and 222 (70.5%) are female. The mean age is 20.8 years old,
the mode and the median are 20 years old and the standard deviation is 2.7. With respect to the school year
they attend, 161 (51.1%) are enrolled in year 1, 70 (22.2%) are in year 2, and 84 (26.7%) are in year 3.
4. Results
The results are presented by analyzing the answers to each question. We start by analyzing the following
question in the respective options: Mark with a cross (X) the option which best translates the importance that
you give to the features of digital educational resources: a) Free and open; b) Free access; c) Any time access; d)
Allows modification; e) Allows reuse. Importance is measured in the scale: not important at all; of little
importance; important; very important; extremely important. The distribution of answers within the referred
scale is presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Assessment of digital educational resources’ features
Digital Not Important Of Little Important Very Extremely Didn’t Answer
educational at All Importance Important Important
resources’
n % n % n % n % n % n %
features
Free and open 4 1.3 8 2.5 112 35.6 121 38.4 66 21.0 4 1.3
Free access 2 0.6 2 0.6 39 12.4 122 38.7 148 47.0 2 0.6
Any time
3 1.0 3 1.0 30 9.5 113 35.9 162 51.4 4 1.3
access
Allows
18 5.7 63 20.0 121 38.4 68 21.6 39 12.4 6 1.9
modification
Allows reuse 6 1.9 17 5.4 111 35.2 107 34.0 69 21.9 5 1.6
Considering the percentage of students who classify digital resources’ features as important, very important
and extremely important, we can see that the most valued feature is free access (98.1%), followed by any time
access (96.8%), free and open (95%), allows reuse (91.1%), and finally, the least valued feature, allows
modification (72.4). It is also visible that the features any time access and free access are the ones considered
as extremely important by the highest number of subjects.
One of the aims of the study was to verify the extent to which students’ IT knowledge influences their
appreciation of digital educational resources. The sample subjects’ IT knowledge was obtained from the
answers to the following question: Classify your general IT knowledge (mark only one option): a) Basic; b)
Intermediate; c) Advanced.
The distribution of answers regarding the classification of the sample subjects’ IT knowledge is presented in
Table 2.
Table 2: Classification of IT knowledge (n=315)
Classification of IT knowledge n %
Basic 90 28.6
Intermediate 199 63.2
Advanced 24 7.6
Didn’t Answer 2 0.6
By observing Table 2, we can see that most subjects classified their IT knowledge as intermediate (63.2%),
followed by basic (28.6%) and advanced knowledge (7.6%).
14
Paulo Alves, Luísa Miranda and Carlos Morais
In order to relate IT knowledge to open educational resources, we took IT knowledge as a variable and each
one of the assessed digital educational resources’ features as another variable. Thus, we consider that each of
the referred variables can be measured in an ordinal scale, proceeding to the following attributions or
conventions.
IT knowledge assumes the values 0, 1, 2, 3, according to their respective translation into: didn’t answer; basic;
intermediate; or advanced. Each of the features assumes the values 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, according to the respective
options: didn’t answer; not important at all; of little importance; important; very important; and extremely
important.
From the implemented conventions, data can be considered as ordinal data. Thus, according to Pereira (2004)
and Maroco (2010), the most appropriate similarity measure to assess the degree of association between the
variables is the Spearman correlation coefficient. In Table 3 we present the Spearman correlation coefficients
between the variables, determined with the statistic program SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).
Table 3: Degree of association between the variables IT knowledge and digital educational resources’ features
(n=315)
Variables IT knowledge Free and Any time Allows
Free access Allows reuse
open access modification
Coef. 1.00
IT knowledge
Sig.
**
Coef. 0.217 1.00
Free and open
Sig. 0.00
Coef. 0.128* 0.558** 1.00
Free access
Sig. 0.02 0.00
Any time Coef. 0.119* 0.527** 0.708** 1.00
access Sig. 0.04 0.00 0.00
Allows Coef. 0.241** 0.370** 0.222** 0.219** 1.00
modification Sig. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Coef. 0.129* 0.399** 0.337** 0.411** 0.549** 1.00
Allows reuse
Sig. 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2‐tailed).
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2‐tailed)
Considering the classification of the correlation defined by Morais (2000) as represented in Figure 1, it is
possible to conclude that the correlation is: very low or low between IT knowledge and each one of the other
variables; high (0.708) between the variable free access and the variable any time access; low or moderate in
the remaining situations assessed.
15
Paulo Alves, Luísa Miranda and Carlos Morais
The data concerning the knowledge that students have of OER was obtained from the answers to the following
question in the respective options: Mark with a cross (X) the option which best describes your knowledge of the
concept of Open Educational Resources (OER): a) I have never heard of Open Educational Resources; b) I have
heard but I do not have an opinion about the potentialities of Open Educational Resources; c) I know the
potentialities of Open Educational Resources but I have never used such resources; d) I have used Open
Educational Resources and I consider them very important in the teaching and learning process; e) I have used
Open Educational Resources and I consider them of little importance in the teaching and learning process. In
Table 4, we present the distribution of answers given by the sample subjects.
Table 4: Knowledge concerning the concept of open educational resources (n=315)
Knowledge of Open Educational Resources n %
I have never heard of Open Educational Resources 198 62.9
I have heard but I do not have an opinion about the potentialities of Open
70 22.2%
Educational Resources
I know the potentialities of Open Educational Resources but I have never
16 5.1%
used such resources
I have used Open Educational Resources and I consider them very
28 8.9%
important in the teaching and learning process
I have used Open Educational Resources and I consider them of little
3 1.0%
importance in the teaching and learning process
The data indicates that OER are completely unknown to more than 60% of the sample subjects and that,
among those who have some knowledge, less than 10% give them importance. One of the concerns regarding
the adoption of OER in higher education lies in finding strategies which can make OER desirable to institutions,
teachers and students. The results obtained give clear evidence of such a need. Also, Conole (2012) highlights
that neither students nor teachers have used OER extensively and suggests that the reasons are complex and
multifaceted. The author adds that at first, there was a naïve belief that making OER available would by itself
grant their use by students and teachers. It later became clear, as it is shown in this study that a generalized
adoption of OER did not occur.
It is important to notice that, although the answers to the previous question shown in Table 4 reveal that the
majority of students do not know OER, the truth is that according to the answers given to the question
regarding the features they appreciate in digital educational resources, even students who do not have an
opinion about OER were found to value their features. This happens because, as Downes (2011) refers, OER
are materials which can be freely accessed, reused, modified and shared by anyone in order to support
education.
Another aim of the study was to identify the level of knowledge that students have of OER platforms.
Therefore, the sample subjects answered the following question in the respective options: Mark with a cross
(X) the Open Educational Resources Platforms that you know: a) MIT OpenCourseware; b) OpenCourseware
Consortium; c) Carnegie Mellon University ‐ Open Learning Initiative; d) MERLOT; e) Others.
The distribution of answers regarding the knowledge that students have of OER platforms is presented in Table
5.
Table 5: Knowledge of OER platforms (n=315)
Open Educational Resources Platforms Does not know Knows
(%) (%)
MIT OpenCourseware 91.1 8.9
OpenCourseware Consortium 94.6 5.4
Carnegie Mellon University ‐ Open Learning Initiative 94.9 5.1
MERLOT 94.6 5.4
Regarding option e) Others, here are the answers given as well as the number of times they were mentioned:
IPB.Virtual (5), B‐On (3), Youtube (2), SCIELO (2), Khan Academy (1), W3Schools (1), Wikipedia (1).
Based on the results directly related to OER and their platforms, we see that the OER issue is still unfamiliar
within the teaching and learning context of higher education students, who simultaneously value the features
of such resources. Therefore, there is an urgent need to promote the dissemination and use of OER, so that
16
Paulo Alves, Luísa Miranda and Carlos Morais
students can benefit from resources which are mainly developed to be useful, free, charge free, and used by
anyone who wants to learn, regardless of their financial or social condition or of the place in the world where
they happen to be.
5. Conclusions
The conclusions are drawn from the results obtained through a questionnaire administered during the school
year of 2013/1014 to a sample of 315 students at a state higher education Portuguese institution.
Among the results obtained, we highlight the following:
We analyzed the digital educational resources features: free and open; free access; any time access; allows
modification; allows reuse. Considering the options very important and extremely important together, the
results show that the most valued features were any time access and free access;
We assessed the sample subjects’ IT knowledge ranged as basic knowledge, intermediate knowledge and
advanced knowledge. The results show that the majority of students stated to have intermediate IT
knowledge.
We assessed the correlation between IT knowledge and each of the variables associated with the digital
educational resources’ features. We concluded that the correlation is: very low or low between IT
knowledge and each one of the other variables; high between the variable free access and the variable any
time access; low or moderate in the remaining assessed situations.
With respect to the knowledge and use of open educational resources (OER), the results show that most
of the sample subjects have never heard of OER, and less than 10% of the students have used OER and
consider them important.
Regarding the knowledge of OER platforms, we found that only a very low percentage of the subjects have
knowledge of the platforms MIT OpenCourseware, OpenCourseware Consortium, Carnegie Mellon
University, and that the MIT OpenCourseware platform is the one known by a higher percentage of
subjects.
Thus, we conclude that the features which are considered most important within digital educational resources
are free access and any time access. There is a significantly high percentage of students who do not know OER,
their potentialities or OER platforms.
The use of OER within the context of higher education still has a long way to go, and big commitment and
effort are required from both institution stakeholders and teachers so that students’ interest in using OER in
the teaching and learning process may increase in the higher education context. In addition to this, the data
obtained may represent a wake‐up call for institutions, teachers and students, as those who know OER actually
consider them very important and useful, but there is still simultaneously a very high percentage of students,
at least within the sample of this study, to whom OER are totally unknown.
This study indicates that higher investment is needed in promoting OER so that they can be more widely used
by students. The study may also constitute an important element to provoke reflection on the level of use of
open educational resources in higher education, especially if we consider the importance they are given
worldwide as well as the view of several researchers, who see OER as essential and innovative elements in the
support to knowledge building due to their price‐quality ratio and to the fact that they can be used by anyone
regardless of their location in the world and their social or financial situation.
As future work, we intend to implement projects associated with teaching and learning strategies which
directly involve selecting, using and assessing open educational resources in the building of knowledge within
the various areas of study.
References
Atkins, D. E., Seely Brown, J. & Hammond, A. L. (2007) “A review of the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement:
achievements, challenges, and new opportunities”, [online], A Report to The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
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Wiley, D. (2010) “Openness as catalyst for an educational reformation”, EDUCAUSE Review, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp 14–20.
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18
A Framework for the Analysis of Collaborative and Interactive
Elements in MOOCs
Rasmus Kvist Andersen1, Kristian Garp1, Kevin Nellemann1; Melissa Frost Nielsen1 and
Rikke Ørngreen2
1
Master of Science Students in Information Technology, Specializing in ICT, Learning and
Organizational Change
2
ResearchLAB: IT and Learning Design, Dep. of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg
University, Copenhagen, Denmark
rior@learning.aau.dk
Abstract: The number of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the number of participants therein have exploded
within the last couple of years. The literature on MOOCs (according to Clark, Daniel and Kolowich) mentions several
characteristics of MOOCs: flexible, free, and providing room for niche subjects of learning. Criticism points to questionable
quality and lack of student activation. Few empirical investigations focus on systematic analysis of student interaction in
MOOCs. In this paper, the argument is that interaction between participants’ of MOOCs on subject matter issues are a sign
of collaborative knowledge construction processes and, as such, signs of learning (in line with the CSCL thinking of
Laurillard, Stahl, Sorensen, and Salmon). This paper presents a study whose objective is to identify methods for analyzing
and evaluating the nature of collaborative knowledge construction in the discussion forums of an MOOC, and relate this to
the overall learning objective and educational design for learning of the specific MOOC that is analyzed. The analytical
frame builds on two theoretical mindsets on interaction and collaboration. Language Games (LG) (as defined by
Wittgenstein and applied in Sorensen, Takle, and Moser in CSCL) are applied as a method to investigate the structural
elements. That is, the participants are viewed as the ‘players’ that engage in LG, where, for example, both openings and
closing are viewed as vital in a successful interaction. Here, the volume of structural elements in selected online dialogues
and the exemplary LG that is implemented becomes interesting. Salmon’s Five‐Stage model is the second tool, where the
same selected dialogues are analyzed to identify where in the Five‐Stage model (5S) the participants are interacting from,
and if any progression occurs in the duration of the course. Moreover, the overall educational design is evaluated on the
basis of Salmon’s ideas. In the winter of 2013, the Coursera course ‘A Brief History of Humankind’ was analyzed. The
findings show that the collaborative knowledge construction process occurs from the first week onward, and that the
quality in a Salmon 5S view improved from week 1 to 10, but there are also contradicting findings regarding mutual respect
and conversational tone. The analysis using LG finds that structural elements are important for the quality of the game, as
responsibility and closing of games is seldom present, but that the games are initiated and many posts are made within the
rules of the games. As such, this framework reveals paradoxical trends. There are authentic collaborative knowledge
construction processes, although the number of active participants may be very few compared to the number of people
enrolled. There are signs of collaboration, where the disruptive nature of MOOCs as a learning innovation argues against
the postulate that MOOCs are solely transmissive in nature. Perhaps, MOOCs instead transcend the traditional Computer
Supported Collaborative Learning CSCL (CSCL) perspectives for those who want to participate actively. This is discussed
further in the paper.
Keywords: CSCL, MOOC, language games, five‐stage model, knowledge construction
1. Problem space
The research in MOOCs is divided. Some find that the activation of and interaction among students is not
sufficient, while others oppose this viewpoint. However, our literature search revealed that there are barely
any systematic analyses of student interaction that influence collaborative knowledge construction in MOOCs.
This paper is such an example and provides a framework for similar investigations.
1.1 The research field and research question
MOOCs are divided into two different types. One builds on the extreme number of participants, scalability, and
is identified as building on individual learning and teacher‐centric pedagogies (xMOOC) and the other on
connectivism and student‐centric pedagogies (cMOOC). In particular, critiques indicate questionable quality
and lack of engagement and activation of students. Others oppose this and find that MOOCs provide an ample
platform for intra‐student interactions, although even cMOOC may have so many participants that meaningful
collaboration and interaction (connectedness) is difficult. (Nkuyubwatsi 2013, Daniel, Casany, & Alier 2014).
However, there are few empirical investigations that focus on systematic analysis of student collaboration and
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interaction and its influence on knowledge‐sharing activities. Many examples are on a vignette level and cases
from peoples own experiences.
Two Danish university teachers mention in an interview that they are sceptical regarding MOOCs. Rump
criticizes lack of interaction with teachers and fellow students when the move from physical to online space is
made; Bundsgaard supplements this with the perspective on learning being a social dimension, which cannot
be moved online without complications, and that the body is a strong medium for communication and learning
(Richter 2013). In contrast, Daphne Koller, one of the founders of Coursera, claims that there are well‐
functioning learning processes with engaging formats, but also states that there are no investigations that
compare the precise effect (Koller in Thiemann 2012).
The research question under investigation here is: How can collaborative and interactive elements in a specific
MOOC be analyzed and understood? Here, we investigate whether collaboration changes over the duration of
a course and what can be learned from this for future analysis and design considerations.
1.2 Choice of theoretical models applied
Collaborative Learning (CL) originated in social learning theories as situated learning, and focuses on learning
as a social sense‐making and negotiation in communities of practice and in theories of dialogue and
communication, which focus on mutual meaning construction through social interaction (Stahl et al., 2006). In
a review of perceived sociability of CSCL, Kreijns et al. (2007) find that CL ‘leads to deeper level learning, critical
thinking, shared understanding, and long term retention of the learned material’ (p. 337).
CL researchers consider learning a social phenomenon, where interactions between peers foster collaborative
construction of knowledge (a social constructivist learning perspective). The traditional CSCL has roots in a
linguistic interpretation of human interaction (Stahl et al. 2006, Sorensen et al. 2006); therefore, the focal
point in the analysis of CSCL is often to investigate verbal communication in a type of conversational analysis.
‘Of course, individuals are involved in this as members of the group, but the activities that they engage in are
not individual‐learning activities, but group interactions like negotiation and sharing.’ (Stahl et al., 2006, s. 8).
However, there are also more action‐oriented and educational design perceptions that both consider the
individual and the individual in the group (Salmon 2004, Laurillard 2002). They seek to investigate the type of
behavior of participants which supports the CSCL design.
From a classical CSCL perspective, it makes sense to examine written dialogues, which develop and unfold
while MOOC participants engage in the learning process. Sorensen et al. (2006) have applied the thoughts of
Wittgenstein’s pragmatic‐philosophical principles regarding LG to the analysis and design of an online course.
Here, they investigate the character of an utterance in a dialogue through nine structural elements: initiative,
responsibility, closure, etc. The assessment of game quality is addressed by analyzing sequences of dialogues
and assigning them codes, depending on these structural elements, even counting the number of structural
elements, as the number of games closes. The linguistic interaction can be viewed as the successful openings
and closings of games (and sub‐games), where each game opened creates a number of expectations regarding
the continuation of the game. As such, the analysis will reveal if the participants are aware of the game’s rules
(by looking for both implicit and explicit signs of this awareness). ‘The theory of LGs, in contrast to other
possible theories, therefore seems to offer a promising optic for assessing the learning quality of online
collaborative knowledge building dialogue.’ (Sorensen et al. 2006, p. 248).
With this strong focus on structural elements, in the analysis of MOOCs in relation to our research questions,
we also need to contemplate the actions in the dialogue, investigating how these evolve over time and how
we can design games to encourage collaborative actions. Gilly Salmon’s Five‐stage model (5S) was developed
to support student learning through interaction, as in a discussion forum (Salmon 2004). Salmon quoted
Jonassen et al. (1995) when describing her beliefs that ‘knowledge construction occurs when participants
explore issues, take positions, discuss their positions in an argumentative format and reflect on and re‐evaluate
their positions’ (Salmon 2004, p. 45). However, she also acknowledges that such collaborations do not occur in
a vacuum and requires facilitation; this is why she created the 5s model that includes Access and motivation,
Online socialization, Information exchange, Knowledge construction, and Development (Salmon 2004). The
unfolding of the model explains the actions and forms of interactions that occur at various stages, and also
define the role and tasks of the teacher. Salmon works from a teacher’s perspective, where the teacher acts as
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a facilitator of the process and is called the e‐moderator; she also indicates the necessary form of technical
assistance. As such, the model can both be applied to an analysis of the MOOC participants’ progression as
well as an analysis of how the specific courses are designed to support the objective of facilitating and
ensuring participant collaboration.
Both Wittgenstein and Salmon are well‐known and much cited researchers, which makes it interesting and
valid to investigate their models in this setting. Wittgenstein was considered to be one of the greatest
philosophers in the twentieth century and today his work continues to be relevant for the analysis of language
(cited from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein/). Salmon is, among other things, recognized in her
research on online education and approaches to learning; the 5S model has been adopted by numerous online
teachers (see http://www.sddu.leeds.ac.uk/sddu‐salmon‐five‐stage‐model‐alternative‐version.html and
http://www.atimod.com/).
Our assumption is that the two models, LG and 5S, used in conjunction and with an analytical focus can reveal
the degree and quality of collaboration and interaction among participants in MOOCs.
1.3 Choice of method, case and sampling
Methodologically, the analyses are based on the Coursera course: 'A Brief History of Humankind'.
https://class.coursera.org/humankind‐001/class/index. According to Salmon, it is important that a course has a
duration of at least 10 weeks to ensure progression (Salmon, 2004). Consequently, the course chosen is one
that lasts for 17 weeks. We have not conducted a random sampling of weeks. Instead, the beginning, middle,
and end of the course were selected, as we wanted to examine the progression. We selected a total of six
dialogues, two each from weeks 1, 5, and 10. Thus, a comprehensive analysis of the entire course and
specifically of six threads from these weeks was conducted. Table 1 presents the tittles of the threads and the
number of posts in these threads, which are a total of 153. To ensure as high a correlation among the chosen
weeks as possible, the discussion threads all stem from ‘lectures’—a discussion forum for issues related to a
specific lesson. We analyzed all the posts in these threads, not just the selected comments. The coding of the
data is based on a deductive process based on a priori selected concepts stemming from the two models.
The six threads chosen were open and inviting in their offset. This is in line with LG's theoretical framework
that argues for a link between games that are open and the possibility of closing a game, thereby enabling
collaborative knowledge construction. A game is open when the initiator has a built‐in intent in the post,
clarifying a specific topic and issues that require discussion. To ensure the possibility of interaction and
collaborative knowledge construction, we chose discussion threads with a minimum of 15 posts to ensure that
the amount of data material is sufficient. The subject matter discussed in the threads played no major role in
the selection process, since the focus is exclusively on the interaction among the students and not on the
subject matter (see Table 1).
Table 1: Dialogues titles and number of posts
By signing up for the course, four students from the Masters in IT and Learning program, had access to the
module in general and were able to copy and analyze the selected dialogues. The material has been analyzed
based on both a numerical coding (number of structural elements in relation to the number of threads) and
from more qualitative considerations of how and with what consequence LG and 5S are part of what we see.
The understanding that unfolds from an analysis of the selected dialogues are interpreted from our own self‐
understanding of collaborative knowledge construction, the context of the discussion dialogues, through the
Coursera course, and predominantly from the viewpoints of the two models.
As the research is centred around a specific case (singular case), the data and analysis results cannot be
immediately generalized into being applicable to all MOOCs. In contrast, this provides a unique insight into an
isolated instance of the occurrence of collaborative knowledge construction among students participating in
the course. The findings that can be of general value are the knowledge on interaction and collaboration in
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MOOC and the usefulness of the research design as a framework for similar analysis of other MOOCs.
(Flyvbjerg 2006).
1.4 The case, the Coursera courses, and pedagogies
The chosen course is divided into four sections, with 17 lessons in total. Each lesson contains, on average, 4
video lectures of approximately 20 minutes, and after each section there is a multiple‐choice quiz with 10
questions. The quiz can be taken several times as preparation, the first three constitute a score of 10% each of
the total score, and the last constitutes 70% of the total score. A combined score of 70% is needed to pass the
course. However, even though the lectures can be viewed at one’s own pace and the quizzes are individual,
the course has a number of rather active discussion forums (figure 1).
Figure 1: Available discussion forums in the selected course
Coursera partners with a number of universities, who provide courses and teachers for a vast number of
courses. Currently, there are literally millions of participants (see www.Coursera.org). Many courses apply
tests, like the multiple quizzes. The Coursera team emphasizes that tests are not only meant for evaluating
students, but are a crucial element of participant commitment and function as a driving force for learning. ‘On
Coursera, we typically give immediate feedback on a concept a student did not understand.’ (Mastery learning,
Coursera, 2014). Due to the thousands of participants often present in an MOOC, it is not possible to provide
individual personal feedback to assignments. Instead, Coursera has developed automatic‐responses to
multiple‐choice tests, a setup which teachers can use for applying peer reviews, and a mechanism for students
scoring the quality of the student‐to‐student feedback. Coursera considers this as a technological enabler that
can replace some of the functions of a teacher (Coursera 2014, Daniel, Casany, & Alier 2014).
2. Analysis of and discussion on language games (LG)
The LG frame, as applied in Sorensen et al. (2006), has nine structural elements. In this analysis, all elements
are utilized as the existence of all elements is essential for knowledge construction in online dialogues. Table 2
summarizes the encoding result.
Initiative: The first post defines the situation and the role of all participants. Through their actions, the
participants show whether they have accepted or rejected the roles, either by obeying the rules or not.
Initiative occurs six times in total and is a pre‐condition for the establishment of a game and the subsequent
dialogues; moreover, it is a fundamental element for a game to be successful.
Intention/original: This conveys the assumed intentions of the game. The establishment of a comment will
always evolve from the assumed intention, but can of course evolve as sub‐games are initiated. In this study,
the initiative's intention is related to elaboration, resolving a conflict, or discussing a dilemma of the
curriculum. Intention occurs six times in total and is a continuum of the initiative.
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Table 2: LG‐analysis of the weeks and threads in question
Intention/sub‐game: Sub‐games appear when the initiating portion or another participant brings up a new
angle or new issue that creates a new perspective on the original game. This can be done by the students
referring to new information that opens up new angles in relation to the existing game. In total, there are 22
sub‐games in the 6 discussion dialogues (coded: intention/sub‐game). In this context, this is viewed as a
positive sign, as the sub‐games bring a new dimension to the original post, thereby qualifying the collaborative
learning process.
Mutualness/reciprocity: This refers to the shared knowledge that is referred to in the game. In this course, this
factor is considered the starting point for the discussions, as the initiatives are all based on these direct
references to the literature studied or to the teacher and his/her teaching. Common knowledge is a
constituting element of a successful LG and the determinant of a high level of collaborative learning. There
seems to be a high degree of common knowledge, as there are 23 references in the 6 threads; moreover, as
mentioned previously, a total of 153 posts are analyzed.
Responsibility: The initiator has a responsibility to show interest in others posts, and thereby ensure that the
game will be brought to an end. In the six discussions, the element responsibility occurs only three times. The
initiators responsibility seems only partially implemented and other players/participants do not take over this
role. This lack of responsibility results in a low level of authenticity in the discussion dialogues, which appear
somewhat disjointed and segmented. This implies that the discussions do not have a typical progression in
communication, where typical links to how traditional oral dialogues would otherwise carry on.
Expectations: Dialogue is considered a dynamic process, which implies that over time new expectations may
arise. If a game is interrupted or a sub‐game is established, the overall expectations and goals for the game still
apply when resuming the game. Expectations are coded in the selected dialogues if a comment contains a
clear indicator that is related to the topic. Further, Sorensen et al. indicate that if this is in the form of a
request for clarification, conflict, or dilemma, there will be a strong likelihood that an LG is created, which can
form the basis for collaborative learning. Such expectations appear 17 times.
Frame: Each game occurs within a certain context, which can be termed the circumstances of the game. This is
interpreted as the circumstances of the course in the broadest sense (details on this are given below).
Move: Viewing the concept of the game in terms of social interaction, it becomes evident that LG is realized
through sequences of moves made by participants. The code Move was applied when a post remained within
the rules of the game, that is, it was relevant to the discussion topic, and without the participant violating
unwritten or written rules (i.e., unexpected action was not coded). The occurrence of the actions in this case is
proportional to the activity on the discussion board, but says nothing specific regarding the quality of the
discussions. For example, this implies that only 27 posts of the total 153 were not in‐game. However, if these
27 posts are in any way not only out‐of‐game but also disturbing the LG, it can have consequences for the
collaborative learning process.
Closure: A game is closed, or brought to an end in accordance with the rules, when no new expectation or
intention sub‐games are made. It is noteworthy that there was no explicit closure in the six selected online
discussions, in terms of how Sorensen et al. discuss closure. This can be considered as lack of authenticity in
the discussions and can be interpreted as lack of quality in the learning process. This is in contrast to Sorensen
et al.’s findings: ‘It is noteworthy, however, that if a game is created, there is a high likelihood it will be closed
(85%)’ (p. 253)
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Repair: Repairs may occur if the rules of the game have been violated. Repairs are able to either ignore the
actions that violate the rules and then continue the game, or to engage them in the discussion and turn them
into something positive. Repairs reflect the players awareness with the rules (not necessarily explicit, but
enough to distinguish a response from a non‐response). Compared to the case, a repair can occur only twice,
and is expressed by a comment which is not within the context of the established discussion or by direct
copying of text passages and then qualifying the discussion.
Sorensen et al. (2006) argue that there is a high probability for collaborative learning if the appropriate frame
for the game is established. Since there are no explicit closures and few repairs, combined with a few signs of
responsibilities, it should lead us to conclude that the dialogues are not part of collaborative learning
processes. Further, it must be noted that the discussions rarely contain a comment that summarizes or
synthesizes, and produces a unique view of the lack of responsibility. The initiator, who begins a discussion,
never returns to follow up on the contributions of others. However, although many moves (actions) do not
directly represent answers to earlier contributions, they do arise from the subjects at hand and previous
comments, which reflect intersubjective communications to a certain extent. Moves or posts of actions range
from a few sentences that do not contribute much to the dialogue to actions that include elements as
mutualness, expectations (or clarification of such) and (some) responsibility. The discussions can often be
characterized as multiple monologues rather than dialogues. This makes the dialogues appear somewhat
scattered and fragmented, which could result in insufficient negotiation of sense‐making processes.
According to the LG theory, an increase in the amount of closures and responsibilities indicate an increased
amount of collaborative learning and can, therefore, be considered as structural elements that should be
promoted to ensure that MOOCs are successful in this kind of interaction. This could be done by facilitating
that dialogues are summarized and closed, and emphasizing to course teachers that they will have to focus on
responsibility. Such responsibilities can also be distributed among participants if the frame for such actions
were stronger (e.g., Daniel, Casany, & Alier 2014).
Nevertheless, the initiated game and sub‐games which adhere to the rules of the games do launch a large
number of comments/posts; therefore, perhaps, it is the vast number of participants and the fact the course is
rather dynamic (moving from one lesson to another and one section to another) which makes closure difficult.
There will always one from among the thousands of participants who may make a new remark, and closure
may occur in another thread, in another week, or beyond the daily practice of the participants. As such, LG
seem appropriate for indicating valid problems in interaction and collaboration; however as participants and
co‐readers of the course, we find that many posts are important for our understanding and that they bring
something new and valuable to our mutual understanding. Therefore, we will also contemplate the kind of
actions associated with dialogues, through the 5S model.
3. The five‐stage model (5S): Analysis and discussion
In the analysis of the 5S model (figure 2), the coding of the empirical data on the basis of key concepts related
to a specific stage was not pre‐defined but extracted from the actions described by Salmon (2014). Thus, the
coding is based on actions she mentions as necessary to initiate and facilitate in online learning settings. If the
key‐concepts are not identified, it can create circumstances that obstruct participants from reaching higher
stages. The analysis is both applied to the specific six discussion threads as well as to the overall educational
design of the course.
Stage 1: Access and motivation encompasses a number of general issues that must be met so that the
students feel safe and secure when using the digital learning platform. Thus, the first stage deals with the
surrounding structure of the course, which is vital for creating a scaffolding for the construction of
collaborative knowledge. The key concepts identified include structure, clear teacher role and actions,
registration and start‐up process, and welcome greetings.
The quick registration process, and the fact that the course is easy to navigate (it is easy to find your way
around the available materials and discussion threads) can enable students to move on from stage 1. The
course staff and the head teacher Dr. Harari are equivalent to e‐moderators, whose roles are to create a safe
atmosphere and encourage student participation. This is exactly what we see signs of in the beginning in the
course, in the section ‘common messages’, which are shown on the front /start page. There are two ways for
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students to handle the problems they encounter; a ‘technical issue’ forum and a ‘student support centre’. In all
the instances where a participant describes a problem in the ‘technical issue’ forum, the issue is addressed
within 24 hours.
Figure 2: The five‐stage model (Source: Salmon 2004, p. 29)
Stage 2: Online socialisation requires that participants are familiar with the online environment and have
learned how the digital platform works (navigation, where to get help, and how to post messages). The
student should feel confident in contributing to, for example, a discussion forum. The key concepts identified
here are mutual respect and communicating in a ‘good tone of voice’.
The analysis reveals that aspects of these key concepts exist throughout all weeks, but there are also examples
of lack of good tone and mutual respect. Even though there a vast number of discussions (particularly when
contemplating the vast number of discussion forums, as shown in figure 1), they are often fragmented and this
lack of mutual respect corresponds to lack of responsibility and lack of repairs in the LG‐analysis. An example is
a student who engages in a discussion and utilizes both practical experience and knowledge from an external
source. However, the font size of the comment is significantly larger than that of other comments, thereby
resulting in a negative response from another student. Thus, a relevant post is met in a negative manner, as a
larger font is interpreted as yelling, and there is no comment on the input in the response, only on the font
size. Thus, the focus moves away from the topic of discussion, which works against collaborative knowledge
construction.
Stage 3: Information exchange. In this stage, students see the online learning platform as an active, living
human network, and they appreciate the vast amount of information that can be found online. Moreover, in
this stage, students learn to share information and navigate the available information. They must learn to sort
and select information, so that the amount of information is not considered a barrier. Successful information
exchange among students is central to achieving full interaction at stage four. The key concepts identified here
are overview of information, independence/self‐confidence, and enthusiasm.
We found elements of self‐confidence and ability to overview the information among students in all the
weeks. Additionally, openness to other perspectives, support and encouragement, reasoning, and reflection is
also present in all three weeks. Thus, it can be argued that already in the beginning of the course, there is a
good basis for collaborative knowledge construction.
Stage 4: Knowledge construction. In this stage, the students not only share information and reflections, but
interact collaboratively by answering each other’s posts and comment on and carry the comments further,
thereby constructing common knowledge in the learning community. The key concepts identified in this stage
are answering comments, reasoning, reflection, new perspectives, and being supportive.
In this MOOC, the collaborative knowledge process already takes off in the first week, as the analysis shows
examples of posts that are reflective, build up arguments, are supportive of other participants, etc. The
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analysis finds this tendency increasing from week 1, over week 5, to week 10, as in week 10 there are an
increased number of participants exhibiting stage 4‐behavior.
Stage 5: Development. In this stage, participants have taken complete control of their own learning process
and the e‐moderators play a more invisible role. The high levels of argumentation, constructive critiquing, and
learners challenging each others are common signs of stage 5. Salmon argues how the high collaborative levels
of discussion are of benefit for the individual learner. The key concepts identified are self‐criticism, high levels
of reasoning and reflection, and challenge (own and others).
In week 1, there are no signs of students who are in stage 5. However, the coding showed that participants in
both weeks 5 and 10, who reasoned, had deep reflections on the subject, engaged in self‐criticism, and
challenges. This was all at a higher level than what was coded as stage 4, although this was a difficult and
rather subjective thin‐line difference. However, there are also examples of cases which worked against this, as
there are signs of lack of good manners and mutual respect.
In conclusion, there is a clear progression and very early onset to the phenomena that constitute the advanced
stages, although occasionally coupled with lack of respect and good tone. This is not in line with the Salmon’s,
according to which the model is dependent on the first stages to reach the latter ones. The analysis does not
indicate if and how many participants withdraw from or never commence interaction into these threads due
to the occasional use of somewhat hard tones. However, there are many examples of discussions continuing
despite a scattering of semi‐disrespectful posts. This could be one of several reasons for the large drop‐out
rate which some mention as a problem in MOOCs, but which others point to really just being because the
learning processes at play are not the same as those in traditional formal learning‐thinking (Clark 2013,
Kolowich 2013, Daniel, Casany & Alier 2014).
4. Overall findings and perspectives of generalization and uniqueness
In the analysis of both models which use different aspects of focus for the identification of collaborative
learning, inherent problems were revealed in the occurrence of collaborative learning. However, Salmon’s 5S
model, except for the examples of disrespect and poor tone, revealed a high use of key concepts. Further, LG
showed defragmented discussions that were illustrative of unsuccessful games on one hand, but very long
discussions with dynamic in‐game posts (moves) and sub‐games on the other hand. Sorensen et al. (2006)
indicate that collaborative learning only occurs if a game has ended. Throughout the analysis, the focus on
endings surprised us because of its simplicity (there is a lot of ‘movement’ and evolvement in the dialogues, as
well as creation of sub‐games).
What is essential for the use of both models is that they are researching courses that are built on more
traditional CSCL thinking. This means that the courses have a more homogeneous target group and a limited
number of known participants with a common goal (as in online master degrees or accredited competence
development courses). MOOCs have a much larger and wider range of participants, who do not necessarily
share the same goals. Therefore, the original two models can be applicable in new CSCL contexts.
Kolowich refers to a chronicle on an education survey that found a median of 33,000 registrants for the
courses, with one course as high as 180,000, with an average completion rate of ~10%: ‘But most students who
register for a MOOC have no intention of completing the course,’ said the company’s co‐founders (…) ‘Their
intent is to explore, find out something about the content, and move on to something else, said Ms. Koller (…)
‘The rates of completion for students who have given some indication that they plan to do the work is
substantially higher. For example, for students who so much as submit the first assignment, the completion
rate leaps to 45 percent.’ (Kolowich 2013, first page).
Daniel, Casany, & Alier (2014) show that there are researchers that object to the connected CL approaches, as
the more instructional/individual learning pathways are considered important. In line with Stahl (2006) on
group cognition, the cycle of personal understanding is pivotal, but collaborative learning dimensions are also
significant; the vast use and high activity in the discussion thread mirror this need.
However, there is an interesting dilemma here: How can an MOOC be both self‐paced and self‐directed and
simultaneously foster peer‐to‐peer collaboration in the design of the specific course, as this would require
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some amount of synchronicity in pace (i.e., being at the same session at the same time). However, the vast
number of participants allows for many perspectives to be raised. From our singular case, we learn that as
there are such a large number of participants, people find participants with similar focus, interest, and pace,
which may be more difficult in more closed/not free and open courses than MOOCs. Similarly, Clark (2013)
shows—when conveying numbers from the first trial of six Coursera courses by the University of Edinburgh—
that the main motivation for participants was learning (93%) and that there was a lower average interest in
certification (33%). The same study shows that out of the over 300,000 participants in the six courses, 15%
made individual posting(s). (Clark 2013, p. 7‐8). Although 15% is a small percentage, it is a big number in terms
of number of people compared to traditional CSCL university courses.
Seen in this light, the analysis of the LG and 5S models shows that this course has a number of authentic
collaborative language games that have been initiated and that some of the participants applied higher levels
of knowledge sharing and construction processes. Moreover, the analysis also revealed problems with closure
and responsibility, as well as signs of fragmented discussions, tone, and respect. Perhaps, this is the disruptive
nature of MOOCs, as MOOCs are dramatically different from CSCL in terms of both volume and being able to
accommodate both individual and collaborative synchronous learning paths simultaneously.
5. Conclusion
The research question that we investigated here is how can collaborative and interactive elements in a specific
MOOC be analyzed and understood? For this purpose, we investigated whether collaboration changes over the
duration of a course and what can be learned from this for future analysis and design considerations?
In our work, we found a difference in the CL processes, roles, and functions as understood traditionally by CSCL
compared to what is seen in the MOOC that we analyzed. The traditional CSCL perspectives view the teacher’s
role as essential for creating a scaffolding. In MOOCs, teachers can act through the learning design, scaffolding
and outlying task, actions and suggestions for interactions; however, the participants themselves can function
as e‐moderators for those who wish to engage in the collaborative dialogues. Nevertheless, we found that the
models brought to light interesting features, structures, and inherent barriers and opportunities. As such, we
find the models useful.
The MOOC teachers and administers could work with the two models as design and analysis tools, and suggest
improvements for the discussions and thereby support collaborative learning even more. Teachers in MOOCs
could consider facilitating the dialogue, summarize and synthesize, thereby perhaps not closing every
discussion, but making footprints of important learning paths in the many posts. Similarly, working on
maintaining a good tone could be useful. However, it is also difficult to implement in practice, as the huge
number of posts would require a large team of co‐teachers to work through the content. Instead the self‐
regulated peer‐to‐peer approach is clearly worth designing for, perhaps with the teacher in the role of creating
the scaffolding and learning design. On the other hand, the knowledge sharing does appear to initiate very
quickly in this MOOC (which the 5S‐model helped identify) and the participants do make progress. Thus,
perhaps the signs of not ‘living up to’ the CSCL models could also be a sign of new methods of collaborative
knowledge construction.
References
Clark, D. (2013) “Adaptive MOOCs”, A CogBook Whitepaper, [online], Retrieved 15 June 2014 from
http://www.cogbooks.com/white‐papers‐AdaptiveMOOCs.html, 12 pages.
Coursera (2014) “About Us”, [online], Retrieved 26 June 2014 from https://www.coursera.org/about
Daniel, A. M.O., Casany, M.J., & Alier, M. (2014) “Approaches for Quality in Pedagogical and Design Fundamentals in
MOOCs. Teoría de la Educación. Educación y Cultura en la Sociedad de la Información, Vol 15, No 1, pp 70–89.
Flyvbjerg, B. (2006) “Five Misunderstandings about Case‐study Research”. Qualitative Inquiry, Vol 12, No 2, pp 219–245.
Kolowich, S. (2013): “Coursera Takes a Nuanced View of MOOC Dropout Rates” in The Chronicle of Higher Education, April
8, 2013, [online], Retrieved 14 June 2014 from http://chronicle.com/
Kreijns, K., Kirschner, P.A., Jochems W. & van Buuren, H. (2007) “Measuring Perceived Sociability of Computer‐supported
Collaborative Learning Environments. In: Computers and Education. Vol. 49, No 2, pp 176–192.
Laurillard, D. (2002) Rethinking University Teaching. A conversational framework for the effective use of learning
technologies. London, Routledge ISBN 0415256798 .
Nkuyubwatsi, B. (2013) “Evaluation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) From the Learner’s Perspective” in
proceedings of the European Conference on eLearning, Nice, France, pp 340–346
Richter, L. (2013, 29. maj) “Netuddannelser kæmper med kvaliteten” in the newspaper Information.
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Salmon, G. (2004). E‐moderation. The Key to Teaching and Learning Online. London: Taylor & Francis Books Ltd.
Sorensen, E.K., Takle, E.S. & Moser, H.M. (2006). Knowledge Building Quality in Online Communities of Practice: Focusing
onLearning Dialogueue. In: D. McConnel (Red.): Imagining learning in the 21stcentury: The Role of e‐Learning. Special
Issue of Studies in Continuing Education (SCE). Vol. 28. No. 3. pp 241–257.
Stahl, G. (2006) Group Cognition: Computer Support for Building Collaborative Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Stahl, G., Koschmann, T., & Suthers, D. (2006) Computer‐supported Collaborative Learning: A Historical Perspective. I: R. K.
Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (s. 409–426). Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University
Press.
Thiemann, P. (2012) Professorer: Studerende lærer bedre af undervisning på nettet. Lokaliseret d. 16 December 2013 på:
http://politiken.dk/udland/ECE1601526/professorer‐studerende‐laerer‐bedre‐af‐undervisning‐over‐nettet/
28
Learning Conversations to Support Peer Review in Online and
Blended Learning Environments
Trish Andrews1 Gail Wilson2 and Neroli Sheldon2
1
The University of Queensland, Australia
2
Southern Cross University, Australia
t.andrews@uq.edu.au
gail.Wilson@scu.edu.au
neroli.sheldon@scu.edu.au
Abstract: As a consequence of the continual adoption of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) online and blended learning
have become commonplace activities in higher education. While TEL can provide many benefits for learners, many staff
struggle to develop the skills and understanding necessary to design, develop and deliver high quality learning in these
environments. Peer review of teaching and learning is acknowledged as a powerful professional learning tool for online
and blended learning environments that can be utilised to assist staff to develop their skills in relation to teaching and
learning. Peer review can be particularly powerful in recognising and addressing specific areas for professional learning
about one’s teaching practice. However, staff can find such approaches judgmental and focused on metrics and show
reluctance to participate in such activities. There is also a view that once a development task such as peer review becomes
formalised, the meaning of development is changed lessening the benefits of engagement in the process. This paper
reports on a work in progress relating to a funded Australian Government Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) project in
two universities that piloted a reciprocal ‘learning conversation’ approach to peer review. This approach encourages the
development of an ongoing dialogue around teaching and learning that goes beyond an exchange of facts and ideas and
creates an opportunity for mutual and reciprocal learning – a collaborative as opposed to a developmental model of peer
learning. The paper provides a definition of peer learning, examines the literature in relation to peer review of online
teaching, and provides a rational for exploring “learning conversations” as an approach to peer review. It outlines the
project features, processes, and progress to date. A second paper will report on the project’s deliverables and evaluation
findings.
Keywords: peer review, teaching, learning conversations, professional learning
1. Introduction
Adoption of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) is becoming increasingly commonplace in higher education
environments, for a range of delivery contexts, including face‐to‐face, blended, distance and distributed
environments. This adoption has been accelerated by the growing popularity of teaching approaches such as
the flipped classroom (Bart 2013); MOOCs (Universities UK 2013; Yuan 2013); desire for more authentic and
relevant learning experiences (Lombardi 2007); and student learning preferences (Andrews & Tynan 2012).
However, while the benefits and advantages of TEL are well recognised, many staff lack confidence in using
technology tools effectively to support teaching and learning and often feel unable to exploit the potential of
these tools (Yeung et al. 2012). Additionally, while many universities mandate minimal usage standards for
online learning there is often a lack of processes to ensure quality in relation to these standards. Where
feedback is obtained it is often not addressed and does not always translate into improvements or
enhancements to blended and online teaching and learning environments (Forsyth et al. 2010).
Peer review has long been recognised as a powerful professional learning tool and can be useful in providing
both targeted feedback to staff to incorporate into their teaching and learning processes as well as identifying
opportunities for further professional learning (Applebee 2014). While acknowledging the developmental
aspects of peer review, peer review is often found by staff to be judgemental and unhelpful in promoting
longer term improvement an individual's teaching and learning practices (Gosling 2014).
This paper outlines a recently funded Australian Government Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) project
that explored a conversational approach to peer learning in two Australian universities – Southern Cross
University (SCU) and The University of Queensland (UQ). The paper discusses the literature in relation to peer
review and the rationale for selecting a conversational approach to facilitate exchange as a means of
overcoming academics' resistance to peer review. Next, a description of key project features, processes and
outcomes to date are provided. We conclude by looking forward to the final stages of the project and
foreshadow a second paper that will report on project deliverables and evaluation outcomes.
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Trish Andrews Gail Wilson and Neroli Sheldon
2. Literature review
Peer review can be defined as a "process of making scholarly judgements about the quality of learning and
teaching, and a process of scholarly professional learning" (McKenzie & Parker 2011, p.623). In the context of
this paper the peer is conceived as a teaching colleague who may or not be more senior in terms of teaching
experience (Harris et al. 2008,) and the context relates to teaching and learning in online and blended learning
environments. Typically, peer review models can be characterised as evaluative, with the principal function
being to pass judgement on the quality of teaching often for audit or performance management purposes;
developmental, where a more experienced or knowledgeable colleague works to develop the skills of a less
experienced teacher; and collaborative, where colleagues are encouraged to engage in conversations in which
both parties are peers, equals in the process and where the power relationship is one of equality. The
evaluative and developmental models are often formalised in a structured way to support an institution's
audit and performance management systems including promotions (Ambler et al. 2014; Bennett & Santy 2009).
3. Peer review of online teaching
But what of peer review for the increasingly important blended and online context? How do we need to think
differently with regards to blended and online environments in relation to what can be peer reviewed? The
early literature on peer review of online and blended learning shows an emphasis on review of online courses,
course materials, and learning objects (Conole et al. 2004). More recently, scholars including Harris et al.
(2008), Wood, Scutter and Wache (2011) and McKenzie and Parker (2011) have developed processes and
resources for peer review of online teaching that includes templates and checklists, sharing of good practice
and an emphasis on recognition and rewarding of good teaching. From a continuing professional learning
perspective, peer review is one strategy useful for sustainably embedding online learning (Philip & Wozniak
2009). Increasingly featured in the literature are discussions about peer review of the online interactions
amongst teachers and students. Here the community of inquiry model (Garrison, Anderson & Archer 2000)
with its emphasis on teacher, social and cognitive presence provides a framework for peer review inquiry.
However, as researchers Bennett and Barp (2008) concluded there is a growing understanding of the
limitations of more familiar approaches to peer review and an acknowledgement of the need to explore new
territory.
It is also acknowledged that the very nature of blended learning environments may complicate peer review
because of the distribution of online and face‐to‐face instances of learning activities by McKenzie and Parker
(2011). Unlike observation of face‐to‐face teaching, peer review of online learning activities cannot be defined
always by the concept of a single ‘class’ or ‘tutorial’ and so scoping the extent of peer review within this
environment is essential. The introduction of online learning and the supporting technologies present
challenges in the ways professional learning of staff and the management of cultural change is organised in
order to sustainably embed online learning (Philip & Wozniak 2009).
There is extensive literature (Becton & Penney 2007; Gosling & O'Connor 2009; Wyllie 2011) supporting the
argument that peer observation of online teaching is an effective way to increase teaching effectiveness and
that the peer review process clearly benefits both the reviewer and the reviewee because many teachers do
not have strong experience of online teaching (Bennett & Santy 2009). However, despite these recognised
benefits there is little evidence of its use in online teaching review. In particular, there is limited understanding
of how the online environment impacts on the peer review process and vice versa, how academics experience
peer review, and how it benefits staff who engage in this process (Gaskamp & Kintner 2014; Wyllie 2011).
4. Resistance to peer review
While resistance to peer review of teaching is well documented (Ambler et al. 2014; Clarke et al. 2013; Spencer
2014) the notion of peer review is not new to academic staff. Peer review of research papers in order to
improve academics' chances of acceptance for publication is commonplace. So, why does the thought of peer
review of teaching seem to be meet with resistance by academic staff?
In part this may be explained by the fact that peer review in relation to research publications is generally
anonymous, usually at a distance and involves review of a product often after considerable drafting by the
author. While academics may typically consider themselves to be experts in their discipline and research
capability, this is unlikely to be the case when it comes to their perception of their expertise in the teaching
domain, particularly in online and blended learning environments. A review of teaching performance can place
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Trish Andrews Gail Wilson and Neroli Sheldon
the teacher being reviewed in a vulnerable position. This sense of vulnerability is likely compounded for those
grappling with technologies as well as the underpinning knowledge required to design and teach effectively in
an online environment (Sachs & Parsell 2014.)
This feeling of vulnerability and resistance by academic staff to engage in peer review activities is stimulated
by a number of concerns raised in the literature on peer review. These concerns focus on the reviewer's
objectivity and the perception that peer review is a time consuming management initiative that lacks any
meaningful function beyond satisfying quality audit requirements (Spencer 2014). There are also concerns
expressed about an institution's use of formal peer review for monitoring, appraisal and performance
management, which can lead to reported hostility, perceived breaches of trust and resistance to peer review
(Ambler et al. 2014; Clarke et al. 2013). Academics are also reluctant to invest time in peer review when there
is a widespread belief amongst staff that good research rather than good teaching is rewarded (Clarke et al.
2013). The literature also references concerns related to “implicit judgments being made” (Gosling 2009, p.7),
the perceived intrusion into the professional practice of colleagues, and the loss of academic freedom (Gosling
2009; Hatzpanagos & Lygo‐Baker 2006).
5. Promoting collaboration through learning conversations
In order to address this issue of resistance to peer review, approaches such as learning conversations have
been introduced with some success (Gosling 2014). In learning conversations, there is an assumption that both
participants stand to learn about the topic or issue relating to teaching and learning. As such this collaborative
approach is distinguished from evaluative and developmental forms of peer review. Learning conversations
can take many forms but all place the learner at the heart of the process. Learning conversations have come to
represent a model for academics to reflect on the progress of their teaching and decide what to do next.
Laurillard (2000) cited in QIA (2008, p.2) views such learning conversations as taking place during the learning
itself, describing them as “discursive, adaptive, iterative and reflective” and “applicable to any learning
situation”.
The literature supports learning conversations as an effective form of collaborative peer learning. A range of
researchers (Ambler et al. 2014; Clarke et al. 2013; Gosling 2009) highlight the advantages of the collegiality
and non‐judgemental dialogue that characterises learning conversations and that teachers are reported to feel
safe to reflect on their established practices and underpinning values. Learning conversations can also trigger
intrinsic motivation, “readiness or eagerness to carry out an action or change behaviour” (Miller & Rollnick
2002 cited in QIA 2008, p.3). The following table summarises attributes of collaborative peer review and
learning conversations.
Table 1: Characteristics of collaborative peer review and learning conversations
Characteristic Description
Participants Teachers/peers/colleagues – all those involved in teaching
Purpose Improve practices through dialogue, mutual reflection to stimulate innovation
Outcome Analysis, reflection, openness to change opportunities
Judgement Shared understandings and perceptions, constructive and non‐judgemental
Relationship Equal, mutual, the reviewer asks questions to help reflection rather than providing feedback for
developmental purposes
Confidentiality Between reviewer and reviewee, public outcomes with permission
Focus Any aspect of online teaching chosen by reviewee
Benefits For both peers and students
Success Culture in which teaching is valued and discussed
Risks Confirms existing practices of evaluation and development models, compliance, perception as
being bureaucratic
Adapted from Models of Peer Review of Teaching (Gosling 2009, p.14)
6. Cautions in relation to peer review
Despite peer review providing real benefits and improvements to teaching and learning, there is a need to be
cautious. As Spencer (2014) points out, genuine peer review can be hijacked by mutual "back‐slapping" and to
avoid this, peer reviewers should be selected with care and the purpose of the review needs to be clearly
established. Hitchens (2014) also refers to the importance of institutions creating the right kind of policy
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Trish Andrews Gail Wilson and Neroli Sheldon
environment to appropriately support peer review if it is to be successful in enhancing teaching and learning
practice and be widely adopted.
7. Project overview
In this section we describe the project features and processes. As the paper reports on a work in progress,
elements of the project that have been completed to date the remaining project activities are highlighted.
The project is an OLT extension grant which focuses on extending the outcomes of previous, larger grants.
Funding for these grants is limited to A$30,000 along with the requirement to be completed within one year
from the announcement of success. This reduces real time on the project to nine to ten months. This project
makes use of resources, specifically peer review protocols and feedback processes developed from two earlier
OLT projects listed below.
Peer Review of Teaching in Australian Higher Education (Harris, Farrell, Bell, Devlin & James, 2008)
Peer Review in Online and Blended Learning Environments (McKenzie & Parker 2011)
A third project was also utilised by the project team – Social, Communicative and Interpersonal Leadership in
the Context of Peer Review (Sachs & Parsell, 2013) in relation to the design of the peer review pilots and the
video resources proposed in the project application, and the process guidelines developed for staff
participants in the extension project.
Prompt questions to guide decision making around areas for peer review were developed from the McKenzie
and Parker project (2011) noted above.
8. Project aims
The project has three main aims:
to facilitate teachers' professional learning about their online and blended learning teaching in a peer
environment
to enable the sharing of practice about teaching and learning for online and blended learning
environments within and across institutions
to develop a culture where peer review supports and encourages the development of professional
practice around teaching and learning for online and blended learning environments.
A number of incentives were offered to staff to encourage their participation in the project. These included
ensuring a small amount of funding went to those involved from both institutions.
making teaching and learning staff in both institutions available for encouragement and support
emphasing the scholarship of teaching element (an item of high interest to all participants) through
providing a baseline literature review that will enable participating staff to jumpstart an article about their
experiences. We are also providing co‐writing and feedback as requested, so the shelf life of this project is
certainly extended beyond the closing date of the project.
Table 2: Project timetable
Project activities
April 14
June 14
Sept 14
Sept 13
May 14
Mar 14
Nov 13
Aug 14
July 14
Dec 13
Feb 14
Oct 13
Jan 14
Grant awarded
Funding dispersed
Initial team meeting
All team meeting to clarify project
activities/timelines
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Trish Andrews Gail Wilson and Neroli Sheldon
Project activities
April 14
June 14
Sept 14
Sept 13
May 14
Mar 14
Nov 13
Aug 14
July 14
Dec 13
Feb 14
Oct 13
Jan 14
Resource development
Orientation sessions
Pilots
Interviews
Workshops
Project evaluation
Final report
9. Project pilot
The project pilots are key activities of the project. The project team designed and implemented two pilot peer
review programs focused on online and blended teaching and learning. The pilots were conducted within one
school in each partner institution (the School of Business at SCU and the School of Population Health at UQ),
with each school representing a different discipline group. Staff were recruited from both institutions – seven
staff across the three SCU campuses, and eight staff from the School of Population Health at UQ.
The pilots involved the following steps:
Step 1 Trialling existing processes for preparing staff for peer review
Step 2 Trialling existing checklists (rephrased as prompt questions) which support staff to prepare for, engage in and
receive feedback on, peer review of an aspect of their online and blended teaching and learning practice
Step 3 Evaluating outcomes from both pilots
As a first step in undertaking the pilots, meetings were held with the project team members in each university
to discuss the project scope and implementation. As a consequence of these conversations as well as the
thinking of the project leaders, a decision was made to amend the original project intention and to explore a
conversational approach to peer review. Additional material relating to the conversational approach was
incorporated into the process guidelines developed for staff. These guidelines were presented and worked
through at the orientation sessions held at two SCU campuses and at UQ.
At these orientation sessions the project team worked through the guidelines and processes for the peer
review pilots. These processes included ‘Start Here’; ‘Why’; ‘What?’; ‘How?’; ‘Reporting’; ‘Follow‐up’; ‘Prompt
Questions’; ‘Learning Conversations’ and ‘Key References’. The prompt questions were adopted from the 2011
OLT peer review project mentioned earlier (Mckenzie & Parker, 2011) and rephrased as questions to assist in
selecting the area for review as mentioned earlier. These questions covered the areas of administration and
communication, planning and preparation, design and teaching. The prompts provide a large number of
options for consideration but were not considered definitive and staff were free to review any area they felt
relevant to their teaching and learning practice.
The concept of 'collaborative peer review' (Gosling 2014), as mentioned above, was discussed with particular
emphasis on the need for creating dialogue, rather than asking questions and providing definitive answers.
Discussion with staff focused on how to conduct these conversations and examples of learning conversation
dialogues were provided.
A project website in Blackboard was created at SCU to support the project and made available to all project
participants. All documentation relating to the project is stored on this shared space. Participants are
encouraged to make use of wikis and journals to communicate with each other and to share their reflections.
At the time of writing this paper, we are beginning the interviews with project participants in relation to their
peer review experience in order to ascertain their understanding of how the peer review of online and
blended learning worked for them. Workshops are also being scheduled in each of the partner universities to
explore the outcomes of the project and ways in which learnings from the project can be more widely adopted
within the two institutions. Two video case studies nominated as one deliverable of the project will be
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Trish Andrews Gail Wilson and Neroli Sheldon
presented at the workshops to provide stimulus to the discussion. A project advisor nominated in the project
application will participate in the workshops to provide suggestions for effective dissemination of project
outcomes within both institutions.
Evaluation of the project is iterative and has been ongoing since the project’s inception.
10. Concluding comments
To date the project is on time and the pilot projects are almost completed. As the project began, there was
initial excitement by participants in relation to the opportunities the project provided to talk about their
teaching in a constructive way. The post‐pilot interviews will provide greater understanding of how this
excitement carried through the project. Among other things we are interested in exploring in these interviews
the effectiveness of the different online spaces for supporting reflection for peer review activities and the
range of areas in online and blended learning that provided the context for the peer reviews. How much value
will participants in this project place on the learning conversation approach that has been a key feature of the
way feedback is shared between the peer partners in in this project? To what extent will we be able to say that
this approach to professional learning of staff in relation to teaching and learning practices in online and
blended environments is scalable across our respective institutions? Our intention is to produce a second
paper which will focus on the key deliverables of the project, the results of the project evaluation and answers
to these questions.
References
Ambler, T., Chavan, M., Clarke, J. and Matthews, N. (2014) “Climate of Communication: Collegiality, Affect, Spaces and
Attitudes in Peer Review”, in J Sachs & M Parsell (eds.), Peer Review of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education,
Springer, Dordrecht, pp 67–84
Andrews, T., and Tynan, B. (2011) “Changing Student Learning Preferences: What does this mean for the Future of
Universities?”, in G. Williams, P. Statham, N. Brown & B. Cleland (eds.), Proceedings of the Ascilite Changing Demands,
Changing Directions Conference, Hobart, pp 118–122
Applebee, A. (2014) “Peer Review for Distance Educators: Two Case Studies”, in J Sachs & M Parsell (eds.), Peer Review of
Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Springer, Dordrecht, pp 125–136
Bart, M. (2013) “Survey Confirms Growth of the Flipped Classroom”, [online], Faculty Focus,
www.facultyfocus.com/articles/edtech‐news‐and‐trends/survey‐confirms‐growth‐of‐the‐flipped‐classroom/htm
Beckton, J. and Penney, W. (2011) “Peer Observation of On‐line Teaching in a Distance Learning Environment”, Paper read
at the Blackboard Users Group Conference, Durham, UK, January
Bennett, S. and Santy, J. (2009) “A Window on our Teaching Practice: Enhancing Individual Online Teaching Quality through
Online Peer Observation and Support. A UK case study”, Nurse Education in Practice, Vol 9, No. 6, pp 403–406
Clarke, J., Ambler, T., Chavan. M and Matthews, N (2013) “Communication and Peer Review in Higher Education:
Conversations on Three Continents”, Paper read at the Clute Institute International Academic Conference, Colorado,
August
Conole, G., Dyke, M., Oliver, M. and Seale, J. (2004) “Mapping Pedagogy and Tools for Effective Learning Design”,
Computers & Education, Vol 43, pp 17–33
Forsyth, H., Pizzica, J., Laxton, R., & Mahoney, M.J. (2010) “Distance Education in an Era of elearning: Challenges and
Opportunities for a Campus‐focused Institution”, Higher Education Research and Development, Vol 29, No 10, pp 15‐
28
Gosling, D. (2014) “Collaborative Peer‐Supported Review of Teaching”, J. Sachs & M. Parsell (eds.), Peer Review of Learning
and Teaching in Higher Education, Springer, Dordrecht, pp 13–32
Gosling, D. (2009) A New Approach to Peer Review of Teaching, in D Gosling & K O’Conner (eds.), Beyond the Peer
Observation of Teaching, Staff and Education Development Association, London, pp 7–17
Gaskamp, C. and Kintner, E. (2014) “Development, Evaluation and Utility of a Peer Evaluation Form for Online Teaching”,
Nurse Educator, Vol 39, No. 1, pp 22–25
Harris, K., Farrell, K., Bell, M., Devlin, M. and James, R. (2008) Peer Review of Teaching in Australian Higher Education: A
Handbook to Support Institutions in Developing Effective Policies and Practices, Australian Learning and Teaching
Council, Sydney
Hatzipanagos, S. and Lygo‐Baker, S. (2006). “Teaching Observations: A Meeting of Minds?”, International Journal of
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Vol 17, No. 2, pp 75–105
Hitchens, M. (2014) “Six Questions”, in J. Sachs & M. Parsell (eds.), Peer Review of Learning and Teaching in Higher
Education, Springer, Dordrecht, pp 183–199
Laurillard, D., Stratford, M., Luckin, R., Plowman, L. and Taylor, J. (2000) Affordances for learning in a non‐linear narrative
medium. Proceedings of the American Educational Research Association Conference.
Lombardi M. (2007) “Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: An Overview”, [online], Educause Learning Initiative,
www.net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3009.pdf
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McKenzie, J. and Parker, N. (2011) “Peer Review in Online and Blended Learning Environments: ALTC Final Report” [online]
University of Technology Sydney, http://www.olt.gov.au/resource‐peer‐review‐elearning‐uts‐2011
Miller, W. and Rollnick, S. (2002) Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People for Change, 2nd edn, Guilford Publications Inc.,
New York.
Philip, R. and Wozniak, H. (2009), “Peer Review of Teaching Practice and Resources: Exploring New Spaces to Embrace
Cultural Change”, Paper read at the 26th Annual ASCILITE International Conference, Auckland, New Zealand,
December
Quality Improvement Agency (2008), “Learning Conversations” [online]
www.tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/tlp/pedagogy/assets/documents/qs_learning_conversations.pdf
Sachs, J., and Parsell, M. (2013). “Social, communicative and interpersonal leadership in the context of peer review: OLT
Final Report” [online] Macquarie University, http://www.olt.gov.au/project‐social‐communicative‐interpersonal‐
leadership‐macquarie‐2009
Sachs, J. and Parsell, M. (2014) Peer Review of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (eds.), Springer, Dordrecht
Spencer, D. (2014) “Was Moses Peer Observed? The Ten Commandments of Peer Observation of Teaching’, in J. Sachs & M.
Parsell (eds.), Peer Review of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Springer, Dordrecht, pp 183–199
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[online], www.openeducationeuropa.eu/en/download/file/fid/27007
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University of South Australia, www.olt.gov.au/resources/good‐practice?text=academic%20promotion
Wyllie, A. (2011) “Eager 'Weavers': Designing Assessment for an Online Environment”, Nurse Education in Practice, Vol 11,
No. 2, 99–103
Yeung, A., Lim, K., Tay, E., Lam‐Chiang, A. & Hui, C. (2012) “Relating Use of Digital Technology by Pre‐service Teachers to
Confidence: A Singapore Survey”, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology Vol 28, No. 8, 1317–1332, [online],
www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet28/yeung.html
35
Action Possibilities of Educational Technologies in Multicultural
Learning Environments
Edilson Arenas
CQUniversity, Melbourne, Australia
e.arenas@cqu.edu.au
Abstract: A raft of studies have been undertaken in higher education to investigate the action possibilities and the
influence information and communication technologies (ICT) may have in students’ learning experiences and outcomes.
Such studies have given rise to the implementation of a wide range of educational frameworks with a great deal of
empirical evidence on the benefits of using technologies to improve learning. However, these benefits do not appear to
have fulfilled higher education expectations for more meaningful and transformative learning experiences. In this paper, I
argue that part of the problem is either the content or teacher–centric perspective of these frameworks and the need to
explore the benefits from a more student–centric perspective. Learning is contextual, with learners having different
abilities to learn and preferences for educational technologies with greater potential to facilitate their learning activities.
Drawing on an ethnographic study of culturally diverse computing students and teachers within learning environments that
blend online and face‐to‐face pedagogies, I argue that, that our understanding of what ICT has to offer for the design and
implementation of transformative learning activities is a far more complex issue than is often anticipated, particularly in
the design and implementation of learning for computer science programs.
Keywords: computing education, learner’s preferences, learning styles, learning technologies, media affordances, online
learning
1. Introduction
There is an extensive body of research on the action possibilities of information and communication
technology (ICT) to transform learning and teaching in higher education (see Collis 1997; Fowler & Mayes 1999;
Goodyear 2005; Laurillard 2002; Oliver 2001). For example, Laurillard (2002) claims that for ICT to play an
effective role in learning and teaching, there needs to be mechanisms to support the interactive dialogue
between teachers and students with the subject matter. Fowler and Mayes (1999) take a similar dialogical
approach but primarily focusing on ICT to support the three essential learning stages of understanding:
conceptualisation, construction and contextualisation; enabling the learner to move from a novice level to an
expert level of learning. A different perspective is presented by Collis (1997) in her pedagogical profile of a
course, where the intention of incorporating ICT into the course is to maximise flexibility, with more student
engagement and locus of control. Collis sees two ways to achieve this: either through the pedagogical
enrichment of the course profile or through a more transformative approach known as the pedagogical re‐
engineering approach where the components of the course are expected to be radically changed. In the
Australian Flexible Learning Framework for the Vocational Education and Training sector, according to Oliver
(2001), the underpinning theme is for the use of ICT to support the design of the three learning elements
which represent critical components of any learning setting for knowledge construction: learning activities,
learning resources and learning support. Similarly, in Goodyear‘s (2005) conceptual design framework for
networked learning environments, the use of ICT is instrumental in supporting the institutional combination of
two elements: the teacher’s pedagogical approach (teachers’ philosophy to teaching) and the educational
setting including the learning environment, the learning tasks and the learning activities.
However, despite significant investment in infrastructure and training and a wide‐scale uptake of such ICT‐
mediated educational frameworks, the promised transformative effect on student learning is yet to be
actualised outside of small pockets of innovation (Arenas & Lynch 2012; Price & Kirkwood 2014). Of particular
interest are students’ approaches to learning in multicultural learning environments where ICT is considered as
integral to teaching and learning activities. The above discussed models appear to overlook factors like that
learning is cross‐cultural, that learners have different abilities to learn and modes of approaching the
intellectual inquiry; and that all these factors may affect the way students perceive the ICT‐mediated learning
activities (Arenas 2012). Specifically, this research addresses the following questions:
In the context of computing education, what are students’ preferences for ICT media in their learning
activities?
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Edilson Arenas
What is the relationship between the different types of ICT media, their action possibilities and the way
these ICT media best support the learning of computer science?
2. Related work
Two interlocked aspects of learning and teaching appear to be critical in the choice of ICT to support learning:
1) the nature of the subject matter (within an academic discipline) that we as teachers believe students need
to construct their knowledge and, 2) students’ learning styles of intellectual inquiry (Becher 1994). In this
respect, Biglan’s classic model on academic disciplines and Kolb’s learning styles theory might shed some light.
With reference into the similarities and differences of academic disciplines, no other framework has been as
extensively cited as Biglan’s classic model. Biglan (1973) uses the cultural and epistemological uniqueness
found in each branch of knowledge to classify the nature of academic disciplines. In doing so, Biglan (1973)
differentiates the academic disciplines according to their specific characteristics including the object of
research, body of knowledge, theory, principles and research methods. Two dimensions emerge from these
characteristics. The first dimension distinguishes between paradigmatic and nonparadigmatic fields, i.e. hard
or soft respectively. For example, physical sciences are ‘characterised by the existence of paradigms that
specify the appropriate problems for study and the appropriate methods to be used’ (p. 195), while social
sciences and nonsciences areas like history which ‘do not have such clearly delineated paradigms’ (p. 195). The
second dimension perceives the subject matter in terms of ‘its requirements for practical applications’, i.e.
pure or applied (Biglan 1973). On those grounds, Biglan (1973) sees academic disciplines divided into four
groups: hard‐pure, hard‐applied, soft‐pure and soft‐applied.
The context of this study is computing education and in terms of Biglan’s categorisation, it falls into the hard‐
applied category (Baldwin 2011; Clark 2003). According to Becher (1994), in the hard‐applied disciplinary group,
the nature of knowledge is purposive and pragmatic where individuals are concerned with the technical
mastery of physical environments to build products. Consequently, the effective choice of ICT in the design
and implementation of computing learning and teaching activities should consider these characteristics of the
computing discipline.
Kolb’s experiential learning theory (ELT) has been influential in understanding learner’s preferences and the
way they approach learning. According to Kolb and Kolb (2005), learning is a process where the learner
constructs knowledge through his / her experiences with the environment. He sees knowledge as the result of
combining the way individuals grasp and transform their experiences (Kolb & Kolb 2005). According to this
theory, there are two dialectically related modes of grasping experience: Concrete Experience (CE) and
Abstract Conceptualisation (AC). Similarly, there are two dialectically related modes of transforming
experience: Reflective Observation (RO) and Active Experimentation (AE). For example, when a learner is
exposed for the first time to a concrete experience (CE), there is an initial stimulus for the reflective
observation (RO) of the new experience, which in turn gives rise to a thinking process characterised by
abstraction and conceptualisation (AC) to assimilate the new experience. Once the new experience is
assimilated the learner is prepared to act upon and transforming it into something different through active
experimentation (AE). This learning cycle repeats in the construction of new knowledge and varies depending
on the personality and experiences of the learner (Kolb & Kolb 2005). In other words, there is a preferred way
of choosing amongst the four abovementioned modes of learning shaped by individual’s previous experiences,
learning behaviours, prior learning and the learning environment.
From the perspective of computing education, and in terms of Kolb’s modes of learning, computing students
are individuals with a converging style of learning with abstraction, conceptualisation, and active
experimentation as the main dominant learning abilities. Consequently, the choice of ICT for learning purposes
should be consistent with the learning style of these individuals.
In the spirit of Biglan and Kolb, this paper builds upon our knowledge about how computing students go about
learning in learning environments with ICT as an integral component for the design of transformative learning
and teaching. The analysis presented below elaborates specifically on computing science students’ diverse
responses to particular ICT—mediated learning activities, and through this analysis I argue that our
understanding of what ICT has to offer for the design and implementation of transformative learning activities
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Edilson Arenas
is a far more complex issue than is often anticipated, particularly in the design and implementation of learning
for computer science programs.
3. About the study
3.1 Participants
This paper draws on an ethnographic study (Arenas 2012), conducted at two universities in Australia, that
explored the behaviours, attitudes, perceptions and conceptions of teaching and learning found within
multicultural learning environments that blend online and face‐to‐face pedagogies.
Data were collected from participants located at two qualitatively different sites. Within each site, two
postgraduate computing courses (or units of study) were targeted for data collection: NetSec (Network
Security) and SAD (Systems Analysis and Design) at Site 1; and BAM (Business Analysis and Modelling) and FOIS
(Fundamentals of Information Systems) at Site 2. The first site (henceforth referred to as Site 1) was located in
one of the metropolitan campuses of a multi‐campus medium‐sized regional Australian university, and the
second site (henceforth referred to as Site 2) was located in a large metropolitan Australian university. Site 1’s
student body comprised international students only, whereas Site 2 was located in a university that catered
mainly for domestic students with a relatively smaller population of international students. The learning
management system (LMS) used at Site 1 was a purpose in‐house built system whereas at Site 2 students used
Blackboard™, a popular commercially available learning management system.
The purposive, culturally diverse sample from both sites comprised of 18 student participants from nine
countries of origin and their respective teachers. The following is a description of the sample based on
participant‐reported background information.
Student participants at Site 1 included twelve students. They had diverse educational backgrounds, with
different residency time in the country. Prior to the commencement of the semester term, Site 1’s students
had been residing in Australia for a period of between 3 months and 18 months, with half of them for less than
a year and five students for only three months. Of the twelve student participants, six were men and six
women, including nationalities from Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Kuwait and India. Before participating in this
study, six students already held a postgraduate degree and three had more than two years’ experience in the
field of information technology. All students who provided information about their skills reported that they
were experts at writing academic arguments in the English language. They also reported to have expert level
knowledge using computer hardware and software and discussion forums; however, only three students
reported to have experience using blogs.
At Site 2, there were six student participants: three men and three women including nationalities from
Australia, Oman, Vietnam, Indonesia and China. Prior to the commencement of the semester term, except for
one domestic student, Site 2’s students had been living in Australia for a period of between one month and
two years, with two students residing in Australia for fewer than three months. Also in contrast to Site 1,
where six students already held a postgraduate degree, at Site 2 all students held an undergraduate bachelor
degree before the conduct of this study. Three students had between four to thirteen years’ experience
working in an information technology field. Only one student claimed to have novice expertise in computer
hardware and software and discussion forums compared to the rest who reported to be highly experienced
using those tools. Similarly, two students reported having novice experience writing academic arguments in
English, with the rest reporting to have expert level essay writing skills. Except for one student, they did not
have substantial team work and management experience.
The teacher participants at Site 1 were two young but experienced teachers: Georgina taught NetSec and
Richard taught SAD (pseudonyms are used throughout to refer to teacher and student participants). Before the
conduct of this study, Georgina had more than three years’ experience teaching information technology
subjects on a sessional basis, that is to say, through contracts for the duration of each semester term. Georgina
combined her professional academic practice with full‐time paid work in a senior systems administration role
at a prominent Australian financial organisation. She held a Masters degree in information technology from an
Australian university. Richard was a full‐time academic staff member with three years’ experience teaching
information systems subjects. Before his full‐time academic tenure, Richard was part of Site 1’s alumni and
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Edilson Arenas
after his graduation he worked as a teacher on a sessional basis at Site 1. He held a Masters degree in
information systems and a Graduate Certificate in university teaching.
In terms of Site 2’s teachers, BAM staff was larger than FOIS, and included three experienced professionals
with different industrial and academic backgrounds. Sophia, the principal academic teacher and teacher
participant responsible for this subject, had completed a PhD in Computer Science and also a Graduate
Certificate in university teaching. She had extensive experience as a research scientist in information
architecture; and usability analysis and design for various industrial and research projects locally and
internationally. The other two teachers did not form part of the sample.
While BAM had three academic staff, FOIS was managed and taught by a single staff member, Shane. Shane
was a senior lecturer within the Faculty of Science at Site 2 with extensive experience teaching online courses.
He held a PhD in Information Systems and a Graduate Certificate in university teaching.
3.2 Data collection
I used multiple data sources to gain insights into the behaviours, attitudes, perceptions and conceptions of
teaching and learning found within these multicultural blended learning environments. The data included
digital textual records of online discussions, semi‐structured interviews, field notes from classroom
observations, a reflective research journal, course‐associated documentation, and students’ assignments.
The first source of data consisted of digital texts produced by both student and teacher participants during
their interactions with the online component of the learning environments at each site. During the term,
teachers provided the students with various online learning activities for individual and group work. At Site 1,
student participants were required to maintain an electronic journal (blog) to reflect on their own learning
experiences and perceptions of the course. The blog at Site 1 was based on nine topical questions spread over
the last nine weeks of the semester and was assessed. The teaching staff provided structured marking
guidelines to promote quality work and to ensure each student contributed the nine expected reflections.
They also monitored students’ progress and provided weekly feedback. At Site 1, students also used a
laboratory simulator (LabSimTM), a simulation tool where students could experiment with real world problems
in a virtual environment. The LabSimTM acted as a virtual tutor guiding the students through complex and
technical configurations of secured networks. The system could challenge the student to conduct tasks that
replicated the real world providing immediate feedback after the completion of the task. At Site 2, students
were required to use a discussion forum to extend their engagement with learning activities initiated in face‐
to‐face forums. There were six discussion forums. Three of them were designed for individual participation
where students were asked to challenge or critique at least one of the questions raised by the lectures or
fellow classmates during the classes. There was a general discussion forum to discuss general issues arising
from the course and two group‐project‐related discussion boards. Of the six forums only the general
discussion forum was moderated by the teaching staff. The other forums were only moderated to check
students’ progress and to prevent language flaming.
Classroom observations were conducted at both sites to record reflective notes and descriptions of students’
face‐to‐face classroom activities and behaviours, stimulate personal views of participants in interview, and
record events such as student consultations and class participation. The classroom observations were
instrumental in the selection of the purposive sample for the student interviews.
Individual interviews were conducted with both teachers and students. The duration of each interview was
between 30 and 45 minutes. The purpose of these semi‐structured interviews was to gather participants’
reflective views of their teaching and learning experiences in the learning environment. Semi‐structured
interviews were preferred to structured interviews because this method is more consistent with the
ethnographic aspect of this study. Through the use of open‐ended questions, semi‐structure interviews allow
for the exploration of new ideas and themes, something hard to achieve with the rigorous setting of questions,
commonly found in structured interviews (Creswell 2007).
The identification of potential interviewees was based on the criterion‐based selection as recommended by
Schensul and LeCompte (1999). Specifically, four teachers responsible for the delivery of the subjects were
interviewed: two at Site 1 and two at Site 2. Student participants were interviewed in the middle of the second
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Edilson Arenas
semester, by which point I had had the opportunity to observe the students and assess the level of
engagement and participation in both face‐to‐face and online forums. I sought to maximise diversity in our
sample by choosing students from the following groups: those who were quiet in the classroom but very active
online; those who were active online but not in face‐to‐face sessions; those who were very active in both
environments; and, those who were passive face‐to‐face and online.
The interviews contained a range of open‐ended questions that asked participants to reflect on the
multicultural, pedagogical and technological aspect of the units of study.
I used additional data sources such as a research journal, subject outlines, profiles, content and accreditation
documents, and students’ assignments, to investigate the relationship between students’ reported
perceptions of the subject and the documented learning aims, course content and student behaviours in the
course.
3.3 Data analysis
Data files were iteratively examined in search of themes that were meaningful in relation to the aim of the
study in that they related to students’ behaviours, attitudes, perceptions and conceptions of teaching and
learning within a blended, multicultural context. Through this process I developed forty‐six codes (facilitated
by NVivo™), referring to both expected elements of the study, as well as to unexpected elements that
represented unusual information to the researchers and/or participants (Creswell 2007). Codes were then
hierarchically clustered and some were merged.
4. Discussion of the findings
The process described above resulted in a total of thirty‐six codes organised into five broad themes: 1.
Adapting to a new learning environment – cultural and social dimensions; 2. Preparing to learn; 3. Keeping
pace with the learning activities; 4. ICT integration; and, 5. Perceptions of pedagogical practices. It is beyond
the scope of this paper to discuss each of these themes, which are reported elsewhere (Arenas 2012). Instead,
here I focus on the ICT integration theme, which incorporates codes associated with the affordances of ICT in
learning and the types of ICT‐mediated learning activities that appear to be a better fit with the expectations
and behaviours of computer science students than others.
In relation to educational technology, the term integration means different things in different contexts and it is
often used without precise explanations of what it might mean to different people and for different authors. In
this paper, a number of ideas and practices related to integration are explored in the context of computing
students using ICT in their learning activities and could be interpreted as any of the following: the way
different online tools and their access are presented to students, the relationship between online and face‐to‐
face components of a unit of study, the link between learning aims and the use of ICT, the link between
assessment tasks and the way ICT is used; and the underlying assumptions of teaching and learning tasks for
different aspects or components of a unit of study and how this relates to the way ICT is used. Having said that,
this study showed that the vast majority of student participants perceived the integration of ICT into learning
activities as useful, convenient, flexible, encouraging reflection and good for knowledge sharing and
asynchronous interactions. These findings are consistent with those reported by similar studies (e.g. Stacey &
Rice 2002), where the use of learning technologies is seen to be a positive experience for students, enabling
them to engage in learning activities even when the parties were spread geographically, at their convenient
times, providing resources, idea sharing and a sense of a learning community. However, in terms of the action
possibilities of ICT in transformative learning and teaching; two findings are relevant to the discussion: 1) the
alignment of ICT‐mediated learning activities with students’ learning needs and preferences; and 2) students’
diverse responses to different types of digital media.
4.1 Alignment of ICT‐mediated learning activities
While the integration of ICT into learning activities was seen by many students to be beneficial for their
learning, many also reported difficulties with the particular array of ICT‐mediated learning activities that they
experienced.
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Edilson Arenas
There were students’ reported perceptions that the ICT‐mediated learning environment did not give them the
option to choose from learning tasks and that somehow they were misaligned with their preferences and
needs. From the findings, the requirement to do all the learning tasks was not well received. They would have
preferred a learning environment with a higher level of flexibility in terms of content management and the
mode of learning consistent with their professional interests and learning needs (Biggs 2003; Cornelius,
Gordon & Ackland 2009; Guest 2005; Marton & Booth 1997). The approach to learning should support
program designs which include a wide array of ICT‐mediated learning activities but where students are given
scope to both pursue learning activities that align with their interests and preferences, as well as being
supported to engage with non‐preferred modes.
4.2 Students’ diverse responses to different types of digital media
Particular technologies are understood to have particular affordances and constraints (Laurillard 2002), that is,
any one technology can be analysed and understood to afford some types of usages and behaviours while
constraining others. Laurillard’s (2002) analytical framework, which identifies the affordances of both
communicative media and adaptive media, is useful in terms of the findings of this study. This study found that
the students responded differently to different types of digital media. Using Laurillard’s terminology, some
students found the use of communicative media (e.g. blogs and discussion forums) to be problematic, and
some teachers and students were dissatisfied with the use of these technologies, specifically in relation to
supporting reflection, discussion and collaboration. The main sources of this dissatisfaction are evident in the
findings of this study. First, although social constructivist theories of learning suggest that students learn best
through collaboration, dialogical conversations and critical thinking, for some students their willingness to
learn collaboratively and to participate in the communicative environments was inhibited by a number of
socio‐cultural factors such as cultural differences and attitudes towards cultural diversity. Second, although
these types of skills and interactions are promoted at the level of policy (e.g. through stated graduate
attributes), the fit between these types of reflective and dialogical activities and the culture of computing
science (Dijkstra et al. 1989; Lynch et al. 2001) is not necessarily good, such that computing students do not
necessarily understand the potential value of engaging in the reflective, dialogical learning activities afforded
by communicative media.
Where the use of communicative media appeared to be problematic in the context of this study, the use of
interactive and adaptive media in the form of the LabSimTM (Laboratory Simulator) was a different story.
Laurillard (2002) states that interactive media support the investigating and exploring nature of the learning
experience. Adaptive media support the experimenting and practising culture that dominates in computing
education. The learning activities that made use of adaptive media (i.e. through the use of the LabSimTM)
were well received by the student participants who could see their value. Further, the sorts of activities
afforded by the adaptive media did not present challenges to the students’ socio‐culturally laden conceptions
of, and skills in, learning in the same way that the communicative media did. In essence, the findings suggest
that some types of ICT‐based learning activities appeared to be a better fit with the expectations and
behaviours of international computing students. While other types offer much potential for developing desired
learning outcomes and providing flexibility and accessibility, they are not as easily “sold” to these students.
5. Conclusion and implications
This study contributes further evidence of the complex issues associated with the effective integration of
online tools in learning. The finding that some types of ICT‐based learning activities appear to be a better fit
with the expectations and behaviours of computer science students than others makes a significant
contribution to computing education because of the implications it has for learning design. The cultural
preference found amongst computing students for adaptive rather than communicative media suggests a very
significant cultural barrier to effective engagement in online dialogical exchanges, barriers that are not easily
overcome. The study sheds more light on the advantages and disadvantages of different types of ICT media to
be integrated in computing education scenarios. There is a need for further exploration of the affordances of
communicative and interactive media and for the appropriate integration of such media in computing learning
activities that best prepare computing students.
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42
Online Formative Assessment in Higher Education: Its Pros and Cons
Zwelijongile Gaylard Baleni
Centre for Learning and Teaching Development, Walter Sisulu University, South Africa
zbaleni@wsu.ac.za
Abstract: Online and blended learning has become common educational strategy in higher education. Lecturers need to
reconceptualise fundamental issues of teaching, learning and assessment in non‐traditional spaces. These issues include
concepts such as validity and reliability of assessment in online environments in relation to serving the intended purposes,
as well as understanding how formative assessment functions within online and blended learning. This article’s concern is
how and if formative assessment in an online course improves learning. A mixed method questionnaire on formative
assessment with a key focus on application of formative assessment within blended and online contexts was used to
collect data from courses using Blackboard. Lecturers and students at a comprehensive university were the population.
Various techniques for formative assessment linked with online tools such as discussion forums and objective tests were
used. The benefits identified include improvement of student engagement, faster feedback and centrality in the process as
both students and lecturers were engaged, including the development of a learning community. The key findings are that
effective online formative assessment can nurture a student and assessment centred focus through formative feedback
and enhanced student engagement with valuable learning experiences. Ongoing authentic assessment activities and
interactive formative feedback were identified as important characteristics that can address threats to validity and
reliability within the context of online formative assessment.
Keywords: online formative assessment, formative feedback, student engagement, learning
1. Introduction
The prominent intonation in assessment circles a decade ago was use of assessment for learning (formative
assessment) rather than assessment of learning (summative assessment). The focus has shifted; the use of
online and blended learning has become common in 21st century higher education learning and teaching
environment. Larreamendy‐Joerns and Leinhardt (2006, p.572) review of the literature “observed two
complementary movements in the educational landscape: the merging of online teaching and learning into the
stream of everyday practices at universities, and the increasingly salient role of distance programmes in
institutions of higher education”. In the online environment, the lack of physical space and face‐to‐face contact
between lecturers and students leads to different ways of assessing learning in a class.
Classroom assessment is important because it has a strong impact on learning. Assessment is at the heart of
formal higher education. As identified by Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2000), assessment is a core
component for effective learning. How the lecturer approaches assessment influences the way students
perceive the class, the material for study, and their own work (Brookhart 1997). Teaching and learning
processes need to be assessment‐centred to provide learners with opportunities to demonstrate their
developing abilities and receive support to enhance their learning. Most importantly, assessment practices
influence students by directing their attention to particular aspects of course content and by specifying ways
of processing information. Students concentrate their efforts towards whatever content or cognitive skills they
believe will be tested (Bull & McKenna, 2004). So not only does assessment influence what content students
spend time learning, but also the type of learning occurring. Different forms of assessment encourage different
types of learning.
Formative assessment plays a critical role in learning environments, specifically embedded formative
assessment. It is very important to recognise the value of embedded formative assessment and its role in
increasing student learning as essential in not only meeting the intended outcomes of the course, but also in
closing the feedback loop in quality online courses. Instruction and assessment are an integral part of each
other; thus, assessment should be viewed as a process which lecturers must use throughout the course, not
just as an afterthought or for summative purposes at the end.
With accountability in mind and the explosion of online learning environments the need for best assessment
practices in online learning environments surges. Formative assessment is commonly applied in the classroom
as a source of ongoing feedback with the aim to improve teaching and learning (Hargreaves, 2008). It can also
be referred to as assessment for learning that occurs during the course of instruction with the aim to support
learning (Vonderwell et al., 2007). Formative assessment activities are embedded within instructions to
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Zwelijongile Gaylard Baleni
monitor learning and assess learners understanding for the purposes of modifying instruction and informing
further learning through ongoing and timely feedback until the desired level of knowledge has been achieved.
Formative assessment is defined “as the iterative processes of establishing what, how much and how well
students are learning in relation to the learning goals and expected outcomes in order to inform tailored
formative feedback and support further learning, a pedagogical strategy that is more productive when role is
shared among the teacher, peers and the individual learner “(Gikandi et al. 2011, p. 2337). The convergence of
formative assessment with technological perspectives brings to life the concept of online formative
assessment. In describing this convergence, Pachler et al. (2010, p. 716) used the term formative e‐assessment
which they defined as “the use of ICT to support the iterative process of gathering and analysing information
about student learning by teachers as well as learners and of evaluating it in relation to prior achievement and
attainment of intended, as well as unintended learning outcomes”. The Pachler et al ’s definition encompasses
application of formative assessment in all forms of e‐learning environments including the complementary role
of ICT in f2f settings as well as in blended and online learning settings. In the same tone, Gikandi et al (2011),
define online formative assessment as the application of formative assessment within learning online and
blended settings where the lecturer and learners are separated by time and/or space and where a substantial
proportion of learning/teaching activities are conducted through web‐based ICT.
Effective integration of formative assessment in online learning environments has the potential to offer an
appropriate structure for sustained meaningful interactions among students and the lecturer, and foster
development of effective learning communities to facilitate meaningful learning and its assessment (Sorensen
& Takle, 2005). Moreover, this can provide a systematic structure for effective student support through
ongoing monitoring of learning and provision of adequate formative feedback. Ongoing support for scaffolding
learning is critical in online learning, and can be essentially facilitated through sustained interactive
collaboration between the lecturer and students (Ludwig‐Hardman & Dunclap, 2003). This is because it
supports students to engage productively, and assists them in the development of self‐regulated learning
dispositions. This in turn supports them to take primary responsibility for their learning which is an important
requirement for success in online learning. This can ultimately foster meaningful engagement and deep
learning in online higher education. Effective application of formative assessment in online learning
environments can offer an innovative pedagogical strategy to facilitate such opportunities (Gikandi et al 2011).
What worked in the past in face‐to‐face settings does not necessarily work in online environments (Goldstein
& Behuniak, 2012). The pedagogical theory is the same, however the implementation varies. As Vonderwell,
Liang, and Alderman (2007) indicated, assessment (whether formative or summative) in online learning
contexts encompasses distinct characteristics as compared to f2f contexts particularly due to the
asynchronous nature of interactivity among the online participants (the lecturer and students). Therefore, it
requires lecturers to rethink online pedagogy in order to achieve effective formative assessment strategies
that can support meaningful (higher‐order or deep) learning and its assessment. Not only does assessment
need to be an integral part of designing the course, assessment needs to begin even before the course begins
or at the very latest within the first couple of weeks of class. Students need to be able to demonstrate their
ability to complete tasks in an online environment, prior to learning the content which can later be assessed.
As such, formative assessment needs to be done early in an online or blended course to make sure that
technological obstacles are not preventing students from succeeding in this environment.
In addition, the delivery method in online learning environments allows for opportunities in student learning
that are unique to this type of learning environment. Technology plays a positive roll on student learning
(Bakerson and Rodriquez‐ Campos, 2006), and provides an opportunity for closing the feedback loop. If done
correctly, online learning environments can "provide student and lecturer with richer, more immediate
feedback" (Bajzek, D., Brooks, J., Jerome, W., Lovett, Rinderle, Rule & Thille, 2008, p.1) which, in turn, will
increase productivity and learning. Assessment in this type of environment benefits students and instructors
(Dewald, Scholz‐Crane, Booth & Levine, 2000). At all levels of education from Pre all the way to higher
education, accountability has a firm grip that is not going to loosen anytime soon.
Reliability and validity issues surmount in online assessments, however interactive, formative embedded
feedback address these threats of reliability and validity. For All aspects of embedded formative assessment,
technology can be used for implementing and fostering enhanced student engagement through learning
experiences. The following discussion is the procedure followed in investigating how and if formative
assessment in an online course improves learning.
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Zwelijongile Gaylard Baleni
2. Methodology
The lecturers and students using Blackboard, a VLE platform in a comprehensive university in Eastern Cape
comprised the population. The sample included 2 modules one form Faculty of Education and the other from
the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology made up of two lecturers and 220 first year undergraduate
students in 2013 term 2.
In both modules, online discussion forums and multiple choice tests were introduced in Blackboard as modes
of formative assessment. Two processes were followed firstly; topics were posted in the discussion forum for
interaction after class activity based on that particular learning outcome. Only participation in the discussion
forum had grading not the content. An assignment then followed for individual/group submission and grading.
Secondly, a pool of objective questions (multiple‐choice, true/false) was uploaded online. Students were
allowed two (2) attempts to answer after getting feedback online. They also had time to revisit their reading
material before making next attempt based on the scaffolding their received from the automated online
feedback. The test items were randomised to avoid memorising answers. Feedback was immediate after
submission but only included submitted answer and feedback no correct answers in the first attempt, then the
correct answer would be shown in the second and final attempt. These tasks were not graded. A summative
test would follow a week later based on the same learning outcome. Then at the end of the semester, students
and staff surveys were conducted on how both the lecturers and students felt about the process.
3. Results
Responses from students on the use of discussion forums were mainly positive although there were some
challenges identified. Mostly students praise online discussion forums as informative and guiding in concepts
dealt with in class. By the time they have to write the summative assignment, such discussion forums have
moulded their thinking to be more focused and intended outcome oriented.
Examples of such positive comments are:
“I have certainly learned a lot through this discussion not just from my own work but also from
the other students”
“It requires us to think out of the box”
“It contributed to the communication between fellow – students”
“It encouraged me to read more”
“It kept me focussed and curious”
“It made me understand concepts much easier”
“A relaxed atmosphere to ask my peers”
“Could respond anytime, anywhere”
“Guidance from the lecturers kept me on track”
“Comments from peers helped a lot towards preparing my assignment”
Negative comments included:‐
“Challenge to access internet”
“I had to filter good facts from bad ones when compiling my assignment”
“Some peers said negative things in their responses”
On the use of formative objective tests, the table below shows the students’ responses in % using Likert scale
ranging from strongly agree (SA), Agree (A), Not Sure (NS), and Disagree (DA) to Strongly Disagree (SDA).
Table 1: Students’ responses on formative tests
Items SA A NS DA SDA
Online tests are more accessible than paper‐based 70 30
exams.
Marking is more accurate, because computers 80 20
don’t suffer from human error.
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Zwelijongile Gaylard Baleni
4. Discussion
Formative assessment was used as an integral part of instruction. For example, students were given two
attempts on their tests. Implementing this system of formative testing throughout the semester gives students
the opportunity to: study before each of the first attempts on the review quizzes; complete the test, view the
results, and use the information to redirect further study before the second attempt; retake each quiz; and use
the results of the second attempts to advantage in preparation for the cumulative summative test. In addition,
because all items on the summative final test are drawn from the formative quizzes, the opportunity for
students to achieve mastery of the content is substantially increased. This strategy of using the content from
the quizzes as ‘feeder items’ for the summative test has proven to be extremely beneficial.
From the comments and results above, like “Comments from peers helped a lot towards preparing my
assignment”, it shows that students appreciated and enjoyed online formative assessment. The majority of
them are very positive about the process as it has nurtured them to better understanding and more learning.
There are several variables which affect students’ success rate when using formative assessment. Unlike
summative testing, which merely indicates the content areas in which a student lacks understanding,
formative tests give students an opportunity to (a) realize which areas of the content they need to further
explore; and (b) go back and learn that content. It is because of this fact that students seem willing to
reinvestigate the areas of the content which they had not fully understood before the first attempt. This then
serves as a significant variable influencing students’ ultimate success. As asserted by Smith (2007, p.32),
“Formative assessment does not benefit all students if they do not fulfil their responsibility to learn”. For
instance, when students are given a specific number of attempts, and one averages the scores rather than
using a substitution model, this system becomes one which encourages studying before each attempt.
Although some academics may perceive the practice of offering second attempts as compromising the integ‐
rity of the assessment’s results, seeing it, at minimum, as being inappropriate and, at worst, as condoning
cheating. Yet in actuality, being given the opportunity to learn from one’s mistakes promotes that which is at
the core of the educational system: the opportunity of learning from one’s mistakes and thereby developing
genuine competence (Chappuis & Chappuis, 2007/ 2008; Phelps, 2010; Renfro & Grieshaber, 2009; Smith,
1997). This strategy also helps to deliver the message to students that the institution and lecturer are on their
side. It makes the statement that their lecturers’ emphasis is on development, rather than on test‐taking
ability. Implementing this method not only encourages multiple study sessions, but also serves to combat the
element of anxiety which can interfere with the student’s accurate demonstration of his or her comprehen‐
sion. These efforts ensure that the summative final is an evaluation which gauges the students’ understanding
of the intended outcomes of the course. Such an approach also makes certain that the final assessment is
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Zwelijongile Gaylard Baleni
representative of the course’s effectiveness; it serves as a literal summation of the content learned, as
opposed to one which is more reflective of what content was perceived to be covered by the lecturer. The
lecturers also felt closer to their students during the discussion forums as a result even shy student asked
questions for clarity and there was better engagement with them than in a normal class.
5. Conclusion
Online formative assessments are, in a way, more privatised attempts to learn; and, when given an
opportunity to make multiple attempts and have the scores of each averaged, they provide a much greater
opportunity to achieve a high level of success (Rovai, 2000). Generally, although it is not guaranteed, once
students have taken the quiz the first time, it is completely within their ability to obtain a perfect score on the
second attempt. I have found that, with undergraduate students, the use of formative assessment practices is
an invaluable and highly beneficial method of enhancing student understanding and promoting success. In
essence, formative assessment leads to students being able to measure their own progress. It is also a
tremendous value to lecturers as it can provide very important feedback about what exactly students are
learning; the exact nature and extent of their difficulties.
References
Bajzek, D., Brooks, J., Jerome, W., Lovett, M., Rinderle, J., Rule, G. & Thille, C. (2008). Assessment and Instruction: Two
Sides of the Same Coin. In C. Bonk et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on E‐Learning in Corporate,
Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2008 (pp. 560‐565). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from
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Bakerson, M. & Rodriguez‐Campos, L. (2006). The evaluation of internet usage within the graduate‐level classroom. The
International Journal of Learning, 13, 15‐72.
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: brain, mind, experience, and school (expanded).
Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Brookhart, S. M. (1997). The Relationship of Classroom Assessment to Student Effort and Achievement in the College
Classroom: Pilot Study Technical Report. American Educational Research Association Conference Proceedings,
Chicago, IL
Bull, J. and C. McKenna. (2004). Blueprint for Computer‐Assisted Assessment, London: Routledge Flamer,
Chappuis, S., & Chappuis, J. (December 2007/January 2008). The best value in formative assessment. Educational
Leadership. 65 (4), 14‐18.
Dewald, N., Scholz‐Crane, N., Booth, A., & Levine, C. (2000). Information literacy at a distance: Instructional design issues.
Journal of Academic Librarianship 26(1), 33‐45.
Gikandi, J.W., Morrow, D, Davis N.E. (2011). Online formative assessment in higher education: A review of literature.
Computers & Education 57, 2333‐2351
Goldstein, J., & Behuniak, P. (2012). Can Assessment Drive Instruction? Understanding the Impact of One State's Alternate
Assessment. Research & Practice for Persons With Severe Disabilities, 37(3), 199‐209.
Hargreaves, E. (2008). Assessment. In G. McCulloch, & D. Crook (Eds.), The Routledge international encyclopaedia of
education (pp. 37–38). New York: Routledge.
Larreamendy‐Joerns, J., & Leinhardt, G. (2006). Going the distance with online education. Review of Educational Research,
76(4), 567–605.
Ludwig‐Hardman, S., & Dunclap, J. C. (2003). Learner support services for online students: scaffolding for success.
International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 4(1), 1–15.
Pachler, N., Daly, C., Mor, Y., & Mellar, H. (2010). Formative e‐assessment: Practitioner cases. Computers & Education, 54,
715–721.
Phelps, M. (Spring 2010). Real‐time teaching and learning. Kappa Delta Pi Record. 46 (3), 132‐134.
Renfro, L., & Grieshaber, A. (Fall 2009). Focus, feedback, follow‐through. Journal of Staff Development. 30 (4), 26‐8, 30‐31.
Rovai, A. P. (2000) Online and traditional assessments: What is the difference? Internet and Higher Education 3 (3), 141‐
151.
Smith, G. (July/August 2007). How does student performance on formative assessments relate to learning assessed by
exams? Journal of College Science Teaching. 36 (7), 28‐34.
Sorensen, E. K., & Takle, E. S. (2005). Investigating knowledge building dialogues in networked communities of practice. A
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Vonderwell, S., Liang, X., & Alderman, K. (2007). Asynchronous discussions and assessment in online learning. Journal of
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47
Digital Narratives: Examining Evolving Teacher‐Learner Roles in
Authentic Online Communities
Wendy Barber
University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada
wendy.barber@uoit.ca
Abstract: This paper is a qualitative narrative exploration of the changing roles between teachers and learners in online
communities. The author uses arts‐based narrative inquiry to examine how Digital Moments and Digital Narratives become
powerful tools to create an authentic online community. Based on research conducted in 4 synchronous graduate classes
in Adobe Connect, classes of 20‐25 students shared weekly Digital Moments as part of each class. This created a sense of
ownership and accountability as well as an opportunity for significant relationships to develop. These relationships
extended beyond the class time through social media and problem‐based group work. Within the context of this
environment, traditional roles of teacher and learner became reciprocal and symbiotic. The author chronicles how this
sense of community was created and sustained using Digital Moments. This simple pedagogical strategy empowered
teachers and learners to step beyond their traditional roles, and created a safe learning environment within which the
balance of power became equally shared. As a result of this strong learning community, students became more
responsible for directing the course of their learning and designing their curriculum within the confines of the course. This
strategy placed the learner at the centre of the process, and boundaries between teacher and learner became virtually
invisible. While traditional pedagogy has placed the teacher at the centre, this paper argues that the artistry in online
teaching now requires the teacher to step aside; to act as facilitator and guide and to model the behaviour of the curious
and engaged learner. Further to this, as the instructor gradually released responsibility to the students for their own
learning, they were also included in the development of some assessment strategies. Students worked in groups to create
rubrics and other assessment tools with which they would evaluate their own and others’ work. While evaluation and
grading often creates stress and anxiety for students who are products of a grade‐based teacher‐driven system, this paper
demonstrates that evolving shifts in teacher‐learner roles can decrease both the importance of, and anxiety from, these
grading processes. By using Digital narratives to tell learners’ stories each week, the instructor invested a small amount of
class time for a large return in developing an authentic online community. The relationships developed in class allowed for
the participants, both teacher and students, to become the directors of their own learning journey in a safe and stimulating
virtual classroom.
Keywords: teacher‐learner role shifts, digital learning, online pedagogy, 21C teaching and learning
1. Introduction
Digital learning environments require significant pedagogical shifts on the part of the teacher. The pace of
information flow and knowledge mobilisation in 21C learning environments mean that instructors no longer
act as top down experts. Rather, they become facilitators, guides, collaborators and learners themselves. This
work follows a qualitative approach to investigating best practices in online pedagogy. Qualitative research
approaches based on narrative methodology and story‐telling are effective means through which theoretical
constructs such as digital learning environments and adult education can be observed. Several authors, (Schon,
1987; Kilbourn, 1999; Eisner, 1998; Hunt 1987) discuss various facets of using these qualitative research
methods to assess learning from the perspective of stories told by the self. A common thread among these
authors is the knowledge of self as a professional practitioner through reflection on learning. There are,
however, parameters that can help to define that a piece of qualitative research is noteworthy, and that it has
emerged from mere storytelling to achieve educational significance. Eisner reiterates that it is critical to pay
attention to “conviction, aesthetics and context” (1998, p. 30). Eisner concludes by advising the researcher to
recognize that
the shaping of a research proposal, the conduct of the research itself and its preparation in text
form a significantly artistic and aesthetic undertaking. Method and content are in a state of
mutual definition. When you have a conviction about what you believe is important to study or
how you think it should be studied, my advice is to pursue that conviction. As long as your
convictions about your aims and your methods are supportable, your own rationality will provide
the deepest source of your security. (1992, p.29)
2. Theoretical framework
This work is grounded in a theoretical framework based on 4 pillars. The first pillar is arts‐based qualitative
inquiry, based on the work of Eisner (1997, 1998). This qualitative approach to inquiry is the lens through
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Wendy Barber
which we examine the Digital Moments (pictures, photos, paintings) shared each week as visual
representations of the teacher’s and students’ stories. Further to this, the second pillar of this work resides in
narrative inquiry and story‐telling based on work by Connelly and Clandinin (1990), and Bullogh and Pinnegar
(2001). The value of examining one’s practice qualitatively through the lens of participants’ stories is a valuable
pillar which allows for constructivist notions of the teacher‐learner roles to emerge. In these online classes, the
stories of teacher and leaners were shared weekly through qualitative inquiry using arts‐based Digital
Moments and sharing of narratives. The third pillar which grounds this work is the nature of teaching and
learning in the digital age, and the significant changes facing both teachers and learners in the 21C. Here we
rely on the work of Cousins and Bissar (2012), Kaufman (2013), Badge, Saunders and Cann (2012), Flavin (2012)
and McNeill, Gosepr and Xu (2012). These authors examine the nature of how teachers and learners adapt to
the digital age. The fourth pillar of this theoretical framework revolves around the teacher’s view of self,
teacher identity and expertise. Here we ground the research in the writings of Palmer (1998) on teacher
identity, Schon (1987) on reflection, Atkinson and Claxton (2000 on the role of intuition and the value of not
always knowing what one is doing, and Bereiter and Scardamalia’s (1993) work on the nature of expertise.
Using the first pillar of qualitative inquiry, one can attest that our humanity does not become invisible in the
digital world. In fact, it becomes ever more present in how we use technology and the modes we chose to
express ourselves. Eisner agrees that
there are multiple ways in which the world can be known. Human knowledge is a constructed
form of experience and knowledge is made, not simply discovered. The forms through which
humans represent their conception of the world have a major influence on what they are able to
say about it. (1998, p. 7)
Thus, digital ways of representing knowledge and understanding are unique and ever‐changing with current
technology, as such, alternative means of representing knowledge must be one aspect of effective online
pedagogy. Further to this, a second pillar indicates that the telling of digital narratives extends beyond the
sharing of artistic representations of our stories. As Connelly and Clandinin attest,
narrative inquiry has a long intellectual history both in and out of education, it is increasingly
used in studies of educational experience. One theory in educational research holds that humans
are storytelling organisms who, individually and socially, lead storied lives. Thus, the study of
narrative is the study of the ways humans experience the world. (1990, p. 2)
Bullogh and Pinnegar (2000) agree that “the story form may enable special insights into teaching and learning,
where linearity gives way to a different sense of time, where emotion drives action” (p. 18).
Cousins and Bissar speak to a third pillar referencing the nature of knowledge and the pace of information flow
in the digital age. They ask
what stories can be told about the fast‐changing world of higher education and what can we
learn from them? Adapting to new situations, conquering fears and overcoming obstacles are
familiar storylines, with particular relevance for university lecturers having to introduce new
technologies in their working practices. (2012, p. 1)
Instructors’ roles in digital classes must adapt to the new situations created by new and evolving technologies.
Being grounded in personal stories can facilitate the confidence required to become learners and, as Palmer
says, allow teachers to confront the fear of ‘not knowing it all’. He states that “if we want to grow as teachers
we must do something alien to academic culture: we must talk to each other about our inner lives – risky stuff
in a profession that fears the personal and seeks safety in the technical, the distant, the abstract” (1998, p.12).
Kaufman concurs that “educators who teach in 21C classrooms must possess a flexible skill set to foster 21C
initiatives” ( 2013, p. 79). McNeill. Gosper and Xu (2012) refer to the pressures on universities and academics
to integrate technology to achieve learning outcomes, however many do not have the competence or
confidence to do so. Thus, there is a need for role shifts between teachers and students, as students tend to
be more adept at using new technologies effectively. As a result, Flavin concurs that
when digital technologies are brought into a classroom setting, the lecturer may have to
relinquish some of their authority (thus impacting on the ‘rules’ and ‘division of labour’) in order
to enable enhanced learning. A new technology can disrupt existing practices but also…can go on
to change the practice itself. (2012, p. 104)
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Wendy Barber
Finally, the fourth pillar refers to teacher roles, and whether or not teachers should be considered “experts”.
Bereiter and Scardamalia Bereiter and Scardamalia (1993) reiterate,
the difference between experts and non‐experts is not that one does things well and the other
does things badly. Rather, the expert addresses problems whereas the experienced non‐expert
carries out practiced routines. It is only when the routines fail that the difference between experts
and non‐experts becomes manifest. (p. 11)
Schon reveals that this ability to ‘reflect‐in‐action’ is essential to dealing with the new and novel situations
created in online environments. He states that “this kind of reflection‐in‐action is central to the artistry with
which practitioners sometimes make new sense of uncertain, unique, or conflicted situations” (1987, p. 35).
This type of intuitive shift, and willingness to be put in situations where one does not exactly know what one is
doing can be frightening, however, it is this exact moment when real learning and growth can occur. As
Atkinson and Claxton state, “the literature contains suggestions that intuition, in one of its forms, is a way of
knowing that is pre‐eminently suited to complex situations” and they “develop a model of the teacher as an
intuitive actor in a complex world” (2000, p. 10). By this definition, teachers are challenged to be experts in
online pedagogy. In a digital classroom, expert status may be given to student with high technology skills. In
addition, the rapid pace of change means that if we are to breed expertise in our students, then we need to
ensure they are placed in new and changing environments, given support to learn what they need from the
peer teachers they select, and have their confidence nurtured in a safe and collegial environment. Palmer’s
notion of being an expert may actually prevent one from learning new material. He states that traditionally
experts are people trained to know objects in their pristine form. This training transpires in a far‐
off place called graduate school, whose purpose is so thoroughly to obliterate one’s sense of self
that one becomes a secular priest, a safe bearer of the pure objects of knowledge. (1998, p. 100)
This notion is contrary to what must happen in digital learning environments, where expertise is shared and
teacher‐learner roles are fluid and changing. At the center of this framework rests a pivot point around which
the ideology moves depending on the learner’s personal and professional story. Digital Narratives depend on
each of these elements of the framework: arts‐based qualitative inquiry, narrative storytelling, experts vs.
novices, and the nature of teaching and learning in the digital 21C environment. Essentially, each individual in
the class resides at the center of the framework; each member takes a role in moving the process forward.
This is what drives the role shifts between teacher and learners. The community structure empowers students,
puts them in peer teaching roles and increases accountability for, and ownership of, their learning. In addition,
it allows the instructor to take the role of learner, to relinquish traditional roles and power, and become a real
role model for students about what it means to learn in the digital age. While this may be antithetical to the
traditions of academia, 21C learning demands that we re‐inject our humanity into the process.
3. Methodology
This research occurred in three phases and was used to analyse the teacher‐learner role shifts in the
synchronous online learning environment. The design of this work followed narrative qualitative self‐study
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Wendy Barber
methods and purposely aligns with the work of Eisner (1997;1998). In addition, the stories of participants were
collected to align with the work on narrative story‐telling by Connelly & Clandinin (1990). Data was collected
weekly based on Blackboard journal entries, audio recordings of Adobe classes transcribed to word docs, chat
room entries emailed to participants and field notes from the primary investigator. These data were collated
by the instructor and discussed with two critical colleagues who participated in blind review of the data. By
doing so, the investigators were able to triangulate the data and identify key themes emerging from the Digital
Moment experiences.
Phase 1 – Creating a Professional Learning Community Online: This involved using Digital Narratives and
story‐telling in online synchronous graduate courses as a way to create a professional learning community.
Students in each phase took a graduate course in education. There were 20‐25 participants from a variety of
backgrounds including education policy‐makers, administrators, teachers and department heads. The
instructor was an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education. Classes met three times a week for two hours
over a 6 week period in the fall term. The purpose of using Digital Narratives was to simulate the social and
community building network that evolves naturally during the first minutes of a face to face class environment
when students and teachers share the stories of their personal experiences. Each week, 20 pods were created
in Adobe Connect, and students entered the virtual room ahead of class time to post their Digital Moment.
Students were given some exemplars as to what a Digital Moment might look like, (words, phrases, pictures,
colours, musical links) but were not limited in their creativity. Digital Moments were used as visual cues to
frame their narrative for that week. Anecdotal reflections from students were recorded in Blackboard chat
rooms, and audio recordings of Adobe Connect classes and field notes from the professor were collected.
Students completed a pre‐class focus group to assess their confidence and competence in taking leadership
roles in class.
Phase 2 Peer to Peer Teaching: During weeks 4‐8 of the course, students took on the responsibility of teaching
peers how to use new technological tools. Each week 1 hour of the course was dedicated to improving digital
literacy for students and the instructor. While traditional teaching at the graduate level involved submitting
some text based essays and final papers, students were also allowed to fulfil their requirements by using
alternative modes (youtube, video, audio, photojournal) as long as the work demonstrated evidence of
competence, critical thinking, and was clearly grounded in the literature. Students in this phase began to
facilitate others’ uses of new technologies in order to submit their assignments in different formats. Having
gained confidence and trust, two important elements of a virtual professional learning community, they began
to ask the instructor if they could submit their final assignments using alternate means to text‐based artefacts.
Finally, students worked in groups to create assessment tools that were collaboratively designed and
implemented.
Phase 3 Demonstrating Leadership and Growth: During weeks 9‐12, students began to emerge as confident
peer teachers and took on the role of leaders in the virtual class. Expertise in different areas was shared, and
students shared equally in the leadership of the class. Each 3 hour class contained 2 hours of student led
activities, followed by student led discussion of assigned readings. In addition, the final portion of each class
was used for students to share new information that they had found in the literature or in the practice based
journals on digital technology. This information was recorded and documented on Blackboard and through
audio recordings of Adobe Connect sessions. Students were asked to participate in a post‐class focus group
which measured their perceptions of how much of the teacher role they had taken, and what factors had
influenced and/or prevented them from taking some form of a leadership role in class. The instructor also
recorded field notes on her own journey towards taking the learner’s role through the course.
4. Results
Data Collection:
The university ethical review was passed and students signed informed consent forms prior to taking the
course. Data from pre and post focus groups was recorded and stored on a secure, password protected
university server and audio recordings of Adobe classes were transcribed and stored. These recordings were
available for students to review during the 6 weeks of the course but stored securely with access only by the
researcher once the course had ended. Anecdotal comments recorded in the Blackboard LMS were copied and
stored securely. These comments were coded thematically and data was triangulated and blind reviewed by a
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Wendy Barber
second researcher. Once reviewed, the researchers identified key themes that emerged to document the
transition of teacher‐learner roles in the online class.
Sample Digital Narratives Links:
Digital Moments Samples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJPLvWATbsA&feature=em‐share_video_user
Steve N. ‐ Physics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s23NGxRAN9Y
Sylvia B. ‐ Art: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO_iXocqFQw&feature=youtu.be
Kate D. ‐ Avatar/special education: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_gibuFZXZw
Joel C. ‐ Flow state meets digital technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kduOsBKmy2Q
Discussion:
Key Themes:
Several themes emerged that provide evidence for teacher‐learner role shifts during the experience of these
online graduate courses. First, the pedagogical strategy of sharing Digital Narratives was a key point in creating
a safe, trusting and meaningful professional learning community. This shifting of roles happened as a result of
significant investment of time and effort in the building of a strong and personalized learning community This
is an essential foundation on which teachers and learners build confidence and competence to shift roles.
Second, as the roles began to change, there was also a shift in perceived power. Those who held the teacher
role in class had earned the respect of their peers. Third, the traditional notion of instructor as expert and
keeper of the knowledge changed significantly. In fact, because students consistently went to peers or you‐
tube to learn new technologies the instructor was viewed more as a learning peer. Fourth, students’ long held
beliefs about the value of grading also shifted, when students created assessment tools collaboratively with
the instructor. They began to value learning more and marks less. This leads to the fifth theme which reiterates
how the nature of teaching and learning has changed dramatically in 21C online classes. Students have access
to online tutorials and social media where they get immediate feedback, thus the instructor’s role in a
synchronous class was less as a subject expert or source of knowledge, but more as a respected community
leader, facilitator, curious colleague, learner and guide.
Online community: Student comments revealed that the development of a meaningful, caring and trusting
community was a central factor in giving them the confidence and competence to take the teacher role during
classes. The use of Digital Moments began to take on a life of its own beyond the scheduled class time. Some
students created their own learning communities on Facebook and LinkedIn in order to stay in touch once the
course had ended. In addition, Twitter feeds were used to follow each other and sustain friendships and
learning experiences. These extended connections through technology became a web within which students
connected on a personal level, a professional level, both emotionally and digitally. This is evidence that
“learners are responding to the new technical and social opportunities with little help from the formal
education system” and there is “evidence of deep networking and knowledge building in learners’ informal
practices” (Littlejohn, Beetham & McGill, 2012, p. 551). Learning that is situated in digital worlds must also
have a social component to be effective. Kearney, Shuck, Burden and Aubusson concur that learning is a social
endeavour. They identify three distinct features of mobile or virtual learning that include “authenticity,
collaborations and personalisation” (2012, p. 2). They refer to a socio‐cultural model for virtual learning and
the importance of “enhanced collaboration, access to information and deeper contextualisation of learning”
(2012, p. 2).
Shifts in Perceived Power: The traditional vesting of power in the role of course instructor shifted
dramatically. Further, it became less and less important who had power in the class as there was shared
ownership of outcomes. Through the consistent sharing of personal stories, class members noticed that
regardless of titles and academic credentials, each member of the class had ownership, power and expertise.
This fluid and shared nature of expertise, power and class control was an element that emerged over time, and
the greater sharing and valuing of personal stories the more dynamic the classes became. One student stated
he was shocked at the level of trust and sharing, that he had never before experienced in a class, let alone an
online class which had often been impersonal log‐ins to chat rooms and discussion boards. Finally, the
collective sharing of power increased accountability, responsibility , creativity and respect for the diversity of
assignments produced. Students congratulated each other on trying new technologies, laughed when the
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technology didn’t work and produced work that was of a very high standard as graded by peers and the
instructor. This is referenced in the literature through observations about the nature of teaching and learning
in the digital age. Cousins and Bissar (2012), Kaufman (2013), Badge, Saunders and Cann (2012), Flavin (2012)
and McNeill, Gosepr and Xu (2012) examine how teachers and learners adapt to the digital age
Experts vs Novices: Notions of expert vs. novice were seamless, and students commented that due to the
“just in time” nature of digital learning, they appreciated the opportunity to ask peer experts how to use the
type of digital technology they needed to complete course requirements. The instructor also learned several
new technologies and was tutored by a student in the class. This levelling of the learning field was a necessary
bi‐product of several things; the fast pace of the information age, the seeming impossibility for any one person
to keep up to every technological innovation, and thus the absence of “experts” in any one sense. Shared
expertise and changes in the power balance in the class required students to step up to the plate and become
peer tutors. This increased self‐responsibility for learning, a feature of 21C classrooms also allowed for greater
creativity and originality in assignments produced. There was greater diversity in how the students
represented their knowledge and less emphasis on content. As Bereiter and Scardamalia agree, “the expert
addresses problems whereas the experienced non‐expert carries out practiced routines. It is only when the
routines fail that the difference between experts and non‐experts becomes manifest” (1992, p. 11).
Grading: Students who had graduated from a K‐12 system that was marks‐driven often held long‐standing
beliefs that the role of school was to achieve grades, which led to greater credentials and merit. Shaking the
foundation of this belief was challenging, but the inherent reward of passing the power of assessment to the
students resulted in more emphasis on the learning process. This allowed for greater variety of assignments,
diverse representations of knowledge and more creative and original work. It also allowed students to use new
technologies, as long as they created an agreed upon assessment tool to use when grading the product. This
collaborative process also lifted the grades out of individual responsibility, where they resided more in the
collective experience of the group, as students were less competitive and more helpful to one another.
Rosemartin (2013), Herrington & Parker (2013) and McCarthy (2013) talk about 21C students’ needs for
continuous feedback, much like they receive from video games, and that authentic assessment means less
focus on grades and more on using technology as a cognitive tool through assessment as, and for learning.
Kohn’s (1994) paper “Grading, the issue is not how but why” raises similar issues regarding the purpose of
grades. He states that grades are a form of sorting students and we need to consider that “in reality, a critical
and qualitative difference exists between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation – between an interest in what one
is learning for its own sake, and a mind‐set in which learning is viewed as a means to an end” (p. 2) Using
Digital Moments can tap into intrinsic motivation and thus improve students’ ownership of the work and
chances of achieving successful results.
21C Skills and the Nature of Knowledge: Students commented that the pace of information flow in their lives
made it nearly impossible to keep up to all of the latest technology, but they acknowledged that they knew
who to go to in the class for help in particular modes. Individual students were perceived as experts in some
areas, while they were clearly novices in others. Focus groups revealed overwhelmingly that the students’ first
source of information when learning a new technology was the internet, you‐tube or a peer. This reflects a
new role for teachers and learners. No longer does the instructor hold the only key to knowledge, in fact the
learner takes on new responsibilities for finding knowledge and sharing it quickly through social media and
rapid mobilisation of knowledge through other digital means. As Flavin states, “disruptive technologies are
those that disrupt established practices” (2012, p. 103) and we must disrupt the traditional teacher learner
roles if we are to shape best practice in online pedagogy. Further evidence to support this is stated by
Littlejohn, Beetham & McGill who concur that learners no longer use supports from the formal education
system but turn to peers, online sources and social media. They state that “learners are responsible to the new
technical and social opportunities with little help from the formal education system”. (2012, p. 551) Thus, we
must unleash instructors from their formal education system shackles and re‐empower them as co‐learners in
a digital world.
5. Conclusions
Merriam (1998) states that there are four major features that characterize a good qualitative study and these
were demonstrated in this paper. First, the researcher is interested in understanding the meaning people have
constructed. Individual cases in this study focused on the meaning that the subjects have placed on selecting
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and sharing their weekly Digital Moments. Second, the researcher was the major instrument of data collection
and analysis. Third, this qualitative research involved field work, which in this study entailed class recordings
and direct/indirect observation. Fourth, this qualitative research used inductive strategies. In this work, the
research applied existing models of narrative inquiry to the subjects in order to broaden our understanding of
how engaging online communities have an impact on learning.
Finally, Merriam (1998) believes that the product of a qualitative research study is richly descriptive. This
researcher used learners’ stories to describe the process of developing meaningful learning and human
relationships online. In addition to this, Eisner concurs that there are several features of qualitative inquiry
that make it the methodology of choice for this study. He refers to the unique quality of narrative research by
saying,
qualitative inquiry places a high premium on the idiosyncratic, on the exploitation of the
researcher’s unique strengths, rather than on standardization and uniformity. Hence,
investigators who study schools or classrooms and who engage in that craft called field work will
do things in ways that make sense to them, given the problem in which they are interested, the
aptitude they possess and the context in which they work. (Eisner, 1998, p. 169)
It is clear that each phase of the methodology can be connected to one or more of the five emerging themes.
These themes included online community, shifts in power, experts vs. novices, grading and 21C learning
models. In phase one of the project, the building of online community and the questioning of what students
need in 21C learning environments became evident. During phase two, the peer to peer teaching models
emerged as shifts in perceived power and expertise changed. Students with expertise in one technology were
the leaders and those with special skills in other areas shared knowledge elsewhere. Thus, the sharing of
power became a dynamic that emerged as a class norm. In phase three, students took on seminar leadership
roles and demonstrated growth in how they used the technology as cognitive tools. This culminated in a
stronger online community, based on shared power, where each individual gained respect for their particular
level of expertise, as well as embracing the idea that to be a learner in 21C environments requires us to be
beginners as well. Ultimately,each phase of the project connected directly to the themes that emerged. The
ultimate success of this pedagogical study was measured in the reactions of students in focus groups, as they
indicated a high level of satisfaction with the learning environment. Students commented that the Digital
Moment strategy was a key component that they had not experienced before in other grad classes and this
was an important element in their comfort, willingness to challenge themselves, and to learn in greater depth.
By being part of this safe community, they perceived greater success in their learning experiences.
During the course, the roles in this professional learning community became almost indecipherable. While still
within the university context, the instructor fulfilled the responsibility to assign grades to students. But in the
learning environment, the power differential became almost invisible. The students with expertise in particular
technologies took on the role of instructor, the teacher became the learner, thus empowering learners with
the confidence to take risks, make mistakes, and ask for help. This supports the notion that 21C learners must
be able to think critically, be problem‐solvers and work collaboratively. In particular, for 21C learners in a
virtual classroom, they must be able to go beyond the class and use their digital literacy within the context
where they work and live. “It is obvious that not only learners, but also teachers need to acquire 21st century
competencies as well as become competent in supporting 21st century learning” (Voogt, Erstad, Dede &
Mishra, 2013, p.408). In order to create environments where these role shifts are encouraged, teachers need
to learn how to design classes where 21C skills are developed. Cousins and Bissar surveyed academics and
found that many continued to struggle learning new technologies. Their work revealed that helping academics
adapt to the digital age can be done successfully using narrative sharing of instructors’ stories. “This forum for
telling and sharing, it is proposed, might be more effective than broad‐sweep institutional policies and
strategies” (2012, p. 10). As Cappelli and Smithies articulate, “a top‐down vision rarely works and instead it is
the community who realise the vision and begin to set the agenda (2009, p. 73).
This research argues that if Digital Narratives can be used to create learning environments that support
academics to learn new skills, then they may create more relevant 21C learning outcomes for their own
students. In the digital world, it is imperative that teachers, regardless of academic standing, continually
redefine themselves as life‐long learners and model this for their students. As Badge, Saunders and Cann state,
“engagement is more than participation – it requires emotion and sense‐making as well as activity. Most, if not
all of the published studies of any size focus on the softer, social side of student engagement rather than on
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academic outcomes” (2012, p. 2). Ultimately, this softer side of learning, our human underbelly, must emerge
if we are to allow students full autonomy in online classes. Imagination and curiosity are key elements in 21C
classes, and we need to empower and challenge our students to shift roles with instructors and share
expertise. In order to demonstrate best practices in digital pedagogy, one must
groom one’s curiosity like a high‐spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard and gallop over the thick,
sun‐struck hillls every day. Where there is no risk, the emotional terrain is flat and unyielding,
and, despite all its dimensions, valleys, pinnacles, and detours, life will seem to have none of its
magnificent geography, only a length. It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a
savage and beautiful country lies in between (Palmer, 1998, p. 113)
As instructors and academics, it’s time to let the reins loosen, enjoy the ride, and move courageously through
this brand new digital world.
References
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Bereiter, C. & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing Ourselves. Peru, IL: Open Court Publishing.
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practice. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28, 547‐556. doi: 10.1111/j.1365‐2729.2011.00474.x
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McNeill, M., Gosper, M. & Xu, J. (2012). Assessment choices to target higher order learning outcomes: the power of
academic empowerment. Research and Learning Technology, 20(17595) doi: 10.3402/rlt.v2010.17595
Merriam, S. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass.
Palmer, P. (1998). The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life. Jossey‐Bass. San Francisco,CA.
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55
Using Tablets for e‐Assessment of Project‐Based Learning
Elvira Bolat and Milena Bobeva
Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK
ebolat@bournemouth.ac.uk
mbobeva@bournemouth.ac.uk
Abstract: Technology is confirmed to be an effective tool for computer‐assisted assessment (Irons, 2008; Challis, 2005),
producing feedback (Heinrich et al., 2009) and publishing feedback (Bloxham and Boyd, 2007; Denton, 2003; Denton et al.,
2008). The arrival of affordable mobile devices has introduced a new means for enhancing the above practices (Fabian and
MacLean, 2014; Plimmer and Mason, 2006; Salem, 2013). Student preferences to smart phones and tablet devices steer
further the technological innovation towards ubiquitous mobile connectivity. Inspired by the benefits of such life and study
style, educators have started exploring the use of these technologies. Tablet computers prove to become their preferred
choice as they resolve some of the limitations associated with the design, readability and comprehensiveness of the
feedback delivered through mobile devices with smaller screens (Strain‐Seymour, 2013, Rootman‐le Grange and Lutz,
2013). This paper reports how tablets and the Form Connext mobile app have been used for engaging a sample of 300
Business Studies students in in‐class online assessment and designing and providing timely comprehensive feedback. The
study has followed an action research strategy that is grounded on a continuous and dynamic process of reflection (Carr
and Kemmis, 2003) on the effectiveness of assessment of student projects documented electronically through wikis and
electronic portfolios. It refines the use of tablets for summative and formative assessment of the project‐based learning
tasks through three review cycles, each of which incorporated a Reflection and Improvements stage. The experience
resulted in enhancement of assessment strategies and contribution to the development of contemporary models of
learning through effective assessment and feedback (Carr and Kemmis, 2003). The results of the work confirm that tablet
computers are an effective tool in assessing e‐materials in larger classes for two primary reasons. Firstly, design of e‐forms
facilitates rigorous process of reflection and understanding assessment criteria that in turn benefit students when
preparing for the assessment. Legible and detailed feedback could be produced anytime anywhere with synchronous
updates within the marking team. Secondly, students benefit from immediate comprehensive feedback allowing them to
reflect on and improve their understanding of subject matters, as well as to engage in discussing specific details of the
work that are captured through the form. An unexpected outcome was the enhanced reputation and respect for the tutors
amongst students, the triggering of student curiosity and enthusiasm in applying similar approach to their own work. The
diffusion of the practice amongst other units and identifying other purposes for which the mobile app could be used are
also seen as achievements exceeding the expectations of the project team.
Keywords: tablets; assessment; project‐based learning
1. Introduction
Pedagogic innovations using digital technologies have challenged the traditions of the instructivist approach
underpinning the education system over the last few centuries and have offered opportunities to connect and
encourage engagement between those involved in the education process. Such shift towards connectivism
(Siemens, 2005) pedagogical paradigm that reflects that through digital means educators can facilitate not only
a connection among learning participants but a connection between learning objects, e.g. a feedback form,
and learning participants. Such connections could affect the co‐creation of knowledge, effective and engaged
learning. Tablet computers are found to be an effective tool in assessing group presentations in class for two
primary reasons. Firstly, the design of e‐forms that are to be shared with students, facilitates rigorous process
of tutor’s reflection and understanding assessment process and criteria that, in turn, benefit students when
preparing for the assessment. Secondly, students benefit from immediate, creative and personalised feedback
allowing them to reflect on and improve their understanding of the subject. Henceforth, students are
motivated to engage with and action on the feedback. Previous study by Denton et al. (2008) proves that
immediacy of the feedback is a critical factor in engaging students with their feedback.
This paper reports on the process, outcomes and challenges of the use of tablet computers for formative and
summative assessment of student individual and group work.
2. Theoretical background
Educators’ digital literacy as part of an effective student engagement
Within a higher education environment digital revolution has become a catalyst for rethinking and innovation
of pedagogical paradigms and institutional approaches to learning. This reconsideration happens on all level of
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Elvira Bolat and Milena Bobeva
activities that build modern model of scholarship, one that integrates teaching, research and engagement with
industries (Burdick and Willis, 2011). Primary focus, however, is to aim at the development of 21st century skills
and competencies for the increasing population of digital citizen, i.e. people whose daily activities encompass
consumption of social networking and sharing information (Olsen and Horgen, 2013), and who are
comfortable with multitasking (Ie et al., 2012), especially such that is enabled by a “bring your own device”
(BYOD) culture and the proliferation of accessible digital tools. In his blog, Professor Stephen Heppell (2013)
focuses on the meaning of curriculum in contemporary education practices, arguing that “In a world awash
with content, much of it free” the emphasis should be not on content, but on learning to learn. This requires
rethinking of both pedagogical approaches and the targeted set of employability skills. Apart from skills in
using and applying technology, integration of digital literacy in a curriculum is proven to foster critical thinking
(Marty et al., 2013), collaboration skills (Mercier and Higgins, 2014; Raes et al., 2012) and independent self‐
st
directed learning (Heppell, 2013), all skills that are found to be crutial for 21 professionals.
Digital literacy that more often than not defined as ability to use digital technology (Buckingham, 2010)
extends its impact on students’ ability to utilise digital technology in a critical manner with effective fit
between requirements of the task and analysis of what digital tools are appropriate to assist in a completion of
task. Buckingham (2010) names digital technology as cultural forms which digital citizens use in their daily lives
to enable interaction with the world, exchange of information and creative problem solving. Educators are
these who are to help students in understanding how use of such cultural forms can be extended to a
professional context. To do so effectively educators themselves are required to understand digital
technologies, use them in educational processes and demonstrating innovative approaches to an
enhancement of educational and learning practices. Ubiquitous digital literacy and digital competences among
educators, according to Krumsvik (2008), remain a milestone in an aspiration to a modernisation of
st
educational systems globally but mostly importantly in engaging with 21 century students in an effective and
familiar to them manner.
Irrespective of an underlying device, system or software application, technology has held the potential of a
mechanism for fostering creativity and, most importantly, for supporting lifelong learning. Benefits for an
educator are two‐fold: external and internal.
External benefits are in relation to students where students engage with the learning content (Saddik,
2008; Mercier and Higgins, 2014) and co‐create knowledge (Raes et al., 2012). Mercier and Higgins (2014)
argue that content is the third critical party involved in the educator‐students interaction and
demonstrate that technology enables access to this key constituent of the relationship.. Irrespective of
technological devices used in learning processes (due to the fact that new technologies emerge
continuously), content is a critical element which through transformations over solving learning problems,
turns into a shared and co‐created knowledge. Therefore, technology needs to be perceived as a
facilitating mechanism and as a tool to be embraced by educators to keep curriculum and its delivery in
tune with changes that concern professional environments today. Furthermore, digital learning spaces
supported by technology (examples include social networking sites or tools such as Wikis, discussion
boards) became a powerful mechanism in facilitating collaborative, participative and informal learning
experiences, wherein students feel more comfortable to communicate, take risks and demonstrate
ownership for their learning activities and outcomes. Higher education institutions in the UK have not yet
fully embraced the breath of opportunities afforded by digital technology for generating greater student
engagement with the learning content, increasing interaction and connection with peers and educators,
providing more inclusive learning experiences, facilitating a shift away from passive toward more active
learning (Draskovic et al., 2013; Patrut et al., 2013).
Internal benefits of integrating technology into educational practices cover professional development of
education providers through self‐reflection (Rich and Hannafin, 2009) and continuous evolution of
pedagogical paradigms in line with the recent notion of connectivism introduced by Siemens (2005).
Connectivism reflects that through digital means educators can facilitate not only a connection among
learning participants but a connection between learning objects (feedback from, digital content) and
learning participants (Siemens, 2005). Such connections result in co‐creation of knowledge, effective and
engaged learning.
Technology‐assisted assessment and feedback are core activities within a learning process that illustrates both
internal and external benefits of utilising technology for an educator. For example, Rich and Hannafin (2009)
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Elvira Bolat and Milena Bobeva
show that simple feature of video annotations as a means to provide feedback to students enables increased
engagement with the feedback among students but also assisted in educators’ reflections on a curriculum
design. The obvious and simplest way to integrate technology into computer‐assisted assessment and
feedback process is to publish and produce (Bloxham and Boyd, 2007; Challis, 2005; Denton, 2003; Denton et
al., 2008; Heinrich et al., 2009) feedback using technological tools. Denton (2003) and Denton et al. (2008)
report on advantages and drawbacks of using Microsoft (MS) Office tools to assist in assessment. In particular,
they note educators’ enthusiasm to save time on assessing student work by building a database of comments
that can be used across written assignments to save time in typing similar comments. HEFCE in 2007
emphasised the importance of the time in assessment in producing good quality comprehensive feedback.
Moreover, technology enables clarity in producing the feedback where students engage more with the typed,
‘legible’ text over the handwritten comment (Bloxham and Boyd, 2007; Irons, 2008). Publication of feedback
through online means, most importantly, enables flexibility and increases students’ engagement with the
feedback due to opportunities to access this anywhere anytime (Bloxham and Boyd, 2007; Denton, 2003;
Denton et al., 2008).
Additionally, computer‐assistance in the assessment and feedback process goes beyond production and
publication of grades but improves assessment setting itself (Maclellan, 2001; Parkin et al., 2012). In particular
building the database of comments and communicating assessment criteria to students in advance prompt
educators to carefully think about assessment and its link to intended learning outcomes (Parkin et al., 2012).
Despite the fact that substantial scholarly work focuses on personal (stationary and fixed network desktop)
computer assisted assessment and feedback (Bloxham and Boyd, 2007; Challis, 2005 Denton, 2003; Denton et
al., 2008; Heinrich et al., 2009; Parkin et al., 2012). Hepplestone et al. (2011) conclude that such literature is of
limited nature with description of practices and no reflection on implications for pedagogic practices given.
Although being in part the description of an action learning process this paper’s authors went through,
reflection on outcomes and lessons learned through the prism of existing pedagogical paradigms is provided
when discussing results.
Deploying mobile technology in teaching practices
Mobile technology brings the possibility to transmit information irrespective of time and location
(Balasubramanian et al., 2002). Mobile technology invaded all the aspects of social existence with education
setting being a perfect context to expand opportunities for independent and mobile learning (Donelly, 2009).
By using mobile technology individuals/users experience a set of four values (Bolat, 2014):
Functional value indicates that irrespective of underlying mobile technology devices and software
applications intuitive in nature, easy to use technical features of mobile technology enable fast and
flexible transmission and exchange of data in different formats, multitasking, and ability to communicate
on demand anywhere anytime.
Social value covers purposes of communication where immediacy in response and, therefore, relevance of
timely engagement are benefits for an individual/user.
Independence of time and location that encourages exercising freedom in creative thinking: when using
mobile technology users are not constrained by time and specific locations.
Finally, controversially mobile technology allows balancing personal and professional lives.
Education research has focused on the impact of mobile devices on student engagement and demonstrates
how set of four values derive through practical applications. Existing studies report that tablet computers are
proven to motivate students through interactive learning (Geist, 2011; Manuguerra and Petocs, 2011; Shifflet
et al., 2012; Schreiber and Hunt, 2013) and improve students’ performance through effective problem‐solving
learning experiences in class (Enriquez, 2010; Kruger and Bester, 2013; Strain‐Seymour et al., 2013) wherein
functional, social and creative values derive from integrating mobile technology into educational practices.
The arrival of affordable mobile technologies has introduced a new means for enhancing the assessment and
feedback practices. Examples include effective use of student response system via mobile devices to
formatively assess students’ understanding and providing immediate formative feedback via mobile phones
(Rootman‐le Grange and Lutz, 2013). The latter study, however, raised concerns about the readability of the
feedback and warned that screen size could challenge both tutors and students who would like more
comprehensive assessment feedback. Tablet computers address some of the limitations of mobile devices with
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Elvira Bolat and Milena Bobeva
smaller screens and have been used for designing and developing content as part of assessment (Fabian and
MacLean, 2014), as well as for providing feedback (Plimmer and Mason, 2006; Salem, 2013).
In relation to application of mobile technology in the assessment and feedback process Strain‐Seymour (2013)
published a study reflecting on experience of using touch screen devices to assess students in class with a
feedback form that has been developed on computer first. Strain‐Seymour (2013) reports that developing
forms on stationary and fixed network desktop computers prevents educator to think about characteristics of
devices to be used and contextual settings in which the assessment will take place. Hence, using such forms on
touch screen devices was found to be challenging due to screen size limitations, not taking into consideration
differences between the uses of keyboard and touch screen. To the authors’ knowledge no published study
reports on experiences in integrating tablets into the assessment and feedback practices taking into account
distinct nature of mobile technology. This study, therefore, addresses the gap in the educational literature by
focusing on using tablets for engaging students in in‐class online assessment, designing the feedback form
using tablets, and providing timely comprehensive feedback through tablets.
3. Method
This study follows an action research strategy that is grounded on a continuous and dynamic process of
reflection (Carr and Kemmis, 2003) on the effectiveness of assessment of student projects documented
electronically through wikis and electronic portfolios. Action learning process, according to Dall’Alba (2005), is
a continuous ‘must’ exercise for transforming and enhancing educational practice. Teaching in the scenario of
action learning process for both an educator and the student implies ongoing learning for the educator to be
able to reflect and transform approaches to teaching students how to learn (Dall’Alba, 2005). This paper
illustrates action learning educational practice of innovation in the assessment and feedback part of a first year
Bachelor’s degree unit on Developing Management Competencies delivered to 300+ Business Studies
students. The change involved digitising the assessment forms in a tablet format and redesigning the processes
using these forms. The objectives for the project were to make the assessment process more transparent to
students and provide immediate and comprehensive feedback that is engaging and matching closer the
lifestyle of those assessed.
The unit is designed around the project‐based learning (PBL) model. In particular students are working on set
of four main projects, called ‘missions’, which involve complex tasks that students autonomously solve and
investigate individually or in groups (Thomas, 2000). Mission 1 ‘Managing productivity tools’, and Mission 2
‘Managing projects’ were the subject of this study. Mission 1 required students to work individually to develop
a decision making tool unit MS Excel and create an electronic portfolio on Mahara, a social network supported
by the University. Mission 2 required students to work in teams on a live business‐community engagement
project and evidence command of project management, marketing and communications skills.
Teaching team of two academics (referred to as tutors hereafter) has used tablets for both summative and
formative assessment for the two missions. There were three action‐learning cycles in the assessment:
In‐class individual formative assessment (used for providing feedback on the draft for Mission 1)
In‐class individual summative assessment (on the final work on Mission 1)
Summative assessment of online group portfolio delivered via a wiki. (i.e. for Mission 2)
Assessment was completed using a software application (app) for iPads (two iPads were used by tutors only),
called FormConnect (http://www.formconnections.com/). FormConnect allows designing assessment and
other types of forms to be used for learning, business and personal purposes. Forms developed were
customised to include title of the unit, text field to type student’s name, group number and date. Apart from
that, available functions, in‐class assessment context, use of tablets urged the teaching team to think on
criteria of assessment that could be captured using drop‐down, radio button options for quick and easy
selection when assessing students’ work (see Figure 2). Nevertheless, customisation using text boxes where
short individual comments can be types is also possible in a mobile marking context.
The app allows for forms and assessment records to be shared in a number of formats, including PDF, Excel
spreadsheet and HTML, and channels (Dropbox, email, Skype). The criteria have been communicated to
students prior the assessment dates. The final results were exported into MS Excel spreadsheet with detailed
data with all criteria listed (see Figure 1). This enabled various mathematical manipulations with data including
59
Elvira Bolat and Milena Bobeva
calculation of final individual results as well as filtering data to allow publish results online anonymously.
Completed feedback forms were converted into PDF format and communicated back to students.
With each cycle actions were followed by reflections on the design of the form, the process of assessment, the
tutors’ actions and the student feedback, on the basis of which improvements to both the design of the
marking form were designed.
Figure 1: FormConnect – exporting options and example of criteria break‐down
Figure 2: FormConnect – design elements and customisation tools
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Elvira Bolat and Milena Bobeva
4. Results and discussion
The experience with using tablets for assessment and feedback resulted in enhancement of assessment
strategies and contribution to the development of contemporary models of learning through effective
assessment and feedback.
Bolat’s (2014) model of mobile technology values was used below to summarise the findings of the project
(Table 1) and group these into four distinct categories based on the value they have for the assessment
process stakeholders. Where the values are shared by more than one group of stakeholders, this is denoted by
merging the cells.
Table 1: Values experienced throughout the project
Values Students Tutors Other stakeholders
Functional Results were shared with students immediately after the completion of Administrative
the assessment. arrangements were
Legible and detailed feedback was produced, covering both the streamlined by
elements of the content and how the intended learning outcomes for sharing the MS Excel
the assignment were achieved. version of the results
Photo evidence/Screenshot of the work helped to highlighting any with the Learning
elements of good practice or such in need of improvement technologist who
The design of the form could accommodate both a checklist on how enabled automatic
complete the work is and also reflect the assessment criteria. Whilst it upload of the
span over a few pages, using the tablet computer allows for going feedback onto the
through these very swiftly. Virtual Learning
Environment (VLE)
Social Establishing rapport between The use of the app has been
tutors and students that enables reported at staff development
future co‐creation and co‐ workshops and TEL (Technology
production Enhanced Learning) events. This
offered more opportunities for
networking at professional level
and using the FormConnect and
similar apps for other in‐class and
offline assessments.
Independence Assessment results were Tutors were able to conduct the Feedback forms were
from time and published online through the VLE offline assessment in an emailed to Admin
location and students engaged with tutors environment of their choice and immediately upon
constraints for clarification and discussion discuss the progress with completion of the
(Independence) immediately upon their release. assessment using the latest assessment.
records
Assessment in class through the mobile devices allowed for a more
personal approach, immediate confirmation of student’s competencies
and resolution of any concerns about the originality of the work.
Formative feedback was initiated by students with the opportunity for
immediate application and clarification of student comprehension of
the advice.
Balancing Completing the feedback in a
personal and timely fashion and the
professional lives automaton of uploading the
(Wellbeing) results on to the VLE has freed up
time for other personal and
professional engagements
In line with existing studies on using tablets to enhance students’ learning (Enriquez, 2010; Kruger and Bester,
2013; Strain‐Seymour et al., 2013), this study demonstrates that mobile technology introduces functional,
social and creative values into educational practices. It focuses particularly on key distinctive features of
mobile technology and recognises that mobility allows for flexibility in assessment. This flexibility could be in
the form of physical independence from tutors’ location and assessment and feedback time. This, in turn,
allows tutors to balance their personal and professional lives.
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Elvira Bolat and Milena Bobeva
This paper is the first to demonstrate the use of tablets for designing forms prior to an assessment, something
what Strain‐Seymour (2013) notes as drawback in existing practices, where forms are designed on stationary
and fixed networks desktop computers first. It can be concluded that designing forms on mobile devices is of
benefit to thinking through assessment criteria where appropriate functionalities (drop‐down, radio button
options) can help with assessing technical in nature tasks (i.e. making calculations, developing Excel spread
sheet and forms). Furthermore, such design enables a quick and easy selection of predefined feedback
comments or grades when assessing students’ work on the go (like with Mission 1 assessment scenario where
assessment took place in class).
In addition, Thomas (2000) reported that PBL has two issues to be resolved by educators, integration of
technology into the classroom and challenges of developing assessment that can capture students’
understanding. Table 1 clearly illustrates that use of tablets can be a solution to the above‐mentioned issues.
In particular use of tablets in PBL enabled:
Rigorous process of reflection and understanding the assessment criteria.
Immediacy, relevance, customisation, and creativity in the assessment and feedback process.
Triggers for student and colleagues curiosity and enthusiasm.
Based on tutors’ reflections, drawbacks of using this method for assessment include:
Free format text feedback in in‐class settings are not easy to complete when assessing interactively due to
the mobility of the tutor and the time constraints of the schedule.
Immediacy of the feedback should be done with due care to any emotions that students could go through.
Tutors could be subjected to influence of individual student behaviour and should be mindful of this
threat to the objectivity of their assessment.
If the assessment form is very detailed, tutors could inadvertedly miss out on completing elements of the
form.
Quality assurance through second marking needs to be agreed up front and communicated to students
through appropriate disclaimer.
5. Conclusion
Innovative solutions, particularly, use of mobile devices to assess and provide feedback, are in line with the
High Education Academy (HEA)’s (2014) strategic goal of encouraging academics to adopt and integrate digital
technologies to support contemporary pedagogic practice. The findings of the project on using tablets for
assessment reported here confirm that tablet computers have been an effective change tool for diffusing
innovation in educational practices, and in particular, in assessing larger classes. Their impact extends beyond
the functional benefits to cover social, independence and wellbeing values. Tablets are found to be an
effective technology to be incorporated in the PBL classroom as well as assist in the design and
implementation stages of the assessment and feedback practices. An unexpected outcome was the enhanced
reputation and respect to the tutors amongst students, the triggering of student curiosity and enthusiasm in
applying similar approach to their own work.
The diffusion of this practice amongst other units and identifying other purposes for which the mobile app
could be used are also seen as achievements exceeding the expectations of the project team. An extension of
the project could be through a longitudinal study that focuses on analysing student development as evidenced
by their reflections. Applicability for students with additional learning needs (ALNs) could also be explored in
depth to understand how mobility element allows accommodating needs of such students. Applicability of
tablets to different forms of learning and assessment could be investigated further to understand whether
tablet is a task‐specific technology to be integrated into educational practice. This will help to prove whether
educators and mobile technology have provided opportunities for students to develop “the skills, knowledge,
ethical frameworks, and self‐confidence” to learn within more participatory cultures (Jenkins, 2006).
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64
Virtual Pedagogical Meetings Using Contextualized Forums and
Opinion Mining
Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani1, Razika Tahi2 and Tayeb Bouazid3
1
Computer science Department, Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi‐Ouzou University, Tizi‐Ouzou,
Algeria
2
Electrification of industrial enterprises laboratory, Economics Department, Boumerdes
University, Boumerdes, Algeria
3
M’sila university, Algeria
farida.bd2011@Yahoo.fr
raztahi@Yahoo.fr
tbouazid@yahoo.fr
Abstract: Different meetings are planned in university structures to discuss different pedagogical, administrative or
scientific questions. Always, the concerned with the meeting are required to free themselves for these different
appointments. Also, sometimes, they are forced to give up some tasks such as teaching. In addition, certain points of the
topic of discussion require time for reflection and additional data to enable the participants to give meaningful opinions
and/or propositions what is not possible when these points are presented during the meeting. Sometimes, for important
subjects, other appointments are necessary, a fact that sends the group involved in the meeting to the same constraints.
The third problem is related to the persons to invite to the meeting: the question can involve all students and all teachers
for example, however, it is not possible to have everyone on the place of the meeting. The organizers will then be faced
with the sensitive issue of choice of persons. The chosen ones will propose opinions/suggestions in place of the others
which can lead to conflicting situations that disrupt university or department operating. Virtual meetings will avoid all
these problems and improve the transparency and quality of discussions. In this paper, we focus on asynchronous virtual
meeting proposed as a web service that can be integrated to virtual campus structures, university Web sites or e‐learning
platforms. It is a way for participants (students, teachers, staff) to discuss for a defined period, one or more topics. These
virtual meetings are implemented in our case as contextualized forums to be created by the department administrator or
teachers. After that the forum’s members have to give, respectively, their opinions and/or suggestions joined to their
respective responses to the discussion. In real time, specific processes for opinion mining and/or text mining suggestions
give a progressive synthesis of the discussions visible for all participants. We developed a prototype for an e‐department
from Tizi Ouzou University where virtual pedagogical meetings are integrated. The prototype was tested with a group of
students, administrators and teachers. The results were interesting since, as reported by the participants to the
experiment, everyone, with this Information and Communication Technology tool, can “simply” participate to a
pedagogical meeting.
Keywords: virtual meetings, asynchronous virtual meetings, educational digital work spaces, contextualized forums
1. Introduction
A department is (at least in the Algerian universities context) the smallest education unit in the university
generally designed for one or two specialities. After the Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
challenges, different academic tasks use technologies to enhance the department management and
teaching/learning processes. Technology in general has not only improved knowledge storing methods and
learning techniques but has also acted as a catalyst to combat the barriers of inflexible organisational
structures (Shabha 2000). Hence, some universities move to virtual workspaces or e‐university (that will be
composed also of e‐departments) where networks, Internet, computer science processes ... are used to do or
help the departments activities. We are analyzing nowadays the use of ICTs for concrete add‐ons to education
institution, so we have to analyze problematic situations and try to solve them using the existing and rich
technology tools. Garrison and Anderson (2003) assert that “to realize that potential of e‐Learning as an open
but cohesive system to support learning, it is essential that we rethink our pedagogy”. One among these
problematic situations that affect pedagogy is related to academic meetings. Indeed, different meetings are
scheduled in a department to discuss different pedagogical, administrative or scientific questions. Always, the
concerned with the meeting are required to make efforts to free themselves for the appointment and
sometimes, they are forced to give up some tasks such as teaching. In addition, some issues discussed during
the meeting require serious reflection and maybe even data to provide a successful review or proposition.
However when these issues are presented during the meeting, a participant can just give shallow opinions
and/or suggestions. Sometimes, for important subjects, these can lead to other appointments to continue the
65
Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani, Razika Tahi and Tayedb Bouazi
discussion and the same constraints are repeated for the group involved in the meeting. The third problem is
related to the number of persons to invite to the meeting: the question can involve all students and all
teachers for example, however, it is not possible to have everyone on the place of the meeting. The organizers
will then be faced with the sensitive issue of persons’ choice. The chosen ones will propose
opinions/suggestions in place of the others which can lead conducing to conflicting situations that disrupt s the
department activities.
In this paper, we propose asynchronous virtual academic meetings integrated in the e‐department. The
majority of the existing works on virtual meetings concern the synchronous virtual meetings such as
videoconferencing 1 . “A videoconference is a set of interactive telecommunication technologies which allow two
sites or more to interact through bidirectional video and audio transmissions simultaneously” (GIVP, 2008).
However, synchronous meetings can have the same constraints than the face to face ones. For that, we
studied the case of meetings seen as contextualized forums that can improve the quality of the meetings'
results and decrease the participation constraints for the academics. We first give an overview about digital
workspaces and virtual meetings. After that, in the third section, we develop our view of asynchronous virtual
meetings as contextual forums discussing the modalities of analyzing the participants’ proposals. Before the
conclusion, we discuss the evaluation of our contribution.
2. Digital workspaces and virtual meetings
A digital workspace for an education institution called virtual school; virtual campus … allows its students,
teachers and staff to access individualized information and services at any time, from any place, only with an
Internet connection and a web browser. In different developed countries, these spaces are used and managed.
They offer many services accessed via a secured user account already created and activated by the workspace
administrator. Among these services we have:
news about the current and upcoming events, whether academic, scientific, community, cultural, related
to sports, etc;
access to administrative information for students: back‐to‐school calendar, personal timetable,
assessment information: regulations, calendar, results and grades,
access to teaching services: submission of practical work,
access to e‐learning modules; to library resources and services,
online access to existing computing services: management (reading/sending/sorting) of emails, access to
personal document storage space;
additional services such as: access to personal files (whether of studies or career), access to local intranet,
online personal or shared calendar, access to shared document storage spaces, allowing, for example, a
teacher and his/her students to share documents, ...
A meeting is any situation where two or more people are gathered for discussions about work. It becomes
‘virtual’ when those people aren’t physically in the same room. The meeting is synchronous when those
people will discuss at a particular time. This is possible with different tools that can include telephone calls,
voice conference calls, videoconferences and meetings that use online platforms. Groups are increasingly
starting to have virtual forums that follow up their face‐to‐face events, with the aim of sustaining the
momentum that has already been created. We can also just have an asynchronous meeting as a forum to an
open discussion on a subject until a deadline time. In all cases, the success of a virtual meeting relies on a well
defined remit. Indeed, if a group has a clear remit, this establishes the purpose, and increases the likelihood of
getting people’s commitment to participate in the virtual meeting. Julia Young defines six critical success
factors for running a successful virtual meeting (Young, 2009): planning a viable agenda or series of agendas,
effective use of technology, preparing participants and pre‐work, keeping participants focused and engaged
during a virtual meeting, building trust and social capital and maintaining momentum between meetings. In a
contextualized forum, these factors are simplified since the participants are involved in the subject and are
concerned by the meeting results and are not obliged to be online. However, as in face to face meetings, each
participant can be influenced by the other’s opinions to build his/hers.
1
http://searchcio.techtarget.com.au/news/2240101017/What‐is‐videoconference
66
Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani, Razika Tahi and Tayedb Bouazi
This paper is about virtual meetings integrated to an e‐department, a digital work space for a university
department. Pedagogical encounters or academic meetings are defined as situations where the learner and
the teacher/facilitator/professional meet and interact for the purpose of learning. The pedagogical encounters
always take place in a context influencing the learning and teaching processes. We have different academic
meetings in a university department:
pedagogical meetings (PM) that focus on courses, exams, teaching, ...
scientific meetings (SM) related to research activities and theirs management
administrative meetings (AM) about the management of trainings and resources
We can also sort each of the meetings above according to different other parameters such as the participants,
subjects, moderators/creators ... In our framework, we choose the “participants” parameter that defines who
from the three possible university communities: students, teachers and staff or administrators will be involved.
We have mainly: Students & Teachers (S&T), Teachers & Teachers (T&T), Students & Teachers &
Administrators (S&T&A) and Teachers & Administrators (T&A). Figure 2 shows the virtual meetings (VM)
hierarchy considered in our research work.
VM
2
http://www.adobe.com/fr/products/adobeconnect.html
3
http://www.webex.com/
67
Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani, Razika Tahi and Tayedb Bouazi
asynchronous virtual meetings (AVM) avoids some negative behaviors that turn out pedagogical
encounters to other purposes (political, social, personal …) as indicated in (Démosthène, 2001), since the
creator is obliged to be objective and precise when creating the context of the forum.
In the following point, the proposed representation for virtual asynchronous meetings as contextualized
forums is described.
3. Asynchronous virtual meetings
3.1 Context and objectives
In general, our objective is to get an asynchronous virtual meetings (AVM) manager as a web service that can
be integrated to university departments digital workspaces, university portals, e‐learning management
systems, … This module will allow academics (students, teachers, staff) to discuss for a defined period, one or
more topics. These virtual meetings are implemented in our case as contextualized forums to be created by
department administrators or teachers. After that the forum’s members have to give respectively their
opinions and/or suggestions joined to their respective responses to the discussion.
We consider in our framework that a student can’t be a creator of an AVM, he/she can just post responses.
However, the administrators and the teachers can be creators (and be “moderators” too) and also responders.
The AVM manager module is composed mainly on these tasks:
AVM creation where the subject points are defined as parameters, the participants are designed and the
deadline fixed. In the background, adequate controls are to be added as triggers to accord the participants
to the subject points (e.g.: if a point is about the databases teaching the students and teachers added are
respectively teaching or learning databases).
Responses upload gets the different parts of a response with an adequate dynamic Web page
The AVM displayer gives a view for a participant to see the subject, the different responses and the
temporary/final results for each forum selected.
The responses analyzer is based on different computer science technologies such as data analysis,
statistics, data mining and text mining. It gives synthesises about each point of a meeting subjects in real
time. It is a decision support module.
In the following point, the AVM parameters are detailed.
3.2 The AVM parameters
We will present in this point the different parameters used to define an asynchronous virtual meeting. This last
is seen as a contextualized or specialized forum. Consequently it has a creator, a subject, participants and
different comment messages as responses. In an open forum, we don’t know who will be the participant and
either a deadline for comments. We are speaking here about contextualized forums in the way that each
forum has a context defined by the participants concerned, the period and the “professional” subjects since
there is a management objective behind the forum. In a certain way contextualized forums are more “precise”
and limited forums. Indeed, the main constraints imposed by the forum’s context are:
The respect of the “close world” principle since only the subscribers to the digital work space or the e‐
learning platform can participate.
After the deadline of the forum, no response will be considered.
Two possible participations: the first is by giving a response to the creator message where a “value” is
associated to each point of the subject. The second one is by posting just a comment (textual “value”) to
one of the participants’ responses. In this paper, the experiments don’t integrate this last kind of
participation
In our framework, an AVM is described with four parameters (see figure 2). Each parameter is composed of
one or a set of descriptors.
The subject parameter is a set of descriptors that are related respectively to the different points or issues
discussed in the meeting. Each point descriptor is defined by its identifier, the main text of the point and the
type of the expected response. We propose three possible types for this last:
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Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani, Razika Tahi and Tayedb Bouazi
Boolean: true/false parameter such as a response to a precise question as “do you agree to a
supplementary course next week?”
Enumerated: it is a response where the responder will choose between a set of given values (numbers,
chars, strings ...). For example “when would you do the presentation of the mini projects: Monday April 25,
Saturday May 2 or Saturday May 7?”
Textual: Open response, generally, it is a short text where a participant expresses a comment, suggestion
or opinion concerning the point. For example, for a pedagogical meeting, we can put this point to discuss
the possible improvements for a course: “what do you think about the teacher’s courses?”
Subject Parameters
Participants Parameters
Creator parameters
3.3 Analysis of the virtual meeting data
The analysis of the AVM contributions is done by the study of the collected data brought in the different
responses. Statistics, data analysis, data mining and text mining processes can be used at this step for an
automated analysis. At this level of our work, statistical analysis techniques are used to process Boolean and
enumerated variables.
For the textual responses, we are currently developing a text mining module with its different tasks with a
particular interest for opinion mining. “The objective of Text Mining is to exploit information contained in
textual documents in various ways, including discovery of patterns and trends in data, associations among
entities, predictive rules, etc.” (Grobelnik & al., 2001). Current research in the text mining domain tackles
problems of text representation, classification, clustering, information extraction or the search for patterns. In
this context the selection of characteristics and also the influence of domain knowledge and domain‐specific
procedures play an important role. In the background or text mining processes, there are always tasks from
different domains such as data mining, information retrieval, natural language processing, statistical analysis ...
Opinion mining is an emerging research direction for text mining. Opinion mining and sentiment analysis
actually focus on polarity detection and emotion recognition (Cambria & al. 2013).
We will focus first, in our work, on polarity detection. Indeed, using opinion analysis processes we can analyse
the position of a participant to the AVM subject points. For example if the point question is “Is the databases
teaching going on well for every one?” We can have direct and simple response as Boolean response (yes/no)
and also have detailed opinions where points of views are described. The opinions will be analysed according
to the chosen polarities such as: positive, negative, without opinion. Details about this module will be seen in a
future paper.
4. Evaluation of the proposals
First, the theoretical propositions were discussed in a face to face meeting with all the pedagogy vice deans
and pedagogy vice president of Tizi Ouzou university. The eight vice deans agreed with the project and thought
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Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani, Razika Tahi and Tayedb Bouazi
that the AVM management is among the interesting tasks for the university work space that will begin by its
concretization in an e‐department. After that, the development of a prototype for an e‐department with a
module for AVM management was started. We used the Java IDE Netbeans with some other tools and APIs
such as the glassfish application server and Mysql databases server.
The prototype focuses, in its first version, on asynchronous virtual pedagogical meetings (AVPM). The creation,
display and analysis tasks are developed. Figure 3 shows a screen sheet where an administrator is creating an
APVM (in French: “conseil pédagogique (CP)”) for the first year academic licence in computer science students.
We just indicate here that within this prototype the participants, from the teachers, will be among the chosen
students’ teachers in the e‐department database.
Figure 3: AVPM creation from a department administrator’s space
After the forum creation and its activation, the participants will see it in their respective spaces. Figure 4 for
example shows a student’s space where she can see the existing AVPM and the details about a given “CP” by
clicking on the “consulter” button. After each response to the forum, the analyzer works to give temporary
results visible to each participant. At this time the prototype can give “vote” results after Boolean or
enumerated variables analysis. Figure 5 shows an example about the display of the analyzer results.
Figure 4: AVPM consultation from a department student space
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Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani, Razika Tahi and Tayedb Bouazi
Figure 5: Example about the display of the analyser results in a participant’s space
The opinion and text mining analysis module is now under testing. The opinion mining developed is mainly
based on the detection of three opinions: positive, negative and neutral according to an analysis objective
which is in our case a subject point. Other text mining processes are also under development for: suggestions
classification, entities extraction ... that we will discuss in our future papers.
The first version of the e‐department prototype with the AVM management module was tested with a group
of volunteers from the Computer Science Department of Tizi Ouzou University. The group is composed of
twenty (20) students from Master 1 group, seven (7) teachers and two administrators. Two different forums
were created by the administrators and implicated the twenty students and the seven teachers. The subjects
points were about the different teaching of the given master1 training, so we are with the AVPM category. The
duration for each of the two successive forums is one week. We could test with the developers that the
different functions of the e‐department, particularly those related to the AVM management are good. In
addition we got different textual opinions and suggestions that are currently used for the opinion and text
mining processes tests.
After that, we asked the participants about their opinions on the AVM module and on its impact on their
different activities in the department. All were positives and thought that it will be “easy” to participate to a
meeting, increase transparency and quality of decisions. It remains indeed the management of the change to
the new mode of communication, easy for computer science community but not evident for other
departments where the staff is not lapped in the use of technology. In this respect, we have to conduct an
experiment with these kinds of departments in a further work.
5. Conclusion
We presented in this paper asynchronous virtual meetings, a way for academics from a department to meet
and discuss pedagogical, scientific or administrative subjects without time and place constraints. The AVM
module is a plug in tool that can be added to university digital workspaces, academic websites or the e‐
learning management systems. We developed and tested a prototype for this purpose with a group of
participants (students, teachers and administrators) from the computer science department of Tizi Ouzou
university. In this prototype, the AVM module is a part of the e‐department which is a digital workspace. The
results are positive and interesting. We are currently finalizing a first version of the textual variables analysis
with text mining and opinion mining technologies. We have also the perspective to conduct an experiment
with a department from humanities.
References
Cambria, E., Schuller, B., Xia, Y. and C. Havasi, (2013): New avenues in opinion mining and sentiment analysis. In IEEE
intelligent systems, Published by the IEEE Computer Society, March/April 2013.
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Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani, Razika Tahi and Tayedb Bouazi
Démosthène, M. (2001). Laguigne anime le conseil pédagogique: Impulser, coordonner et réaliser la partie pédagogique du
projet d’établissement. Communication professionnelle du ministre français et de la recherche. © Démosthène 2001,
www.esen.education.fr.
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., and Archer, W. (2000): Critical inquiry in a text‐based environment: Computer conferencing in
higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, Vol. 2 No 2‐3, pp 87‐105.
GIVP (2008): Lignes directrices sur l’utilisation de la videoconference. From the work group GiVP, seen at:
http://www.givpedu.org/files/toolkit/PIMprotection10f.pdf on June 23, 2014.
Grobelnik, M., Mladenic, D. and N. Milic‐Frayling (2000): Text Mining as Integration of Several Related Research Areas:
Report on KDD’2000 Workshop on Text Mining. 2000.
Shabha, G. (2000): Virtual universities in the third millennium: an assessment of the implications of teleworking on
university buildings and space planning. Facilities. Vol.18, No.5, pp235‐244.
Young, J. (2009): Six Critical Success Factors for Running a Successful Virtual Meeting. Read in http://www.facilitate.com/.
72
One Among Many: The iPad in Shifting Material Cultures of
Learning
Mie Buhl1 and Bente Meyer2
1
Department of Communication, Aalborg University, Copenhagen
2
Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Copenhagen
mib@hum.aau.dk
bm@learning.aau.dk
Abstract: In this paper we shall discuss how the iPad becomes an actor in socio‐material contexts of schooling and how it
becomes significant for learning as an artifact with specific affordances within these contexts. We argue that the
implementation of the iPad may expose the diversity of artifacts that are already present as actors in learning contexts. As
one among many artefacts used in orchestrating learning, the iPad acts in shifting material cultures of schooling where for
instance pens, paper, books or interactive whiteboards are used in combination with the tablet. At other times the iPad
itself acts as a book that mediates learning in specific ways, for instance by involving the reader through interaction or by
new forms of visual representation. In its shifting representational forms, modalities and relationships the iPad provides
specific affordances for learning and contributes to the transformation of e.g. textual and visual cultures in areas such as
reading and science education. This indicates the need for discussing how curricula knowledge and skills can be understood
in the socio‐material contexts of learning where iPads are involved. The paper builds on data from two research projects
that investigated the iPad as a learning device in the context of primary and lower secondary schooling in Denmark. In
these projects learning with the iPad focused on 1) the role of the iPad in inclusive learning environments 2) children’s
visual cultures and the development of the iBook iTAVS. Based on these projects the paper will give examples of how
empirical observation and analysis can contribute to understanding learning cultures in which iPads are embedded as part
of the learning.
Keywords: socio‐material cultures of learning, learning with iPads, visual cultures in schooling
1. Introduction
The iPad is a relatively new technology in education that promises to provide teachers and learners with new
potentials for organizing learning, creating and accessing learning content. Contrary to other mobile devices
such as mobile phones, iPads have been introduced into schools and have been accepted as significant actors
in educational change. Like the mobile phone and other portable devices it therefore promises personalization
of learning, situated and student driven use of technologies and new time‐space relationships in learners’
access to learning (Burden et al 2012, Melhuish & Falloon 2010).
However, as a new a flexible device in learners’ lives the iPad cannot be divorced from the social and material
cultures in which it is ‘seamlessly’ embedded and interwoven (Henderson & Yeow 2012, Traxler 2010). We
therefore propose that what becomes visible in the research of ‘learning with iPads’ is not only the iPads
themselves as drivers of change but the relationships, networks and circulations in which they are involved as
embedded agents of change (Meyer forthcoming). In the following we shall develop this argument based on
empirical and theoretical work done in two projects where iPads were involved as emergent actors in
schooling.
2. Approaches
The study of flexible mobile technologies such as the iPad will engage theories that are highly sensitive to
socio‐material practices as iPads are embedded in learners’ life worlds and entangled in a variety of
educational activities (Burden et al 2012, Henderson & Yeow 2012). As flexible, mobile devices iPads are
culturally embedded resources that allow users to engage in knowledge “distributed across people,
communities, locations, time, social contexts, sites of practice” (Cook et al 2011, 187).
However, whereas the time‐space transformations of learning environments may be significant in the study of
learning with mobile devices, these approaches to some extent fail to identify the ways in which mobile
technologies circulate within material and visual cultures of formal schooling. According to Lawn & Grosvenor
(2001, 2005) material cultures have defined educational activities since the formation of schools as specialist
th
institutions in the early 19 century. Schools have generally come equipped with – or developed – material
cultures in which teachers and learners have had to constitute learning by linking activities to different kinds of
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artefacts that have been established as relevant for schooling over time. Highly profiled technologies such as
the iPad are, we shall argue, just a recent addition to this complex web of artefacts in schooling which shapes
the ways in which learners can learn and teachers can teach. In addition to this the design of learning material
for the iPad may, we propose, remediate existing material cultures and their affordances in similar webs of
material relationships. Thus, the making of an iBook for the iPad may for instance draw on established formats
such as the book while adding new visual repertoires and agency for learners. The emergence of technologies
has exposed new opportunities for visualization in learning. The visual practices form and are formed by a
formal as well as an informal and global visual culture of learning, where exchange and use of visual material
calls for new approaches to understanding the role of the visual in learning.
In our studies we are inspired by theories that capture the complex material and semiotic relationships in
teaching and learning in which the iPad becomes an actor, specifically Actor Network Theory (ANT) (Latour
2005, Sørensen 2009, Johri 2011, Fenwick, Edwards and Sawchuk 2011, Fenwick and Edwards 2012) studies in
the history of schooling (Lawn & Grosvenor 2001, 2005, Burke et al 2010), semiotics (Kress 2010) and visual
culture studies (Mirzoeff 2009, Pauwels 2006).These theoretical inspirations contribute to understanding
mobile devices such as the iPad as elements of a shifting material culture of schooling.
2.1 ANT and emergent approaches to educational change
According to Bruno Latour one of the significant contributions of ANT has been “to have transformed the social
from what was a surface, a territory, a province of reality, into a circulation” (1999, 17). In education studies
this can be translated into an understanding of how artefacts are enrolled in webs of socio‐material
negotiations that constitute processes of learning such as for instance writing, reading or doing biology. In this
understanding, according to for instance McGregor (2004) artefacts should not be understood as passive
presences or mechanistic manipulators, but as actively participating in constituting spaces, trajectories and
relationships in education.
In his discussion of the role of socio‐material theory for learning Aditya Johri draws on a number of sources,
but significantly Latour (2005) and Levi‐Strauss (1967) to define how the concept of socio‐material bricolage
can be used as an analytical framework for understanding emergent practices with learning technologies.
Building on Levi‐Strauss, Johri argues that educational actors often use the tools that are available to them, i.e.
they make do with what is at hand, rather than sticking to planned approaches that would require them to use
tools that are not immediately available in their local space of practice. These actions are conceptualized by
the term bricolage which may therefore support understandings of “the emergent and socially and materially
intertwined nature of human practices” (2011, 212) in which iPads become actors. Furthermore, the iPad
facilitates a remediation of traditional formats, such as the book, where the interface allows access to practice
learning activities in the mixture of own experiences and a global context of visual cultures, which calls for a
research approach of curiosity (Rogoff 1998) of ethnographical presence and of anthropological distance
(Hastrup 1992, Buhl 2013).
3. Methodology and data
The paper builds on data from two research projects that investigated the iPad as a learning device in the
context of primary and lower secondary schooling in Denmark. In these projects learning with the iPad focused
on 1) the role of the iPad in inclusive learning environments 2) children’s visual cultures and the development
of the iBook iTAVS. These projects illustrate how the iPad is involved in both redesigns of existing educational
formats such as the book and in socio‐material relationships in everyday schooling. In the projects described
below we used qualitative methods to understand how iPads are afforded agency in learning and contribute to
redefining practices, relationships and representational forms in education.
3.1 Case 1: The role of iPads in inclusive learning environments
The shifting enactments of iPad usage in practice and its relationships with the socio‐material culture of
schooling was the focus of a research project that followed teachers and pupils in “Middletown school” in the
west of Denmark in the school year of 2012‐13.The project followed 5 classes of 7 graders (aged 13‐14) who
were given iPads on a one pupil one device basis to keep for the entire school year. Two of the classes were
special needs classes as one of the questions asked by the research project was how the use of iPads in
teaching and learning could support inclusive learning environments and facilitate different learners’ needs.
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Pupils in all five classes were followed for three months at the beginning of the school year through
observations of their daily lives in school and interviews with groups of pupils. In addition to this teachers were
followed in classes, at meetings and during breaks and introductory courses. What emerged from the project
was an empirically based understanding of how iPads become actors in education through for instance
assemblages of materials and bricolage. Processes of iPad usage were captured through photographs and
videos of selected learning scenarios.
3.2 Case 2: Children’s visual cultures and the development of the iBook ITAVS
The development project Experiencing Literature with new Media – from eBook to iBook studied how students
from 6th‐9th grade engage with and experience literature on screen. Furthermore, the project engaged with
the creation of an iBook based on these experiences. The point of departure was the Danish graphic novel
TAVS (Silent) for children and adolescents written by Camilla Hübbe and illustrated by Rasmus Meisler, who
aimed at producing an interactive version of their book in cooperation with the target group.
The project was a cooperation between authors, publisher, libraries and four schools and headed by Quist
Henkel and Bonde Nissen during 2012‐2013. The students took part in the development of the aesthetic
production of the iBook throughout reading experiences and meetings with the author and illustrator, and the
results revealed an increased interest for reading among the students involved in the process.
Development of an iBook can take many forms where students are more or less involved in telling the story. In
this particular project the story was already told and a first edition of the paper graphic novel had been
published before the project started. This implied that the realisation of the students’ suggestions and ideas
for the iBook were mainly of an aesthetic nature drawing on the possibilities connected with the different
modes of visuals, sounds, text and animations. For instance, the students had ideas for how to use sound and
animations in the iBook version which were implemented. The students’ ideas emerged from reading and
working with the book chapter in class and later from user involvement in testing different prototypes and
discussing them with the authors.
One might argue that this approach does not fully utilize the potential of digital interactivity in the final iBook,
which is true since the story is fixed. But the developmental process takes the students’ experiences with
games and social media from leisure activities into account. The manga themes activates the visual cultures of
comics, food (sushi) and sport games that is a well‐known part of their everyday lives and give the students
the opportunity to connect to the literary content as well as to contribute with ideas to the aesthetic
formation of it.
Thus, the set‐up constitutes the stage for creating a mosaic of text, visual repertoires and sound effects that
refers to an actual experience of facts and fiction, and a mix of geographic and virtual locations. A mosaic
where a modern Western city life is combined with Japanese manga culture creates a magic universe which
appeals to the target group.
4. Analysis
In the following we shall account for and analyze how the different uses of the iPad – in respectively the
learning design for an iBook and classroom usage – contributes to our knowledge of how iPads can participate
in education.
4.1 Case 1: iPads in the socio‐material culture of schooling
IPads are often seen as transformative technologies that may replace or marginalize other technologies in
order to redefine learning spaces and reform teaching and learning. However, as the study followed teachers,
pupils and iPads into the classrooms of Middletown school, it became immediately obvious that the iPads
would not simply outdate or make other learning resources superfluous. On the contrary, it seemed that in a
number of cases the iPad facilitated new relationships, combinations and links in the elaborate material
culture of schools that supported specific and subject specialized uses of artefacts and modes. In language
education, the iPad might for instance be used as a voice recorder that pupils could combine with their reading
or writing in the target language. In maths, the iPad would be used as a calculator linked to pupils’ work with
sums in their jotters or as a jotter itself, where students could take notes or document results. In science
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education, the iPad would be enrolled as a search machine to access images of the solar system, or it might
operate as a camera that could capture visual representations of the solar system from for instance books that
could then be copied onto a poster. These links between materials, modes and activities seemed to be defined
by ritualized rhythms of practice that had been established over time through teachers’ and learners’
improvisations in practice or through teachers’ theories of practice (Schön 1983) .
Figure 1: Doing German
In the Middletown school study rhythms of practice were observed in the circulation of materialities in the
classroom, where learning was often enacted through the piling or linking of resources in assemblages that
included iPads, and that were unique expressions of pupils’ emergent organisations of learning practices.
Inspired by Johri (2011) we use the term socio‐material bricolage as an analytical framework to describe the
entanglement of material and social aspects of teaching and learning with technologies which will underline
the emergent and improvisational nature of change when seen from a practice perspective. In these
improvisational rhythms the iPad became a central actor because of its flexibility and availability, i.e. the fact
that it is at hand and immediately accessible to the user (Levi‐Strauss 1967, Johri 2011).
Bricolage is one kind of learning activity where iPads are enrolled as significant actors in learning that in
different ways contribute to the stabilization as well as the transformation of practice. When teachers and
learners engage in bricolage, iPads are enrolled in the role of for instance calculators, jotters, cameras or
sound recorders in different kinds of relationships with other resources. These relationships are understood to
afford different kinds of learning, for instance in maths, German or science.
Figure 2: Doing maths
In socio‐material bricolage resources such as calculators, cameras and books are remediated through the iPad
as a flexible learning device. Remediation entails a translation or re‐representation of one medium into
another, such as when the iPad is used as a calculator (Bolter & Grusin 1999). Remediation is therefore to
some extent what gives agency to the iPad in the specific learning context, as for instance when the iPad
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becomes a jotter that can support how knowledge is documented or stored more easily than on paper.
However, as part of the socio‐material bricolage the iPad is awarded agency only as one actor in a hybrid of
assemblages that are constantly shifting. In these assemblages, links and associations contribute to affording
the learning potentials of the device, for instance by allowing shifts between modes. As an example, the pupils
in Middletown school have discovered the potential of what Kress (2010) calls “capturing” i.e. the copying of
content by photographing, sharing and storing information on smart devices such as the iPad. According to
Kress the capturing of images and copying of semiotic material from the internet has gained priority over
producing written content. Kress argues that this process of convergence “changes the way we conceive of
representational means and meaning‐making in the world, favouring selection, ‘capture’ and transformation
rather that ‘production from scratch’” (2010, 188). This capturing of content adequately describes one of the
significant processes associated with the links between iPads and other learning materials in Middletown
school where pupils ‐ by for instance capturing content from the blackboard onto the iPad ‐ would transform
note‐taking from a hand written text activity to an image that could be saved. Capturing therefore became a
significant activity that the iPads added to the system of socio‐material enactments in Middletown school.
4.2 Children’s visual cultures and the development of the iBook TAVS
The iPad’s entrance into the classroom does not only function as a general facilitator of new learning forms.
The technology mediates learning resources in former well‐known formats as e.g. books which generates new
representational forms. A book in literature class is not necessarily a paper book with text in a linear structure.
Rather it represents a chain of mediations for literature experiences. The emergence of iBooks forms an area
of multimodal reading experiences where the text is one among many modes of expression and iBooks point
to the ‘generic’ qualities of traditional paper books. Graphic novels are an example of how images and text
interact in one literary expression drawing on the structure of comics. Graphic novels exemplify a re‐mediation
of the literary content of the paper book (Bolter & Grusin 1999). The iPad makes it possible to further re‐
mediation by transforming the paper book into an interactive book (iBook).
One obvious aspect of this re‐mediation chain is the transformation of materials; another aspect is the
transformation of representational forms which affects and draws on children’s visual cultures. Previous
studies in the field of visual representations reveal results similar to Kress’ (2010) of how meaning‐making
comes about as visual selections rather than visual productions from scratch (Buhl 2002, 2004). Visual
repertoires appear to re‐cycle in never ending variations, from which visual cultures develop. iTAVS
exemplifies the emergence of a trans‐geographical practice of visual culture drawing on a local interpretation
of globalized repertoires.
TAVS is the story of a Danish boy who lost his twin brother and while struggling with loss and grief, he
experiences adolescence and the beginning of an adult life where relations to parents, friends, love and
sexuality are reflected on. He lives a life that requires the ability to adapt to various contexts following his
parents and their professional career which brings them to different parts of the world. When the reader
meets him, he has just landed in Tokyo and is about to have breakdown brought about by a pressure on him to
perform at his parents’ dinner party. This is also the starting point of his mental journey into a fiction of
Japanese universes of manga in a mix of myths and modern life.
Figure 3: Illustrations from the iBook TAVS by Author: Camilla Hübbe & Illustrator Rasmus Preisler
The representational forms of the book are constituted by a visual interplay between texts and pictures which
are enhanced by animations in the interactive version. The interactive version of the book has a strong
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reference to a paper book and the story starts up in the traditional way with text pages. Along with the
development of the story, the text starts moving on the pages, drawings are applied, and the sound is added
the moment the main character. breaks into the fiction world sitting on the back of a big frog. After this,
modes of images, sounds and animations together with texts become drivers of the story.
Figure 4: Illustrations from the iBook TAVS by Author: Camilla Hübbe & Illustrator Rasmus Preisler
What we see here is a content driven use of representational forms, which supports and expands the literary
content. Text and pictures take on different functions and constitutes a domain of meaning‐making (Elkins
1999). In comics there are different visual conventions for expressing modes of sound like e.g. SHOUTING is
expressed with capital letters. In the iBook version this is further enhanced.
The structure of TAVS seems to have two principles for structuring the literary experience through text and
images. One principle is that the visual domain either should support the reader’s decoding or expand the
reader’s experience (Buhl 2010); the other principle is that the experience must never disconnect from the
reference of the ‘paper book’. Interactivity is driven by the affordances of the touch screen, which allows the
user to peruse through the book pages which is a remediation of a physical activity (i.e. turning pages)
referring to a paper book. The tactile experience of touching a paper page is replaced by a smooth surface. The
effect of this is not a kind of concrete translation to an intended book‐like experience because the touchscreen
is already too integrated in young readers’ every‐day lives. It is rather a narrative that TAVS is to be
approached like a book where some of the pages come alive. To the target group the touch screen may even
be the most well‐known and the paper book is the new experience. In connecting the literary experience of
the iBook to a conventional paper book, the iPad becomes one among many material cultures in school while
referring to these cultures.
The visual repertoire of TAVS draws on a western interpretation of Japanese culture and is performed mainly
in the art form of coloured drawings by the book illustrator. TAVS is an example of a mix of visual
representational forms drawing on global visual repertoires of references that generate new meaning when
they appear in a new context. In visual culture studies this refers both to a field of images and visual
phenomena and to a particular practice for generating knowledge ( Mirzoeff 2000, Mitchell 2002; Buhl &
Flensborg 2011). For instance, a cat is a key and symbolic character throughout the story and goes through
various transformations from a stuffed toy over a living animal to a Japanese girl with cat ears. All illustrated
with references to Western as well as Japanese representations of the cat‐theme in children’s books, in comics,
in movies (e.g. Cat Woman in Batman or a cat girl in Tokyo in Lost in translation), in illustrated nature books,
which refers to a broad visual culture of science drawing on an interest in visualizing a phenomenon as
precisely possible (Pauwels 2006).
From the point where the iTAVS refers to a paper book, one can ask what the interactive version actually
contributes with. The project indicates that integrating images and animations into the narrative of the story
activates visual perception as well as visual repertoires as drivers for literary experience. Furthermore, the
physical interaction with the screen activates the students’ skills from using social media and participating in
visual cultures on the Internet. iTAVS creates experiences which are driven by concrete reading activities and
practices of visual culture and motivates the students to seek for factual knowledge about Japan (Henkel &
Nissen 2013). In class, iTAVS facilitates social processes where the students approach the literary content
through discussions and negations of meaning, which indicates a field of aesthetic experience which is social
and known from their activities with social media.
From the perspective of the project, the iPad serves as an artifact that can turn into a representation of a book
with pages. The iPad serves as the interface for a universe of fiction and facts promoting a multimodal
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experience achieved through various modes and narrative structures. Furthermore, it serves as the driver of
diverse visual cultures and aesthetic experiences as an expansion of a literary experience.
5. Conclusions
Our research shows that the iPad acts not as an autonomous device but as one among many in shifting
material cultures of schooling where links and references give agency to the tablet in specific and changing
learning contexts. An example of this is when the iPad acts as a calculator that is used with a jotter and book to
do maths. At other times the iPad itself acts as a book that mediates learning in specific ways, for instance by
involving the reader through interaction or by new forms of visual representation. Educational change is
generated within these material cultures and networks of representational forms where the iPad is linked up
with different modalities, formats and practices. In these relationships and assemblages change happens
continually, but slowly, in the sense that what can be identified as change may not be revolutionizing practice
but rather reconceptualising, transforming or enhancing it in the moment.
On the basis of our analysis of data it can be suggested that one of the interesting aspects of emergent change
in learning with the iPad can be identified in the ways in which visual repertoires, cultures and practices are
referenced through the connection of iPads to existing material cultures and formats. One example of this is
the capturing of information observed in the Middletown school study, where pupils used the camera and
recording functions of the iPad to store, share and work with knowledge. Another example is the ways in
which the creation of the iBook taps into visual cultures that are global and specific for children’s cultures in a
variety of contexts. The studies reveal new constellations of material artifacts and interfaces rather than the
indication of a radical change in the practice and use of the iPad. The learning potentials are therefore more
closely related to the pedagogical choices than to the artifact as such. Furthermore the development of means
for literary experiences is more closely related to the artistic ideas than to the technological possibilities. The
two cases indicate that change happens at the pace of practice and that the iPad takes its role as part of the
situations in which it is embedded and the visual cultures through which it is connected.
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Buhl, M (2010). Images and Visuality in ICT educational design. In: Min, Weifang & Qvortrup, L. (ed.). Frameworks for
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Introducing the Collaborative Learning Modeling Language (ColeML)
Jeppe Bundsgaard
Aarhus University, School of Education, Copenhagen, Denmark
jebu@edu.au.dk
Abstract: Various kinds of inquiry, scenario, and project based teaching and learning have been promoted by educational
thinkers over the last 100 years, but they are by no means typical in mainstream classrooms: “[…] projects offer many
attractive promises, but they are often difficult to implement” (Barron et al., 1998, p. 306; cf. Bundsgaard, 2005, p. 315ff.).
At least five challenges can be identified (Barron et al., 1998; Bundsgaard, 2009, 2010; Gregersen & Mikkelsen, 2007;
Krajcik et al., 1998): Organizing collaboration, structuring workflows, integrating academic content, sharing products, and
differentiating teaching. Technology can help respond to these challenges (Brush & Saye, 2008; Bundsgaard, 2009, 2010;
Ge, Planas, & Er, 2010; Helic, Krottmaier, Maurer, & Scerbakov, 2005; Daniel Schneider & Synteta, 2005; D. Schneider,
Synteta, & Frété, 2002), but platforms are very expensive to build from the ground up. If these platforms are to find their
way into everyday teaching and learning, they have to be easy and cheap to develop. Thus there is a need for easy to use
application programming platforms. This paper argues that a visual modeling programming language would be an
important part of such a platform. The Collaborative Learning Modeling Language (ColeML) makes it possible to articulate
complex designs for learning visually and to activate these design models as interactive learning materials. ColeML is based
on research in workflow and business process modeling. The traditional approach in this area, represented by, for example,
the Workflow Management Coalition (Hollingsworth, 1995) and the very widespread standard Business Process Modeling
and Notation (BPMN), has been criticized on the basis of research in knowledge work processes. Inspiration for ColeML is
found in this research area, which calls for interactive process modeling: “An interactive process system should / ‐ Enable
modelling by end users,/ ‐ Integrate support for ad‐hoc and routine work, / ‐ Dynamically customise functionality and
interfaces, and / ‐ Integrate learning and knowledge management in everyday work” (Jørgensen, 2004, p. iii) It should not
only be expert process modelers who are able to model processes; knowledge workers should also be able to do so
themselves while the model is in use. ColeML is developed according to Jørgensen's (2004) design principles: 1) The
modeling language should be simple with a few basic concepts, 2) the language should make possible a visual graphic
representation of the model, 3) elements of the model should be able to change status during the articulation, 4) the
system should accept unfinished models, 5) models should be able to be built by integrating other models, and 6) it should
be possible to build a systematically designed and searchable repository of models and templates (Jørgensen, 2004, pp.
27f., 32, 36). In addition to these design demands it should be possible to integrate software components that solve sub‐
tasks in the process, for example, interactive assistants (cf. Bundsgaard, 2005, 2009). In this paper the basics of ColeML are
presented together with the logical architecture of a system based on ColeML.
Keywords: digital learning platforms, CSCL, modeling language, project based learning
1. Introduction
We are witnessing an explosion of digital learning material. Most of it is in the form of simple repetitive
learning tools (learning games, training apps, etc.) that support a traditional practice of instruction focusing on
communicating well‐defined knowledge and procedures to students, often without the intermediation of a
teacher. But newer learning theory (Sawyer, 2006), large international projects (Griffin, McGaw, & Care, 2012),
and even international governmental organizations like the OECD (Dumont, Istance, & Benavides, 2010) are
promoting a different kind of teaching and learning: Students should work collaboratively, actively, and in an
engaged way to seek solutions to real world problems, and in the process develop entrepreneurial, critical, and
social competences. This movement is not new, as various kinds of theories and practices of inquiry, scenario,
and project based teaching and learning have been developed by educational thinkers over the last 100 years.
But there seems to be gap between the theories of what should be happening, which we could call innovative
teaching (Shear, Gallagher, & Patel, 2011), and what is actually happening in schools. Teaching is still
characterized for the most part by teacher led discussions and individual work with the content and
assignments (Bietenbeck, 2014). There can be many explanations for this situation. One of them is that “[…]
projects offer many attractive promises, but they are often difficult to implement” (Barron et al., 1998, p. 306;
cf. Bundsgaard, 2005, p. 315ff.).
In order to facilitate more innovative teaching we have to understand what the difficulties are for teachers and
students. And we have to find ways to support teachers and students in overcoming the challenges.
At least five challenges of innovative teaching and learning can be identified (Barron et al., 1998; Bundsgaard,
2009, 2010; Gregersen & Mikkelsen, 2007; Krajcik et al., 1998):
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Organization: Students and teachers must collaborate, but how is this collaboration organized?
Structure: How do students get to know the phases, steps, and procedures of the project they are working
on?
Learning academic content: How do students learn the methods, procedures, and knowledge of the
disciplines while working on their project?
Student work: How do students and teachers share documents, data, and work in progress, and how is
communication (guiding, response etc.) about this work organized?
Differentiation: How are students given assignments that fit their competences, and how are they taught
academic content on their level?
There is some evidence that technology can help respond to these challenges, and a number of digital learning
materials and platforms have shown how this can be done (Brush & Saye, 2008; Bundsgaard, 2009, 2010; Ge et
al., 2010; Helic et al., 2005; Schneider & Synteta, 2005; Schneider et al., 2002). But the problem is that
developing platforms that help organize, structure, integrate academic content, share products, and
differentiate teaching are very expensive to build from the ground up. If these platforms are to find their way
into everyday teaching and learning, they have to be easy and cheap to develop.
This paper proposes a way to facilitate the design and development of digital learning material that supports
innovative teaching. This paper presents an outline of a visual modeling language, ColeML, which can be used
in authoring tools to design, describe, and support the execution of the phases, steps, and processes of
innovative courses.
2. Foundations and design principles of ColeML
The goal of ColeML is to enable learning designers, including spearhead teachers, editors, and content and
professional experts, to interactively model complex learning designs. The second goal is to make these
learning designs active, that is, readily usable in actual teaching and learning to organize collaboration
between students and teachers, support communication on student work, and keep track of progress.
The development of ColeML has been inspired by the work in the area of workflow and business process
modeling. The traditional approach in this area was introduced by the Workflow Management Coalition
(WfMC) and reached a landmark with the release of the first Workflow Reference Model (Hollingsworth,
1995). It has been gaining worldwide acceptance in the standard for Business Process Modeling and Notation
(BPMN) (Object Management Group, 2011). In recent years these approaches have been challenged by
research done in relation to knowledge work processes. Jørgensen phrases the critique this way:
Contemporary business process systems are built to automate routine procedures. Automation
demands well‐understood domains, repetitive processes, clear organisational roles, an
established terminology, and predefined plans. Knowledge work is not like that. Plans for
knowledge intensive processes are elaborated and reinterpreted as the work progresses.
Interactive process models are created and updated by the project participants to reflect evolving
plans. The execution of such models is controlled by users and only partially automated. An
interactive process system should / ‐ Enable modelling by end users,/ ‐ Integrate support for ad‐
hoc and routine work, / ‐ Dynamically customise functionality and interfaces, and / ‐ Integrate
learning and knowledge management in everyday work (Jørgensen, 2004, p. iii).
Teaching and learning is knowledge work by definition. Although Jørgensen is referring to a completely
different area, he presents a very accurate description of innovative teaching. In the area of interactive process
modeling a central point is not only that modeling experts model processes, but that knowledge workers
themselves also need to have access to model and re‐model the processes before and in use. This is a
fundamental break with the hierarchic structure that is incorporated in the WfMC model. Interactive process
modeling comprises three functions (Jørgensen, 2004; Krogstie, 2007): 1) Articulation, a description of the
domain in model terms, where the articulation should be interactive in the sense that users should be able to
clarify and elaborate on a general model, 2) activation, the use of the model in relation to the domain either
automatically, where the computer controls the process, manually, where users use the visual model as a
management tool, or interactively, where the computer controls the process automatically, but where the
computer leaves some decisions in the process up to the users’ manual decisions. The third function is 3) re‐
use of models from one domain in another domain, or re‐use of sub‐models inside the same process model.
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Setting up these kinds of demands for the modeling systems makes interactive process models an example of
the movement away from a Turing Machine paradigm towards an interactive paradigm (Jørgensen, 2004, p.
15; Wegner, 1997).
These three functions are obviously relevant in a school context, considering the five challenges of innovative
teaching mentioned above. Often designs for learning involve, for example, student work with teacher
response, and the modeling of such a practice would be re‐usable across many learning designs. Such sub‐
models are called templates. In a school context each class is different, in terms of both the number of
students and the differences in age, competences, and social relations. Therefore interactive activation is a key
function, enabling the teacher to organize how students collaborate to a greater or lesser extent or to
concentrate on extending certain parts of the structure of the pre‐designed model (e.g. by making students
work more intensely on giving responses, preparing an interview, or designing a research question). In
continuation of this, interactive articulation is of vital importance because the computer can support student
collaboration, keep track of where students are in the process, and provide access to previously produced
work when it is needed. This also facilitates differentiated teaching because computers can articulate different
levels of support for collaboration and for structuring the work process, making it possible, for example, to let
some students have a very detailed set of steps to perform, and others to have a more broadly described
process.
1
A distinctive characteristic of processes in schools, where the goal is not only the product but also the
learning that takes place through and on the basis of the production of the product, is that there will often be
several simultaneous and to a certain extent parallel processes working at the same time. These processes
have the same structure, and might just go on in parallel and lead to a number of products that are unique, but
of the same kind. But the process might also let the students merge into new groups and spread again – for
example, students might work as engineers, investigating a phenomenon from different expert viewpoints in
groups, then meet other experts in cross‐groups to discuss which solutions to work toward, and later return to
their “expert” group to carry out the decisions. In order to activate that kind of model, the teacher needs to
elaborate on the general model by relating it to the actual class size, the specific students, and the optimal
number of groups for this class and these students to indicate the number and position of lessons assigned for
the course programme and to adjust the model for particular students with special needs or special
competences and so forth. There is thus clearly a need for an easily accessible possibility for the teacher to re‐
model the processes on the basis of a learning design model template.
Therefore, the goal is to develop a modeling language for collaborative teaching and learning and to lay the
foundation for an activation machine (Collaborative Learning Modeling System, ColeMS) that makes possible
articulation, activation, re‐use, and end‐user modeling of parallel processes.
Given these basic principles, it is clear that the design principles have to promote a simple, easily
understandable, and accessible modeling practice. Jørgensen (2004) has framed a few core design principles:
The modeling language should be simple with a few basic concepts,
the language should make possible a visual graphic representation of the model,
elements of the model should be able to change status during the articulation,
the system should accept unfinished models,
it should be possible to build models by integrating other models, and
it should be possible to build a systematically designed and searchable repository of models and templates
(cf. Jørgensen, 2004, pp. 27f., 32, 36).
In addition to these design principles the central focus in a school context on learning content while working
on a project gives way to an extra principle:
it should be possible to integrate software components that handle sub‐tasks in the process.
1
In fact, the product (e.g. a beautiful drawing, a newspaper with a professional appearance, a suggestion for the renovation of the
schoolyard) could very well be considered the goal by the students, and even by the teachers. But seen from an institutional perspective
the product, and especially the production process, can only be a means to the end of the students' learning..
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Jeppe Bundsgaard
These software components could be learning apps, simulation tools, academic content, and all kinds of
interactive teaching material, for example, interactive assistants (cf. Bundsgaard, 2005, 2009).
3. The ColeML language
In his thesis, Jørgensen presents a modeling language for emergent workflow modeling that complies with the
principles he presents. He calls the language and the system he has built to activate the models WorkWare (a
contraction of Workflow and Groupware). The WorkWare language builds on the Action Port Modeling
Language (APM) (Carlsen, 1998) but simplifies the language and integrates interactive activation. ColeML
builds on Jørgensen's WorkWare.
The basic constructs in ColeML are listed in figure 1.
Figure 1: Basic constructs in ColeML
The core construct in ColeML is an activity (corresponds to a workitem in WorkWare, and an action in APM). In
other modeling languages there would typically be a number of classifications of activities (into processes,
tasks, actions etc.), but Jørgensen's point is that this only adds complexity, making it more difficult to learn and
necessitating thorough training. Activities are connected by flows, which are lines. In WorkWare and most
other modeling languages, flows have arrows to show the direction of the flow. But this is not necessary in
ColeML as all flows go in on the left of the activity and out on the right. Flows go into decision connectors,
which can either just lead the flow into a new activity or call for a decision. Decisions can be either And (all
flow lines are followed), Or (one or more flow lines are followed), or Xor (exclusive or) (only one flow line is
followed). Decisions are taken by the primary actor of the surrounding activity.
An activity can have input, output, actors, and resources, which are inserted into the four boxes in the lower
half of the activity construct. Output is typically used as input in later activities; an output can be given a form
of identification (id), for example, a number or a letter, to point out where it is used as input.
Resources are all kinds of objects, tools, and instructional material (called books, which could also be websites,
movies, music, etc.). In principle, one single construct could constitute all kinds of objects, but ColeML has four
different types (book, object, tool, and software tool) to make visible which kind of object is to be used.
Resources are inserted in the lower right corner of the activity. An activity has actors performing their part of
the activity: a single student, a group of students, a class of students and/or a teacher. Actors are inserted into
the lower left corner of an activity.
Activities can be simple and performed in a short span of time (reading a text, preparing for a presentation), or
they can comprise a complex of sub‐activities (preparing and performing an interview, exploring the state of
the local lake, etc.). A complex of activities can be described as a model template, which can be dragged into a
model from a repository of templates.
A distinctive phenomenon in teaching and learning is that students or groups of students often perform the
same kind of activity in parallel, and therefore ColeML has a construct for parallel activity. All input, output,
actors, and resources are multiplied accordingly. Output from parallel activities can go into the next activity
and be treated as one single output, or it can be split into the different activities.
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Besides these core constructs, ColeML includes, among other features, a clock for specifying the start and,
optionally, end time (typically specified by the teacher, when preparing for the lessons), timers for specifying
the typical maximum and minimum time use, and automated decision connectors (testing output for certain
characteristics).
Figure 2 is an example of a model designed using ColeML illustrating most of the core constructs and concepts
of modeling with ColeML.
Figure 2: Example model: Plan a Building Project
A model is always an activity itself, which could be used as a template in other models. Plan a Building Project
has no input, but yields document 8 as output. Document 8 is also the output from the last activity, titled
Presentation, in the model. There are a number of actors in the model as a whole: the teacher, the class, and
different constellations of groups. An actor can be identified by a number or otherwise, and a superscript
number or interval tells the user (typically the teacher) how many students should be put into each type of
group.
Plan a Building Project begins with an introduction where the teacher and the students watch a movie (the
book resource) and the teacher introduces the plan for the activities the class is going to carry out. The next
activity is a parallel activity where groups with id 1, consisting of four to five students, envision how the
building could look. This activity uses a model template for teacher response, see figure 3 and the explanation
of the template below. The students use specific software (in this case, drawing and text editing software) to
solve the task. The output from each of the parallel activities is a document (id 1). These documents are used
as input for a class decision, and the output of this activity is a new document (id 2). The next group of
activities is performed by all of the students (see the And decision), and the primary actor (the teacher)
decides who goes where. The next three activities are performed at the same time, each with their own
specific task. These three activities are parallel activities, which makes the model adaptable to different class
sizes. Each of the groups 2, 3, and 4 should comprise three to four students. Each of the activities has
document 2 as an input, but they have different documents (ids 3, 4, and 5) as their output. In the next activity
the groups present their work to the class and the class decides which of the groups' suggestions to choose.
The software resources in this activity are idea selection software, e.g. Padlet, and decision software like
clickers. In the next activity each group works on a part of the building, calculating statics, electricity etc. using
software and instructional material.
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Figure 3. Model template: Teacher gives response on student product
In the template Teacher gives response on student product, see figure 3, a group of one or more students
produces a product (document, id 1), and this document is an input to the next activity, where the teacher
gives response and outputs it as a document, id 2. If the teacher does not think it needs more work, she can
finish the activity. Otherwise, students get the response together with their own product as input and work on
it again. When they are done, the teacher decides (in the Xor decision) whether the document needs more
response or the work is done. Output from the template is the revised version of the student product.
3.1 Interactive modeling
A core principle in the WorkWare conceptual framework, and also in ColeML, is the acceptance of
incompleteness. Models do not need to be complete, and they do not need to be completely automated.
Models are most often preliminary or temporary, built to support the practice of actors. This is a suitable
principle in educational practice, where teachers and students need to adapt in accordance with factors such
as participants, time, resources, and space. Thus an activity or other constructs can be added to a model by
actors (students and teachers) planning their own activities or the activities of others, it can be modified
during activation of the model, that is, re‐planned, replaced by other activities or complexes of activities,
removed, or reported as performed, ignoring the advisory decomposition (cf. Jørgensen, 2004, p. 86).
3.2 Activating models
Activation can be automated, manual, or interactive (Krogstie, 2007, p. 306). In business and production, the
goal of models could be to completely automate processes that have previously involved humans. But in
school the goal is not to get rid of human interaction; on the contrary, the goal is to get students to work with
the activities they learn the most from. Of course, highly automated models could make teachers dispensable,
but modern learning theory does not support the notion of well‐defined, uniform learning trajectories
(Sawyer, 2006, p. 28ff.). Participants in learning practices must act intelligently and wisely in order for the
students to engage in practices of which they learn the most important things in the best way and develop as
human beings. This means that both teachers and students need to be sensitive to their co‐participants and
the processes they are participating in. Therefore, even though models in ColeML to a great extent can be
automated by letting students work on a computer, carrying through the processes the computer prescribes,
models typically will be incomplete and even re‐built while activated. This calls for interactive activation, which
means that some parts are taken care of by the computer, while other parts are taken care of by teachers and
students.
4. Logical architecture of a collaborative learning modeling system
ColeML can function as a simple analog description of designs for learning, helping participants to keep track
of what to do, how, and with what resources, input, and output. But the real potential of designing models is
of course automation of some parts of the process. Jørgensen presents a WorkWare Modelling System (WMS),
which the Collaborative Learning Modeling System (ColeMS) presented in figure 4 builds on.
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User Interface
Modeling Interactive activation
Model Interactors
Modeling and Interactive Model Driven Model Driven Model Driven Model Driven Etc.
Visualization Activation Notification Access Collaboration Document
Machine Machine Control Support Management
Model Repository
Figure 4: Logical architecture of a Collaborative Learning Modeling System (ColeMS) (cf. Jørgensen 2004, p. 92)
The Model Repository is the basis of the system where models are stored and where model designers fetch
templates when articulating new models. The Model Repository is a very important part of ColeMS, as
teaching and learning consists of a number of often repeated activities, like teacher response, students' study
activities, and as more explicitly developed cooperative learning structures or similar approaches.
The User Interface has two main views, one where the modeling (articulation) takes place and one where the
model is interactively activated. When the model is revised on the fly, both views are used by the participants.
The user interface can be adapted in order to hide the model behind a more customized interface. This is
typically the case when publishers and other professional learning designers build their products in ColeMS.
Model Interactors are software functions that work with models to solve particular tasks. An example of an
interactor is the document management, which takes care of the uploading and presentation of resources and
documents produced during the model activation. The set is extensible and research should be done to
identify what interactors are useful to include in the system (cf. Jørgensen, 2004, p. 92).
5. The way ahead
This paper presents the core concepts of ColeML, a visual modeling language intended for use in educational
settings. ColeML makes it possible for learning designers to design models that support students and teachers
working on complex projects, helping them to structure the processes and organize collaboration, keep track
of their work, and customize the process to meet the needs of different students and groups of students.
These design features make ColeML suitable for complex teaching methods like project based learning,
storyline, inquiry based education, and so on.
As has been stated several times, ColeML is heavily inspired by the work done by Jørgensen with WorkWare,
and by him and his colleagues at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) with the Action
Port Model (APM). EEML (Extended Enterprise Modelling Language) (Krogstie, 2008) is an extension of APM
focusing on three other modeling domains that could also be modeled in an educational context, namely,
Resource modeling (facilities, instruments, sub‐products, participants' competences, etc.), Goal modeling
(product goals and learning goals), and Data modeling.
In order for ColeML to gain ground, a number of prerequisites must be met:
A prototype of ColeMS, including core Model Interactors, must be built.
A standardized XML‐based model description format for exchanges between different ColeMS'es must be
designed.
A model repository of typical activities must be produced.
Models should be built by learning designers to test the limitations of the modeling language so that more
constructs can be added.
A variety of models should be interactively activated in real life settings.
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88
Weak Student Identification: How Technology Can Help
Hana Bydžovská and Lubomír Popelínský
Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
bydzovska@fi.muni.cz
popel@fi.muni.cz
Abstract: Predicting students' academic performance has long been an important research topic in many academic disci‐
plines. When students enroll in a course, a teacher usually does not know their knowledge and skills. The teacher is faced
with a difficult situation how to estimate the students. The knowledge about students' performance can be used for assign‐
ing students to seminar groups with respect to their skills needed for the course. The reliable prediction would also help
teachers to identify weak students in order to help them to achieve better grades. The main aim of this research is to clar‐
ify relationship between students' behavior and their performance at the beginning of the term when there are no data
about students' attitude and motivation towards the course. We inspect different data mining techniques how to recognize
weak and good students and how to validate designed methods. We also aim to develop a model of students' performance
indicators. Results can be beneficially used by teachers to enhance the teaching process. The model will be utilized in the
university information system accessible to teachers and the faculty management. The first part of the paper describes the
university information system with the focus on the data stored in its database. The paper also contains the description of
the preprocessing stage and feature selection algorithms in order to reveal the most significant attributes. The next section
introduces the experiments that aim to identify students' performance. The experiments are based on a combination of
data mining methods and social network analysis and are evaluated on the historical data originated from the information
system. The final section concludes the paper with comparing the designed methods and emphasizing the best fitting ap‐
proaches. We also describe the prediction model and discuss the results in detail.
Keywords: student performance, social network analysis, educational data mining, prediction, university information sys‐
tem
1. Introduction
Teachers are responsible for education of students and thus influence the next generation. They do not only
prepare lessons and exercises. Today, teachers make use of different approaches and technologies to engage
students, inspire them, and motivate them towards achieving their goals. They create various educational
games, quizzes, interactive tutorials, or e‐learning tests. Opinions differ on the question what is the most ef‐
fective way to educate students.
Meseke et al. (2008) present that collaborative learning seems to be one of a successful and attractive ways.
Researchers conclude that collaborative testing has a positive impact on student achievements by providing
the opportunity for students to become more engaged in a course, the possibility to discuss problems and
solutions and improve their critical thinking. Based on related conclusions researchers explore the social ties
among students because they influence each other.
With the advent of information age, a question, if on‐line courses are better than traditional ones, is very fre‐
quent in the educational environment. This task is explored by Atchley et al. (2013) where authors conclude
that students gain more knowledge and are more successful when they attend traditional courses. On the
other hand, the combination could be very beneficial. Researchers explore how to improve teaching tech‐
niques. They aim at different methods to help teachers to design their courses to be appropriate and interest‐
ing for most students. They create different e‐learning quizzes or tests and prepare multimedia materials to
attract students (Hawkins et al. (2013)).
A related issue is if students make effort or have skills or knowledge to pass a course. Exploring student poten‐
tial is also an interesting task in the educational environment. Researchers explore what influences students
and what can be done to help them to improve their achievements. The more teachers know their students,
the easier is to estimate students’ final results. In higher education teachers usually do not know their students
and our goal is to help them to estimate students. This knowledge can be beneficially used for assigning stu‐
dents to seminar groups with respect to their skills needed for the course or to identify weak students in order
to help them to achieve better grades.
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Hana Bydžovská and Lubomír Popelínský
The aim of this research is to clarify relationship between students' behavior and their performance at the
beginning of the term when there are no data about students' attitudes to a course. We present methods suit‐
able for predicting the success or failure of students in selected courses. We extend the work published in
Bydžovská et al. (2014) where the influence of social behavior data of students is presented. We show im‐
provement of accuracy about 3% when such data are added to datasets in comparison with using only study‐
related data. The improved results are presented in this paper. This analysis is performed on a representative
data sample obtained from the Information System of Masaryk University (IS MU).
In the following section, we give a brief overview of related work. The data extraction and processing phase
are introduced in Section 3. In Section, 4 we describe data and used machine learning techniques. The next
section presents improved results in comparison with Bydžovská et al. (2014). The summary and directions for
future work can be found in the last section.
2. State of the art
A typical way how to discover regularity in data is using data mining techniques that are suitable for exploring
a vast amount of data. The techniques allow us to build predictive models by defining valid and exact rules.
These methods can be divided into five categories: prediction, clustering, relationship mining, discovery with
models and the data retrieval for human judgment.
The application of educational data mining methods can be oriented to different groups of users: students,
teachers and administrators (Romero et al. (2010)). Students are interested in information resources and
learning tasks that would improve their skills and enhance their knowledge. They appreciate tools that would
monitor their duties and show them either easy or interesting way to graduate. Teachers are interested in
objective feed‐backs for their instructions to students, the evaluation of the structure of courses and the effec‐
tiveness of the whole learning process. Administrators are interested in ways how to better organize their
resources and how to improve the learning conditions for students.
As it was mentioned, exploring student performance is very popular. The task involves the prediction of stu‐
dent grades or student course difficulties. These findings can identify students with a greater potential as well
as students who do not meet the course difficulty criteria to whom teachers or friends should help in time.
Arnold et al. (2010) conclude that a good motivation for weak students is to show them that they are at risk.
Feedback is one of the most important help for students. Only small warning made by a teacher can make
students to think about their attitude.
It is important to predict student failure as soon as possible. The task is difficult because the less data we have
the less accurate the prediction we obtain is. The approach is published in Vandamme et al (2006). We are
interested in similar problem but our task is prediction of student success in the course not in the study.
Researchers mostly examine study‐related data stored in university information systems which contains for
example grades, gender, field of study, or age (Nghe et al. (2007)). Authors conclude that better results for
student success prediction are gained using decision trees rather than Bayesian networks. Dekker et al. (2009)
explore the early drop‐out prediction according to drop out rate of freshmen of about 40% at Electrical Engi‐
neering department. They search for students that are being at risk and thus may need some special attention.
They also confirmed the results that decision trees algorithm fits the task very well. In comparison with Nghe
et al. (2007) we tested broader spectrum of machine learning algorithms including ensemble learners. Com‐
pared to Dekker et al. (2009), we also employed more study‐related attributes. For student success prediction,
we obtain the best results using support vector machines (SMO), AdaBoost in the combination with Decision
Stump, and Bagging with SMO or REP‐Tree (Witten et al. (2011)).
In Marquez‐Vera et al. (2011) authors utilize questionnaires to get more detailed information about students’
lives directly from students because this type of data cannot be obtained from an information system, e.g.
family size, smoking habits or time spent doing exercises. They prove that these data can improve predictions
of student failure. Unlike Marquez‐Vera et al. (2011) who depend on answers from questionnaires, we use
only verifiable data from the university information system since the questionnaires tend to have lower re‐
sponse rate.
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Hana Bydžovská and Lubomír Popelínský
Vihavainen et al. (2013) are interested in the same task but they use the data about student progress in an
investigated course—the introductory mathematics course. They build their model on students programming
behavior during the 14‐week course. They conclude that after few weeks they are able to predict the success
or failure with high accuracy. They also present that students with a tendency to start working or submit their
work close to the deadline, they are at risk. Unlike Vihavainen et al. (2013) we are interested in the beginning
of term when we have no data.
3. Data extraction and processing
It is important to select attributes that describe student characteristics accurately. Based on such data, we can
better predict what will be crucial to students. We try to obtain such study‐related attributes that tell us all
useful information about a student and his or her life. We selected attributes such as gender, year of birth,
score in the entrance test, credits gained, number of parallel studies, number of the utilized second resits or
average grades, etc. We already added information about previously passed courses of students.
Relationships between students influence their decisions and behavior. The popularity of social ties explora‐
tion is growing. Social network analysis is a set of methods for capturing the complexity of relationships among
groups or individuals. Findings obtained from a social network analysis can be helpful for better understanding
of student behavior.
Some social behavior attributes can be achieved from the Information System of Masaryk University (IS MU),
e.g. e‐mail communication, publication co‐authoring, post posted, comments made, discussion forum mes‐
sages marked as important, files uploaded into someone else's depository or personal pages visited. Based on
this data we can compute the relations between every pair of users in IS MU.
We created sociograms using Pajek (Nooy et al. (2011)) where nodes denoted users and edges represented
ties among them. We took into consideration all ties, or only selected ones with respect to the strength of ties.
We also took all users in the network, or only teachers and student, or only students. Subsequently, we gener‐
ated ten different sociograms with different thresholds and limitations. For each sociogram we employed so‐
cial network analysis methods to calculate attributes such as degree—represents how many relations the stu‐
dent is involved in, weighted degree—degree with respect to strength of the ties, closeness centrality—
represents how close a student is to all other students in the network, betweenness centrality—represents
student's importance in the network. We also computed average grade of neighbors which indicates how
clever friends the student has.
Further, we collected data such as the strongest tie with a teacher of the investigated course, course marked
as favorite, course attendance disclosure, course seminar group disclosure, course examination date disclo‐
sure, and application for the study disclosure.
4. Data analysis
Our goal was to identify weak or good students. The measure of students' skills depends on the task. Some‐
times teachers wish to know only those who need a special attention because of potential fail. Sometimes they
need more separations depending of the number of seminar groups.
Because the task was vague, we performed three experiments:
prediction of a grade,
prediction of good grade/bad grade/failure,
prediction of success/failure.
This analysis covered 62 courses offered to students of the Faculty of Informatics of Masaryk University. The
data comprised of 7,457 students enrolled in courses in the year 2010‐2012 and their 148,750 grades.
4.1 Data sets
We extracted six data sets for each course for machine learning processing as follows:
study‐related data (SR: 42 attributes),
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Hana Bydžovská and Lubomír Popelínský
social behavior data (SB: 131 attributes),
study‐related and social behavior data (SS: 173 attributes),
study‐related data enriched with data about passed courses (SRC: around 60 attributes depending on a
course),
social behavior data enriched with data about passed courses (SBC: around 150 attributes depending on a
course),
study‐related and social behavior data and data about passed courses (ALL data—around 200 attributes
depending on a course).
4.2 Used MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQues
Machine learning (ML) algorithms implemented in Weka (see Witten et al. (2011)) were utilized with different
data sets in order to find out the improvement using social behavior data and data about previously passed
courses. We aimed at prediction of students’ success according to the probability of passing the investigated
course.
4.2.1 Classification tasks
Three experiments were performed that differ in the granularity of a class—prediction of an exact grade (A, B,
C, D, E, F, ‐), prediction into three classes: good/bad/failure and two‐class prediction of success/failure.
Following machine learning algorithms were used for classification: Bayes (NB), support vector machines
(SMO), instance based learning (IB1), classification rules (PART), one rule (OneR) and decision tree (J48), Ran‐
dom Forests and also ensemble learning methods, namely AdaBoost and Bagging. AdaBoost algorithm
achieved the best results in the combination with Decision Stump and Bagging with SMO or REP‐Tree.
We have already explored this task in Bydžovská et al. (2014) where the positive influence of social behavior
data about students was presented. We showed improvement of 3% in accuracy when such data are added to
datasets in comparison with using only study‐related data. There results were improved in this following sec‐
tion.
4.2.2 Cost matrix
The main advantage of the classification was that the results were easily understandable but disadvantage for
the prediction of an exact grade and the prediction of good/bad/failure was that there was no difference of
measure of error. When a student acquired A and the model predicted B, it was the same error as if it pre‐
dicted F.
To overcome this problem we used confusion matrix obtained by classification to compute the measure of an
error. Grades could be transformed into real numbers: A = 1, B = 1.5, C = 2, D = 2.5, E = 3, F, ‐ = 4 and good = A,
B = 1, bad = C, D, E = 2 and failure = F, ‐ = 4. Error of a model was computed as a sum of absolute differences
between all real values of prediction variable (Vr) and predicted values of prediction variable (Vp):
Err = ∑ | Vr − Vp |
For example, when a student acquired A and the model predicted B, the model error increase of |1‐2| = 1.
When the model predicted F, the error increase of |1‐4| = 3. The best model was the model with the lowest
total error.
4.2.3 Regression task
Regression techniques were also suitable for such tasks when there was an order for prediction variable (using
real numbers instead of grades). We employed the following machine learning algorithms for regression: Lin‐
earRegression, REPTree, IBk, AdditiveRegression, Bagging, Vote, and DecisionStump.
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4.2.4 FeaturesSelection
The study‐related data contained 42 attributes, social behavior data contained 131 attributes in total where 29
were general attributes and the rest were derived variants. Data about previously passed courses contained 20
attributes in average depending on the investigated course. This amount of data could mislead the algorithms
so we employed feature selection algorithms to reduce it. To achieve this, we used meta‐classifier that takes a
search algorithm and evaluator for selecting features and base classifier to process only reduced data.
We selected aforementioned algorithms for base classifier. We utilized BestFirst and Ranker algorithms for
evaluation. We tried different settings of Ranker: threshold 0.01, or selection of top 5, 10, 15, 20, or 50 attrib‐
utes. Following methods were used for searching: CfsSubsetEval, ClassifierSubsetEval, ReliefFAttributeEval,
ChiSquaredAttributeEval, and GainRatioAttributeEval.
4.2.5 Evaluation of results
We used 10‐fold cross validation for evaluation of results. It is well‐known technique for estimating the per‐
formance of a predictive model. The data set is divided into 10 subsets, and the holdout method is repeated
10 times. Each time, one of the 10 subsets is used as the test set and the other 9 subsets are put together to
form a training set. Then the average error across all 10 trials is computed.
5. Results
5.1 Classification task
In Bydžovská et al. (2014) we calculated baseline (classification to the majority class) for all 62 courses. Then
we calculated average of these baselines. We also computed average accuracy using study‐related data in the
same way. When we added social behavior data, the accuracy was improved by 3% for almost the third of 62
courses (All attributes).
These results were improved when we used feature selection algorithms (Selected attributes). The difference
in accuracy for grade prediction can be seen in Figure 1. The maximum improvement was almost 21% in accu‐
racy. For 11 courses, the improvements were better than 4%.
60
55
50
45
Accuracy
40
35
30
25
20
Course
Figure 1: Classification of exact grade
All differences in average accuracy per task can be seen in Table 1. The biggest average improvement was
achieved for grade prediction task—2.38%. We consider this as successful outcome in order to difference in
mining all attributes with baseline only around 10%. Maximum number of attributes in dataset was 200 (all
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Hana Bydžovská and Lubomír Popelínský
data) that could mislead algorithms. Less than 21 attributes in average were sufficient for predictions depend‐
ing on the task.
Table 1: Classification results (average accuracy %)
Classification Grades Good/bad/failure Success/failure
Baseline 31.48% 52.21% 74.20%
Study‐related data (SR) 39.31% 62.50% 80.26%
All attributes 39.70% 63.19% 81.43%
Selected attributes 42.10% (19 attributes) 65.33% (20 attributes) 83.62% (21 attributes)
Data about previously passed courses were never chosen by feature selection algorithms. Distribution of the
datasets on which machine learning algorithms reached the best accuracy can be seen in Figure 2. Diagrams
showed that study‐related data still gained the most information. Regardless the fact, social behavior data
were very beneficial. In comparison with results from Bydžovská et al. (2014) social behavior data with combi‐
nation of feature selection algorithms improved results in more cases but the improvements were almost
same, around 3%.
Figure 2: Distribution of the best dataset for machine learning algorithms for classification
The 5 most frequent attributes selected by feature selection algorithms when machine learning algorithms for
classification achieved the best results can be seen in Table 2.
Table 2: Selected attributes by feature selection algorithms
Ranking Grades Good/bad/failure Success/failure
1. Ratio of number of gained credits to Ratio of number of gained Ratio of number of gained
number of credits to gain credits to number of credits to credits to number of credits
gain to gain
2. Average grade Average grade Average number of credits
gained in term
3. Weighted average grade Weighted average grade Weighted average grade
4. Average number of credits gained in Field of study Average grade
term
5. Difference of average number of credits Average number of credits Number of gained credits
gained in semester with recommended gained in term
30 credits/term
The most often accurate machine learning algorithms depended on the task:
grades: SMO, AdaBoost and J48,
good/failure: SMO, J48 and AdaBoost,
success failure: AdaBoost, SMO and Bagging.
5.2 Cost matrix
We were interested in precise predictions regardless of the measure of an error. But when we needed to
group students with similar skills, we needed to know how big was the error of the prediction. In this situation
we could not use classification. We computed the cost of transformation of predicted values to the real values.
The total error of predictions can be seen in Table 3. The lower the total value of an error, the better.
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Hana Bydžovská and Lubomír Popelínský
Table 3: Cost matrix results (average total error)
Classification Grades Good/bad/failure
Baseline 647.98 516.48
Study‐related data (SR) 465.30 401.31
All attributes 450.89 387.01
Selected attributes 315.64 (16 attributes) 266.35 (16 attributes)
Distribution of the datasets on which machine learning algorithms reached the best results can be seen in Fig‐
ure 3, it is slightly different than in the previous case.
Figure 3: Distribution of the best dataset for machine learning algorithms using cost matrix
The 5 most frequent attributes selected by feature selection algorithms when machine learning algorithms
achieved the best results can be seen in Table 4.
Table 4: Selected attributes by feature selection algorithms
Ranking Grades Good/bad/failure
1. Ratio of number of gained credits to number of Average grade
credits to gain
2. Average grade Ratio of number of gained credits to number of
credits to gain
3. Field of study Field of study
4. Average number of credits gained in term Weighted average grade
5. Number of gained credits Average number of credits gained in term
The most often accurate machine learning algorithms were:
grades: AdaBoost, SMO and NaiveBayes,
good/failure: AdaBoost, SMO and J48.
5.3 Regression task
We also utilized regression for good/bad/failure and exact grade prediction. We decided to use Mean absolute
error (MAE) for measure how close predictions were to actual values. The lower the value of MAE, the better
predictions. Results show that applying feature selection algorithms to the study‐related data reached better
average results than using all dataset. All results can be seen in Table 5. It was very interesting that better re‐
sults were achieved for prediction of exact grade.
Table 5: Regression results (MAE)
Regression Grades Good/bad/failure
Baseline 0.7974 0.8420
Study‐related data (SR) 0.6641 0.6996
All attributes 0.6565 0.6896
Selected attributes 0.6123 (14 attributes) 0.6446 (16 attributes)
Distribution of the datasets on which machine learning algorithms for regression reached the lowest MAE can
be seen in Figure 4.
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Hana Bydžovská and Lubomír Popelínský
Figure 4: Distribution of the best dataset for machine learning algorithms for regression
The 5 most frequent attributes selected by feature selection algorithms when machine learning algorithms for
regression achieved the best results can be seen in Table 6.
Table 6: Selected attributes by feature selection algorithms
Ranking Grades Good/bad/failure
1. Ratio of number of gained credits to number of Ratio of number of gained credits to number of
credits to gain credits to gain
2. Average grade Average grade
3. Weighted average grade Weighted average grade
4. Average grade of investigated course Information if the student repeat this course
5. Number of successful finished studies at faculty Average grade of investigated course
Three the most accurate algorithms for predictions were:
good/bad/failure—LinearRegression, IBk, and DecisionStump,
grade— LinearRegression, AdditiveRegression, and Bagging.
6. Conclusion and future work
We investigated the possibilities of prediction of student success or failure. We improved previously published
results by utilizing feature selection algorithms. The best results were achieved by mining less than 21 attrib‐
utes (in comparison of 200 attributes in all data). The most frequent selected attributes were: ratio of number
of gained credits to number of credits to gain, average grade and weighted average grade. We presented the
best fitting machine learning algorithms for these tasks (SMO, AdaBoost). We also confirmed that study‐
related data were the most important from aforementioned types of data but social behavior data improved
result significantly.
The results of classification indicated suitable predictions for good/bad/failure (accuracy: 65%) and suc‐
cess/failure tasks (accuracy: 83%). The accuracy was relatively high when we took into consideration the fact
that we predicted the final scores of students at the beginning of the term when there were no data about
students’ attitude to a course. Contrarily, the predictions of exact grades were not sufficient (accuracy: 42%).
For prediction of exact grade and good/bad/failure tasks, we revealed disadvantage of using classification and
we presented two different approaches to overcome them: using cost matrix or using algorithms for regres‐
sion. The aforementioned observations obtained by classifications were still valid for both of them. The best
fitting machine learning algorithm for this task was LinearRegression in most cases. Mean average error was
around 0.6 which was sufficient improvement.
We proved that these techniques could be used for weak student identification. This outcome can help teach‐
ers with their estimations of students’ skills. This knowledge can be beneficially used for better motivation to
students or assigning them to the suitable seminar groups at the beginning of a term.
We plan to utilize different approaches on this data, e.g. the technique published by Vialardi et al. (2009, 2010)
and to enrich it with social behavior data. We also plan to construct temporal features that allow us to observe
a student progress during the study and to enrich the original data set to improve the quality of predictions.
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Hana Bydžovská and Lubomír Popelínský
Acknowledgements
We thank Michal Brandejs and all colleagues of IS MU development team and Knowledge Discovery Lab for
their assistance. This work has been partially supported by Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University.
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Promoting a Community of Practice Online: How Important is Social
Presence?
Maggie Carson
School of Health in Social Science, The University of Edinburgh, UK
m.n.carson@ed.ac.uk
Abstract: Encouraging interpersonal exchanges to support collaborative learning which require an element of self‐
disclosure can be problematic at the best of times but this can be more difficult in an online environment. It can take time
for a diverse group of distance learners to bond with each other sufficiently to ensure meaningful relationships are formed
which promote trust and give the students confidence to share their experiences. Often this time is not available. Using an
innovative approach to support students, which has been used successfully face‐to‐face but never before online, we
explore how students undertaking an online asynchronous leadership course as part of their MSc or as a stand‐alone CPD
module, felt supported by a ‘tool’ more commonly used as an icebreaker, and often referred to as the ‘Jelly Baby Tree’
(JBT). We have adapted this tool so that it can be used online to foster a sense of community. Preliminary analysis suggests
the students have found the JBT to be a much valued aspect of the course. They report that “the Jelly Baby Tree is the best
bit of this course” giving it “the ‘human touch’”, that “best of all is the Jelly Baby Tree – my stress relief and where I found so
much support” while others “come away inspired every time I read someone else’s jelly baby posting”. Arguably, the JBT
has allowed and encouraged students to be reflective and to feel able to disclose personal information about themselves
and their leadership style in a safe and supportive environment. Significantly, in a diverse cultural group the JBT appears to
have been perceived as a neutral, safe and non‐threatening means through which students could connect with each other
without misunderstanding. There has been a clear correlation between the students’ interactions with the JBT, the degree
of social presence and their active participation throughout the course.
Keywords social presence, community of practice, online environment, asynchronous e‐learning, student engagement,
Jelly Baby Tree
1. Introduction
Social presence has been defined as “the ability of participants in a community of enquiry to project
themselves socially and emotionally as ‘real’ people through the medium of communication being used”
(Garrison et al, 2000, p94). It is recognised as an important factor affecting the development of a sense of
community among learners (Rourke et al, 1999; Aragon, 2003). Positive social presence correlates with
students’ positive perceptions of their learning (Picciano, 2002) and is a significant predictor of a student’s
overall satisfaction (Tu, 2002). This is important for many reasons including attracting and retaining students
(Rovai, 2002). This paper will explore the use of an ice‐breaker tool, known locally as the Jelly Baby Tree (JBT)
and adapted for use within an asynchronous online course to demonstrate the positive effect this had on
community building, course engagement and social presence. Moreover, the evaluation of the JBT over several
iterations of the leadership course within Nursing Studies demonstrates that this tool can be used successfully
in both face to face (f2f) and online environments.
Exploring the significance of the JBT and its usage in an online course provides a greater awareness of how
Web 2.0 technology can be used within twenty first century Higher Education. This is significant as the
University of Edinburgh (UoE) is expanding its online provision of taught postgraduate programmes. Moreover,
the University’s Strategic Plan 2012‐2016 sets out a number of objectives, one of which is to combine
“recognised teaching excellence with an outstanding student experience both on‐campus and online” (p.25).
Therefore, the use of innovative approaches to teaching and learning is at the forefront of online programme
delivery.
2. Methodology
The analysis for this paper draws from existing findings (Garrison et al., 2000; Carson 2012), as well as
qualitative and quantitative data from a number of iterations of leadership courses delivered within Nursing
Studies (NS) at the UoE between 2008‐13.
In the academic year 2012‐13, fourteen students enrolled on the online MSc leadership course and the
demographics of this cohort are shown below. Figure 1 illustrates the gender split and Figure 2 shows the
percentage of home versus international students. Of the home students four (28%) were qualified nurses who
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were undertaking the course as part of their continuing professional development (CPD). Of the other home
students one (7%) was full time and the other three (21%) were part time. The international students were all
full time. The international students were younger (26‐29 years; mean = 27) than the home students (30‐47
years; mean = 36) and the CPD students (28‐50 years; mean = 42).
Figure 1: Gender split (2012‐13 online leadership Figure 2: Home & International students (2012‐13
course) online leadership course)
2.1 Use of the Jelly Baby Tree in a face to face context
The JBT has been used in many contexts as an icebreaker by the course leader. Within the University, it has
been used successfully in NS. During each iteration of the f2f MSc leadership course (2008/9‐2010/11), the
JBT(see Figure 3) was introduced to the students and used by the instructor as a tool to help and encourage
the students to state where they saw themselves in terms of their current leadership position and to establish
where they were on their leadership ‘journey’.
The JBT was then used each week to gauge how the students were feeling in terms of their involvement with
the course and how they perceived themselves in terms of how well they were balancing their various
academic, professional and personal commitments. At the start of the class each student was asked to identify
with a particular Jelly Baby and use this to articulate and share their feelings with the rest of the group. This
meant that every student had spoken aloud and shared a personal reflection within the first few minutes of
the class.
In this way, the JBT was being used as a conventional ice‐breaker which is what is was originally designed for.
Significantly, it was found that, having done this, the students were more inclined to contribute to discussions
and ask questions during the remainder of the class. A sense of community was created and the students
were able to offer and receive support from both their peers and the instructor. Every year, student course
evaluations have consistently identified the JBT as one of the best features of the course and comments such
as “The Jelly Baby Tree made you feel cared for within the group” (2008/9), “I liked the jelly baby men”
(2009/10) and “The Jelly Baby Tree was very, very helpful” (2010/11) appeared frequently on these evaluation
forms.
2.2 The need for change
The UoE is committed to increasing opportunities for online distance learning (ODL). In addition, the UoE
Strategic Plan 2012‐2016 has highlighted the need to support Postgraduate Taught Students (PGT) and sets out
three strategic goals for excellence in education, research, and innovation. Accordingly, the evolving area of
online distance learning requires staff to deliver quality and excellence to students.
NS wanted to recruit more postgraduate students by expanding the number of programmes offered and by
making existing programmes more attractive. The first step in this objective was market research. The results
indicated that prospective students were looking for flexibility, whilst balancing various commitments, offered
by online courses. This is further supported by studies focusing on nursing students who participated in online
learning (Ali et al., 2004; Sit et al., 2005). As a result, the course leader was asked to redesign the on campus
f2f leadership course so it could be delivered online.
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Figure 3: The original JBT (UK Grad, 2003) Figure 4: The online version of the JBT (adapted by
Carson and Squires, 2012)
2.3 What do nursing students want from online learning?
Consideration was given to Sit et al’s (2005) study of an online learning initiative within a post registration
nursing degree that looked at the student experience of online learning, in order to apply their knowledge to
the development of the online leadership course. While 56.7% of respondents to their questionnaire were
satisfied or very satisfied with the online learning experience, 63.3% listed the biggest hindrance to their
learning as inadequate opportunities to establish peer support. Similar findings were obtained from the open‐
ended questions in their study where the most frequently identified hindrance to their learning online (36%)
was given as the inadequate opportunity for human contact and interaction. This can be captured by a quote
from one of the respondents: “Sometimes it is boring to study on my own. It seems that I am talking to the
computer...I felt lonely and not sure if I was on the right track.” (Sit et al 2005, p146).Suggestions for future
improvements included building an infrastructure into the online design that would facilitate peer support.
Based on their findings, Sit et al (2005, p146) suggested that “innovation and creativity are needed in
enhancing human‐machine interface communication to facilitate peer interaction, support and socialisation in
the online learning process (Bentley et al, 2003; Espeland and Inrehus, 2003; Kozlowski, 2002)”.
In another study of graduate nursing students’ experiences of online learning, social isolation was found to be
a significant problem. One student reported “You felt like you were just all alone. I just thought I was typing
into space or something” (Ali et al 2004, p112).
2.4 Use of the Jelly Baby Tree in an online context
Before undertaking the design of any online course it is important to have some understanding of the needs of
online learners and also if possible to be aware of any specific needs of the student cohort being taught.
Consequently it was important not only to review what was personally known and understood about online
learning (Carson, 2012) but to also review specific literature on online learning in postgraduate nurse
education.
It was also important to think very carefully about whether what was effective f2f would work online (Carson,
2012). Evidence from Car‐Chellman and Duschastel (2001) indicates that simply transposing a traditional
course to an online medium runs the risk of diluting the content and leads to an unsuccessful learning
experience. White (2003), states that an effective online course is designed differently from a face‐to‐face
course while the UoE’s Manifesto for Teaching Online (2011) states that “The possibility of the ‘online version’
is overstated. The best online courses are born digital”.
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The intention was therefore to retain what had worked well f2f but to avoid falling into this trap. The question
which arose in relation to the JBT was therefore ‘Can teaching strategies that have worked well in a classroom
setting be successfully transposed to an online environment?’ i.e. ‘Would the JBT work online?’
As has been demonstrated, while the JBT had successfully been used in the f2f leadership courses it had never
before been implemented in an online course. Its selection was seen as an innovative approach to encourage
social presence within an online context and it was hoped that its use would help to support and develop the
PGT students taking this course.
One of the first things was to redesign the JBT (see Figure 4). This was done by removing of some of the Jelly
Babies, rearranging the groupings of others, numbering them all and adding colour to make it more visually
appealing. The visual element online is important as only two of the five senses are present here and so the
visual dimension can become the prominent sense in which to engage with others. Visual content can be used
as indicators for emotion, for example the use of emoticons in discussion boards. In addition visual cues, such
as symbols or images can be used as a signposting mechanism within the virtual learning environment. There
may also be activities, such as the JBT which use visuals to engage with the students. Therefore, the visual
element within online distance learning can provide a means in which to develop social presence and
community building (Garrison et al, 2000). Importantly, the visual content in online courses contributes
towards a better student experience. Providing a means by which to build an emotional and behavioural
aspect into the online experience further highlights the important place that the element of trust has in
activities where disclosure of feelings (and emotions) directly relates to the building of community,
(Ravenscroft, 2005, p.137), as is found in the JBT forum.
The setting up of the JB forum included a separate weekly discussion board with a single thread which was
called ‘The Jelly Baby Tree’ (see Figure 5 for a breakdown of the number of posts each week). The idea was
that students would be introduced to the JBT during the induction to the course and thereafter, as before,
would be asked each week to use the JBT to reflect on where they were and how they were feeling (see Box 1).
It can be seen from this that the Jelly Baby forum was conceptualised differently from the main discussion
board as it was seen as a place for developing community through social interaction. The instructor(s) would
do the same in order to ‘model the way’ and connect with the students thereby fostering a sense of social
presence for themselves as well. The course content was divided into weekly topics and each week had its own
discussion thread(s). Excluding the Jelly Baby posts, which were not assessed, all other discussion board posts,
which were structured and focused on the completion of set activities as part of the course contents, were
marked each week using a rubric and the marks from these posts contributed to 40% of the students’ overall
course marks. At the end of Week 5 these marks were shared with the students in the form of formative
feedback. The number of posts each week is shown in Figure 6.
Box 1: Guidance on how to use the Jelly Baby Tree.
Please have a look at the 'Jelly Baby' Tree. You will see it consists of a series of numbered 'Jelly Babies' in, on
and around a tree. Some appear confident, happy and relaxed while others appear to be less content. Some
are giving and some are offering support. Some are alone while others appear in pairs or in a group. Some
appear to be solitary and/or isolated while others appear to be part of a crowd. Each week we will be asking
you to have a think and reflect on where you are currently on your own personal leadership journey in terms
of:
• how you are feeling about being/becoming a leader
• how well supported you are feeling on this course by both your fellow students and the course
leaders
• what effect any external factors (work, home, relationships etc) have had on your week and how this
might be impacting on how you are feeling today
We will ask you to do this by selecting the coloured Jelly Baby that best corresponds to how you are feeling
and asking you to provide a short summary on this week's discussion board once you have considered the
above.
3. Discussion
The following discussion focuses on three areas in relation to the JBT, namely the importance of online
community and engagement; the discussion boards; and social presence in relation to learning. The
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implementation of this ice‐breaker tool enabled a sense of social presence to develop and as a result improved
the student experience and engagement on the online leadership course.
3.1 Importance of online community and engagement
One of the challenges of online courses is the sense of isolation which can contribute to attrition rates. This
problem has been addressed by many, such as Patterson and McFaddon (2009), who state that attrition rates
are higher in online courses. Therefore, developing a course which fosters a sense of community can help to
reduce feelings of isolation (Gerlock and McBride, 2013). Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that both
retention and satisfaction rates improve if online learners experience a sense of community (Ali and Leeds,
2009; Lee et al, 2011; Tirrell and Quick, 2012).
These factors were considered when developing the online leadership course. The course delivery tried to
avoid the notion that web‐based learning can leave students feeling that they have been communicating with
machines and not human beings. The aim of using the JBT was to build a sense of community and thus
increase engagement by providing a forum through which to foster the development of an online community.
If this is looked at more closely, a sense of community develops when a common interest or environment is
shared (Dawson, 2006). Baran et al (2012, p436) state that “Online teachers should be encouraged to
promote community building around online teaching.”
Rovai (2002, p4) defines classroom community in terms of spirit, trust, interaction and commonality of
expectations and goals. The element of trust should not be underestimated in an online course, as it is
significant for building and maintaining communities. The JBT exercise further reinforces the importance of
trust as it exposes the students to a reflective and ongoing shared group activity. This is articulated by the
following student comments from 2011‐12 (sic):
“I share your feelings too. I quite appreciate the level of bonding despite the differences in space
and time and the vulnerability based trust which makes communication easier. I took on this
course as a challenge because I dislike social science courses which are usually abstract and non
specific. But I must say that nine weeks down the line, I am glad I did. The support from my
course mates and facilitators has been excellent and I feel like Jelly Baby 1 and 4.”
“It is really nice knowing that others are working hard too. It is so overwhelming at times and
then I read your posts and realize that there is so much dedication and everyone cares for each
other even though we don't see each other eye to eye. That encourages me every day. Come to
think of it, I feel someone pushes me up the tree when life gets hard.”
Preliminary analysis suggests that students have found the JBT to be a much valued aspect of the course.
Direct feedback from students on the online course (2011‐12) confirms this:
“I think the Jelly Baby Tree is the best bit of this course. Amidst all the pressures of a full‐time job
and a part‐time course I found this to be therapeutic and gives the course the ‘human touch’.”
“I have enjoyed the Jelly Baby forum, sharing our thoughts together, I did not feel alone”
“I’ve done at least 3‐4 courses on leadership etc so to be honest I’ve got quite bored with them.
Thus my expectations were low – but I’m pleased to say they were easily exceeded – mainly
because I think everyone offered something of themselves (rather than sterile theory) in the Jelly
Baby Tree. Life is so much more fulfilling when everyone is real (even in a virtual environment!).”
“Coming from a research‐based background where one is quite insular, I felt I had very little to
contribute as most times I felt like Jelly Baby 1, always being helped up the tree by all of you
(students and lecturers) through your wisdom and experience which shines through every topic.
Best of all is the "Jelly Baby Tree" ‐my stress relief and where I found so much support! A place
where I felt I could air all, and learnt so much again!
The comments, above, highlight the significant contribution the JBT is making in relation to the sense of
connection felt by the students and the formation of an online community. Self reflection is encouraged as is
community building (Brown, 2001). Consequently, the sense of an online/offline paradigm is lessened and
students here, unlike those in Sit et al.’s (2005) and Ali et al.’s (2004) studies, have achieved a sense of
community. As the Connected Learning Manifesto (2012) states: “Connected learners are never lonely” and
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this is supported by the UoE Manifesto for Teaching Online (2011) which says “Community and contact drive
good online learning”.
3.2 Discussion boards
The JBT was used in conjunction with the discussion board within the Virtual Learning Environment
(Blackboard Learn). The discussion board enables participants to post messages and respond to others
asynchronously. Understanding how discussion boards can be implemented to develop social presence and
community is fundamental within this type of group activity.
There are a number of benefits to using discussion boards for this type of activity, including the flexibility in
which students can post comments at a time which suits them; enables students to critically evaluate their
response before posting; and provides a forum in which to build a community online.
During the ten week leadership course there were a total of 274 posts to the Jelly Baby thread. Figure 5
highlights the weekly breakdown of these posts. All fourteen students not only commented regularly
themselves (which is requested) but many also responded to each others’ posts. It could be argued that the
success of the JBT can be illustrated here by the volume of posts alone.
Figure 6 shows the activity each week on the discussion boards. As shown, this activity was maintained
throughout the entire course with the majority of students (71%) posting multiple comments each week. Four
of the fourteen students on nine occasions between them did not post (0.06%), which equates to 9/140 weeks
where they did not post. The circumstances for this varied but included special circumstances, being on annual
leave or on night shift.
Furthermore, as was mentioned earlier, the JBT activity on the discussion boards was not assessed and so it is
worth noting that the motivational drivers for students to post to the discussion board were likely to be
intrinsic rather than extrinsic, which is often not the case (Ravenscroft, 2005, p.137). This further highlights the
significance that this activity had for the cohort and the importance that they placed on it.
Figure 5: Number of posts per week to the JBT (2012‐13 Figure 6: Number of posts per week (2012‐13
online leadership course) online leadership course)
3.3 Social presence and learning
Positive social presence correlates with students’ positive perceptions of their learning (Picciano, 2002) and is
a significant predictor of a student’s overall satisfaction (Tu, 2002). Fabro and Garrison (1998) found social
presence to be crucial in establishing a critical community of learners. This is important in terms of attracting
and retaining learners to online courses (Rovai, 2002). In 2012‐13 the online leadership course was completed
by all fourteen students. During this time they remained engaged with the JBT and contributed to the weekly
discussion boards. Garrison et al (2000, p95) argue that cognitive presence is more easily sustained when a
significant degree of social presence has been established (Garrison, 1997; Gunawardena, 1995). That is, socio‐
emotional interaction and support are important and sometimes essential in realizing meaningful and
worthwhile educational outcomes.
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The learning obtained from the reflective practice and participation with other students contributes to the
student transferring skills from an online context to the offline context. As a result of this they implement
leadership skills into other environments and take responsibility for their own learning. The correlation
between reflective practice and building a community through social presence marks a qualitative difference
between a collaborative community of inquiry and a simple process of downloading information (Garrison et
al., 2000, p96).
4. Conclusion
This paper has focused on the importance of social presence in an online course and how the innovative use of
an ice‐breaker tool, known as the JBT has made a significant contribution to the formation and maintenance of
an online community within a leadership MSc course in NS. The findings indicate that the JBT has directly
contributed to student satisfaction and improved their engagement with the course thereby enhancing the
student experience. The volume of posts and comments from the students corroborate this conclusion.
Student comments highlight that the JBT provides a means through which they feel present and connected
with both their fellow students and instructors:
“When I started this course I was not quite clear whether I would manage the online environment
considering that I would never see my classmates or tutors hence and yet I wanted a personal
touch. Honestly, I did not understand the concept of the Jelly Baby Tree and I did not see where
the tutors were heading with this. Looking back, I must say I am so overwhelmed with the
encouraging words from my classmates whom I have never met. No words can ever state how
grateful I am for the jelly baby forum.”
“This course has been a rewarding and enjoyable one. There is so much to be learned. When I
started the course, I thought oh leadership‐I have done so many of those, it’s going to be boring
but it truly was not. The Jelly Baby Tree was really inspiring. The support from fellow students
and teachers were remarkable.”
It could be suggested that the JBT has allowed and encouraged students to be reflective and to feel able to
disclose personal information about themselves and their leadership style in a safe and supportive
environment. Significantly, in a diverse cultural group the JBT appears to have been perceived as a neutral,
safe and non‐threatening means through which students could connect with each other without
misunderstandings and we believe it has helped to foster a sense of social presence thereby promoting a
community of learning in an asynchronous online course.
It is hoped that by disseminating the findings from this study that there will be further insight gleaned into the
development of online courses and the importance that social presence has in relation to promoting and
sustaining communities of practice. Given that the JBT is a generic tool which is not discipline specific it could
be applied to other online environments to promote an online community. Further research into online
presence and the use of this and other icebreaker tools within other disciplines would provide a greater
understanding of how students can be supported in online environments and the impact this may have on
their engagement with their studies and their peers.
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Computer‐Adaptive Testing: Item Analysis and Statistics for
Effective Testing
Ivana Cechova, Jiri Neubauer and Marek Sedlacik
University of Defence, Brno, Czech Republic
ivanacechova@unob.cz
jiri.neubauer@unob.cz
marek.sedlacik@unob.cz
Abstract: Every year, hundreds of secondary school students take university entrance exams, and their results determine
entry into universities or possible alternatives, such as employment. In the same way, every year university teachers face
the following questions: How is it possible to cope with the number of students? And how can entrance testing be as
effective as possible? One possible solution is computerized testing, which creates new opportunities as well as challenges
for the production and administration of test forms. This paper presents on‐going research at the Faculty of Economics and
Management of the University of Defence in Brno on test item analysis as well as students’ success during entrance exams.
Item analysis is a procedure to increase the reliability and validity of a test by separately evaluating each test item to
determine whether or not that item discriminates in the same way that the overall test is intended to discriminate. There
are many ways to conduct item analysis (Tuckman 1972, Michael 1981, Nelson 2008) and ITEMAN is a useful tool to
analyse objective data. For this reason, the authors of this article focused on test item selection via the ITEMAN test/scale
analysis program, which provides item statistics, test/scale statistics, frequency distribution with a histogram, and item
response analysis. The authors’ ultimate goal is to find out how successful the students are in their entrance tests, which
consist of the Learning Potential Test and the English Language Test. Careful item analysis and entrance test composition,
together with entrance exam analysis, are factors that might predict academic achievement in tertiary education.
Keywords: computer‐adaptive testing (CAT), test assessment, item construction, item analysis, ITEMAN
1. Introduction
Computer technologies have opened up new possibilities not only for optimizing the administration of tests,
but also – and especially – for test development and assessment. Computer Assisted Testing (CAT) allows for a
redesign of psychological and educational tests for effective and efficient administration by interactive
computers; its objective is to select, for each examinee, a set of test questions that measures that person on
the given trait effectively and efficiently (Van der Linden and Glas 2000). According to Thompson and Weiss,
CAT is a sophisticated method of delivering examinations, and has nearly 40 years of technical research
supporting it (Thompson and Weiss 2011).
CAT has many positive aspects that can be used to improve the assessment process as well as to overcome
many of the prevailing problems in the field of traditional testing. Many advantages of CAT have been
indicated in recent research (e.g. Johnson and Weiss 1981, Cudeck 1985, Koch et al. 1990, Rudner 1990,
Kingsbury and Houser 1999, Weiss 2004, Vanova et al. 2012). Roever states that the biggest logistical
advantage of a CAT test is its flexibility in time and space (Roever 2001). In general, CAT greatly increases the
flexibility of test management. Some other benefits include the following:
CAT reduces the number of excessively easy or difficult items;
CAT reduces item exposure and subsequent security risks;
CAT provides a valid and reliable measurement of students’ competence.
Tests are given "on demand" and scores are available immediately
Tests are individually paced so that an examinee does not have to wait for others to finish before going on
to the next section. Self‐paced administration also offers extra time for examinees who need it, potentially
reducing one source of test anxiety;
Tests are automatically tailored to the proficiency level of the individual examinees;
CAT offers a number of options for timing and formatting, and therefore has the potential to
accommodate a wider range of item types (Vanova et al. 2012, Rudner 2014).
Despite the advantages listed above, CAT has several limitations, and can raise some technical problems, such
as:
CAT requires a facility with a large number of computers and the examinees must be computer‐literate.
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Ivana Cechova, Jiri Neubauer and Marek Sedlacik
CAT is not appropriate for all subjects and skills.
Test administration procedures are different and this could cause problems for some examinees.
Overall, however, CAT represents a significant improvement over traditional assessment methods used at
many schools and universities by providing more accurate scores for all students, a more detailed picture of
where students excel or need additional support for teachers, and more accurate ways to evaluate students’
achievement. CAT and computerized assessment allow both teachers and students to get test results
immediately, and faster results mean that teachers can use the information from optional interim assessments
throughout the school year to modify instruction and better meet the unique needs of their students.
2. Entrance exams at the faculty of economics and management
Predictions of academic success have been a contentious issue in educational research for a long time. This is
one reason why entrance exams have been so important for all universities and the University of Defence
(UoD) is not an exception. The University of Defence (UoD) provides education of both Czech Army specialists
and civilian students within accredited bachelor, master and doctoral study programmes. All these
programmes have two basic forms of study – full‐time and combined, which are authorized by Act no.
111/1998 Coll., on universities § 44. The UoD strives to accommodate the interests of both military and civilian
study candidates, who wish to complement their existing education in accordance with the rising demands of
qualifications and respond to the change of professional orientation or the needs of requalification. In this, the
UoD is reflecting European and worldwide life‐long learning trends. Students of both forms have to fulfil the
same requirements, although students of the combined form have to combine their study with a regular job
and everyday duties.
The Faculty of Economics and Management provides Bachelor’s degree programmes, subsequent Master’s
degree programmes, continuous Master’s degree programmes, and PhD degree programmes. Applicants for
military full‐time study programmes take the following tests in their entrance exam: the Learning Potential
Test (a written test); the English Language Test (also written); and a Physical Fitness Test. Applicants for the
military part‐time study programme, as well as all civilian applicants (both full‐time and part‐time) take only
the Learning Potential Test (LPT). The LPT is divided into three parts; each part always contains ten questions.
The first part deals with numeric thinking and logic; the second part focuses on spatial imagination and
abstract thinking; and the last part concentrates on basic mathematical skills. The Learning Potential Test
result is assessed on a scale between 0 and 60 points; a passing grade for this test is 30 (Sedlacik et al. 2013).
All applicants take the English language test (ELT), which examines reading comprehension, vocabulary, and
grammar. The minimal entrance level should be at least A2 according to the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages, or SLP 1 (Standardized Language Profile) according to NATO STANAG 6001. The ELT is
assessed on a scale between 0 and 50 points; a passing grade for this test is 25. With regard to this article, the
authors will not describe Learning Potential Test and the physical fitness test, and will concentrate only on ELT
analysis. Detailed information regarding the entrance exam is available at the University of Defence web site.
3. Test development, item construction and analysis
A proper test is a collection of well‐combined elements. First, the construction of test items is a crucial step for
the validity of a test. A good item construction process enhances the discrimination power, score variance,
reliability, and evidence of validity for the intended interpretation and use of scores from the overall test (Suen
and McClellan 2003). According to Sikolova et al. (2009), text and task authenticity, attractiveness and balance
of distracters, length of texts, and relevance of topics in terms of the examinees’ age, education, and common
interests are other aspects that must be considered during test development. The ability to construct high‐
quality test items requires knowledge of the principles and techniques of test construction and skills in their
application. Crocker states that a process of test development must include the following steps:
Primary objective for which the test scores will be used.
Initial test items’ development, a pool of test items’ construction.
Moderation and revision of test items.
Analysis of test items (ITEMAN, exploratory statistics).
Test piloting.
Reliability and validity studies.
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Guidelines for administration and scoring (Crocker and Algina 2014).
The decisions that have to be made at the beginning of the process of the development of the ELT at the UoD
are strongly influenced by several external factors: these include the level of test difficulty, time allotment, and
testing techniques. According to UoD regulations, the ELT must be administered within 60 minutes. Even
though the requirements of the proficiency level clearly indicate the need to include all four macro‐skills in the
test (i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing), time constraints do not allow it. As a result, tests of
speaking, writing, and listening, although of high importance, had to be excluded from the test (Sikolova et al.
2009).
3.1 Pre‐testing
Item construction and moderation is followed by test piloting/pre‐testing on a limited number of students.
Since the sample population cannot be chosen from secondary school students (they might become potential
applicants for the entrance exams at the UoD), a decision was made to test first‐year students at the Faculty of
Economics and Management, whose proficiency level in English is still at the required entrance level (Stanag
SLP 1+, or B1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
After the questions were written and reviewed, many were pretested with a sample group similar to the
population to be tested. The results enable test developers to determine:
The difficulty of each question
If questions are ambiguous or misleading
If questions should be revised or eliminated
If incorrect alternative answers should be revised or replaced.
The authors pre‐tested 63 students and then analysed each item via the ITEMAN:
3.2 Item analysis
The next step in test construction is item analysis, which is a process of examining class‐wide performance on
individual test items. Item analysis can be defined as a process which examines student responses to individual
test items (questions) in order to assess the quality of those items and of the test as a whole (“Understanding
Item Analysis Reports” 2005).
Each item on a test should be of appropriate difficulty – it should not be too difficult or too easy, as this
influences the discrimination power of a test. Additionally, it must be fair to all students. However, it is
impossible to decide which item is fairer, as there is no generally accepted definition of “fairness” with respect
to testing (Cole and Zieky, 2001).To meet the goals of reliability and validity, testers and teachers must
carefully inspect each individual test item, the test as a whole and any descriptive or preparatory materials to
ensure that language, symbols, words, phrases and content generally regarded as sexist, racist or otherwise
inappropriate or offensive to any subgroup of the test‐taking population are eliminated.
There are three common types of item analysis which provide teachers with three different types of
information: the difficulty index, the discrimination index, and the analysis of response options. The ITEMAN
software program is designed to provide detailed item and test analysis reports using Classical Test Theory
(CTT). The program analyses item response data and provides conventional item analysis statistics for each
item in order to assist in determining the extent to which items contribute to the reliability of a test and which
response alternatives are functioning well for each item (User’s manual for ITEMAN).
4. ITEMAN analysis
The analysed test consists of 50 items and was answered by 63 students. As can be seen in Figure 1 describing
the frequency distribution of the total test score, the minimum score obtained was 25 points and the
maximum was 48. The mean score value was 37.619 with the standard deviation 4.661. The value of the
median was 38.
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Figure 1: Frequency distribution of total test score
The ITEMAN software offers a classical item and test analysis. We will briefly describe its basic outputs, namely
the difficulty index, the index of endorsement, the discrimination index and the point biserial correlation
coefficient (Kerlinger and Lee 2000). In tests where answers are evaluated as either being correct or incorrect,
the difficulty level can be described as follows
The index of endorsement defined by the formula
is the proportion of people selecting a particular answer (in our case answer ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, or ‘d’). Most test
creators agree that the best test items in terms of difficulty are those with values between 0.5 and 0.7.
After difficulty and endorsement, the next index for the item analysis is the item discrimination index. This
statistic evaluates how effectively the item was able to discriminate between high scores and low scores. It is
necessary to determine the high and low scoring group. The total scores are used to do this. The item
discrimination index is the difference between the proportion of people in the high scoring group who
answered the item correctly and the proportion of people in the low scoring group who answered this item
correctly. We can write
where NH is the number of people in the high scoring group that got the item correct and NL is the number of
people in the low scoring group that got the item correct. If the index is negative, the item has reverse
discrimination. Good items are expected to have positive values. The higher the value is, the greater is the
discrimination. For the analysed test, the low scoring group has 21 people whose score was less or equal to 36
points, the high scoring group consists of 24 people with the score greater or equal to 40 points.
The point biserial correlation coefficient (item‐to‐total score correlation) describes how the answers of the
given item correspond to the total score obtained. One can expect that the correlation of each item should be
high. An item that correlates low with the total score can be interpreted as an item that is measuring
something that differs from what the other items are measuring; the item is not homogenous with other
items.
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The following table summarises the item analysis results of the test.
Table 1: Item analysis results
Item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Difficulty 0.8 0.5 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.1 0.7 0.2 0.9 0.7 0.9
4 4 4 2 2 1 8 2 7 6 5 7 3 5 2 1 4
Discriminati 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.4 ‐ 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.1
on 5 5 9 0 9 7 1 4 7 4 5 0.0 8 4 5 1 4
2
Correlation 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.0 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1
4 4 3 6 6 9 5 0 4 6 5 3 8 7 4 2 7
Item 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
Difficulty 0.5 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.6 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.9
7 4 6 1 6 0 5 5 1 3 4 9 9 7 5 4 4
Discriminati 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.1 ‐ 0.2 0.0
on 3 5 2 9 4 4 4 1 3 8 8 0 1 5 0.0 9 5
8
Correlation 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.5 0.4 0.1 0.2 ‐ 0.3 0.0
2 3 6 7 8 8 2 0 4 7 0 3 9 2 0.1 7 2
5
Item 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Difficulty 0.6 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.7
0 6 2 4 2 9 4 5 4 5 1 0 7 1 7 3
Discriminati 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.0
on 2 9 9 4 5 0 5 7 6 9 3 5 8 6 5 8
Correlation 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2
4 4 0 5 5 5 1 0 3 7 6 0 3 2 3 3
Reliability of the test is often estimated by Cronbach alpha
where k denotes number items var(Ij) are the variances calculated for each item(Ij) and var(Ic) is the variance of
the total score of the test. The value of these statistics is usually expected to be larger than 0.7. The estimated
reliability of the analysed test is 0.659 which is slightly below this limit.
According to the result obtained (see Table 1), we can identify several items which can be considered very easy
(the difficulty index is greater than 0.9 meaning that more than 90% of students answered this item correctly),
namely items 4, 5, 8, 15, 17, 24, 32, 34, 37 and 39. Items 12 and 14 have a difficulty index of less than 0.3,
which indicates that those items are too difficult. The discrimination index for such items is usually very small;
these items do not help to discriminate between good and bad results. If we focus on the items 20, 26 and 44,
we will see that the difficulty indices have acceptable values but the discrimination indices and correlation
coefficients are very low. The responses to these items do not correspond to the total score obtained.
Figure 2 shows the output from ITEMAN software (version 3.6). It contains, beside other information, the
values of the difficulty index (‘Prop. Correct’), the discrimination index (‘Disc. Index’), the point biserial
correlation coefficient (‘Point. Biser.’) and the index of endorsement for the low and high group (‘Endorsing
Low’ and ‘Endorsing High’). Three items of the test were selected as examples of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ questions.
Item no. 11 represents properly a constructed question. Item no. 12 is an example of a question which is too
difficult. It has a negative discrimination index and almost zero correlation coefficient. The third item, no. 32,
represents a very easy question with a negative discrimination index and correlation coefficient.
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Figure 2: Example of ITEMAN output (version 3.6)
Based on the item analysis (values of the difficulty and discrimination index, the correlation coefficient), it
would be appropriate to modify some items in the proposed test. Such modification may cause an increase in
test reliability.
5. Conclusion
Today the use of computer technology in the field of language assessment and testing has become so
widespread and so inclusive that it is regarded as an inseparable part of today’s education system. The item
analysis shows the teachers and testers what further steps must be done to ensure the entrance test’s
reliability and validity. It gives them useful information dealing with item appropriateness. If an item analysis
shows that an item does not work properly (Figure 2), it must be replaced or its distracters must be changed.
The ITEMAN item analysis provides teachers and testers with a user friendly tool to analyse a test. If all above
mentioned steps (Chapter 3) are followed, a test is reliable and fair enough to test what it claims to be tested.
CAT as well as ITEMAN are viable technologies with good potential to provide improved test analysis and
measurement.
In conclusion, a testing process that provides a fair, reliable, efficient, and cost‐effective assessment of
applicants remains the main objective for the University of Defence educational programs. The established
system of test design, moderation, pre‐testing, item analysis, and administration has become a viable and
transparent way of selecting candidates to the university according to their knowledge level.
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Utilization of web Portals at Kazakh and Czech University ‐
Comparative Study
Miloslava Černá, Petra Poulová and Michal Sláma
University of Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Miloslava.cerna@uhk.cz
Petra.poulova@uhk.cz
Michal.slama@uhk.cz
Abstract: The paper brings an extract from an extensive long‐term investigation on Utilization of web sources in tertiary
environment. In here presented findings come from the latest phase, from surveys which were conducted in Czech and
Kazakh universities with students with comparable field of studies and with comparable level of computer literacy. The
research was conducted with university students from University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic and Karaganda State
Technical University, Kazakhstan. The survey explored students´ acceptance and breadth of web offer utilization in a wide
sense of the its meaning; covering various kinds of web portals from standard generally utilized search engines to specific
professionally designed portals, e.g. educational portals or collaboratively developed social software application Wikipedia.
The survey and its findings might serve as a starting point for the discussion on web‐site usability, web portal satisfaction
and portal design. Findings clearly confirm the still current importance of web portals, namely natural perception of this
environment by students and potential for study purposes.
Keywords: communications applications, Internet, portal, survey, students
1. Introduction
The Internet as a general phenomenon influencing for more than two decades professional and non‐
professional lives with its endless width of applications which are in perpetual process of change have
attracted attention of their common users as well as researches trying to explore the Internet potential from
various points of views, to determine its strengths and pitfalls, to show its beneficial contribution and possible
limitations.
Students´ acceptance and breadth of web offer utilization in a wide sense of the its meaning is primarily
explored in this paper; web offer covers various kinds of web portals from standard generally utilized search
engines to specific professionally designed portals, e.g. educational portals or collaboratively developed social
software application Wikipedia.
Searching for information, watching news, communication in virtual communities, social networks,
professional and entertainment forums, marketing on the Internet, Internet banking, shopping and last not
least studying on the Internet is a common matter already for a decade.
Studying on the Internet can be both either more or less some kind of directed systematic learning in specific
learning environment, or it can be just natural free learning; all that fully corresponds to a natural human need
to learn and explore new areas and so consequently calls for an elaborate research.
The issue of Internet portals´ visits and utilization of individual services in tertiary education has been
investigated since 2008. The survey on utilization of web sources has been run repeatedly at University of
Hradec Králové and then at 6 foreign European universities within mobility programmes. Findings were utilized
not only in the purely academic area for publishing purposes (Černá, 2008) and (Černá, 2012) but also served
as an inspiration for changes and innovations in the educational process of cooperating academicians.
This paper brings findings from the latest survey. The objective of this paper is to present findings gained from
the questionnaire investigation followed by semi‐directed discussion on the role of web portals in students´
private and university lives. The survey and discussions were carried last year at the University of Hradec
Králové, Czech Republic and Karaganda State Technical University, Kazakhstan.
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Miloslava Černá, Petra Poulová and Michal Sláma
2. Methodological frame
The methodological frame except giving definition to the key word of the study covers the following sections:
background of the study, explanation of the study topic, stating the aims of the comparison study and
description of its survey sample and a research tool.
2.1 Key word definition
There is a wide offer of definitions of the key word Portals due to the fact that each of them, as a rule, reflects
specialization of their author and supporting the area of study, see more (Isaacs, 1999), (Jafari, 2003), (Li Xiao,
2005), (Plachý, 2007), (Munk, 2010) or (Malcolm, 2011).
But the core of the definition stays the same; portal is a gateway to other links and services or serves as an
introductory page for a specific area or topic: (University Utah, 2008).
Portals are designed to be gateways to the Internet. They may have a link to a search engine, a subject
directory, and provide other services such as news, weather, entertainment information, stock market
information, shopping, and other services. Many portal sites provide an option to customize the site
according to the user's personal interest. Portals are sponsored by the major search engine and browser
providers, and may include alliances with other major players on the Internet.
In simple terms, a portal is a web "supersite" with a collection of links to popular web services on the
Internet, a kind of "doorway into the Internet. The site provides a variety of services including directories,
online shopping, discussion groups, Web searching, channels (small windows within a page that are
dynamically updated and determined by the user) and links to other sites.
An Internet site offering a directory of links to other sites (the free dictionary online)
When it comes to portal categories, the situation is similar. There is no universal portal categorization Collins
(Collins, 2003), Malcolm (Malcolm, 2011), etc. except for the original, let´s say traditional division that has not
changed up to now: the Horizontal and Vertical portals or General portals like Yahoo and Specialized, eg. CNN.
2.2 Study background
The initial stage of an extensive long‐term investigation on Utilization of web sources in tertiary environment
started six years ago when the first survey on time spent in assorted kinds of portals from Search portals, via
General, News, Educational, Language and Other portals in sense of both professional and leisure interest was
run at the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Králové.
Together with portal visits the width and frequency of utilized services was examined. At that time the case
study was based on comparison of findings gained from accessible sample consisting of teachers and students
of FIM (Faculty of Informatics and Management). Various kinds of portals were selected; respondents were to
answer which of these portals they visited and how much time they spent in them. The other followed issue
was width and frequency of used web applications. The aim of the study was to find out what time burden
utilization of web portals and their services represent, see more, (Černá, 2008).
2.3 Study topic, goals and sub‐goals of the study
In this study the sample of participants is made of university students of two universities: University of Hradec
Králové and Karaganda State Technical University. Field of studies in both groups of respondents is similar and
their level of computer literacy is comparable as well. Likewise in the previous survey the core of the
investigation lies in portal visits.
The aim is to find out how much time university students with similar specialization spend in selected Internet
portals aside from professional or nonprofessional reasons and compare and discuss the gained findings.
The selection of researched portals resulted in two sets of surveyed portals: a basic set and its shortlist. The
main research tool enabling gathering data in this study is a questionnaire which contains the whole original
set of portals encompassing Search Portals (comprising subsections Google, Yahoo and open section Other
Portals (search engines), General Portals, News Portals, Educational Portals, Language Portals, Wikipedia and
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Miloslava Černá, Petra Poulová and Michal Sláma
another open section Other Portals where we expected that specialization or hobbies of respondents might
have got reflected to a certain extent. (Černá, 2008)
A shortlist of selected portals was done to highlight educational aspect of virtual environment: Google,
Educational portals, Language Portals and Wikipedia.
2.4 Research instrument
A non‐standardized questionnaire Web Portals and their Services serving as a research tool was created. This
questionnaire was verified in a pre‐research. Questionnaire reliability ranged from 0.61 to 0.72. The
questionnaire contains scaled items and open questions.
On the basis of the interviews which had preceded the final version of the questionnaire a few modifications
had to be made. Especially professional terminology had caused misunderstanding within respondents. They
found it difficult to choose the proper answer when they did not understand clearly the meaning of
expressions like `horizontal or vertical portals´ they needed and asked for further explanation so that they
could complete the questionnaire. Simplified portal categorization with typical examples of particular portals
was set together with defined time periods. For example, Google and Yahoo represented Search Portals,
people who use also some other search portal were given option to mention it in the part ‐ Other search
portals.
When the printed questionnaire was distributed to students by the researcher the respondents were informed
that participation in this study was anonymous and that no personal identity information was collected in the
survey. It took about 10 to 15 minutes to complete the survey.
The researcher herself collected all the questionnaires so the return rate was 100%.
The next stage was a discussion with students. The discussion was preceded by a short presentation of findings
on utilization of web portals gained from previous surveys with students which served as the door to further
conducted discussion with respondents on other software applications like Facebook, experience with on‐line
dictionaries, preferred ways of on‐line communication, playing games, pros and contras of studying in virtual
environment, etc.
3. Research sample
This study brings the latest data from a survey which was conducted last year in Karaganda, Kazakhstan with
engineering students.
The Kazakh research sample consisted of 64 full‐time students from the Karaganda State Technical University,
Kazakhstan. They were students of the third, fourth and fifth year of their studies (see Table 1) with the age
ranging from 19 to 24 years (see Figure 1).
Table 1: Kazakh ‐ the year of studies
Year of study Number of respondents
1 0
2 0
3 31
4 29
5 2
did not respond 2
When it comes to gender of the sample, the group consisted of 40 men and 24 women.
The Czech research sample consisted of 55 full‐time students from the University of Hradec Kralove, Czech
Republic. There were students of the first, second and fifth year of studies and their age ranging from 19 to 26
years. The Czech group consisted of 35 men and 20 women (see Figure 2).
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Miloslava Černá, Petra Poulová and Michal Sláma
Figure 1: Kazakh ‐ age of respondents
Figure 2: Czech ‐ gender of respondents
4. Research analysis and findings
Return rate of questionnaires was 100% due to the fact that the researchers distributed and collected them
personally. Data were initially inserted into the spread‐sheets and then graphs on frequency of portal visits
were made. Graphs illustrating the individual findings are supplemented by commentary. These graphs show
the answer to the stated primary question on time burden on the amount of time which students commonly
spent weekly in selected portals regardless of reasons; whether they visit the websites intentionally on study
or business purposes or just, for example, because of pure interest or boredom. Time spent weekly in
particular portals is divided into five time categories: 5‐30 minutes, Up to one hour, 1 ‐ 5 hours, More than 5
hours, Never. During data processing one more category had to be added – 'No answer', because respondents
sometimes omitted to mark an answer, when they didn´t select any of the proposed options. We might have
assumed that not marking any of the categories corresponded to the category “Never” but we did not want
the data to get biased.
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Miloslava Černá, Petra Poulová and Michal Sláma
4.1 Search portals
The first explored portal category were Search portals as most established robust portals of everyday use with
sophisticated search engines. 'Google' was chosen as the most frequently used search engine at present and
'Yahoo' as its natural competitor, the third followed variable was an open category 'Other portals'.
Figure 3: Czech ‐ time spent in Google
Figure 4: Kazakh ‐ time spent in Google
It is evident that 'Google' plays the main role as the most significant search engine, for plenty of respondents it
serves as a home page, all respondents use it irrespectively of which country they come from; nobody omitted
to answer the question and nobody marked time category Never, (see Figure 3 and 4).
On the other hand the bar 'Never' 'dominates in Yahoo case.
Following graphs illustrate the situation in detail, with particular universities, (see Figure 5 and 6).
Figure 5: Kazakh ‐ utilization of Yahoo and other general search portals except Google
Astonishing 60% of Czech students spend in Google environment up to 5 hours a week, one fifth of them even
more hours. As for Kazakh students there is big discrepancy in comparison with our students; there is even one
third of students who spend more than 5 hours a week in them.
Yahoo´s role is negligible 84% Czech students do not use it at all, 89% of Kazakh students stated they either do
not use it or didn´t answer the question which shows no interest. Surprisingly neither of the groups showed
any significant interest in Yahoo or other search engine, it was comparable small amount of students covering
the span from 4 to 11%.
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Figure 6: Czech ‐ utilization of Yahoo and other general search portals except Google
4.2 Educational portals
Among Educational portals were also included learning management systems like Blackboard or Moodle.
Findings show the irrefutable potential of Educational portals and their plausibility by students.
Findings relating to educational portals call for further elaboration; in the next stage of the research on
Utilization of web sources it will be worth analyzing motivation and the reasons of high frequency of
educational portal visits, whether students attend them on the basis of teacher´s instructions, whether it is
their standard way of systematic studying or kind of additional studies and to what extent they fit their
learning styles (Šimonová, 2011).
Overall, the frequency of educational portals visit is high, see Figure 7. Only 14% of students from the whole
sample don´t use them so the number of students who do not visit Educational portal websites is negligible.
Figure 7: Educational portals – Czech and Kazakh students
Numbers in various time categories range vary dramatically. As for Czech students the frequency of occurrence
in particular time categories is higher in utilization of educational portals in the time categories up to half an
hour and up to one hour. There is a high rate of short visits; one quarter of Czech students spend there up to
half an hour, the amount of active students in the other group is half – just 16%. The highest numbers reaches
the time range up to 1 hour; 36% of Czech students and one quarter of Kazakh students visit the websites.
The difference is in utilization of the educational portal in the time category up to 5 hours; 22% of Kazakh
students are more active than the Czechs with 15%. Only 8% in both groups visit this kind of portal even 5
hours a week.
4.3 Language portals
Language Portals might be taken as a subcategory of Educational portals. They were given extra space in the
questionnaire because of the language aspect, as we wanted to find out more not only on time span of portal
visits but also on utilized language websites covering on‐line dictionaries, as well.
Language portals are not visited by nearly three quarters of Kazakh students (50% didn´t respond and 22%
stated “never”), number of Czech students in this category is lover; 20% stated “never” and 22% didn´t
respond so language portals are of no importance to them.
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Figure 8: Language portal – Czech and Kazakh students
The positive thing about the Czech group is that one quarter of students spends in language portals up to half
an hour, one fifth even one hour and 13 % up to five hours a week, there are 2% of language enthusiasts
spending there even more than 5 hours a week.
4.4 Wikipedia
Last inhere described portal findings relate to Wikipedia generally warmly accepted source of information by
students and rather sceptically accepted by academics. The survey revealed following deep discrepancies
between individual universities. See Figure 9.
Wikipedia is widely utilized by Czech students; 42% of Czech students use Wikipedia up to 5 hours.
Wikipedia is favourite with Czech students but they use it only as a source of information, out of the whole
sample there were only 5 students who edited the application.
Kazakh students use wiki also frequently; time category up to one hour reaches 30% of students and a
category up to 5 hours reaches even 33% of students.
Figure 9: Wikipedia – Czech and Kazakh students
5. Conclusion
The sample of inhere described investigation consist of students who are typical representatives of net
generation who have lived all their lives surrounded by information technologies – that is why utilization of
Internet and its services is completely natural to them.
The findings bring the answer to the primary stated question on time burden on the amount of time which
students commonly spent weekly in selected portals regardless of reasons; whether they visit the websites
intentionally on study or business purposes or just, for example, because of pure interest or boredom.
In spite of the fact that they spend hours in them as illustrated in the graphs they perceive that as natural.
Both groups use Wikipedia as a source of shared wisdom
Both groups clearly prefer Google search engine to any other
Czech group of students reaches a little higher occurrence in educational and language portals
Two promising topics for further discussion have arisen:
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What lies behind a wide scale of strong interest to complete disinterest of students from both countries in
selected portals?
Both groups like Wikipedia but only as passive users, should we, as teachers motivate them to contribute
into it to become active users and collaborate in this enormous virtual platform?
Findings relating to Educational portals call for further elaboration; in the next stage of the research on
Utilization of web sources it will be worth analyzing motivation and the reasons of high frequency of portal
visits. This topic strongly links to success of web sites and might be developed in sense of usability study of
web‐sites.
We believe that the research results provide readers involved in e‐learning with an up‐to‐date beneficial
insight into the web portals and prove how natural the on‐line environment it is to them.
Inhere described survey represents a kind of evaluation of the success of Web portals and can serve as a
starting point for the discussion on web‐site usability (Černá, 2009), web portal satisfaction (Collins, 2003) and
portal design including implementation of Semantic web technologies dealing with overcoming boundaries in
web applications like data portability, semantic wiki or knowledge networking.
Beside the technological issue we believe that this paper will be also beneficial from the educational
perspective showing the width of on‐line potential which might be inspiring as well as ultimately limiting
(Breslin, 2009).
Acknowledgements
This paper is supported by the SPEV Project N. 2110 “Contribution of social media and mobile technology for
forming an optimal model of instruction”.
References
Breslin, J.G. at al.( 2009) The Social semantic Web, Springer : Berlin.
Collins, H. (2003) The Enterprise Knowledge Portals : Next Generation Portal Solutions for Dynamic Information Access,
Better Decision, and Maximum results, AMACOM : New York.
Černá, M., Poulová, P. (2008) Visit Rate of Internet Portals and Utilization of their Tools and Services. E+M Ekonomie a
Management, Vol. XI, Iss. 4, pp 132–142.
Černá, M., Poulová, P. (2009) User Testing of Language Educational Portals. E+M. Ekonomie a Management., Vol. XII, Iss. 3,
pp 104‐117.
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Černá, M., Poulová, P. ( 2012) Utilization of Web Portals at Selected Universities: Comparative Study. Proceedings of the 9
International Scientific Conference on Distance Learning in Applied Informatics, Sturovo, pp. 63 ‐ 72.
Isaacs, N. (1999) Types of portals. FSU Computer Science. [online] Available at
http://websrv.cs.fsu.edu/~/projects/cgibin/scavenge/a2/portals.html. [Accessed 20 January 2011]
Jafari, A. and Sheehan, M. (2003) Designing Portals: Opportunities and Challenges, Information Science Publishing :
Hershey.
Jaschic, S. A. (2007) A Stand Against Wikipedia, [online] Available at
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/01/26/wiki. [Accessed 5th May 2014]
Malcolm, T. (2011) What Is a Web Portal? [on line]. Available at http://www.wisegeek.com/topics/web‐portal‐
templates.htm [Accessed 30 May 2011].
Munk, M., Kapusta, J., Švec, P., Turčáni, M. (2010) Data Advance Preparation Factors Affecting Results of Sequence Rule
Analysis in Web Log Mining. E+M Ekonomie a Management, Vol. XIII, Iss. 4, pp 143–160.
Plachý, P. (2007). Web applications and portals, IT Systems, 2007, no.3, pp 68‐69
Šimonová, I., Bílek, M. (2010). The Distance eLearning, Comparative Students' Evaluation in 2005‐2010: Example of
University of Hradec Kralove. Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on e‐Learning, Vol 1, pp. 547‐553.
Šimonová, I., Bílek, M. (2011).E‐application for didactic approach to e‐learning. International Conference on Information
Society, i‐Society 2011, pp. 325‐329.
Li Xiao. (2005) User Satisfaciton with Web Portals. An Empirical Study. The George Washington University, [online].
Available at http://home.gwu.edu/~dasgupta/pubs/2005‐chapter‐xiao‐dasgupta.pdf [Accessed 5 May 2014]
120
Trends in Acceptance of Social Software Applications in Higher
Education From the Perspective of University Students ‐ Case Study
Miloslava Černá
University of Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
miloslava.cerna@uhk.cz
Abstract: The paper deals with utilization of social software applications in university settings. It focuses in detail on social
application potential in three core areas of teaching/learning process on appropriateness of selected social applications in
terms of study materials, communication tools and options for testing students´ knowledge perceived by students. Readers
are provided with an insight into the development of acceptance and utilization of social applications by university
students via comparison of findings from two surveys which were run in 2011 and 2014 at the Faculty of Informatics and
Management, University of Hradec Králové. The surveys were conducted within a national project “Evaluation of the
modern technologies contributing towards forming and development university students’ competences” and within a
follow up Excellence project “The ICT reflection within cognitive process development”. The insight predominantly from
the students perspective is revealed; the amount of students who are familiar with individual applications and frequency of
utilization of these applications for private and educational purposes are illustrated in graphs. Findings on awareness and
utilization of examined applications are compared and form the starting point or the base for the key part of the paper.
The changed view of social applications´ potential and assessment of their appropriateness for selected goals in the
process of education is described and also illustrated in graphs; it presents the core of the paper. The study problem of the
described surveys concerns selected social software applications with various missions; these applications have changed
within a decade the landscape of the Internet and naturally influenced in some ways lives of their users; some applications
completely ceased to exist some came to the existence. The objective of the paper is to compare gained findings from
repeated survey and show the progress or stagnation in acceptance and utilization of social software applications and
describe students changed perception of potential of selected applications in three areas of the educational process.
Findings show visible changes in utilization of selected applications. There can be seen trend in more frequent utilization of
social applications for both university and further studies purposes. A summarizing graph shows an increase in use of some
applications and on the other side a complete disappearance other applications like Twitter, ICQ or Bookmarking.
Blackboard with 100% dominates, followed close behind by Facebook, YouTube and Wikiplatform.
Keywords: ICT; social software application; LMS; satisfaction; survey; higher education
1. Introduction
Information and communication technologies (ICT) in education are a topic which never stagnates; ICT form a
natural part of our lives where education is no exclusion. Their importance has been worked out in numerous
academic works covering a wide span of grasping the issue with positive expectations or uncritically optimistic
approaches via sober, realistic concept (Černá and Svobodová 2013) to the sceptical view of the computer
technologies potential. (Selvyn 2007). This paper on social software applications also claims to contribute into
the field of implementation of information and communication technologies into the process of education.
Social applications encompass two main areas: technical and social which both constantly develop and
influence our lives as they clearly reflect and significantly affect current epoch. Technical innovations posses
substantive drive in young people; their strength lies in enabling users participate and interact in web‐space
which represents a valuable contribution for educational purposes, as well. When the social aspect is taken
into consideration other distinctive strengths get revealed we mean the development of one´s identity within
the framework of social network self‐presentation, communication and interpersonal relations in virtual space.
Toivonen discusses three main stones that enabled development of Social media: “Social media refers to a
combination of three elements: content, user communities and Web 2.0 technologies”. He highlights that Web
2.0 is used to refer to the whole phenomenon of social media (Toivonen 2007).
Implementation of social applications into the process of education widens the vast sphere of ICT in education;
it brings new opportunities, expectations in their potential (Valtonen 2011) but pitfalls as well.
The organization of the contribution is as follows: firstly a theoretical background with a review of the
literature is provided, then research methodology is described, the key part brings comparison of results and
findings from two surveys with the intention to highlight the changes in the use and perception of social
applications as beneficial tools in the process of education, this part is followed by a discussion and conclusion.
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2. Theoretical Background
The paper brings latest results from a repeated research on the utilization, satisfaction and perceived potential
of social software application by university students. The first survey was conducted in 2011 and its results
together with deep review of literature on the discussed issue were published in Černá and Poulová (2012).
The issue of social nets in the process of education has been analysed and discussed by academicians for more
than a decade, as for other software applications covered in by Web 2.0 phenomenon the history goes back to
1999. Positive outcomes prevail and endless potential is highlighted. Due to the fact that the research is
repeated, the review of literature has been just updated and doesn´t repeat all literature sources from the
above mentioned paper dealing with the same topic. (Černá and Poulová 2012).
Deep insight into the issue of Web 2.0 and practice of teachers in Higher Education was done by Greener
(2012); she had reviewed peer‐reviewed journal articles since 2006. Net generation and potential of social
software for study purposes is discussed in the paper of Valtonen, T. et al. (2011). Real educational activities
and their modelling in an on‐line setting are worked out by Balogh, Z., Turčáni, M. and Burianová, M. (2010).
As for the last example of a different perspective a widely discussed issue of learning styles has been selected;
Poulová, P., Šimonová, I. and Janečka, P. (2010) present in their paper design, creation and application of a
software application supporting individual learning styles in e‐learning.
As for characteristics of Web 2.0 and its appropriateness for teaching learning purposes it encourages sharing
and construction of information; it is participative (Greener, 2012). She states that faculties are supposed to
stay up to day to benefit from tools like social networking, blogging, learning management systems, publishing,
etc. The most underlined potential is seen in cooperation and collaboration. As an example of perceived
potential in an individual social application might be presented enthusiasm in blogs, Agosto (2012) brings a
deep review into collaboration and knowledge sharing fields and explains how to stimulate even maximize
students collaboration on the fundaments of framework of factors, see also more Zach and Agosto (2009).
3. Research methodology
This chapter covers the following areas: defining of the study problem of the research and its objective
together with description of the research tool and the accessible sample.
The study problem of the repeated research is the same as in the previous one; it concerns individual types of
social software applications selected on the basis of their various missions fitting various goals.
The paper is based on the surveys which aim at mapping the utilization of selected social software applications
networking systems among university students at the University of Hradec Králové.
Data rapidly become obsolete especially in the field of computer technologies so repeated investigation is
desirable.
The objective of the paper is to compare gained findings from a repeated survey on awareness, utilization and
satisfaction with selected social software applications and consequently reveal the progress or stagnation in
acceptance and utilization of social software applications and show students´ changed or not changed
perception of potential of selected applications in three areas of the educational process.
There are several areas divided into subcategories to be explored and compared:
firstly there is a view of student´ general use of social application:
awareness of the existence of social applications
frequency of their utilization
secondly there is a specialized view of student´ use of social applications for study purposes explored:
utilization of selected applications for university purposes
utilization of selected applications for further education
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thirdly there is the last part dealing with potential and appropriateness of individual applications for
concrete areas which are of key importance in the process of education:
appropriateness of selected applications for placing and managing study materials
social applications as an appropriate communication tool
social applications as relevant testing and revising tools.
Satisfaction is a highlighted category in the paper. Level of satisfaction is in detail explored due to the fact that
category of satisfaction is one of the determining features influencing utilization of web sites and applications.
(Li Xiao 2005). Satisfaction is one out of five quality components defining usability. (Nielsen 2012).
The research accessible sample of the first survey consisted of 306 students of present and combined form of
studies and the other survey was run with the research accessible sample of 71 students of present form of
studies. Both samples were students of the second year of studies at the Faculty of Informatics and
Management, University of Hradec Králové.
The research tool is represented by an electronic form of a questionnaire which was created by the team of
experts from the pedagogical, technology and psychology departments. The questionnaire consists of a set of
applications encompassing various areas, having various functions. The same questionnaire was applied in
2014 with slight adaptations in selected applications:
one currently fast spreading Google+ social net entered the Internet landscape so it had to be added as
any other player entered so vigorously
Learning management system WebCT now belongs to Blackboard group, so in the other survey the name
was changed accordingly
two Internet games and general section with on line game applications were fused in the final part of
investigation on appropriateness of applications for individual educational purposes as their occurrence
was of marginal significance because these games had becme obsolete.
While filling in the questionnaire, students were informed that participation in the study was voluntary and
anonymous; it took them just about 8‐10 minutes to complete the survey. The follow up discussion lasted
about 40 minutes, due to the fact that the topic was close to respondents, they were ready to communicate
and share their experience openly and appreciated researcher´s interest in respondents´ opinion and own
contribution.
A set of surveyed social software applications encompassed applications with various functions: social utilities
connecting people, video‐sharing website, on‐line diary, storing and sharing web‐links, sharing photos, on‐line
communication, on‐line computer games and learning management systems. A few questions were open so as
we could get chance to learn more on issues we were interested in – like social nets and learning management
systems. Descriptive statistics was used in the processing of gained results; the distribution of frequency tables
was made and consequently bar graphs that show the investigated elements (social applications) and their
percentages were compiled.
4. Results and findings
This section covers several areas. The first one deals with the awareness of the existence of selected
applications and frequency of their visits, another subsection is focused on utilization of software applications
in higher education and further education, potential of social software applications in individual areas of the
study process is the last one.
4.1 Awareness and utilization of selected applications
The first part of this section deals with the findings on the awareness of the existence of selected applications
and frequency of their visits.
In the first survey that was run in 2011Facebook, Wiki, YouTube, Skype, ICQ, sharing photos followed by blogs
and learning management system WebCT were the most known applications. The absolute winner was
Facebook reaching 99% closely followed by Wiki, YouTube and predominantly communication applications
Skype and ICQ.
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As for the new survey:
Figure 1: Students who know LMS in 2011 and 2014
the first visible discrepancy is in LMS – all students know Blackboard and higher amount of students are
familiar with Moodle or other LMS, as for Moodle the number has increased from14% to 34%, see Fig 1.
absolute winners reaching 100% are Facebook, YouTube, Blackboard, and Skype, all respondents know
these applications
96% of students are familiar with a new social net Google+, as for Twitter and another social net the
difference in awareness is marginal
Surprisingly, more than 70% students still don´t know social bookmarking, in the first survey there were
only 4% of students who knew this application.
4.2 The frequency of visits and defining current trends
Following graphs Fig.2 and Fig.3 clearly describe utilization of individual applications in two investigated stages
of the research.
Figure 2: Frequency of visits of selected applications in 2011
Figure 3: Frequency of visits of selected applications in 2014
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On the basis of comparison of the gained data six significant trends were defined.
One of most significant changes hit ICQ. Four years ago ICQ was still alive and surprisingly widely and
frequently used; 45% of respondents used it daily and another 15% at least once a week and only one fifth
of them didn´t use it at all. Currently only 3% use it daily and 4% weekly, nearly three quarters of
respondents don´t use it anymore.
Skype as the other exclusively social communication application has also gone through noticeable
changes. Daily and weekly rate visit has increased from 30% to 50%, 4 years ago 37% didn´t use it at all in
comparison with current 18%.
There was no breakthrough in Social‐bookmarking, there are only 5 respondents using it, but those who
use it, use it frequently.
The other trend concerns YouTube application whose main mission is sharing predominantly music
recordings as well as presentations and instructions from various technical and leisure areas. 97%
respondents use YouTube application daily or weekly, to be precise ¾ use it daily. In comparison to that 4
years ago there was ¼ of daily users and 46% weekly users. What is behind such an increase in popularity
of YouTube? The discussion showed that students valued especially content of YouTube offering
instructions of various kinds, math exercises, language lessons, etc.
In utilization of Wiki –platform visible changes can be seen, as well. Number of frequent users hasn´t
changed but number of students who do not use it at all has reached 28%.
Last remark deals with LMS. As already mentioned in previous section the awareness of learning
management systems has increased, four years ago 94% respondents didn´t know any other LMS.
Currently 99% of all students visit Blackboard daily or at least weekly. But 70% don´t use any other LMS.
Moodle as a widely utilised LMS is used only by 15% of respondents, see Figure 3.
4.3 Social software applications in higher education
The next findings relate to the specialized part of the research where the aspect of education forms the core.
In the original survey findings showed the strongest potential is in Wiki 92%, followed by WebCT (LMS) 61%.
YouTube exceeded the threshold of 50%, as well. The other promising software applications in higher
education were ICQ with 45% and Facebook with 42%.
Figure 4: Software applications utilized in higher and further education
There can be seen a big change in utilization of social applications for study purposes in results from the new
survey.
Fig. 4 shows an increase in use of some applications and on the other side a complete disappearance other
applications like Twitter, ICQ or Bookmarking. Blackboard with 100% dominates, followed close behind by
Facebook, YouTube and Wikiplatform.
Quite beneficial in collecting data and opinions was the follow‐up discussion which enriched investigation into
qualitative space.
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Students highlighted in the follow‐up discussion the importance and possible potential of Blogs, sharing
photos and games ‐ but as findings show they do not commonly use them and for study purposes they
don´t use them as well.
Respondents feel great potential in Facebook, which can to a certain extent stand up for the many roles of
other applications like Social‐bookmarking or organizing study groups and study materials.
Out of main features of ‘Web 2.0’ tools students appreciated their free availability but content
personalization and remixing other data were not of main importance one would say they were of no
importance to them.
4.4 Potential of social software applications in individual areas of the study process
Last part of the chapter brings findings related to potential and appropriateness of applications for individual
areas which are of key importance in the process of education: appropriateness of selected applications for
placing and managing study materials, social applications as an appropriate communication tool and social
applications as relevant testing and revising tools.
Following graphs (Figures: 5‐10) show the outputs on satisfaction with three selected areas. Graphs were
adapted to reflect only situation in most preferred applications with results bringing meaning to eliminate
plenty of data of low importance.
When it comes to appropriateness of individual applications for placing and managing study materials
YouTube and Wiki followed by Facebook and WebCT dominated the level of satisfaction issue in 2011, see Fig.
5
Figure 5: Satisfaction with study materials in preferred applications 2011
Figure 6: Satisfaction with study materials in preferred applications 2014
Fig. 6 shows that in case of satisfaction and appropriacy for study materials management there are more
convenient applications, the four key apps are the same and as for Wiki the comparable results are reached.
Dark colours of the bars represent positive assessment. Google+ and Facebook are assessed negatively as
inconvenient only by 15%, YouTube only by 7%. Skype was included into the graph as it also overcame the
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threshold of 50% satisfaction, 38% are more or less dissatisfied. Suprisingly even on‐line games might play
their educational role. LMS Blackboard improved its score as only 5% of students don´t consider this
application benecial in terms of management of study materials.
Figure 7: Satisfaction with communication in preferred applications – 2011
Next explored area was satisfaction with Communication tools offered by individual applications. In the
original survey Facebook, YouTube, Wiki, Skype, ICQ and WebCT dominated, see Fig.7. Results relating to other
applications were of minimum significance for further exploration and were excluded from the illustrating
graph.
Figure 8: Satisfaction with communication in preferred applications – 2014
It is the case when even a popular application Wiki is not preferred, all 52% do´t reccomend it and only 7% of
students find it beneficial even in this section. Logically the highest potencial is in Facebook – three quarters of
students assessed it as the best tool for communication and only 5% don´t reccomend it. The other key player
is Skype followed by LMS Blackboard. The main mission of social nets like Google+ and Facebook and then and
Skype is communication, Blackboard also has a communication tool incorporated in its system.
Last explored area was assessment of tools enabling testing of gained knowledge and skills. Respondents in the
first survey chose the same set of important application like in the case of satisfaction with communication.
Only the final results are slightly lower, see Fig.9.
New results again show important changes:
not only ICQ has lost its importance,
also Skype has dropped out as 60% of respondents don´t find it beneficial for testing purposes like
Google+with 67% of negative assessment.
Wiki hardly reaches the threashold of 50% of positive assessment.
The best results reaches LMS Blackboard. Only 10% of respondents do not find it appropriate for testing
purposes.
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Figure 9: Satisfaction with testing options in preferred applications ‐ 2011
Figure 10: Satisfaction with testing options in preferred applications ‐ 2014
5. Discussion and conclusion
Findings show visible changes in utilization of selected applications for study purposes both university and
further education. Some applications completely disappeared or didn´t find their place in the virtual space to
meet the educational demands, e.g. ICQ, Bookmarking or Twitter, on the other side a new social net Google+
has established itself quite well within a short time. In both university and further education Blackboard with
100% dominates, followed close behind by Facebook, YouTube and Wikiplatform.
Changed perception of analyzed applications in the context of their appropriateness for study purposes in the
area of management of study materials, communication channels and testing options was described and
illustrated in graphs.
As for management of study materials the four key apps stayed the same: Facebook, Wiki, YouTube and LMS,
but only in Wiki the results are comparable between the surveys. Currently students find appropriate for this
task three more applications: Google+, on‐line games and Skype. Google+ and Facebook are assessed
negatively as inconvenient only by 15%, YouTube only by 7%. Skype was included into the graph as it also
overcomes the threshold of 50% satisfaction, 38% of respondents are more or less dissatisfied. Suprisingly
even on‐line games might play their educational role. LMS Blackboard improved its score as only 5% of
students don´t consider this application benecial in terms of management of study materials.
Two positive findings call for explanation.Two questions arose to be discussed:
Why 50% of respondents can see potential for management of study materials in on‐line games?
Why a number of respondents who positively evaluate LMS has so significantly increased?
Exploring social applications from the point of view of their suitability for communication no oddities were
revealed. Only ICQ has just completely decamped. Logically the highest potencial is in Facebook – three
quarters of students assessed it as the best tool for communication and only 5% don´t reccomend it. The other
key player is Skype followed by LMS Blackboard. The main mission of social nets like Google+ and Facebook
and then and Skype is communication, Blackboard also has a communication tool incorporated in its system.
So results respond to real situation.
Significant changes were found in comparison of findings relating to testing options in given applications. From
the list of original graph disappeared not only ICQ but also Skype. And LMS Blackboard again overtook
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Facebook and advocated YouTube with all its instructive videos and learning materials. So another question
has arisen.
Why do students want to work exclusively in the LMS? Why do they prefer revising their knowledge in the
learning environment and do not take more active role in other applications?
Other discussion topic arose findings from the follow‐up discussion with students after completing their
questionnaires.
Students highlighted in the follow‐up discussion the importance and possible potential of Blogs, sharing
photos and games ‐ but as findings show they do not commonly use them and for study purposes they
don´t use them as well. In the literature in literature a big potential is described. (Agosto 2012).
The paper brings an insight into just a segment of the current phenomenon of social applications. The paper
might enable readers create an idea on the issue. The contribution gives rise to new issues to be discussed
because the implementation of social applications into the higher and further education to support teaching
and learning processes brings not only benefits but there is also an adverse site, pitfalls and let´s say limits of
their utilization.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the 2208 Excellence grant project “The ICT reflection within cognitive process
development”.
References
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Classrooms‘, [online], https://slis.iu.edu/accreditation/Appendix2.4.php.
ACRL (2000) “Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education”, [online], Association of College and
Reasearch Libraries, accessible from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.
Balogh, Z., Turčáni, M. and Burianová, M. (2010) ‘Modelling web‐based educational activities within the combined forms of
education with the support of applied informatics’, Proceeding of the 7th International Conference Efficiency and
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129
Creating a new Model of Technology‐Driven Learning for Teacher
Training in Chile
Paula Charbonneau‐Gowdy
Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile
paula.charbonneau@unab.cl
Abstract: This paper is intended to add to the emerging dialogue on preparing teachers to use technology to promote
grounded theory‐based practices in their classrooms. In it, I report on a longitudinal case study examining changes to
teacher trainees’ identities, learning and teaching practices when they are exposed to the use of a variety of social
networking technologies for language learning in the context of their teacher preparation program in a private university in
Chile. The 12‐month classroom‐based case study was conducted using a variety of ethnographic tools – observation,
interviews, and online conversation analysis. I investigated how the integration of technology into their content courses, as
opposed to more traditional stand‐alone course on technology use, mattered. The approach to technology used mattered
both in terms of making a difference in the ways that these pre‐service teachers viewed themselves as learners and as
future teachers of language, as well as of their evolving perspectives on the use of technology for learning and teaching.
My aim in conducting the study was twofold. First, I examined whether innovative technology‐ infused (TI) courses would
serve to enable the beginning teacher participants to shed their traditional, passive, rather narrow cultural mindset as
individuals and learners that are contrary to the identities of effective teachers. Secondly, I sought to determine whether
opportunities for these individuals to use a variety of innovative technologies for their own learning would have an
influence on the pedagogies they themselves employed in their teaching practices. Would technology‐infused courses lead
to teaching with technology? While acknowledging the challenges within classroom‐based research and the complexities
involved in social science‐based qualitative research paradigms in drawing generalizable conclusions, the data analysis
clearly confirms that there were encouraging signs for both aims for this particular group of pre‐service teachers. This
study should be of interest to all stakeholders in education, most especially those whose responsibility it is and who may
struggle with practical strategies to ensure that pre‐service teachers have the identities, skills and tools necessary for
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providing quality 21 century education programs.
Keywords: technology‐based learning practices, teacher education, 21st century teaching/ learning skills, teacher identity
1. Introduction
I hope Chilean organizations would have a better role in the future. Nowadays, Chilean people
are losing their fear to defend what they want and think if its (sic) correct or not. What we really
need as a country is to open our minds to the different opinions and try to be tolerant …and
aware of what is happening around us.
(Online post, Marcela, April 2013)
Marcela is a student in a group of pre‐service teachers, participating in a 4‐year teacher‐training program at a
large university in Chile. Her comment was posted in an online forum, a virtual site that played a central
pedagogical role in a 3rd year English as a foreign language (EFL) course that formed part of the teacher training
program. Her words, which are at the same time critical and informed, are atypical of Marcela and many of her
classmates. She, like her pre‐service teaching peers, often struggles to speak in class and to share her views
especially on subjects related to political and social issues. Marcela has explained her lack of voice in the
classroom to her feelings of linguistic inadequacy in front of others and her lack of knowledge and interest in
issues beyond her own immediate life. Yet, later in the course, in the online forum, when asked to respond to
an article and video on Civil Societies, Marcela adopts a different identity – of a more empowered, critically‐
minded and informed individual, when she speaks about the roles that Civil Societies should take and how her
Chilean society is changing. Whatever the reason for the dichotomy in learner identities that Marcela displays
earlier in the course in class and then later online, it is clear that the in‐class Marcela does not reflect the kind
of teacher identity that teacher education courses are trying to foster. Indeed, Marcela’s in‐class identity puts
her at risk of failing to become an effective teacher that will be able to provide the right kinds of knowledge
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and experience that her future students will need, to become ideal 21 century citizens themselves.
While technology is being increasingly understood as the driving force in educational change, its importance
and influence on pre‐service teachers’ identities and their own learning and evolving teaching practices, seems
to be overlooked in many teacher‐training programs. This lack of in‐depth discussion on the philosophical and
practical issues surrounding technology use that teachers require in the 21st century, is a critical oversight
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especially in contexts where educational reform, amid other changes, is most needed. Chile is such a context.
Despite the economic stability Chile enjoys in Latin America, resounding cries for reform in education resonate
across the country and are being heard worldwide. The cries reflect a system rife with inequality and caught in
traditional industrial‐age teaching approaches where information transfer and memorization are still common.
Literacy levels are well below international standards and results from OECD standardized tests in many
subject areas, are often disappointing. Not surprisingly, teachers are bearing much of the blame and initiatives
to improve teacher training are only beginning to receive government support (Charbonneau‐Gowdy, 2012).
Regardless of the good intentions of these efforts, technology seems to be off the radar in such teacher
preparation programs or limited to a chapter or two in methodology courses. Without an emphasis on
technology, or worse, a critical awareness in the selective use of technology, teacher trainees in these
programs, many of whom are in the process of forming pedagogical, and importantly, personal beliefs that
could potentially influence thousands over the life of their careers, risk repeating the very practices that the
system is hoping to change.
The aim of the classroom‐based study in which Marcela and her classmates participated, was in part to
determine if through a series of 3 4‐month content courses in language learning, infused with a hands‐on
selective use of technology, whether these individuals would show signs of evolving in terms of their identities
as language learners and future teachers. It was also aimed at determining if the exposure the pre‐service
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teachers had to opportunities to develop 21 century skills supported by technology in the context of their
learning English as a foreign language, would have implications for their own use of technology in their
teaching practices. The focus of the study was in developing a preliminary model for course design that could
offer a practical example of how teacher education programs might incorporate the use of technology in their
curriculum planning in order to exploit and promote its advantages in preparing teachers to be effective
educators and users of technologies in their own classrooms. The rationale behind developing the model is
that conventional teacher‐education programs, especially those in Chile, may have limited relevance in
preparing teachers for how to respond to and teach their students who are increasingly mediating their social,
communicative and informational needs in digital spaces. And also, without offering practical hands‐on
guidance towards meeting these needs during the teacher formation stage, the prevailing practices of analog
epistemologies and classroom hierarchies will most probably continue to flourish (Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008, p.
562) – not the fertile ground for developing critical thinking, innovation, teamwork and the strong
communication skills that success in this new millennium is demanding. Nor will this prolonging of the current
educational scenario lead to developing the kinds of citizens that social change agents in Chile are so
desperately seeking.
2. Perspectives/theoretical framework
Facing the new realities of teaching offers multiple and complex challenges as anyone involved in education
can attest. In a recent study of five novice teachers, He and Cooper (2011) observed that novice teachers bring
their personal experiences and beliefs with them into teacher education programs (Beijard, Meijer & Verloop,
2004; Levin & He, 2008). Understandably, for teacher candidates torn between developing content knowledge
and facing classroom practice for the first time, it is little wonder that many assume the teaching
methodologies of their past or have much time for reflecting on the teacher identities that they assume in
their first teaching in classrooms. The theories they are being exposed to in their teacher education programs
and the personal resources they bring to their first practice classrooms seem to take a backseat as intuition
and repeating practices that they are most comfortable with, i.e those that were used in their own previous
schooling, take precedence. For example, in my experience as a teacher educator, while many of the pre‐
service teachers attest to spending considerable time interacting and discussing online with friends and
acquaintances or working on a project that is due in the context of their university program, when they enter
the classroom as practicing teachers they seek silence and demand students to quietly work alone, often
banning the use of digital devices. Or even more surprising, while students in my teacher education program
will claim to be digital natives, at the same time they will plan their lessons for their teaching practices entirely
based on textbook exercises and paper‐based resources. While some of these soon‐to‐be teachers will admit
to spending at least three to four hours on the information‐laden Internet, when asked about their views on
world events that are taking place outside their immediate surroundings, let alone express an opinion, they
are at a loss. How can these individuals, one might ask, regardless of their subject area, possibly engage
students in learning about the world ‐ the source for knowledge, when they seem to lack even the most basic
knowledge of the world themselves?
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The proliferation of technology in our everyday lives in myriad ways still seems to be ignored or misunderstood
in some of the teacher education programs with which I am familiar on at least three continents – Europe,
North America and South America. Yet educational theories that have occurred over the last thirty years and
that have led to deep shifts in the way we view learning point directly to the value of some, although not all, of
these technologies in promoting the kinds of changes to which 21st century educational aims aspire. The highly
influential theories that emphasize the social‐based, dialogic nature of learning (Vygotsky, 1978; Bakhtin, 1994)
and that view learning as an act of moving peripheral participants to legitimate participants through promoting
of a community of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991), are deeply reflected in many social communication
technologies currently available and their expanding affordances – blogs, wikis, gaming, audio/video web
conferencing and virtual worlds. Also, in the context of the use of these tools, theories of identity, especially of
interest in the field of language learning (Norton, 2011) have helped to draw a close connection between the
use of technology and social change. Indeed, it is being increasingly recognized that the use of technology in
our everyday lives is profoundly influencing what and how we learn as well as who we are as individuals and
vice versa. As Feenberg (2002) asserts: “What human beings are and will become is decided in the shape of
their tools, no less than in the action of statesmen and political movements” (p. 3).
Given the grounded theories mentioned above that would support and promote the use of certain
technological tools in formal education settings, the adoption of technology in classrooms has not been
without challenges. In many cases, these challenges are deeply imbedded in traditional views of learning at the
teacher level and teacher education programs that fail to alter these views. Recent discussions around the
limitations of teachers employing technologies in their practices has led to models targeted at teacher
educators, such as the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Model (Misha & Koehler, 2006;
see figure 1). The model has been considered promising, especially for pre‐service teacher instructors who are
seeking answers to the challenges they face in preparing teachers to use technology (Polly & Brantley‐Dias,
2009). The model supports the idea that at the basis of effective teaching lies the complimentary combination
of pedagogical, content and technological knowledge in a way that requires an understanding and negotiating
of all three.
Figure 1: The technological, pedagogical content knowledge model (TPACK). From http://tpack.org. Used with
permission
Yet, while models such as TPACK help to explain the rationale in incorporating content and pedagogical with
technological training in teacher education for example, they fall short in providing what that training would
look like in practice. Calls for further research to determine activities and course designs that would support
the kinds of advantages that a teaching framework such as TPACK could lead to, underline the urgency of
adapting such a model to specific contexts (Cox & Graham, 2009; Wetzel et al., 2014). Part of this call is in
response to the emerging recognition since the beginning of the century that stand‐alone technology training
courses, where they do exist, are not providing optimal incentive for teachers to incorporate technology into
practice (Bielefeldt, 2001). Increasingly, seeking alternatives to stand‐alone course approaches are resulting in
discussions around the value of incorporating technology practices into content and/or methodology courses.
To pursue the follow‐up on the DPACK model, as an example of efforts to understand how such models work
in practice, a number of studies have been conducted to determine the development of DPACK in pre‐service
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teacher candidates. Some of these studies, while insightful, (Pamuk, 2011; Chai et al., 2010) have had rather
limited application as they have been confined to examining teachers in a narrow subset of the teaching field,
for example future teachers of technology, or future secondary teachers only. Among these studies and
relevant to our own research questions, Ögün Koca et al (2010) found that in their attempts to combine
concurrently the development of pedagogical, technological and content knowledge in a course for pre‐service
secondary teachers of mathematics, data from participant surveys and assignments indicated that
development was connected to changes in the identities of the participants from learners to teachers of
mathematics. More recently, Wetzel et al., (2014) seeing the need for studies that are longer term and that
are not contained only to pre‐service secondary teachers, examined the transition from stand‐alone
technology programs for teachers from K‐12 to two technology‐intensive methods courses. Data collected
through recorded interviews clearly indicated that “greater modeling of hands‐on learning with a focus on
content and pedagogical uses of technology from trained instructors” (pg. 89) was required for pre‐service
teachers being more confident teachers of content with technology. In other words, their findings suggest that
there is a potential for positive identity changes, i.e. confident teachers, and the adoption of technology in
teaching practices of future teachers, if the conditions of teacher instructor modeling and sustained content‐
based hands on practice with technology are met.
This connection between identity change and the incorporation of technology into teaching practices suffers
from a dearth of attention in the research in technology in general, not to mention in teacher education. Yet
the connection is an interesting and a crucial one (Warschauer, 2011 Gee, 2003). Indeed, in the educational
contexts of evolving countries, such as Chile, where teacher education and its success are determined by the
extent to which these teacher education programs produce individuals who can be the drivers of deep social
changes, the degree of empowerment of these future teachers to combine their pedagogical, technological
and content knowledge and skills in their practices at the classroom level is essential. As Wetzel and al. remark,
the alternative of: “waiting for the ocean liner ...to turn” (p.101) in referring to expecting direction for change
to come from above at the institutional or ministerial policy level, requires accepting only distant hope
(Charbonneau‐Gowdy et al. 2012).
In the field of language learning wherein lie our particular research interests, Warschauer (2003), for example,
has shown through his extensive work in K‐12 schools, including in low socio‐economic status (SES) classroom
environments, that improved integration of technology in schooling combined with teachers’ abilities to
promote critical thinking, entrepreneurship and innovation among their students, are key factors in tackling
the major challenge that formal learning contexts face today, that is updating teaching and learning practices
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to meet the demands of the 21 century (pg.17). Warshauer’s findings offer further evidence that those
teachers who themselves have the identities of enlightened 21st century citizens and who use technology in
their teaching practices to promote the skills that are needed for this century will be the leaders of social
change. His work opens the door for research that is needed to find ways to promote the development of
teachers with such a profile.
In this study, I describe and share the results of an individual researcher/instructor’s initiative to put in place
the conditions mentioned above. This initiative includes instructor modeling of the pedagogical use of
technology within a content course on language learning in order to offer pre‐service teachers the
opportunities to participate in the hands‐on use of various technologies in constructing their knowledge of
content and pedagogy as well as their 21 st century learning/teaching skills. The research question that guided
the study was:
1. In what way do the technology‐infused activities and assignments that form the basis of language learning
courses for pre‐service teachers of English as a foreign language, influence their learner and teacher identities?
2. What are the implications of these technology‐infused courses on the pre‐service teachers’ learning and
teaching practices?
3. Method
In the study, I used a case study methodology from the qualitative research paradigm because of the
opportunities this research method affords to describe and explore a phenomenon and where context is
essential to that exploration. An explanatory case study methodology allows practitioners to examine
communities and programs through a variety of lens or data sources, and thus to evaluate them (Yin, R. K.
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2003) which was a partial aim of the study. A qualitative case study supports the process of deconstructing the
phenomenon, in this case the innovative series of courses, and reconstructing it in order to understand its
multiple facets and the program effects. Another advantage of this approach is the collaborative relationship
between researcher and participant and the emphasis it places on participant voice (Baxter & Jack, 2008). The
phenomenon that was explored in the study was a series of three innovative TI language learning courses and
the influence of these courses on students in the teacher education program. Collaborative relationship was
fostered through shared researcher/participant responsibility for the teaching activities during the courses and
six hour per week contact hours. Formative data collection and analysis allowed me as researcher/ practitioner
to adjust and improve the course design over the research period.
4. Context
In 2013, I began a series of 3, 4‐month courses in language learning, based on the theme of Global Issues with
successive groups totaling 58 participants ‐ 16, 24 and 18 pre‐service teachers respectively, although a core
group of 12 students assisted in all three courses. These groups collectively consisted of 8 men and 50 females.
The students began the series of courses in their 5th semester of an 8 semester program. The courses, which
took place at a large private university in Santiago Chile, were innovative in theme and design. Previous
language courses taken by the pre‐service teachers in the English Language Pedagogy Program were textbook‐
based and the use of technology was limited to Powerpoint and audio/video resource materials. The courses I
initiated sought to exploit social‐based technology tools. The role of technology to support the Global Issue
themes and innovative directions I was taking in the series of courses over the three semesters, consisted of
the following:
A student and instructor built class blog containing a weekly post/comment section site with pictures,
videos, and media text related to each global issue;
Group Skype calls to native speakers who had some expertise in a particular global theme and who
responded to student generated questions;
Cellphones to capture weekly‐recorded samples of individual student’s “1‐minute rants” on the subjects
of the global themes;
Internet sources for daily 10‐10‐10’s – reading, listening and writing for at least 10 minutes each on global
issues;
Microsoft Office programs provided a means for students to take charge in groups of peer feedback and
evaluation of Global Issues presentations by other classmate groups.
Weekly journals were peer evaluated before being sent to instructor by e‐mail for feedback.
As illustrated in the list above, emphasis in the teaching approach was on student‐driven and generated
materials using the various technologies that supported the courses. For example, groups of students were
responsible over the course to research topics on the Intranet related to each of the global themes. They then
were to provide video and written texts which were posted on the Community Site. This became resource
material for classmates to use as the basis for discussion and exploitation of the topic, both in class and online,
and to self and peer evaluate their technology‐supported teaching process in presenting their topics.
To help answer the research questions, data was collected from a variety of sources (see Table 1). These
multiple data sources enhance the credibility of the findings and each source served as a piece of the puzzle
(Baxter & Jack, 2008, p. 554), which contributed collectively to understanding the whole innovative course
phenomenon and its implications for the pre‐service teachers. Importantly, it should be pointed out that
technology besides playing an integral part in the course design and delivery, also provided a source of rich
and significant amounts of data, that ten years previously, would have been impossible to gather as efficiently,
if at all.
Table 1: Research design, data collection and analysis overview
Research Questions Methodology Innovative Course Design Data Sources
and Timeline of Analysis
Implementation
1. In what way do the technology‐infused Qualitative Series of EFL courses using 1 section of
activities and assignments that form the Explanatory Case innovative program design students for
basis of language learning courses for Study infusing the use of each of 3
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5. Data analysis
Data collection and its analysis took place concurrently throughout the 12‐month period of the study. This
analysis approach enabled the researcher to organize the evolving findings in terms of their response to the
research questions and to make adjustments to the course design where needed. To ensure credibility,
ongoing discussions with students in the program were conducted to verify that the assertions and conclusions
that were being made in the analysis reflected the views of the participants. The data from all sources was
organized around three themes that surfaced in the initial stages of the analysis. In the following sections, I
describe the results under those themes.
6. Results
In order for outsiders or newcomers to begin towards becoming “insiders” they need to begin by
participating somewhere. (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 3)
Reporting on the complex phenomenon that takes place over the period of a qualitative case study, especially
within a classroom setting, is extra challenging. This is particularly the case when we compare this reporting to
that for more numbers‐driven research reports (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). An important factor in the reader
appreciating the results of qualitative inquiries involves having a comprehensive understanding into the
contextual factors that were at play in the lives of the pre‐service participants and that have been revealed
through the data collection process. These factors, based on my proximity and time extensively spent with the
participants, are woven throughout the explanation or analysis of the findings and should help the reader to
understand conclusions that I have reached. I recognize that at the same time that my account is not the sole
way that this data could be interpreted.
In order to help the reader gain a better understanding of the results, in the next section I present categories
that were used to organize the data. Within each category, the key themes that evolved in the data are
described and examples from the data sets are provided to support the claims made.
7. Changes in identity
Marginalized Learner Identities
Many of the participants in successive groups of pre‐service teachers taking the TI courses displayed learner
identities that reflected a reticence to engage in the course in‐class activities, especially those that involved
discussion. When asked for opinions, frequently there was silence in the classroom. Field notes from that
period of the study recounted a general hesitancy to speak and express opinions on the part of the pre ‐
service teachers, even when asked to first formulate their opinions in groups. Online data from the forum
conversations mirrored a similar lack of engagement – only 7 of 16 students chose to write on the first and
second themes. Some of this evidence of what I have come to recognize as a feeling of being marginalized in
the classroom, was explained by the participants as a lack of linguistic confidence – or knowledge of content,
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in this case English. Students writing in their initial Expectations Form for the course expressed what I heard
over and over again from other participants:
I didn’t talk too much in English because I’m afraid of make a mistake.
[I] don’t [want to] be behind for [from] the rest of my classmates.
I hope [to] stop feeling uncomfortable with my level of English.
[I would like] to learn how to communicate with others.
I think and I hope that they’ve [teachers] got to know that each class has different levels of
English because not all of us have the same education so they have to be patient and not ignore
that there are many people who are lack[ing[ of knowledge.
Most participants also expressed the views that their previous language education experiences were
characterized by information transfer, teacher‐led approaches and where their role was to memorize facts.
These approaches led many to lack faith in their ability to express what they wanted to say and thus remained
silent. Or, as in the case of Marcela above, they failed to believe that they had any valid opinions at all. Many
indeed admitted that prior to the courses, they rarely or ever read newspapers in English or even in their own
language.
With the continued progress of the courses, the daily requirements for participants to read, view and react in
writing in weekly journals to online media news stories appeared to have a dramatic influence on the identities
of many of the participants. Lively debates in class and higher order thinking and analysis were evident in
online conversations among students even when input from the instructor was less apparent. I observed that
growing linguistic confidence coupled with critical and more worldly views were outward signs of some
participants developing empowered identities as language learners.
Evolving Learner and Teacher Identities
Over the period of the successive courses, with the course participants taking increasing responsibility for the
course materials and activities and having access to greater opportunities to use various technologies, they
began to display signs of the confidence and leadership qualities that are reflective of good learners and
effective teachers as well. Examples of these evolving effective teacher identities were evident in the kinds of
feedback they gave to one another after group presentations. Whereas earlier on in the courses, they tended
to give automatic top marks and few comments to their peers, later they were more constructive in their
feedback and more careful to have their marks reflect their views of the activities being conducted by their
peers. I understood their growth in this area to underscore a greater sense of seeing themselves as teachers
working to develop their craft rather than passive learners of methodologies. Some spoke of being more
empowered in their teaching practice and insisting on certain strategies and approaches despite resistance
and hesitancy on the part of their teacher supervisors who were responsible for them out in the schools.
Others became more proactive in improving their language skills in an effort to be better able to conduct their
classes. When an optional guided technology‐based reading program was offered to students in the second
course of the series, 10 of the 24 signed up and sustained interest in more active reading for over 3 months
despite the added commitment it meant to their already busy schedules. As the series of courses in the study
came to an end, one student had already left for a job in the US to improve her language and be better
prepared as a teacher, several others in the group were making similar plans. These and other signs of the
general growing self‐directed nature of some of the participants’ evolving teacher identities were encouraging
indications of future effective educators.
8. Changes in teaching practices
Traditional Teaching Practices
As stated above, the content courses were designed to be a source of development for the participants not
only in terms of content knowledge but pedagogically as well. Earlier in the study, despite the various social
learning technologies that were being modeled for the participants in the context of the course, many chose to
simply use Power Point presentations to present their Global Issue topics. Several participants continued to
show signs of preoccupation with providing teacher‐generated question periods and passive video viewing as
part of their presentations. I observed that this clinging to old traditional ways of practicing teaching among
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many of the participants was difficult indeed to relinquish. It was only in course 3 in the series that there were
encouraging signs of change.
Teaching with Technology
The changes that began to take place in the teaching practices of some of the participants in terms of
pedagogical approaches evolved in tandem with a growing use of technology. This use of technology was
evident in the context of the course work. Technology supported games and interactive videos are examples of
the kind of tools that some participants used. Importantly, several of the pre‐service teachers mentioned that
they were beginning to routinely incorporate technology into their practice teaching sessions. I observed too
that a few of these individuals seemed more enthusiastic about their teaching, as they reported urged on by
the apparent engagement of their students in their lessons when they used technology. As Piero and
Constanza, who took part in all three courses expressed:
Before, I used to just use the textbook to teach my classes, now watching the way you teach
listening activities (with the news), I am copying the same strategies. The students really like
what I am doing. (Piero)
This course is more than just about learning a language, it’s about learning good teaching
strategies as well. (Constanza)
According to their comments, Piero and Constanza reflected on the advantages they saw in their teaching
practices to the prolonged modeling of effective teaching approaches that included the use of technology.
9. Reflections and conclusions
Last semester, I finished my teaching practices. Obviously, I used a lot of technology. I really enjoy
planning my classes and using different tools to engage my students. Sometimes, I tried to
imitate your classes. I learned that my classes have to be focus on my students. (Marcela, e‐mail
August 2014)
The substantial data that was collected and analyzed over the period of the study allows us to conclude that
the sustained modeling of the use of technology had positive implications both for the participants’ evolving
teacher identities as well as their teaching approaches. The excerpt from Marcela’s written post course
feedback indicates that she is aware of such changes in herself. Given the nature of the social learning
technologies that were used by the instructor, notably in the context of a content course, I believe that there is
strong evidence to support the fact that for this group of pre‐service teachers at least, the ongoing hands‐on
use and practice of these types of technologies could lead to sustained development in the individuals
approach to teaching, and to their professional development as teachers.
The study also provides insight into a preliminary model for teacher education. Building on the TPACK model
described above, I envision a new model where the three overlapping concentric circles that represent
pedagogical, technological and content knowledge are contained within a larger sphere of personal and
professional identity that encircles them. This sphere of identity is ever moving either forward or backwards in
tandem depending on the complimentary growth and development of the connected knowledge spheres.
From the data findings generated by the study and the experiences gathered as instructor/researcher, I see
encouraging hope for social and educational change in further research and testing of this preliminary model
in other teacher education contexts.
References
Bakhtin, M. M. (1994) The Bakhtin Reader: Selected Writings of Bakhtin, Medvedev and Voloshino. P. Morris (Ed.). London:
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Learning Pedagogies and On‐Line Assessments in Higher Education:
Innovations and Challenges
Athina Chatzigavriil, Kris Roger and Sunil Kumar
The London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, UK
a.chatzigavriil@lse.ac.uk
Abstract: The increasing interest in online teaching, learning and assessment is based on the notion that current and future
generations of students in higher education are and will be increasingly attuned to digital forms of communication and
assessment (Prensky, 2001; Buckingham & Willett 2013). Hard pure disciplines tend to make more use of objective online
assessment techniques (such as online quizzes and tests) than soft pure or qualitative disciplines (Smith et al, 2008).
Furthermore, online exam assessments tend to be ‘output’ oriented; they act as final tests aimed at replacing traditional
end of course handwritten assessments. In other words, summative exam assessments provide no opportunity for
individual and generic feedback. In this context, the key question is: can pedagogies of face‐to‐face teaching and learning
be enhanced by innovative (formative) forms of online exam type assessments? This case study reports on a three‐year
pilot online formative exam type assessment (2011‐12 to 2013‐14). The pilot ran in conjunction with a ten week face‐to‐
face course (SA4H7) entitled ‘Urbanisation and Social Policy in the Global South’ offered by Dr Sunil Kumar in the
Department of Social Policy and was supported by the Centre for Learning Technology, London School of Economics and
Political Science. The case study critically reflects on how the incorporation of a formative online essay based exam
assessment has enhanced the pedagogy of face‐to‐face learning offered by the course. The case study, in four sections,
begins with a discussion of the pedagogies of teaching and learning and the role that online formative exam type
assessments play in its enhancement. Second, it critically discusses the opportunities and challenges of designing and
running online assessments. Ranging from the choice of platform to the anonymous extraction of student responses, a
number of practical, technical and logistical issues had to be assessed and dealt with. These are discussed all along with the
solutions provided before and after the assessment process. Third, it reports user perspectives by drawing on focus group
discussions held in each of the three years. Despite being a small scale pilot, a wealth of information emerged. These
ranged from practical issues such as technical requirements (e.g. spellcheck, keyboard noise management etc.) and
accountability in using students own devices (BYOD), to more substantial online assessment information (e.g. changes in
cognitive processes/approaches in answering questions when typed in compared to handwritten exams and stress/nerves
leading up to online exam). Fourth and finally, the case study reflects on the key opportunities and challenges in
integrating the pedagogies of face‐to‐face teaching and learning with online exam types of assessment that incorporate
both individual and generic feedback. The discussion will cover the limitations of the pilot as well as key issues in scaling up
online assessments at the LSE. Some of the lessons learned may be of value to others in higher education with an interest
in similar assessment formats.
Keywords: learning pedagogy, online assessment, qualitative outputs, technological challenges and scaling‐up
1. Pedagogies of teaching and learning and the role that online formative exam type
assessments play in its enhancement
This case study is about integrating online formative assessments for SA4H7 – Urbanisation and Social Policy in
the Global South; a 10 week elective course offered by Dr Sunil Kumar, Department of Social Policy, London
School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The course is delivered through weekly face‐to‐face lectures
and seminars. The course is examined through a summative 3,000 word policy related essay carrying a weight
of 40 per cent and a traditional handwritten end of year exam (two out of eight questions in two hours) with a
weight of 60 per cent.
The course has, over several years, integrated an e‐learning dimension (online forums) through a weekly non‐
assessed assignment called ‘My City’. This assignment requires students to explore some of the issues raised in
the lecture, through desk‐based research prior to the seminar the following week. The intention of this
exercise is to ground the issues in the lecture and make the seminar not only more participative but also to
enhance its links to reality. In addition, this assignment is intended to make students aware of data limitations
thus alerting them to which policy issues they should not pursue for their summative essay. A paper on this
aspect of the course, entitled ‘E‐face: Integrating on‐line posting with face‐to‐face discussions’ was presented
to the Centre for New Media Teaching and Learning, University of Columbia in 2004
Student satisfaction of the course is assessed by the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office (TQARO)
who ask students to complete a short paper‐based questionnaire (for lectures as well as seminars) which
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includes a box for free comment. This is done in week eight or nine of the course. The anonymous results are
then made available to the academic concerned. Their individual scores in relation to the questions are then
presented in relation to their academic department and later in relation to the LSE as a whole. Although the
results of the above survey are useful in so far as they help identify areas for modification or change, these
surveys do not provide an indication of the students’ understanding of the course as a whole. It is also worth
noting that the traditional end of year exam (requiring two questions to be answered from a total of eight)
does not provide an indication of students’ understanding of the course as a whole either.
With a strong interest in the pedagogy of learning and teaching, the course convenor Dr Kumar, began
exploring which mechanism(s) would be most appropriate in providing an opportunity for students to be
assessed on their understanding of the course as whole. The idea of a new type of formative feedback would
not only benefit the course convenor but students as well. Anonymous individual and group feedback would
be made available. This required moving away from handwritten answers for the simple fact that it would be
almost impossible to collate individual answers to a given question and provide both individual and group
feedback.
One could argue that an assessment to test overall understanding of the course could be incorporated into the
traditional end of academic year exam. While this would provide course teachers with an understanding of the
extent to which students understood the entire content of a given course, it would deprive students the
opportunity to receive individual and group feedback and act upon it.
2. Opportunities and challenges of designing and running online assessments
Additional drivers
In addition to developing and testing a new type of formative feedback for students the LSE Centre for
Learning Technology (LSE CLT) were also concerned with student perceptions and expectations of online
exams, with particular consideration to LSE’s traditional approach to teaching and assessment. While ‘digitally
native’ students (Prensky 2001) rarely use handwriting in their day‐to‐day studies and other forms of
assessment such as assessed essays must be typed and often submitted electronically (Biggs 1999 via Mogey
2008) most courses at LSE are assessed by traditional handwritten exam at the end of each academic year.
Anecdotally, there are also growing concerns amongst some LSE examiners regarding the legibility of
handwritten exam responses, possibly related to the aforementioned lack of day‐to‐day practice. LSE CLT also
has a general responsibility to investigate new methods and technology in assessment and feedback for the
school as a whole. This relatively small pilot was therefore a good platform to investigate and identify
technical, practical and pedagogical implications of e‐assessment and further work required at LSE to be able
to scale up the adoption of this type of approach.
Format
The online exam consisted of 12 short‐answer questions that the students were to answer online and in the
first year three additional questions that the students would be expected to respond to on paper. The format
was changed slightly in the second year so that instead of three paper‐based questions there was an additional
online long‐ answer essay type question that the students were expected to complete online.
In preparation, students were asked to take an ‘online practice test’, a week before the actual ‘online exam’.
The ‘online practice test’ was intended to give students the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the
system and provide feedback about any issues they may have faced. The ‘online practice test’ comprised of
questions similar to those in the actual exam. Students could take the ‘online practice test’ as many times as
they wished (unlimited attempts) in their own time.
Once the student responses for the ‘online exam’ were submitted and anonymised, the examiner then graded
and provided feedback on all of the anonymised student answers to the whole group.
A detailed description of the structure year by year follows.
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Year 1 (2011‐2012)
In year 1, students participated in a formative part writing and part typing pilot examination. On the day,
students were asked to answer 15 short‐answer (essay type) questions under real examination conditions.
They were asked to answer the first 3 questions on paper (handwritten) and the remaining 12 questions
online (type‐in answers). This was to provide a comparison between the handwritten and the typed‐in
answers. The nature of the questions was similar, and related to concepts covered in the course as a whole.
Year 2 (2012‐2013)
In year 2, students took part in a formative typing pilot examination using their own devices (BYOD).
In addition, students were asked to answer the same 12 short‐answer (essay type) questions they had to
answer in the previous year.
They didn’t have to answer any questions in writing; instead they had to answer one long‐answer question
(free choice from three questions). This last question required a more in‐depth response. The long essay type
question was introduced based on feedback received in the previous year, with regards to approaches in
typing short essay vs. long essay type of questions.
Year 3 (2013‐2014)
In year 3, students had to answer the same 12 short‐answer questions and the one long‐answer question as in
year 2. The only difference compared to year 2 is that students didn’t use their own devices but the pilot took
place in a computer room.
The table below summarises the changes of the three year pilot study (2011‐2012 to 2013‐2014).
Table 1: Structure by year, type of question/environment and student numbers
Academic Online exam structure Equipment Num. of Num. of Num. of
Year and/or student students students
Environment s in the participate participate
course d in the d in the
pilot focus
groups
2011‐ 12 short‐answer questions typed, and Computer 23 16 6
2012 3 short‐answer questions handwritten Room
2012‐ 12 short‐answer questions typed, and BYOD 18 18 4
2013 1 long‐answer question (choice out of 3)
typed.
2013‐ 12 short‐answer questions typed, and Computer 17 17 5
2014 1 long‐answer question (choice out of 3) Room
typed.
Practical and technical considerations
When considering which platform to use for the online exam a number of requirements were taken into
account. The most basic of these requirements was that students needed to be able to submit text only
answers in response to a number of questions. The questions would be displayed on screen in addition to
being printed for reference. Secondly, marking had to be anonymous, but it had to be possible to send
feedback to the students after the examination. One desirable feature was to lock down the exam
environment as much as possible so that students could not easily use other applications or browse the web
during the exam. It was also decided that it would be helpful to display a timer on‐screen. The online
environment also needed to be easy‐to‐use and navigate and to not provide any significant usability challenges
to the students, as well as being a stable and reliable platform.
While online examination software such as exam4 (http://www.exam4.com) which could handle all of these
requirements and more is already available, this was a small pilot so a low or no cost solution was desirable. As
our existing VLE, Moodle could accommodate most of our requirements it was decided that the built‐in quiz
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module would suffice. This had the added benefit that students would already be familiar with the
examination environment.
During the 1st year of the pilot Moodle’s built‐in browser lockdown features worked fairly well. Unfortunately
for the 2nd and 3rd years this feature no longer worked with updated web browsers. Therefore, traditional
invigilation methods were relied upon to monitor student activity on screen.
There was some manual intervention required to process the student responses for the ‘online exam’. The
Moodle quiz module does not anonymise responses automatically and therefore this extra step needed to be
done manually by a learning technologist. Once the student responses had been anonymised the examiner
was able to grade the responses and provide feedback as annotations. The feedback was provided in the form
of handwritten annotations using an iPad PDF viewer app (GoodReader). The annotated PDF file was uploaded
to Moodle for students to download and view. This enabled all students to view feedback given to other
students’ answers in addition to their own (individual and group feedback).
Scaling up
With such a small pilot it was relatively easy to find a suitable examination space. It is anticipated that this will
be a major issue that will need to be addressed when scaling up to larger examinations. For example, at LSE
the largest PC lab will only accommodate 100 students in non‐exam conditions, so capacity would be greatly
reduced in exam conditions. One possible solution would be to expect students to bring their own devices
(BYOD), in which case a suitable space with sufficient power and WiFi coverage/capacity to cope with the
demand would be required. No such space currently exists at LSE.
Also, due to the small scale of the study it was not so crucial to make watertight contingency plans in case of
problems with the school’s network or the Moodle server. It would have been fairly easy to simply reschedule
the exam. When considering scaling up there would be a need for a fully thought through risk assessment and
resulting continuity plan to address anticipated problems. Some of these risks can be alleviated by careful
design and use of appropriate software such as the previously mentioned exam4 product. But there would still
need to be a plan in place for some kind of catastrophic technology failure.
3. User perspectives ‐ focus group findings
The three year pilot study, even though small in scale, discovered a wealth of information that LSE should take
in to consideration if it was to adopt online assessment for formative or summative assessment.
The emphasis of the questions in the focus groups was mainly on the experience of typewriting vs.
handwriting exams and to inform future policy and practice if LSE is to adopt online summative assessment.
The list of the questions used for the focus groups can be found in Appendix 1 ‐ Focus group question guide.
The following are indicative findings from feedback received by the students who participated in the focus
groups. This part bellow summarises the findings in themes as revealed by the study.
Stress/nerves leading up to the exam
In all three pilots students felt relaxed in taking the online examination compared to the regular handwritten
exam. In most cases students felt stress levels were similar to any other examination. It is hard to say if that is
related to the fact the exam was formative and did not contribute towards the students’ final grades.
Reported stress levels related to practical and technical issues, rather than the exam itself. For example, the
timer created some anxiety. During the exam the clock was constantly displayed on screen which made some
students feel uncomfortable.
Another stress‐inducing factor appeared to be the noise from typing. While the noise of one’s own keyboard is
not annoying, noise from others can be annoying or distracting to others in the vicinity. It was also reported
that keyboard noise may reduce concentration and confidence to those students who are slow typists.
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It is interesting that in year two where students were using their own devices (BYOD), reported stress levels
primarily related to the performance of students’ own devices. Even though, students would prefer to use
their own laptops for a variety of reasons (familiarity, international keyboard) students also felt accountable
for anything that might have gone wrong during the examination.
Cognitive process in structuring answers
Participants of year 1 pilot highlighted differences between getting ready to answer questions online
compared to writing by hand. It was suggested that cognitive processes and the way students structure their
answers may vary depending on the medium (paper or screen). Some students felt that handwriting
encourages a longer thought process – as students felt it necessary to produce a more detailed outline
because editing a paper‐based answer is more difficult than an electronic answer. The majority of students
typed their answers without prior paper‐based planning. It is worth reminding ourselves that students had to
answer short‐answer (essay type) questions, while during their final exams they have to reply on long‐answer
(essay type) of questions. It was felt that planning was not vital as the answers to the questions were only a
few sentences. In addition, students reported that contrary to the handwritten exam, someone’s first reaction
when sat in front of a computer is to type, which could potentially result in more text but a less well‐structured
response.
To investigate students’ reaction to planning before typing, the year 2 pilot introduced one long‐answer (essay
type) question (similar to the ones students have during their exams). Students had to answer one long‐
answer question (choice of three) in addition to the short‐answer questions. Most students reported an
element of paper‐based planning, especially for the long‐answer question. They also discussed the significance
of being able to outline and structure responses on paper. They felt that they should have this choice and
paper should be provided. Also, similar were the findings with regards to structuring answers in paper in year 3
pilot.
It is obvious students who are proficient typists, have an opportunity to write more, revise and restructure
their initial response. Hartley and Tynjala (2001) argue that due to the flexibility this approach (typewritten)
offers students can have a higher engagement and be involved in deeper understanding.
Advantages of typewritten exams
Overall students felt positive about taking exams online. Some students felt typing exams online is part of the
‘evolution of education’. For some, typing exams online should be the norm, considering that students type
essays and in most cases lecture notes.
The online practice test that was made available to students prior to the actual exam was discussed positively.
Even though the platform used (Moodle), is the platform students use for their studies and all have some
degree of familiarity, it was evident that the practice test helped reduce anxiety and build confidence.
Students discussed the opportunities offered of typewritten exams. This includes; ability to use Word
processing functionality, spellcheck and thesaurus. In addition revision of answers has been discussed as a
major advantage, considering that ‘major’ changes in a handwritten paper are practically impossible and
limited to minor changes.
Also, online (typing) exams may benefit students with bad handwriting, or students whose first language is not
English. Some students believe that the quality of typed exams is superior to the quality of handwritten ones.
Poor handwriting can be frustrating to teachers and make marking difficult. Marking typewritten exams
resolves this problem. Moreover, some students fear that bad handwriting will affect their marks negatively
(even though research suggests ‘No significant differences could be identified due to the format in which the
students had written their answer’ (Mogey et al, 2010).
Future of exams at LSE
Students were asked how they would feel if LSE was to roll out online typewritten exams. They all welcomed
the idea; however opinions vary with regards to giving the students the option to choose (handwritten vs.
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typewritten) or the university to offer one or the other. One student argued that marking may not be
consistent if a mixed approach is offered. The same student suggests that if LSE is to offer a mixed approach
(choice to type or write) it should at least be consistent within a course.
Moreover, if LSE is to adopt online exams the following points and suggestions were made:
Training
There was a strong emphasis on the significance of training. Students felt having online mock exams in the
curriculum would enable them to familiarise themselves with the process and build their confidence.
The change in practice would create training needs in answering questions online and how to manage time
effectively. Some students commented on the problem they had in ‘quantifying’ their response when typing in.
The same amount of text written in paper is significantly more in pages compared to the exact same amount
of text when typed in.
Functionality
With regards to functionality basic editing (copy/paste/cut) was considered imperative. The use of advanced
formatting was not considered critical, however the use of spellcheck and thesaurus, was discussed positively.
The arguments given in favour of using spellcheck and thesaurus relate to the unique international context of
LSE, and the notion of fairness and sympathy to non‐native speakers. A student stated that with spellcheck and
thesaurus available the vocabulary levels will be equal for all.
However, a few students felt that spellcheck and thesaurus shouldn’t be necessary as LSE students should
have an adequate ability in English, even though some students reported that spelling mistakes and grammar
mistakes do not influence their marks. It seems that further investigation may be required with regards to the
standards in English expected from discipline to discipline.
Technical support
Software reliability i.e. capability for answers to be saved regularly will provide extra security to students.
Technical support available during online exams is crucial, especially if students were to use their own devices.
The use of own devices provides a wealth of advantages (i.e. familiarity of own device/own keyboard for
international students, reduced noise levels compared to traditional desktop computer keyboards etc.),
however students worried about the limitations of their own devices and the impact that may have with
regards to ‘accountability’ in case anything goes wrong during the exam process.
Health and safety
Students discussed other issues in relation to taking online exams. Some of them are practical such as, how do
you leave the room before the end of the exam if you use your own laptop without disturbance. In addition,
health and safety issues and appropriateness of exam room for online testing (ergonomic furniture, lighting,
room temperature, controlling noise levels from keyboards, rest breaks from screen) were also discussed. With
regards to rest breaks a student mentioned they ‘wouldn’t like to type for three hours’.
In addition, students highlighted that if LSE is to adopt online exams, the change in policy (from handwritten to
typewritten) has to be clearly communicated. It was discussed that LSE has a special international student
body and experiences among students with regards to taking exams online vary.
4. Limitations, reflections and recommendations
The information in this survey has a number of limitations that are listed below and should be taken into
consideration when interpreting data.
The major limitation of the survey is that findings are based on a small group of students, who
participated voluntarily.
Focus group attendance was low, throughout the three year study.
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Stress levels around the examination were low and focus groups participants favoured the online exam
approach. However, that may be related to the fact that the pilots were voluntary and answers were not
graded.
The study didn’t examine the effectiveness of feedback or the impact on final summative marks.
Overall, this three year study was an interesting experiment with some thought‐provoking findings regarding
online exams and student perceptions. Owing to the small scale of the study, we would recommend a similar
follow‐up for a summative online exam, in order to compare findings as well as address the limitations of the
current study. In addition, we would recommend a similar study for large scale summative assessment.
It is obvious that if LSE is to introduce online exams, it will be important to understand the impact that may
have. There are a number of practical considerations, for policy makers as these identified during the study. In
addition, the implications are amplified if LSE is to adopt online exams for large cohorts.
Practical considerations in scaling up include:
Power provision for student owned laptops or use of large exam centre if the university to facilitate online
exams for large cohorts.
Exam security – e.g. secure browser/online exam environment. This may also involve recurring cost.
WiFi capacity and network reliability (capacity could be addressed by the use of specialist software i.e.
exam offline and at point of submission online. This would need to be tested if the university were to
adopt such a solution.
Contingency plans – for this study there was no risk as it was a formative assessment, however for
summative exams a contingency plan is necessary.
Anonymising responses – in the pilot study responses were manually anonymised, as the Moodle quiz tool
didn’t provide this functionality. That was not a problem for the study as it involved a low number of
students however that should be take into consideration if scaling up, and the manual process will be
time‐consuming.
An interesting finding relates to health and safety issues around online exams. There is a question around
requirements for screen rest breaks. It is known that a 5‐10 minute every hour rest break is recommended for
those working with screens. The question raised is how that could be implemented for online exams. Possible
solutions could include rescheduling (ICE Booklet, 2013) for students taking multiple exams in one day.
Another approach may include curtailing the exam time (The Integrate Project, 2010); however these are
significant changes and require an extensive amount of investigation.
Another health and safety matter relates to appropriate exam spaces, including ergonomic furniture, suitable
lighting and temperature, where keyboard noise can be minimised.
In practice, we feel reasonably content with the study as it indicated students would be willing to participate in
online exams, but also revealed issues to be taken into consideration and should not be neglected if LSE is to
adopt online summative examinations.
Appendix 1: Focus group question guide
4.1 The exam experience
How did you feel leading up to the typed exam compared to a regular written exam? Any differences?
How did you feel being in a computer exam room compared to a regular written exam room?
Did typing your exam change the way that you approached answering the questions ‐ did it change the
way you structured your thoughts?
How did you go about answering the questions? Did you make any plan before typing?
How did you feel about the nature of the questions on the typed exam compared to the handwritten
exam?
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Advantages and disadvantages of typewritten exams
How do you feel about typed exams compared to written exams. Perhaps you can identify some
advantages and disadvantages for both?
4.2 The future ‐ changing the future of exams
What three things would most improve the experience of typing exams?
How would you feel if students were expected to type their answers instead of handwriting? Should
students be able to choose whether to type or should or students have to type their answers?
How would you feel about using your own laptop with special software installed?
Finally, are there any specific technical issues that you think need to be addressed?
Do you think you need copy and paste and spellcheck facilities when typing your exams?
How important is text formatting to you?
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The Effect of Learning Management Systems’ Media Richness on
21st Century Student’s Satisfaction: A Higher Education Perspective
Pieter Conradie1, Marina Moller2 and Tutu Faleni2
1
Vaal University of Technology, South Africa
2
North‐West University, South Africa
pieterc@vut.ac.za
marina.moller@nwu.ac.za
tutu.faleni@nwu.ac.za
Abstract: Online learning through the use of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) has become ubiquitous in higher
education institutions. This is due to the opportunities provided by LMSs to reduce costs, reduce administration time and
allow students access to learning content anytime and anyplace. Technology education literature has explored the success
determinants of LMS implementation, including student satisfaction, learning outcomes and student preferences. How to
utilize a LMS effectively has become an important research question, especially when it is required that an active and
interactive learning environment must be utilized, one in which the student has the ability to engage with media rich
content. In this quantitative study, the impact of media richness on student satisfaction of a LMS was explored by utilizing
the Media Richness Theory (MRT). MRT postulates that the richness of media affects the effectiveness of a communication
channel, thus to which level it enables a shared understanding. Four determinants proposed from the MRT were employed
to measure the satisfaction of students related to the media richness in Edmodo, the LMS utilized in the study. These
include the capacity of immediate feedback (i.e. content timeliness), capacity to transmit multiple perspectives (i.e.
content richness), language variety (i.e. content accuracy) and capacity of the medium to have a personal focus (i.e.
content adaptability). Results indicate a significant correlation between immediate feedback, capacity to transmit multiple
perspectives and language variety, with student satisfaction. No significant correlation was found between the capacity of
a medium to have a personal focus and student satisfaction. This outcome is noteworthy, since it is postulated that
st
personal learning is critical for the 21 century student. However, based on the focus on content mastery inherent in most
higher education modules, the emphasis on personal learning can be considered less important by students in obtaining
the required module outcomes. The importance of media richness when utilizing a LMS, especially related to
functionalities of content timeliness, content richness and content accuracy, is central for education practice. This will
ensure student satisfaction with the implemented LMS and thus improve the use of LMSs by students and educators.
Keywords: Edmodo, learning management systems, media richness theory, rich media, student satisfaction
1. Introduction
Technology assisted learning is increasingly becoming a standard in higher education (Lonn & Teasley, 2009;
Naveh, Tubin & Pliskin, 2010; García‐Peñalvo & Alier Forment, 2014). This ubiquity has resulted in numerous
administrative and pedagogical advances. One pedagogical benefit, especially relevant for the 21st century
student, is the provision of rich media content at any time and at any place. A technological artifact that is
globally utilized by higher educational institutions in providing educational content is Learning Management
Systems (LMS), also referred to as Course Management Systems (CMS), course content management system
or Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) (Mott & Wiley, 2009; Costa, Alvelos & Teixeira, 2012; Lust, Juarez
Collazo, Elen & Clarebout, 2012; Loncar, Barrett & Liu, 2014). A LMS can be defined as an information system
which allows instructors and students to share instructional material, cooperate and communicate online
(Naveh, Tubin & Pliskin, 2010). Higher educational institutions have invested considerably in LMS, based on the
proposed benefits, including the provision of a nexus for learning activities (Browne, Jenkins & Walker, 2006;
García‐Peñalvo & Alier Forment, 2014). Incorporated in most modern LMS are Web 2.0 technologies that allow
instructors to implement constructivist approaches based on rich media, compared to the traditional teaching
strategies such as direct instruction (Govender & Govender, 2012). To obtain the full benefit of LMS, both
instructors and students must explore the opportunities provided by LMSs and the instructional formats
supported. Thus the traditional focus of LMSs only on course management is not optimal for students in the
st st
21 century (Mott & Wiley, 2009). For the 21 student, there is a need to provide interactive rich
communication, based on rich media content.
Research on media richness in the educational context has found that media richness is an antecedent for the
intent to use online learning (Huang, 2005; Liu, Liao & Pratt, 2009). Similarly, research on LMSs have reported
that educational institutions and students use of LMSs closely correlates with specific determinants, namely
self‐efficacy of students, multimedia instructional formats (Liaw, 2008), perceived usefulness, perceived ease
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Pieter Conradie, Marina Moller and Tutu Faleni
of use (Sun, Tsai, Finger, Chen & Yeh, 2008; Stantchev, Colomo‐Palacios, Soto‐Acosta & Misra, 2014),
communication quality (Lonn & Teasley, 2009) and effective knowledge transmission (Malikowski, Thompson
& Theis, 2006). Actual use of a LMS again closely correlates with the satisfaction with the LMS (Levy, 2008).
Regarding multimedia instructional formats as explored by Liaw (2008), it is postulated that LMS enable the
integration of multiple forms of media including text, image, video, audio and animation (Sun & Cheng, 2007).
This finding of Liaw (2008) closely relates to the aim of this paper, which is to investigate the determinants of
media richness with regard to a LMS, namely Edmodo.
Media richness is widely investigated in literature through the Media Richness Theory (MRT). MRT postulates
that media richness can be measured based on four determinants, namely content timeliness, content
richness, content accuracy and content adaptability (Lan & Sie, 2010). Recent studies utilizing MRT in
measuring the effects of media richness include the impact on decision quality (Kahai & Copper, 2003),
marketing (Klein, 2003), design of e‐learning instructional media (Sun & Cheng, 2007), acceptance of streaming
media for e‐learning (Liu et al., 2009) and the use of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to support mobile learning
(Lan & Sie, 2010). However, media richness not only relates to the type of media supported, but also to the
media feedback capability and contextual focus. In the context of education, MRT directs that student
performance will improve if the information requirement of a learning activity is matched with a medium’s (i.e.
communication channel’s) ability to convey information richness. This implies, for unequivocal (i.e. low
uncertainty) activities lean media (e.g. text media) will be applicable, while for equivocal (i.e. high uncertainty)
activities, rich media will be applicable (Liu et al., 2009). Liu et al. (2009) hypothesis has, however, not been
well supported in research studies, with Suh (1999) and Lan and Sie (2010) reporting no correlation between
equivocal activities and media richness. In support, Kozma (1994) postulates that certain media types have
particular characteristics which both can be more or less suitable for certain learning activities. In comparison,
Clark (1994) again postulates that media selection has no influence on student achievement, but rather that
multiple types of media yields the same student performance. A meta‐analysis of MRT performed by
Timmerman and Kruepke (2006) on the use of computer‐assisted instruction reported that audio was linked to
high student performance, while the richer medium of video combined with text resulted in better
performance than images and text. These contradictory results are of concern and establish a need to further
explore the phenomenon of media rich content in online learning.
In addition, there is currently limited extant research on the use of multimedia instructional material in LMSs
(Sun & Cheng 2007; Naveh, Tubin & Pliskin, 2010). Based on the identified deficiency and contradictions in
literature, the focus of this paper will be to establish whether Edmodo affords a rich media delivery platform
to students, and if media richness based on the four determinants of MRT, affects the satisfaction of students.
In the next section, a review of LMSs, MRT and the research model based on MRT, will be provided. This will be
followed in section 3 with a discussion of the research method implemented, namely a survey, and the results
obtained. In the final section, a review of the practical implication of the results, limitations of study and future
research will be presented.
2. Background
Learning management systems
LMSs are primarily used to manage teaching and learning activities in a blended learning setting (Dias & Diniz,
2014). This is confirmed by research, which reports that instructors use LMS to deliver and organize course
material, with no significant effect on established teaching and learning practices (Clark, 2002; McGill & Hobbs,
2008; Mott & Wiley, 2009; Govender & Govender, 2012). This implies that the functionality most used by
instructors is administrative in nature, thus posting content like syllabus (e.g. study guides, lecture
presentations, administrative material, announcements, lesson summaries), assignments (e.g. drop box) and
grade management (e.g. grade book). However, LMS provide many additional features like synchronous
communication via chat rooms, walls, whiteboards, video conferencing, and asynchronous communication via
discussion forums, polls, quizzes and surveys, relevant in supporting a constructivist approach to teaching and
learning.
A number of studies have shown that these additional features can be used effectively by instructors to
facilitate students’ learning (Bender, 2005; Black, Beck, Dawson, Jinks & DiPietro, 2007). It is, however,
incumbent on the instructor to utilize the tools and media provided by LMSs to facilitate improved learning by
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providing enriched educational experiences. This thesis is advocated by Govender and Grayson (2007), which
reports that students who regularly access and use LMSs perform academically better than those that do not.
In addition, LMSs enables collaborative and co‐operative learning activities, especially relevant to teaching
strategies such as problem‐based learning, project‐based learning and socio‐constructivist approaches (Cavus,
2007; Thomas, Fernández & Manjón, 2010). Of special interest is that Mohorovičić and Tijan (2010) report that
students utilizing LMSs accentuated the importance of face‐to‐face lectures, stating that it was easier for them
to grasp difficult concepts in that way. This relates strongly with media richness, with most media provided on
LMS being lean, making it difficult for students to grasp concepts and thus negatively influencing student
performance.
The pedagogical impact of LMS is thus critical, since it has been reported that self‐directed, self‐regulated and
deep learning is supported through LMS based on the provision of rich media under the control of the student
(Knight, 2010). In addition, research has shown that feedback, a critical element of media richness, is also a
critical element of effective online learning (Dias & Diniz, 2014). The importance of communication quality
(Lonn & Teasley, 2009) and effective knowledge transmission (Malikowski, Thompson & Theis, 2006) directly
linking to media richness, should thus not be underestimated. Although there are multiple LMS used world‐
wide in academic institutions, the most widely known are Blackboard (Learn), Modular object‐oriented
dynamic learning environment (Moodle), Edmodo, Cengage Learning and Desire2Learn (Thien, Le Van Phan,
Tho, Suhonen & Sutinen, 2013). In Table 1, a ranking of the twelve top LMS based on the Alexa rank is
provided. The Alexa rank is calculated based on web traffic data.
Table 1: Alexa ranking of LMS (adapted from Thien, Le Van Phan, Tho, Suhonen, & Sutinen, 2013)
Alexa LMS License Alexa LMS License
rank rank
1 Blackboard (Learn) Commercial (R&D 7 EDU 2.0 Free
open source)
2 Moodle R&D open source 8 Schoology Free
3 Edmodo Free 9 JoomlaLMS Commercial
4 Cengage Learning Commercial 10 Knewton Commercial
5 Desire2Learn Commercial 11 Sakai Open
6 Instructure Free 12 Sclipo Commercial
Edmodo, ranked 3rd, has several benefits that support its use in education institutions. These include easy
installation (web‐based system, no‐server and no‐hosting), multiple media formats, intuitive interface (similar
to Facebook), support of social learning (constructivist approach) and licensing without charge. Edmodo does
not support chat rooms, mainly to provide for the safe use by minors. Internet safety is a major element in the
design of Edmodo, enabling a closed and private student community, not accessible to unauthorized external
parties. Each group created in Edmodo has a unique group code, which is available only to group participants.
In addition, each group also has a parent group associated with it, thereby allowing parents to keep an eye on
their child in this VLE. For the instructor, Edmodo also provides additional support in the form of creating a
Personal Learning Network (PLN), with pre‐established groups related to relevant disciplines and sub‐
disciplines. Edmodo provides thus a feature rich environment with multiple rich media content, further
outlined in the next section on MRT.
Media richness theory
Media richness theory originated from the work of organizational scientists Trevino, Lengel and Draft in the
1980’s (Trevino, Lengel & Draft 1987). It was postulated that the richness of media would affect the
effectiveness of a communication artifact, thus it will facilitate shared understanding between its users.
Communication artifacts that can decrease ambiguity and improve understanding are thus hypothesized to be
rich. In comparison, communication artifacts that are difficult to understand and cannot support a diverse
range of perspectives are considered low in media richness. Media richness thus denotes the enablement of a
shared understanding between users. Four determinants of media richness are proposed by Trevino, Lengel
and Draft (1987), namely capacity for immediate feedback, capacity to transmit multiple cues, language variety
and the capacity of the medium to have a personal focus, defined in Table 2.
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Table 2: The four determinants of the MRT
Determinant Abbreviation (use in Definition
research model, Figure
I)
Capacity for immediate Content timeliness Support rapid feedback between students, and between
feedback teacher‐students, thereby aiding common understanding.
Capacity to transmit Content richness Support multiple types of information (refer to as cues by Draft
multiple perspectives and Lengel (1986)), for example voice, text, image and video.
Language variety Content accuracy Support the richness of natural language, which promote
understanding more than the use of numbers or formulas.
Capacity of the medium to Content adaptability Support the concept of personalized learning, for example a
have a personal focus Personal Learning Network (PLN).
In the educational context, communication media can be classified in order of decreasing richness from face‐
to‐face, which is the richest, to video conferencing (e.g. Skype, Google Hangouts), voice (e.g. telephone
conference, Skype voice), video (e.g. Youtube), images (e.g. Flickr, Instagram) and text (e.g. email, Instant
Messaging (IM) including Short Message Service (SMS), blogs, forums, discussion groups, letters), non‐personal
documents (e.g. newspapers, magazines) and numeric reports (e.g. spreadsheets) (Rice, 1992; Sun & Cheng,
2007). Face‐to‐face can be considered the richest media form, based on the capacity to provide immediate
feedback to the student while simultaneously providing indirect sources of information, for example body
language, facial expression and tone of voice. Although video conferencing support indirect communication
through body gestures and tone of voice, it is limited in its capacity to convey context.
Voice follows face‐to‐face and video conferencing, based on the ability to support immediate feedback in the
form of verbal words, accentuation and silence, but inability to support of visual gestures. Personal
documentation support some form of feedback, but it is mostly delayed feedback which can be frustrating to a
student. Similarly, images, non‐personal documents and numeric reports lack the capacity to provide timely
feedback. The role of media, in whatever form, is to convey rich information, thereby improving student
understanding and the development of personal knowledge (Sun & Cheng, 2007). Especially related to learning
activities, it has been reported that the more complex the learning activity, the richer the information
communicated must be. For example, when providing complex assignments to students, a high level of media
richness is required to enable clarification (Timmerman & Kruepke (2006); Liu et al., 2009). Clarification is
provided by fast feedback, which again directly impacts the completion rate of learning activities.
Unfortunately, contradictory results in literature are presented, with Clark (1994), Suh (1999) and Lan and Sie
(2010) reporting no relationship between clarification, postulated to be required for improved understanding,
and media richness.
Research model
Media richness theory propose that the medium used to support and provide instructional material for
learning activities needs to be carefully selected for effective communication. It is postulated that if the correct
level of media richness is provided for a learning task, students will utilize the available media channel (i.e.
LMS) effectively, thereby improving satisfaction and use (Liaw, 2008; Levy, 2008). If a too low level of media
richness is provided for a learning activity, negative outcomes will be experienced. Similarly, if too high levels
of media richness are provided, students may be distracted, again resulting in negative outcomes (Bartscha &
Cobern, 2003). Based on these ideas, a research model was conceptualized to explore the effect of the four
postulated determinants of the MRT on student satisfaction with Edmodo, depicted in Figure 2.
3. Research methodology
Research Context
The quantitative study was performed at a higher education institution in South Africa with thirty‐eight
students in a first‐year class in information system, presented in a blended learning setting. Based on limited
non‐mobile access by students to institutional online resources outside of formal classes, it was critical that a
LMS be employed that support access via mobile phones. All thirty‐eight students that participated in the
study had access to an internet enabled mobile phone, which allowed access via the mobile Edmodo app (i.e.
mobile application). This supposition is confirmed by Chen, Chang and Wang (2008), who reports that students
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with mobile access logged on twice as much to an academic reminder system than students with only desktop
and laptop access. Additionally, the user interface of Edmodo closely resembles established Social Networking
Sites (SNS) like Facebook, which are user friendly and well established in the community of university students
(Prescott, Wilson & Becket, 2013). Based on these aspects and its free licensing, Edmodo constituted the ideal
platform to investigate the effect of media richness on the use of a LMS.
Research Participants
Twenty‐eight students in a first year information systems module participated in the study, although the class
consisted of thirty‐eight students. The main reason for the smaller number was that completion of the
questionnaire was voluntarily, with students given the choice not to complete the questionnaire without any
prejudice. Studies utilizing students in an educational context need to be ethical, gaining institutional approval,
respecting student’s privacy, obtaining informed consent and ensuring total voluntarily participation. This
ensures that no undue influence based on the dominate relationship between lecturer and student are evident
in the data collection process. For many of the students partaking in the study, the use of a web‐based LMS for
teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom was a first. Traditionally, LMS was used in the specific
higher education institution only for sharing educational content, without utilizing any rich media to improve
effective communication.
Data collection
Based on the quantitative design of the study, a standardized measurement instrument developed by Lan and
Sie (2010) was adapted for the study. The four scales of content timeliness, content richness, content accuracy
and content adaptability were measured by three items each. The construct of satisfaction, not part of the
measurement instrument of Lan and Sie (2010), was included from (Liaw, 2008). Additionally, students’ use of
Edmodo was measured by means of weekly usage statistics available on Edmodo, in the Insights form. The
adapted measurement instrument is depicted in Addendum A. The Insights form, available under the Progress
tag, is as a feature available in Edmodo to monitor student satisfaction, performance and to identify the most
active students in a particular week.
Data Analysis
Basic descriptive data analysis was performed, including means and standard deviation. In addition, inferential
statistics in the form of correlation analysis were employed, namely the Spearman correlation coefficient (r).
The measurement instrument utilize a four point Likert scale from strongly agree (=4) to strongly disagree (=1).
The construct validity of measurement instrument was confirmed by means of factor analysis (Eigenvalue>1),
and reliability by utilizing Cronbach’s alpha (>0.7) (Creswell, 2012).
Results
In total, 14 males (50%) and 14 females (50%) participated in the study. The average age of participants was 21
years. Reliability of the measurement instrument was confirmed by means of Cronbach’s alpha coefficients
calculated in SPSS, depicted in Table 3.
Table 3: Cronbach’s alpha values
Construct Cronbach’s alpha (α)
Content timeliness 0.888
Content richness 0.864
Content accuracy 0.950
Content adaptability 0.955
Satisfaction 0.842
All Cronbach’s alpha values for constructs were above 0.7, confirming the reliability of the measurement
instrument (Creswell, 2012). Construct validity of the measurement instrument was verified by means of factor
analysis, also calculated in SPSS. The most customary manner of obtaining factors is to identify constructs with
an Eigenvalue of 1 or more as significant (Olson, Slater & Hult, 2005). In Table 4, the Eigenvalue and KMO and
Barlett’s significance levels are depicted, authenticating construct validity (Keramati, Afshari‐Mofrad &
Kamrani, 2011).
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Pieter Conradie, Marina Moller and Tutu Faleni
Table 4: Eigenvalue and KMO and Barlett’s significance levels
Construct Eigenvalue KMO/ Barlett’s Sig.
Content timeliness 0.809 0.000
Content richness 0.921 0.000
Content accuracy 0.878 0.000
Content adaptability 0.812 0.000
Satisfaction 0.946 0.000
To establish the association between the constructs content timeliness, content richness, content accuracy,
content adaptability and satisfaction of students with Edmodo, correlations statistics was calculated in SPSS.
The Spearman correlation coefficient (r) is depicted in Figure 2.
Content timeliness
0.132*
Content richness 0.376*
Satisfaction with LMS
0.219*
Content accuracy
‐0.096
Content adaptability
Figure 2: Research model with correlations (r) values (* p<0.05)
From the correlation coefficients, it can be observed that there is a significant correlation between immediate
feedback (i.e. content timeliness), capacity to transmit multiple perspectives (i.e. content richness), language
variety (i.e. content accuracy) and student satisfaction. This confirms literature regarding the determinantes of
rich media as reported by Liu et al. (2009) and Lan and Sie (2010). However, no significant correlation could be
established between capacity of medium to have a personal focus (i.e. content adaptability) and student
satisfaction. This might be as a result of limited knowledge of students on the personalization capabilities of
Edmodo, the focus on mastery learning inherent in the module and limited support by Edmodo for Personal
Learning Environments (PLE). PLEs are envirnoments of learning that are under the control of the learner, thus
highly personalizable (García‐Peñalvo & Alier Forment, 2014), not inherent in LMSs.
Regarding content timeliness, the capability of Edmodo to provide students rapid feedback from the lecturer
and peers enables rich communication, thereby supporting the learning process. As postulated by Liu et al.
(2009), for low uncertainty activities lean media is applicable, while with high uncertainty activities rich media
is applicable. This is supported by Edmodo, allowing for rich immediate feedback between student‐peers and
teacher‐students. Regarding content richness, Edmodo support multiple types of information (i.e. data types),
from audio and video to text, enabling multiple interpretations and supplementing multiple learning styles.
Finally, Edmodo also supports the use of natural language, required in creating a shared understanding, thus
contributing to content accuracy. The results obtained regarding media richness further corroborate the
correlation reported by Liaw (2008) with multimedia instructional formats on student satisfaction, and
Malikowski et al. (2006) result of effective knowledge transmission on student satisfaction. The non‐significant
correlation between content adaptability and student’s satisfaction, however, contradicts literature (Lan & Sie,
2010), and needs to be further explored.
4. Conclusion
This study employed a formal theoretical framework in the form of a research model to enable an in‐depth
and structured understanding of the phenomenon under investigation, namely the effect of LMS content
richness on student’s satisfaction. This investigation was needed, based on the limited literature available that
explore the use of multimedia instructional material in LMSs. The use of LMSs in higher education is well
established world‐wide, forming an important element in established pedagogy. However, the content placed
on LMSs is critical in establishing its effectiveness in teaching and learning. The aim of this paper was thus to
establish whether a content rich LMS affords a rich media delivery platform to students, and if media richness
affects the satisfaction of students. Based on results obtained, it can be reported that Edmodo provides
support for content timeliness, content richness and content accuracy. However, no correlation could be
established with content adaptability. This result contradicts literature, which justifies further explanatory
studies to identify the possible causes of this result.
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Pieter Conradie, Marina Moller and Tutu Faleni
The practical implications of this study’s results are that content rich LMSs could be an effective tool for
providing content rich media to students in a timely manner with appropriate cues in the form of voice, text,
image and video, and that it enables the richness of natural language, thereby promoting improved
understanding. Edmodo thus constitutes a suitable information delivery medium to support constructivist
learning activities. The support of mobile connectivity of Edmodo further creates a mobile learning
environment for the student, enabling access at any time and at any place. This aspect is especially relevant in
a resource poor context, prevalent in the study’s population.
Several limitations can be identified in this study. These include the relative small sample size, and that only
one first year group of twenty‐eight students participated in the study. This could have impacted results, since
it has been reported that males use mobile technologies more than females (Anastasios & Grousopoulou,
2009). It is thus suggested this study be repeated with a bigger sample size, as well as employing a more
diverse student profile. In addition, the lecturer’s teaching approach, namely constructivism, was also not
measured and compared to other teaching approaches such as behaviourism. This change can lead to a
different result, for example, with regard to content timeliness, with a behaviourist approach feedback comes
primarily from the lecturer with limited peer interaction. In comparison, with a constructivist approach, peer
interaction and feedback is encouraged, resulting in a rapid diffusion of ideas and responses to ideas, directly
improving and supporting feedback and thus content timeliness.
LMSs form a critical part in the e‐learning toolkit for higher educational institutions. It is thus important that
LMSs be implemented that support a rich media environment, enabling effective learning based on
st
contemporary learning theories like constructivism in the 21 century.
Appendix 1
Constructs Subscales
Content timeliness When the lecturer posts a class announcement, I received it immediately on
Edmodo.
When fellow students reply with posts on Edmodo, I can see it immediately and
also reply.
I can see the progress of discussions on Edmodo immediately.
Content richness I can see announcement in text format in Edmodo.
I can view images (i.e. pictures) on Edmodo.
I can review (i.e. look) at videos on Edmodo.
Content accuracy I can review the study guide on Edmodo.
I can see my grades for quizzes on Edmodo.
I can refer to external information resources for which the lecturer provides
hyperlinks on Edmodo.
Content adaptability I can submit text files, pictures and video on Edmodo when completing an
assignment.
I can delete my own posts or change them.
I can add my picture on Edmodo, thereby creating an Avatar.
Satisfaction I am satisfied with using Edmodo as a learning assisting tool
I am satisfied with using Edmodo functionality for learning
I am satisfied with learning contents and media provided on Edmodo
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Disruptions and Disturbance as Challenges in a Blended Learning
(BL) Environment and the Role of Embodied Habit Orientation
Susanne Dau and Thomas Ryberg
E‐Learning Lab – centre for user driven innovation, learning and Design – Department of
Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University, Denmark
sud@hum.aau.dk
ryberg@hum.aau.dk
Abstract: In this paper we analyse two cases where BL courses have been run since the summer 2012 (Teachers´ and the
radiography educational programmes at University College North in Denmark (UCN). In this study it was clear that the
majority of students preferred face‐to‐face instructions and interaction over the implemented BL approach and they felt
more disrupted and disturbed when required to work more online and from home. In the paper we therefore discuss how
disruptions and disturbances have an influence on students’ study and learning activities in a BL environment. We argue
how disturbances are related to students’ embodied experiences and habitual and spatial orientation, and how they play a
role in students’ perceptions of different learning spaces. Based in Simonsen’s (2007) ‘geography of human practice’ and
an ecological understanding of ‘orientations’ developed by Jander (1975) we analyse and discuss how students’ orientation
in different learning environments influence their navigation, and how disruptions and disturbances affect their
orientation. The findings illustrate and discuss students’ challenges of adapting to the BL approach and how students’ prior
experiences and habits challenge their learning activities outside the educational institutions. Based in these findings the
concluding discussion presents new perspectives on students’ orientation in BL environment to take into consideration in
BL programmes.
Keywords: blended learning, orientation, disturbance, ecotones, knowledge development
1. Introduction
BL is on the agenda of most educational institutions. The advantage of being able to organize the program for
both face‐to‐face and online learning seems to accommodate both flexibility, as well as self‐directed learning
independent of time and place. These were also intentions of the FlexVid project (Jensen 2012) which the two
cases we analyse in this paper were part of.
In spring 2012 models of BL were developed by lecturers in radiography and teacher undergraduate education
at University College North (UCN). Blended or flexible learning, as understood in this context, was designed in
a way so that approximately 50% of the education was planned to take place outside UCN´s buildings, whereas
normally students would spend the majority of their study time on‐campus. Thus, in this educational context,
shifting to a pedagogical model featuring more self‐directed learning outside the institution was a relatively
major change. From our interviews and survey it became clear that the majority of students preferred face‐to‐
face instructions and interaction over the implemented BL approach. Also, they experienced difficulties
adapting to the particular design of BL where they were required to work more online and from home (where
they would work both online and offline).
A prevalent theme that emerged from the interviews is that students felt more disrupted and disturbed when
working from home. Therefore, in this paper we discuss how disruptions and disturbances have an influence
on students’ study and learning activities in a BL environment. We argue how disturbances are related to
students embodied experiences and habitual and spatial orientation, and how they play a role in students’
perceptions of different learning spaces. We base this in Simonsen’s (2007) ‘geography of human practice’ and
an ecological understanding of ‘orientations’ developed by Jander (1975), and we use these to suggest focal
points of interest for BL. Initially, however, we look into current research on the matter of disturbances and
disruptions; thereafter we will describe the theoretical concepts of habits and spatial orientation adopted in
the paper.
2. Disturbances and disruptions in a BL environment
Disturbances and disruptions are a condition in daily living. Despite the fact that managing disruptions and
disturbances and multitasking is a competence that students must achieve, there are many disadvantages. For
instance; some argue it limits deeper learning and thoughtful information processing (Marien, Custers, Hassin
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& Aarts 2012) and it takes attention away from the study activities (Matthew & Evans, 2012). Disturbances and
disruptions are interruptions which can be both internal and external. External disruptions are characterised
by stimuli emerging from the environment and objects in the surroundings. Internal disturbances are activated
by stimuli from thoughts and feelings (Rosen, Carrier & Cheever 2013).
The impact of disturbances and disruptions are described in contemporary research, where it is argued that
the consequence of ‘continuous partial attention’ (Rose 2010) and media multitasking result in poorer study
performances. For instance, Foroughi, Werner, Nelson & Boehm‐Davis (2014) found that interruptions
negatively impact on quality of work during a complex, creative writing task. Additionally, it seems to increase
the time of study‐processes and make the thinking more superficial with consequences for grades and the
quality in performances (Rosen, Carrier & Cheever 2013). Werner et al.(2011) have investigated what makes a
person better or worse at dealing with interruptions and they found that people who have better working
memory capacity and better spatial abilities are better at resuming interrupted tasks. However, we shall argue
that interruptions are also related to students’ habitual and spatial orientation i.e. their previous embodied
experiences in various environments.
2.1 2.1 Habits and spatial orientation
In her paper “Practice, Spatiality and Embodied Emotions: An Outline of a Geography of Practice” Simonsen
(2007) argues for an understanding of human practice and spatiality based in a social ontology of practice
(drawing particularly on the phenomenological approach inspired by e.g. Merleau‐Ponty, Heidegger and
Bourdieu). She argues how everyday practice and bodily/spatial actions are situated, reflexive, but also based
in our embodied experience i.e. recurring and repeated ways of ‘doing things’ in practice. Drawing on Bourdieu
she argues how these embodied experiences themselves form a basis for social action, and are part of our
‘habitus’ (Bourdieu, 1990).
“These are moving bodies “measuring” space in their active construction of a meaningful world.
In taking up or inhabiting space, bodies move through it and are affected by the “where” of that
movement.” (Simonsen 2007, p. 173).
This inhabiting of space is about way‐finding and a spatio‐temporal orientation of experience and perception
where people’s relationship to the environment is conducted through both orientation and demarcation
(Simonsen, 2007). However, this orientation and way‐finding is an interactive process between the
environment and the human.
Although Simonsen (2007) discuss notions of spatiality as part of her ‘geography of human practice’ her basic
arguments are of a more theoretical nature and she does not address movement and orientation more
concretely. Therefore, to discuss students’ orientation we are inspired by Jander´s (1975) use of ‘orientation’.
Jander (1975) argues for a unified theory of an ‘orientation ecology’ to understand orientation and movement
for all living creatures ‐ from bacteria to humans. As these concepts have been developed to understand all
organisms’ movement and orientation within the cross‐field of ecology and ethology, we adopt the concepts in
a broader way than perhaps originally intended.
Jander defines spatial orientation as “self‐controlled maintenance of change of body‐position relative to the
environmental space” (Jander 1975, p. 173). This definition implies a close connection between the organism
and the organisms’ space of action and navigation. He outlines six different types of orientation where habitat
orientation overlaps them all:
Positional orientation
Object orientation
Strato orientation
Zonal orientation
Topographic orientation
Geographical orientation
Positional orientation is about whether an organism stays in a place or moves on. Disturbances can influence
these causing a response or counteraction. For example, for a fish it could be a change in the stream, or for a
human it could be a message notification from Facebook causing one to move elsewhere online or stay in
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place. This overlaps with the concept of object orientation. Object orientation concerns searching,
approaching or avoiding objects. In object orientation the organism compares (more or less conscious) the
sum of positive and negative stimuli values and their intensity, and accordingly approach or avoid these. In
relation to the former example we could view a message notification from Facebook as a disturbing object,
which becomes a more desirable object than the current object of activity.
Strato and zonal orientation are “general foreseeable conditional orientations” across vertical layers (strato) or
horizontal (zonal) for example the vertical “migrations of organisms up and down through [...] the biosphere
[...] maintained by light and gravity” (Jander, 1975, p. 181) or horizontal zonal movement across different
ecotones (e.g. cross‐shorelines). We understand these as very basic and instinctive orientations and although
we are interested in movements between different zones we see the zonal orientation (for humans) as
strongly connected to the topographical orientation.
Topographic orientation is movement where the object orientation is extended by learning. This movement
concerns learned spatial relationships among objects and between objects and organisms e.g. students’
learned relationship to objects in the classroom, where various objects afford certain spatial behaviours, and
students have learned how to navigate appropriately in these spaces. The classroom as location can be
thought of as an embodied experience; as a memorized resource and environment for learning activities.
Geographical orientation partly integrates object orientation and zonal orientation. However, in this kind of
orientation there is an increased length of ongoing movement over a distance.
3. Methods
This research is conducted as a follow up on the implementation of BL, in teacher education and radiography
education at University College North (UCN) in Denmark. We used a pragmatic approach of mixed methods,
where the qualitative parts have the highest impact in our case‐study. The design consisted of; one survey (S)
among all students and eighteen focus group interviews (FI).
3.1 Survey
The purpose of the survey was to gain insight into students’ prerequisites, resources and preferences in
relation to attending the BL programmes. The survey (S) was conducted as an online questionnaire around a
five point Likert scale. Questions were supplemented by open rubrics for comments. The survey‐questions
identified: 1) background information, such as prerequisites, 2) learning preferences and 3) students intentions
of using of educational stations as a supplement to existing learning environments. The survey was piloted
and subsequently posted to all students (N=59) after three months of students’ enrolment in both
programmes. There was a response rate of 66% (n=37) after two rounds of notifications.
3.2 Focus‐group Interviews
Focus‐group interviews (FI) were chosen to obtain detailed information about informants’ individual and
shared perceptions of the BL program. The interviews were conducted after half a year (FI1), one year (FI2)
and one and a half years (FI3) after the students’ enrolment. Focus group interviews were conducted among:
radiography students (RS) and teacher student (TS), lecturers at teacher education (TL) and lecturers at
radiography education (RL), practitioners at municipal schools (TP) and at radiography units at hospitals (RP)
and mentors.
The selection of informants was based on their involvement in the BL program and prioritised variation in
gender, and students’ area of residence. Prior to the focus‐group interviews informants completed a consent
form accepting participation in the research project.
The structure of the interviews relied on a narrative approach by use of themes and open‐ended questions.
Three main areas were explored: 1) informants experience/sense of BL, 2) informants’ opinion on how BL
influence or might influence student knowledge development and learning and 3) how the different learning
environments and spaces influence on these matters. Each interview lasted about one hour and was audio‐
recorded and transcribed.
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3.3 Analysis and interpretation
The analysis and interpretation were structured by a critical hermeneutical approach, inspired by Ricoeur´s
(1984) use of the hermeneutic arch. Empirical data were analysed and interpreted by prefiguration,
configuration and refiguration. In the prefigurative analysis the text derived from the empirical data appeared
in its unstructured form. In configuration the data were put into order as thematizations around main plots.
The themes represent common concerns and issues that were expressed amongst the participants and as
durable themes across the three rounds of interviewing. Finally, refiguration added further critical distance by
use of critical perspectives, interpretation and explanations (e.g. adoption of new theoretical perspectives and
concepts to understand the data).
There are additional relevant themes and plots, specific survey data and insights emerging from the rich set of
data that we cannot retrieve in this paper, however, they have been explored in other work (Dau, 2014, Dau
2013, Nyvang & Dau, 2013).
4. Findings
We initially include some general information on the implementation of BL in the educations. Then we discuss
and analyse the influences of disruptions and orientation in BL environments as a main plot.
4.1 Implementation of BL in teacher and radiography education
For teacher education the blend aimed at increasing the students’ study activities outside UCN. The students
had approximately one full study day a week in their first year, and two days in their second year where they
would manage their own study‐tasks e.g. from home. Furthermore, they had approximately one or two days a
week for study‐group work where they could choose how and where to engage with group members. The
lectures at UCN were carried out as face‐to‐face lessons except lessons with one of the lecturers who had
some experience with online lecturing. In the first half year these lectures were designed as online
synchronous video‐conference lessons and online discussions (available asynchronously as well). However, the
limited physical appearance of the lecturer was problematized by students as they preferred face‐to‐face
instructions. These complaints resulted in the lecturers reorganising the lessons toward more face‐to‐face
activities with some use of IT‐assignments e.g. by using Web 2.0 tools and creating digital cartoons illustrating
the subjects investigated
For radiographers education the blended model had been in use for some years before 2012 in order to offer
students from different parts of the country access to education. The blend is structured with face‐to‐face
lessons two to three days a week and then self‐directed study activities outside UCN. Within the first year of
the period of the flexible education (2012) some experiments were made offering students online synchronous
lessons by streaming the lessons. However, all students enrolled in 2012 preferred to participate in face‐to‐
face lessons and streamed lessons were cancelled.
The purpose of implementing BL was to accommodate to students from rural areas by offering flexibility, but
also to encourage students to engage with more self‐directed learning (Jensen 2012). All students who
enrolled in radiography education had to participate in BL, and one of two classes in teacher education had to
participate. Here the students were randomly selected. Both classes began their education in autumn 2012.
Despite the intentions of offering the students more flexibility by using various BL approaches it was clear from
the survey that students strongly preferred face‐to‐face lectures at UCN (79% of the student teachers and
100% of radiography students). Similarly, other face‐to‐face activities were preferred by 74% of the student
teachers and 88% of the radiography students who answered that they learned best by cooperation and
discussions with their peers at UCN. We therefore go into more in‐depth analysis to understanding some of
the reservations and reluctance towards the flexible and BL approach. These were particularly related to the
notion of disturbances and disruptions, but as we proceed we interpret this more widely as having to do with
students’ embodied experiences, and their spatial and habitual orientation.
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4.2 Disruptions and disturbances ‐ influence on students’ study activities
Students in both radiography and teacher education were facing challenges in their adaptation to BL and self‐
directed study days. These concern different disturbances and disruptions in different spaces.
For instance, they were disrupted when technological problems with the internet occurred or access to sound
or learning materials was insufficient. Informants described it like this: “There we had some technical
problems, they couldn’t get access to the radiographs” (FI1, RL), “I have tried to sit at home, it was
terrible...creaking of chairs, it (the microphone) recorded it all louder than his (the lecturer’s) voice” (FI1, RS).”
Despite the fact that these disruptions could partly be explained by the premature efforts of adapting new
kinds of technology it was something that was still an issue even after one and a half years.
“It is difficult and time consuming…you expected the technology to work and it did not” (FIQ3, RP). The
technological disruptions cause extended use of time thereby limiting students’ immediate access to
knowledge and interaction. However, other kinds of disturbances also emerged from the interviews.
Disturbances, we see as being related to the habitual and spatial orientation of the students.
4.2.1 Object and topographic orientations – disturbances and disruptions
Other online disturbances seem to influence students’ learning and knowledge development. This is described
as follows:
“Well, it is the internet‐flow. When you search for literature you fall into something and then get
to read about it, and all of a sudden you end up on YouTube where you look at a cat playing the
guitar. (FI2, TS). It runs as a huge reflection process when you are online, because all the time
there will be new windows and new messages and everything it runs just in such a great
hotchpotch, so you never have 100% focus” (FI2, TS).
While online activities may seem a very immobile activity, we understand it as movement and as online
orientation between different objects (topographic orientation). In the citation above, the student uses
motional terms such as ‘flow’, ‘end up’, ‘runs’ and describes various objects emerging along the ‘path’ of
movement (windows, messages). Students’ online orientation is thereby disturbed by available and upcoming
interruptions. Their way‐finding is disrupted and they orient instead towards non‐study activities as they
navigate through sites capturing their attention. Social media (and Facebook in particular) appear as more
‘desirable objects’ and as sources of procrastination and disturbance in students’ orientation within the online
environment.
This can be interpreted as part of their topographical habitus for online orientation. Their prior paths and
habits in online spaces relating to social media may be more oriented towards fun and social connections than
educational purposes. Some students (FI3, TS) comment on this and explain that although Facebook is used for
“serious” communication in study groups it quickly becomes unserious, as it is also the environment for
sharing party pictures and the like. They ponder whether using ‘It’s learning’ would provide a different and
more “serious” environment despite the fact that they find it difficult to navigate in this platform. Thereby,
according to the studies presented previously, their learning could be at risk of becoming superficial. There are
so many paths to follow that it might be hard to stay focused. These external disruptions can limit students’
possibility to gain deeper learning as they are interrupted by notifications and pop‐up´s.
Disturbances are not limited to technology and online spaces. They are also conditions at home. “There are
thing that constantly distracts me…you sleep more, watch television and there is a couch to lie on, and things
like that” (FI1, RS). These disturbances seem to be ongoing as students after one year still experience these:
“…it is hard to read at home because there are so many ... so called web... the computer or something… there
are many things that distract. I have repeatedly gone to school to read, like getting the optimal learning…but at
home, it can be difficult” (FI2, TS). The environment in which the students are situated have an impact on their
orientations. For example, the habitat makes students orient towards daily living activities. Their activities
change from studying online or reading a book, to lying on the couch or watching television. “So the whole
thing, I think it is all tempting, I want to eat all the time, I like to watch television, I want to sleep in my bed”
(FI2, RS). This can be interpreted similarly to the online orientation, namely that the connections between the
objects afford a particular topographical orientation, where couches, TV, beds and dirty plates become more
desirable objects.
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Students’ activities at home can be viewed as internalized dispositions for actions and part of their daily living
habits. Some students use avoidance strategies and seek refuge in the UCN environment, where reading and
working for them is better afforded. In this school environment students are familiar with studying. In
contrast, the home offers other motions and paths between the objects in place and affords daily living
activities such as leisure, relaxation or house holding. These demarcations of the home environments make
some of the students’ orient geographically towards other resources and environments for learning. This is a
conscious avoidance of disturbing objects at home by geographically moving to other environments.
However, disruptions and disturbances are to be understood as not only problematic. Despite the fact that an
orientation away from study activities can have consequences for students’ learning, they can also be useful in
hindering cognitive overload of the working memory (Fredens 2012, Sweller & Chandler 1994). For example,
some of the students in our case study claimed that they gained energy through pauses allowing them to
resume the study tasks with more concentration. Furthermore, some of them claimed that they made
unconscious reflections throughout disruptions which made them better able to resume their study‐task
afterwards.
It is worth mentioning that students are, at least in retrospect, consciously aware of the role of disruptions and
disturbances. It also seems that it is something which they are continuously trying to cope with and to develop
resistances towards:
“It is still disturbing (authors: studying at home) but I have at least become more mindful that
when you are reading, then you are reading. Then you don’t go to Facebook, YouTube or
something else. Maybe I have become better at shutting off and say: ´OK, when I have finished
this, then I can watch ten videos’ rather than viewing one every time I have read a page” (FI3,
TS).
In this sense students are developing strategies to counter the disruptions, which is something we return to in
the final discussion.
5. Discussion and conclusion
What emerges from the material is that students have trouble adapting to the particular design of BL. They are
experiencing technical difficulties in accessing online lectures and material, but more importantly how their
online orientation and movements are disrupted. They start to ‘wander off’ rather than staying on the study
path, when online objects of procrastination offer themselves. These disruptions are not merely a property of
the online environment, but equally in their homes where dishes, beds, TVs and couches act as more desirable
objects. What we are suggesting is that these disturbances are not only related to ‘social media’, but rather
that these disturbances are linked to people’s or students’ habitual, spatial orientation.
Thus, there are some important aspects to take into account when implementing BL, as is illustrated in this
case:
Disturbances and disruptions are an ongoing condition limiting or distracting students’ orientation
The environment is co‐constitutive for students’ orientation towards or away from study activities and
resources in situ
Students habits, object orientation and topographic orientation are important in relation to orientation in
various environments, and potentially for their learning outcome and knowledge development.
Following Simonsen (2007) much of our everyday life orientation is embedded in almost pre‐reflexive patterns
of actions learned through our daily practice. A reason for the students’ reservations towards the offered
flexibility might be that students are familiar with navigating in face‐to‐face learning environments. Most
students are enrolled in the undergraduate programme directly from high school where their topographical
orientation has mainly been centred on classroom participation. Their way‐finding in the educational system is
learned through many years of practice and afforded by the objects and the topographic orchestrations of the
educational settings. Their familiar habitual and spatial orientation thereby becomes both a resource (in way‐
finding) and a limitation in students’ adaption to the BL approach as they are forced to navigate more online
and outside classrooms.
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Despite the relative small sample included in this case study; we argue that the analysis and interpretations
reveal more general phenomena of human orientation in various environments. Disruptions and disturbances
are conditions in life, and the students in this case are reporting experiences of disruptions and disturbance as
part of their learning in blended environments. However, whether these are actually significant inhibitors of
students’ study activities and deeper learning, as Marien, Custers, Hassin & Aarts (2012) findings could
suggest, and whether they have a broader impact on their learning would require further studies.
Notwithstanding, we argue that students’ orientations towards, or away, from learning activities, are related
to their learned habitual and spatial patterns of orientation. We suggest that disruptions and disturbances
need to be understood in relation to these orientations, and that the concepts by Jander (1975) might be
productive in providing a better understanding of orientation within BL environments.
In relation to this, we also suggest that the notion of ‘ecotones’ could be productive in relation to
understanding (blended) learning environments. Ecotones are zones where two ecosystems meet and are in
tension. Such zones can look vastly different and have either sharp or blurry boundaries as illustrated in Figure
1.
Figure 1: Ecotones
Whereas earlier there might have been a sharper distinction between ‘home’ and ‘school’ these ‘ecosystems’
are now increasingly meshing. While we have emphasised that disruptions and disturbances are prevalent
both in the physical surroundings, as well as online, we also argue that the boundaries between different
online spaces might be more blurry, and can be transcended without much effort. You are only a ‘tab’ or a click
away from engaging with others. We are not suggesting this is worse, but that the ecotones between focused
work and pleasurable, social procrastination are more blurry and vague than perhaps earlier. We see how
students are developing strategies to counter and reduce their tendency to procrastination over reading
difficult theory. Thus, we also recognize that students can make their orientations more strategic through
reflective and metacognitive processes by being aware of the challenges in the environments. This
development of coping strategies or study strategies could be worth exploring
We see students’ orientation on a continuum being directed towards study activities or more disruptive
activities. In a more metaphorical and playful sense we could understand this as students’ strato orientation,
and whether they strive upwards towards the ‘(en)light(enment)’ or are pulled down by gravity by ‘objects of
disturbance’ in the environment; such as online notifications, television and the couch, where the latter seems
to be more ready‐to‐hand when in the home environment or online.
We have strived to gain a qualitatively better understanding of the disturbances and disruptions students have
reported in relation to the implementation of flexible learning. We have argued that these are related to the
students’ learned habitual and spatial orientations, and that there is a relation between the environment, the
experiences and role of disturbances (i.e. at school and at home). This suggests that a switch to BL
environments is not only a technical and pedagogical challenge, but equally a disruption of students’ study
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habits. Although students are reflexively aware of these challenges (at least in retrospect), and are working on
changing their habits, we would suggest that these difficulties need to be taken into account when working
with new organisations of learning.
These challenges have resulted in efforts to develop user‐generated methods to handle students’ orientation
and disruptions outside campus through an action research project under the Digital Training Laboratory
(DUIT) at University College North (Digitalt Uddannelseslaboratorium 2013). The conceptualisation of students’
orientation and way‐finding in blurred ecotones and disruptive environments have added new theoretical
perspectives within DUIT´s follow‐up research, and these concepts might also contribute to other kinds of
contemporary research of students’ orientation in BL environments.
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MOOC's Mass Marketing for a Niche Audience
Rachel Fitzgerald, Maggie Anderson and Ross Thompson
University of Northampton, Northampton, UK
Rachel.Fitzgerald@northampton.ac.uk
Maggie.Anderson@northampton.ac.uk
Ross.Thompson@northampton.ac.uk
Abstract: A range of issues have emerged through the design of a MOOC project known as Gateway MBA. The Gateway
MBA Project aims to extend the MBA Programme at Northampton Business School and this MOOC has a number of
intentions. From a pedagogical perspective the MOOC was created to give the student insight into the demands of
postgraduate study while introducing a core area of the MBA, Critical Issues in Business. Evidence suggests that MOOCs
are being used as a strategic tool to explore alternative models of course delivery (Allen & Seaman, 2013) and in this
instance the MOOC aims to increase recruitment to the MBA internationally and to raise the profile of the university.
While there are risks in this strategy, the Gateway project team see a potential to introduce and market the MBA to a
global audience through open online learning, raising the university brand profile and expanding the eLearning horizons of
those involved in the project and beyond. This paper will consider recurring themes in the literature in the context of the
design and delivery of the Gateway MBA. It is clear that reconciling MOOC values and aims with educational quality and
learner satisfaction standards is problematic so this paper considers how we developed and embed innovations in the
areas of technology and academic cultural practices in order to meet this challenge. Finally we will consider the issues and
challenges in the design and delivery of a MOOC and will offer future considerations for sustainability.
Keywords: MOOC, open practice, peer collaboration, disruptive technologies
1. Background
“Smart Universities will embrace MOOCs … to advance innovations in teaching and learning, and
expand markets for education.” (Nutbeam, 2013)
The Ernst & Young Report on Higher Education in Australia suggests that the traditional model of lecture
driven face to face HE will cease to exist for many institutions within the next ten to fifteen years. This is due
to a number factors that include: over‐saturation and competitive home markets; the need for global reach
and the rise of open learning in the form of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other forms of open
online learning (Ernst & Young, 2012). Within the University of Northampton, the Gateway MBA Project was
conceived as an opportunity to explore the rise in open learning by opening access to an MBA via an open
learning MOOC (Massive Open Online Course).
A MOOC offers potential for a number of strategic areas including the development of Online Teaching and
Learning and Global Market Development. While the concept of online learning is not new, university online
delivery is often found to be content driven ‐ facilitative, sometimes participative but rarely collaborative.
Designing an open online module, with supervised activities allowed an opportunity to enable participants to
connect with each other and with academics and industry experts that are connected with the school.
Students interested in studying in an online environment often underestimate the level of reading and
participation required for success. Indeed some enrol on the existing programme without recent academic
experience, and find that their study skills are not quite ready for the challenge. Offering a module from the
MBA in an open environment allows participants and potential students an opportunity to test the water, see
what is involved at this level of study and to identify any weaknesses and address them before undertaking
further study. A fixed time open online course also allows participants to really connect with peers from
around the world and discuss issues and enables peer support for learning. Developing this MOOC has allowed
academic staff involved a real opportunity to improve their skills in digital curriculum design, to embed
academic skills into learning activities, re‐evaluate formative assessment within the module and has brought
copyright and IPR issues into focus.
In addition the MOOC awards an opportunity to raise the profile of transnational education and promote
programmes at the university on a global scale. This opportunity for brand promotion means that quality is
paramount and marketing critical to engage potential learners. This paper reviews current thinking and key
challenges within MOOC development and based on this understanding offers insight into the process of
design of the Gateway MOOC in preparation for enrolment later in the year.
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2. Literature review
Given the relative nascence of the core concept, it is perhaps not surprising to note a concomitant paucity of
past published work identifiable in this domain. With this in mind, the review has adopted a holistic search
approach and draws upon sources from academe, professional journals and industry reports. The review
proceeds as follows: firstly, the concept of the MOOC is explored and its historical development traced;
secondly, the business models employed in their operation are discussed; thirdly, the key challenges facing the
operationalising of MOOCs and key lessons learned (where available) from existing MOOC programmes are
considered.
3. Definitional issues and historical development
Definitional consensus appears to be lacking in the study of MOOCS (O’Prey, 2013; Papparo, 2012) and it is
clear that development is still in the embryonic stages. However it is widely accepted that, on an operational
level, MOCCs exhibit the following core features: open access, free to enter, are credit less and offer
asynchronous learning (O’Prey, 2013; Papparo, 2012). However there is evidence that even these accepted
identifiers are subject to violation. For example, a number of US based institutions are trailing credit‐bearing
MOOCs (O’Prey, 2013) and some platform providers are now charging for programmes. Furthermore, the
boundaries of MOOC activities are still fluid. Whilst the traditional definitional conception centres on a novel
and bespoke open programme, there is some suggestion that educational practitioners maybe be fusing some
MOOC mechanics with traditional programmes thus creating hybrid or semi‐MOOC offerings. This has led
loosely to a bipartite classification of MOOCs: The xMOOC which retains much of the style and delivery stance
of a traditional programme with a clear emphasis upon knowledge transfer and the more radical cMOOC,
which places much more emphasis upon participant connectivism, andagogy (Salmon, 2003) and peer assisted
learning. This inherent taxonomic dynamism and ground shifting thus argues for MOOCs not to be defined on
an operational basis but on philosophical grounds where there is more clarity and consistency regarding the
precepts.
Philosophically, MOOCs may be considered exponents of Connectivism Theory (Downes, 2007). This position
envisages learning in an environment that is not linear but clustered thus necessitating the learner to
orchestrate their own educational trajectories in an autonomous manner using interactions with their peers as
supports (Downes, 2009). Connectivism therefore extols the virtues of choice, autonomy, interactivity,
connectedness, diversity (amongst learner groups); (Downes, 2009; Kop and Hill, 2008).
This philosophy and the growth of MOOCs can be traced backed to Bagely’s seminal views on interactivity in
education (Bagely, 1911). However the enabling role of informational technology (IT) as a catalyst for
operationalising Bagely’s beliefs cannot be underestimated; accordingly MOOCs can be conceptualised as part
of the ongoing digitisation of education which has included innovations such as online assessment (Singh et al,
2012) and algorithmic assessment designs (Piech et al, 2013). An early and influential adopter of IT led open
education was the MIT open courseware unveiled in 2001 which may well have acted as a catalyst to MOOC
development (Byerly, 2012) as might the promotion of peer based learning (andagogy) by academics such as
Roberston (12008) and Salmon (2003). Further IT enablement can be observed in the areas of global
broadband diffusion (O’Prey, 2013) and the increased spending on global education technology which
increased from $204m in 2008 to $900m in 2012 (O’Prey, 2013).
The first notable MOOC is widely considered to be the open programme based at the University of Manitoba
launched by Downes and Siemons in 2008 (Mackness et al, 2010). From these beginnings MOOC expansion
has been significance with 43% of US based universities either having or developing MOOCs as at the end of
2013 (Stine, 2013). To some commentators this growth represents a veritable tsunami of change to
educational delivery (Thun, 2012) perhaps encapsulated mostly vividly by the New York Times who declared
2012 to be the year of the MOOC (Stine, 2013). To other authorities, a more circumspect position has been
taken, for example, Youngberg (2013) who suggests that it is premature to assess the value and contribution of
MOOCs at this nascent stage of their development.
4. Business models
It is generally accepted that MOOCs in their current incarnation are not satisfactorily financially viable (Matkin,
2013; Nowrot and Doucet, 2011). The question is therefore raised as to what is the business purpose of a
MOOC? According to Byerly (2012) there are two chief orientations taken. Firstly, a strategy may be adopted
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along not for profit (nfp) lines and the focus of the MOOC presents as being philanthropic, for example,
opening up learning to disenfranchised groups or hard to reach educational markets (O’Prey, 2013). Secondly,
the focus may indeed be on profitability and there is some evidence to suggest platform providers are
experimenting with ways of monetising MOOCs. Initiatives attempted so far include: payment for courses (in
direct violation to one of the commonly held principles of MOOC design), licensing of materials, and placement
opportunities for participants and selling participant personal data (Matkin, 2013; Stine, 2013). MOOC
platform development has therefore tended to followed one of these paths: the Coursera, Futurelearn and Edx
platforms have followed the nfp route whilst the Udacity variant has sought to be profitable from its inception
(Baggerley, 2013).
There are therefore a number of issues for would be MOOC providers to consider. It is clear that financial
sustainability is far from secure and may indeed detract from the core defining principles of the MOOC. This
may limit the range of Universities able to successfully engage with the core concept. Well financed and
established brands such as Harvard or MIT may be able to follow the nfp pathway via an act of corporate social
responsibility (CSR) although, there are also likely to be spill over benefits (towards the marketing of other
branded products) and so the MOOC may also become a product loss leader in the institution’s portfolio.
Smaller and less opulent institutions, even those who are attracted to the CSR benefits associated with
MOOCs, may however find the sustainability and costing question marks too risky and this fact combined with
other challenges, may actually act as a disincentive to engage with MOOCs.
5. Challenges and lessons learned from existing MOOCs
Research into MOOC delivery has revealed a number of pedagogic and strategic challenges in the areas of:
completion rates, academic quality, fit with conventional offerings and disruption.
MOOC completion and retention rates tend to be poor and indeed an average completion rate of c10% is
often quoted (Clow, 2013; Kolowitich, 2010; Stine, 2013). More detailed analysis reveals a significant steep
decrease in continuation occurs immediately after registration which suggest many applicants maybe be doing
no more than fishing for information or following a herd instinct in enrolling (Kolowitich, 2013) and then losing
interest thereafter; in part, this is understandable in the light of the considerable media hype regarding
MOOCs since 2012. Nawrot and Doucet, (2012) have identified a number of reasons for drop‐outs including:
poor time management, loss of impetus, difficult subject matter, hidden costs such as having to buy textbooks
and perceived uninspiring study materials.
More detailed research is therefore vital in order to fully comprehend how these worrying statistics and
explanations for drop‐outs apply in the various MOOC contexts (disciplines) and participant backgrounds.
Unfortunately however, the inherent diversity and heterogeneity of MOOC participant populations will clearly
make it difficult to deconstruct and delineate all of the key demographic, social and economic variables
impacting MOOC classes. Similarly, the relative paucity of research conducted on a cross‐contextual basis
provides few steers regarding contextual trends and therefore argues for an increase in case study research
studies in order to help promote more effective meta‐analyses from aggregated data returns in the future.
Despite these limitations, it is possible to identify a number of design pointers or tips from the literature that
might improve continuation rates. Firstly, it is evident that MOOC delivery favours a bite‐sized format that
checks complexity blockages and maintains participant interest (Adamopopulous, 2013; Papparo, 2012).
Secondly, attention needs to be dedicated towards incentivising and promoting attendance and participation.
The use of discussion forums and other online backspaces have been positively associated with retention
(Coetzee et al, 2008). Reward systems such as badges (Cross, 2012) and Peer Rating Awards (Cross, 2012)
have also been explored and more experimentation with and research on these interventions is needed.
Serious concerns have also been articulated around academic quality issues. It has been observed (Papparo,
2012; Youngberg, 2013) that academic misconduct may be rife in the MOOC arena and indeed the expressed
desire for peer collaboration may invite this via joint‐working and collusion on assessment tasks.
There have been further apprehensions voiced regarding assessment. The use of standardised computer
generated grading systems may not sit well in more subjective and discursive subjects in the arts and social
sciences that require a greater degree of individual judgement (Papparro, 2012). Similarly, the intrinsic one
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size fits all philosophy, for example, with respect to grading criteria and required participant outputs may
make it hard for star pupils to shine and be recognised which might limit the potential for MOOCs to gain
recognition by employers and therefore compete with more traditional programmes (Youngberg, 2013).
Papparo (2012) has recognised all of these impediments and suggested that more intelligent software needs to
be developed, for example in the areas of peer marking reliability and cheating detection, that simultaneously
retains the open and peer driven nature of the MOOC and also provides a degree of quality assurance.
A further concern centres on the open nature of the MOOC. It may, as has been observed by Baggerley (2013),
promote a degree of waywardness, unhealthy digression and mob‐rule amongst the participants thus greatly
increasing the risk that learning outcomes and content cannot be adequately covered in the programmes. This
is yet another example of the central philosophy of the MOOC potentially working against itself and raises the
question of the agency and structure debate (Bandura, 1977) with respect to the respective roles of instructors
(as guides and enforcers) and participants within MOOCs. It maybe that totally open and lawless programmes
need to be rebalanced and a degree of structure and legislation installed in order to safeguard academic
standards and quality (Mackness et al, 2010).
Much research on MOOCs has addressed the issue of learner satisfaction with programmes. Distillation of the
research base suggests that there are two main areas of disquiet.
Firstly, studies have oft indicated a degree of dissatisfaction with the level of academic support offered within
MOOCs (Mackness et al, 2010). This of course is to be expected given the mass nature of the MOOC format
and the highly diminished staff‐student ratios that result. The key dilemma facing all MOOC providers is
therefore how to engineer a MOOC offering that manages to develop a degree of intimacy, individualisation
and personal touch within a mass and virtual classroom (Cross, 2012; Papparo, 2012)?
Secondly, some work has indicated that individual learner needs have not been met in the MOOC environment
(Mackness et al, 2010). Once again we can identify another example of the values and philosophy of the
MOOC, in this case diversity, working in a negative way. Given the heterogeneous nature of the mass
participant population it is unsurprising that al individual needs and aspirations can be significantly
accommodated and instead, the one size fits all outcome is presented, which may generate only a mediocre
learner experience.
MOOCs have frequently been assigned the mantra of a disruptive technology (Matkin, 2013); specifically, it is
suggested that they threaten the status quo of traditional teaching dogma (Stine, 2013) and offer a seemingly
overly radical advancement of teaching delivery (Youngberg, 2013). Of particular concern is the research body
that is developing regarding actual and potential staff alienation as regards MOOCs (Matkin, 2013); the most
notable instance of this occurred at San Jose State University where academics refused to deliver philosophy
MOOCs claiming that they diminished the role of the academic and compromised learner experience (Matkin,
2013). These observations paint a ‘drone’ warfare analogy that might be taking place in education; in the
military frontline fighting troops are currently being augmented by the use of mechanical drone devices and in
parallel, educationalists are seeing part of their roles being undertaken by digital platforms as is the case with
MOOCs. Future MOOCs developers therefore need to be sensitive to these tensions and Institutions may need
to embed counter measures to manage the concomitant technological and cultural changes that ensue. It has,
for example, been suggested by Papparo (2012) that working patterns need to be revised in the MOOC
environment and that traditional academic input should now take place up‐front in the content design stage
whilst MOOC instruction (the second part of the process) may favour non‐traditional educationalists who have
a skillset anchored in learning technology and multimedia. MOOCs therefore may threaten the sustainability
of traditional academic roles and require Institutions to reconsider and refine the role profiles and person
specifications of the various academic contributors.
6. Conclusion
It is immediately apparent that the study of MOOC development is located firmly within the introduction stage
of its product lifecycle. As such it is clearly risky to ascribe too much reliability towards the research findings
that have been published to date. It is therefore injudicious to look to the literature for definitive guidance or
blueprints when formulating the design of a new MOOC. Future MOOC development therefore has to be
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regarded as a high risk venture until a sufficient stock of knowledge is harvested that provides reliable
guidance on the key success factors.
Despite these limitations, a number of recurring themes have been identified in the emerging literature.
Firstly, Brand is a key feature of MOOCs and may thus help explain the commendable uptake of MOOCs since
2008. It is probably not a coincidence that the key platform providers are backed by Institutions such as
Harvard, MIT and Stanford and that the first open courseware initiative, the effective forerunner of the MOOC,
was launched by MIT.
Secondly, MOOCs have the seeds to sow their own destruction. Their defining philosophy grounded in mass
education, peer collaboration and diversity has also led to pedagogical challenges in the areas of cheating,
lawlessness and unmet leaner needs. It is clear that reconciling MOOC values and aims with educational
quality and learner satisfaction standards is proving problematic and a callout is made to Institutions to
develop and embed innovations in the areas of technology and academic cultural practices in order to meet
the challenge.
Thirdly, MOOCs are potentially highly disruptive and present challenges to Institutions to overcome issues
connected to staffing tensions and role alterations; relationships with traditional academic products;
acceptability to external stakeholders such as employers and public perception.
Fourthly, MOOCs may indeed prove to be a passing trend and their initial popularity explained by marketing
intensity and a resulting herd mentality. In order to prevent the bubble from bursting, platform providers
need to develop innovations designed to imbue MOOCs with a degree of mass customisation and tackle the
problem of completion rates that are currently highly unsatisfactory.
7. The gateway project
Retention issues have emerged as a real problem for MOOC developments. The project team chose to base
the MOOC on an existing module, Critical Issues, which is the introductory module on the MBA programme.
The rationale for choosing this particular module was twofold; firstly the module introduces key, current
business issues, secondly the module incorporates elements of required post graduate study skills and
personal development skills. Therefore it was envisaged that this module would appeal broadly to business
students on a global level and would offer a “taster” of post graduate study and insight to an MBA programme.
Participants who wish to continue will be able to register on a university short course to complete a reflective
piece of assessment, accredited for the MBA. This would allow participants to receive credit for their MOOC
learning and continue on with the MBA (subject to normal admission requirements). The opportunity to
undertake this module ‘for free’ and then undertake a piece of assessment to accredit learning on the module
for the full MBA was seen to be a real incentive for retention and completion of the MOOC .
As there were already pre‐determined learning outcomes and some online material for the module, the focus
for the team was to maximise engagement through open curriculum design, assessment and accessibility. The
project team consisted of three academic members of staff, a learning technologist, a librarian and an e‐
learning specialist with design input from the study skills staff and current MBA students. As a MOOC could
grow exponentially, the design of the learning needed to support scalability therefore the curriculum design of
the MOOC module was facilitated using a CAIeRO process, a model based on the Carpe Diem model,
underpinned by the research of Gilly Salmon and Alejandro Armellini, (Salmon, 2013). This particular model of
curriculum design supports the institutional capacity and can foster scalable pedagogical intervention (Salmon
et al, 2008).
The first stage of this process required the team to determine overall MOOC aims. The project team agreed
that aim was: “to provide participants with an experience of studying on an MBA level programme through the
introduction of key pervasive issues in business. This module will encourage participants to think critically and
to form evidence based arguments”. The CAIeRO process promotes diversity in module teams, the inclusion of
academics, professional support staff and students enables a range of different viewpoints, ideas and opinions.
“Good teaching means seeing learning through the learners eyes” (Ramsden, 1998), the “student voice” can
bring valid and valuable perspectives to learning and teaching practice and this project is an example of this in
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practice. The first project team design meeting had a range of input from three current MBA students who had
recently undertaken this module and could provide the value of the ‘student voice’, (Stoncel & Mayes, 2012).
The next stage in the process was to create a storyboard using a set of pre‐determined criteria cards which
deliberately restricts choice to nine overarching statements which determine the look and feel of the module.
Those chosen being: Student Choice, Guided Learning pathway, Active Discovery, Innovative (for the
team/faculty), Enquiry based, Reflective, Collaborative, Applied and Peer supported. This gave the project
team a clear focus for the design of learning activities throughout and enabled technical staff to be clear about
the design requirements.
There were a number of issues in MOOC design that emerged. The Project Team agreed a format of using
expert speakers to introduce key concepts (in TEDx style) for each of the critical business issues. Ensuring that
the videos were copyright free and that the university held the intellectual property rights took time and
needed supporting technical expertise. The key concepts were then supported by reading material but within a
MOOC there are access issues; participants would not be students of the university so could not access
libraries or other resources – so identifying, creating or acquiring suitable supporting resources was time
consuming. Using Blackboard Coursesites as an open learning platform, the project team worked on
developing eTivities. Based on MOOC research, the learning activities are designed to be specific and bite‐size
with opportunities to test understanding, as this has been established as a method to maintain participant
interest (Adamopopulous, 2013; Papparo, 2012). Reflective activity from participants is also a key feature
through the use of supervised discussion forums as this addresses the need for peer engagement and
retention. The Project Team considered the ‘appropriateness’ of e‐tivities based on the former nine
statements. Concepts and reflective eTivities include quizzes, discussion forums and formative tests.
Throughout the design process, the learning technologist worked closely with academic staff to create
appropriate eTivities for the purpose of the activity.
To get more detailed feedback on the module before it goes live, the Project team will pilot some eTivities with
international partners in Dubai and Ghana to get some feedback on the final version from their own very
diverse student body.
8. Main issues and challenges
The MOOC will run in September 2014 for ten weeks with academic support and guidance provided for
participants. How long a MOOC should run for is still a matter of discussion but this was seen as most aligned
to the original version of the Critical Issues in Business module. The participants will have academic support to
promote participation and subsequent retention and it remains to be seen how much academic support will be
required.
This Project was supported by internal Learning Innovation funding, but the key technical staff involved were
critical to the development of this MOOC, without the funding support to enable them to work on the project
for large periods of time, it remains to be seen whether this project could have got off the ground as academic
staff are not yet knowledgeable enough to design and deliver collaborative activities online. That said, the
process of development throughout this project has enhanced academic understanding of online learning
design and overall technical ability has improved.
9. Opportunities
The planning, design and collaborative process did allow for idea sharing and understanding learning from
different viewpoints and it was agreed that the CAIeRO/Carpe Diem model proposed by Salmon et al (2008)
was effective in developing comprehensive learning activities but while some activities will be piloted, the
feedback from initial participants will be crucial to ongoing learning design.
The MOOC will go live Autumn 2014 and through the collaborative curriculum design approach, MOOC
participants will have an opportunity to engage with learning activities that have embedded study skills, there
will be opportunities for peer interaction, access to a network of Business Expertise and participants who wish
to complete the MOOC and go no further will receive a certificate of attendance. Embedded into the Gateway
MBA MOOC eTivities are core personal and academic skills, through this is expected that participants will
develop understanding of issues related to academic quality and integrity. By allowing participants to engage
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with an assessed activity in order to ‘progress’ to the MBA, we will be able to measure the extent of issues in
this area. The initial run of this MOOC module will be undertaken as an action research project, future
research will consider the success of the approach on retention, learning quality and impact on staff
development. The sustainability of this module will also be an area for reflection, if successful then some
participants will enrol onto the MBA and from a financial perspective the project is worthwhile but even if
participants do not translate into actual university students the impact of the course design on staff
development and future learning design is both beneficial yet currently intangible but one thing is for sure
staying still is not an option for the future.
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Promoting Professional Development in Open and Distance
Learning Settings: Developing Communities of Instructional Practice
Olga Fragou and Achilles Kameas
Educational Content Methodology and Technology Laboratory (e‐CoMeT Lab),
Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece
fragou@ecomet.eap.gr1
kameas@eap.gr2
Abstract: The increasing emphasis on Higher Education standards has created a shift in the mode Universities deliver
professional development. Universities have answered the call of professional development by redesigning curricula and
structuring tutors’ training programs. Open and Distance Learning Standards in Higher Education promote educational
content reusability and modularity so as to adapt in various subject domains. Communities of Practice (CoPs) have
constantly posed challenges to Higher Education Institutions (HEI), in particular those engaged in open and distance
learning. These communities develop their practice through problem solving, requesting information, seeking experience,
coordination and synergy, discussing developments, documenting project mapping knowledge and identifying gaps. This
paper presents design framework, methodological aspects and preliminary data analysis of research conducted in (3)
Thematic Units of Hellenic Open University with the volunteer participation of (9) Tutors, in forming Communities of
Instructional Design in Open and Distance Learning settings.
Keywords: professional development, communities of practice, instructional design, open and distance learning
1. Introduction
Professional Development is the strategy academic organizations use to ensure that educators continue to
strengthen their practice during their career: the most effective professional development stages in Higher
Education engage teams of tutors who focus on the needs of their students. Professional development’s
instructional capacity is: a) ongoing, b) embedded within context specific needs of a particular setting, c)
aligned with reform initiatives, d) grounded in a collaborative, inquiry based approach to learning (Peeraer &
Van Petegem, 2012). New learning outcomes such as the development of creativity and innovation have
become major driving forces and educators are required to facilitate these. Under this scope, Communities of
Practice are generally accepted as a significant tool in achieving these qualities. Reforming teaching requires
steady work of tutors and professional developers who are focused on visions and issues not just policies: this
new way of thinking about professional development requires tutors to try out, discuss, think about and hone
new practices by taking new roles, creating new structures, working on new tasks and creating a culture of
inquiry. Communities of Practice are in the centre of this widening innovation movement. Τhe future belongs
to organizations that learn to unleash the creative powers of self –organizing project communities, knowledge
networks, open source teams and other new ways of work and learning based on associations of people who
are passionate about what they do together. This paper’s structure proceeds as follows: section 2 presents the
state‐ of‐ the‐ art as well as key features of Communities of Practice. Section 3 presents the design framework
and structure of the developed Communities of Instructional practice highlighting methodological aspects.
Section 4 presents the implementation framework of the designed communities as well as analysis of data
collected. Section 5 presents implications of the research and future directions whereas section 6 concludes
the paper.
2. Background
2.1 Communities of practice: State of the art
Communities of Practice (CoPs) are “groups of people informally bound together by shared expertise and
passion for a joint enterprise” (Wenger et al, 2002). The term “community of practice” highlights the social
nature of learning as it is situated within collaborative working environments: these social systems arise
naturally and are informally bound by the work that people engage in together and they are self organized
while membership is based on participation rather than official status (Wenger, 2001). Organizations that
recognize knowledge as a key asset are assisted by communities of practice to: exchange and interpret
information even across organizational boundaries; retain knowledge in ways that formal systems cannot
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offer; nurture competencies to keep the organization at the cutting edge by valuing collaborative inquiry and
thinking to the future; provide an identity of its members based on what matters to them (Wenger, 2001).
Authentic, ordinary practices of a community require a great deal of interdependence. This implies that
“learning cannot be fully internalized as knowledge structures nor fully externalized as instrumental artifacts
or overarching activity structures” (Wenger et al, 2002): understanding and experience are highly connected
while participation is based on renegotiation of meaning in the world. Furthermore, participation and
reification are important aspects of CoPs: products that can be reified include abstractions, tools, symbols,
stories and / or terms that are central to the practice, while processes that can be reified include making,
designing, representing, naming, encoding, describing, perceiving, interpreting, using, reusing, decoding,
recasting. Educational CoPs should incorporate: a) orientation, identity formation as an expanding image of
the world, b) reflection, identity formation as self consciousness, c) exploration, identity formation as creation.
Under this scope professional development of Higher Education practitioners, should focus on teaching as an
“intellectual activity” where teachers “play a role in the creation and use of knowledge” when undertaking
widely different roles in varying contexts. Within a framework of “new academic professionalism” for Higher
Education more innovative ways of encouraging participation in the development of professional practice
need to be explored in terms of practices and values where academics have to explain and justify in thoughtful
and productive ways, why they do what they do rather than just articulate what and how they do what they
do. Higher Education institutions can be visualized organizationally as “networks of networks” (Buckley &
Jakovljevic, 2012) or constellations of communities of practice where academics interact continuously within
the close confines of their particular discipline domains and learning communities. Maintaining or creating
healthy communities of practice is a main function of educational development within departmental discipline
based contexts involving educational developers in “working horizontally” across disciplinary communities to
“make connections and spread ideas and practices” fostering innovations in learning and teaching practice
(Blackwell and Blackmore, 2003). Bouchamma and Michaud (2011) propose a guided approach by following
these principles: socioconstructivism as the learning theory, reflective practice and metacognition to guide this
reflection, and accompanying leadership in a form of the process that supports change. Buckley & Jakovljevic
(2012) highlight effective agile methods and strategies (e.g adaptive innovation agile strategies,
communication skills, entrepreneurial initiatives, agile planning, discipline of dialogues, mapping, telling and
predicting).
2.2 Structuring CoPs through artefact mediation
Knowledge management creates the “organizational conditions” in which individuals are stimulated to
assimilate, create, transfer, share, capitalize, apply knowledge coherently with organization’s aims. As Wenger,
Mc Dermott and Snyder state (2002) fundamental aspects of Communities of Practice are the area of interest,
the learning social factory, the shared repertory of competencies and common resources such as routines,
documents, styles, tools, legends, symbols, language. These characteristics are presented diagrammatically in
the following figure:
Figure 1: CoPs characteristics according to Wenger, Mc Dermott & Snyder (2002)
Community of Practice is a different point of view in an organization which stresses how people are involved in
learning dynamics more than which units they belong to or the projects they work on. Members working in
interdisciplinary teams can apply their knowledge to the real problems of the community, and bring back to
the community new experience learned, staying together with experts of different subject. Although CoPs
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continually evolve it is possible to observe five stages of development in the sense of loose networks which
gradually coalesce into a community: potential, coalescing, maturing, stewardship and transformation
(Wenger et al, 2002). Most of the studies in CoPs are in a pre‐paradigmatic phase, so limitations of existing
theory regard the fact that models developed are mostly interpretive and derived from sporadic evidences
(Bouchamma &Michaud, 2011; Blackwell &Blackmore, 2003). An effective approach to community facilitation
involves creating a predictable “rhythm” whereas a “sense of place” is created in the minds of community
members through an integrated, thoughtful combination of face to face meetings, live on line events, and
collaboration over time within a persistent Web environment. Almost every community evolves along a life
cycle with distinct goals, member characteristics and needs as well as purposes. Successful and sustainable
communities have focused, well defined purposes that are directly tied to the sponsoring organization’s
mission. The following figure presents categorization of CoPs’ purposes into four areas of activity:
Figure 2: CoPs ‘purposes categorization in activity schema
Practitioners are interested in aspects of situations that are directly relevant to their goals and objectives and
help them understand problematic aspects of the design situation. Especially interesting is learning in
professional contexts because it is predominantly informal and may represent a metacognitive process about
educational practice and activities (Bouchamma & Michaud, 2012). Understanding the coordination among
individuals and artifacts (how individuals align and interact within a distributed process) in a system or a
community is a very important process in situated cognition (Wenger et al, 2002). Rather than acquiring
concepts as abstract, self contained entities, the idea is to acquire useful knowledge through understanding of
how knowledge is used by a group of practitioners or members of a community. Artifacts (Fischer, 2011) in
various formats used in professional communities embody meaning in their design, content and modes of use.
This meaning originates in the goals, theories, history, assumptions, tacit understandings, practices and
technologies of the artifact’s design community. End user communities activate an understanding of the
artifact’s meaning with their own community practices and cultural‐historical contexts: under this scope,
semantic and computational artifacts should not be designed as isolated applications but as integral
components of activity systems that support learning in collaborative knowledge building. Knowledge
organization structures are dependent upon domain‐analytical processes for determining ontological
perspectives. The ontological imperatives of groups of people laboring in common sometimes clash: these
clash points, terms that are used in both domains but understood differently in each, are called boundary
objects (BOs) (Fischer, 2011). These, have been proposed as an important means of translating such multiple,
overlapping but divergent representations in ways that they accommodate both diversity and synergy because
they inhabit several intersecting social worlds and satisfy the information requirements of each of them. In the
context of professional learning communities educators engage in activity design, interact and use educational
resources, use, reflect and collaborate on using conceptual toolsets. Under this scope factors that form the
springboard of professional communities have been a) work with innovative thinking by using innovative
design approaches and products, b) co‐learning through engagement in problem solving and complex tasks, c)
developing relationships of belonging in working networks.
3. Designing and structuring instructional communities of practice
3.1 The educational context
Hellenic Open University (HOU) (http://www.eap.gr) is the only public Hellenic higher education institution
that offers programs of study using Open and Distance Learning methodologies. The Educational Content
Methodology and Technology Lab (http://www.eeyem.eap.gr ) is an independent HOU unit that develops
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digital educational content, applies educational methodologies and promotes the use of ICT tools in
educational practice such as Learning Management Systems and Teleconferencing tools. Contact Sessions and
assignments are the corner‐stone of the HOU teaching method: tutors encourage face‐to‐face and internet
communication, meetings and study groups between students, where they can exchange ideas. The teacher’s
role in ODL involves facilitation and moderation (EQF, 2008). Tutors also forward any student related matters
to the Module Coordinator. HOU Tutors in a Thematic Unit and the Module Coordinator are the core
participants of the Module Academic Staff: they familiarise students with the processes and procedures
relevant to distance learning, provide advice, support and academic guidance to students through their
studies, help them understand the content and the methodology of the course, check that students have
received all course materials, inform students of regular and alternative materials, and finally play an
important role in further processing HOU educational material and producing new chunks of educational
material through instructional design practices by the use of Open and Distance Learning standards and the
design of Learning Outcomes.
3.2 Instructional design in open and distance learning settings
Open and Distance Learning is characterized by its philosophy, which diminishes boundaries and the use of
technology in specific formats. As there is not just one method of ODL a variety of courses are described as
“distance learning” courses. As a result of the implicit hierarchy in distance education method of offering the
courses through an array of media to students, tutors are not properly equipped to function as course authors.
Often the lecturers’ and tutors’ roles are little understood by university managers or educational authorities.
The challenge is both to adjust to on line delivery, incorporate technology into more “traditional” forms of
study, by experimenting and setting personal teaching and learning goals so as to achieve personally designed
Learning Outcomes and use accordingly suitable Learning Objects. As Learning Outcomes are the actual result
of learning and course designs set out the tutor’s intentions for learning: in the Outcome Based Learning
approach tutors through instructional techniques define intended learning outcomes, design or choose
appropriate learning activities, engage students in the activities through the teaching process, assess students’
learning, evaluate how well did they meet the primary learning intentions and award grades accordingly (EQF,
2008).
Design theories emphasize prescriptions for accomplishing a given end: the principles and instructional
methods for creating learning communities support the direction of the current status of adult learning theory
and the new paradigm of new instructional design theories (Schneider &Stern, 2010). Instructional design
theories and models make use of externalizations and semantic representation tools so as to capture personal
meaning and collaboratively construct hierarchies of subject domains. ADDIE is the most popular instructional
design model based on the systematic approach of the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and
Evaluation phase, used extensively to develop educational material for several purposes especially when
content reusability is involved in distance learning settings (Koper, 2006). The value of the workflow model
such as ADDIE is that it provides a project management framework, used in this case to develop instructional
material guides for HOU Tutors. An important outcome of shared understanding in COPs is the incremental
creation of externalizations to capture and articulate the task at hand (Fischer, 2011). Externalizations enhance
mutual understanding and intelligibility by serving as a resource for assessing the relevance of information
within the context of collaboration. Ontologies form conceptualizations of a subject domain, reflecting
structure and hierarchy to concepts used in subject domains, in the sense of providing reflective artifact
affordances: there are specifications of a conceptualization, defining concepts and relationships in a network
of knowledge attributes (Ferrara et al, 2011).
3.3 Representations and CoPs design situation
Boundary objects (Fischer, 2011) as objects which communicate and coordinate the perspectives of various
constituencies can serve two major purposes: a) they can serve as objects to support the interaction and the
collaboration among different communities of practice, b) they can serve the interaction between the users
and (computational environments). Much human creativity arises from activities that take place in a social
context in which interaction with other people and the artifacts that embody group knowledge are important
contributors to the process. We have provided a situation open‐ended and complex so as users to encounter
break downs: breakdowns offer unique opportunities for reflection and learning: tutors acted as designers
allowing themselves to create shared understanding ,contextualize information to the task at hand, and create
ontologies as boundary objects in collaborative design activities. Open ended and multidisciplinary design
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problems require a different paradigm of education and learning skills, including self directed learning, active
collaboration and consideration of multiple perspectives. The actual process of participatory design with
instructional designers and tutors grounds the artifact design in the culture of the potential user communities.
Most importantly community discourse processes in a collaborative construction framework helps groups of
users to reactivate and interpret the meaning of artifacts in their own terms and from their own perspectives.
Tutors of (3) Thematic Units of Hellenic Open University have been asked to: a) critique on the educational
material they used (printed and software) for constructing ontologies, b) report on problems the coped with
during the design process, c) modes of delivering training program regarding the ontologies’ design. The
artifacts produced have been ontologies, as forms of representing and capturing tutors’ understanding in their
subject domain.
4. Implementation: Structuring and piloting Instructional communities of practice
4.1 Phases of structuring CoPs
The management and academics face challenges that must be met in order to develop a full functional
network of CoPs. The management challenge is firstly to:
focus on topics important to the academic community
find experienced moderators for the academic community
ensure that academics have time and are encouraged to participate
build on the core values of the university
The academic challenge needs to:
get thought academic leaders involved
build personal relationships among academic community members
develop an active and passionate core group
create forums for thinking together and sharing information (Buckley & Giannakopoulos, 2012)
A deep conceptual understanding of subject content is a crucial part in the effectiveness of teaching as shallow
understanding of subject content tends to result in a style of teaching that over delivers on facts and rules, but
fails to ensure that students develop and evolve key ideas needed. Experienced tutors do not have many
formal opportunities to discuss and share their pedagogical content knowledge (PDK, Shulman, 2012) with
fellow tutors: consequently this very valuable form of professional knowledge tends to be hidden and largely
unknown. Factors critical for the success of the Communities of Practice as a small project that energises a
core group and an infrastructure to support collaboration and coordination are:
Skilful and reputable coordinator
Involvement of experts
Address details of practice
Right rhythm and mix of activities
The structuring of CoPs implies six phases: developing a theoretical framework for communities of practice,
exploring preliminary attitudes toward communities of practice, forming pilot communities of practice,
evaluating pilot communities of practice groups, implementing action research to pilot communities of
practice, apply the community of practice model to other groups. This paper briefly presents findings and basic
characteristics of developing a theoretical framework, exploring tutors’ attitudes, and forming pilot
communities of instructional design.
4.2 Methodology, research questions and data collection
Best practices were chosen from already formed communities of Hellenic Open University in (3) Thematic
Units. Data were collected in order to acquire the greater number of information about the single communities
and the external organisational context. In particular data was gathered from the following sources:
Documentation about the organization
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Semi structured interviews to key informant people (ie members of top management) of the organisation
to collect data about the organisation, its strategy, the knowledge management strategies defined
Semi structured interviews to community coordinators and members, to understand the story of the
community, the domain, the kind of knowledge shared and the members’ characteristics
Community’s output documentation to better understand the kind of knowledge and the domain
complexity
The basic research questions have aimed at capturing experience reflection and attitudes of (9) Tutors already
involved in quasi constructed Communities of Instructional Design in: a) educational material used (structure,
format, content), b) problems/drawbacks in their experience as instructional designers, c) desired modes of
delivering the instructional design training program.. There has been an aim: a) to explore the field of
structuring instructional design communities of practice so as to achieve benefit for the organisation, b)
capture the basic processes of already formed communities.
Production of educational material in HOU is subjected to ISO 2008 procedures with predefined technological
and pedagogical specifications .Tutors have been asked to filter HOU educational material used by (a) setting
basic learning goal, (b) providing specific learning outcomes that fulfill this goal, (c) designing semantic
representation of the educational content used in a form of an ontology. The (3) Communities of Instructional
Design comprised by (3) up to (4) HOU tutors as members while the Course Coordinator supervising and being
in charge of the whole process. The following table presents brief description of the HOU Thematic Units that
participated:
Table 1: HOU thematic units
Hellenic Open University Thematic Units
Level Thematic Unit Subjects
PGCE PLI20: “Discrete Mathematics & Mathematical Logic” #1Mathematics
#2Graph Theory
#3Mathematical Logic
PGCE PLI10: “Introduction to Informatics” #1Introduction to Computer Science
#2Programming Techniques
#3Data Structures
#4Programming Languages
PGCE DEO25: “Accounting” #Introduction to Accounting
#2Financial Accounting
#3Greek General Chart of Accounts
#4Computerised Accounting
#5Introduction to Cost Accounting
Action research in education involves participants in a form of disciplined self‐ inquiry that is collaborative and
designed to enable them to understand and reform educational practice (Engstrom et al, 2002).Practical action
research (Ado, 2013) as a methodology comprises a general spiral of generic steps that lead the researcher
pursue solutions to identified problems in collaboration with other participants. For the purpose of the specific
research an action research schema has been used so as to identify which aspects of the training process
actually worked and which could be further elaborated or enhanced. In the early development stages
qualitative research has been selected so as to reveal narrations and tutors’ attitudes/ beliefs regarding the
already conducted process. Semi structured interview has been designed and conducted so as to: a)
understand the respondents’ point of view in detail, b) create a positive rapport between the interviewer
(instructional designer) and the interviewees (HOU tutors), c) support high validity through detailed and
structured conversation, d) discuss complex issues regarding the design process and participation in the
Communities of Instructional Practice.
4.3 Findings and discussion
The interview data have been transcribed, organized and coded. Conceptualizations of basic topics involved
appeared, while themes have been identified regarding the educational material used and emerging training
issues. Field notes have been also used so as to provide a basic orientation in qualitative data analysis
processing. On a first basis inductive coding style (Cain & Harris, 2010), iterative analysis derived through
collected data has been selected commonly referred to also as grounded analysis (Ado, 2013). This iterative
process implies developing grounded codes in the sense of symbols applied to text sections in order to easily
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categorize it. The developed grounded codes are related to research questions, themes and concepts involved:
emerging descriptive themes are further broken down to sub categories, relationships and cause and effect
liaisons. The following figure presents basic concepts involved:
Figure 3: Basic concepts involved in interview analysis coding
The duration of each interview has been between 40 up to 60 min and there were all conducted during April
2014. The HOU participated voluntarily in the Communities of Instructional Design and have been provided
with printed material designed through the ADDIE methodology covering (3) phases: the description of the
educational problem, the design or content representation and the definition of Learning Outcomes. The
following figure presents schematically the training process supported by the Communities of Instructional
Design structure:
HOU
TRAINING
PROGRAM
STRUCTURE
HOU
INFRASTRUCTURE •INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS
• PEDAGOGICAL SKILLS
•DESIGN PROCESSES
LEVEL 1: SET
LEVEL 2: DESIGN LEVEL 3: DEFINE
EDUCATIONAL
REPRESENTATIONS LEARNING OUTCOMES
PROBLEM
Figure 4: The structure of HOU training process in Instructional Design Communities
HOU Tutors reported on the problems they faced during the design process, the drawbacks of completing the
process, issues that have been important to them such as time duration and need for clarity in the guiding
process. The (9) HOU Tutors who voluntarily formed preliminary Communities of Instructional Design have
been experts in their fields (professors and associate professors), originating from prestigious Greek Higher
Education Institutions, providing their teaching diversity in the whole process. The (3) Communities of
Instructional Design have been different in two aspects: a) the level of acquaintance and use of technological
tools, b) the level of members’ cooperation and personal acquaintance. More specifically the Tutors of TU
PLI20 and PLI10 had a strong confidence as a community and as ICT tools users, as in both cases the tutors
have cooperating the HOU distance education courses more than 10 years. Tutors in TU DEO25 have formed a
new community whereas they had not cooperated before nor they had developed a strong working network in
the sense of personally knowing each other before their contribution to the communities.
Interview data revealed Tutors’ attitudes and preferences on the educational content designed and used with
the specific criteria of structure, clarity, accuracy, effectiveness in instruction. Table 2 presents indicative data
from the interview data analysis:
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Table 2: Preliminary data analysis of interview questions regarding the educational material used for training
HOU tutors
Data of Interview Questions on Educational Material Used
Topic Data snippet and Respondent
QUESTION Effectiveness of Printed Educational Material “quite guiding” (T1)
#1 Used “quite helpful” (T2)
“the process has been time consuming, in circles”
(T3)
“easy to use” (T4)
“sufficient educational material “(T5)
QUESTION Level of Updating Printed Educational Material “all guides were updated” (T1)
#2 “updated and quite helpful” (T2)
“ examples are important” (T3)
“quite updated” (T4)
“updated” (T5)
QUESTION Structure and Organisation of Educational “more concepts of subject domain added” (T1)
#3 Material “rigid language” (T2)
“set clear outcomes from the beginning of guides”
(T3)
“quite satisfactory” (T4)
“good but more examples are needed” (T5)
HOU Tutors found the guides provided by the E‐Co‐Me T Lab research team quite helpful though they reported
that there have been times that they thought they were going in circles, not in a justifying way. These guides
actually prompted the HOU Tutors to set the educational problem, design content representation of the
educational content they processed, define Learning Outcomes in their TU. The use of educational material
has been updated and quite satisfactory to them, whereas they commented positively on the easiness in use.
However, regarding the structure and organisation of the educational material used they pinpointed
weaknesses such as the strict language of the guides developed, the lack of having a clear picture of the
process and final product from the beginning as well as using furthet examples so as to have a confident
outlook on the final product requested from them. The latter has been quite an obstacle in comprehending
the sequence of the whole process though they managed to design the final products required from each
phase (I. set educational problem, II.produce design representation of educational content used and III.define
learning outcomes).
Another group of interview questions focused on the preferences of HOU Tutors in the future design of an
extensive training program, scaffolding in the design process of new educational material by the fulfilment of
the (3) phases already mentioned earlier. It was important to capture their attitudes and preferences on the
traning program in the early development stage so as to: a) carefully adjust content and structure of the
training program according to their needs, b) iteratively design and develop cycles of training delivery, c) clarify
basic and subsidiary goals of the training program in the design process and accordingly develop the training
material. Table 3 presents HOU tutors’ preferences on the Training Course Design:
Table 3: Preliminary data analysis on HOU Tutors’ preferences in future training course design
Data of Interview Questions in future Training Course Design
Topic Data Snippet and Respondent
QUESTION Formats for Delivering the Training Program “mostly Powerpoint and screencasts”(T1)
#5 “just printed material” (T2)
“printed material” (T3)
“pdf format for guides” (T4)
“just printed material” (T5)
QUESTION Focus Areas of In Depth Education “ask students about these” (T1)
#6 “in the pedagogical aspect of the design” (T2)
“on merging the tutors’ content representations” (T3)
“provide a clear picture ” (T4)
“clear guidelines to use verbs in LOs” (T5)
QUESTION Tutors’ suggestions on Training Program “save time and labour” (T1)
#7 “save time” (T2)
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Data of Interview Questions in future Training Course Design
Topic Data Snippet and Respondent
“provide a holistic picture” (T3)
“save time” (T4)
“save time and more examples” (T5)
Regarding the preferable formats for developing educational material the HOU Tutors commented favourably
on the use of printed material, even if they originated from Thematic Units with a strongly technological
background such as PLI20 and PLI10. They justified their preference on the fact that this type of material (pdf
format) is easy to use, accessible anytime and more amiable to further processing according to personal
reading and learning strategies. The data collection and analysis phase is still in process.
5. Evaluation: Implications, limitations and directions for future research
Team‐ based work organizations are an effective response to the pressures of increasingly competitive
environments. In Communities of Practice (CoPs) groups of people share a passion for something that they
know how to do and who interact regularly to learn to do it better. The conducted research (still in process)
captured HOU’ Tutors reflective experience on educational design process and their attitudes on the design of
an extended training instructional program on developing new educational material based on ODL standards
methodology. Design structures and generic patterns regarding the design process have been revealed
whereas problems that Tutors faced have been highlighted. Based on the extended analysis of the qualitative
data still collected an extended survey is designed so as to capture significant elements of the a) design
process reflection, b) important skills to be developed during the training process, c) multidisciplinary
guidelines for developing educational material based on Open and Distance Learning methodology, by the use
of Learning Outcomes. Building collaborative and collegial communities of tutors provide the autonomy and
the motivation to make better curricular and pedagogical decisions for students’ interests: the basic aim has
been to form an effective instruction framework for Hellenic Open University (HOU) Tutors based on data
collected in (3) Thematic Units (TU).
6. Conclusion
An upcoming shift in the teaching and learning sphere towards online, Open Reusable Resources, accessed and
exploited by teachers and learners alike to enhance the e‐learning experience, emphasizes issues of learning
design and educational content reusability. Establishing modes of collaborative participatory design which
promote reflective practice seems to be the key factor to improve Higher Education and making effective use
of Open Distance Learning Standards. Support of Tutors in the process of effectively chunking and using in a
multimodal way educational content is a demanding task, requiring for careful analysis of the learning process
and aspects of the learning context and media applied. There is a need to decompose complex tasks in
learning hierarchies, to provide analysis of concepts and procedures of subject matter curricula in terms of
information structures and gave rise to new approaches to pedagogy. The basic characteristics, methodology
and preliminary findings of Instructional Communities of Practice have been presented. However, important
issues have arisen: the need for students’ participation in the Communities of Instructional Design as final end
users of the whole design process, and design structures’ establishment for that purpose, the need to further
elaborate training structures and training patterns so as to enhance multidisciplinary professional learning.
There has to be a shift from processes and procedures to a new vision which promotes a learning paradigm
that encourages social negotiation of meaning and reflective practice to produce new chunks of educational
material based on Outcome Based Learning, actively involving and further motivating experts to engage and
contribute to the instructional design process. For these purposes an “umbrella” HOU framework which
promotes policy changes so as to adjust to the new vision is important, while the methodological framework
for building communities of instructional design through semantic mediation has to be further and in detail
elaborated and expanded to cater for multidisciplinary professional learning. The assessment process is
currently under development whereas expansion of the schemas and processes presented in this paper is
scheduled in more Thematic Units of Hellenic Open University. Tutors’ involvement in purposeful reflection
stimulated their interest in seeking out and trying out new pedagogical strategies, providing insight in new
educational practice through better understanding and chunking of educational content used. Future work
involves further working on structures and tools in the context of instructional communities, further revealing
processes, types of products and Learning Objects used in a multidisciplinary mode as well as generating a plan
for filtering educational content in HOU Courses including issues of time management (on line –off line
process) and learning activity structures. Future goal is to further develop material that actually supports and
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Olga Fragou and Achilles Kameas
guides Tutors who participate in HOU‘s communities of Instructional Practice incorporating Learning Object
formats and Learning Outcomes taxonomies.
Acknowledgements
The research described in this paper has been co‐financed by the European Union (European Social Fund ‐ ESF)
and Greek National Funds through the Operational Program "Education and Lifelong Learning" of the National
Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) (Funding Program: "HOU").
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Knowledge, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, USA.
180
Blended Learning as a Compromise in the Teaching of Foreign
Languages
Blanka Frydrychová Klímová and Petra Poulová
University of Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
blanka.klimova@uhk.cz
petra.poulova@uhk.cz
Abstract: Within the past 20 years any sphere of education has dramatically changed owing to constantly
emerging information and communication technologies (ICT). They have altered common approaches to
teaching and learning. In fact, nowadays, anyone can now learn anything from anyone at anytime. Moreover,
the 21st century learners cannot imagine their studies without being able to interact with the online materials
or their peers. Owing to these facts, the terminology in the area of education is also constantly changing and
being innovated. Particularly with the arrival of new technologies, many new terms have emerged such as
eLearning, on‐line learning, blended learning or computer base learning. Out of these approaches the best
seems to be blended learning. Blended learning is nowadays perceived as not only a mere combination of
face‐to‐face and online learning, but as a combination of training methodologies, which uses the best delivery
method for the successful achievement of the learning objective. It requires not only a flexible and
experienced teacher/ tutor, but also a self‐regulated/ autonomous learner. The teacher is not an authority in
the class anymore. S/he should only teach/ navigate his/ her learners how to process and form scientific
knowledge and enquiry. Therefore, this article focuses on blended learning as one of the current forms of
instruction in the teaching of foreign languages. It explores its definition, principles, methodology and its
relevancy for the teaching of English. Furthermore, it emphasizes an irreplaceable position of a teacher in this
process. In addition, the authors provide a few specific examples in which the blended form is used. Finally,
they present a survey among the Czech and Kazakh students about their preferred form of instruction in the
learning of English in order to verify whether the blended form of instruction is welcomed or not by students
in their learning of English.
Keywords: blended learning, forms of instruction, survey, English, students
1. Introduction
The terminology in the area of education is constantly changing and being innovated. Particularly with the
arrival of new technologies, many new terms have emerged such as eLearning, on‐line learning, blended
learning or computer base learning.
The term blended learning has been today commonly used, especially in further and higher education settings.
The term itself is quite difficult to define since it is used in diverse ways by different people. Overall, there exist
the three most common meanings for blended learning (cf. Whitelock & Jelfs, 2003):
the integration of traditional learning with web‐based online approaches;
the combination of media and tools (e.g. textbooks) employed in e‐learning environments; and
the combination of a number of teaching and learning approaches irrespective of the technology used
(Driscoll, 2002).
It should be also noted here that in Northern America instead of the term blended learning they sometimes
use the term hybrid learning or mixed learning. The authors of this article suggest following Littlejohn & Pegler
(2007) who perceive blended learning as an integration of face‐to‐face teaching and learning methods with
online approaches.
In general, blended learning is about a mixture of instructional modalities (i.e. onsite, web‐based and self‐
paced learning), delivery media (e.g. the Internet, classroom sessions, web‐based courses, CD‐ROMs, video,
books, or PowerPoint presentations), instructional methods (i.e. face‐to‐face or technology‐based sessions),
and web‐based technologies, both synchronous and asynchronous (e.g. chat rooms, wikis, virtual classrooms,
conferencing tools, blogs, textbooks or online courses). The choice of a blend is usually determined by several
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factors: the nature of the course content and learning goals, student characteristics and learning preferences,
teacher’s experience and teaching style, or online resources (cf. Dziuban, Hartman & Moskal, 2005).
Based on the literature review (Graham, 2005; or Khan, 2005), there have been identified four main principles
of the blended learning methodology so far:
a thoughtful integration of face‐to‐face and fully online instructional components;
innovative use of technology;
reconceptualization of the learning paradigm; and
sustained assessment and evaluation of blended learning.
The first principle attempts to enrich the benefits of both environments and successfully meet the diverse
students’ needs and preferences.
The second principle means that any technology should be applied in a pedagogically appropriate way and
used for creating and maintaining socially situated and highly interactive learning (Vaughan, 2007).
The third principle tries to incorporate new emerging pedagogies and learning theories such as constructivism
or activity theory, together with the new challenging roles of students and teachers in the process of acquiring
knowledge and its understanding.
The fourth principle of the blended learning methodology should ensure the quality and effectiveness of
education.
The main reasons why blended learning should be employed in teaching is as follows:
it contributes to pedagogy because it supports more interactive strategies, not only face‐to‐face teaching
(Graham et al, 2003);
it thus encourages collaborative learning; students or educators can work together on some projects from
anywhere and at any time (Bruffee, 1993; Černá & Svobodová, 2013);
it deepens intercultural awareness since it puts together researchers, educators, and students from
anywhere in the world;
it reduces costs of teaching and learning since students do not have to undertake so many frequent
travels to complete their education (Graham et al., 2003); and
it might match student’s learning style although there is no clear consensus on this issue (Coffield, 2004;
Gregorc, 1979; Hubáčková & Semrádová, 2013; Poulová & Šimonová, 2012).
However, there are also drawbacks of blended learning (see, for example, Čech & Klímová, 2003). Blended
learning is time‐consuming and demanding in terms of creating materials and preparation and evaluation.
Furthermore, both students and teachers sometimes have limited knowledge regarding the use of technology,
and technical glitches are liable to happen at any moment. Finally, students’ study skills are often not
sufficiently developed to enable them to benefit maximally from blended learning.
In addition, the blended learning approach as described above requires an independent learner and a teacher
who supports and encourages him/her in such learning. Thus, the roles of both learner and teacher are
changing. In fact, the current paradigm sees teaching and learning as social processes where the students are
active co‐constructors of knowledge with their teachers. The teacher is becoming a facilitator, mediator,
mentor or a coach. Wheeler (2009) has listed seven skills that blended learning instructors/teachers should
possess:
they should be able to support and encourage learners;
they should not be afraid to take risks with new technologies;
they should be able to transfer good teaching skills into online contexts;
they should be good communicators in any medium;
they should be non‐conformists;
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they should thrive in a culture of change;
they should have the ability to see the big picture.
2. Blended learning approach in the teaching of foreign languages
Blended learning has also become one of the successful learning strategies in the acquiring of a second
language. In fact, blended learning has been a major growth point in the English language teaching industry
over the last ten years. As Mothejzíková (2005/2006, p. 131) states, there is a prime focus on the fields of
knowledge in which citizens acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for effective communication, i.e. on
the teaching of foreign languages and information and communication technologies (ICT). Therefore, blended
learning in the teaching of foreign languages is sometimes defined as a combination of traditional, face‐to‐face
teaching and computer assisted language learning (CALL). In connection with blended learning, Veselá (2012)
speaks about the term blended CALL which she explains as language teaching/learning with the help of various
technological means in combination with traditional classroom instruction. Dziuban, Hartman & Moskal (2005)
define blended learning in the EFL (English as a foreign language) settings more broadly. According to them,
blended learning is a pedagogical approach that combines the effectiveness and socialization opportunities of
the classroom with the technologically enhanced active learning possibilities of the online environment.
According to De Praeter (2008), a classic example of using the blended learning approach is a course of English
as a second language where the teacher decides that all audio‐based activities (listening comprehension and
oral comprehension) will take place in the classroom while all written text‐based activities will take place
online (reading comprehension and essay writing). Similarly, Frydrychová Klímová (2012) provides an example
of an EAP (English for Academic Purposes) blended course on Academic Writing taught at the Faculty of
Informatics and Management in Hradec Králové where the teacher decides that all written assignments, such
as essays, will be submitted via the online course and similarly, self‐study of further reference reading will be
done online. In the follow‐up face‐to‐face class the teacher and the students will discuss particular difficulties
or goals connected with their online work and the teacher also clarifies any errors students may have made in
their assignments.
In addition, based on the definitions described in section 1, Harmer (2012) understands blended learning as an
approach in which students get some of the input from material such as a coursebook, and then expand on it
with material and websites on the internet. Thus, for example, if students read or listen to a text about some
famous personality, they can go to the internet and see what else they can find in the way of extra information
or video clips. Moreover, if their coursebook has a companion website, the students can go there and find a
range of extra texts, exercises, references and activities.
Thus, the added value of blended learning in the EFL settings course might be as follows:
online learning can allow access to target language culture through the use of Youtube videos, meaningful
situational videos, chat rooms or videoconferencing; these tools enable the EFL students to have more
access to native speakers, but also to interact and collaborate with their foreign peers;
language is about communication and through exploiting the above mentioned tools students are more
often exposed to the target language than in the traditional language classes; and if they are appropriately
motivated, they might be enthusiastic to practise the language frequently outside the traditional settings;
using the Internet can help students to improve their key language skills, particularly the skills of listening,
reading, and writing;
the web‐based materials or CD ROMs components give students a chance to revisit lectures or seminars;
and
the more frequent teacher’s feedback means that students are able to practise the language more often
and are able to avoid repeating their previous errors (Hubáčková, 2010).
At the Faculty of Informatics and Management (FIM) of the University of Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic
classes have different forms of instruction. They can be run traditionally, which means face‐to‐face, or purely
online, which is mainly used for distant students who successfully benefit from this form of instruction because
they are not always able to come to face‐to‐face lectures due to their job commitments. The third form of
instruction which is also exploited at the faculty is blended learning. As it has been pointed out above, this
form of instruction is particularly suitable for the teaching of languages. But do the students welcome to have
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their language classes run in this form? In order to discover this, the authors performed an international
survey, which is discussed below.
3. Survey and its findings
In January of 2014, 42 part‐time students of Management of Tourism at FIM were given a questionnaire in
order to discover what their preferred form of instruction is. The same was performed at Karaganda State
Technical University in January 2013 among 65 students from managerial fields. The research tools used were
as follows:
pen and paper questionnaires;
descriptive statistical methods of processing the results of the survey; and
observations.
The level of students’ English was in most cases B2 according to the Common European Framework of
Reference for languages (CERF).
All Czech students submitted the questionnaires. 35 (83%) of them were females and 7 (17%) were males. (See
Fig. 1) The biggest groups of the students were between 20‐24 years old (31%) and between 25‐29 years old
(31%), while 19% of the respondents were between 30‐34 years old. 12% were aged between 35‐39 years.
(See Fig. 2) As far as the Kazakh students are concerned, 65 were given a questionnaire but eight (12%)
students did not respond. Out of the total number 33 (51%) were males and 24 (37%) were females. The
largest group of respondents was again between 20‐24 years old (80%).
Figure 1: Respondents’ gender
Figure 2: Age categories
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Blanka Frydrychová Klímová and Petra Poulová
Within a larger survey focused on the development of students’ productive language skills, students were
asked the following question:
Which form of instruction would you prefer in the teaching of English? Please tick one option only.
traditional, face‐to‐face;
online/eLearning; or
blended (a combination of traditional and online teaching).
Czech students: As for the form of instruction, 21 students (50%) prefer a combination of online and traditional
teaching; 16 respondents (38%) would rather be exposed to face‐to‐face teaching and only five students (12%)
would favour pure online teaching. See Fig. 3 below.
Figure 3: Form of instruction ‐ Czech students
Kazakh students: As Fig. 2 shows, most of the Kazakh students still stick to the traditional form of instruction
(34 students/ 52%). 24 (37%) respondents prefer a combination of traditional and online forms of instruction
and only two students (3%) favour pure online teaching. Five students (8%) did not respond to this question.
Figure 4: Form of instruction ‐ Kazakh students
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Blanka Frydrychová Klímová and Petra Poulová
4. Conclusion
From the above described results of the survey, it is clear that the Czech students welcome an opportunity to
work in the so‐called combined/blended form of learning. The reason is that they can complete their
knowledge and thus finish their learning process, which they did not manage to do during the face‐to‐face
classes. They are not forced to do it immediately at school or in the library because they can access the online
course from the cosines of their homes any time they feel like that. In addition, if they did not understand
anything during the lecture, they can contact their teacher online and ask him/her. Similarly, the Kazakh
students also exploit the blended form of learning. However, most of them still welcome the traditional, face‐
to‐face classes since not all of them can afford to have a computer at home and moreover, at school they do
not have such a frequent access to a computer. Although the university is equipped with a large number of
computer laboratories, these are mostly used for the scheduled classes and students are thus not able to use
them for their self‐study so often. This difference, however, will not be that substantial since most of the
Kazakh students at Karaganda State Technical University had their own smart phone and often even their
notebook during the focus interviews. Furthermore, their computer literacy was at a very good level as they
showed while doing some practical tasks. In addition, cultural aspects can also influence their preference for
the traditional form of instruction. In central Asia, to which Kazakhstan belongs, the traditional approach
respects the authority. And the teacher is an important authority for students. Unlike the European students,
these Kazakh students thus prefer a closer relationship with their teacher/s and a higher rate of control than it
is in case of blended learning. This fact requires a deeper analysis and future research will focus on it.
Therefore, blended learning can be a solution to the teaching of foreign languages since it can contribute to
the compensation for the various deficiencies in the foreign language settings such as a lack of high frequency
of exposure, a lack of exposure to the target language community or adopting inadequate learning strategies.
However, one must always bear in mind the purpose of using this approach and the learner’s needs. As Brown
(1987, p. 13) says:
Every learner is unique. Every teacher is unique. And every learner‐teacher relationship is unique.
Thus, teachers inevitably must adjust their teaching to the new challenging computer‐mediated teaching
conditions and explicitly instruct their students how to make their learning most effective with the help of ICT.
They should provide their students with a study guide which would explain to them how to proceed in their
studies. Furthermore, teachers should show their students that it is them who are responsible for their studies
in this new computer‐mediated environment and who can enormously profit from networking with their peer
and their teacher/ tutor.
References
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Čech, P., & Klímová, B. (2003). Kurz Teaching written business English (TWBE). In J. Sedláček (Ed.), Sborník příspěvků ze
semináře a soutěže e‐learning 2003, pp. 23‐26. Hradec Králové: Gaudeamus.
Černá, M., & Svobodová, L. (2013) Current social media landscape. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on
Efficiency and Responsibility in Education (ERIE 2013), Prague . pp. 80‐86.
Coffield, F. et al. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post‐16 learning. A systematic and critical review. Newcatle
University report on learning styles. Retrieved July 3, 2012, from http://www.Isda.org.uk/files/PDF/1543.pdf
De Praetere, T. (2008). E‐learning. Retrieved June 29, 2010, from http://knol.google.com/k/thomas‐de‐praetere/e‐
Learning/20ohkjtmn38cb/2#
Driscoll, M. (2002). Blended Learning: Let’s Go beyond the Hype. E‐learning, March .
Dziuban, C.D., Hartman, J.L., & Moskal, P.D. (2005). Higher education, blended learning and the generations: Knowledge is
power – no more. In J. Bourne and J.C. Moore (Eds.),
Elements of quality online education: engaging communities. Needham, MA: Sloan Center for Online.
Frydrychová Klímová, B. (2012a). Teaching formal written English. Univerzita Hradec Králové: GAUDEAMUS.
Graham, C.R. et al. (2003). Benefits and Challenges of Blended Learning Environments. In: M. Khosrow‐Pour (Ed.),
Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology I‐V. Hershey, PA: idea Group Inc.
Graham, C.R. (2005). Blended learning systems: Definition, current trends, and future directions. In C. J. Bonk and C. R.
Graham (Eds.), Handbook of blended learning: global perspectives, local designs. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer
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Harmer, J. (2012). Essential teacher knowledge. Core concepts in English language teaching.England: Pearson Education
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Hubáčková, Š. (2010). Foreign language teaching with WebCT support. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 3, 112‐
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Behavioral Sciences, 89, 445‐449.
Khan, B. H. (2005). E‐learning quick checklist. London.
Littlejohn, A., & Pegler, C. (2007). Preparing for blended e‐Learning. UK: Routledge‐Falmer.
Mothejzíková, J. (2005/2006). Didaktika cizích jazyků v novém evropském kontextu (I, II).Cizí jazyky, 49(4,5), 131‐133; 171‐
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Poulová, P., & Šimonová, I. (2012). Flexible e‐learning: online courses tailored to student’s Needs. Proceedings of the 9th
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187
Faculty Motivators to Teach Online at a Private, Metropolitan
University
Susan Glanz
St. John’s University, USA
glanzs@stjohns.edu
Abstract: Data from the US Census Bureau shows that in the last few years the number of 18‐year olds in the North‐East,
the traditional source of student population for St. John’s University, a private, metropolitan university in New York, is
declining. The higher education student population increasingly includes non‐traditional students, students outside of the
usual college age range of 18‐22. This change, the increase of non‐traditional students, and the stagnating economy that
forces the traditional students to accept longer part‐time working hours, drives an increased demand for alternative routes
to earning a college degree. A component of this new teaching and learning method is online learning. Faculty acceptance
of online teaching is critical to meet this demand. The purpose of this research study is to discover the different motivators
and incentives that attract adjunct and full‐time faculty to teach online at St. John’s University. This presentation will report
on the initial findings from a research study of factors that enable and encourage faculty participation in online teaching
and will also investigate what factors undermine motivation to teach online. The study will also investigate whether the
factors motivating or inhibiting full‐time faculty differ from those of adjunct faculty. The top motivator for all faculty is the
personal use of technology. The top demotivator is the greater time commitment teaching online requires. The results of
the St. John’s University survey will be compared to other studies completed and recommendations will be made for future
research.
Keywords: online education, faculty motivators, faculty demotivators
1. Introduction
The May 15, 2014 issue of Inside HigherEd reported that university enrollment in the USA declined in the
previous two years. For private colleges in the Northeast of the USA this drop in enrollment was caused by
changing demographics, the stagnating economy, their relative high tuition cost coupled with competition
from the less expensive state and city colleges. To appeal to students, colleges try to increase their course
offerings and the varieties of ways students can earn degrees. Offering online courses is one of the solutions as
it is a way to attract students from outside the commuter radius, to appeal to the atypical, older student, and
at the same time save classroom space. Online courses also allow students to work while attending college.
While for students the leading motivators to register for online courses are the convenience and the flexibility
offered by this method; for faculty members the most important issue when deciding to teach a course online
is whether the students learn as much (or as little) as in the traditional classroom.
St. John’s University (SJU) is a private, Catholic university in NY, founded in 1870, with a current enrollment of
about 20,000, graduate and undergraduate students. SJU began offering online courses in 2000 and students
then could choose from 14 courses. In the Fall 2003 semester SJU began distributing laptops to the incoming
freshmen class. The number of courses offered online and enrollment in these courses steadily increased, and
in the 2014 spring semester, university‐wide, there were 288 graduate and undergraduate courses offered and
several degrees can now be completed entirely online. Since 2000 the University’s Strategic Plans included the
goal of expanding and enhancing distance learning.
Faculty participation is vital for distance education programs to succeed, as faculty are central in the
development and implementation of courses and thus are the scaffolding on which the long‐term
sustainability of online and blended education programs is built. How do faculty from a private, metropolitan
university perceive participation in online teaching? This exploratory study surveyed faculty perceptions of
motivating and inhibiting factors for participating in distance education. The research design for the study is
non‐experimental and used the survey research method and descriptive statistics to analyze the data.
2. Brief literature review
There are a number of studies that investigate faculty motivation to teach online. Several of these studies
compare motivating and inhibiting factors between faculty who teach online and those that do not (Betts
1998a, Betts 1998b; Betts 2014; and Schifter 2000); while Schroeder’s (2008) and Wolf’s (2011) doctoral
dissertations looked at the motivating factors for adjunct faculty. Shea (2007) studied motivating factors across
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colleges in a large state university system, while O’Quinn and Cory (2002) and Lloyd, Byrne and McCoy (2012)
analyzed the barriers perceived by faculty for online teaching. Retaining faculty in distance education
programs was studied by Green, Alejandro and Brown (2009). In a focus group study, Hiltz, Shea, and Kim
(2007) found that the flexibility of teaching anytime from anywhere was one of the most important motivators
for faculty to teach 100% online.
Pinkerton’s (2008) dissertation looked at motivating and demotivating factors at a community college for
faculty already teaching online and non‐participating faculty, but her findings are difficult to compare to other
studies, as several of the factors she considered extrinsic were considered intrinsic by other researchers.
Parker (2003) and Maguire (2005) published comprehensive reviews of the literature published until then. A
detailed literature review can be found in Hoffman’s (2013) thesis on motivating factors.
To date only three studies compared the motivating and demotivating factors to teach online for full‐time and
adjunct faculty. Chapman (2011) surveyed and analyzed the faculty at a large Southeastern University, while
Gullickson (2011) studied faculty at a community college. Tenzer’s (2013) dissertation replicated Chapman’s
study at a for‐profit applied arts college.
3. The purpose of this study
As the online course offerings and the number of faculty teaching online expands, there is a need to
understand what motivates faculty to teach online. As both full‐time and adjunct faculty teach online, this
study undertakes to find out if there is a difference between the motivating and inhibiting factors to teach
online depending on the faculty members’ employment status at the university. The theoretical framework for
this study is based on a theory of human motivation as posited by Deci and Ryan (1985); namely, that intrinsic
and extrinsic rewards can be used as motivators. Intrinsic motivation is defined as “the individual’s desire to
participate in a given activity where the reward is the activity”, while extrinsic motivation means “an
individual’s desire to participate in a given activity for something other than the activity itself. The motivation
and satisfaction derived from the activity is contingent upon a reward” (Betts 1998a, p.73‐74).
Research Question 1 is:
Is there a difference between what factors motivate full‐time faculty (tenured and non‐tenured) and adjunct
faculty to teach academic courses online?
Research Question 2 is:
Is there a difference between what factors inhibit full‐time faculty (tenured and non‐tenured) and adjunct
faculty to teach from teaching more academic courses online?
4. Method
With permission of Dr. Kristen S. Betts a modified version of the survey she developed in 1998(a) was used.
Her survey was appropriate for this study because it addressed the issues of motivating and inhibiting factors
for online teaching and since its development was used by several researchers at various colleges. Some of the
institutions of higher learning where this instrument was used: Armstrong Atlantic State University, California
State University at Fullerton, George Washington University, Tennessee State University, Temple University,
New Mexico State University ‐ Dona Ana Community College and the University of North Texas.
The modified Betts survey instrument is divided into three sections. Section 1 of the questionnaire collected
data on demographic information and teaching experience. Section 2 is a self‐assessment of the motivating
factors as they relate to an instructor’s decision to teach online and Section 3 is a self‐assessment of the
demotivating factors as they relate to involvement in teaching additional courses online.
The survey created on Google Docs was distributed to the 200 faculty members teaching online courses at St.
John’s University in the Spring 2014 semester. After one week a ‘gentle’ reminder was sent to all members of
the target population, and a follow up email was sent two weeks later. 112 completed and usable faculty
surveys were returned for a response rate of 56%. This semester there were 127 full‐time faculty teaching
online, 66 completed the survey, for a response rate of 52%; of the 73 adjuncts 46 completed the survey
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(63%). The data was entered into an Excel database and analyzed. Besides questions regarding age, gender,
years teaching, both online and face‐to‐face and course load; the survey consisted of statements for which
faculty were asked to select a response based on a six‐point Likert scale. This Likert scale was assigned a
numerical value between one and six, as follows: Strongly Agree: 5; Agree: 4; Neutral: 3; Disagree: 2; Strongly
Disagree: 1, and Not Applicable: 0. The survey included 30 motivating and 16 inhibiting factors which are listed
in the Tables 2 and 3. Cronbach’s alpha, which measures internal consistency, was used to estimate the
reliability of the scaled items. In this study the motivating items yielded a Cronbach alpha of 0.915 and the
demotivators had an alpha of 0.911, indicating a high degree of internal consistency in both cases.
Faculty from every SJU college is represented in the data.
Table 1: Summary of some of the demographic data
Full‐time faculty Adjunct faculty
Gender Gender
Male Female Male Female
33 (50%) 33 (50%) 21 (45.7%) 25 (54.3%)
Average age Average age
48.4 52 47.5 53.2
Average number of years teaching in higher ed Average number of years teaching in higher ed
13.5 15.3 12 11.4
Average number of years teaching online in higher Average number of years teaching online in higher
education education
4.9 7 4.4 5.4
The majority of the courses taught online are undergraduate courses, and most faculty teach both face‐to‐face
and online courses. The results of the demographic information collected at SJU shows a similar profile of
faculty teaching online to what is found at other colleges; namely an older faculty and slightly more female
faculty are involved in teaching online (Shea 2007). SJU has followed the best practices suggested by the
literature. Namely, at SJU in order to teach online, faculty have to complete a 6 week online pedagogy course.
After the completion of the pedagogy course faculty members are assigned a faculty mentor to help them
teach their first course online. After teaching the first course online a small stipend is paid. The fact that faculty
like teaching online is supported by the fact that 65% have completed an online course, other than the
required pedagogy course. At the end of each academic year faculty may submit a report on their activities for
the previous year. A committee evaluates these reports and these are the bases for merit raises. These reports
include categories for teaching online and for publishing in online journals and these activities are evaluated
the same way as traditional teaching and publications.
5. Motivators
Of the 30 motivating items on the survey, 12 are classified as intrinsic motivators, and 18 as extrinsic
motivators. For the faculty as a whole, the intrinsic motivators play a more important role than extrinsic
motivators. The mean for the 12 intrinsic motivator was 3.558 (standard deviation‐ SD 0.54), while the mean
for the 18 extrinsic motivators was 2.680 (SD 0.611), indicating that intrinsic motivators play a more important
role in teaching online.
Based on the study of the literature no consensus emerged as to the leading motivator for faculty participation
in distance education. Several studies found that the principal motivators were flexible working conditions, an
extrinsic motivator; (Chapman 2011; Green, Alejandro and Brown 2009; Hiltz, Shea and Kim 2007; Shea 2007;
Tenzer 2012); while others found intrinsic motivators as the leading motivators, for example, the ability to
reach new audiences that cannot attend classes on campus (Betts 1998b, Clay 1999); while in an early study
McKenzie et al,(2000) found that faculty’s desire to get students more involved with technology was the
leading motivator. Studies by Schifter (2000) and Betts (2014) found the personal motivation to use technology
as the main motivator for faculty, which is the case at SJU. In all studies this motivator, the personal use of
technology, was in the leading five factors.
Table 2 shows the breakdown of the motivators for full‐time and adjunct faculty ranked by the means of the
answers. The table also separates the motivators according to whether they are intrinsic and extrinsic.
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Table 2: Summary of motivators ranked based on the mean for full‐time and adjunct faculty and by intrinsic
and extrinsic categories. (I=intrinsic motivator; E=extrinsic motivator)
MOTIVATORS Rank based on mean (mean in Signifi
question #
parenthesis) cance
level
Full‐time Adjunct
1 Personal motivation to use technology I 1 (4.08) 1 (4.41) P=0.13
5
3 Opportunity for scholarly pursuit I 12(3.12) 16(3.41) P=0.29
8
5 Opportunity to use personal research as a teaching tool I 19 (2.53) 20(2.83) P=0.32
0
1 Opportunity to develop new ideas I 9 (3.64) 6 (3.91) P=0.31
2 4
1 Visibility for jobs at other institutions/organizations I 25 (2.17) 18(3.09) P=0.00
3 2
1 Intellectual challenge I 7 (3.67) 9 (3.87) P=0.45
7 7
1 Overall job satisfaction I 6 (3.70) 2 (4.09) P=0.12
8 9
2 Career exploration I 15(2.91) 14 (3.43) P=0.08
0 6
2 Opportunity to improve my teaching I 3 (3.85) 8 (3.89) P=0.86
2 9
2 Greater course flexibility for students I 2 (4.08) 3 (4.04) P=0.88
5 4
2 Ability to reach new audiences that cannot attend classes on I 4 (3.82) 4 (3.93) P=0.67
7 campus 3
2 Opportunity to diversify program offerings I 8 (3.67) 5 (3.93) P=0.30
8 9
2 Graduate training received E 28 (1.98) 22 (2.72) P=0.07
9
4 Reduced teaching load E 30 (1.82) 29 (1.93) P=0.66
9
6 Requirement by department E 22 (2.24) 27 (2.13) P=
0.728
7 Support and encouragement from dean or chair E 10 (3.44) 11 (3.65) P=
0.575
8 Working conditions (e.g., hours, location) E 11 (3.41) 10 (3.85) P=0.45
0
9 Job security E 23 (2.24) 23 (2.72) P=0.15
1
1 Monetary support for participation (e.g., stipend, overload) E 26 (2.12) 26 (2.48) P=0.23
0 7
1 Expectation by university that faculty participate E 14 (2.91) 21 (2.74) P=0.57
1 1
1 Professional prestige and status E 20 (2.39) 19 (2.98) P=0.04
4 4
1 Grants for materials/expenses E 29 (1.83) 30 (1.52) P=0.22
5 3
1 Support and encouragement from departmental colleagues E 18 (2.62) 17 (3.15) P=0.04
6 0
1 Technical support provided by the institution E 17 (2.77) 13 (3.52) P=0.00
9 4
2 Credit toward promotion and tenure E 21 (2.26) 28 (1.96) P=0.33
1 5
2 Distance education training provided by SJU E 13 (2.94) 12 (3.54) P=0.02
3 8
2 Possibility of merit pay E 24 (2.21) 25 (2.54) P=0.25
4 7
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6. Demotivators
Of the 16 factors that discourage faculty from increased participation in online teaching, only three are
intrinsic (concern about workload, quality of students and quality of courses) and 13 are extrinsic. For the
whole faculty, all three intrinsic factors on the demotivator/inhibitor list had means above 3, only one extrinsic
demotivator had a mean greater than 3, and the remaining 12 statements all had means between 2.3 and 2.7.
This shows that for both groups of faculty who are relatively experienced in teaching online there were few
strongly demotivating factors.
The p value of the single factor Anova test for the demotivators was 0.039. As this less than the alpha‐level of
0.05, one or more means are significantly different. Thus the answer to research question 2, namely is there a
difference between demotivating factors between full‐time and adjunct faculty teaching online, the answer is
yes.
As table 3 shows all the intrinsic demotivators had higher means than the extrinsic inhibitors for both the full‐
time and adjunct faculty, and here the differences in the means were also significant. The concerns about
workload, course quality and student quality are more important to full‐time faculty than to adjuncts, whose
employment depends on enrollment. The lack of release time, the reduction in teaching load without
reduction in pay, is not something that an adjunct can worry about.
Table 3: Demotivators/inhibitors ranked by mean and separated into intrinsic and extrinsic categories.
(I=intrinsic demotivator; E=extrinsic demotivator)
question
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The demotivator with the highest mean for both groups was the time it takes to teach an online course (q.16).
While the seeming level of flexibility for faculty, measured by q. 26, the opportunity to diversify course
offerings and q.8, working conditions, hours, offered by online education has been established by the
literature as a faculty motivator, faculty member concerns regarding increased workloads associated with
online education can be a demotivator to participation in online education (Shea 2007; Lloyd, Byrne, McCoy
2012). Shea’s (2007) research found that while all faculty were demotivated by the prospect of increased work
as a result of teaching online, full‐time faculty were demotivated to a greater extent than were adjunct faculty.
This is also the case at SJU, the mean for full‐time faculty was 3.97, for adjuncts it was 3.14. The amount of
time required to be spent by faculty to successfully teach an online course is a demotivator, as all faculty know
that they must find a way to be visible in the classroom by keeping in continuous communication with all
students, provide fast feedback, and always be aware of what each student is doing or not doing. Students
have the ability to directly interact with the instructor, and students expect continuous and unrestricted access
to the instructor throughout the entire course. The unease about student and course quality underscores this
concern, as it is important for faculty to be prepared to teach online, but equally important for students to be
ready to learn online. As stated before, it was a lesser demotivator for adjunct faculty as their employment is
contingent on enrollment.
It is interesting to note that faculty ranking the time factor of teaching online as the number one demotivator,
yet lack of monetary support or merit pay is medium ranked demotivator. This indirectly supports the finding
that the leading motivators are intrinsic.
Faculty’s perception of peer support, or lack of, for online education, impacts the faculty member’s willingness
to participate in an online teaching. While positive peer support is a motive for faculty to teach online, as
shown by the means to questions of the importance of support from colleagues, chair and administrators (q. 7,
16 and 29 from Table 2), the lack of support (q.4, 8 and 9) was moderately demotivating. Again these factors
were less inhibiting to adjuncts then to full‐time faculty. A counterintuitive finding at SJU is that older full‐time
faculty (50‐60+), were slightly more inhibited by lack of institutional/collegial support then younger (30‐39)
full‐time faculty. This is probably due to younger faculty being more tech‐savy and having greater experience
with technology.
The adoption of the best practices by the university regarding preparing faculty (distance education training,
technical support) is shown by these demotivating factors having lower means than in other studies.
7. Conclusion
This study has several limitations. It is limited to a single, private university. The results of similar studies were
completed at universities with dissimilar characteristics or at a different time periods, may have different
results. Second, this study is a snapshot of the opinions of faculty in the Spring 2014 semester. Third, as this
study is based on an anonymous survey, no analysis can be done to look at potential differences between
respondents and non‐respondents.
Online education has become a vital component of the higher education system in the United States. As
student demand for online higher education courses will rise, both from the traditional student age population
and from the older students, colleges will need to offer greater numbers of online courses and programs to
meet this expected demand. It will be challenging, if not impossible, for colleges and universities to increase
their online education capacity without the support and willingness of faculty to participate in online
education. The conclusion drawn from this data, and from the articles looking at motivation, is that faculty
teach in distance education programs for the same reasons they teach traditional courses; for intrinsic
rewards. For faculty that teach online, motivation comes mainly from the desire to share their interest and
love for the subject they teach and is maintained by positive experiences and benefits from teaching the
course. Examples of these benefits include satisfaction with the teaching experience, professional growth, and
opportunities for intellectual challenges. These findings compliment other studies conducted in the area that
have shown intrinsic motivators to be an important issue in considering faculty motivation to teach online.
Administrators must understand that program and course offering expansion should be faculty led and
decisions regarding online teaching should not be made in a top‐down fashion.
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In developing strategic plans for online education, administrators need to determine the areas in which online
courses, programs can best serve the needs of their student population, and create comprehensive plans that
will encourage faculty to teach online. The fact that the “Ability to reach new audiences that cannot attend
classes on campus” (q. 27) is ranked so high by both groups of faculty, indicates that faculty embrace the
philosophy of attracting a new and may be a more diverse student body and to achieve this, that is SJU faculty
is open to new ideas and methods of teaching.
Faculty involvement in the development of online courses is important for the successful execution of the
expectations. As both groups of faculty ranked personal use of technology as the leading motivator, it is
important that faculty have access to the latest technologies. Though this is expensive, it may also help to
attract and retain students, as access to high quality, technologically‐advanced environments is often
advertised by universities. Both teaching and learning online requires a new set of skills, the university must
continuously involve both groups of faculty, and students, in upgrading their skills, as this will give both the
students completing the courses and the faculty teaching the courses a competitive edge.
Given the rapid changes occurring in higher education with the growth of online education, two suggestions
for future research to help understand the changing factors influencing faculty decisions to teach online would
be:
A. repeat of this survey in a few years. As teaching and learning online becomes one of the “traditional”
offerings, the new survey results would show administration how best to encourage greater faculty
participation in online education.
B. Inclusion of additional research sites, possibly foreign universities, which would add to an improved
understanding of this topic.
References
Betts, K.S. Email communication on 3/9/2014.
Betts, K.S. (1998a) Factors Influencing Faculty Participation in Distance Education in Postsecondary Education in the United
States: An Institutional Study, Ph.D. dissertation, George Washington University.
Betts. K.S. (1998b‐ Fall) An Institutional Overview: Factors Influencing Faculty Participation in Distance Education in
Postsecondary Education in the United States: An Institutional Study http://www.westga.edu/~distance/betts13.html
Betts, K.S. (2014‐ March) Factors Influencing Faculty Participation & Retention In Online & Blended Education, Online
Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume XVII, Number 1,
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring171/betts171.html
Chapman, D. (2011‐ Fall) Contingent and Tenured/Tenure‐Track Faculty: Motivations and Incentives to Teach Distance
Education Courses, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume XIV, Number III,
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall143/chapman143.html
Clay, M. (1999) Faculty attitudes toward distance education at the State University of West Georgia. University of West.
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Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985) Intrinsic Motivation and Self‐determinism in Human Behavior. New York: Plenum Press.
Fein, P. (2014) Nearing the Bottom. Inside HigherEd. May 15. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/05/15/new‐
data‐show‐slowing‐national‐enrollment‐decline
Green, T., Alejandro, J. and Brown, A. (2009) The Retention of Experienced Faculty in Online Distance Education Programs:
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Gullickson, L. (2011) Herzberg's Theory of Motivation as Applied to Community College Full‐Time and Adjunct Online
Faculty. Ph.D. thesis. U. of South Dakota.
Hiltz, R., Shea, P., Kim, E. (2007) Using Focus Groups to Study ALN Faculty Motivation.
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Hoffman, M. (2013) An Examination of Motivating Factors on Faculty Participation In Online Higher Education. Ph.D. Thesis.
Northeastern University. Boston, MA
Lloyd, S., Byrne, M. and McCoy, T. (2012‐ March) Faculty‐Perceived Barriers of Online Education. MERLOT Journal of Online
Learning and Teaching Vol. 8, No. 1. http://jolt.merlot.org/vol8no1/lloyd_0312.pdf
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McKenzie, B., Mims, N., Bennett, E., Waugh, M. (2000 ‐ Winter) Needs, Concerns and Practices of Online Instructors.
Needs, Concerns and Practices of Online Instructors. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration.
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall33/mckenzie33.pdf
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O’Quinn, L. and Corry, L. (2002 ‐winter) Factors that Deter Faculty from Participating in Distance Education. Online Journal
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Parker, A. (2003) Motivation and Incentives for Distance Faculty. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 6(3).
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Pinkerton, S. L. (2008) Motivating factors related to faculty participation in online education as reported by community
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Schifter, C. (2000) Faculty Participation in Asynchronous Learning Networks: A Case Study of Motivating and Inhibiting
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learning‐networks‐case‐study‐motivating‐and‐inhibiting‐
Shea, P. (2007) Bridges and Barriers to Teaching Online College Courses: A Study of Experienced Online Faculty in Thirty‐Six
Colleges. Sloan‐C, Volume 11, Issue 2. http://sloanconsortium.org/jaln/v11n2/bridges‐and‐barriers‐teaching‐online‐
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Schroeder, L. (2008) Factors Influencing Adjunct Faculty Participation in Online Instruction at a Midwestern University.
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Tenzer, L. (2012) Faculty Motivations and Incentives for Teaching ECourses at a For‐Profit Online Applied Arts College.
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Developing Confidence in the use of Digital Tools in Teaching
Sue Greener and Craig Wakefield
University of Brighton, Brighton, UK
S.L.Greener@brighton.ac.uk
C.Wakefield@brighton.ac.uk
Abstract: In this study Higher Education teachers were offered new mobile devices with very few conditions attached. The
aim was to introduce staff to mobile technology and how it could be used to support teaching and learning within a small,
interdisciplinary campus. The study hypothesized that by offering staff the simple incentive of new mobile devices for
professional and private use, they will be keener to adopt new practices. The only conditions required were the adoption
of two items of software – SharePoint as a file repository, and the VLE provider’s mobile learning application which
provides access to the VLE for both learners and staff. There were three stages to the project; Stage 1 involved presenting
staff the results of student feedback from their own courses, where the students set out their preferences for using
learning technologies. Stage 2 involved surveying staff opinions on the impact of the mobile devices once they were issued.
Stage 3 followed up with a selection of interviews, focussing on concepts of interest gained from the questionnaires.
Overall results from this study suggested there was an undeniable enthusiasm amongst teaching staff for using mobile
technology, however there were still issues surrounding digital confidence and the pedagogical reasoning for integrating
such technologies. There is still a divide on the role of mobile technologies within the classroom, most likely stemmed from
the lack of knowledge surrounding their potential purpose. In conclusion, staff enthusiasm alone is not enough to result in
adoption and integration of mobile technology within teaching and learning, there must be a focus on pedagogy and
relevance for teaching staff to engage fully.
Keywords: learning agility, higher education, institutional change, digital scholarship
1. Introduction
The pervasive presence of technology in everyday life has driven higher expectations among learners for digital
approaches to learning and teaching; teachers fail to recognise and respond to this drive at their peril. Conole
et al (2008) highlight i) students’ specific expectations for the internet as a first access point for information,
and for all involved in the learning process to ii) access up‐to‐date information and iii) be able to communicate
on demand. Their study shows that students are becoming what Weller (2011) calls ‘digital scholars’ using
technology for all forms of research and retrieval of information, communication, data processing and
manipulation, storage and analysis. This argues that the pace of learning for teachers and developers must
increase. Institutional strategies for fostering “learning agility” must be found (De Meuse et al 2010, Greener,
2012a), enabling academics to explore and develop the willingness and ability to learn new competencies in
digital education and scholarship (Lombardo and Eichinger, 2000, p. 323, Vincent 2008).
This study project is taking place at a small interdisciplinary university campus in which the prime mission is
widening participation and working to develop the educational aspirations of the local community. As a result,
all faculties have outposts at this campus, and staff have a teaching focus, though some will be engaged in
research activity within their home faculties. To interpret a strategic university objective of digital
transformation involves potential constraints, not least of which is the limited time and energy of academic
staff to retain a focus on discipline scholarship alongside their teaching and pastoral commitments locally, yet
also embrace a wider vision of digital learning, when this is not necessarily part of their professional
background or personal appetite.
2. Why did we undertake this project?
A paper presented to this conference in 2012 outlined the view from the literature concerning the preparation
and development of university teachers in the application of Web 2.0 (Greener, 2012b). It was suggested that
a pedagogy, which explored and applied those affordances of Web 2.0 most suited to learning, could promote
an active role for the learner in their Higher Education: enabled effectively by digital technology, which in turn
could foster sharing and collaboration in social learning networks and contexts (p2). It was also evident from
this literature review that the advantages of learning technologies were mediated in their impact on teachers
by “the local environment, the macro environment of learning and teaching and the teacher’s own personal
response to learning technologies based on teaching beliefs and self‐efficacy” (p5). This paper focusses on an
attempt to trigger change in the local environment. It is only one piece of the jigsaw for fostering learning
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agility (De Meuse et al 2010, Greener 2012a) but is presented as one example of breaking through established
teaching behaviours to raise capabilities in digital education and scholarship (Vincent 2008).
McGill’s Synthesis report for UK JISC on Transforming Curriculum Delivery through Technology (2011) provided
the main rationale for our local practical project:
“Evidence indicates that funding practical interventions that enhance the general student and
staff experience …can have an impact on enrolment, retention and student satisfaction. These
also lead to increased integration of institutional IT and administration systems.” (p6).
The report makes it clear that students should be involved as agents of change and that learners should be
offered multiple access routes into their curriculum to reflect their diverse circumstances – digital technology
can support this flexibility, given the necessary investment and staff training. In particular, we took to heart
the following from the report “Curriculum staff need to adopt an open‐minded approach to the ways
technologies are incorporated and used within the curriculum. There is no single right approach.” (p8). Few
staff had experience of using mobile devices, in particular tablet computers, so this hardware was identified as
a disruptive technology which could be offered as an incentive to staff to take part in the project, specifically
using a platform (Google Android) which most staff had not experienced before.
3. Methodology
The project was completed in three distinct stages. In Stage 1 we conducted a focus group with student’s,
including local campus‐based student representatives along with previous and current Student Union Vice
Presidents with a keen focus on learning. The aim was to gain a sense of what local campus students believed
was available to them in terms of learning technologies, and moreover, what they wanted us to use. In the
session students were presented with the different learning technologies available at the University, and asked
their thoughts/attitudes towards these. The session proved a constructive way to air frustrations students had
about staff who demonstrated little use of learning technologies. We explained the basics of the proposed
project and invited student views to help staff see what kind of take‐up there was already among students of
various technologies and mobile devices and to gauge student response to the possible increased use of digital
technologies for learning and teaching.
These results were presented to academic staff in two lunch‐time sessions stimulating debate and interest
particularly among staff that had little prior experience of using learning technologies in teaching. Twenty staff
agreed to take part in the project, wishing to experiment with mobile devices – in this case a Nexus tablet –
and were offered the following deal:
A loaned tablet computer for experimentation and use in learning and teaching at no cost provided:
They committed to using the university’s SharePoint system for file storage
They committed to using the mobile application for the VLE
They allowed monitoring of the above
They agreed to take part in two evaluation surveys during the next three month period.
The purpose of including the SharePoint system was to encourage uptake, as staff had infrequently used the
system since launch. For staff operating at more than one campus site, as well as working from home, the
system allows web access to all files at all places with Wi‐Fi.
The purpose of encouraging the use of the mobile app for the VLE was to see how students were increasingly
accessing the VLE. Many staff were unaware that this view could be different from a computer view, so
understanding the differences was seen as an important experience for staff. Overall the aim was to encourage
staff through the project to use mobile computing for sharing ideas, updating skills and modelling good
practice with students.
In Stage 2, once the mobile devices were distributed to staff, questionnaires were issued to gather feedback
(at two months and four months into the project respectively). The aim was to assess the impact of the tablets
on digital engagement, attitudes to mobile devices for teaching and learning and engagement with the two
mobile apps (Mobile VLE App and Sharepoint).
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Stage 3 consisted of semi‐structured interviews with a sample of the original subject group. The aim was to
further explore the impact of the tablet intervention, and the results of the questionnaires. Interviews were
conducted on campus in a private room, with two researchers interviewing. The interviews were filmed (Sony,
HandyCam) for data analysis purposes and lasted between 45 – 60 minutes. Subject’s identities have been
replaced with a numerical system to preserve confidentiality.
4. Results: Stage 1 (focus group)
General views ranged widely, with students both strongly positive and strongly negative about what
technology was in use. There was a feeling that, since modules and courses differed widely in what they made
available to students (for example through the Virtual Learning Environment) that it would be helpful to have
guidance on this for students. Considerable time was spent explaining to some of the students what was
already available to them as awareness and application was patchy. Students also understood that not all staff
were yet comfortable themselves with many of the technologies on offer, and this inconsistency was a
problem for students studying multiple modules with differing virtual profiles. This was very much in line with
our experience and Weller’s (2011) notion of digital scholarship – there is very little consistent understanding
in the student body of how to employ digital technologies for learning.
To put these findings into a national context in the UK, a much bigger study of University of Sheffield students
found that 55% of this population had smartphones, compared with 33% in the general UK population. E‐
marketer reported in June 2013 that Android compatible phone sales had increased massively in the last 12
months and the ownership of smartphones among the general UK population was estimated at 48‐55%,
suggesting that a higher ownership among students would also have increased. This was consistent with our
small study. The much larger sample in the UCAS media survey of December 2012 suggested that 82% of new
undergraduates owned a smartphone and 20% a tablet. This survey result proposed that today’s students
were more than 40% more likely to own a smartphone than the general UK population.
Student comments in session offered a clear set of messages to staff on campus:
Students disliked the inconsistent offer of technologies to support learning and wanted staff to offer a
broader range of digital learning support.
Most students anticipated greater use of technologies in learning at university level over the next five
years, although not all were positive about this.
Students offered three main ways in which they thought technologies could help their learning: enabling
better communication with and learning from teachers, getting prompt and detailed feedback from staff
and helping students to put their learning into context.
5. Results: Stage 2 (questionnaires)
The response rate for the initial questionnaire was 85 % (17/20). Results suggested the large majority of staff
spent time online regularly, and over half would choose to spend any ‘spare time’ at work online. Most also
described their use of ICT as frequent and with enthusiasm.
When questioned about VLE use (other than uploading lecture content), staff frequently posted YouTube
videos, utilised online marking tools and created online reading lists for students. It would be worth noting
that there is an expectation that both e‐submission and online reading lists are utilised by academic staff at
this institution. Other learning technologies (such as e‐portfolios, quizzes and mobile voting tools) were not
taken advantage of by staff. This produces a real disparity with the focus group data from earlier in this study,
highlighting learners’ wishes to greater utilise learning technology in their study.
Staff were mixed in their responses on the Google Nexus tablet. Half felt they were successful in utilising it for
teaching and learning, whereas the other half reported they didn’t experiment with it enough, some due to
lack of confidence. Confidence issues with ICT are a common barrier cited by teaching staff (Totter, Stutz &
Grote, 2006; Pelgrum, 2001). However most staff utilised the tablet regularly and 70 % were satisfied with the
device. There may be a difference here in the use of the device as a consumable item compared to a creative
item for use in teaching – this will be explored further later. Interestingly 60% of staff involved owned a
smartphone and 70 % owned a tablet, showing they had previous experience of mobile technologies. Some
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cited specific issues with the Nexus (compared to iOS devices) which may also explain some of the negative
responses.
Results for the second questionnaire (issued November, 2013) reported positive attitudes towards the use of
information technologies, however the response rate was much lower with this survey (45 %, 9/20) compared
to the previous. This might have been for a number of reasons, including the questionnaires timing (mid‐
semester) as well as feelings surrounding the Google Nexus Tablet itself. Due to the smaller sample size, care
must be taken when analysing this data set. Staff use of the VLE remained unchanged, with the ‘compulsory’
elements frequently used. Assessing the impact of the loaned tablets on engagement with other learning
technologies was difficult given the lower response rate.
One major aim of the project was to increase staff use of SharePoint. When asked what further support was
required, the majority of staff stated more training was needed on this system. Training sessions were offered
prior to this project, and so one must ask whether the type of training being offered was suitable and matched
the needs of academic staff.
There were also mixed attitudes in allowing learners to use mobile devices in the classroom. This is surprising
given that this project was to encourage staff to see the benefits of promoting a BYOD culture.
Overall all staff that responded in stage two felt the project was a success in getting them to engage with
mobile devices and become more comfortable with them in teaching and learning. As mentioned previously
the aim of the project was to engage staff in updating their digital skills and improving their confidence, and
this has partly been achieved.
However there were some areas identified for further exploration:
How can the institution improve the confidence of teaching staff in using mobile devices?
What challenges/barriers prevent staff utilising ‘non‐compulsory’ digital tools in their teaching?
6. Results: Stage 3 (interviews)
In order to triangulate the data and to further explore staff attitudes to learning technology, a number of
short, semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with staff who took part in the project. Seven staff from
the original pilot agreed to participate to further explore the impact of the tablet intervention. Staff involved
represented a range of academic disciplines, and were based at multiple campuses within the institution. The
aim of the interview was to ascertain the individual’s thoughts on a number of key issues that arose from the
questionnaires. These included; thoughts on using mobile technology in the classroom, attitudes to
compulsory and non‐compulsory technologies within the institution, barriers to learning new technology and
preferred method of learning new technologies.
Mobile Attitudes
As mentioned previously there had been a mixed response amongst staff questioned about their attitude to
mobile technology in the classroom. The interviews revealed there was a ‘balancing act’ between disruption
and augmentation of learning.
“Many like to take notes with mobile devices… I have to believe they are actually making notes!”
(4)
“I think there’s an element of getting distracted….. it’s a tricky one…. Although my view is
providing they are not disrupting others, it’s ok”. (1)
“Anything that encourages learning, I’m in favour of” (2)
Staff also commented on the process of change within the institution, and how teaching staff are progressing
at different rates with integrating the use of technology within their lectures.
“I think it’s changing, we underestimate the student’s ability to use these devices in their
learning. In some cases staff are ahead (with mobile technology use) and some are behind – and
the same applies with students” (3)
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“I’m uncomfortable – I have not yet developed a way of integrating their online presence with my
teaching” (4)
Interestingly one member of staff spoke about how using mobile devices in large lecture scenarios was not
appropriate, but then admitted there was a need to increase the interactivity of lectures, probably using
polling on mobile devices. This further develops the notion that staff are at a point of change, torn between
‘traditional lecturing’ and ‘technology assisted teaching’. Some are more open to this change than others.
“Engagement is a much broader issue – it doesn’t matter if they have a mobile or not ‐ if the
engagement isn’t there it isn’t there” (2)
There is also the question of whether students are capable of viewing such devices as ‘work tools’. McCoy
(2013) has suggested that, with students, such devices are habitual for non‐class activities, such as social
media. There is evidence that supports the digital distraction of mobile technology (McCoy, 2013) and the fear
of this is exhibited by academic teaching staff. This notion of a gap between owning a device and using it for
academic study is concurrent with previous research (Chen & Denoyelles, 2013). It has also been reported that
there is a larger divide for small mobile devices than tablets (Chen & Denoyelles, 2013). One suggestion raised
was to move forward institutions’ need to commit to a ‘unified technology solution’, where learners are
provided with identical mobile devices which can be centrally configured and viewed as a tool for learning.
Barriers to New Technologies & Learning Methodologies
There seemed a wide scope for barriers to staff learning new technologies. First order barriers such as time to
prepare materials and digital confidence were identified and concurrent with previous research (Prestridge,
2012). An interesting theme that emerged was the need for relevance – staff sometimes felt there was not a
clear underlying pedagogical focus for using a new technology, which reduced its relevance.
“If I don’t immediately see the usefulness of it, I’m kind of half‐hearted” (4)
There is a real need for Learning Technologists to focus on the pedagogical need for such technologies, rather
than just demonstrating ‘how’ they are used. These ‘second order’ barriers are also reported by Prestridge
(2012). This may be crucial in tipping the balance and encouraging teaching staff to utilise learning
technologies within the classroom.
There was a common theme that most staff were confident in learning new technology themselves, utilising
internet walkthroughs and videos. If they were unsuccessful they would converse with a colleague or a
learning technologist. The confidence in learning new technology independently but not with implementation
highlights a complex paradoxical relationship in digital confidence. The difference may be explained by the
staff simply not wanting to make mistakes in front of their audience, as one lecturer explained.
“It’s all very well sitting at your desk and getting it to work, but when you’re in front of a group of
people and it doesn’t work as you thought it might… you get that hot under the collar moment”
(1)
It is also worth noting that on reflection staff highlighted the issue with this ‘DIY’ approach to learning, in that
knowledge ‘gaps’ appeared, particularly with complex technologies. It would also be worth noting that there
was no specific member of staff delegated to provide support or training during this project, which may have
hindered staff adopting the use of the tablets.
Thoughts on the Tablet
Staff generally used the device provided, and agreed it had been a success in improving their confidence in
using mobile technology. It must be stated however that this only reflected the view of a small proportion of
the original sample (35%) and so notions of ‘success’ cannot be accurately attributed to the project as a whole.
Also staff were using tablets mainly for productivity, not teaching – e.g. personal research, checking email etc.
Some criticised its features for ‘creating’ material, preferring to focus more on its role as a ‘consumer’ device.
"It’s good for doing light pieces of work, for bringing to meetings, keeping notes on…. But in
producing large documents it’s no good” (2)
“(with the tablet) I was able to travel lighter – but the work I was doing required typing and
creating, so I got back into the habit of using the laptop” (5)
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“I’ve used it a lot for meetings... and our periodic review” (3)
However none of the staff interviewed were using their tablets for teaching or learning activities. Some staff
were using BYOD mobiles/tablet strategies in the classroom, but the general consensus was that this was
limited and those that did use them ‘could do more’. Again there seemed a lack of relevance for using these
devices within teaching and learning. This links back to staff attitudes on mobiles in the classroom – the lack of
pedagogical clarity on the use of mobile devices can be used can lead to staff being wary of encouraging its use
and implementation.
7. Conclusions
In this case study, with learning technology support being boosted at the campus, paralleled with institution
wide digital literacies project being implemented for staff, there was a real need to fully understand the needs
and attitudes of academic staff. This is to be vital in shifting the use of such technologies from the technically
“literate” and innovative staff, to a culture of accessibility for all staff to utilise (Singh & Hardaker, 2014).
The study provided a valuable insight into the challenges of institutional digital transformation – and
particularly with this study, the challenge of engaging staff with technologies. One aim was to improve digital
confidence, which some staff felt was achieved. Engaging staff with applications such as Sharepoint proved
more elusive, mainly due to a lack of training provision and support.
However it has shown that whilst students hold an expectation of digital transformation, in practice there is
still much to do in supporting this change from a teaching perspective. The pedagogical reasoning and
methodology for the use of mobile technology is still unclear for some teaching staff, and it is this barrier that
will prevent the utilisation of mobile learning within Higher Institutions. Higher Education institutions have to
grasp the digital nettle fast, sheer enthusiasm will not do – reflecting Marshall’s view (2012). Rationalising
mobile technology for teaching and learning, combined with support for teaching staff will help harness the
current enthusiasm for mobile technology and tip the balance from uncertainty to an integration of mobile
learning.
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2, pp 511–524.
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Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. Vol. 62 No. 2 pp 119–130.
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October 2012. pp 1‐3
Greener, S.L. (2012b) “How are Web 2.0 Technologies Affecting Academic Roles in Higher Education? A View from the
Literature”. Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on e‐learning (ECEL2012) Groningen, Netherlands 26‐27th
October 2012
Lombardo, M.M. and Eichinger, R.W. (2000), “High potentials as high learners”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 39 No.
4, pp 321‐30
Pelgrum, W. J. (2001) “Obstacles to the integration of ICT in education: results from a worldwide educational assessment.”
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Prestridge, S. (2012). “The beliefs behind the teacher that influences their ICT practices”, Computers & Education, Vol. 58
No. 1, [Online] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131511002065 Accessed 10
April 2014
Marshall, S.J. (2012),"An analytic framework to support e‐learning strategy development", Campus‐Wide Information
Systems, Vol. 29 No. 3 pp 177 – 188.
McGill, L. (2011) “Transforming curriculum delivery through technology”, JISC Programme Synthesis Report. [Online]
Available at:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/curriculumdelivery/curriculumdeliveryfinalreport.pdf
Accessed 21 June 2013
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literature – a need for an integrative approach”, Education + Training, Vol. 56 Iss: 2/3, pp105 – 121 [Online] Available
at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17107018 Accessed 10 April 2014
Totter, A., Stutz, D. & Grote, G. (2006) “ICT and Schools: Identification of Factors Influencing the use of new Media in
Vocational Training Schools” The Electronic Journal of e‐Learning Vol. 4 Iss. 1, pp 95‐102, [Online] Available at
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UCAS (2012) “Eight out of ten fresher’s have smartphones”. UCAS Media Survey. [Online]
http://www.ucasmedia.com/news/2013/eight_out_of_ten_freshers_have_smartphones Accessed: 25/06/13)
Vincent, L. (2008) Differentiating competence, capability and capacity. Innovating Perspectives Volume 16(3) [Online]
Available at
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CEQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fww
w.innovationsthatwork.com%2Fpdf%2FJune08newsltr.pdf&ei=DS8‐UfufHeiw7Abdl4DwCg&usg=AFQjCNEZ_CP‐
p4R9K8pNnAPteF1iYqWmZA&sig2=r2qQRXGszb‐qZztAUE‐UOg&bvm=bv.43287494,d.ZGU&cad=rja Accessed
11/3/2013
Weller, M. (2011) The Digital Scholar Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Available from:
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11/3/2013
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Supervisors’ use of ICTs in the ODeL Postgraduate Supervision
Context
Mishack Gumbo
University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
gumbomt@unisa.ac.za
Abstract: This paper focuses on the study that is currently being conducted. The aim of the study is investigate the extent
to which postgraduate supervisors use the available information and communication technologies in their supervision
work in an Open Distance and e‐Learning (ODeL) environment. Postgraduate students in this research project refer to the
masters and doctoral students. The study is being conducted in the College of Education (CEDU) at the University of South
Africa (Unisa). This study was motivated by the notion that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) provide
useful tools, thus they have the potential to transform supervision practices and increase and fast‐track throughput rates,
especially in an ODeL context. ICTs encompass technological devices, especially the online technologies, which can be used
to enhance teaching and learning. A mixed‐method approach is used in this study. In this approach the available
technologies at Unisa are first identified from the relevant sections such as Directorate: Information and Communication
Technology, and Directorate: Curriculum and Learning Development. From the identified technologies a survey
questionnaire will be designed to be administered to supervisors. Then interviews and observation of the use of ICTs by
supervisors will be conducted. The findings of this study will first alert Unisa as to the extent of knowledge supervisors
possess of ICTs and the impact of such knowledge on their supervision capacity. The findings can thus be used as a starting
point to train supervisors in the use of ICTs.
Keywords: supervisors, information and communication technologies, technological pedagogical content knowledge,
postgraduate supervision, open distance and e‐learning
1. Introduction
There is a need for supervisors involved in postgraduate supervision to develop a thorough knowledge of ICTs
and online learning. This need is informed by the complex demands of the work at this level, which thrives on
research, hence the need for technological knowledge and skills to manage the supervision activities. It is in
the light of this need for ICT knowledge and skills that this paper focuses on the study that is underway. The
study in question inquires into the extent to which postgraduate supervisors know and use the available ICTs
for supervising students at master’s and doctoral level in an ODeL environment. This study is being conducted
in CEDU at Unisa.
ICTs have a potential to transform the supervision practices of postgraduate supervisors and to increase and
fast‐track throughput especially in an ODeL context. In Wheeler’s (2010, p. 1) words, the term ICTs is used to
refer to all technological devices used to enhance teaching and learning. The focus of this study is more on
online tools that these technologies produce. The use of computers and related technologies is widespread
(Evans, Martin and Poatsy, 2010) and is valuable in effectively facilitating teaching and learning. In addition,
ICTs constantly change the way people work (Mbangwana, 2008, p. 2), teaching included. The e‐technologies
that I have in mind are computer conferencing, e‐mail communication, discussion fora, web‐based resources,
database interfaces, and many more that will be identified in this study. McKavanagh et al (2004) list a number
of tools that I may consider or might be mentioned by supervisors, which include word processors and
graphics tools; bibliographic databases; statistical and qualitative data analysis programmes; e‐mail and file
transfer protocols; internet search engines, conference facilities and virtual advisors; as well as older
technologies such as audio and video recorders, telephones and faxes. Among the microcosm of these
technologies, those that are available in the context of Unisa will be identified. Other online tools, including
social network tools, which supervisors can access will also be mentioned. The findings of this study will first
alert Unisa about the extent of the ICT knowledge and skills supervisors possess and the impact of these
knowledge and skills on their supervision capacity. The findings can thus be used as a starting point to train
supervisors in the use of ICTs. This study will also contribute towards Unisa’s 2015 research strategic plan with
specific reference to the fifth goal on a need for research in the field of ODeL. Unisa has recently undertaken to
fully switch to an online mode in providing its services to students. This means heightening the use of the
online technology in this regard. As a result, there is a need for Unisa’s academic staff to be trained in the use
of online technology.
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2. Rationale and research problem
I was, until recently, an assistant manager in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research in CEDU. This office
is responsible for managing postgraduate programme and research activities in CEDU. One of the most
challenging issues in dealing with the master’s and doctoral programmes has been the soaring student
numbers – a matter which impacts hugely on supervision capacity. The throughput rate at this level has also
not been pleasing. CEDU’s report for 2012 reveals a complement of 129 staff members, 96 of whom hold a
doctoral degree and 33 are still studying towards their doctoral degrees. Only 62 master’s and 30 doctoral
students graduated in 2012. Directorate: Student Admission and Registration (DSAR) indicates 1414 master’s
and doctoral students who enrolled for their degrees in CEDU in 2013. These students had to be supervised by
129 staff members, plus a few contract supervisors. To present a broader picture, the preliminary data
extracted from the final HEMIS submissions to the Department of Higher Education and Training show an
increase of 13.1% of the student population enrolled in CEDU in 2008 to 19.7% in 2011. The enrolments
increase, the throughput stays low. ICTs are heralded as one of the possible solutions to deal with the problem
of this nature particularly in ODeL contexts.
Postgraduate programme has particularly been found suited to a ‘virtual’ campus with students who are often
juggling work and family commitments and as a result finding electronic attendance at a university campus
much easier and often as satisfying (Stacey in Stacey and Fountain, 2001, p. 519). The mode of study by
distance is characterised by the student’s and supervisor’s remoteness, i.e. they are likely never to meet in
person. The process and experience of undertaking research is entirely enabled and defined by ICTs. It can
then be argued, that, in educational contexts, ICTs have a great potential to yield certain outcomes. These
outcomes can include improving productivity, facilitating information management and communication, and
transforming research training in thesis research. The effective use of ICTs can help supervisors do their work
more quickly and in a much improved manner. However, supervisors do not take full advantage of ICTs for the
purposes of their supervision work because of their limited knowledge and skills in ICTs. As research is lacking
in this area, this is a problem that I intend to investigate in this study.
It is noted with keen interest that research into and evaluation of the use of ICTs to improve teaching and
learning has been on the increase. However, the remains that little research related to the role and use of ICTs
in the supervision of research and higher degrees students has been conducted (McKavanagh et al, 2004). This
study will help to address this gap. As stated above, this study is limited to research and higher degrees in the
tertiary ODeL environment. This gap in an ODeL context has been succinctly captured by Valetsianos (2010, p.
ix):
Emerging technologies have been heralded as providing the opportunities and affordances to
transform education, learning, and teaching. Nevertheless, scholarship on the opportunities of
emerging technologies in the context of online distance education has been minimal. Most often,
researchers, designers, and educators present a description of how such technologies can be used
in face‐to‐face and hybrid courses, but not in distance education courses.
In the light of the problem mentioned above, the main research question for this study is stated as follows:
What is the extent of CEDU postgraduate supervisors’ knowledge of ICTs for the purposes of supervising their
students’ work?
In order to answer this question, the following sub‐questions should first be addressed:
What ICTs are available to CEDU postgraduate supervisors to supervise their master’s and doctoral
students more quickly and in a much improved manner?
Which ICTs do CEDU postgraduate supervisors know and to what extent?
How do CEDU’s postgraduate supervisors use these ICTs in the supervision of their master’s and doctoral
students?
2.1 Conceptual framework for the study
The importance of ICTs in education has sparked a ground‐breaking initiative pioneered by Koehler and Mishra
(2008; 2009). This initiative is referred to as technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK). It was
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introduced in the research field in order to understand the teacher knowledge required for effective
technology integration (Mishra and Koehler, 2006). The acronym TPCK was changed to TPACK to form a more
integrated whole for the three kinds of knowledge, i.e. technology, pedagogy and content. TPACK is regarded
as one of the most important and influential 21st century conceptual development in the area of technology
(Koehler and Mishra, 2008). A TPACK model necessitates thinking about the knowledge, skills and dispositions
a teacher needs in order to successfully integrate educational technologies (McGrath, Karabas and Willis,
2011) in his teaching.
The TPACK framework builds on Shulman’s (1987) construct of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) by adding
the technology knowledge aspect. Based on Shulman’s construct, TPACK emerged as a useful framework for
describing and understanding the goals for technology use in teacher education (Schmidt et al, 2009, p. 123).
Schmidt et al (2009) conducted a pilot survey to address the need for a survey instrument designed to assess
TPACK for teachers. Schmidt et al’s target population was pre‐service teachers. The survey was conducted on a
sample of 124 teachers. For data analysis, the researchers engaged Cronbach’s alpha statistics on the TPACK
knowledge domains and factor analysis for each domain. Their results suggested, that when they either
modified and/or deleted 18 of the survey items, the survey was reliable and that the designed instrument was
thus valid. They concluded that the instrument would help educators to design longitudinal studies to assess
pre‐service teachers’ development of TPACK. For the current study, Schmidt et al’s instrument could serve the
purpose adequately. However, I find it to be not suitable as well as lacking specificity in the items that it
contains. The following items – copied from the instrument for the category of technology knowledge
(Schmidt et al, 2009, p. 145) – demonstrate this shortcoming:
“Strongly Disagree = SD; Disagree = D; Neither Agree/Disagree = N; Agree = A; Strongly Agree = SA
1. I know how to solve my own technical problems. SD D N A SA
2. I can learn technology easily. SD D N A SA
3. I keep up with important new technologies. SD D N A SA
4. I frequently play around with the technology. SD D N A SA
5. I know about a lot of different technologies. SD D N A SA
6. I have the technical skills I need to use technology. SD D N A SA
7. I have had sufficient opportunities to work with different technologies. SD D N A SA”
The main problem in respect of this questionnaire is that it does not specify exactly which technologies are
targeted by the survey and leaves the reader clueless in this regard. Thus, I decided to develop a questionnaire
containing specific items. I found the TPACK framework to be very useful to the purposes of this study because
it encapsulates issues that inform the proposed inquiry. Even though it has been packaged for pre‐tertiary
teaching, I think that it can be applied in higher education as well. The seven knowledge domains included in
the TPACK (Schmidt et al, 2009, p. 125), elaborated by Cox and Graham (2009, p. 62‐64), are useful for the
current study and are briefly explained below.
2.1.1 Technology knowledge (TK)
TK refers to knowledge about various technologies, ranging from low‐tech technologies such as pencil and
paper to digital technologies such as the internet, digital video, interactive whiteboards, and software
programs. Within this framework, technological knowledge is defined as knowledge of how to use emerging
technologies.
2.1.2 Content knowledge (CK)
This is the subject matter knowledge taught to learners. Teachers must know about the content they are going
to teach and how the nature of knowledge is different for various content areas. Content knowledge is
simplified to indicate a knowledge of the possible topic‐specific representations in a given subject area.
2.1.3 Pedagogical knowledge (PK)
PK refers to the methods and processes of teaching. It includes knowledge of classroom management,
assessment, student learning and so on. General activities may include strategies for motivating students,
communicating with students, presenting information to students, and classroom management – among many
other things. Pedagogical activities necessarily include some content. This category also includes general
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activities that could be applied across all content domains such as discovery learning, cooperative learning,
problem‐based learning, and so on.
2.1.4 Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)
PCK refers to the content knowledge that deals with the teaching process. It blends both content and
pedagogy, that is, it combines knowledge of activities (or strategies) and knowledge of representations in a
specific subject area in order to facilitate student learning. A teacher with PCK knows how to utilise topic‐
specific representations in conjunction with subject‐specific activities to help students learn.
2.1.5 Technological content knowledge (TCK)
TCK refers to the knowledge of how technology can create new representations for specific content. Teachers
understand it by using a specific technology. As the technologies used in the representations become part of
the mainstream technologies, that knowledge transforms into content knowledge.
2.1.6 Technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK)
TPK refers to the knowledge of how various technologies can be used in teaching. Thus, TPK might include
knowledge of how to motivate students using technology or how to engage them in cooperative learning using
technology. As the technologies being used become transparent or ubiquitous, TPK transforms into
pedagogical knowledge. Interactive whiteboards, which utilise digital projectors and allow a teacher and
students to interact with projected content, are considered emerging technologies and are not yet ubiquitous
in the classroom.
2.1.7 Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK)
TPACK refers to the knowledge required by teachers for integrating technology into their teaching in any
content area. Teachers have an intuitive understanding of the complex interplay between the three basic
components of knowledge, i.e. CK, PK and TK, and this is expressed through their teaching of content using
appropriate pedagogical methods and technologies. As the technologies used in those activities and
representations become ubiquitous, TPACK transforms into PCK. There will always be a need for TPACK as long
as there are new emerging technologies that have not yet become a transparent, ubiquitous part of the
teaching profession’s repertoire of tools.
2.2 Research design
Research design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted and constitutes the blueprint
for the collection, measurement and analysis of data (Kothari, 2004). A research design serves as a plan that
guides the researcher to connect empirical data to a study’s initial research questions, and eventually to the
answers to the questions set (Yin, 2009). This study follows a mixed‐method approach based on the logic of
the methods to be used and that are outlined in the sub‐sections that follow. Though it is a complex and
demanding approach, the use of mixed‐methods in this study will provide an in‐depth, comprehensive and
complete picture of the research problem (Williams; 2007; Creswell, 2009; Yin, 2009) stated under 1.2. Thus,
the quantitative research methodology will be used principally to obtain numerical data to add precision to the
qualitative data, while the qualitative research methodology will be used principally to obtain verbal data to
add explorative meaning to the quantitative data (Ary, Jacobs and Sorenson, 2010, p. 562).
Data are being collected in three stages, which are aligned to the sub‐research questions above. These stages
are explained as follows:
Stage A: Gather data on the available ICTs at Unisa
This is an entry stage of data collection and entails consultation with specialised sections, which are the
Directorate: Information and Communication Technology and the Directorate: Curriculum and Learning
Development (DCLD). I am in the process of gathering information from these sections about the ICTs that are
available to the postgraduate supervisors to facilitate their postgraduate supervision work effectively. These
data will help address the research question: “What ICTs are available to CEDU postgraduate supervisors for
the supervision of their students’ work?” In the context of the TPACK framework, the information so gathered
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will be used to design a questionnaire in Stage B, which will be used to determine the technological knowledge
and skills of supervisors regarding the technology available to them for use in their supervision tasks. This
stage is currently being implemented. An appointment with directors of the Directorate: Information and
Communication Technology and the Directorate: DCLD that may provide the needed information about the
available ICTs was made through their personal assistants. The information that is in the process of being
gathered consists of developing a list of the ICTs and related technologies, which, which will be used for the
purposes of designing Section A of the questionnaire, which is explained in next Section B.
Stage B: Survey postgraduate supervisors’ knowledge about the available ICTs identified in Stage A
The quantitative research method is used principally to obtain numerical data (Ary, Jacobs and Sorenson,
2010, p. 562). Data in this stage will be collected by means of a survey questionnaire. A survey is used to select
a representative sample from the entire population and administer a questionnaire to describe the attitudes,
opinions, behaviours or characteristics of the population (Creswell, 2008, p. 388). Thus, this stage will entail
designing a questionnaire that will be administered to postgraduate supervisors in CEDU, and which will gather
their opinions on knowledge and skills regarding the available ICTs which they can use to manage the
supervision of their students’ tasks. The questionnaire will be developed with the help of a statistician so that
data to be collected can be submitted to the statistician for analysis using SPSS. The questionnaire will contain
items which are related to the technologies in the list generated in Stage A above. Supervisors will be asked to
respond to items according to a four‐point Likert Scale. The scale will be described as follows: 1: No Knowledge
at All; 2: Basic Knowledge; 3: Good Knowledge; 4: Thorough Knowledge. Most importantly, the technological
items in the questionnaire will be based on the TPACK framework that was explained above. The TPACK
framework helps in determining academics’ knowledge of ICTs and applying them in their teaching. Thus, this
stage of data gathering will help to answer the research question: “Which ICTs do CEDU postgraduate
supervisors know and to what extent?” Thus, the approach adopted in this data gathering will point towards
the analysis of data in relation to the framework. Section A of the questionnaire includes important
biographical information such as seniority level, experience in supervision expressed in years, number of
students supervised already, and number of students being supervised currently. This information will cast
light on the supervisors’ profile, which might help illuminate the understanding of data. In this sense, the
supervisors’ profile will help to tease out if biographical factors have any influence on their knowledge and
skills on the available ICTs. The questionnaire will be administered to the supervisors in CEDU via e‐mail with a
request to fill in and send it back within a time that will be determined. These are 129 academic staff members
that were mentioned in 1.2 above. This excludes contract supervisors because their duration of involvement in
the supervision work cannot be guaranteed and their detachment from Unisa’s physical space may cause them
not to provide relevant information requested in the questionnaire. Almost all of the 129 staff members are
involved in supervising the master’s and doctoral students. A few that do not supervise will not be included. A
note will be made at the beginning of the questionnaire about the exclusion of these non‐supervisors. There is
a possibility that supervisors who will be on leave at the time of data gathering will not be available to fill in
the questionnaire. I do not intend to interfere with their leave by making any personal calls to ask them to fill
in the questionnaire.
Stage C: Interviews and observation of selected postgraduate supervisors’ use of ICTs
The analysis of Stage B data will necessitate Stage C data in the sense that I will need to follow up on the
selected postgraduate supervisors in order to deepen my understanding of their knowledge and use of ICTs in
their supervision work. These data will be informed by the “How” question: How do the selected postgraduate
supervisors use the ICTs which they claimed they use in the questionnaire in Stage B? Thus, Stage C will
address the research question: “How do CEDU’s postgraduate supervisors use these ICTs in the supervision of
their postgraduate students’ work?” The methods of data gathering to be used will be individual interviews
and observations. The interviews will follow unstructured discussions with the selected supervisors. The entry
point for the discussion will be the completed questionnaire which contains the ICTs that supervisors have
claimed that they use. In the process of gathering these data I will ask the supervisors concerned to
demonstrate how they use such ICTs to manage their supervision while I observe – the technology, what part
of his/her supervision does the supervisor use it for, how does the supervisor use it. For purposes of easy
manageability, the interviews will be audio recorded and observations will be photographed (Marshall and
Rossman, 1989) with the permission of the participants. There are two Schools in CEDU with five Departments
under each. It is not my intention in this study to compare the Schools or Departments, especially because
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supervisors are assigned students across Departments and Schools to supervise. Instead, the selection of
sample for the interviews and observation will be guided by the supervision experience indicated in their
responses in the biographical section of the questionnaire. So, based on the selection based on these criteria, I
will select fifteen supervisors spread from the less experienced to the most experienced, i.e. five supervisors
with zero to five years supervision experience, five supervisors with six to ten years supervision experience,
and five supervisors with eleven or more years supervision experience. Thus, selection will be focused on
individual supervisors and not on Departments or Schools.
The principle of maintaining a chain of evidence allows an external observer or the reader of the research to
follow the derivation of any evidence, ranging from initial research questions to ultimate conclusions (Yin,
2009). According to Soy (1997), trustworthiness in an empirical study denotes the stability, accuracy, and
precision of measurement of the data gathering techniques and instruments. Credible data will be gathered at
Stage A by consulting specialists based in those sections that employ ICTs (the Directorate: Information and
Communication Technology and the Directorate: DCLD). The items to appear in the questionnaire (Stage B) will
not be made up, but will be guided by the true the data gathered in Stage A. Member‐checking in respect of
the collected data will help build trustworthiness into the data. The analysis of data will involve triangulation
technique across data sets (questionnaire, interviews and observation) to provide the watertight evidence
about the phenomenon of ICTs and supervision. The SPSS technique that will be used in the quantitative data
analysis will also ensure reliability.
Yin (2009, p. 73) suggests ways for ensuring the protection of participants in the study. These ways are listed
and explained subsequently:
Gaining informed consent from all persons who may be part of the study: I have applied to CEDU’s
Research Ethics’ Committee for ethical clearance to conduct the study and this has been granted. I
subsequently applied to Unisa to obtain permission to source information from the postgraduate
supervisors in CEDU and this request has also been granted. Since the quantitative questionnaire will be
administered electronically, a note about obtaining consent from the participants will be included as part
of the introductory part of the questionnaire: “By filling in and sending this questionnaire it is assumed
that you give consent for the researcher to use the information given for purposes of writing up the
findings of this study”. I have also designed a letter of consent for the participants about the interview and
the proposed observation.
Protecting those who participate in your study from any harm: There is no possibility of harm to the
participants arising from how this study has been planned. However, the unexpected can happen in the
process of collecting data and, in such a case, measures will be taken quickly by liaising with the relevant
sections at Unisa, such as clinical services, psychological services, middle managers, and so on, should
participants be exposed to any kind of threat.
Protecting the privacy and confidentiality of those who participate in the study: As indicated in the
consent letter above, the confidentiality of participants will be ensured. Participants’ confidentiality will be
observed in all the stages of data collection by not disclosing their personal information such as real
names. The names will be kept only for data analysis, not in the writing up. Furthermore, interviews and
observations are very likely to be conducted in each supervisor’s office selected to participate in the
interview and observation.
Taking special precautions that might be needed to protect especially, vulnerable groups: This study does
not target vulnerable groups. However, such precautions will be taken to protect the participants as and
where necessary, for example, by stopping their participation.
Data analysis “involves organising, accounting for and explaining the data” (Cohen, Manion and Morrison,
2001, p. 147). In this light, analysis for the quantitative data will involve the interpretation of the analysed data
through the SPSS based on the responses received in the questionnaire. The findings from the data will be
mainly presented in table format, followed by descriptions and deductions that can be made from the data. I
will read and re‐read the interviews first for understanding and then for identifying the categories through
coding, that will enable me to present the findings according to the headings/themes assigned under the
categories while substantiating them with verbatim statements of the interviewees. Data coding will continue
until such time that recurrence of the same themes if noticed, which will mean that saturation of data has
been reached. Findings from the observation data will be integrated in the findings from the questionnaire and
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interviews, as well as triangulate the three. Then the discussion of the findings will follow, and
recommendations made ultimately.
3. Conclusion
Supervising postgraduate work can be a daunting task to supervisors. This daunting task can be exacerbated by
a no or shallow knowledge of ICTs and thus lack of know‐how to use them to manage postgraduate work. This
paper discussed the study that is underway, which is meant to inquire into postgraduate supervisors’ use of
ICTs. In this paper I have discussed the research problem that I have identified, motivated the study, discussed
the conceptual framework and the design of the study. The study in question has recently been embarked
upon. Currently I have started to collect the data. My future presentation at conferences will be based on the
findings of the study. I will also organise a seminar in CEDU at Unisa to present the findings of the study and
recommend training of supervisors in ICTs shall the findings indicate a need for knowledge and skills in this
regard.
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210
The Crossroads of Choice: Choosing Between the Technological
Tools for Educational Purposes
Mishack Gumbo
University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
gumbomt@unisa.ac.za
Abstract: How does one choose an appropriate online teaching and learning tool from among the many available? This
paper responds to this question by presenting a scorecard designed to guide the user’s choice of a particular tool for
educational purposes as informed by the his/her context and the extent of his/her knowledge of the tools available. The
emergence of Web 2.0 technology tools (learning objects) has transformed both the World Wide Web and pedagogy. In
the case of pedagogy, the change represents a shift from traditional face‐to‐face teaching and learning in a physical space
to teaching and learning online in a virtual classroom. While this transformation has brought excitement in the teaching
fraternity, particularly in the higher education environment, it has also presented educators and other users with
challenges around making properly informed choices of the ideal tools for use in their practice. This is due to the existence
of a profusion of such tools with new ones constantly entering the market as disruptive technologies. This paper presents a
tool scorecard designed to guide the rating, motivation and ultimate choice of a particular tool. The design of the scorecard
follows the idea of the LORI (Learning Object Review Instrument). The contribution of the paper is twofold. Firstly, it
contributes to the existing body of knowledge by advancing the debate and by adding to the pool of existing evaluation
tools. Secondly, the use of the scorecard will inform practice as it guides the choices that the user can make in seeking a
particular tool.
Keywords: technological tools, scorecard, choice, context, education, evaluation instrument
1. Introduction
“Developments in web‐based education and technology‐mediated learning environments present educators
with an important opportunity to increase students’ access to secondary and tertiary education” (Vargo et al,
2003, p. 1). The emergence of Web 2.0 technological tools has transformed both the World Wide Web and
pedagogy. In the case of pedagogy, the change represents a shift from traditional face‐to‐face teaching and
learning in a physical space to teaching and learning online in a virtual classroom. Web 2.0 tools can be
referred to as learning objects or software (Baumgarter and Payr, 1997). “Learning objects are information
resources or interactive software used in online learning, for example, a single image, a page of text, an
interactive simulation, or an entire course” (Nesbit, Belfer and Leacock, 2002, p. 1; Vargo et al, 2003). These
authors propose a framework for evaluating technological tools, which include the items: content quality,
learning goal alignment, feedback and adaptation, motivation, presentation design, interaction usability,
accessibility, reusability and standards compliance. A rating scale of five levels (1 to 5, with one indicating the
lowest quality and 5 the highest quality), plus “Not Applicable”, is used to rate each item (Nesbit, Belfer and
Leacock, 2002). According to Nesbit, Belfer and Leacock (2002), the results are formed of averaged ratings of
items, which add up to the total of all the items. But Baumgarter and Payr (1997) are uncomfortable with
attributing and adding numerical values to the evaluation as that lends the evaluation to linearity. These
authors argue that currently there is no normed, tested, standardised and linear scale for the quality of
educational software. For specificity, and for the purposes of this paper, a learning object refers to Web 2.0
technology such as blogs and wikis along with applications such as Screenr, ooVoo, Weebly and so on
(Grosseck, 2013; Sharples et al, 2013). It is hard to think of these tools without relating them to educational
electronic resources – interactive assignments, simulations, cases, models, virtual laboratory experiments and
many others (Vargo et al, 2003) (see resources mentioned above from Nesbit et al). However, due to the sea
of tools available, it might not be easy for the user to make the right choices for his or her particular context.
Context in this case denotes a subject, geographical setting, design of the learning management systems for
the institution concerned, and so on. How then does one choose an appropriate online teaching or learning
tool from among the many that are available?
“Reviews help users to select for quality and suitability” (Nesbit, Belfer and Leacock, 2002, p. 2) from within a
large, web‐based learning object repository. Thus, according to Nesbit, Belfer and Leacock (2002, p. 2), the
LORI instrument facilitates a comparison among learning objects by proving a review format. A review
instrument can at least provide a starting point for the user who could be an instructional designer, a media
developer or an instructor (Vargo et al, 2003), or even a student – to design an instrument suitable for his/her
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own context and the extent of the knowledge that he/she has already gained about the tools to choose from.
For an academic like me, the choice is important for pedagogical reasons – can it be used to facilitate learning
in my course? Does it provide me with the necessary navigation tools to facilitate learning effectively? Does it
provide varied media to accommodate different learning styles? How easily can the tool be downloaded?
What is the cost of downloading it? These are some of the questions that might determine my choice of the
tool. In their research, Vargo et al (2003) reviewed the LORI instrument within their Convergent Participant
evaluation framework. As the name suggests, the framework needs a team of evaluators convened from
experts in online tools/objects who will engage in a two‐way cycle of evaluation, which involve critical
discussions on their ratings. Vargo et al (2003, p. 7) suggested modifications to the LORI instrument: to
introduce prior training to increase overall reliability of the instrument; at least two raters should have
expertise in subject matter dealt with by the learning object; based on participants’ comments, revise rubrics
that comprise several items. These authors did a sterling work to build onto Nesbit’s, Belfer’s and Leacock’s
(2002) LORI instrument. However, not in all situations can intensive group or participatory evaluation be
involved. Context may also suggest otherwise. Hence, in this paper I suggest a basic instrument that can be
modified to suit the evaluator(s)’ context. This paper was motivated by my downloading of a number of the
available online tools over five days at work, which are listed in table 1. I explored (on average three tools per
day) the tools to decide on the one that I could use to engage in online discussion with my postgraduate
students. This was after I could not use LORI instrument as is in this task because its criterion is predominantly
quantitative. I decided to adapt it ultimately. The exploration of the tools entailed testing each one of them. I
arranged with a colleague, whom I asked to pretend to be a student, to sign on as soon as I had done so myself
and alerted him to. The signing on was only limited to those tools that are freely available, such as ooVoo.
Once he had signed on, we could engage in online discussion so I could test the efficiency of the tool. In my
exploration I was interested in each tool’s accessibility, ease of use, how easily it could be downloaded,
navigation through it, and so on. I roughly developed table 1 during my exploration. This exploration task left
me with a task of designing an instrument that can get one started on the selection of an online educational
tool. Providing an answer as to how I went about choosing an appropriate tool will, in turn, guide the user in
his/her own choice and will add to the debate over the available tools in the field.
For purposes of making the right choice, users will always seek evaluations of the tools they are considering
using. In the light of the deliberations thus far, the purpose of this paper is to use a scorecard to rate a number
of tools and to present ideas on how to choose the learning or teaching tool. I proceed in the next section with
a discussion on Web 2.0 learning objects. The discussion is followed by an explanation of the scorecard I have
designed to guide the rating, motivation and the ultimate choice of a particular tool. I then present the
scorecard, along with an explanation of how it is used to decide (from among those available) on the
instruments that I could consider. In this paper I thus describe the merits of LORI (Learning Object Review
Instrument), which helps me to suggest a scorecard.
2. Learning objects
A profusion of learning objects exists and these are available via repositories on the internet. Reusable digital
learning resources are increasing rapidly in number (Leacock and Nesbit, 2007). Vargo et al (2003, p. 3) provide
a table that lists these repositories and I refer the reader to these. The repositories include MERLOT,
Telecampus, the Apple Learning Interchange, the Math Forum, Alexandria/CAREO, the Harvey Project and the
Wisconsin Online Resource Center. I mention these repositories in order to provide an idea of the
tools/objects that each (the list is inexhaustible) contains. Learning objects attract users worldwide who are
interested in selecting, from these objects, one that can work best for them. Educators in particular need these
tools to improve on their pedagogical practices, while students need them to improve their learning and to
complete tasks. Having said this, the choice becomes challenging given the fact that there are so many tools to
choose from – and hence the need for an instrument/scorecard to guide the choice. The choice is especially
complex in a higher education environment because there are not only issues of context, design and quality,
but of cost as well.
According to Abel, Brown and Suess (2013), higher education is entering a period in which connections
enabled by information technology, social media and mobile devices between everything and everyone are
important. In this sense, from a learner perspective, an array of personal connections, resources and
collaboration can be integrated. On the other hand, from the educator (designer) perspective, a number of
options have been made available by these tools, which include options to plan, design and execute a course
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to connect with and support students. Web 2.0 tools have an emerging role to play in transforming teaching
and learning. Alexander and Levine (2008, p. 41) define Web 2.0 as “the social use of the Web which allows
people to collaborate, to get actively involved in creating content, to generate knowledge and to share
information online. Alexander and Levine (2008) note their educational value to the user: they provide quick
feedback to students, students use peer networks to develop their own knowledge, teachers can update new
information such as homework and assignments, comments in blogs encourage students to help each other
with their work, they inspire writing and creativity and students can create presentations using photos, and
resources can be accessed anywhere any time on any computer that is connected to the internet.
It follows that the unstoppable emergence and development of online learning tools has triggered the
migration of pedagogy, especially in the university environment, from the traditional face‐to‐face mode to an
online mode. The new pedagogical terms packaged with this change include “asynchronous”, “synchronous”,
“blended learning” and “flipped classroom”. Institutions are the main target market for these online tools and
have thus begun to respond to their presentation and dominance. In addition, marketers exert pressure to on
the institutions in setting the evaluation criteria along their products or financing research in institutions. Jucas
Jr (2013, p. 54‐56) presents the following examples of migration/change, here referring to these tools as
disruptive technologies:
The Minerva Project proposes to create a top‐tier for‐profit research university. With this online delivery,
students will be campus‐based around the world, while top professors will stream online classes to
student seminars.
Georgia Tech has announced a professional Online Masters of Science degree in Computer Science (OMS
CS) earned through MOOCs in conjunction with Udacity and AT&T. The programme estimates the cost of
tuition at below $7 000 for the three years of coursework. Georgia Tech expects to have 10 000 students
enrolled at any given time and has already established links with 4 500 centres to administer the
proctoring examination.
The flagship universities of ten large public university systems – the State University of New York system,
the Tennessee Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee system, the University of Colorado
system, the University of Houston system, the University of Kentucky, the University of Nebraska, the
University of New Mexico, the University System of Georgia, and West Virginia University – are forming a
partnership with Coursera, a for‐profit educational technology company. Some of these systems plan to
blend online materials with faculty‐led classroom sessions. On the other hand, others will offer credit to
students who take the courses online followed by a proctored examination on campus.
Generation Rwanda, a partnership of non‐profit organisations serving families throughout Africa, is
starting a university based entirely on MOOCs. Its goal is to have a 400‐person university in Rwanda with
MOOCs providing the content and with teaching fellows handling discussions and tutoring students. It is
planned that Southern New Hampshire University will test and certify the associate degrees awarded. Full‐
year tuition is estimated at $1 500 or less.
In regard to the information in the first bullet above, Jucas Jr (2013) also acknowledges the possibility of being
able to serve thousands of students online – without any need for them to be on campus at all. In fact, the
ultimate ideal with online tools is that students will not need to be campus‐bound. This, however, is subject to
certain conditions – the most obvious of which is that there should be computer facilities or other gadgets in
place to enable those in the programme to interact with one another and with their lecturers. The other
unavoidable condition is internet access. It is interesting, in the light of these developments, that universities
have for decades been interested in distance education with the purpose of increasing access to higher
education while, at the same time, bringing down the cost of such education (Power, 2008). Some universities,
especially those operating according to the open distance model – such as the Open University, the University
of Maryland and the University of South Africa – are already ahead in delivering their programmes online.
Students even share their experiences of such modes of delivery. Earl (2013) surveyed students’ perceptions of
short‐text format assignments. Responses were gathered online after a 12‐week, fully online undergraduate
course. The findings suggested that short‐text assignments were rated highly by students because students
appreciated the variety and creativity aspects of these assignments. However, Carroll (2013) and Grosseck
(2009) note some disadvantages of teaching via these online tools:
mediocre informational content;
user‐generated content which is often worthless or amateurish;
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monetary quantification;
the fact that these tools are based on Ajax which depends on JavaScript;
the fact that e‐learning methods position educational institutions within an organisational context rather
than an academic one;
the fact that the quality of the learning process becomes questionable in the social‐network learning
environment; and
the loss of the social factor inherent in face‐to‐face teaching and learning.
It is possible that these disadvantages could be blamed on, but not limited to, the poor choice of the tools
concerned – hence making a strong case for evaluation instruments such as a scorecard. It could also be
argued, however, that context and the extent of the user’s knowledge of the tools from which he/she must
choose will influence the choices that he/she ultimately makes.
However, the rapid increase in the number of tools and resources available has brought with it huge
challenges concerning the quality of those tools (Baumgarter and Payr, 1997; Leacock and Nesbit, 2007),
making it difficult for the user to spot the relevant tool for his/her intended use. Literature cites three reasons
for the need to evaluate these tools (Leacock and Nesbit, 2007, p. 44), which include the absence of research
in the design of multimedia learning materials, especially in the fields of psychology and education, the use of
quality metrics by some resource repositories to order search results, and the potential of quality criteria for
summative evaluations to drive improvements in design practice. Meanwhile, disruptive technologies continue
to evolve, putting even more pressure on institutions when it comes to making decisions as to which tools are
appropriate for their intended education mission. Anderson and Whitelock (2004) refer to Tim Berners‐Lee,
who has introduced the Semantic Web – a concept that refers to a vision of the next dramatic evolution of web
technology. Berners‐Lee “envisions forms of intelligence and meaning being added to the display and
navigational context of the current World Wide Web” (Anderson and Whitelock, 2004, p. 2). Again, this
compounds the challenges around making the right choice of tool. Hence, the next section introduces a
scorecard that could help in making this choice.
3. Scorecard criteria
I decided to use the Learning Object Review Instrument (LORI) version 1.5, briefly explained in the
introduction, to evaluate the 13 tools included in the scorecard (see table 1). I specifically adapted the LORI
that was designed by Vargo’s team (Nesbit, Belfer and Leacock, 2002; Vargo et al, 2003) and also explained by
Reeves (1994), and critiqued by Krauss and Ally (2005). The LORI, developed and tested by Vargo et al (2003)
as explained above, focused on quality (Vargo et al, 2003; Leacock and Nesbit, 2007). I found its criteria mostly
raising the issues that I will be interested in when applying the scorecard as an evaluator, and which lie close to
those in my exploration as explained above. My adaptation of the instrument is explained below. Baumgartner
and Payr (1997) and Graf and List (2005) focused more on the qualitative aspects of LORI (version 1.4).
According to Leacock and Nesbit (2007), quality has been neglected by previous research. Quality has a bearing
on the potential use and suitability of the instrument in a given context. My approach in this paper gives credit
to both the numerical and narrative/explanatory aspects of the instrument (see table 1), enabling a
combination of the Numerical Weight and Sum (NWS) and Qualitative Weight and Sum (QWS) (Krauss and Ally,
2005). Secondly, instead of subjecting LORI to the Convergent Participation model (Nesbit, Belfer and Leacock,
2002), I placed emphasis on the individual user – beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As stated in the
introduction to this paper, my emphasis on the individual user was motivated by my own experiences of
experimenting with the online tools.
Context is also deemed crucial when the user concerned has to select from the available instruments. I argue
that replacing numerical ratings with symbols and worded ratings (Baumgarter and Payr, 1997) may not
necessarily be an answer to the noticeable gaps that exist in the instrument. In fact, Krauss and Ally (2005) use
symbols instead of numbers in their rating scales. My opinion is that there are no significant differences
between these two since both explain in words what each numerical or symbol stands for. What I rather push
for is building into the instrument itself some kind of motivation for the rating or for assigning a particular
symbol. Furthermore, the user may not necessarily want to go to the extent of the second or third round of
selection where the approach was to come up with “finalists”. I argue that the user will first be forced into a
situation of shopping for a tool by experimenting with it on the Web. It is at this stage that the user develops
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the first impression about a particular tool or even gets attracted to a certain tool. So, the scorecard
(evaluation instrument) will come in handy in cases where a few tools seem to cause confusion in the user’s
mind because they attract him/her to a similar degree. A need for finalists could be entertained in instances
where two or more tools tie in terms of scores. The user might have to revisit his/her experimenting with the
tools because the tools will have to be eliminated mainly according to the comments/motivation column (table
1). This column cannot be properly completed without knowledge about the tool concerned and such
knowledge about the tool concerned comes through experimenting with it.
Instead of including all nine evaluation criteria items suggested by Vargo et al (2003) and Nesbit, Belfer and
Leacock (2002) mentioned in the introduction above, I opted for the eight suggested by Krauss and Ally (2005)
(seven are similar to those of Nesbit, Belfer and Leacock). However, I added the item on accessibility, which
Krause and Ally (2005) cut out but which was retained by Nesbit, Belfer and Leacock (2002). My adapted list
ended with nine items. It was important to maintain the accessibility item considering the fact that some tools
are extremely difficult to access on account of technicalities or subscription fees, thus impeding the user‐
friendliness of the tool. I omitted instead the item standards compliance. In my thinking this is an obvious
point which does not need to be included in the evaluation. It is non‐negotiable that every tool considered
should comply with the standards set and that these should serve as a criterion for the tool to be included in
the evaluation process. I did, however, not go to the extent of checking on this aspect for each of the tools that
I included in the scorecard – rather, the aim was to come up with a scorecard that could provide a starting
point for the evaluation of instruments to be considered.
My adaptation of LORI also provides for populating the tools on one scorecard instead of evaluating each tool
and/or item in the criteria using the same instrument. Each of the nine items below is rated on a 5‐point scale
explained as follows: 1 = very low, 2 = low, 3 = moderate, 4 = high, 5 = very high. The assessment criteria are
explained according to Nesbit et al. (2002, pp. 2‐12) and Krauss and Ally (2005, p. 6) as follows (The acronyms
are for the purposes of inclusion in the table in order to avoid the wider columns which would result if the
criteria items were to be written out in full):
Content quality (CQ): veracity, accuracy, balanced presentation of ideas, and appropriate level of detail.
The tool should make provision for the content that will appropriately represent reality and not mislead
the learners.
Learning goal alignment (LGA): alignment among learning goals, activities, assessments, and learner
characteristics. The tool should be designed such that there will be a logical clarity between these items.
Feedback and adaptation (FA): adaptive content or feedback driven by differential learner input or learner
modelling. The tool should respond appropriately to the input made by the learner in response to the
learning activities.
Motivation (M): ability to motivate and interest an identified population of learners. The tool should he
highly motivating – multimedia, game‐based learning challenges, simulations, true‐to‐life learning
activities, interactivity, humour, drama.
Presentation design (PD): design of visual and auditory information for enhanced learning and efficient
mental processing – legible text, graphs and charts that are labelled and free‐of‐clutter, animation or
video accompanied by audio narration, aesthetically pleasing colour, music and decorative features.
Interaction usability (IU): ease of navigation, predictability of the user interface, and quality of the
interface help features – making it easier for the learner to navigate the tool.
Accessibility (A): design of controls and presentation formats to accommodate disabled and mobile
learners.
Reusability (R): ability to use the tool in varying learning contexts and with learners from differing
backgrounds.
Value of the accompanying instructor guide (VAIG): ability of resource to enhance instructional
methodology.
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Table 1: Tool evaluation scorecard
Tool Evaluation Criteria (Score) Total Comment/Motivation
CQ LGA FA M PD IU A R VAIG (45)
Screener 5 4 5 5 5 4 1 4 5 38 Very difficult to access and download;
ability to connect to other tools like
Facebook enhances VAIG and motivation.
Blogger 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 43 Allows users to add text, video, audio and
graphics; encourages interaction,
collaboration and critical thinking between
users; a choice for university lecturers and
students.
Wikispac 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 43 Very good for teachers to interact with
es learners; clear design offers space for
welcome note, introduction, goals,
content, etc.; promotes active learning
and learning communities; teachers can
easily manage their teaching and provide
on‐time feedback.
ooVoo 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 45 Excellent next generation communication
service; connects friends, family and
colleagues via video chats over internet;
can connect to Twitter and Facebook;
easy‐to‐use navigation tools; audio‐video
features; telephone; free download.
WhatsAp 2 3 4 3 3 5 5 5 2 32 Works much like e‐mail; for‐free
p messaging; post pictures, videos, text;
control features.
Faceboo 3 3 4 5 3 5 5 5 3 36 Locator; profiling; messaging; interact with
k subscribers; post pictures, videos, text;
control features.
Twitter 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 5 4 37 Follow; post pictures, videos, text;
favourite; re‐twit.
Skype 4 4 5 4 4 5 5 3 4 38 Free; easy to download; all users must be
available at the same time; video or audio
calling; discussion; send message; chat
room.
Google 4 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 36 Store documents online; edit documents;
Drive manage files; upload pictures; manage
presentations; easy to sign in; share
documents; limited free storage capacity.
Dropbox 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 5 5 40 Online document storage; more or less like
Google Drive; access your documents
wherever you are; upload videos; etc.
eReader 2 2 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 30 Download and read e‐books, newspapers
and other documents; perform other tasks
online.
Mendely 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 37 Very handy in organising and executing
research activities – extraction of
document details, super‐efficient
management of papers, share and
synchronise your library, etc.
Social 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 42 Amalgamator of social networks, e.g.
Networki Bebo, Classmates, Facebook, Friendster,
ng LinkedIn; connects people and helps them
share information.
Pinterest 3 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 4 35 Quite handy to store information located
on other websites on internet; boards can
be linked back to original websites; share
information.
SoundClo 2 2 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 30 Share music recordings; others can
ud comment on posted music; other users
can leave theirs for you.
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1 = very low, 2 = low, 3 = moderate, 4 = high, 5 = very high
4. Conclusion
The scoring for these tools was not easy. The difficulty lied in the fact that some tools were appealing in
certain aspects and not in others. I could have opted for a Blog, for instance, because I found it much easier to
sign on and create. But because ooVoo provided the multimedia aspects, telephone option, sms facility, and so
on, it obtained the highest score and was thus motivated more than the others. So, personal appeal is a factor
to deal with when using the scorecard. My evaluation of the tools was informed by the criteria in the
scorecard, which I used to evaluate the tools according to the different aspects explained above. This enabled
me to make my decision about the choice tool. Wikispaces and Blogger tie in terms of the allocated scores,
whereas ooVoo tops the scoring in this scorecard. Thus, ooVoo scored the highest. But the motivation in the
right column added to the high score and decision. The strength of these tools lies in the advantages that
characterise their usability as indicated in the “comments/motivation column”. Thus, if I were to decide which
tool to use for educational purposes, I would immediately opt for ooVoo. The fact that 30 is the lowest score
assigned (eReader and SoundCloud) also shows that all these tools are reasonably competitive against each
other because the range between the highest and lowest scores is, at 14, not large. This is a warning to the
user about how complex the task of having to decide which tool might be suitable to use in one’s own context
is. The narratives in the right hand column helped me a great deal in deciding on the scores. Context – and the
extent of knowledge of these tools – plays a crucial role in decision making. Someone in a different context,
and who knows these tools better than or not as well as I do could arrive at a different decision and choice. It
is thus important to reemphasise that the availability of an evaluation instrument is not an end in itself but a
means to an end, providing, as it does, only a helpful starting point for the user. The user may either use it as
is, modify it, or even design a different instrument using the available one(s) as a basis.
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217
Faculty Members' Perceptions of Online Learning in Saudi Arabia:
The Case for More Professional Development Support
Amani Hamdan
University of Dammam, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
akhalghamdi@ud.edu.sa
Abstract: How faculty members perceive the pros and cons of implementing online learning in higher education has not
been adequately explored in higher education literature. This mixed‐methods study explored the perceptions of a group of
77 faculty members (18 males and 59 females) who taught or are teaching online courses in order to identify how they
perceive online learning (OL) in contrast to face‐to‐face (F2F) or blended learning (BL). The results showed that faculty
members participating in this study preferred online and blended learning/teaching approaches over traditional face‐to‐
face learning/teaching approaches. The participants indicated that through online learning students were able to develop
higher‐order thinking skills. Based on analysis of the interviews, several professors felt their teaching productivity had
increased as a result of teaching online courses, even though the challenge was an increase in their workload. This study
concluded that online and blended learning/teaching approaches offered a platform for students to be active rather than
passive learners and that these methods were mostly preferred by faculty members. Also it shows that there is a need for
more professional development and faculty support in enhancing their technological proficiency and pedagogical tools.
Keywords: online learning, blended learning, faculty perceptions, higher education
1. Introduction
As the demand for higher education continues to grow worldwide, Saudi Arabia is no exception. There is high
interest and demand within higher education institutions as the number of high school graduates continues to
increase. According to Alghamdi (2013, p.83), access to education and other changes to the education system
are occurring along with demographic changes. Saudi Arabia is also diversifying its economy from heavy
reliance on petroleum revenues to one that requires a labour force with a broad range of skills and knowledge
(Alghamdi 2013). Although Saudi Arabia has established a new avenue for reforming education by increasing
the number of higher educational institutions to 30 public universities, 28 private universities, and over 200
colleges (including vocational education institutions), these changes are not enough to accommodate the
rising demand for higher education. Therefore, there emerged a need to offer non‐traditional degrees to non‐
traditional students, and this is what fuelled dramatic growth in online learning (Shea 2013) Due to the influx
of high school graduates and the increasing demand for access to higher education that is outpacing the
capacity of university campuses in Saudi Arabia, more spaces were required for interested individuals. If not
taking a degree entirely online, students are enrolled in blended learning courses. Clark‐Ibanez and Scott
(2008) suggest that because online course enrollment is becoming more widespread, instructors will be asked
at some point in their careers to teach fully online or blended courses.
For the sake of clarity, online learning (OL) is defined here as learning that is completely online, “an essentially
Internet‐based, asynchronous type of distance education,” with a flexible learning environment where
materials and support are available around the clock (Maeroff 2003). However, there is no existing universally
agreed‐upon definition of blended learning (Sharpe et al. 2006), but the most common definition is essentially
the integration of face‐to‐face interaction with an online learning component. Part of the teaching is
completed through a learning management system (LMS), such as WebCT or Blackboard. It is foreseeable that
the manner in which learning is delivered by faculty will have a significant impact on the quality of
an online program. This manner of delivery will depend primarily on the qualifications of the faculty teaching
the OL programs, the competencies they possess, and their interest and understanding of OL and BL (Ugur
2011). Thus technical support for faculty transitioning to this type of instruction, as well as an understanding of
their perceptions of it, is crucial to ensure quality (Shea 2013, p.74). OL and BL courses are gaining ground in
higher education. Moreover, as noted by Shmidt, Hodge and Tschida (2013), online courses are becoming less
expensive to administer and can be easily reused and shared. The popularity of MOOCs (Massive Online Open
Courses) testifies to this growing sensibility towards online learning. In fact, the Saudi electronic university was
established by the Ministry of Higher Education in 2011 (built collaboratively with the University of Phoenix,
Walden University, Capella University, Ohio University, Franklin University and Indira Gandhi National Open
University), with four campuses across the Kingdom and partnerships with the SEU. Because of this recent
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growth, it is important to understand how faculty members who participate in OL perceive the pros and cons
compared to those who participate in BL and F2F, which is the main concern of this present research. This
study will highlight several unexplored or underexplored topics: how faculty members who taught or are
teaching OL or BL courses reflect on their experiences, their challenges, the pros and cons identified, relevant
issues, advantages for Saudi culture, strategies to motivate learners, challenges of OL compared with F2F and
BL, and teaching strategies and prior knowledge faculty need to succeed in these new emerging modes of
education. Thus this study will have broad international relevance—the professionalism involved in getting the
proper training and technological support for OL and BL instructors will likely be a common goal in many
higher education contexts, nationally and beyond.
2. Educational theory and online learning: A theoretical framework
While hundreds of faculty members join the ranks of those teaching OL and BL courses, little seems to be
known about how they perceive these new trends of teaching and learning in higher education. The theory of
constructivism relies on the assumption that meaning exists within us—with a focus on individual perceptions
and experiences and how they become integrated into “existing meaning schemes” (McQuiggan 2012, p.30). A
study of the perceptions of faculty members will highlight how they make sense of their transition to online
and blended teaching and learning contexts, a topic missing from the discussions about online learning in the
literature, according to Allen et al. (2012, p. 10)
Another recent innovation according to Lane (N.D) is connectivism theory a new leaning theory which is based
on the idea that connections among people, groups, and information are the central source of learning (for
more check Siemens 2009; Anderson and Kim 2009). Lane continues that there are new distance learning
pedagogies (cognitive behaviorist, social constructivist, and connectivist) which allow for focus on cognitive,
social, and teaching presence. In another direction professors knowledge of the content according to Shulman
(1986) is not sufficient to make good teacher. Pedagogical content knowledge PCK with technological abilities
which is described as the professors’ knowledge of how to incorporate technology into course content is
necessary in in OL and BL (Mishra and Koehelr, 2006).
Technological content knowledge describes an instructor’s knowledge of how to incorporate technology into
course content while technological pedagogical knowledge pertains to the knowledge of various technologies
can be sued in teaching. TPCK produces an emergent form that can be best described as the integration of
technology into pedagogy when presenting the subject matter (Al‐Salman, 2011, p.7)
TCK, TPK and TPCK describe the aspects of knowledge required for a successful delivery and implementation of
OL and BL. Thus the pedagogical abilities of professors who teach OL and BL are pivotal as they consider the
merits of OL and BL (Ward, Peter, and Shelly, 2010). Addressing these types of required knowledge is
mandated by faculty members who take part in OL and BL.
3. Review of the research literature
The higher education landscape is changing worldwide as a result of OL and BL, and faculty satisfaction is
considered an important factor determining the quality of OL courses. This study was conducted to identify
and confirm factors affecting the satisfaction of online faculty at a university and to develop an understanding
of faculty perceptions of OL and BL. The brief review of the literature that follows will provide a theoretical
framework for considering faculty members’ perceptions of OL. It will also serve as a lens for viewing the
results and implications of OL and BL in relation to F2F learning in Saudi universities over the past seven years.
Bollinger and Wasilik (2009) investigated faculty perceptions in an online environment and found that student‐
related factors were perceived as most important, suggesting that the instructors tended to be more student‐
oriented in their approaches to learning. Another qualitative case study examined how instructors of online
courses perceived the effectiveness of proven traditional teaching methods as well as cooperative learning
strategies in the virtual classroom. Findings revealed that although all five respondents had been working in
online learning contexts with their students for two years or more, two of the respondents still had not
adapted in their own understanding of how to maximize the online learning context. They were unable to shift
their understanding of traditional instruction to the context of online learning. In another study, Alghamdi
Hamdan (2012) considered how online education is changing students’ learning culture and how their culture
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is in turn influencing online education. There seems to be less focus in the literature, however, on faculty
perceptions of online learning compared to F2F and BL environments.
Kolowish (2012) has indicated that faculty are more skeptical about the ability of online environments to
facilitate learning outcomes than are technology administrators on their campuses. In Packham, Jones,
Thomas and Miller (2006) results indicated that tutors argued that motivating students, including the provision
of constructive feedback and developing an engaging on‐line persona were critical to successful e‐moderation.
Another survey studying OL and faculty (Allen, Seaman, Lederman and Jaschik 2012) reported that nearly two
thirds of instructors believe that learning outcomes of OL are somewhat inferior to F2F learning. Yancey (2009)
argued that new technologies must be embraced by instructors in order to meet the needs of the current
generation of students. Moreover, Trammel and Bruce (2008) indicated that since learning is a social activity,
OL might be isolating for those who are less technologically savvy, and that even those drawn towards it are
not sufficiently prepared for the new demands of the learning environment (Al‐Salman, p.6). Similarly, Graham
(2006) indicated that online (web‐based) learning and face‐to‐face learning have remained largely separate in
the past due to the differences in their methods and audience needs (Alebaikan 2010, p.44).
Technological pedagogical knowledge is the multi‐faceted domain of faculty members’ knowledge that
encompasses content, pedagogy, and technology. It includes the following key aspects:
an understanding of how to represent concepts using different technologies;
pedagogical techniques that use technologies in constructive ways;
knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help redress some of
the problems that students face;
knowledge of students’ prior knowledge and theories of epistemology; and
knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing knowledge (Mishra & Kohler, 2006, p. 16).
Faculty members need to be equipped with these aspects of knowledge in order to teach effectively in OL and
BL environments.
4. Overview of the study
The main research question of this study focused on how faculty members perceive their experience in online
teaching and how it is different from blended learning (BL) and face‐to‐face (F2F) teaching. Additional probing
questions focused on the following topics:
issues instructors faced in OL;
the pros and cons and challenges associated with OL compared to F2F and BL;
the advantages of OL for Saudi culture (if any);
methods of motivating learners; and
different teaching strategies and types of prior knowledge needed in order to succeed in these new
learning environments.
Data collection for this study took place in Spring 2013 from faculty members at the College of Arts at the
University of Dammam. Faculty members in many colleges (such as Arts and Applied Community Services)
teach online courses, yet the College of Arts, with its approximately 7,000 female students, has the highest
number of courses being delivered online with 524 BL and 916 OL learners. The survey and the semi‐structured
interview questions were given to five faculty members prior to sending them out to participants in order to
check their validity and connection to the research question.
4.1 Method
This research study used a mixed‐methods approach. According to Creswell (2012) mixed method research
consists of both qualitative and quantitative ways to design a research. It is an approach for collecting,
analysing and mixing the quantitative with the qualitative in a single study to understand a research problem
(Creswell 2012). Using mixed methods happens when one build from quantitative data incorporate in
qualitative data to obtain more detailed information. Survey research was the method used for gathering data
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from faculty participants’ a structured questionnaire was developed to obtain open comments. Qualitative
data analysis involved identifying, coding, and categorizing patterns found in the data (Ward, Peters & Shelly
2010).
Data was collected quantitatively through a questionnaire and follow‐up interviews were conducted with a
random sample of faculty members. The questionnaires were collected from faculty members at the College of
Arts (specifically Library Management, Geography, and History departments). Nine faculty members took part
in the semi‐structured interviews, which were later analysed for emergent themes. Interviews of participants
were conducted in Arabic, audio‐taped and later translated into English. The researcher obtained ethical
approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) before commencing the study, and all audiotapes and
transcribed data were kept confidential and used for research purposes only.
4.2 Participants
The participants in this study are (N = 77, 18 males and 59 females) faculty members who were teaching or
had taught in OL or BL programs, or had taught at least two courses through these methods. The study sample
was comprised of full‐time and adjunct faculty at a large Saudi public university. After permission and approval
was obtained from the university’s Office of Institutional Research and the IRB, consent forms were signed and
an e‐mail invitation was sent to all university faculty (N = 1780). Of the 96 faculty who responded, 77 (18 males
and 59 females) submitted their feedback on a short questionnaire. Of those 77 participants—ranging from
assistant to full professors—the researcher conducted follow‐up interviews with 10 males and 11 females. This
sample was representative of the university population in terms of gender and percentage of full‐time and
part‐time workloads. Their experience teaching OL and BL ranged from 3 to 8 years and their experience
teaching in F2F environments ranged from 5 to 35 years. The 21 faculty members selected for a qualitative
semi‐structured interview (all of whom held terminal degrees) were selected through purposeful, convenient
sampling as well as snowball sampling, or chain sampling.
4.3 Data collection
The data was collected using a questionnaire with ten questions that focused on faculty’s use of technology;
time spent on online instructional activities; faculty perceptions of their role in OL and BL; and a comparison
between OL, F2F, and BL. The first question was demographic information of the faculty member and the
second was about the courses taught via OL and BL (more details in Appendix A). Follow‐up one‐on‐one
interviews of semi‐structured interviews approach (Bernard, 2002) were utilized. Of the 11 volunteers and
randomly selected participants provided further reflection on OL and BL and the advantages of each over F2F
teaching. The interview was designed to allow for the respondent to elaborate on responses and was
composed of a list of five questions (Appendix B). According to Bernard (2002, p. 206) the idea is to get people
to open up and let them express themselves in their own terms, at the own pace.” Both qualitative and
quantitative analyses were used to interpret the data. The researchers intended to use the results for several
purposes. The first purpose was to collect data on the use of LMS tools and determine the level of faculty
expertise, cross disciplines in OL and BL, and their reflections on the advantages and challenges of using these
methods for teaching and learning. The second purpose was to add to the growing body of research about OL
that currently contains very little information about faculty reflection.
4.4 Data analysis
After collecting the questionnaire, the researcher analysed the data and interview transcripts using grounded
theory to come up with the main themes. This method presents a single, unified, and systematic method of
analysis. Codes were collected from the 21 interviews and categorized into 6 themes representing the
advantages and 8 themes representing the challenges (see Tables 1 and 2). The researcher attentively studied
the themes to find a causal relationship between them to generate the theory.
5. Study results
Table 1: Categories of advantages of OL and BL over F2F (N = 77)
Category Number/percentage of survey response
Generates discussion among the group 45/58
New innovative teaching material 24/31
More enjoyable unpredictable advancement 15/19
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Category Number/percentage of survey response
Easier accessibility for students and prof 15/19
Knowledge availability on the Internet, Knowledge diffusion 10/13
Lifelong learning 10/13
Table 2: Concerns of faculty members using OL and BL (N = 77)
Category Number/percentage of survey response
Fear of exclusion of large groups 105/77
Weak infrastructure effect of OL and BL 85/63
Less effective 75/54
Teacher‐centered at times 69/51
Advancement too fast to follow 69/51
Less control for faculty over learning 60/44
Less credibility for OL degrees 60/44
Quality issues 55/40
Less focus on improving students’ life skills 35/26
5.1 Reflections on the quantitative data
Tables 1 and 2 show the advantages and challenges that emerged from faculty perceptions. They explain the
themes from the quantitative data and how they were translated in terms of percentages.
5.2 Qualitative data
Major themes emerged after analysing the semi‐structured interviews. The following section will explore
selected quotes from interview transcripts.
5.3 Main themes
5.3.1 Empowering students
Several faculty participants indicated noticeable enthusiasm in their students’ engagement in OL and BL
environments, which was surprising to them as they were not expecting it, especially when teaching
theoretical courses. One professor expressed amazement at how many posts sparked discussion and dialogue
at a level not seen in an F2F classroom environment. Another described how excited their students were to
see what video would be posted next, and how they actively engaged with it and spoke their minds. And yet
another suggested that students exhibited confidence in expressing themselves and in showcasing their
knowledge/experiences and discussing major issues, and most of all that they felt safe sharing in a way
different from F2F learning.
These insights support Ramsden (2003, p.161) in that proper implementation of online teaching and learning
practices and accompanying assessment is an ongoing dialogue.
5.3.2 More active learning environment
Ramsden (2003, p.161) describes how online learning creates space for engagement:
“Effective online learning enables students to access information in an inquiry‐based mode; it can
provide a medium for high‐level communication and collaboration through peer learning; it can
involve interaction with content in a way that enhances understanding (through simulation, for
example).”
Faculty experiences of online and blended learning captured in the interviews conducted support Ramsden’s
perspective. One faculty member describes how “online learning provided a more active learning environment
for students in which they become engaged in the process of learning. Students were active, engaging, very
few were not in every class I taught, but the majority were posting and discussing issues.”
5.3.3 Convenience in time and space
One of the major advantages of OL and BL that faculty described was the ability to access learning material and
tap into student‐teacher feedback at any time and place (even on the bus home or at the bus stop). The
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prevalence of smart phones and the connected nature of our lives are given as good reasons to teach courses
online.
The issue of convenience has been widely agreed upon in the literature. The key drivers identified (Schriver &
Giles 1999, Kaprowski 2000) are “accessibility and flexibility of delivery” and cost, particularly cheaper delivery,
reduced travel costs, and reduced time away from work. All these have been positive aspects of OL and BL. It
also seems that female participants in this study valued flexibility more than male participants, which supports
other research findings (Shea 2013).
5.3.4 Motivated students
Faculty indicated that students in OL and BL courses were much more motivated than F2F students. Some of
the faculty members perceived this increased motivation as relevant to maturity level. They saw their students
serious about and taking ownership of their learning, in many cases because they were motivated to complete
their degree without delay, and that the OL and BL environments attracted a different caliber of student to get
a degree or learn a new skill. One respondent mentioned that when teaching OL she was motivated to go
online herself and search for new ways to implement technology to engage her students (by sharing videos on
Livestream and Ustream) and update her knowledge in that direction.
6. Main challenges reported
Despite the fact that the number of faculty members participating in OL and BL is on the rise, there still appear
to be reluctant faculty members who are skeptical and pessimistic of its future. Some faculty members find OL
a daunting part of their job. One commented that they are “tired of being glued to the computer screen many
hours a day,” while for another “it is a challenge to give the lecture in the synchronous system for two
different courses per day.” Nonetheless, the number of higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia
implementing or moving towards offering online courses and degrees is on the rise to accommodate the high
demands of different demographics of students seeking education. One of the main challenges highlighted is
the lack of training and necessary ongoing support for faculty while they teach. Also, other challenges in OL
and BL reported by faculty members included the failure of infrastructure and over‐reliance on technological
support. They also worried about whether OL and BL help build learners’ characters and if they are developing
in a way conducive to the best practices in their fields and disciplines.
One respondent observed that the university should focus on workshops for pedagogical training designed
especially for faculty members who are required to teach OL and BL, noting that “the success of an institution
is not in the number of courses taught online or students registered for a class, but in how effective the
teaching is and how efficient the faculty members are.”
Inclusion of different learning styles and acceptance of differences are other relevant issues that faculty
members reflected on in their interviews. One interviewee even doubted that there was space for different
learning styles in OL and BL. Ramsden (2003, p.151) has reported that “some of the challenges are
redundancy, end of face‐to‐face teaching, and the standardized production of curriculum from a digital
nucleus somewhere in North America. The most serious inadequacy is assuming that the method is the key to
good learning…no account of the individual learner”. Another interviewee expressed concerns about whether
students in OL and BL get overburdened by all the daily posts and teaching material, and if there could be
quality in all this data. Hart (1987, p.172) states similar concerns: “What we need from educational technology
are forms of knowledge which may lead to understanding rather than information overload and confusion.”
Other critics argue that OL does not allow students to have input on or make decisions about the sequence of
content or learning activities, which may reduce rather than enhance the quality of learning (Kolowich 2012).
This affects their decision‐making and their overall life changing skills, as indicated in the interviews.
Overall, it appears that these professors have been self‐taught with minimal support from the institution.
Therefore, not providing enough workshops or training to support faculty who teach OL and BL seems to be
one of the major challenges of the sustainability of online learning.
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7. Discussion: Pedagogical implications
The findings from this mixed‐methods study have implications mainly for the development and
implementation of training for faculty members involved in OL and BL. They also outline the advantages and
challenges faculty members encounter transitioning from F2F teaching and how they can become well
prepared to overcome, accept, and maneuver them. Some faculty members indicated that they are intrigued
by OL and BL and new methods of delivery, and joined the study to learn more about it. Online learning
provides additional structure and information to support campus‐based learning and provides more flexibility
to meet the needs of students (Ramsden 2003, p.161).
The four competency areas recommended by the UNESCO (2005) coincide with the main roles of online
instructors. These roles encompass pedagogical, social, managerial, and technical tasks (Al‐Salman 2010, p.8).
Spence‐Robinson (2006, p.34) reiterates that the success of OL depends on how well the online instructor
performs/manages their concurrent roles (such as facilitator, advisor, counselor, assessor, content expert,
administrator, and so on). Ramsden (2003, pp.161‐162) suggests one of the most persistent challenges
remains ensuring that the technology facilitates learning outcomes in a quality learning environment. Whether
or not universities adequately address the pedagogical concerns of OL is an issue for further exploration.
A similar finding relates to the question of quality of teaching and learning in OL and BL environments.
Macpherson et al. state that a “lack of systematic quality evaluation of teaching” keeps institutions from
achieving the highest and most consistent quality. Faculty members in this study were apprehensive of the
technological infrastructure associated with the delivery of OL and they concurred with the need to have a
body of policy makers checking for quality in order to sustain this form of learning and teaching and to
facilitate peer learning and engagement (Ramsden 2003, p. 151).
As indicated in the literature, a variety of benefits have emerged from OL instruction, including greater
opportunity for reflection (Dede 2004), contributions from learners who tend to be silent in F2F settings but
find their voice in mediated interaction (Liaw 2002), and unique opportunities for experiencing multiple visual
representations and virtual experiences not practicable in a typical classroom setting (Owen & Liles 1998).
Moreover, a number of critical determinants for successful online learning have been identified: the necessity
for students to be actively engaged in initiating learning (Dringus 2000); differential engagement styles by
gender (Schwarz 2001); and the ways in which students incorporate prior knowledge (Nachmias & Segev
2003).
It seems, though, that this study concurs with the literature in indicating that initially skeptical faculty gain
confidence as they become more involved in OL (Allen 2012, p.8). As the interviewee responses indicate,
gaining knowledge and expertise in technology would not have been possible without hands‐on experience as
a result of their experience in OL.
8. Suggestions for improving OL and BL
As Laurillard puts it, “a university is defined by the quality of its academic conversations, not by the
technologies that service them” (2002, p.11). Integrating constructivist learning theory in online learning and
vice versa is an important milestone for any online learning and teaching to succeed. Faculty and students alike
need to construct a space where they are able to learn in their own way, and this can certainly be facilitated
through OL.
Although there seems to be an overall consensus from policy makers and stockholders that OL, BL, and other
forms of LMS are going to shape the future of the education system in Saudi Arabia, calls for the
implementation of problem‐based courses and case studies to support individualised learning seem to be
absent. Finding ways of learning that do not inhibit students’ access to content and the potential for its
understanding (Laurillard 1987) is another important consideration for policy makers. Therefore, another
significant way to improve OL and BL is by offering consistent professional development opportunities, which
currently seem quite limited for faculty who are learning to teach online. Preparation is typically provided in
the form of technology training, with little focus on the pedagogy of teaching over the web (Kolowich 2012).
Thus, necessary professional development in the form of workshops, technical support, and incentives and
rewards are crucial to support this integrated pedagogy (Al‐Salman 2011, p.12). Faculty members who have
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been teaching OL or using BL need much more support than a short workshop or training at the beginning of
their teaching.
9. Conclusion
The research literature highlights several lessons from faculty perceptions that can inform the practice of
online teaching and LMS‐based learning. Teaching in higher education is always messy, unpredictable, and
sensitive to context (Ramsden 2003, p.162). This is especially true of OL, BL, and all forms of LMS. With the
absence of faculty voices and perception, however, higher education would be even messier.
This study sought to encourage and support inclusion of faculty perceptions to fill a void in the literature on
OL. In a similar vein, it adds to the data on OL as a system of learning and teaching from which instructors can
glean quantitative insights on student engagement and the degree to which professors have succeeded in
meeting specific learning objectives (Kolowich 2012). Effective OL and BL strategies—as well as the need for
diversifying pedagogy within these environments—should be the focus of continued discussion in higher
education research literature. Professional development opportunities, therefore, should be a major goal for
universities implementing online learning as part of a sustainable technological infrastructure for the coming
years.
Appendix A
1: Faculty demographic data
Gender: Male female
Years of experiences:
Academic Rank:
Type of teaching experienced and years: OL, BL, F2F
Have you taught BL courses? How many?
2: data related to teaching
Name of course(s)
Name of institution
Time spent in this teaching
Number of students in the course
Students’ gender: males, females, both
3: How did you accommodate your teaching to be suitable for OL and BL
4: How OL differed from BL or F2F?
Appendix B
What did you want to know before teaching OL and BL
From your perspectives what are the advantages and disadvantages of OL
From your perspectives what are the advantages and disadvantages of BL
Compare between F2F, OL, and BL in the time spent teaching through each method, the way it affect the
learner, flexibility of dealing with students and their learning
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A Paradigm of Transnational Collaborative Neo‐Blended Learning:
Toward an Exchange Theory of Growth Need – Responsive Source
Transactions
Mohamed. Ziad Hamdan
Hamdan Academy for Higher Education Online, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
mz.hamdan@hotmail.com
Abstract: Contemporary digital technologies supported by Globalization are exerting profound effects on the nature and
methodologies of schooling and higher education. A new e‐learning approach has emerged out of globalized digital
technologies that is transnational blended learning. Parallel to these developments, two adverse factors are threatening
the education of generations: instable failing world economies and the masses of new students who are attending college
each year. These conflicting uncertainties are risking the professional preparation of millions of young people due to
economic shortages to finance both new colleges and the costs of students' education. Hence, an urgent well thought
methodology deems necessary to neutralize the above negative consequences. This is called here a "transnational
collaborative neo‐blended learning" (TCnBL). "TCnBL" is mainly conceptualized upon the system design framework.
Practically, It necessitates the work of three fundamental factors: The clinical academic and counseling resource teacher,
the student initiator, and the educational connected resource room. In reality however, "TCnBL" is implemented through
seven consequent systemic clinical steps. For managing students' education, the proposed paradigm is adopting a principle
of "guided open in‐ open out learning" that allows students individually and as small groups, mostly online, to initiate
learning and progress in achievement tasks without apparent external barriers. Thus, individual students are able to
proceed in leaning at anytime, anywhere, by any available means without the constraints of conventional schooling
facilities, schedules, equipments, manpowers and rigid examinations. Nonetheless, what is essentially required for the new
paradigm to thrive is to transform the traditional services, infrastructures and "mass" educational methodology of schools
and universities into non‐directive counseling, organizing, sharing and open supporting learning resource centers.
Keywords: growth needs, neo‐blended learning, responsive sources, transnational collaboration, TCnBL paradigm, TCnBL
exchange theory
1. Introduction to transnational collaborative neo‐blended learning "TCnBL"
Proceedings to "TCnBL" Teacher Centered paradigm goes back in roots to Plato Academy (387 BC ), Learner‐
Centered Paradigm (LCP) on another hand has its beginnings in Dewey's writings and movement of
Progressive education during 1897‐1930. Minter (2011) commented in this regard that the recently used terms
of learner‐centered model are merely "restatements of old ideas with new labels." While teacher centered
"mass approach" has dominated the educational scene for some 2400 years, and is fading to end within
foreseeable years, student centered appears at the forefront of Information Age and is transforming into
blended learning and elearning."(Barr and Tagg 2004; European Graduate School 2014; Rong and Yingliang
2006).
In this context, Hamdan (1992) wrote that Info‐Global Age has freed the means of education from earth to the
limitless open cyber space. Hence the behavioral fields of schooling goals, priorities, and practices are
extending their domains to infinity. What is currently observed in educational realities across the Globe is
nearly as predicted more than two decades ago.
Eric Schmidt, reinforced the above notion by predicting (Schmidt 2013; Schmidt and Cohen 2013)) that
"everyone in the world will be online by 2020". On governmental level, e.g.U.S.A, President Barack Obama
called in 2013 for "the nation's classrooms to be transformed into digital learning centers" (eSchool News
2013a). In the real practice (eSchool 2010; Stansbury 2008;Thompson 2014), State Educational Technology
Directors Association (SETDA) reported that nearly 98‐percent connectivity is observed in U.S. schools and
proposed further “High‐Speed Broadband Access for All Kids" to provide a technology‐rich learning
environment for the coming years.. However, eLearning despite rising heavily in practice worldwide, is
expected to never be the sole approach for schooling due to different nature of individuals in growth needs,
cognitive modalities, and availability of responsive sources. There will be environments that are high, fair or
low in applying elearning, but will never reach the 100% or 0% points practice in this regard.
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Mohamed. Ziad Hamdan
A group of U.S university professors convened 2014 to debate the fate of lecture room in higher education in
comparable to some online techniques. They concluded that "the future of the university won't be without
bricks, won't be all clicks, but will certainly be far more clicks than bricks" (Schaffhauser 2014); confirming thus
the lasting role of blended learning in university education.
For blended learning (BL), different practices are observed, examples of these are (Barr and Tagg 2004; Clayton
Christensen Institute 2012; Rong, Xiaomei and Yingliang 2006): Rotation, Flex, A La Carte, and Enriched online.
The Rotation type includes: Station Rotation, Lab Rotation, Flipped Classroom, and Individual Rotation. For the
effectiveness of BL, more studies endorsed this result. A national U.S survey explored 2013 this effect and
confirmed that a significant percentage of 403,000 sample supported the use of elearning in schooling (Project
Tomorrow 2013). Another U.S survey reported (Piehler 2014) that 93 % of respondents stated that digital
technologies have a positive effect on student engagement. More effective results of BL and elearning are also
reported new findings (Salazar‐Xirinachs 2014):
"Ways of thinking: that includes creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem‐solving, decision‐making
and learning.
Ways of working: that refers to communication, collaboration and teamwork.
Tools for working: most of them are based on new information and communications technologies and
information age literacy, including capabilities to learn and work through digital social networks.
Skills for living in the world: such as a sense of global and local citizenship, life and career developments;
and personal and social responsibility".
1.1 Developments of "TCnBL"
Current Globalization coupled with more accelerating developments of information and communication
technologies (ICT) are leading to the merge of a third educational paradigm and theory that is "Transnational
Collaborative neo‐blended learning (TCnBL). The TCnBL paradigm views learning as an active "open in‐ open
out" process initiated by learners based on felt needs and is realized through local, cross borders and online
transactions with qualified academic, technological, professional, and technical sources. The TCnBL theory
states that "each time individual and small group of students interact directly and online with local and cross‐
borders sources to fulfill growth needs in exchange of agreed upon return benefits, TCnBL is occurred".
TCnBL is an eclectic approach of blended education but relatively different in terms of individual students
initiatives, guided self decisions for learning in regard of goal, time, space, device, and social modality. TCnBL
is here to stay due to considerations related to human nature, personal preferences, learning styles, socio‐
economic conditions, and availability of collaborative learning sources. Having said that, TCnBL is formed
based on:
The principles of individual and humanistic psychologies. TCnBL is mainly an individualistic human approach for
education which enables individual students to progress in learning according to their personal self‐paced
speeds, study preferences, and daily engagements. Generally, individual and humanistic psychologies provide
students with rational free will for learning at the time, location, for what goal, content, and experience they
need to achieve, and by what media. Brief illustrations (West 2014) in this regard follow:
Flexibility in learning time which provides students with choices of when and how long they want to learn.
Flexibility in social modalities of learning which allow students to choose with whom they will work:
individually, with one other person, with small groups or with larger groups. Flexibility in learning techniques. ‐
Flexibility in choice of learning tasks.
The principles of collaboration, interaction, and task benefit exchange.
Transnational online/ distance driven tasks. While conventional blended learning is normally accomplished
within local environments or locations, "TCnBL" is generally a cross border cyber activity and utilizes
responsive sources and services.
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Diagnostic and formative assessment oriented activity. These measures represent the working backbone of
"TCnBL" and exert the role of guiding operational mechanisms for building learning and achievement.
Student's self initiated and field directed activity. Local and cross border responsive sources are mainly on‐
demand helpers, counselors, co‐organizers, coordinators and summative achievement proficiency evaluators.
The systemic framework for education. "TCnBL" is built upon the principle and practice of psycho‐ educational
system approach (refer to figure 2)
Technology‐enabled responsibility (INTEL and LENOVO 2014) that necessitates extensive utilization of digital
ICTs. The preliminary procedure to realize this merit in "TCnBL" is adopting a "1:1 computing", e.g. a laptop, a
mobile, a tablet or other digital devices.
The overwhelming number of new students joining yearly college education. It's estimated globally in higher
education ( Nagel 2014a) that "attendance at 2025 will increase from now 200 million students to 250 millions.
This means that four new universities would have to be constructed somewhere in the world every week with
a capacity of 20,000‐ to 30,000 just to accommodate the influx of new students". The realization of this task is
beyond financial capabilities of most developed countries, not to mention the developing and underdeveloped
ones. The promising alternative by which these human, economic and educational stalemates could be
overcome, is applying "TCnBL" paradigm in school and university education.
The contemporary demands of the college and the workforce are for students who can communicate,
collaborate, and problem‐solve. Many schools are stuck in older models, preparing students instead to acquire
memorized information and take tests. Today more than ever, society ( Lenz 2014) needs schools that can
respond to 21st century requirements by creating 21st century learning environments.
1.2 Technology enabled "TCnBL"
"TCnBL" as a “Technology‐enabled responsibility” tends, besides utilizing heavily World Wide Web, connected
halls and technology resource centers, is apt to investing any contemporary digital devices and techniques
available for students. Examples of these technologies which are intensively observed in today learning
practice are the three below:
Mobile Devices. Project Tomorrow's Annual Speak Up survey polled some 3.4 million students, teachers,
administrators and parents on the use of technology in education. The results showed (Nagel 2014b) that "All
middle and high school students have access to mobile devices and are using them for schoolwork". Another
survey (Bolkan 2014) confirmed similar findings and added that mobile devices are leading to a real paradigm
shift in the way educational technology actuates learning.
BOYD "Bring Your Own Device". eSchool News (2013b) reported that BOYD is among the ten most significant
developments in educational technology during 2013. "BYOD initiatives have become more prevalent in school
districts across the U.S.A. Further, School administrators have started to implement BYOD policies that allow
students to connect to school networks with their own devices".(Schaffhauser 2014; Stansbury 2014).
The MOOCs "Massive Open Online Courses" which adopts a path similar to that of e‐learning, is another
effective widely used tool in elearning. MOOCs are available in every academic subject from elite institutions
such as Harvard University, Kyoto University and the University of California, Berkeley and as well from other
higher education institutions. The academic status of MOOCs is currently approved by accepting MOOCs as
electives, or as normal courses by means of summative testing or content equation against specific university
standards (eCampus News 2013a;eCampus News 2013b; eCampus News 2013c; Layton 2014; New, Jake
2013;Kranz 2014). Nowadays, MOOCs (WINKLER 2014) are experiencing the turning point toward
accreditation as shifting from being free open studies to certification paid examinations.
2. The problem of schooling and higher education
It appears from the above that digital technologies are reinventing the process of education. In fact, it is
expected by means of TCnBL to produce the most profound and lasting educational revolution in how students
will learn, think critically, collaborate, communicate meaningfully, exchange ideas, solve problems, be self‐
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reliance, and maintained themselves as dignified inter‐independent persons and professionals. It is anticipated
within the coming ten years in light of accelerating comprehensive technological developments, to observe
schooling institutions being transformed to TCnBL communities. These online affiliations will collaborate
transnationally together for the welfare of all through digital knowledge and technology integrated
educational systems. Thus, to continue education committed to static massive methodologies, without
considerations for the demands of globally ongoing psycho‐ educational and technological developments, is
seen as a countering setbacks not only for the reformation of education, but also to the ultimate growth of
generations. TCnBL, its paradigm and theory could be promising learning mechanisms for enabling students to
reconcile their roles as effective native and world citizens.
Asia Society (2014) noticed the possible above schooling calamity by stating:"today’s digital age, the “Net
generation" students are constantly connected, creating, and multitasking in a multimedia world everywhere
except in school… the school system must be reinvented to be accountable for most important matters such as
teaching, learning, and assessing in new ways". Once more, TCnBL, its paradigm and theory aim at reforming
the identity and process of education for such recommended goals.
3. Theoretical and technological foundations of "TCnBL", its paradigm and theory
There are six direct foundations from which the academic and working identities of "TCnBL", its paradigm and
theory are derived: five psycho‐ social and one technological. Brief explanations follow:
Need theories. Individuals grow as they experience needs. These needs serve as drives, motives, stimuli,
impulses, or incentives for achieving better person's demands. This research utilizes two needs framework:
"Growth Needs of students and responsive source" needs of professionals for matters of belonging and self‐
actualization. Examples of need theories to which current research has psycho‐academic roots (Gawel1997;
Hamdan 2006), are: Herzberg's theory of motivation, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and Hamdan's pyramid of
individual needs as a dignified social human being. Hamdan's pyramid needs are depicted in figure 1.
Civic dignified
Civic dignified
individual
& healthy society
& healthy society
Belonging needs
for society
Commitment needs for
societal priorities
Self – actualization needs
Daily norm behavior needs
Knowledge / Progress needs
Basic daily survival needs
Figure1: Hamdan’s Pyramid of individual needs
as a dignified social being
Figure 1: Hamden’s pyramid of individual needs as a dignified social being
Response theories. Response theories are another foundation of "TCnBL" paradigm and theory of learning.
Stimulus‐Response Theories and Skinner's Operant Conditioning (AllPsych Online2011) are primarily applied,
firstly to tentatively understand how learning acts are happening in lieu of the responses of academic and
professional sources, and secondly to utilize the principles of behavioral theories in assessing the efficacy of
students' achievement of "Growth Needs." It is assumed in this regard that under the normal human and
operating conditions, the quality of learning results is dependent upon the quality of "responsive source
messages".
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Learning theories. While "TCnBL" represents in itself a new eclectic theory of learning, its academic and
psychological descents go back to major learning schools, such as (Hamdan 2003):
Thorndike's connectionism, Incremental learning, laws of readiness, effect, personal set and prepotency of
elements;
Pavlov’s and Watson’s stimulus, conditioned and unconditioned stimuli/ responses.
Guthrie’s law of contiguity.
Skinner’s operant conditioning and reinforcement.
Hull’s systemized behaviorism and habit family hierarchy.
Tolman’s purposeful behaviorism and molar behavior.
Gestalt’s theory, laws and principles.
Piaget’s cognitive adjustment theory, cognitive structures, cognitive readiness, and mental operations.
Psycho‐physiological theory and neuron cognitive mechanisms.
Freud’s Psycho‐analytic theory.
Pandora’s social learning theory.
Exchange theories. "TCnBL", its paradigm and theory have psychological and academic origins in exchange
theories of George Homans, Peter Blau, Kelley and Thibaut (Blau 1964;Homans 1958;Thibaut and Kelley 1959).
"TCnBL" and its paradigm embrace the behavior exchange theory through well thought and organized
transnational transactions among students growth needs and academic, educational, professional,
technological and technical assets of cross borders sources.
Globalization and Transnational Transactions. Due to numerous effects of Info‐ Global Age supported by digital
communication technologies, a new form of education has emerged, that is cross border schooling. Globally
transnational collaboration represents a major merit of "TCnBL" paradigm.
Jackson (2014) wrote: "a world‐class education" calls urgently for schools to produce students that are globally
competent in "world cultures, languages and how its economic, environmental and social systems work".
Further, a group of experts stated at the Globalization of Higher Education Conference (2014) that
"International partnerships will continue to be the catalyst in fostering cross‐border education. “The
combination of an international brand and a credible local partner is very powerful.” Another source (Devaney
2013) added that “Students will be able to connect virtually with teachers in different schools, expanding both
the number of classes available to them and the educator expertise”.
Digital information and communication technologies (ICTs). While previous foundations serve basically as
theoretical frameworks for "TCnBL", contemporary "ICTs" represent its operational mechanisms. "ICTs" as
observed, are changing immensely the educational methodology of schooling. The latest U.S "Digital School
Districts Survey" (Schaffhausen 2014) confirmed that American schools are using technology extensively for
management, communication, continual improvement, and for learning". Moreover, Technology Industry
survey, 2014 and other studies reported similar results (eSchool News 2010; Evans 2013; Hallahan 2014;
Stansbury 2008;Thompson 2014).
4. Systemic elements constituting "TCnBL"
TCnBL and paradigm are conceptualized in consideration of three basic systemic elements (Figure 2):
Inputs which include two factors:
Factors A‐ Learners' Growth Needs: These are basically academic, educational, professional demands felt by
individuals, interest groups, local communities, schools, college departments and institutions for attaining new
careers, knowledge, skills, values, and interests; or improving and maintaining other comparable ones. Parties
of "Factors A" initiate contacts with "Factors B‐ responsive sources" for fulfilling their "Growth Needs". Both
Factors A and B collaborate together throughout the course of exchanging transnational messages. Factors B‐
responsive sources: They are academic, educational, professional, technological, technical, and logistic
institutional assets and services available to be exchanged with cross borders "Growth Needs" beneficiaries for
financial and psycho‐academic returns.
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Mohamed. Ziad Hamdan
Processes: Transnational Collaborative interchanged online and direct transactions are dedicated to maintain
quality planning, sharing, counseling, guiding, assessing and managing to achieve intended neo‐blended
learning tasks.
Factor A Factor B
Processes
Students' Responsive
Transnational Collaboration- Feeding
Growth Needs
Oriented Tasks Sources
Outcomes: Collaborative
neoBlended Learnings
Figure 2: Components of the TCnBL paradigm: Growth Need – responsive source transactions
Outcomes ‐ Collaborative Blended Learnings: They are products of transnational online and direct transactions
between learners in "Factors A" and "responsive sources" in Factors B" to achieve stated "Growth Needs".
5. Learning steps embedded in the TCnBL paradigm
Hamdan (1993) in a work titled "Reschooling Society" presented a reformation educational approach close to
current TCnBL, and proposed seven major steps adapted here for TCnBL paradigm as follows ( figure 3):
Step one: Students visit the academic counseling resource room and submit all necessary data concerning their
individual growth and study needs. Students in this step provide individually various personal, family / social,
psychological, achievement and behavioral information, by filling specific forms, and/or answering related
questionnaires, tests or personal interviews. The available data will benefit academic counseling teachers and
other clinical‐educational personnel for understanding the nature of students needs and in suggesting
appropriate learning treatments in next steps.
Step two: Students consult with academic resource teachers concerning their needs, or declare these needs for
possible psycho‐educational achievements. The teachers may also suggest to students a need or a set of needs
that profit a forthcoming learning or personal growth demands.
Step Three: The counselor teachers and individual students review together available data for understanding the
needs and specifying its nature and degrees. In this respect, they gather and organize all available psycho‐
educational data of learning needs from different electronic records and normal sources. They look for possible
achievement gaps or inadequacies and necessary compensations. Finally, decisions are taken on future learnings
and subject areas involved: learning, re‐learning, educational, psychological, social, personal or behavioral.
Step Four: Analysis and interpretation of available data to identify factors or causes stimulating students' needs.
These factors could be: developmental concern themselves with new knowledge or skills; personal representing
forthcoming aspirations; social embedding relations with others; or behavioral exemplifying performing
competencies of a task in school or daily life. In these cases and many others, academic counselor teachers
with the collaboration of psychologists, social workers and other school professionals, identify cause and effect
relationships among observed / declared needs and their stimulating factors. The result will lead to the
formation of educational or behavioral prescriptions in next step to satisfy students' observed needs.
Step Five: Development of achievement prescriptions appropriate for fulfilling students' needs. The
prescriptions specify in clear terms the psycho‐educational demands of students, the characteristics and
standards of new achievements, the transnational collaborative responsive sources available for new learnings,
and the formative assessment activities and success criteria which students will experience while
implementing the prescriptions.
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Mohamed. Ziad Hamdan
Student Teacher & Teacher & Student
Student's consulting
visiting student diagnose data
with
educational organize
resource room resource
& providing data
various data teacher
Feedbacks
Teacher & Student
develop learning
prescriptions
Continuing
with
prescription
Assessing Implementing
Modifying
prescription individual prescriptions by
students'
Moving to individual students
next achievements
prescription
Figure 3: The constitutional seven steps of TCnBL paradigm
Step Six: Implementation of prescriptions by individual students in collaboration of local and cross borders
non‐directive counselors, academicians, info‐technologists, and other appropriate clinical‐educational
personnel. Actual student learning, achievement, and achievement assessment of "growth needs" happen
mainly throughout this step.
Step Seven: Summative evaluation of students' educational / behavioral achievements. This step will lead to one
of three schooling decisions: Moving to next prescription due to successful achievement, modifying prescription
due to emerging difficulty or sub‐learning needs, or continuing with prescription due to insufficient
performance.
Operating Factors of "TCnBL" and paradigm into Schooling and Higher Education Though principals and other
administrative personnel as Gordon (2014) informed, can transform their conventional roles to effectively
move their schools to new levels of connected teaching, learning and leadership, to promote connection of
collaborating learners and educational responsive sources regardless of their geographic distance, Still there
are three other factors that determine the identity and real practice of TCnBL on ground and cyber space schooling.
These are illustrated in the following
The Clinical Academic and Counseling Resource Teacher: TCnBL paradigm requires a new brand of teachers who
are non‐directive and professionally qualified in academic specialties, diagnostic clinical techniques, counseling and
guidance skills, and on‐demand learning assessment. It should be emphasized here that colleges of education
should reform their training programs to fit the multi‐dimensional roles of current resource teachers TCnBL
teachers of the future monitor learning environments, and mainly help learners in planning, organizing,
counseling, and co‐steering the path of learning. They will be likely coaching, but as Devaney ( 2013) stated "the
real games of learning on ground and the cyber space will be played by students".
The Student Initiator: The student of TCnBL whether is an adult or young person is self – motivated learner. He
or she initiates fulfilling the felt needs and pursues the suitable paths for achieving the required results with a
minimal degree of external guidance or help. The TCnBL student is also a committed responsible individual who
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Mohamed. Ziad Hamdan
6. Preconditions for application of "TCnBL" paradigm into school and college education
The dissemination of any educational change in order to succeed, necessitates firstly introducing deep changes
in the hosting environments in regard of human services, methodologies and infrastructures. For "TCnBL" to
thrive educationally, despite of its claimed educational merits or good intentions, four serious undertakings
should be adopted to qualify schools and colleges for its effective application. They are briefly as follows:
6.1 Changing the conventional mass centralized culture of teaching and learning
Teaching and learning, since Plato Academy 387 BC and up to the end of 20th century, are governed by strict
centralized culture where teachers act as the center of knowledge universe and absolute referenced academic
authorities. However, with intensifying ICT developments since nearly twenty years ago, time has come to
outdate this teaching paradigm for the benefit of a new learning culture, where:
Didactic teachers are transformed to none‐ directive counselors and stand‐ by academic resource
educators.
Students are self‐ motivated to perform the responsibilities of learning on both ground and the cyber
space.
Achievement moves from rote learning and literal memorization of facts to understanding, analyzing,
thinking critically, innovating, and problem solving.
Mass summative evaluation and rote examinations are substituted by diagnostic and formative assessments.
Needless to indicate that introducing above decisive cultural changes in learning and teaching necessitate
conducting at both online as well on‐ground, intensive awareness sessions, informative lectures, seminars, pre
and in‐service training, electronic chats and conferences, among others.
6.2 Professional development of school and university personnel
There is a general agreement among educators (examples follow) on the ultimate importance of professional
development of school and university workers for the successful dissemination of new programs, curricular
changes, trends, different methods and theories of learning and instruction, and digital info‐communication
technologies. The lack of pre‐service professional courses and training in education colleges, or the absence of
in‐service training of school and university personnel will lead to the failure of educational innovations
including the current proposed "TCnBL", and Paradigm. However, related shortcomings to above mandated
professional development of school and university personnel are already observed widely in U.S.A education
system, the case which urgently should not be ignored by American educators. (ASCD 2014; Daccord 2014;
eSchool News 2013c; Devaney 2013 ; Devaney 2014; Garrett 2014; Lepi 2014; Nagel 2014a; Piehler 2014; Project
Tomorrow 2013; Stansbury 2013).
6.3 Remodeling school and college environments
Introducing the new "TCnBL" and paradigm into schooling calls for renovating the physical settings of hosting
environments to fit the dissemination requirements of the intended educational change. Classroom facilities
for example should be converted to educational and counseling connected resource rooms or centers, and
provided with more digital equipments and devices. Cyber oriented human, educational, psychological,
technological, and administrative support services ought to be available in sufficient quantities and qualities.
Other Issues of high importance to effective operation of TCnBL into schooling involve improving the ratios
(Lenovo 2010) of computers per technician, students to technicians, students to all technical support staff,
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Mohamed. Ziad Hamdan
staff to plan, develop and implement the new technology. Renovating Learning assessments and policies It is
critical for the success of TCnBL to redesign learning assessments and policies to fit the demands of students'
growth needs and the requirements of TCnBL philosophy and practice. It is proposed here, beside the limited
use of summative evaluation at the end of each studied course, to adopt two types of assessment: pre‐
learning diagnostic and during learning formative assessments. Diagnostic assessment concerns itself with
specifying where each student stands in regard of required knowledge and skills before learning, specifying
thus where he or she will start and what content will learn. Diagnostic assessment could be accomplished by
conducting online/ direct interviews, counseling sessions, questionnaires, or direct questions. Formative
assessment on another hand can (Stansbury 2010) provide data useful to systemic change in policies at the
district level, and to changes in instruction at students' learning levels. Formal and informal formative
assessments measure what students are achieving. The data obtained could then be used to modify teaching
and learning goals and activities to further students' engagement and performance. Although there are more
on‐ground and software tools available for formative assessment of learning, e.g. "Socrative, Geddit, Kahoot
and Google Forms"(Clark 2014), this Author recommends for matter of simplicity and for breeding the values
of students' self‐ made decisions, self‐ confidence, self‐ initiation, self‐ continuing learning.. to provide each
study topic or course with built‐ in assignments / activities by which individual students can move in learning
from one topic or skill to another based on self assessment of her/his progress.
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Scores in Final Exams From Students who Were Involved in Face to
Face Tutorials Were Lower Than Those who Were not Involved:
Why?
Herman Herman
Universitas Terbuka, Jakarta, Indonesia
herman@ut.ac.id
herman@ecampus.ut.ac.id
Abstract: This article discusses the influences of face‐to‐face tutorials to the students’ ability in answering problems in final
test at a university which over open and distance learning. Population was students from non‐education Faculties who live
in cities of Bandung, Jakarta and Serang in the first semester of 2011. Sample was students who were involved in face to
face tutorials where the number of students in each class was ≥ 10. Scores in final exams from the students in face to face
tutorials and students not in face to face tutorials then were compared. The finding showed that mostly scores in final
exam from students who were involved in face to face tutorial were lower than those who were not involved. This fact
showed that something might be wrong in the process of face‐to‐face tutorial at the university. The policy on face to face
tutorials could also be blamed as the cause of that finding. From 99 courses, there was no single course where participants
in face to face tutorials had higher mean score in final exam than those who were not in. Seven courses did not show
significant means differences in final exam. For 92 courses, the mean scores of final exam from those who were involved in
face to face tutorial were significantly lower than those who were not. Problem could be in tutorial process. How the
students did the assignment in the class? Did they work together? Problem could also be in the policy of face‐to‐face
tutorials where it could not force the students to study hard. University needs to evaluate its policy on face to face tutorial.
Beside that university also need to evaluate the process of face to face tutorials.
Keywords: face‐to‐face tutorials, scores in face to face tutorials, scores in final test, University’s policy
1. Introduction
Learning or studying is an activity that should be done by students or persons who are involved in schools,
universities, or trainings. A set of courses in a curriculum should be finished and should be mastered by the
students. One indicator that shows their success in mastering courses is their grades (Crocker & Algina, 1986).
According to Wickham (2008) the more diligent the students the better are their grades.
Studying in classes is not everything. The students should learn much more outside the class. By definition, for
one credit course in face to face university, students should do face to face activities in the class with the
lecturer for one hour/week. But students should also learn for two hours/week, outside the class. This
definitions shows that students need to spent much more time to study outside the class. Whatever learning
systems students use whether face to face or open and distance learning, the basic line is they need to study
hard.
Open and distance learning (ODL) is a learning system that offers by ODL institutions. There is a physical
distance between the students and the lecturers (Bufford, 2005). Usually the students and lecturers are in
different places. It means students and lecturers are not in the same room/class when they are in teaching and
learning process. Therefore, teaching and learning process in ODL is not exactly similar to teaching and
learning process in face to face classes. In addition, there is almost no teaching process such as in face to face
university. Indonesian government allows the universities to open programs by using ODL. Students in one of
these universities were selected to be the sample in this research.
Theoretically, students in ODL should prepare three hours/week as individual learning for one credit course.
Students in ODL usually will depend on written materials whether in printed form or in electronic form. The
contents should be easy to be read and easy to be understood. Without any help from the lecturer/tutor,
students are supposed to be able to learn those materials by themselves.
As an ODL institution, this university also offers tutorials such as face to face and online tutorials to its
students. Score in online tutorial will contribute 30% to the final score. Online tutorials are free of charge.
Meanwhile, score in face to face tutorial will contribute 50% to the final scores. Face to face tutorials are fees
based. In the case that student takes both tutorials, the biggest contribution of one tutorial will be taken.
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Herman Herman
Students who do not involve in any tutorial will receive scores purely from final exams. In this article, the focus
is only on face to face tutorial. The question is what is the impact of face to face tutorial to the students’ scores
in final examination?
2. Tutorial
Unlike face to face universities, students in ODL generally learn from written materials called modules. Since
students mostly learned from modules, the modules should be self‐contained and self‐instruction. The
modules are usually completed by non‐printed materials in the form of CD, VCD or web supplement. Students
basically can learn by themselves or learn in groups (Buford, 2005).
Generally, ODL institutions do not have enough lecturers to teach their students. These institutions usually use
lecturers who are eligible from other institutions (outsource). Those lecturers come from reputable
universities in Indonesia. Every province in Indonesia has at least one state university and several private
universities. These lecturers can be functioning as tutors and some of them are also functioning as advisors in
graduate programs. To be involved in tutorials, the tutors should fulfill some criteria. Therefore, tutors
qualification should be unquestionable.
There are eight (8) times face to face activities under tutor supervision in the class. Some activities are tutors
presentations and class discussions where the topics are given by the tutors. To have score in discussion,
students must actively involve by giving their opinion. Tutors then will record the students’ responds as
materials in giving a score. There are also three assignments that must be done in the class. These assignments
are similar to the tests. However, the number of items in assignment is not too many since the students only
have one hour to answer the questions. Tutors then evaluate the assignments and give the scores. The grade
in tutorials will be based on scores in students’ activities in the class discussions and also be based on scores
from the three assignments.
Basically, face to face tutorials in ODL universities are almost similar to the class activities in face to face
university. Tutors explain some concepts, ask some questions, create discussions, and give assignments.
However, not every topic in the modules can be covered in face to face tutorials. In face to face universities,
the number of meetings in the class is usually 16 times. In face to face tutorials, the number of meeting is only
eight times, including the three (3) assignments. Each meeting in face to face tutorials needs two hours and
each assignment needs one hour. Since the number of meeting is only eight times, tutors need to give selected
materials which is difficult to be understood by the students. Tutors need to manage that limited time in order
to reach optimum result in tutorials. Therefore, tutors need to have good ability in communication and need to
have good mastery in a course since they need to explain difficult content to the students.
Tutors also need to have ability in motivating the students. Theoretically, students are adult students. They
should already have high motivation in learning. However, since they are working people, tutors still need to
remind them that they must have good preparation to do the final exam. Motivating students is not as easy as
saying it. Even though, the students are mature, but as working people it is not easy to switch between the
working climate to the learning climate (Nonis & Hudson, 2006).
Synergy between tutors and students is important. Tutors give course materials that are assumed to be
difficult to the students. The students need to study hard in order to master the courses. Basically, students
have to arrange their time that fit to them as much as they can. It is clear that without studying hard, students
will have nothing to be mastered. Without studying hard, their score will be low.
3. Method
The research was conducted in year of 2011 at semester 1. Population in this study was all students who
registered in 2011 at one University in Indonesia which offer ODL who lived in cities of Jakarta, Bandung and
Serang. Basically there are four Faculties in this University which are Faculty of Education, Faculty of
Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Economic, and Faculty of Politics and Social Sciences.
Students in Faculty of Education are teachers and mostly from elementary schools. This Faculty has the largest
number of the students. It is assumed that these students have already had manner in how to learn. Faculty of
Mathematics and Natural Sciences has the smallest number of the students. It is hard to find in the tutorials
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Herman Herman
classes that contain more than 10 students. Faculty Economics and Faculty of Politics and Social Sciences have
moderate number of the students. Therefore, only courses from study programs in Faculty of Economics and
Faculty of Politics and Social Science were taken in this study.
There were 218 courses that offered face to face tutorials at that time. However, only 99 courses were chosen
in this study, because there were at least 10 students who were involved in face to face tutorials. Students’
means scores in final exams were compared between those who were in face to face tutorials and those who
were not.
Scores in final exam were taken from University’s database. From central limit theorem, means value from any
distribution is normally distributed (Hoog and Craig, 1978). Therefore, t‐test was used in comparing the mean
scores from the two groups.
4. Result
Table 1: Students’ scores in face to face tutorial for 99 courses
Scores in Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
F2F Tutorials 3.00 100.00 80.621 12.65465
Table 1 shows the descriptive scores of face to face tutorials for 99 courses. Students mean scores in face to
face tutorial was quite high. Even though some students got lower scores, 85% of their scores were above
70.00 (see Table 3).
Table 2: Students means scores in final exams for 99 courses
Status N Mean Std. Dev.
Final Exam Scores Not in F2F tutorial 7940 54.759 8.064
In F2F tutorial 10214 43.860 11.901
Mean scores in final exam for 99 courses from those who were not in and those who were in face to face
tutorials are showed in Table 2. The difference between their mean scores was almost 11.00. This discrepancy
is quite big. In addition, standard deviation of final exam scores from those who were in face to face tutorials
was also higher. It means, the distributions of scores in final test from the students in face to face tutorials
were wider.
Table 3: Distribution of students’ scores who involved in face to face tutorials for 99 courses
Scores in F2F Scores in Final Exam
No. Frequency %
Tutorial Min Max X SD
1 00<F2F<=10 9 .1 22 48 37.507 10.421
2 10<F2F<=20 44 .4 13.33 71.11 38.129 12.029
3 20<F2F<=30 68 .7 13.33 78.00 45.921 14.671
4 30<F2F<=40 62 .6 16.00 68.89 43,771 13.102
5 40<F2F<=50 75 .7 12.00 90.00 38.069 11.860
6 50<F2F<=60 240 2.3 18.00 82.00 41.059 10.808
7 60<F2F<=70 1032 10.1 14.00 88.00 42.239 10.979
8 70<F2F<=80 2659 26.0 14.00 88.00 44.236 11.358
9 80<F2F<=90 3708 36.3 11.11 86.00 45.343 12.064
10 90<F2F<=100 2317 22.7 10.00 86.67 42.331 12.230
Total 10214 100.0
95.1% of the students’ scores were above 60.00. It can be seen from Table 3 that only 4.9% of scores were
below 60.00. Usually, students with scores smaller than 60 were the students who did not involved completely
in face to face tutorials activities. They could be absence in some of face to face activities, or they did not finish
the assignments in the class.
All students’ means scores in final exams from those who were in face to face tutorials were not higher than
those who were not in. Only six courses had statistically equal means scores. For the rest of 93 courses,
students’ scores in final exams from those who were in face to face tutorials were lower than those who were
not in.
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5. Discussion
With the assumption that students who were involved in face to face tutorials will study much more than
students who were not involved, scores in final test for those who were in face to face tutorials should be
larger than those who were not in. However, in this study that assumption was violated. Finding showed that
scores in final test for those who were in face to face tutorial was smaller than those who were not. The
question is why? The simplest answer is “students who were in face to face tutorials did not study as hard as
those who were not in face to face tutorial”. The next question is why it happened?
To pass the course, students need to have score ≥ 55.00. For 85% of the students in face to face tutorials, to
reach the final score of 55.00, they only need to have scores of 40 or less in final test. If these students were
satisfied just to pass the course, those scores in final test was more than enough.
There was nothing wrong with these students behavior. Their target probably is only to pass the course. Since
the contribution of face to face tutorial to the final score is 50%, they could use this opportunity to reach the
minimum criteria of passing grade. It seems that it is not too difficult to reach high score in face to face
tutorial. However in fact, these students did not reach high score in final exams. These students were not too
curious in reaching high scores. There are so many questions that need to be answered from this finding.
What did students do in face to face tutorial? What did tutors do in evaluating the students so that the
students had high scores? What was wrong in the face to face tutorial process that could not force the
students to study hard? Did the policy in contributing the tutorial scores to the final test scores does not
motivate the students to study hard? Does University need to have another policy to force the students to
study harder?
According to Koriat and Nussinson (2009), self learning will be effective if it is monitored. Monitoring students
learning is important to see the degrees of course mastery. Monitoring and controlling (MC) the process that
occur during learning process may be conceptualized as involving the operation of meta‐level processes
(Nelson & Narens, 1990). The operation of meta‐level processes oversee object‐level operations (monitoring)
and return signal to regulate this operation in a top‐down fashion (control). This framework used the
assumption that monitoring is driving and guiding control operations. As an example, in self‐learning students
are assumed to monitor the degrees of course content mastery. The effort to study the course content will be
stopped whenever the desired level of mastery is already reached (Dunlosky & Hertzog, 1998).
The model of monitoring‐control (MC) is assumed to underlie a meta‐cognitive regulation. Beside the MC
model, Koriat, Ma’ ayan, & Nussinson (2006) introduced control‐monitoring (CM) model. They argued that in
general meta‐cognitive monitoring guides behavior. But sometimes monitoring itself is based on the feedback
from control operation. As an example, a strong feeling of knowing during the attempt to retrieve information
from memory may motivate increased effort in searching for the elusive target. That feeling may itself be
based on feedback from attempting to search for the target‐the accessibility of partial information following
initial search (Koriat, 1995; Koriat & Levy‐Sadot, 2001).
From these two models, it seems that MC model is the closest to the phenomena that students will stop their
effort when they know that they will pass the course. Dunlosky & Hertzog (1998) statement is also fit to that
phenomena. Students stopped or decreased their effort in studying whenever they know that their score in
face to face tutorial was already high.
Motivation affects the students’ effort in reaching the good grade. Many studies showed this statement.
According to Pintrich & Schunk (1996), motivation will influence how and why people learn, and how they
perform. Motivation was found to be the best predictor of students’ achievement (Oxford, Park‐Oh, Ito, &
Sumrall, 1993a, 1993b). Another study also found that motivation and attitude were the best predictors of
students’ grade point average (Hendrickson, 1997). It seems that tutors have not been succeeded in
motivating the students to study harder.
According to Deci, Ryan & Williams (1996) and Sheldon & Biddle (1998) students vary in their engagement and
their enthusiasm for schoolwork. They also vary in the degree to which they go on to demonstrate lifelong
interest in education and learning. Self determination theory (SDT) analyzes these differences by focusing on
the content of the goals that people have for learning and the learning context within which the goals are
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pursued (Deci, Ryan, & Williams 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Within SDT, learning is an active process that
functions optimally when students’ motivation is autonomous for engaging in learning activities and
assimilating new information (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
A research has examined qualities of the social context that undermine autonomous motivation and that
facilitate autonomous motivation. Social context that are controlling what people should do (pressure people
through use of incentives, deadlines, and punishments or through reliance on instructions) have been found to
diminished autonomous motivation (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999). This result in decreased persistence and
poorer learning, especially conceptual learning requires deep processing of information (Grolnick & Ryan,
1987). Conversely, environment that support autonomy have been found to enhance autonomous motivation
and facilitate learning, test performance, and adjustment (Black & Deci, 2000; Ryan & Connell, 1989). As open
and distance learning institution, University gives much freedom to its students to study anytime fit to them,
whenever they want, by using their learning styles. However, many of them did not optimize that opportunity.
Therefore, the learning materials which they were mastered was not enough to cover the materials in final
exam. As consequence, many of them received low score in final exam.
Almost all students in ODL institutions are adult students. They are usually working people. As working people
most of their time is for working. They need to have good strategy in managing their time in order to learn
course materials. Too much time in working has consequence that they will lose the course. Too much time in
learning, it will reduce their income. They need to balance their time. According to Nonis & Hudson (2006)
students spend less time in studying and more time in working is two trends that all colleges and universities
have to confront. Lowering academic standards by minimizing effort and by expecting less achievement is a
sort‐time strategy.
The good news from the findings was that written materials in University are very good. Basically, most of the
students who did not involved in face to face tutorials learned from modules. Most of these students had
significantly higher scores than those who were in face to face tutorials. As additional information, the
modules were developed by experts to be self‐contain and self‐instruction. Students basically do not need
tutor/lecturer to guide them in studying. Every material for each goal is already prepared in the module.
Moreover, students can also learn from other sources as long as consistent with the instructional goals.
6. Conclusion
There are some possibilities that can cause the low score of final test for the students who were involved in
face to face tutorial. First possibility is students were already satisfied with the score from face to face
tutorials. They didn’t need high score in final test in order to pass the course. Their target is only passing the
course. They also did not have high motivation in having grade B or A. Theory of Monitoring‐control (MC) seem
to be fit for this situation. Students will decrease their effort in studying for final exam, since they know that
they already have high score in face to face tutorial.
Another possibility is because the process in face to face tutorials could not force the students to study harder.
Tutors could not motivate the students to study harder in preparing for final exams.
In contrast, students who were not involved in face to face tutorials had significantly higher score in final
exam. Basically they learn from modules. This fact showed that the content in modules is not difficult to be
understood. Beside that, they studied harder than the students who were in face to face tutorials. Since they
study mostly from modules, therefore, the modules are really self‐contain, self‐instruction and not too difficult
to be studied.
It is suggested that University needs to revise its policy that 50% of scores in face to face tutorials contribute to
the final score. This policy does not challenge the students to learn properly, to learn harder in preparing the
final tests. University can also make a new policy that the students should reach a certain score in final exam in
order to use their scores in face to face tutorials. Something wrong could also happened in the process of face
to face tutorial, such as how the students do their assignment. Therefore, University needs to evaluate this
process.
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242
Digitalizing Feedback: Reducing Teachers’ Time Investment While
Maintaining Feedback Quality
Janneke van der Hulst, Patris van Boxel and Sanne Meeder
VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
j.vander.hulst@vu.nl
p.van.boxel@vu.nl
s.meeder@vu.nl
Abstract: Research shows that feedback on students’ writings can greatly help students to learn, provided that the
feedback is given in a timely manner, is sufficiently informative for the students and that opportunities are present for
students to act on the feedback (Hattie and Timperley, 2007; Shute, 2008; Gibbs, 2010). In practice, however, it appears
that in spite of the amount of time teachers spend on assessing their students’ work, the potential gains to be made from
feedback, frequently remain untapped by students. In the last decade, there has been a steady growth in the area of
dedicated marking and feedback tools, including marking software for written essays (Heinrich and Milne, 2012; van Boxel,
2012). The practical and pedagogical benefits these tools offer, include easier assignment handling and storage of
feedback, and more varied ways in which feedback on written student work can be constructed. Whilst the rich potential
for more effectiveness of teacher’s marking practices is starting to emerge, it is recognised that the real impact is yet to be
illustrated, and that further evidence is required, especially with regards to educators’ points of view (Buckley and Cowap,
2013; Herman et. al, 2014). This paper presents the results of a case study which took place in an introductory Psychology
course taken by 500 first‐year students at the VU University Amsterdam. Twelve teachers provided first year Psychology
students with online feedback on a series of written essays using the GradeMark marking tool. Different feedback types
were employed at various stages of the essay writing process, such as text annotations and grading forms (‘rubrics’). The
tutors all made use of the same set of pre‐developed feedback fragments and rubrics. The first aim of the case study was
to investigate whether the shift to an online marking process would help teachers to develop a more efficient workflow,
and consequently save time. The second aim of the study was to investigate how the use of different types of digital
feedback instruments would contribute to the quality of the feedback. Teachers’ and students’ perceptions regarding
effectiveness and feedback quality were obtained via online questionnaires and interviews with the course coordinators.
Results show that the use of GradeMark did save time according to half of the teachers. Particularly text‐annotated
feedback that is directly linked to the work of the students, combined with personal summarizing remarks, was perceived
as quality‐enhancing by students as well as teachers. The perceptions of the effectiveness of a rubric (grading forms)
revealed a more mixed picture amongst both groups. Recommendations for implementation of a digital feedback tool in
large courses with multiple teachers are discussed.
Keywords: digital feedback, reduction of teacher time, efficiency, feedback quality, large classes, implementation of
feedback tool, text‐annotation, rubrics
1. Introduction
It is clear that providing feedback is an important teacher task. Review studies by Hattie and Timperley (2007)
and Shute (2008) have shown that feedback can greatly help students to achieve their learning goals. Feedback
on students’ writings can greatly help students to learn, provided that the feedback is given in a timely
manner, is sufficiently informative for the students and that opportunities are there for students to act on the
feedback (Hattie and Timperley, 2007; Shute, 2008; Gibbs, 2010). Nicol (2009) gives specific recommendations
for good teacher feedback: it needs to be understandable for students, selective, specific, timely,
contextualized, nonjudgmental, balanced, forward looking and transferable.
In practice, however, it appears that in spite of the amount of time teachers spend on assessing their students’
work, the potential student gains to be had from feedback frequently remain untapped. This is regrettable, not
just because students are missing out on opportunities to learn, but also because it is important that the
limited amount of teaching time available is used as effectively as possible. The question therefore arises as to
whether, and how, the practice of giving feedback can be made more effective and more efficient.
In the last decade, there has been a steady growth in the area of essay feedback and marking software
including Moodle workshops, GradeMark (Turnitin), Waypoint, Markin and WebMark (Welch, 2012; van Boxel,
2012). Heinrich and Milne (2012) and Welch (2012) identify both practical and pedagogical benefits of using
marking software. The digital management of written assignments provides logistical benefits which can result
in time and cost savings and a generally more efficient marking ‘workflow’ for the teacher. Online marking can
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Janneke van der Hulst, Patris van Boxel and Sanne Meeder
also contribute to better feedback quality. It requires teachers to make their feedback criteria explicit, which
may signify a departure from their former, more implicit ways of marking, instead using predefined
assessment criteria. The possibility these tools offer to re‐use stored and categorized feedback makes it easier
for teachers to provide students with feedback at crucial times in the learning process.
Marking tools often enable feedback to be delivered via rubrics. Heinrich and Milne (2012) describe these as
being the ‘centre of an educationally sound marking system’. A rubric is a matrix in which multiple assessment
criteria for an assignment are identified (e.g. grammar, methodology, structure) and graded in terms of
different levels of achievement (unsatisfactory, satisfactory, good, excellent). For each level, a qualitative
description may be given, providing the student with insight in both the required level of performance and his
actual performance. The growth perspective offered by a rubric redefines the concept of feedback to that of
feedforward. A rubric can also be used to provide higher‐level feedback over the lifespan of a course or even
curriculum (e.g. to monitor academic skills progress amongst students).
Research to date indicates that students generally have a positive attitude towards the online handling of
assignments, due to the time and place independent submission of their work. Factors identified by students
which contribute towards the quality of online feedback include greater anonymity, a greater volume of
comments compared to paper‐based marking, and feedback being connected to the point of error in the text,
as opposed to handwritten comments in the margin (Herman et. al., 2014). Teachers also tend to display a
positive attitude towards online handling and marking of assignments, pointing at increasing efficiency of the
marking process, and easier and quicker marking of certain assignment formats (Buckley and Cowap, 2013).
Whilst the potential for more effectiveness of teacher’s marking practices is starting to emerge, it is recognised
that the real impact is yet to be illustrated, and that further evidence is required, especially with regards to
educators’ points of view (Buckley and Cowap, 2013; Herman et al, 2014).
This case study was conducted to increase insight in the use of digital feedback tools. Digital tools can be
designed with varying affordances. The specific design of a feedback tool can be expected to shape the way
feedback is given, making some ways of use more likely than others. The contribution of our case study to the
current research is an in‐depth look at how the feedback giving process is implemented within specific marking
software and the users’ experiences with the software.
Affordances of the GradeMark grading tool
The marking software used was GradeMark. There are reasons to expect that the use of this grading tool can
potentially raise the feedback quality and save teachers’marking time.
Clarity and formulation of feedback
First of all, feedback has to be understandable for students; a basic prerequisite being that feedback should be
readable. Digital feedback eliminates the issue of illegible teachers’ handwriting. Secondly, the way feedback is
formulated is important; feedback should be comprehensible and encouraging for students in order to be
effective (Nicol, 2009; Lizzio & Wilson, 2008; Agius & Wilkinson, 2013).
Since in GradeMark feedback can be stored and re‐used, it has to be formulated only once. This can make it
worthwhile for teachers to invest time in the formulation of carefully crafted feedback.
Advantages of annotations
Students value focused and specific comments, especially when it comes to formative feedback. In their
literature review on the perceptions of students (and teachers) of written feedback, Agius and Wilkinson
(2013) concluded that students prefer margin comments (annotations) to feedback on cover sheets, because
annotations give them more guidance on where and how to improve their writing. In GradeMark, it is possible
to link feedback comments to highlighted elements in the submission, which allows for showing students
specific examples in their work where the feedback applies to. This can be expected to contribute to the
students’ understanding of and appreciation for the feedback.
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Alignment with assessment criteria
As has been noted in the literature, alignment of the feedback to the instructional context is essential for
learning (Nicol, 2009). GradeMark offers the functionality to link an assignment to a rubric, which allows for
learning goals and assessment criteria to become more transparant. In Grademark, the rubric can be made
visible for students before they start working on their assignment, which can guide them during their work.
Personalized feedback
Feedback has a relational and socioemotional aspect as well. If students perceive that the assessor is engaged
with their submission, they find the feedback fairer and more acceptable (Lizzio & Wilson, 2008). Thus,
feedback should have a personal touch, revealing the engagement of the marker with the student’s work. In
GradeMark especially the ‘General comments’ and the possibility to create personal annotations in the
students’ texts, provide possibilities for personalized feedback.
Timeliness of feedback
The digital mode can contribute to the timely delivery of feedback to the extent that the online grading tool
saves teachers’ time which can result in faster delivery of the feedback. Secondly, because students have
access to their feedback anytime they don’t have to wait till next class meeting for receiving feedback.
Other quality issues are less depending on the digital mode and are more determined by the design of the
learning situation (e.g. if there is a possibility for students to act upon the feedback, for instance by the
application of multistage assignments) and the content of the feedback (e.g. is the feedback directed to the
task or the writing process).
Time saving for teachers
Teachers spent a considerable amount of time on providing feedback on students’ works. Digital marking tools
may provide logistical benefits which make the ‘workflow’ for the teacher more efficient. Grademark helps
teachers to control their workload, by the central collection and storage of essays, the overview of students
that submitted their papers, the in‐built check for plagiarism, and the possibility to re‐use feedback comments.
2. Description of the case study
2.1 Educational context
The purpose of the case study was to investigate whether the employment of this digital feedback practice by
a team of teachers would:
help teachers to keep the time spent on giving feedback under control
increase the quality of feedback through the use of different feedback types
encourage a more consistent feedback approach by teachers
The case study was carried out from September to October 2012. The course was a first‐year Bachelor course
on Methodology, taken by five hundred students on the education and psychology study programmes. The
aim of the course is to give an initial introduction to scientific thinking and research methods. It is an intensive
course in which students write several assignments. Small‐group tutorials were given by twelve –mostly junior
‐ teachers, who were also responsible for assessing the assignments and providing feedback on them. These
tutorial teachers were working under the supervision of an experienced course coordinator.
Each student wrote six assignments in six weeks, on which the teachers gave written feedback. Students had
to receive their feedback quickly enough so that they could use it to improve or correct the next version of
their assignments. This placed considerable strain on the teachers, who had to provide feedback on a large
number of assignments in a very short time. In previous years, there was a great deal of variation in how
teachers gave feedback to students on this course. The coordinating teacher hoped that the use of a joint
feedback instrument would increase the consistency of the feedback among the teachers.
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The large scale of the course also generated some practical problems, such as organizing the logistics; the
administration of the assignments after they had been handed in; and distribution of feedback and marks back
to the students. The course coordinator envisaged that using GradeMark would therefore also lead to an
improvement in assignment management procedures.
2.2 Description of the feedback process and marking tool
Feedback software – The software that was used for giving feedback was GradeMark (part of iParadigm’s
Turnitin software suite). Teachers and students accessed the GradeMark feedback environment via the
university’s virtual learning environment (Blackboard). GradeMark allows for feedback to be given by means of
annotations in the text, a marking scheme (’rubric’), general comments (either written or in the form of a short
voice recording). In this pilot all of these three functionalities were used.
Text annotations – GradeMark provides the possibility to built up a library of feedback commonly‐used
feedback (known as ‘QuickMarks’). These QuickMarks can be placed at specific places in the students’
writings, and can be linked to specific text elements (e.g. to a paragraph, a sentence, or a single word).
Teachers can formulate personalized text annotations, or can drag and drop re‐usable feedback comments
from a library.
In this course, five ‘QuickMark’ sets were developed, which related to the different sections of a research
report: Introduction, Method, Results, Conclusion, and Discussion, with a total of thirty feedback fragments. In
addition, a sixth set of ‘general’ comments was devised (in relation to the use of language, references to
literature, and a list of positive comments). Each QuickMark set consists of a pre‐constructed feedback section
and space for additional comments which the tutorial teachers could give to individual students as a means of
further explaining the pre‐written feedback (see Figure 1). Formative feedback was given for the first five
assignments by means of these standardized QuickMark sets.
Figure 1: Example of a Quickmark set (right window) and QuickMark text annotation in a student essay
Rubrics ‐ furthermore, two rubrics were developed. They were used formatively (for the first assignment) and
summatively (for the final version of the report.). The rubric matrix consisted of a four‐point performance scale
and predefined assessment criteria. The cells of the matrices described the reached and required level of
performance in qualitative statements. The aim was to provide students with information on their current
level of achievement, and guidance towards further progress on the performance scale. For the final version of
the report, the rubric was used to determine the assignment grade.
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Janneke van der Hulst, Patris van Boxel and Sanne Meeder
Figure 2: Example of a performance rubric
General comments – the teachers used the functionality to write general comments for the whole of the
student’s work. General comments are free text, and can range from a few words till a number of paragraphs.
Division of duties – The Quickmarks and rubrics were designed by the course coordinator and an experienced
teacher. The Quickmarks were formulated on the basis of feedback fragments which had been developed in
previous years by a number of teachers who – on an individual basis – had started to use GradeMark.
Educational training and technical support were provided by the central educational support service of the
university, which also carried out the case study evaluation.
Teacher training – All the teachers attend a workshop, which was aimed primarily at discussing the goal of
giving feedback in the context of this course, developing a shared interpretation of the predefined feedback
fragments, and agreeing on how to grade the students’ papers. Among the topics discussed was for example
the emphasis that should – or should not – be placed on spelling and grammatical errors vis‐à‐vis feedback on
the content of the students’ assignments. A practical instruction on how to use the digital feedback tools was
part of the workshop as well.
2.3 Research methodology
A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in this case study. Quantitative
data were derived from two different online questionnaires (a teacher and student version). The
questionnaires contained statements (five‐point Likert scale), yes/no questions, and open‐ended questions.
The Likert‐scale questions were coded from ‐ ‐ (code 1, ‘strongly disagree’) to ++ (code 5, ‘strongly agree’).
Qualitative data were gathered by means of open‐ended questions in the questionnaires and in an interview
with the course coordinators.
3. Results
3.1 Response
At the end of the course, students and teachers were asked to complete an online questionnaire. Hundred and
one out of the 500 students completed this (a response rate of 20%), and seven of the twelve teachers.
3.2 Results from the student evaluation
Receiving digital feedback
In general, students were positive about using a digital feedback tool. A clear majority found it easy to hand in
their work digitally (M=4.2; SD 0.73) and to consult their teacher’s feedback online (M=4.0; SD 0.88).
Speed and quantity of the feedback
The students were reasonably positive about the speed with which they received feedback (M=3.65; SD 0.94),
and they were satisfied with the amount of feedback they received (M=3.87 SD 0.92).
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Quality of the feedback
The students were also positive about the quality of the feedback, with more than half giving it a score of 8 or
more out of 10. Eighty percent of the students stated that the amount of feedback was sufficient.
Affordances of different feedback types
Annotations in the text – Students value feedback that is written directly in their texts (Table 1). Qualitative
statements derived from the questionnaire indicate that students appreciate the fact that the feedback is
directly linked to specific text fragments in the essay, and that it usually contains enough concrete information
on how to make improvements. It was perceived by a majority of the students as being ‘motivational’. Ninety‐
two percent answered the question whether ‘they would like to receive this type of text‐annotated feedback
in future assignments’ affirmatively.
Table 1: Student evaluation of feedback via text annotation
Student views on the value of text annotation as a means of Av Sd
feedback
I found the feedback in the text clear 3,81 0,74
I found the feedback in the text motivational 3,81 0,77
The feedback in the text helped me improve my work 4,20 0,63
Rubrics – The students’ appreciation of the rubrics shows a somewhat less clear‐cut picture. Rubrics get the
highest valued with regards to their function of making assessment criteria more transparent. It can also
provide insight in strong and weak points in the students’ performance.
Some students commented that they would like to see the improvements or corrections they need to make
set out in more concrete terms. Also, the relationship between the rubric and their final mark was not always
entirely clear. Nonetheless, a large majority of students (89%) stated that they would like to be assessed for
other subjects in the future by means of a rubric.
Table 2: Student evaluation of feedback via rubrics
Student views on the value of rubrics as a means of feedback Av Sd
The rubric made clear on which aspects my work was being 3,87 0,58
assessed
The rubric gave me a better idea of what my strong and 3,62 0,81
weak points are
The rubric helped my to understand the grade I was given 3,32 0,90
3.3 Results from the teachers’ evaluation
Giving digital feedback – Teachers were almost unanimously positive on giving digital feedback on written
assignments. They indicated that the system was easy to get used to, and that it was a helpful tool when
evaluating students’ work. All teacher respondents indicated they would like to use digital marking in the
future, both for giving feedback and for grading student work. The course coordinator also considered it a
permanent future method for marking, stating that ‘it is an excellent tool to work with ‐ it would seem very
old‐fashioned to go back to marking papers with the help of a pen again’.
Quality of feedback – Teachers mostly perceived the use of a QuickMark set and the summarizing remarks as
contributing to the quality of their feedback. The rubric was not felt to considerably enhance quality. Some
teachers thought that this particular rubric was too broadly formulated, or insufficiently relevant to the points
being assessed. In spite of this, a majority (60%) would still like to use a rubric to give feedback and assess
work in future courses.
Enhancing consistency – According to the course coordinator, this method of working indeed led to more
consistent feedback than in previous years, stating ‘everyone –both teachers and students – is pulling now in
the same direction’. It also allowed to reach easier agreement in the case a second marker was brought in. The
teachers were less unanimous when it came to responding to the statement, “whether the use of the same
rubric meant that the feedback or evaluations closely corresponded” (20% agreed, 40% disagreed, and 40%
neither agreed nor disagreed).
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Janneke van der Hulst, Patris van Boxel and Sanne Meeder
Saving time and improving the logistics – Half of the respondents indicated that GradeMark saved time with
regards to marking. Estimates of the actual amount of time saved, ranged from ten to thirty percent.
It should be pointed out that some teachers did not believe that the software provided optimum support with
regard to the logistics of checking work. One feature they missed, was having a clear visual overview of which
papers they already provided with feedback, and which ones not, meaning they something had to open papers
again to double check whether they already had inserted feedback. Also, the system did not provide optimum
support for the creation of separate subgroups for each teacher.
4. Conclusion and discussion
The most important conclusion from this case study is that Turnitin is a useful tool for teachers to provide
feedback quickly to a large group of students. The use of the online feedback tool is appreciated by both
teachers and students alike, which is consistent with earlier studies (Herman et.al., 2014). In this study, we
went one step further than in previous studies, by looking in‐depth at the functionality of the feedback tool
used. This revealed that students and teachers showed a high appreciation especially of text annotations in the
form of QuickMarks, standardized and reusable feedback comments that are linked to specific text passages.
Students found this form of feedback clear and motivational, and an excellent tool when improving their texts.
This confirms the preference for margin comments that was reported by Agius and Wilkinson (2013).
The rubrics were also rated fairly highly by the students, although they were less effective – as far as the
students were concerned – at making clear what the evaluation of their work was based upon. Some teachers
struggled with using the rubric, and believed that the relationship between the mark (for an assignment) and
the textual corroboration of the mark did not ‘correspond’ when used summatively. The coordinator thought
that in some areas the rubric was formulated too “rigidly”. A new rubric has since been devised on the basis of
these experiences.
In the view of the coordinator, the use of one single assessment system for essays has indeed helped to
improve consistency in the feedback given by different teachers. This is primarily due to the use of a common
QuickMark set. The teachers were very willing to use a generic set of comments, perhaps because they are
relatively young and less experienced, and “still finding their way when it comes to carrying out evaluations”. If
the tool is used in this way, it can indeed contribute to the quality of feedback.
The teachers reported to have saved some time during this case study. Bearing in mind that a great deal of
time was initially invested in developing the feedback, as the QuickMark set gets re‐used in future courses and
teachers have become familiar with the software, time savings should even be more significant. In addition,
the teachers believe that the feedback set can also be used in other courses they teach. The coordinator and
co‐developer spent a lot of time developing the set, but the investment has been worthwhile: the availability
of a feedback instrument with a collection of high quality, standard feedback comments, which allows the
important task of providing feedback to be carried out effectively. The benefits of such an instrument are
expected to be reaped in the years to come in the teaching of methodology courses and beyond.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the teachers and students of the ‘Methodology I’ course at the Department of Psychology
and Education (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) for their contribution to this case study.
References
Agius, N.M. & Wilinson, A. (2013). Students’ and teachers’ views of written feedback at undergraduate level: a literature
review. Nurse Education Today, Available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2013.07.005
Buckley, E. and Cowap, L. (2013), “An evaluation of the use of Turnitin for electronic submission and marking and as a
formative feedback tool from an educator's perspective”, British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 44, pp 562–
570.
Gibbs, G. (2010) Using assessment to support student learning. Leeds: Leeds MetPress.
Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. (2007) “The Power of Feedback”, Review of Educational Research, Vol. 77, No. 1, March, pp 81–
112.
Heinrich E. and Milne J. (2012) “Pathways for improving support for the electronic management and marking of
assignments”, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp 279‐294.
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Herman H. M. Tse, Anne M. H. Christie and Vishal Rana (2014), “Perceptions of online marking in management education”.
International Journal of Educational Research and Development, Vol. 3(5), pp. 084‐091, May 2014 Available online at
http://www.academeresearchjournals.org/journal/
Lizzio, A. & Wilson, K. (2008). “Feedback on assessment: students’ perceptions of quality and effectiveness”. Assessment &
evaluation in higher education, Vol. 30, (3), 263‐275.
Nicol, D. (2009). Good design of written feedback for students. In: McKeachy. Teaching Tips: Strategies, research and
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theory for college and university teachers. 13 edition, Houghton Miffin, New York. Pp. 108‐124.
Shute, V.J. (2008) “Focus on formative feedback”, Review of Educational Research, Vol. 78, No. 1, pp 153‐189.
Van Boxel, P. (2013) “Trends and Developments in On‐screen Marking and Grading of Essays” [abstract]. In: Book of
Abstracts of the 18th International Conference on Technology Supported Learning and Teaching; November 28‐30;
Berlin; Online Educa Berlin, p 61.
Welch, L. (2012) “The role of computer aided marking and feedback in the assessment process: a critical review”. [online],
The University of Edinburgh, Available online http://online.education.ed.ac.uk/2012/02/lyndsey‐welch‐the‐role‐of‐
computer‐aided‐marking‐and‐feedback‐in‐the‐assessment‐process‐a‐critical‐review/
250
The Scoring of Matching Questions Tests: A Closer Look
Antonín Jančařík and Yvonne Kostelecká
Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Education, Prague, Czech Republic
antonin.jancarik@pedf.cuni.cz
yvona.kostelecka@pedf.cuni.cz
Abstract: Electronic testing has become a regular part of online courses. Most learning management systems offer a wide
range of tools that can be used in electronic tests. With respect to time demands, the most efficient tools are those that
allow automatic assessment. The presented paper focuses on one of these tools: matching questions in which one
question can be paired with multiple response terms. The aim of the paper is to identify how the types of questions used in
a test can affect student results on such tests expressed as test scores. The authors focus mainly on the issue of the
possible increase in scores that can occur with the use of closed questions, when students, after selecting the answers to
the questions they know the correct answers to, then guess the answers to the remaining questions (see Diamond and
Evans, 1973, Ebel and Frisbie, 1986, Albanese, 1986). The authors show how the number of distractors (unused answers)
included in a question influences the overall test score. The data on multiple‐choice and alternative‐ response tests are
well‐known. But not much is known about matching questions. Estimating formula scores for matching‐question tests is
important for determining the threshold at which students demonstrate they possess the required level of knowledge.
Here the authors will compare the scores obtained for three types of closed questions: multiple choice, alternative
response and matching questions. The analysis of matching assignments in this paper demonstrates that they are a useful
tool for testing skills. However, this holds only if the assignment has at least two distractors. Then the informational value
of this type of assignment is higher than that of multiple‐choice assignments with three distractors. The results currently
indicate that these types of assignment are not useful if the objective of the testing is to rank students or to distinguish
between very good students – and this applies even if two distractors are used. In the case of such an objective, it is better
to use multiple‐choice assignments.
Keywords: testing, random score, test results, matching type
1. Introduction
A general objective of this paper is to determine how the use of closed test assignments and questions may
influence student test scores, and based on an analysis of the data obtained to determine the most
appropriate types of test assignments with the greatest discriminating power. We will determine what scores
students will attain and the probability of their attaining them if they know the answers to a certain number of
questions and guess the answers to the remaining questions (see Diamond and Evans, 1973, Ebel and Frisbie,
1986 and Albanese, 1986). We will compare the scores obtained for three types of closed questions: multiple
choice, alternative response and matching questions.
This study was motivated by the preparation and assessment of tests of Czech‐language knowledge to be
applied to the children of immigrants to the Czech Republic (see Kostelecka and Jancarik, 2014). The tests
examined in the course of this research contained the various above‐mentioned types of questions. For a
comparison of the results in individual areas it was necessary to distinguish the random score(s) in relation to
the type of test used. We found that the score formula is well‐known in cases where multiple‐choice and
alternative‐response (true/false) types of question are used. We were however unable to find in the literature
corresponding calculations for the matching type of question. Our calculations, which are presented below,
show that matching questions have different attributes from the other two question types. Most notably, the
scoring formula for this type of question is not a linear function. This means that it is possible to change the
properties of the test, particularly the area in which the test possesses a best discriminating power. We will
demonstrate this aspect of matching questions using the example of the situation that motivated this
research, namely, the need to create language tests that distinguish between students on the basis of a 60%
level of knowledge of the material tested.
2. Multiple‐choice questions
There is currently a wide range of programmes that can be used to create matching‐type questions and enable
their use both on websites and in almost every type of e‐learning system. One very frequently used
programme for creating this type of test is Hot PotatoesTM (see Figure 1), for which there also exists a plugin
for integration with the Moodle Language Management System (LMS).
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Antonín Jančařík and Yvonne Kostelecká
Figure 1: Hot PotatoesTM
Individual programs differ of course in terms of the number of options and their visual presentation (see Figure
2). Usually, however, they offer the user the option to choose the number of questions and possible answers.
Figure 2: Matching‐type question in LMS Fronter
3. Calculating probabilities
To calculate the possible scores students can obtain and the probability of students obtaining those scores we
used classic methods of probability and combinatorics (see Charter, 2000). We shall assume in the context of
all the calculations carried out in this paper that the student knows the answers to a pre‐set number of
questions and that he or she guesses the answers to the remaining questions on the basis of the student using
each of the responses just once. Programs automatically ensure that one answer cannot be used for more
than one question.
The number of questions and the number of answers have an effect on the total random score that a student
can attain on a test. We focus primarily on tests in which one question comprises five sub‐questions. This
number is based on the number used in the original test studied in our previous research. Moreover, it is easy
to fix the points awardable using this number of sub‐questions and to create combinations of questions for
tests of different length.
The number of answers we use ranges from five to seven. In this paper, we will analyse three versions that
could be used in a test, in a situation where the basic task is that the student is asked to match five items and
the student would be able to choose from:
five response options (the 5‐5 type),
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Antonín Jančařík and Yvonne Kostelecká
six response options (the 5‐6 type) and
seven response options (the 5‐7 type).
The results we compare here are of the scores students would probably obtain using the above‐mentioned
types of test tasks and of those they would obtain if we used multiple‐choice or alternative‐response
tasks/questions.
To calculate the probability of students obtaining a certain score (see Arratia and Tavare, 1992, Pitman, 1997)
we used rencontres numbers as described, for instance, by Riedel (2006), where is the number
of permutations of an ‐element set that keep elements fixed.
3.1 The 5‐5 type of matching question
In the case of the 5‐5 type of matching question, the student is presented with five response options (without
using distractors) and has to correctly match them to the five lexical items. Table 1 presents the calculated
probabilities of obtaining individual scores. The rows give the number of questions the student would answer
correctly, while the columns give the probability of the given score being attained. We are interested in
learning, for instance, what the probability is that a student who knows the answer to fewer than three
questions will ultimately obtain three or more points on the overall given task (and will thus complete the
assignment successfully with a score of 60% or more). Table 1 indicates that the probability of students who
know the answer to just two questions getting a score of three or more points is greater than 50% in this type
of assignment (there is a 50% likelihood that the student will obtain three points, and a 17% likelihood that the
student will obtain as many as five points for this assignment).
Table 1: The 5‐5 type of matching question: the number of answers a student knows – the total score
0 1 2 3 4 5
0 37% 38% 17% 8% 0% 1%
1 38% 33% 25% 0% 4%
2 33% 50% 0% 17%
3 50% 0% 50%
4 0% 100%
5 100%
3.2 The 5‐6 type of matching question
Table 2 presents the score and probability calculations for the type of matching question that uses one
distractor (the 5‐6 type). The informative value of this test is greater than that of the multiple‐choice
assignment using three distractors. However, students who know the answer to just two questions still have
more than a 50% probability of surpassing the required score of 3 points and being assessed as having
successfully completed this task.
Table 2: The 5‐6 type of matching assignment: 5 questions and 6 matching options (1 distractor)
0 1 2 3 4 5
0 43% 37% 15% 4% 1% 0%
1 44% 37% 15% 3% 1%
2 46% 38% 13% 4%
3 50% 33% 17%
4 50% 50%
5 100%
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Antonín Jančařík and Yvonne Kostelecká
3.3 The 5‐7 type of matching question
Table 3 shows the probabilities of different scores being obtained in relation to the number of answers a
student truly knows in the case of a matching assignment using two distractors (the 5‐7 type). In this type of
assignment, the probability that a student who knows two correct answers will obtain three points is less than
50%. This is therefore the best type of assignment among those studied here for testing the language skills of
immigrant students in the prepared diagnostic test.
Table 3: The 5‐7 type of matching assignment: 5 questions and 7 matching options (2 distractors)
0 1 2 3 4 5
0 48% 36% 13% 3% 0% 0%
1 50% 36% 12% 2% 0%
2 51% 38% 10% 2%
3 58% 33% 8%
4 67% 33%
5 100%
3.4 A comparison of tests
A comparison of all the above‐mentioned test assignments is presented in Tables 4 and 5. The results for the
tests with the multiple‐choice (M‐C) and alternative‐response (T‐F) types of question were also included in
these tables for comparison. Table 4 calculates the average score of a student in individual tests in relation to
the number of correct answers the student actually knows. The figures indicate that for the purpose of the
diagnostic test the best type of assignment from those studied is the matching assignment using two
distractors.
Table 4: Average scores for the different types of test assignment
T‐F M‐C 5‐5 5‐6 5‐7
0 2.5 1.25 1.0 0.8 0.7
1 3.0 2.00 2.0 1.8 1.7
2 3.5 2.75 3.0 2.8 2.6
3 4.0 3.50 4.0 3.7 3.5
4 4.5 4.25 5.0 4.5 4.3
5 5.0 5.00 5.0 5.0 5.0
Table 5 shows the probability that a student who knows the correct answer to two or fewer questions will
attain the required minimum of three points to pass the assignment. This threshold corresponds to the
requirements of the language test that the initial calculations were prepared for. The results indicate that the
alternative‐response type of assignment (true/false) is not appropriate because it is a poor informational
value. The best type of assignment with the highest informational value is the matching question with two
distractors. Pretesting moreover showed that this type of test assignment appeals to students and is easy to
understand.
Table 5: The probability a student can successfully pass the assignment even if s/he has less than the required
amount of knowledge to pass
T‐F M‐C 5‐5 5‐6 5‐7
0 50% 10% 9% 5% 3%
1 69% 26% 29% 19% 14%
2 88% 58% 67% 54% 49%
4. Calculating probabilities for a combination of questions
The calculations show that the score formula pro the matching‐type test is not (unlike the other types of
questions studied) a linear function (cf. Ridel, 2006). As a result, the matching type of test has better
discerning power at some levels of required skills than other tests. On the other hand, when multiple
questions are used the overall resulted is affected by how the student’s knowledge is distributed between
different questions. Table 6 shows the situation where a student is presented with two matching‐type
questions and knows the answer to six sub‐questions. The average attained score is divided according to how
the sub‐questions to which the student knows the answers are divided.
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Antonín Jančařík and Yvonne Kostelecká
Table 6: Average score for two questions of the same type based on a distribution of six correct answers
5‐5 5‐6 5‐7
5‐1 7 6.8 6.7
4‐2 8 7.3 6.9
3‐3 8 7.4 7
The results show that students whose knowledge is distributed evenly among the questions have a slight
advantage. This fact needs to be taken into account in the development and assessment of tests.
5. Determining the score formula for matching‐type tests
As already shown above, the score formula for the matching‐type test is not a linear function. The following
table (Table 7) presents the corresponding values of the function for all three types of test studied here.
Table 7: Formula score for the selected test and the attained score
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
5‐7 0.00 0.58 1.38 2.36 3.47 4.62 5‐7
5‐6 0.00 0.54 1.32 2.25 3.28 4.42 5‐6
5‐5 0.00 0.50 1.19 2.07 4.00 5‐5
6. Conclusion
The matching‐type test has significant potential and is a suitable tool particularly in tests that seek to assess
the knowledge a student has attained. For example the matching‐type test with two distractors is very good at
distinguishing knowledge levels measured against a 60% passing score.
The results currently indicate that these types of assignment are not useful if the objective is to rank students
or to distinguish between very good students – and this applies even if two distractors are used.
The calculations make it possible to compare the scores attained in different types of test because they allow
the score values to be ‘purged’ of random score increases that can occur in relation to the type of test used.
This paper presents the score values of the scoring formula for the 5‐5, 5‐6 and 5‐7 types of test and introduce
a method that can be used to calculate these values also for other types of test.
Acknowledgements
This article was financially supported by the Czech Science Foundation within the project Integration of the
children of non‐nationals into the Czech elementary schools, registration number: 13‐32373S
References
Abu‐Sayf, F. K. (1979) The scoring of multiple‐choice tests: A closer look, Educational Technology, Vol. 19, pp. 5‐15.
Albanese, M. A. (1986) The correction for guessing: A further analysis of Angoff and Schrader, Journal of Educational
Measurement, Vol. 23, pp. 225‐235.
Arratia, R. and Tavare, S. (1992) “The cycle structure of random permutations”, Annals of Probability, Vol. 20, pp. 1567‐
1591.
Charter, R. A. (2000) Determining random responding to objective tests, Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, Vol. 18,
pp. 308‐315.
Diamond, J. and Evans, W. (1973) “The correction for guessing”, Review of Educational Research, Vol. 43, pp. 181‐191.
Ebel, R. L. and Frisbie, D. A. (1986) Essentials of educational measurement (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice‐Hall.
Kostelecká, Y. and Jančařík A. (2014) “The process of Czech language acquisition by foreign pupil at lower secondary
school”, Journal of Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 8‐13.
Pitman, J. (1997) Some probabilistic aspects of set partitions, American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 104, pp. 201‐209.
Ridel, M. R. (2006) “The statistics of random permutations”, [online],
http://www.oocities.org/markoriedelde/papers/randperms.pdf
255
The Long March or Bold Strokes: Comparing Strategies for Adopting
EVS Learning Technology at a UK University
Amanda Jefferies, Marija Cubric and Julie Vuolo
University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
a.l.jefferies@herts.ac.uk
m.cubric@herts.ac.uk
j.c.vuolo@herts.ac.uk
Abstract: In recent years there has been much encouragement to investigate the use of classroom technologies to enhance
the student learning experience especially in the STEM subjects but now extending across other subject areas as well. A
typical classroom technology is electronic voting system (EVS) handsets which allow a lecturer to invite students to vote for
their choice from a selection of given answers. Recently, a medium‐size UK University has purchased over 9000 EVS
handsets for use across the academic Schools as an innovative means for supporting formative and summative testing.
Numerous training and support sessions have been provided to staff with the intention of supporting new and experienced
users and increasing the take up by academics. As noted in earlier research reported at ECEL 2013, the student feedback
was very positive for the use of EVS for formative activities, and less so, for its use in summative assessment. A recent
review of the trends of EVS adoption at the University has been undertaken to inform decision‐making and future use and
support for the technology. One aspect of this review has considered the effectiveness of the strategies adopted by
different academic Schools. EVS adoption and use across the University has been compared and placed within Rogers’
theory of the diffusion of innovation. This paper further considers a set of six different strategies adopted for EVS use by
academic Schools. They have been categorised according to several variables, including their choice of speed of uptake and
the number of handsets in use. The inherent strengths and possible weaknesses of the approaches adopted are
considered. Among the questions raised were, does a strategy of large‐scale technology adoption over a short time period
indicate a greater likelihood of long term engagement and ultimate adoption of the technology? Or, does a longer elapsed
time taken for a gradual purchase and adoption of EVS technology suggest a greater inclination for the embedding of
technology for enhancing learning? What other success factors should be considered alongside the training and support
provided for technology adoption to enhance the likelihood of long term adoption of classroom technologies? The
discussion provides a comparison of six different strategies identified across the university and the rationale behind them
and then proposes a set of strategy choices which can lead to a greater likelihood of successful adoption of classroom
technology.
Keywords: EVS, clickers, classroom technologies, HE learning, institutional strategy, academic choices
1. Introduction
For several years the Higher Education community has been exploring the use of classroom technologies to
support student learning and enhance student engagement in campus‐based teaching environments. Learning
from the experiences of schools in the U.S A. and elsewhere, the use of ‘clickers’ or student response systems
has grown steadily at UK universities in recent years. The benefits and challenges of response systems used for
teaching and assessment have been widely documented already (see for example Kay and LeSage, 2009) and
their use has been applauded for the opportunities they offer for swift feedback to students (Shaffer and
Collura, 2009) whether in formative or summative use and for the resulting feedback they offer to academics
to ascertain how much students have understood from their learning, (Beatty, 2004) and for improvements in
learning outcomes (Shapiro & Gordon, 2013; Preszler, Dawe, Shuster & Shuster, 2007). Students have reported
their appreciation of the anonymity that using clickers affords them in large classes and have welcomed the
competitive element that clickers can bring to learning (Heaslip, Donovan and Cullen, 2014) and finding that
the use of clickers improves their understanding of course content.
The use of clickers has been hastened by the advent of reliable classroom technology that can support
response systems when they are used for summative assessment and may also link with student records in the
managed learning environment (MLE) to offer a prompt turnaround of assessed material. Offering further
examples of their benefit for engaging students through their extensive formative use in his Physics classes,
the respected Harvard educator Erik Mazur has contributed widely to the body of evidence which supports
their classroom use (see for example; Schell, Lukoff & Mazur, 2013). In this paper ‘clickers’ or ‘response
systems’ will be discussed through the acronym of EVS (Electronic Voting Systems), which is the more common
term in the UK.
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Amanda Jefferies, Marija Cubric and Julie Vuolo
Moving on from the lessons of initial research into EVS use across UK and US universities (Dufresne, et al.,
1996; Mazur & Hilborn, 1997; Draper & Brown, 2002) this paper will consider the patterns of EVS use in a
medium‐size UK university which has invested widely in their use for enhancing a culture which supports
technology use for deepening student engagement. While originally used primarily for STEMM subjects
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine) this paper explores the issues of embedding EVS
usage across other academic schools in the university and in particular seeks to deepen the understanding of
the success factors in EVS use and the academic culture which enables them to flourish.
2. The local environment
The university in question is located in southern England and has over 27,000 full‐time equivalent students
registered across its campus‐based and online distance programmes. It has been well‐known in the UK for
investing in online and blended learning to support students wherever they are based (Alltree, et al, 2010). The
university has made extensive use of its own custom‐built MLE since 2001, which allows student and staff
engagement via virtual portals. Online engagement reached over a million page accesses in the early months
of the 2013‐14 academic year. Research has been undertaken for more than a dozen years into student and
staff engagement with technologies to enhance learning by academics (see for example Thornton et al, 2005).
EVS have been used here since 2004, but this start was originally in experimental ways and primarily across a
small sub‐section of academic schools, namely Engineering, Biosciences and Healthcare programmes (Lorimer
& Hilliard, 2008). The handset purchases at this time were from a variety of suppliers and used within school‐
based programmes; the EVS purchase strategy was first co‐ordinated centrally in 2010.
The widespread use of EVS technology within the university began in earnest in 2010‐11 with the commitment
of the university to fund the purchase of some 6,000 TurningTechnologies™ handsets and their associated
hardware receivers in order to equip the majority of classrooms across the two almost adjacent campuses.
This commitment for EVS purchase was undertaken in support of a student digital learning enhancement
project and based on the record of the previous successful use of EVS over 6 years among undergraduate and
postgraduate students and supported by ongoing international research into their efficacy and reflected on by
Jefferies & Cubric (2012) and Lorimer & Hilliard (2008).
During the 2010‐11 academic year, seven out of the eight existing academic schools committed to using the
EVS with targeted cohorts of students and to support academic staff in engaging with the technology for
supporting student learning. Extensive support was made available with training events held regularly on
campus and through technology champions at a local and institutional level as previously recommended by,
among others Anderson et al (1998). The development of pedagogies which would encourage the formative
use of EVS on a regular or occasional basis was discussed and shared widely by academics (Jefferies & Cubric,
2013).
Since 2011 many academic schools have continued to expand their use of EVS; there are now over 9,000
handsets registered to students in addition to extra cohort sets purchased by schools themselves. As some
academic schools have increased their use, others have seen their use of EVS in the classroom decline,
accordingly a recent study has set out to evaluate how far EVS use has become embedded into the university
culture and why. Having previously explored the success factors and barriers affecting technology engagement
among academic staff (Jefferies, 2011) this study considers the trends of adoption for EVS use and embedding
within the institution.
3. Methodology
The study described below was undertaken between February 2014 and June 2014 as part of a wider
evaluation of trends in technology used for learning at the authors’ institution. The following objectives were
set out.
To provide an understanding of the spread of EVS use and the roll out strategies for EVS across different
Schools.
To provide an initial analysis of recent trends of EVS use
To identify those local success factors which had guided the strategies of schools which use EVS widely
and reliably and receive positive feedback from students (Jefferies & Cubric, 2012).
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Amanda Jefferies, Marija Cubric and Julie Vuolo
A mixed methods approach using quantitative and qualitative methods was used to address this variety of
research objectives. Both a broad view of trends of use and specific local usability were investigated and
different methods employed accordingly with an initial email sent to academic schools to inform them of the
evaluation being undertaken. Detailed quantitative data on student registration numbers for on‐campus
students was provided by the academic school registrars. The latter allowed a comparison between student
numbers and ownership of EVS handsets to be calculated.
Two short quantitative surveys were devised and set up online for completion by Programme Tutors and the
School Student Representatives. The survey requested information on the extent and quality of the use of EVS
on a module by module basis. The outputs were compared with data from interviews with the local School
based academic EVS champions and the eight Associate Deans for Learning and Teaching (ADLT) to provide as
full a picture as possible of EVS usage.
Alongside the quantitative data, qualitative data was gathered through a combination of the following:
A review and analysis of the individual academic school EVS reports, previously compiled in 2011‐12 by
school‐ based technology champions
A focus group discussion and short qualitative survey with the school‐based EVS Champions
Individual discussions with the ADLT for each academic school
Individual semi‐structured interviews with EVS Champions in person, via telephone or e‐mail
The qualitative data was gathered in the chronological order shown in the bulleted list above and an iterative
analysis and review was undertaken. This allowed for final semi‐structured interview questions to be asked of
EVS champions towards the end of the study in order to target some apparent gaps in the authors’
understanding of EVS usage.
School sizes will vary but it was not the aim of this study to seek a comparison between school size and levels
of technology adoption. The authors’ interest lay in the extent of the technology embedding across both
STEMM and non‐STEMM Schools given the equality of opportunity from the Centre‐led provision of training
and support.
4. Findings and discussion
The authors considered the different trends which emerged from the evaluative study in two ways. First of all,
they considered how the different users of EVS across the academic schools might map to the Individual
Innovativeness theory (Rogers, 1995) see Figure 1 below, which states that individuals who are predisposed to
being innovative will adopt an innovation earlier than those who are less predisposed. Figure 1 shows Rogers’
bell shaped distribution of Individual Innovativeness and the likely percentage of potential adapters in each
category. On one extreme of the distribution are the Innovators, who typically seek to adopt an innovation
very early. On the other extreme are the Laggards who resist adopting an innovation until as late as possible, if
ever. Anderson et al’s work demonstrated how this curve broadly fitted with academics experiences at the
University of Alberta, (Anderson et al, 1998). The users at the authors’ institution were not asked to define
themselves according to Rogers’ placement so the proposed percentages are taken as a rough guide only.
Some academic schools which were teaching STEMM subjects might be expected to have a higher proportion
of academics who would confidently engage with technology in student learning. Here, it was suggested, might
be found a greater proportion of the Innovators and Early Adopters (EA). While this turned out to be true to a
certain extent early adopters of technology were found across all the academic subjects, with a small
numerical increase in those teaching the STEMM subjects.
Of greater interest to the authors however was Rogers’ Rate of Adoption theory which states that innovations
are diffused over time in a pattern that resembles an s‐shaped curve. Rate of Adoption theory states that an
innovation grows gradually before experiencing a period of rapid growth. An example of how a rate of
adoption might typically be represented by an s‐curve is shown in Figure 2. The theory also states that after
the period of rapid growth, the innovation's rate of adoption will gradually slow down.
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Amanda Jefferies, Marija Cubric and Julie Vuolo
Figure 1: Rogers’ Individual Innovativeness Theory (1995)
%age of
adopters
Time
Figure 2: Rogers’ Rate of adoption theory (1995)
The authors have used the timeline of innovation in Figure 2 to explore the changes at the university in recent
years focussing on the ‘s‐shaped’ curve in the figure to explore where different Schools are located and the
strategy which led to that point. The initial period of a slow rate of growth was the time between 2004 and
2010 when pockets of EAs across the different (primarily STEMM focussed) academic schools explored
different ways to use EVS technology and shared innovation among themselves, with limited and slow take‐up
in other academic areas. A period of rapid growth as discussed above had then taken place between the end of
2010 and through 2011 with a major expansion in the use of EVS classroom technologies and the enlisting of a
group of users to champion and support the wider sharing and embedding of EVS technologies. Following
Rogers’ characteristic s‐shaped curve the evaluation of where the technology adoption trend led, was found to
show distinctive characteristics for different schools and this was not fully correlated to whether they were
STEMM based or not.
Secondly the authors considered the trends for individual schools according to their strategies for starting up
and continuing EVS use. All schools had equal access to the centrally provided programme of technical support
and seminar programme. The latter offered a range of seminars aimed at a cross‐section of Roger’s user types,
including sessions for those who were just starting out in using EVS in the classroom as well as those who had
more experience and shared their own experiences for improving practice and develop a local community of
practice (Wenger,1998).
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Amanda Jefferies, Marija Cubric and Julie Vuolo
Six typical strategies were proposed during the evaluation of the trends of technology adoption and use from
the original data gathered, relative to the speed of EVS adoption and subsequent trajectory of embedding.
These have been categorised and described according to their primary characteristics from the authors’
viewpoints as follows:‐
Big bang
Well considered
Steady Burn
Steady Flicker
Flicker and Fade
Falter
It is evident from the descriptive titles given to the different trends above that some of the strategies have
been more successful than others, and it became clear during the recent evaluation that not all of the
academic schools which had previously embraced technology adoption in 2010/2011 have continued to use
EVS widely.
In considering the current position of the location of the technology use on Rogers’ ‘s‐shaped’ curve above,
some schools are continuing to grow in their use of EVS technology while some are declining in their overall
use. Three strategies were identified as showing a trend of continued growth and engagement by academics in
the use of EVS technologies. These were:‐
Well considered
Steady burn
Steady flicker
The three which have not been so successful in engaging a growing number of academic staff with using
technology were ‐ Big bang, Flicker and Fade, Falter. Many of the schools characterised as following the more
successful trends are in STEMM subjects while those schools which have moved on with their pedagogy
choices and have a stable or declining use of EVS are more typically non‐STEMM subjects. There are however
a couple of exceptions where teams of ‘innovators’ and ‘early adopters’ still continue to use EVS in their own
teaching and champion their use in non‐STEMM schools.
What has led to the characteristics of increased or declining engagement with classroom technologies in each
of these cases? The description of ‘Well considered’ was applied to those academic schools which gave much
thought to their commitment to EVS over an extended period of time. They have typically been growing their
expertise over several years and have a number of enthusiasts among their academic staff. One of the
exemplars of the ‘well considered’ group committed to purchasing a handset for each incoming undergraduate
student some two years before the main expansion at the university in 2010‐2011. Consequently they have
been developing local staff skills over a long period of time and ensuring support from experienced colleagues
on a wide range of modules. This was undertaken with top‐down commitment at senior management level
from the Dean of School. At any one time up to 50% of staff may be engaged in using EVS on their taught
modules. The primary use has been with formative and summative quizzes which may contribute as ‘low‐
stakes’ assessments to students’ final grades.
The description of ‘Steady Burn’ indicates a steady start to the process of experimenting with and engaging on
a small‐scale with EVS technologies. There has typically been a small core of staff who developed their
classroom pedagogy early on in the chronology and acted as innovators/early adopters. An investment in staff
training and extensive local in‐house support was provided at grassroots level from the departmental
champion. As a result the schools in this group have typically increased their user base among academic staff
slowly but steadily and the user base has grown steadily over time.
The description of ‘Steady Flicker’ also indicated a slow start to the adoption of EVS, primarily but not
exclusively in non‐STEMM academic schools where there had been little prior emphasis on concentrated use
of technologies to support learning and teaching. In some schools there was a small core of specialist and
more innovative academic staff who were keen to explore and share practice on a regular basis. A typical
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Amanda Jefferies, Marija Cubric and Julie Vuolo
characteristic of the adoption described as Steady Flicker was the smaller class sizes where students would be
known individually to the academic leader and where there was an existing more conversational approach to
pedagogy which encouraged student interaction without an additional need for EVS handsets. Some
academics in this group took electronic attendance registers regularly with EVS while using them less for
polling and summative assessment. An example of a non‐STEMM subject using the EVS was by an academic in
Humanities who used the more sophisticated handsets for the students to submit answers to her formative
homework tests, uploading their answers electronically at the start of her classes. The distinction here is that
although the user base remains fairly small a consistent interest is maintained in pockets throughout the
school.
The description of ‘Flicker and Fade’ was applied to those schools where the number of users stayed at a lower
than expected level and growth in EVS usage did not experience an increase when compared with other
schools. Schools described thus might be STEMM or non‐STEMM focussed. The issues over engagement were
however complex and differed for each school. Some schools had a policy of using Mac‐based computers in
their labs and encouraging student ownership of Macs because of the availability of Mac‐based software in
their area. The EVS handsets chosen initially did not have a reputation for working well with Macs and after
initial enthusiasm EVS use was dropped because of difficulties of using them with the embedded
Turningpoint™/Powerpoint™ software. Other schools within this descriptor had a small core of regular users
which did not expand as in other schools. The overall collective experience was minimal and academic staff
made limited use of centralised training. Some formative use was made across undergraduate programmes in
these schools. Whereas the ‘Well Considered’ schools had enthusiastic and committed support from senior
managers, this was less evident in the Flicker and Fade schools and as a result there was less commitment to
employing an Educational Technologist.
Those schools which were described as ‘Faltering’ in their use of EVS were typically from non‐STEMM subjects,
which could not see how their pedagogy, described by practitioners as ’hands‐on’ might develop further
through using EVS. Some academics experimented with EVS early on but decided that it was not enhancing the
student experience and ceased to promote it further. The overhead of writing quality questions was too high
for some academics compared with the perceived benefits of using the EVS technology.
The description of ‘Big Bang’ was attributed to a group of STEMM and non‐STEMM schools, which showed
great enthusiasm initially when the EVS classroom technologies project was launched. They exhibited a
number of hallmarks of success early on, such as the engagement of senior management and their buy‐in to
EVS use and widespread support for encouraging use with mainstream academics. Their top‐down leadership
involvement led initially to a speedy introduction of EVS technologies, with their use for summative
assessments being mandated in one school across the main undergraduate programmes. However, the speed
of engagement with EVS as a potential for supporting swift feedback on summative assessments was not
matched by a commitment to involve all the necessary teaching staff in extensive training and confidence
building. In one non‐STEMM school the fast introduction was undertaken without considering the additional
need for administrative and educational technologist support. Their focus for using EVS was predicated on the
potential for time‐saving on the academic workload through the use of EVS for summative assessment rather
than on building the use of EVS into the pedagogy of learning and assessment. This contradicted Anderson et
al’s assertion that: ‘The compelling reasons that attract mainstream faculty must be based on pedagogical
effectiveness.’ (1998). Thus instead of the expected progress to broaden EVS use in future years as had been
experienced by schools following either a ‘Well considered’ or ‘Steady Burn’ trajectory, EVS was rejected by
academic staff and engagement became limited to a small minority using EVS for formative support and polls.
How does this variety of engagement and their descriptors for classroom technology use tie in with Moss
Kanter’s views on promoting organisational change and development? She described in a series of papers and
textbooks that organisational leaders engage in two types of actions that help promote organizational change:
‘bold strokes’ and ‘long marches’ (Moss Kanter et al., 1992). ‘Bold strokes are typically those strategic
decisions or major initiatives which might include investing critical resources in the development of a new
technology or a dramatic new product. The ‘long marches’ can be described as focussing more on continuous
improvement initiatives and operational matters such as improving quality and customer relationships,
restructuring work and organizational alignments, as well as a host of other actions which function to improve
organizational effectiveness.’ (Manley et al, 1998)
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Amanda Jefferies, Marija Cubric and Julie Vuolo
Moss Kanter’s description of ‘bold strokes’ and a ‘long march’ when applied less to organisational change per
se but instead to the introduction of new technology indicates that either of these might be a successful
strategy to follow. It is therefore the detail of the embedding of the changes into the culture which can be
seen as critical to whether the change leads to longer term transformation or not. In considering the notion of
the ‘long march’ the implication is that slow and focussed progress and growth might generally lead to
sustained success but it is clear from the examples of EVS introduction above that it is not necessarily the
speed of the introduction of technology which leads to success or failure. A ‘long march’ was described as the
approach taken by five of the example school descriptors above but only some of their strategies ultimately
led to the embedding of classroom technologies within the school culture. The three descriptions of Well
considered, Steady burn and Steady flicker show steady progress over several academic years which has
ultimately led to the successful embedding of EVS technologies. The keys to their success appear to lie in the
leadership and top‐management support for embedding technology, the extensive use made of central
training and the provision of ‘technology buddies’ in the form of the school‐based EVS adopters, also known as
‘local champions’, with an existing network of enthusiastic innovators and early adopters.
Previous research has indicated high levels of student satisfaction experienced when use is made of classroom
technologies to enhance student engagement with taught material, (Jefferies & Cubric, 2012). This indicated
that there was no significant difference in students’ satisfaction across subject groups whether STEMM or non‐
STEMM related, but a significant difference in satisfaction between formative & summative use with frequent
formative use being praised and only low‐stakes approaches for summative use being preferred. Commitment
by academics is clearly required to ensure that introducing new technologies is a successful strategy and does
not lead to growth which then stagnates and dies. This was the picture for the ‘Flicker and Fade’ and ‘Falter’
approaches. In these schools there were insufficient early adopters and a senior leadership less committed to
introducing and embedding classroom technologies. The examples of a ‘bold strokes’ initiative in terms of the
Big Bang approach was unsuccessful in embedding classroom technologies into the schools involved. This was
not because of the lack of initial leadership and senior support but through the misunderstanding of many
academics of the need for greater involvement in the training offered and fuller personal engagement with the
technology they were using. It was not therefore the speed of the introduction which caused the rapid
subsequent decline in use but a combination of other factors, including the absence of a carefully examined
pedagogy to scaffold and support the EVS use.
5. Conclusion
What can be learnt about the different strategic approaches explored here to anticipate those which will lead
to successful adoption and embedding of technology in academia? In this paper we have compared strategies
for EVS technology adoption in one university, in an academic and social media environment which is a world
away from Anderson et al’s original 1998 paper, which considered barriers to technology adoption by
academics. Technology is now an integral part of the professional and social lives for nearly all mainstream
academics regardless of subject but still some academics choose not to adopt certain technologies.
As with other organisations, the key indicators include top‐down and local management support but an
additional hallmark of successful embedding has been the core group of local early technology adopters from
each academic school who are willing to engage with colleagues by sharing the potential of EVS technology.
Whether the embedding of technology within the classroom develops fast or slowly it is the human support for
colleagues at a local level to develop their pedagogy and scaffold their use of technology to enhance learning,
which has been crucial to its lasting embedding.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of their colleagues, especially the members of the
Learning and Teaching Institute and the 'EVS champions' at the University of Hertfordshire.
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263
Exploring the use of iPads in Danish Schools
Md. Saifuddin Khalid1, Olivera Jurisic1, Henrik Stein Kristensen1 and Rikke Ørngreen2
1
Department of Learning and Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Aalborg University,
Aalborg, Denmark
2
Department of Learning and Philosophy, Faculty of humanities, Aalborg University,
Copenhagen, Denmark
khalid@learning.aau.dk
ojuris10@student.aau.dk
hskr13@student.aau.dk
rior@learning.aau.dk
Abstract: Mobile devices, especially the integration and adoption of iPads in school classrooms, is gaining emphasis across
the research and development forums of academic, policy, organizational, political, and public spheres. In April 2012, the
Danish government announced that they would allocate DKK 500 million to develop the use of IT in elementary schools in
Denmark. Since then, many municipalities have purchased iPads for schools for large sums. The existing literature,
however, says very little about how these IT resources are being used or should be used in teaching. This paper contributes
to the knowledge of how teachers and students use iPads in school contexts. During fall 2013, three elementary schools’
second and sixth graders were observed, and their subject teachers were interviewed. The researchers applied a social
constructivist perspective and a qualitative research design, using grounded theory methodology. The relevant factors
identified were available knowledge and adoptable practice (including innovation evaluation, subject culture, learning
activity design, and teachers’ and students’ skill level with iPads); advantages (including mobility, multimodality, access to
information, startup time, and differentiated learning environments); and adoption barriers (including accessibility,
training, and economy) as seen in relation to technology, pedagogy, and content. The paper concludes that the identified
nature of knowledge, practices, and barriers are similar to the trend of integrating and adopting desktop computers and
other educational technologies. However, there are some unique advantages that iPad and other mobile devices can
enable through apps, readiness, etc. Policies and strategies should be adopted to combine training and maintenance along
with ensuring access to iPads.
Keywords: iPad, school, educational technology, barriers, advantages, adoption, integration
1. Introduction
Mobile devices, especially the integration and adoption of iPads in educational institutions’ classrooms and in
different learning contexts, is gaining emphasis in many countries (Falloon 2013; Kucirkova et al. 2014; Miller,
Krockover, and Doughty 2013). With the arrival of the iPad in spring 2010, as the representative of mobile
devices called tablets, “popular press hyperboles has referred to 2010 as the ‘year of the tablet’ and most have
privileged the Apple iPad as the flag‐bearer” (Brand and Kinash 2010; Talevski 2010). In New Zealand, Melhuish
and Falloon (2010) have drawn attention by discussing that the iPad has similar functionalities as a laptop, but
the iPad’s mobility and active mode like smartphones made it unique compared to other devices. As part of a
pilot study in the math classrooms of United Arab Emirates (UAE) colleges and universities, Al Refi et al. (2013)
reviewed that the drivers and barriers of using iPads in classrooms include the following factors:
save paper, flexibility and portability, save cost, iPad is unable to view flash based programs, iPad
encourages independent learning, increase confidence in students, support math apps,
personalize learning environment, long battery life, accessibility of apps at home, iPad cannot
manage multiple apps at the same time, attractive devices (mobility features), supports e‐book
initiative, support independent as well as group learning, encourages interaction between the
students, increase student engagement, provide immediate corrective feedback, supports student
collaboration, induces class distraction, and improve student performances. (p. 42)
Jahnke and Kumar (2014) investigated Danish K‐12 classrooms and identified teachers’ “use of multiple apps
and focus on creativity, production, and collaboration in the learning process” (p. 81). The trend of
investigation of the integration and adoption of iPad can also be categorized by the education level in which
those studies were situated, namely, pre‐school (Manches 2011), elementary school (Chou 2013; Huang et al.
2012), and tertiary education (Manuguerra and Petocz 2011) and to teach individuals with a disability
(Kagohara et al., 2012). Most of the empirical work on information and communications technology (ICT) in
education, including iPads in schools, has explored practices within a context, endorsing the need for situated
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Md. Saifuddin Khalid et al.
exploration, and disseminating across communities of research, policies and practice. The facts or phenomena
that must be explored are less known to the researcher, but can “produce interesting questions for further
investigation now or in the future” (Andersen 2013, p. 20). Therefore, this paper takes as points of departure
from the Danish government’s emphasis on integrating and adopting digital learning materials in schools
(Ministry of Education 2012b, 2012c), and that neither a clear approach nor an effect study in this relation has
been found in the current literature. According to the Ministry of Children and Education, DKK 500 million has
been allocated as part of the eGovernment Strategy 2012‐2015. The goal is to support the purchase of digital
learning materials. All students have access to well‐functioning ICT in education, have clear targets for the use
of ICT and digital learning resources and learning, and research on IT‐based learning methods (Ministry of
Education 2012a). The Danish government’s initiatives are not free from criticism by researchers. Concern has
been expressed that there is often no clear strategy for how and when iPads will be used (Mortensen 2012). “It
is unfortunate that we spend so much money on a technology that we do not know exactly how will get us
further. In fact, research today tells us very little about how the iPad specifically works in relation to learning.”
Pedagogy experts anticipate that the new wave of IT enthusiasm in the form of tablet purchases will end up
leading to traditional and unimaginative teaching, because very little relevant software for iPads and other
tablets has been developed (Ministry of Education 2012b). Thus, to raise additional questions and contribute
to understanding of this concept, focusing on the context of Danish primary schools, this paper explores, how
do students and teachers experience the use of iPads in teaching and learning activities in the classroom?
2. Methodology and methods
2.1 Data collection tools
Three primary schools in Aalborg municipality were selected using convenience sampling. To observe the
behavior and actions in the context (Bryman 2012), 1.5 hours of structured observations were conducted in
one class at each school. Three face‐to ‐face interviews were conducted immediately after the three
observation sessions to “gain knowledge about people's living situations, their opinions, attitudes and
experiences” (Tanggaard Pedersen 2010, p. 29). Table 1 provides an overview of these qualitative empirical
data.
Table 1: Table summary and overview of empirical data
School 1 School 2 School 3
Date 26 Nov. 2013 28 Nov. 2013 2 Dec. 2013
Class/level Second grade Sixth grade Second grade
Number of 19 students 15 students 15 students
students and Teacher A Teacher B Teacher C
teachers
Courses Mathematics Mathematics Danish (language)
What iPads (6 students) and iPad mini (students); iPad (students);
technology is computer (13 students); iPad (teacher) iPad mini (teacher)
included in teacher instructs using the
teaching? computer connected to the
smart board
What do Primarily the doctrine of Primarily the doctrine of geometry Development of reading
students addition through the use of through the use of the program and writing skills
learn? the program Geogebra; become familiar with the
(Educational MatematikFessor; become program
purposes) familiar with the program
Tools for data Observation Observation Observation
collection (1.5 hours) (1.5 hours) (1.5 hours)
Semi‐Structured Interview SSI: Teacher B SSI: Teacher C
(SSI): Teacher A (10 minutes) (20 minutes) (20 minutes)
Experience The school has a class set of The school purchased iPad minis for all All students in first,
with iPad 23 iPads that mainly belong to students in the middle years second, and third grades
the first year groups/classes. group/classes at the school for this since the 2012/2013
The set was purchased for the school year. However, the devices were school year, have been
school starting 2012/2013. handed to the students only about a provided with their own
month before due to a lack of iPad personal iPads.
covers. Students have been given their
own personal iPads.
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Md. Saifuddin Khalid et al.
2.2 Data treatment method
Using the constructivist perspective, grounded theory (GT) was applied to analyze the data. First, the meaning
of the interview data was condensed by transcribing the most significant quotes (Kvale and Brinkmann 2009).
Then, GT was applied to categorize, to make simplifications, to devise relationships among categories, and to
communicate clearly.
In recent years, several approaches to GT have emerged, and Bryant and Charmaz (2007) suggest the term
grounded theory families from a Wittgenstein perspective, in which there are many similarities to the applied
approaches but not one set of phases or one stable definition (2007, p. 11–12). In this research, the project
team members’ pre‐knowledge of theories and practices is recognized and made explicit. What the analyst
sees in data occurs from existing knowledge about the domain, which is why different people see and focus on
different aspects of the data and therefore construct different analyses (Thornberg 2012). For example,
Thornberg states the following about observation: “observation could never be totally free from theoretical
influence because seeing is already a “theory‐laden” undertaken” (2012, p. 246). Furthermore, “neither data
nor theories are discovered, but are constructed by the researcher as a result of his or her interactions with
the field and its participants” (Thornberg 2012, p. 248). This means this GT study was conducted from a
constructivist perspective in which existing theories (applying known concepts, theories, and models of the
fields and new literature reviews) unfold as follows:
Going into the field without specific theoretical consciousness; the purpose is to explore and wonder.
The first data analysis is performed without using existing theory extensively to focus on what the data
say.
The second data analysis applies conscious use of existing theory to validate or criticize findings in the
data.
Charmaz (2006) articulated GT analysis tools in a constructivist paradigm. Using Charmaz’s guidelines for the
coding process, and initial coding, the data were reviewed line by line and then divided into passages. Passages
could be between 1 and 2 line and up to 10 lines long. For each passage, a 1‐ to 5‐word code‐name was
assigned to refer to the content. Codes with similar content were put in the same category (Charmaz 2006).
Then open and axial coding was used, which formed the final set of categories in a tree‐like structure. The
codes were condensed into eleven categories, which are shown in Figure 3. The most relevant categories were
selected for analysis (Charmaz 2006). Two categories, economy and teacher’s role, were deselected since the
development of qualitative insights would require further exploration.
Figure 3: Axial coding: Eleven categories
3. Analysis
This section is divided into two sub‐sections: data discovery, where the most prominent discoveries in the data
are outlined as elements for devising a theory, and validation, where the elements are validated and critically
discussed through the use of external theory.
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3.1 Data discovery
3.1.1 Programs/apps in use
The curriculum at School 1 integrated the math program MatematikFessor (translated, “The Mathematics
Professor”), accessed via a web browser. The students, through their own logins, solved the problems
developed by the teacher. The teacher can follow the students’ progress in task responses on an iPad or a
computer through a personal login. Students have the opportunity to ask “the professor”/program for help.
There is also an element of competition in the program (boys versus girls) to achieve the highest number of
correct answers. Students navigated well in the program and engaged in tasks. The curriculum at School 2
integrated a geometry program/app called Geogebra, which helps learners draw figures in different sizes.
Students not familiar with the program found it difficult to navigate, and did not show enthusiasm. These
domain apps (e.g., mathematics) require the students follow the program step by step, and allow only answers
one way due to the fixed structure of the app, which limits involvement with and learning about the subject.
The curriculum at School 3 integrated several apps: Showbie, Nearpod, BookCreator, Explain Everything, and
Cabinet. The Showbie app can be described as an evolved version of Dropbox, where the students’ work,
assignments, etc., are stored and shared. Nearpod is an app for sharing and controlling, through which
students receive content on their monitors, prepared and sent by the teacher. While the teacher, on an iPad,
scrolls between different drawings prepared by the students, the students can follow on their iPads. The
teacher can prepare questions and drawing assignments, send them to the students, and follow the students
in their responses. BookCreator engages students with multimodal production, including text, audio, images,
videos, etc. Using Explain Everything, students can record video and sound, and all added objects are stored,
grouped, organized, and copied. Finally, Cabinet is a text handling and editing tool the student uses in PDF files
to strike out words, underline, write, add, color, select all verbs, etc. The five apps are not subject‐specific but
are useful in several educational contexts (subjects and levels). All five in some way allow student production,
student creativity, knowledge sharing, and reflection. Most importantly, the apps give the teacher the
opportunity to facilitate a teaching lesson with many activities since the apps are simple and provide faster
student production and switching. Through this category of open and non‐controlled apps in multiple learning
contexts, there may be consistency in iPad use throughout the school and among subjects.
3.1.2 The structures of iPad‐integrated lessons
In the first two teaching observations, second‐ and sixth‐grade mathematics at schools 1 and 2, we found
similarities between the lesson structures. In the second‐grade classroom, the teacher used the blackboard to
teach for about 25 min, during which he reviewed the day’s assignments and drew shapes on the board. The
students participated and asked questions, and they did not use iPads. Then the teacher introduced how the
assignments should be completed on the iPad. Students then focused on the assignment for an hour. In the
sixth‐grade classroom, the lesson was structured during a half‐hour introduction to the day’s topic for study
and assignments, and the students worked independently with their own iPad to solve the assignments. The
teaching took place, at the beginning, primarily via a smart board. Students were told not to touch their iPads
while the homework is reviewed. Thus, these lessons included a classic/traditional teaching beginning with
primarily one‐way communication from the teacher to the students without the students using their iPads.
Teacher C at School 3 devised a different structure: “I do not start to instruct them. I just say they need to pick
up the book and put their headphones on, and then they go off. And then most of them understand what to
do.” In teacher C’s classroom, all necessary guidance for solving the assignments was digitally recorded on a
common platform of which the students are aware and can access. If they did not understand the task, then
they could replay it.
3.1.3 iPad supported by physical learning materials
At schools 1 and 2, the students used paper and pencil along with an iPad and computer. At School 3, the
students worked with their narrative of a story in book format and iPad simultaneously. On the iPad, the
questions were available, and students wrote the answers on their iPad. In the book, which was next to the
iPad, the students found the answers. It seems that the iPad was involved due to school expectations on the
strategic level, and not because teachers could see students’ academic achievement. Teacher B stated: “Now
we’ve got computers at school. It must revolutionize education. It has not really happened. The same with
smart boards: They would revolutionize education. It has not really happened.” Consequently, iPads are not
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used as a supplement to existing learning resources but as a kind of “doubling up” on learning tools. In
teachers A’s and B’s lessons, effective learning goals were lacking when the iPad was included, whereas
teacher C’s lessons appeared to have effective goals and engaged the students. These lead to the following
categorization and analysis concerning teachers’ lack of skills and lack of knowledge about the involvement of
iPads in education.
3.1.4 Teachers’ lack of knowledge
Teachers A and B reported that they lacked inspiration and new knowledge regarding the use of iPads in
education. Teacher C actively worked in iPad‐integrated classrooms for several years; in addition to courses on
using iPads in education, teacher C has also had contact with people responsible for organizing iPad courses.
Furthermore, teacher C was part of a team with other teachers at the school, where they discussed, shared
knowledge, and worked to integrate iPads at School 3. At School 3, it was more or less up to the individual
teacher to acquire new knowledge. Thus, “Either due to a lack of concrete guidance or personal motivation,”
teacher 3 said, “I put myself fixed with a chair and begin to try it myself.” Teacher C said that his lack of
knowledge affected the quality and the way he worked with the iPad: “So, it’s not just things that are floating
around in various programs—they have six documents open at once ... Where I say: Well, I know how we store
on the computer in the old‐fashioned way, but I really do not know how to do it on the iPad yet.”
There are indications that the iPad has not sufficiently incorporated as a learning tool in the teachers’
educational designs and therefore was often involved in a simple way, such as by downloading a specific
learning program as MatematikFessor. Teacher B pointed to the lack of leadership as a barrier: “The problem is
that if we all stand more or less at the same level, and there is no one who can lead and say: We can use this to
raise the level.” In fact, teacher B called for some of the things that teacher C was part of. The iPad teams
could be a source of inspiration, and a community in which the teachers can lean on both in the doctrine of the
iPad technical challenges and in pedagogical integration.
3.1.5 Teachers are not given guidance
It is largely the teachers’ own responsibility to search for inspiration and new knowledge in the field, without a
significant guide or guideline for their research. Teacher B said that except for a course in which they were
presented with 20 apps that were good for teaching, the teachers had not been required to attend any other
courses or similar measures. Teacher B said: “Basically, I sat down and have used it as much as possible. Yes, it
might be nice with a course and there might be other things—is there a guide somewhere? … I just wonder ...
it's voluntary courses. That means, that it is not something that is recognized in my work. I'm going to such a
course today. So, I can actually choose to say, I do not want to, or I have to be elsewhere today.”
Teachers had the opportunity to expand their understanding of the use of iPads in education through courses
if they did not mind using their free time. However, this was a school, not a ministerial, decision, since teachers
A and C expressed that they had taken several courses and they were in the same boat as teacher B when it
came to self‐help.
3.1.6 Students’ differences: second grade vs. sixth grade
Time spent on integration and adoption is an important factor, since the sixth‐grade students had only had and
worked with their iPads for several months, while the second‐grade students had had their iPads for little
more than a year. We observed “speed” and go‐on‐attitude” in the second grade at schools 1 and 3 in their
use of apps and iPad, even though the second‐grade students at School 1 had not previously worked
considerably and did not have their own iPads. In sixth grade at School 2, the students had far more technical
problems with the iPads, which they searched with the teacher's help. The sixth‐grade students navigated
more slowly, felt more uncertain, and showed resistance to the use of Geogebra.
Age appears to play a central role. The second‐grade students “growing up” with the iPad had some
advantages, such as typing on the iPad keyboard. It is perhaps a challenge for sixth‐grade students to change
from using a PC keyboard to a tablet keyboard. Teacher C anticipated this as a temporary factor and not as a
concern: “I also write a report of eight pages on my iPad. You learn. Especially, like those students who have
not been used to anything else. There is a fear in the upper classes ... they are of course not used to use the
iPad from when they were smaller.”
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Regarding functionality and perceived affordances, teacher C said: “Students write much faster. And the fact
that they can go in and edit (…) I think it is a great advantage too ... I can certainly see that they have written a
lot more than what they would otherwise do.” The students were quicker to express themselves in writing,
and they wrote longer text passages.
3.1.7 To personalize or to borrow
If the students did not own an iPad and could not use it at home, then they might forget their skills or have a
lack of access when desired. This complicates the implementation of the planned teaching. Teacher B said that
ownership and convenient access enable greater knowledge acquisition regarding iPad and educational use.
Confidence and knowledge of the iPad sped up the work flow since the students asked fewer questions related
to understanding the technology and its use, and the students navigated faster. These contributed to the
quality of the teaching time. At School 1, students borrowed iPads from the school, and teacher A said, “It
does not matter if it’s an iPad or a computer,” because MatematikFessor is accessible on both. However, the
fact that students were less enthusiastic in class might be a related issue; it’s not clear what the students are
less enthusiastic about: the class in general or using a computer or using an iPad or the app.
3.1.8 Advantages of using iPads
A thorough review of the data shows several benefits of using iPads. First, students found delight. Teacher A
stated: “I think this is primarily from home; they associate the iPad with having fun.” The second benefit is
mobility, which we observed. Teacher A said:
The advantage of iPad over computer is that students can take it outside. We had a lesson with
geometry when they were out taking pictures via an app and made a collage. For two blocks of
lessons we managed to be outside, take pictures, make collage and print them. We would never
have achieved that with ordinary laptop. … spread out in the classroom, out in the common room
and a small room next to the classroom.
The students could personalize their learning environment to some extent. Calmness was observed as teacher
C sent the students out of the classroom for independent work via their iPad. Moreover, it was surprising to
see how long it was quiet in class when students worked with iPads compared to observations in conventional
classes. The observations note shows this, from the second grade at School 1: “After 40 min into teaching (...)
still very quiet in class.”
Third, the iPad helped students learn various skills. Teacher C facilitated tasks from home for the day’s lessons
for students on a common platform, where students could listen to the recorded assignment and then work
independently.
The last advantage was the start‐up time, which the three teachers expressed several times. For instance,
teacher C said: “I have used several tablets ... the iPad is easy … It is very fast to turn on, shut down and pack
up—about 2 min.” The iPad made the transition from one activity to another activity at School 3 efficient. At
School 1, some students worked with iPads and others on laptops. It took some time (maybe 10 minutes)
before all the students’ computers were turned on and on the Internet and found the intended website. Those
with iPads were much faster. In addition, MatematikFessor on iPad was faster with scrolling, typing, and tasks.
3.1.9 Disadvantages: Technology issues
iPad functionality‐related challenges were identified at each school. At School 1, the iPads were being
updated, and the research team nearly lost the opportunity to see them in use. At School 2, several students
were frustrated since the iPads were freezing or deleting their work. At School 3, students had to spend most
of the lesson at the teacher’s table where the iPad could be connected to power. Further problems arose since
students must speak and listen to the reading of a test. Teacher C explained that the recently provided
headphones were incompatible with the covers and could not be connected to the iPads.
Teacher C also mentioned that the students downloaded games, leaving no room for the apps for classroom
activities, and the teachers then had to delete games from each iPad. As a result, the school has locked
students’ access to download or delete new apps. We observed that a student could not continue his reading
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since his younger brother had deleted an app at home, and there was no time to help student download the
program. It seemed technological problems are now part of everyday life.
3.1.10 Disadvantages: Students forgot to bring iPads to school
At schools 2 and 3, students sometimes forget their iPads at home. At School 2, the students could borrow a
school laptop and access the program through the Internet browser. Since School 3 used only apps, it was
necessary to have additional school iPads as back‐up. Since teacher C in the observed teaching and in the
interview showed more integration of iPads in the classroom than schools 1 and 2, the teacher was asked how
dependent the students were on the iPads and what happened when the students forgot their iPads. Teacher
C replied:
Yes, they are dependent. We have two “loaner iPads,” so it helps a little. Okay, there was no
power at one of them today. We have many stay‐at‐home parents, and we will simply call home
in the morning and say they forgot their iPad. We cannot expect that they do, but actually many
do... But they are very dependent to bring it to school. You can create some activities where they
can sit in pairs. But they had to record some sound today, and it was not so easy in pairs.
The more a school integrates the use of iPads in teaching, the more the dependence factor rises, and back‐up
plans are necessary. If several students have forgotten their iPads, or the school‐loaned iPads are out of
power, as was the case in this study, there is a risk that some students lose the opportunity to attend classes
on an equal footing with their classmates.
4. Discussion and conclusion
This qualitative study explored, in the context of Danish primary schools, how do students and teachers
experience the use of iPad in teaching and learning activities in the classroom? Although only three classrooms
from three schools were studied, the findings are rich and provide nuanced views, which are expected to have
a strong contribution in practice and policies for iPad initiatives in Denmark and around the globe.
The study identifies that with the increase of the integration of technology in teaching‐learning activities, the
roles of a teacher and students, along with the roles of parents, have become heavily dependent on
technology. The apps on iPads, both subject‐specific and open‐ended, require the development of knowledge
and skills regarding the specific technology, technology‐supported pedagogy, and technology‐related‐
classroom management (Hew and Brush 2006).
Restricting access to (un)install apps, providing backup devices, and providing access to power sources for
recharging are the technology‐related‐classroom management issues identified in this study. Although open‐
ended apps playfully engage the students, they found the subject‐specific (mathematics) apps less enjoyable.
Further investigation is required to identify whether the lack of motivation is due to the subject, the nature of
the interaction within the app, or other contextual school‐related factors. Technology‐supported pedagogy
includes the structure or learning design of a lesson, which should be incorporated in teacher training instead
of expecting each teacher to find an innovative idea. The lack of training for teachers, time pressure, and
technical support were identified as critical issues, which have been stressed in educational technology
literature for the last three decades (Ertmer 1999; Hennessy, Harrison, and Wamakote 2010; Khan, Hasan, and
Clement 2012). The findings in this study in particular show that teachers and schools need to know more
about the feasible learning designs for their specific target group, domain, and context.
The speed and attitude in relation to the use of iPads depend on the time spent adopting the device. The rate
of adoption and opportunities to be persuaded/to have developed a positive attitude increase with the higher
duration of time spent (Rogers 2003). Furthermore, time is also involved if one has to migrate from one
technology (e.g., PC) to another (e.g., iPad). Gaining efficiency (whether for the teacher or student) requires
spending time with the technology (iPad) and practicing the desired skills.
Integrating iPads in lessons can greatly transform the structure of lessons, and depends significantly on the
teacher’s role and her or his adoption of apps, structuring of information, and communication strategies. If the
class structure includes explanation of the activities using the app, then a large proportion of the lesson time is
spent on introductions, which may cause increased stress factors, for the students and the teacher.
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It might be claimed that the use of iPads has shown strong advantages over the PC and can argued as a
significant reason for defending the technical feasibility aspect. The iPad enables mobility (i.e., can be used
outside conveniently) and offers multi‐functionality (i.e., camera, communication tools, and teaching‐learning
activities) and multi‐modality (i.e., video, audio, image, and text). In addition, iPads are viewed as a fun
technology by students, which leads to more attention and engagement for longer duration than otherwise
possible. The iPad can create a personal learning environment, breaking the boundaries between formal and
informal learning spaces. This makes young students calm and focused while they are engaged in learning
activities, as well as have the potential to improve the quality of lessons by enabling students to become
informed about lesson content in advance. This can save the teacher time by decreasing the time required for
explanation in plenary, and dedicating more time to students who need more help.
We recommend that policies and strategies should be adopted to combine training and maintenance along
with ensuring access to iPads. Future studies covering a large number schools and involving mixed methods
might be a direction for evaluating and revisiting the current policies and strategies across national, regional,
school district, and individual school levels.
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Team‐Based Learning in a UK Medical School: Using Mobile‐
Friendly Technology to Support the In‐class Individual Readiness
Assurance Test
Shihab Khogali, Alisdair Smithies, Alison Gray, Annalisa Manca and Natalie Lafferty
University of Dundee School of Medicine, Dundee, UK
s.e.o.khogali@dundee.ac.uk;
a.smithies@dundee.ac.uk
a.y.gray@dundee.ac.uk
a.manca@dundee.ac.uk
n.t.lafferty@dundee.ac.uk
Abstract: Team‐based learning (TBL) provides opportunities for application of knowledge and problem‐solving. The TBL
strategy incorporates structured individual and teamwork activities and multiple small groups in a single classroom setting.
Students are required to prepare individually before attending in‐class sessions during which they take an individual
readiness assurance test (iRAT) followed by team readiness assurance test (tRAT), based on the same set of questions. The
TBL process culminates in student teams engaging in face‐to‐face problem‐solving activities. Traditionally, iRAT responses
may be captured by clickers or on paper processed by optical‐mark‐reader systems, which can be difficult to process for a
large class size. This paper describes a case study, in which mobile online assessment technology was successfully applied
to support automated capture and processing of iRAT responses during TBL. An open‐source online learning platform,
Moodle (version 2.6), was accessed by students in a state‐of‐the art lecture theatre with WiFi provisioning for 900
simultaneous connections, to deliver iRATs for 195 Year 3 medical students. During each TBL module, individual students
were presented with a set of iRAT multiple‐choice questions in‐class and required to respond within ten minutes. Students
were asked to use their own devices (mobile or laptop) in‐class to enter responses for iRAT questions. More than 95% of
students were able to access the platform in‐class without problems. With the assessments taking place at the beginning of
an in‐class session, the results can be compiled and presented to the facilitator whilst the student teams were discussing
the questions to complete the tRAT. Individual students were unable to identify which questions they answered incorrectly
before the teams completed the tRAT. Facilitators were able to use the information provided from the iRAT platform
together with that from the tRAT to inform focused explanation of concepts, before student teams engage in the problem‐
solving activities of TBL. Moodle (version 2.6) fulfilled our functional requirements for an iRAT assessment platform during
in‐class TBL sessions, demonstrating usability, accessibility, validity and accuracy.
Keywords: team‐based learning, formative assessment, open source, mobile devices
1. Introduction
1.1 Team‐based learning
Team‐based learning (TBL) is a strategy for small group learning, originally used in business education
(Michaelsen et al. 2002). Over the last decade, TBL has been gaining increasing acceptance in medical
education (Parmelee et al. 2012). From an educational perspective TBL provides opportunities for student‐
centred, active, collaborative group learning with opportunities to apply knowledge to solve clinical problems.
Moreover, unlike traditional problem based‐learning (PBL), TBL offers the added benefit of holding individual
students and student teams accountable for their performance, including pre‐class preparation (as assessed by
readiness testing) as well as contributions to the team (as assessed by peer evaluation). From a resource
perspective TBL may help ease pressures on the need for simultaneous multiple rooms and simultaneous
multiple small group facilitators.
The TBL strategy incorporates structured individual and teamwork activities. A typical TBL course comprises
several TBL modules. Each TBL module may occupy a number of classes and involves a readiness assurance
process (RAP), which prepares the students for the more complex application activities of TBL. The RAP part of
TBL involves 5 stages, one pre‐class and another 4 in‐class stages. The 5 stages of RAP are: (1) Pre‐class
preparation: Students are assigned preparatory material to individually review before coming into the
classroom. (2) Individual readiness assurance test (iRAT): This is the first stage of in‐class RAP of TBL. During
this stage, individual students answer a set of multiple‐choice questions. The iRAT provides individual
accountability for acquiring the knowledge required for problem‐solving during the application activities part
of TBL. (3) Team readiness assurance test (tRAT): During this stage of the RAP, student teams discuss the same
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set of multiple‐choice questions face‐to‐face in‐class to agree consensus team answers for the questions. The
tRAT provides team accountability for acquiring knowledge required for problem‐solving during the
application activities part of a TBL module. It also assists the development of team cohesiveness in preparation
for the problem‐solving application activities part of a TBL module. (4) Appeals: During this stage of RAP,
students teams are encouraged to complete a written appeal for readiness questions they answered
incorrectly, explaining their defence for any alternate answers they believe to be correct. This stimulates the
student teams to revisit concepts they struggled with. (5) Teacher clarification/explanation (mini‐lecture): This
concludes the RAP part of TBL. The teacher focuses on concepts which are still difficult for students to
grasp. Following the RAP, the student teams engage with the application Activities part of a TBL module. A
significant part of in‐class time is usually spent in team‐based problem solving activities during the application
part of TBL.
A challenge for facilitators during the RAP part of TBL is to capture and process iRAT results in a timely manner.
Traditionally, iRAT results may be captured using clickers or on paper processed by optical‐mark‐reader
systems (Parmelee et al. 2012) and this can be a resource and time intensive process for a large class size. This
paper describes the application of mobile online assessment technology to support the capture and processing
of iRAT responses during the RAP part of TBL.
1.2 Context
The undergraduate medical curriculum at the University of Dundee is a 5‐year course delivered over two
phases. Phase 1 (Year 1‐3) is structured learning around body systems. The final block of Phase 1 of the
Dundee undergraduate medical curriculum is a three‐week course, known as Transition Block 1 (TB1). The
main two aims of TB1 are to encourage students to apply and integrate their knowledge and skills from the
system‐based learning to solve clinical problems and to enhance student team‐working skills.
A hundred‐and‐ninety‐five (195) Year 3 medical students, entering the preparation in practice phase (Phase 2,
Years 4 and 5) of the curriculum, participated in the 2013/2014 TB1 course. Learning strategies used during the
course include, team‐based learning (TBL) and clinical skills sessions. Seven TBL modules were delivered during
TB1 course. For purposes of TBL, the class was divided at the beginning of the academic year into thirty‐two
teams of about six students per team. Students remain in the same teams throughout. TBL was used in a
formative manner, in this context.
Each TBL module occupied six formal timetabled hours: two hours for individualised pre‐class preparation, two
hours for in‐class RAP and another two hours for in‐class team application activities. For each TBL module pre‐
class preparatory materials, provided by the module lead, were made available to students online in advance
of the sessions. Each in‐class RAP was facilitated by the relevant TBL module lead with initial support from the
TB1 course convenor and the Technology and Innovation in Learning Team (TILT). For each TBL module, the
in‐class team application session (problem‐solving activity) was facilitated by the module lead together with a
general practitioner, physician and a hospital specialist, where possible.
A staff development programme ensured that teaching staff involved in delivering the TBL sessions in TB1
were familiar with the educational approach of TBL. The TBL module leads were kept abreast of the
technology developments around the iRAT.
2. Method
2.1 Implementing an online solution for individual Readiness Assurance Test (iRAT) during in‐
class team‐based learning (TBL) sessions
Having run TBL sessions in TB1 in previous years and encountered problems with clickers it was decided to use
an online technology to support the iRAT. Initially, the primary institutional virtual learning environment (VLE)
and assessment platforms (Blackboard and Questionmark Perception) were configured to support delivery of
the individual Readiness Assurance Tests (iRATs) during each in‐class RAP part of the TBL modules. The
approach was tested prior to the start of TB1 by inviting the year group of students to asynchronously answer
a set of mock questions using their mobile devices.
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The TBL modules were run in a state‐of‐the‐art 250‐seat lecture theatre designed to accommodate TBL and
other interactive learning approaches (Figure 1). The lecture theatre comprises clustered team seating
arrangements, dual data projection facilities and multimedia systems, combined with WiFi provisioning for up
to 900 simultaneous connections. In an age when students are increasingly bringing their own laptops, tablets
and smartphones to campus for note‐taking and personal study, a “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) strategy
seemed an appropriate approach for in‐class TBL sessions. Before the start of TB1, students were emailed and
asked to use their own devices (mobile or laptop) for iRATs. Spare tablets were made available by the medical
school for those who did not own a portable device.
Figure 1: University of Dundee School of Medicine state‐of‐the‐art lecture theatre designed to accommodate
team‐based learning and other interactive learning approaches
An introductory lecture with the TB1 course convenor offered the first opportunity to test capacity for
concurrent logins for 195 students, but it became apparent that there were problems with using the
institutional platforms in this context. The platforms were apparently unable to support the number of users
(195 students) accessing the service simultaneously and students were unable to complete the introductory
practice assessment during the introductory lecture. Technical issues limiting access were not immediately
identifiable, but it is possible that the complex user authentication of the two linked systems, together with
infrastructure restrictions between them may have contributed to the problem. An alternative approach was
necessary within a very short time frame to ensure the sessions ran as planned.
2.2 Functional requirements for an online iRAT assessment platform
This section of the paper describes the functional requirements for a system to support delivery of iRATs. The
basic functional requirements for the system were established from previous experiences with TBL, including
attempts to use clickers for iRAT in a large classroom setting. The basic requirements are summarised in Table
1, below:
Table 1: TBL: Essential functional requirements for a platform for an individual Readiness Assurance Test (iRAT)
platform
1. The hardware and operating system requirements of a selected iRAT platform must permit implementation
using existing infrastructure.
2. Should only require basic configuration that can be done without upskill or a need to bring in external resources.
3. Provide stable access for multiple concurrent users in‐class via mobile technology.
4. Support the iRAT process with appropriate role‐based access.
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5. Deliver online iRAT assessments in a format accessible by the majority of Web‐enabled devices.
6. Be configurable to present a set of questions to students in a randomised order during an iRAT event.
7. Be configurable to deliver assessment events within a specified time window.
8. Allow the test responses to be submitted by each user within a specified length of time from their own starting
time.
9. Be capable of immediately processing test responses and immediately generating individual scores of
participants.
10. Be able to associate an iRAT assessment score from an event with the individual taking that assessment.
11. Be configurable to inform the participants of their percentage score without providing information about which
question they have answered incorrectly.
12. Provide aggregated data from individual student responses to promptly inform tutor facilitating an in‐class TBL
session.
13. Afford authentication for participants, using their pre‐existing institutional login credentials.
14. Be capable of securely storing accurate retrievable data of individual responses.
The Quiz feature embedded within Moodle version 2.6, was identified as fulfilling the functional requirements
for an iRAT assessment platform, as per Table 1 above. Moodle (Modular Object‐Oriented Dynamic Learning
Environment) is a free to use open source VLE with no licensing costs. The system is simple for an educational
technology team to implement with comprehensive instructions for configuration. Moodle is supported via a
large collaborative online community, who also contribute to its ongoing development. Although Moodle is
not presently used as the primary e‐learning platform at the University of Dundee, it provided an attractive
immediate solution to support the delivery of iRATs during the TBL process and allowed students to login using
their pre‐existing credentials.
2.3 Implementation: using the quiz feature of Moodle as an assessment platform for iRAT during
in‐class TBL sessions
Using Moodle’s quiz feature, a readiness test for each of the seven TBL modules was created (Table 2).
Table 2: TBL: Creating individual readiness assurance test (iRAT) questions in Moodle ‐ workflow process
1. The iRAT questions were provided by TBL module leads and coordinated by the TB1 course convenor and the
administrative staff in the medical school office.
2. The assessment event was set up within the Moodle VLE by an educational technologist.
3. iRAT test questions were added to the iRAT assessment event.
4. Each iRAT assessment was tested and configured for delivery at the required time.
5. Students logged into the Moodle platform in‐class, using their own devices and their pre‐existing institutional
login credentials.
6. Students were able to access the iRAT assessment at the required time in‐class.
7. The students completed the iRAT assessment.
8. The iRAT responses were submitted by the student or automatically submitted after 10 minutes of the
students’ first access.
9. The responses were processed by the Moodle system and an iRAT grade generated for each student.
10. Once all submissions were made, the summary statistics for the assessment event were accessed
immediately by an educational technologist and made available to the module facilitators as a report.
Each readiness test comprised a maximum of ten best‐answer Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), each with a
five‐option list. The MCQ questions were provided by the seven TBL module leads. The readiness tests were all
delivered online to students with a randomised question order to prevent collaboration. The questions were
made available online for the first twenty minutes of the relevant TBL in‐class RAP. Students were allowed ten
minutes to complete the test, after which the test timed out and any unsubmitted responses were saved.
The iRAT responses were immediately processed and a summary of the results downloaded and made
available to facilitators, while the students were engaged with the tRAT process. Individual students were not
able to identify which questions they answered incorrectly until the teams completed the tRAT. Facilitators
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were able to use the information provided from the iRAT platform together with that from the tRAT to inform
focused explanation of concepts which require further clarification, before student teams engage on problem‐
solving activities of TBL.
There were some initial problems in the first TBL module due to unfamiliarity with the range of advanced
configuration options in the Moodle Quiz feature causing timeout and feedback format issues. These were
quickly resolved and the technology supporting the iRAT ran seamlessly throughout the remainder of TB1. A
small number of students had problems with their portable devices and so given paper copies of the iRAT
questions to complete. These were then manually marked and the scores added to the students’ electronic
TBL record.
3. Evaluation
The system under review in this case study is the Quiz element of the open‐source VLE, Moodle, which acted
as a data collection and processing platform for the iRAT component of TBL. The system was successfully used
to enhance face‐to‐face large in‐class sessions, which included a component to formatively assess the
knowledge of individual students. The automation of the iRAT gave tutors the ability to select from a range of
report types that present individual and aggregated performance data.
To evaluate the suitability of the approach of using Moodle for iRAT assessment during TBL, a framework is
required to assess its functional effectiveness as a system which can provide feedback within an educational
context. The accountability framework described by Baker (2005), to evaluate a technology for which
feedback is a core feature, was used to evaluate the iRAT Moodle approach described in the method section of
this paper. The evaluation criteria were adapted from Baker (2005) and include: usability, accessibility, added
value, validity, accuracy, utility and training; all of which were applied with particular emphasis on user
experience and feedback. A similar framework and criteria were previously successfully applied by Hattie et al
(2006), to evaluate an educational assessment technology innovation. The evaluation criteria addressed by the
use of Moodle for the iRAT are summarised in Table 3, below.
Table 3: Framework and criteria for evaluation of use of Moodle for individual Readiness Assurance Test
during in‐class TBL sessions
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assessment response data about those
concepts that required further
explanation.
To establish the extent to which the iRAT assessment system created within Moodle met the evaluation
criteria, feedback was elicited from students and staff. Particular emphasis was placed on feedback data
collected by the medical school from students as part of routine evaluation of teaching and also anecdotal
feedback from staff.
The response rate from students, completing the routine feedback form provided by the medical school at the
end of each system/teaching block in Year 1 to 3 (Phase 1) of the curriculum, was 91% for TB1 course (178 out
of a possible 195 Year 3 medical students completed the feedback form for TB1 course). The majority of
students (88.7%) thought that “adequate opportunity for formative assessment was provided” during TB1 (this
question was answered by a total of 177 students, Table 4). Student free‐text comments, which were deemed
relevant to the use of technology to support TBL, are shown in Table 5.
Table 4: Student responses taken from TB1 course feedback: Opportunity for formative assessment
Q. Adequate opportunity for formative assessment was provided.
Neither Agree nor
7.3% 13
Disagree:
Disagree: 3.4% 6
Strongly Disagree: 0.6% 1
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Table 5: Student free‐text comments relevant to the use of technology taken from TB1 course feedback
‘Tbl is better with the online questions instead of the handsets’
‘I felt on the whole, the technology ran smoothly ‐ and so a big thank you to the staff in the background who made the
sessions happen’
‘I liked the online platform for the iRAT questions much better than previous Questionmark technology. (And it worked
better!’)’
‘So this is how TBL is meant to work! A very structured approach and a good way to learn and to do so in a group.
‘Thank you for working so hard on the technology which added so much to the learning and sessions’
‘Also once the IT was fixed on day 1 the online tests worked very well’
‘Once the technical problems were resolved the teaching was of high quality’
‘The sessions were more interactive and students were more motivated, involved, attentive’
‘The organisation and execution of the TBL format of learning was handled well despite some of the technical
problems’
‘The use of mobile devices was good to enable rapid score assessment and few problems with this were encountered’
‘I would say that the new IT lead man, tried really hard to make the computer questioning work and I think it turned
out well’
Staff feedback about the system was generally positive, highlighting the relevance and utility of the timely data
provided by the system during in‐class TBL sessions. The timeliness of the feedback enabled staff to tailor the
mini‐lecture component of the TBL session to address the concepts that students were struggling to
understand and apply.
4. Discussion and conclusions
Whilst others have sought to implement technology to support TBL (Robinson & Walker 2008; Palsolé & Awalt
2008; Gomez, Wu and Passerini 2010, for example), the approach described in this paper is novel in that it
underpins the iRAT part of TBL, by providing immediate and comprehensive data obtained in‐class through
mobile technology. The need for a system that provides immediate and accurate iRAT data became apparent
to us through our previous experiences to implement TBL for a large class size. These experiences helped us
identify some basic requirements for a system which can effectively support iRAT (Table 1). The initial solution
of using Questionmark Perception accessible via Blackboard proved problematic during the final round of
testing. Following this, Moodle was identified as a possible solution that could meet the educational and
technological requirements for the iRAT. The aim of this case study was to establish if Moodle would provide
an efficient approach to capture and immediately process iRAT data during in‐class TBL sessions.
Underpinning the iRAT process with an online assessment platform accessible in‐class via mobile technology
provided clear educational benefits. The Quiz settings in the Moodle platform allowed for the randomisation
of multiple choice options, preventing students from referring to letters when voting for answers during the
tRAT component of TBL. With paper‐based iRAT, all students are presented with the questions and lettered
answer options in the same order, hence students can easily use the letters to agree consensus answers during
the tRAT component of TBL, by going in circle stating which letter they had each selected as an answer to an
MCQ question. The consensus team answer to an MCQ question can then simply be decided by a majority vote
(Robinson & Walker 2008). The Moodle approach for iRAT described in this paper eliminates the possibility for
identifying MCQ answer options by letters, hence facilitating discussion and interaction, as student teams have
to read each question carefully to reach a consensus answer.
The Moodle platform proved to be a reliable tool for assessment, improving the in‐class TBL process. Students
were more engaged with the assessment and were able to review and change answers prior to submitting the
assessment. The system provides intrinsic reliability by keeping memory of selected answers, in case of loss of
Internet connection. Thanks to the embedded report system, facilitators were immediately able to identify key
issues from the iRAT feedback reports. This enabled them to use information from the iRAT together with that
from the tRAT to inform focused explanation of concepts.
The main limitation of the approach described in this case study was the level of the initial support required
for in‐class TBL sessions. This is however, in our experience, true of any implementation of educational
technology. Initial investment in the configuration of the technology and staff development and hands on
support are essential if the technology is to genuinely enhance the learning experience and support the
various roles of the teacher. As teachers gain confidence and familiarity with the technology the level of
support required scales down.
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Any educational intervention must be planned taking into consideration the local context. Parmelee and
Michaelson (2010) provided twelve tips for doing effective TBL, but did not include how to decide on the most
appropriate approach for capturing and processing iRAT responses. As these approaches may vary widely
depending on the local context, we suggest adding “decide on the most appropriate approach to capture and
process iRAT responses” as a thirteenth tip for doing effective TBL.
The success or failure of technology‐mediated educational interventions depends on many factors, including
environmental factors (e.g. technology infrastructure), educational and technological support, teachers’
expertise in the technology and the use of it, and the appropriate integration of technology‐mediated activities
within a curriculum and its outcomes (Baker & Herman 2003). Moodle provided an ideal infrastructure to
support in‐class iRAT during the TBL process. The availability of a dedicated technology and innovation in
learning team (TILT), coupled with significant local expertise in curriculum and course design and a state‐of‐
the‐art lecture theatre with reliable WiFi access, provided opportunities for successful integration of
technology to support in‐class TBL activities in Dundee.
References
Baker, E. L., Herman, J. L. (2003). A distributed evaluation model. In: G. D. Haertel & B. Means (Eds.), Evaluating
educational technology: Effective research designs for improving learning. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Baker, E. L. (2005). Improving accountability models by using technology‐ enabled knowledge systems (TEKS) (CSE Report
No. 656). Los Angeles, CA: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST),
University of California, Los Angeles.
Gomez, E.A., Wu, D., Passerini, K. (2010). Computer‐supported team‐based learning: The impact of motivation, enjoyment
and team contributions on learning outcomes. Computers & Education, No. 55, pp 378‐390.
Hattie, J.A., Brown, G.T.L., Ward, L., Irving, S.E. and Keegan, P.J. (2006). Formative Evaluation of an Educational Assessment
Technology Innovation: Developers’ Insights into Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning (asTTle). Journal of
MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, No. 5. [Online]. Available at
http://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/viewFile/50/57. [Accessed: 10 June 2014].
Koivunen, M., May, M. (2002). Exploring Usability Enhancements in W3C Process. Position paper for W3C Usability
workshop in Washington DC. [Online]. Available at http://www.w3.org/2002/09/usabilityws.html. [Accessed: 10 June
2014].
Michaelsen, L.K., A.B. Knight and L.D. Fink. (2002). Team‐Based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups in College
Teaching. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Moodle Accessibility Statement, moodle.org Web‐based community. [Online]. Available at:
http://docs.moodle.org/27/en/Accessibility. [Accessed 15 June 2014].
Palsolé, S., Awalt, C. (2008). Team‐Based Learning in Asynchronous Online Settings. In: L. Michaelsen, M. Sweet, & D.
Parmelee (Eds.), Team‐Based Learning: Small‐Group Learning’s Next Big Step. San‐Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass. 87‐95.
Parmelee D., Michaelsen L.K. (2010). Twelve tips for doing effective Team‐Based Learning (TBL) Medical Teacher, Vol. 32,
No. 2, pp 118–122.
Parmelee D., Michaelsen L.K., Cook S., Hudes P.D. (2012). Team‐based learning: A practical guide: AMEE guide no. 65.
Medical Teacher, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp 275–287.
Robinson, D.H. Walker, J.D. (2008). Technological Alternatives to Paper‐Based Components of Team‐Based Learning. New
Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 116.
Team Based Learning, Readiness Assurance Process: Classroom Logistics. [Online]. Available at:
www.teambasedlearning.org. [Accessed: 1 April 2014].
280
Affective Learning Manifesto – 10 Years Later
Agnieszka Landowska
Department of Software Engineering, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and
Informatics, Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland
nailie@eti.pg.gda.pl
Abstract: In 2004 a group of affective computing researchers proclaimed a manifesto of affective learning that outlined the
prospects and white spots of research at that time. Ten years passed by and affective computing developed many methods
and tools for tracking human emotional states as well as models for affective systems construction. There are multiple
examples of affective methods applications in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). This paper revises whether the white spots
from the 2004 manifesto have been covered as well as explores the progress in affective tutoring systems construction.
The article provides also a brief comparison of selected affective tutoring systems. When reviewing affective computing
literature in 2014 one might be impressed – there are algorithms that recognize affect from diverse input channels with
accuracies reaching over 90%. There are emotional virtual characters and some of them are used in e‐learning
environments. However, although there is much progress in affective computing research, it seems that more white spots
are found than covered, which is typical for relatively young scientific domains. Highest emotion recognition accuracies are
obtained for distinguishing two emotions, which is obviously not enough for learning systems. Some of the future
challenges include: improvement of both accuracy and granularity of emotion recognition, methods for emotion
representation models mapping and comparison, integration of emotion recognition results from multiple input channels,
effective intervention models for learning, design patterns and frameworks for affective tutoring systems, models for
quantifying and integration of uncertainty related to emotional states recognition, affect‐adaptive control flows and more.
The thesis of this paper can be summarized as follows: Affective computing grew up from infancy, however it is still far
from maturity especially when applied to learning support. During the decade of diverse investigations, affective‐cognitive
imbalance in ITS has changed in research, however has not changed in learning support tools.
Keywords: affective computing, affective learning, e‐education, intelligent tutoring systems, affective tutoring systems
1. Introduction
Teachers know, that emotional state of a learner influences the effectiveness of educational process.
Motivation and engagement foster memorization and understanding in learning, Teachers in classrooms as
well as in virtual environments not only instruct and explain, but also encourage, stimulate and inspire
learners, which is independent on the subject of learning. Emotional intelligence is claimed to have more
influence on human educational and professional success than mathematical, lingual or spatial competence
that create conventional notion of intelligence (Goleman 2010). Therefore addressing emotional aspect of
learning is so important in learning environments, both traditional and electronic.
Emotional factor is rarely addressed. Intelligent tutoring systems and other e‐learning environments almost
always concentrate on cognitive goals, leaving affective learning aside. Current trend is to develop methods for
more natural human‐computer interaction and there are also new techniques and tools for emotional
interaction with computers, including emotions’ receptiveness and expression.
However, there is still a gap between what we know about emotions in educational processes and what we
support within tutoring systems. In 2004 a group of affective computing researchers proclaimed a manifesto of
affective learning that outlined the prospects and white spots of research at that time (Picard et al. 2004). Ten
years passed by and affective computing developed many methods and tools for tracking human emotional
states as well as models for affective systems construction. This raises the main research question of this
paper: Are affective computing methods and tools now, in 2014, mature enough to be applied in educational
systems and environments?
This paper explores the progress of affective computing and its application in education. Matters linking
affective learning and affective computing are described and an outline of affective computing manifesto
claims is provided. This preliminary overview is followed by analysis of the literature from 2004 to 2014 both
on affective computing and affective learning, especially concentrating on the combination of both. Selected
Affective Tutoring Systems (ATS) are analyzed and compared to show diversity of concepts and method for
affect‐aware systems construction. As a result new findings are identified as well as some challenges named.
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2. Affective learning and affective computing
Affective learning is a term used to describe the phenomena of emotional states’ influence on human
cognition and learning (Landowska 2013a). That area was intensively explored in psychology and pedagogy,
long time before affective computing developed its methods and tools. Some studies on affective learning are
dated long before 2004, e.g. research on long‐term memory performance depending on the level of arousal
and valence (Bradley et al. 1992). There are several rules‐of‐thumb, that summarize the effect of emotions on
learning: higher arousal levels are better than lower ones (better to be angry than bored), emotions of
extremely high and very low arousal are not sufficient for educational processes, learning is fostered by
concentration, engagement and the state of flow (Picard&Klein 2002) and more.
Affective learning and e‐education combination can result in mutual benefits: affective learning might (and
perhaps should) occur in e‐learning environments and e‐education provides a perfect opportunity to study the
phenomena of affective learning. Affective computing research, that might be useful for learning systems
includes:
human emotion recognition based on diverse input channels (e.g. facial expressions, textual inputs,
physiological parameters, posture analysis),
emotion modelling and quantification in a computable form (ideally also understandable for human),
control flows that can utilize information on affect,
affective interventions that could be undertaken automatically by systems,
personality, mood and emotional states modelling for virtual characters,
emotion expression and visualization.
Recognition of an emotional state of a human in front of a computer can be based on several inputs, including:
facial expressions, body posture and movements analysis, textual inputs analysis, voice signals processing,
input devices usage patterns as well as physiological measurements interpretation. If emotion recognition is
applied in e‐learning environments, inputs available at home computer desks should be used, therefore video
(face and posture), peripherals usage and textual inputs can be analyzed and interpreted to retrieve
information on a learner’s affect. A restriction must be made, that body language and facial expressions can be
controlled and even falsified (actors do this as a profession) leading to false recognition results.
As an emotional state is recognized, it must be somehow quantified or named. There are several emotion
representation model types, including: label‐based models (emotional states are assigned with words or
phrases), discrete models (emotional states are expressed as a combination of a pre‐defined emotions set),
dimensional (a number of dimensions are used to quantify emotional states) and componential. There are
three most common representations of emotions used in emotion recognition and affective tutoring systems,
i.e. Ekman six basic emotions model (Ekman&Davidson 1999), Pleasure‐Arousal‐Dominance PAD dimensional
model (Mehrabian 1997) and OCC componential model (Ortony, Clore&Collins 1988). However, most of the
emotion recognition algorithms use simple two‐state label‐based emotion representation (e.g. distinguishing
boredom from no‐boredom).
Affective intervention is a modification of standard control path or system behaviour in response to user
affective state and it aims at providing effective execution of a task (Landowska 2013a). It’s important to
emphasis, that affect‐aware tutoring systems should make affective interventions only when the learning
process is endangered by an ineffective emotion (e.g. boredom), but refrain from intervention, when an
emotional state supports learning (e.g. flow). Affective interventions of a tutoring system can be a very simple
modification of control flow, as human teachers’ interventions are usually also very subtle and even though
effective. Adapting a learning path, displaying an intermediary joke or adding some animation as a distractor
are examples of simple automatic interventions, that may address boredom. Some tutoring systems employ
more sophisticated techniques including voice messages and even virtual mentors, tutors or classmates with
facial and/or postural emotion expression. The aim of this section was to introduce a set of factors for
comparison of affective tutoring systems, that is provided later in section 4.3 and the following descriptive
criteria might be taken into consideration: emotion recognition methods and input channels, emotion
representation model, type and form of emotional intervention (definition of emotional states requiring
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intervention, intervention set and triggering rules), interaction type used, affect expression, affective
phenomena exploited as well as expected influence on learning process. exploited psychological phenomena.
3. Claims of affective learning manifesto 2004
In 2004 a group of affective computing researchers proclaimed a manifesto of affective learning (Picard et al.
2004) and the main claims included concerns about insufficient knowledge on emotions in learning processes
as well as immature methods of affect recognition, interpretation and implementation in intelligent systems.
The manifesto outlined gaps in social sciences, that provide nearly a hundred of definitions of emotion and
multiple theories on how emotions are made. At the same time relatively little is known on the role of
emotions in cognition, rational decision making and creation. The manifesto claimed a need for joint research
from multiple fields of neurology, cognitive science, psychology and even medicine to explain emotional
phenomena, its origins and implications on how people work and learn. There are multiple studies on emotion
influence on learning, that include role of beliefs, self‐efficacy, audience, past experience and many other
factors. However the manifesto authors evaluate, that the theories are not at a level, that is suitable for
implementation in an interactive machine model. The emotion theories are incompatible with computer‐
based processing and therefore hard to apply in e‐learning environments. The manifesto authors concluded,
that the extension of cognitive theory to explain and exploit the role of affect in learning is in its infancy (Picard
et al. 2004).
Some other observations concerned affective computing state at the time of manifesto and they were also
very critical. Automatic emotion recognition at that time was in the preliminary stage of research with few
results and low accuracy. The main problem in elicitation of a person’s emotional state is that we do not know
the right answer, as there is no way of determining for sure the affective state of a human. Self‐reports can be
intentionally biased or unintentionally misleading, as they depend on when and how the information is asked.
Deduction of an emotional state from observable symptoms has also several uncertainty factors, including not
only precision of recognition algorithm, but also the quality of the input channel and interpersonal variability.
Moreover, observable symptoms are frequently not direct indications of an emotional state, e.g. people smile
not only when they are happy, but also when they feel nervous or embarrassed (Whitehill 2011). It’s easier to
recognize a smile than to resolve what it means.
Considerations on emotion recognition in the manifesto concluded with the statement, that the state of the
art in affect recognition is similar to that of speech recognition decades ago (Picard et al. 2004).
The affective learning manifesto intended to explore the gaps, that should be successfully resolved in order to
apply affective computing methods in education and e‐education. To sum up, the manifesto authors called for
new research to:
build tools and technologies that elicit and respond appropriately to affective factor,
build new models of learning systems, that incorporate affect,
develop resources and learning environments, that are affectively evocative and support affective
learning.
The affective learning manifesto was quite critical, especially in evaluation of applicability of affective learning
research in practical design of educational environments. It was also an opening for forthcoming research,
showing the main goals and diversity of aspects to explore. The manifesto authors were not the only critical
voice in 2004. Michael Muller questioned computers as social actors approach as well as using
psychophysiological measurements of emotions without a stated theory of emotions (Muller 2004). Lindgaard
expressed strong scepticism towards claims that affective responsiveness of computers can make human
better‐functioning and happier (Lindgaard 2004). Ward and Mardsen suggested, that a human uses intentional
communicative affect while interacting with another human, which is more important than reactive affect to
stimuli and this distinction might have an enormous impact on emotion recognition and understanding
(Ward&Marsden 2004).
Ten years have passed by since the criticism in 2004 and affective computing is one of the most rapidly
developing domain in computer science. Is this progress enough to allow for common application in
educational systems?
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4. Overview of the domain progress
When looking into affective computing literature in 2014 one might be impressed – there are algorithms that
recognize affect from facial expressions, posture analysis, voice, textual inputs, behavioural patterns changes
as well as physiology. Diverse emotional states are automatically recognized with accuracy reaching over 90%
(e.g. Ko&Sim 2010). There are virtual characters, that have not only emotional states, but also moods and
personalities (Nkambou 2006). The characters often express their emotional state with mimics as well as body
language and voice (Sarafzadeh et al 2008). It may seem, that there are methods and technologies mature
enough to be applied in diverse systems, including tutoring software. The overview of the domain progress is
based on a literature review and is reported in three sections: progress of affect elicitation and response,
studies on affect in learning and e‐learning and a comparison of selected affective tutoring systems (as
described by their authors).
4.1 Progress of tools and techniques of affect elicitation and affective response
The mostly observable progress relates to affect elicitation from diverse input channels and, as stated before,
some researchers report accuracies as high as 90% (Ko&Sim 2010). However, some restrictions must be
provided: the highest accuracies are obtained for two‐state analysis (for example differentiation boredom
from no‐boredom) and for personalized emotional reaction models, which requires baseline observation and
annotation. Best results are obtained for the channels, that are rarely available at home or school computer
desk: prosodic features and physiological measurements. Moreover, good results can be achieved for
multimodal emotion recognition, which is sensitive to missing channels. As there is so much uncertainty
related to emotion recognition, a model for its quantification is still missing (Landowska 2013a).
There are also few studies on the effects of affective feedback on student’s emotional state and performance
(Robinson et al, 2009, Rodrigo et al 2012).
4.2 Studies on affect in learning and e‐learning
During the last decade multiple diverse studies have been performed on affect in learning and e‐learning. An
interesting study on program comprehension showed, that the higher emotional quotient of a person, the
better the comprehensibility and debugging ability of any program (Savarimuthu et al 2010).
Another study of dynamics of affective state in complex learning processes emphasis, that a learner frequently
and smoothly oscillates between the equilibrium of flow and other states (D’Mello, Graesser, 2012). One of
the recent research reveals a surprising result, that confusion can be beneficial for learning and therefore ATS
goals should be revised not to avoid that state of a learner’s mind (D’Mello et al 2014).
Another study on emotions frequency and persistence in learning environments discovered, that
concentration and engagement are reported as emotional states during for about 60‐65% of the interaction
time with some learning environments. Boredom, confusion and frustration frequency did not exceeded 20%.
The same research revealed, that boredom is the most persistent state, close to mood rather than reaction to
learning experience (Baker et al. 2010).
Research conducted on a large international group of novice students (730) in Netherlands indicates that
achievement emotions play an important mediator in how students engage with both on‐line and face‐to‐face
education (Tempelaar et al 2012). Another study on educational virtual world (Second Life) measured, that
students’ level of enjoyment and boredom has influence on their achievement level (Noteborn et al 2012).
4.3 Studies on affective tutoring systems
An affect‐aware system is defined as a program of any main functionality, that additionally recognizes
emotional state of a user and has control mechanisms and application logic able to handle the information on
affect (Landowska 2013b). Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) can be an affect‐aware application if provided with
mechanisms to recognize learner’s affective state and somehow reacting to it (such application is also called
an Affective Tutoring System, ATS). Usually intelligent tutoring software processes information on user’s
performance in educational tasks in order to adapt its behaviour and learning paths to user experience and
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profile. Affective systems adapt not only to user experience and knowledge, but also to learner’s emotional
state.
In 2011 at Gdansk University of Technology a project was started that aimed at practical implementation of
affective computing science into an e‐learning system called Gerda. Gerda is a virtual teacher, that questions
students on operating systems and aims at both checking and consolidating their knowledge in the subject.
From that point until now Gerda is being developed, still far from providing a real affective learning experience
and it seems to be also true for the other analyzed affective tutoring systems. The experience of trying to build
an affective tutor allowed to verify applicability of affective computing research in practical settings.
There are several characteristics, that can describe affective tutoring systems and a list of those was provided
in section 2. From the features mentioned emotion recognition and representation, intervention model and
expected influence on learning process is used in this paper to analyze and compare some examples of
affective tutoring systems. The selection of the descriptive criteria was based on the variance of values, as the
intention of the paper is to show diversity and complexity of affective tutoring systems. The ATS comparison
results are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Affective tutoring systems comparison summary
System name Emotion recognition Emotional intervention and output Expected
(source) and representation influence on
learning
process
Emilie‐1 & Emilie 2 captures learner’s Emilie 1 expresses emotions concerning Emilie‐1 is
Emilie‐2 emotions from facial knowledge, skills and performance claimed to be
(Nkambou expressions. Detects: history (2D or 3D virtual character applicable as
2006) satisfaction, confidence, expressing hope, fear, satisfaction, relief, any tutoring
surprise, confusion and disappointments). agent
frustration. (coaching,
critiquing etc.)
in order to
raise students’
productivity
and facilitate
their
enjoyment or
at least make
positive
impression.
Easy with Eve Based on video channel (posture Emotional Embodied Virtual Character, Help to
(Alexander et and facial expressions). Detects: that performs facial expressions ad well maintain the
al 2006, boredom, confusion, inattention as posture movements (body language). states of flow
Sarafzadeh et and anxiety. and helps to
al 2008) overcome
states of
“stuck” of any
kind.
AutoTutor Dialogue‐based features are Embodied agent (facial expressions) as Not explicitly
(D’Mello et al extracted and analyzed to well as verbal response is provided. provided.
2008) identify confusion, eureka
(delight) and frustration and
boredom.
Vicor Student’s emotions not Embodied Conversational Agent (talking, Enhance the
(Grujic et al recognized. gesturing and performing facial quality of
2009) expressions). experience for
on‐line
students by
exploiting
persona
effect.
Intelligent Expected emotional state is Virtual tutor actions (animations) are Promote a
Tutor for predicted based on OCC theory chosen based on affective state and positive
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Agnieszka Landowska
5. Results summary and discussion
There are several conclusions that might be drawn from the above study on affective tutoring systems:
there is no one standard emotion model for quantifying learner’s affective state, OCC model for emotion
prediction is frequently used, but diverse emotion sets and models are also applied,
some of the ATS concentrate on learner’s emotion recognition and some on emotion expression by
embodied tutors, however most of ATS address both directions of affective interaction loop,
facial expression analysis is one of the mostly explored affect recognition technique,
embodied agents are frequently used, but their influence on learning performance is not explicitly
evaluated,
some of the systems are developed for research purposes and do not provide information on expected
effect on learning performance,
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Agnieszka Landowska
there are several reasons for applying ATS: increasing student’s performance in learning processes,
enhancing student enjoyment and making an impression (the latter is mentioned explicitly only once,
however might be a hidden cause of sophisticated embodied agents visualizations).
Most of the affective tutoring systems analyzed concern research applications only and no information is
provided on any popular learning management system that employs any of the developed frameworks,
designs and methods. It seems, that, typically for research, more attention is paid to emotion recognition
accuracy and emotion expression realism than to the most important part – the effect on learner and learning
process.
Author of the paper acknowledges, that chosen approach to literature review and analysis are not without
limitations. The main limitation of the study include subjective choice of affective tutoring systems described
and subjective choice of criteria for the comparison, although the selection was justified by the purpose of
showing diversity of ATS. Another restriction should be provided for literature review, as it was performed by
one person and on the resources available on‐line only.
6. Conclusions
The paper intended to explore the progress of affective computing and affective learning domain, especially in
the context of e‐learning. There are issues, that were intensively explored by researchers during the last
decade, such as emotion recognition on different and combined input channels, sensing without interfering,
patterns of measurable external changes associated with feelings, deliberately expressed emotions versus
natural expressions, emotion induction for research purposes as well as creating applications that learn about
a person’s affect. However, the progress in some of the above mentioned areas resulted in identification of
new challenges to be solved. Due to neurobiologists, psychologists, sociologists as well as affective computing
researchers we know more about what an emotion is, and how it could be measured. However it is still little
known on how to influence emotional states within learning environments and the effectiveness of different
tutoring strategies is yet to be proved. Some of the future challenges include:
improvement of both granularity (number of distinguishable emotional state classes) and accuracy of
emotion recognition, as with raising granularity, accuracy usually suffers (Chao et al 2012) and two‐state
emotion recognition is not enough for learning support,
recognizing affect form multiple channels, not relying on facial expressions only, as this input channel is
dependent on: human controlling mimics, availability of camera at learner’s computer desk, quality of the
camera and light conditions in the room,
finding a model for expressing uncertainty related to emotion recognition and affective intervention,
providing some mapping between diverse emotion representation models (PAD, Ekman’s, OCC etc) in
order to either compare or integrate results coming from diverse input channels,
defining an optimal affective learning subspace or precise emotion set, that have been proved to support
learning or developing methods for retrieving such an individual space from observation and interaction
with a learner.
To sum up, the thesis of this paper can be summarized as follows: Affective computing grew up from infancy,
however is still far from maturity especially when it comes to learning support. In 2014 affective tutoring
systems seem rather research applications than real‐life learning environments. Affect‐aware features are not
present in the popular learning management systems. During the decade of diverse investigations, affective‐
cognitive imbalance in ITS has changed in research, however it has not changed in learning support tools.
Although the results of 10 years of research are very encouraging and promising, we are still far from
ubiquitous affective tutoring systems. Perhaps, it would be more beneficial first to perform studies on
effectiveness and user experience of common learning environments and tutoring systems, and then to equip
them with the most sophisticated interfaces and reasoning capabilities.
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Imagined and Actual Practices Using ICT: Incongruity and
Consequences for Inclusion
Karin Levinsen, Birgitte Sølbeck Henningsen and Sofie Paasch
ResearchLab: IT and Learning Design, Aalborg University, Denmark
kale@learning.aau.dk
bhe@learning.aau.dk
sofiepaasch@gmail.com
Abstract: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play an increasing role in public schools as a whole; at the
same time, ICT is championed as part of a proposed solution (in Danish educational policies) to strengthen inclusion of
children with various difficulties in ordinary classes. However, the vision of ICT as a solution rests upon the teachers’ ability
to implement ICT into their teaching methods in ways that are supportive and inclusive. Furthermore, the general
perspective on ICT is that it is a tool that mediates between a user and that user’s intention to achieve some specific aim.
In relation to inclusion, this means that ICT is used as a tool to bridge the gap produced by a child’s disability and mediate
between the child and learning. However, recent research shows that ICT has multiple representations and also emerges as
an actor in its own right in educational practices. Another research trend characterizes included children as being in
difficult situations and contexts rather than having inherent disabilities. From this perspective, ICT becomes one element of
a contextual modification that alters the difficult situation and allows the child to participate in ordinary class activities.
Working from these premises, this paper presents the context, methodology, and findings of a case study into ICTs role as
an actor in the inclusion and exclusion of children in grade one. In the case study, we find an incongruity between the
teachers understanding of technology when interviewed and the teachers actual teaching use of technology under
observation; what may be described as a tool on the theoretical plane becomes a dynamic force in the social structure of
the real‐world classroom. We also find that this incongruity goes unnoticed by the teacher. We argue that the failure to
notice this discrepancy may lead to a lack of guidelines and scaffolding of the pupils’ collaborative work using ICT, ironically
leading to exclusion rather than inclusion. Finally, we discuss possible interventions that may support the teachers’
reflections on ICT in practice and alleviate ICT incongruities.
Keywords Inclusion, exclusion, ICT, children in difficulties, perception of technology, primary school
1. Introduction
In Denmark the concept inclusion of children in difficulties into ordinary public school classes, has become
increasingly central and dominating in Danish school policies over the last 20 years due to the Danish
Governments obligation after signing The Salamanca Statement in 1994 (UNESCO 1994). Alongside the
implementation of inclusion, a widespread critical discussion and debate has emerged within public schools, at
the political and pedagogically academic arena and in the public media. Leading pedagogic researchers in the
Danish academic field claim that the way inclusion is being implemented in Danish schools, results in
deteriorated conditions for children challenged by various difficulties. Accordingly many Danish public school
teachers debate and object in public to further inclusion (Aisinger 2013, Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut 2013).
On the other hand leading pedagogic researchers also argue in public for inclusion of children with difficulties
into ordinary classes, since research show that pupils who earlier was taken out of the ordinary teaching and
given a special needs education often considered themselves as outsiders (Hesselager 2004).
ICT is often presented as an element in proposed solutions to strengthen inclusion of children in various
difficulties in ordinary classes and the Danish Government likewise proposes ICT as a part of the solution to
successfully implement inclusion in Danish public schools (Danish Government 2003). However, various
problems are associated with the implementation of ICT. Among others, the digital technology has led to
changes in the school practice, but hardly had any impact on the design for learning approach or the learning
goals (Langager 2009). A report from the Danish Counsel of Technology finds that in general teachers express
that integration of ICT into their teaching practice is problematic and they feel a lack of time to prioritize a
meaningful integration of ICT (Teknologirådet 2011).
Whether ICT becomes a lever or a solution in inclusion or not rests upon the individual teachers’ ability to
implement ICT. This makes it interesting to explore the individual teachers’ approach to ICT and their approach
to ICT in relation to inclusion. We conducted a case study in this field and our findings revealed an incongruity
between the teachers’ imagined approach to ICT and technology when spoken of, compared to the actual
teaching practice. We found this incongruity stayed unnoticed by the teacher during our case study and we
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Karin Levinsen, Birgitte Sølbeck Henningsen and Sofie Paasch
argue that this discrepancy between the imagined and actual practice contains a risk of missing guidelines and
scaffolding of the pupils’ collaborative work using ICT and the risk of exclusion rather than inclusion.
2. Literature study
The researchers’ and teachers’ understanding of learning difficulties, inclusion and ICT rest on the Salamanca
Statement, which according to Dyson (1999) offers a weak definition and therefore leaves the concept
inclusion open for various interpretations which are mutually incompatible. As a consequence the research
literature displays two main theoretical perspectives on learning difficulties, inclusion and ICT that unfolds in
separate or opposing discourses (Kotsik & Tokareva 2007). The two perspectives originate from respectively
social constructivism and a cognitive science when it comes to learning difficulties related to psychical
disabilities (Rustemier 2002, Levinsen K. T. 2008, Tetler & Langager 2009).
Regarding inclusion, the social constructivist perspective is that children’s learning difficulties are constructed
in the social context. Therefore the children are perceived as being in difficulties that refer to the context and
learning environment around the child and interventions that support inclusion are related to that specific
context. In the cognitive science perspective, children’s learning difficulties and behaviour are seen as
immanent cognitive disabilities where the children’s difficulties are originating from the individual child. In this
perspective children are perceived as having difficulties and the focus for possible interventions becomes the
individual.
The two perspectives courses different understandings of ICT in relation to inclusion. The traditional position
sees ICT as a tool with build‐in affordances specifically designed to compensate for a person’s disability or
handicap (Florian & Hegarty 2004, Sheehy 2005). This is called compensational ICT and aims at changing the
user. Opposed to this, the social constructivist perspective sees ICT as a preventive and substitutional
continuation of the person (Langager 2009, Levinsen 2010). In this perspective technology takes on multiple
appearances and functions (de Laet & Mol 2000) such as tool, feature for and continuation of the child,
personal identification marker, digital environment, and social actor. Thus, ICT plays an active role in changing
the practice and the context around the individual and lets the child participate equally on the specific child’s
own terms. Levinsen found (2010) that the difference between compensating ICT and substituting ICT is not to
be found in the technology itself but in the way the technology is perceived and approached by especially the
responsible grownups (teachers, parents). That is, the difference emerges as a consequence of the users’
technological understanding of the technology. Therefore, the same technology may take on either
appearance.
3. Theory
We find that the above mentioned perspectives would benefit by being seen as complementary rather than
opposites. There are people having immanent learning difficulties (physical or mental disabilities) and people
who are in learning difficulties without having a disability (social conditions in school or family). Therefore, no
matter the origin of the learning difficulties – immanent, socially constructed or a mix ‐, both perspectives are
equally important if inclusion is to be successful. However, the research literature displays, that this
complementary view is not what we may expect to find in the everyday practice. The research report from
Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut (2011) found an underlying discrepancy between the imagined objectives and
the actual inclusive practice. Avramidis and Norwich (2002) in their substantial literature study found that
teachers attitude to inclusion is strongly influenced by the nature and severity of actual learning difficulties
and by the availability of physical and human support. Similar, Brinkmann found that the social constructivist
view has lost ground in ways where the meaning of intervention has turned into treatment “… human
characteristics or capacities, that earlier did not call diagnoses and treatment are now spoken of as treatment
requiring diseases” (Brinkmann 2010, p. 15, authors translation).
In order to clarify and to explore the teachers’ approach to inclusion, technology and ICT we find it useful to
distinguish between being in or having learning difficulties and their related technological understandings
substituting or compensating ICT. In order to come closer to the teachers’ actual perception of and approach
to technology and ICT we find Orlikowski’s two perspectives (Orlikowski 2009) on conceptual understanding of
technology ‐ exogenous force and emergent process ‐, and their impact of on the use of technology useful. The
first perspective exogenous force sees technology as an externally imposed and autonomous driver of changes
which have significant and predictable impact on human outcomes. The second perspective emergent force
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Karin Levinsen, Birgitte Sølbeck Henningsen and Sofie Paasch
understands technology as material artifacts that are socially defined and neither fixed nor universal, and
which emerges in multiple and dynamic ways from situated processes of interaction with the artifacts and
which are with no predictability constitutively entangled in everyday life. Orlikowski’s exogenous force
corresponds with the perception of ICT as compensating and with specifically designed build‐in affordances,
while emergent force corresponds with the perception of ICT as multiple appearances of substituting ICT
mentioned above.
4. Research context and methodology
As the teachers’ role is central in relation to the success of inclusion with and without ICT and it means
something to the inclusive practice, how the teacher understands inclusion and the role of ICT from
respectively a social constructive, cognitive or mixed perspective, we designed the present research with the
aim to capture as much of the complexity in the practice in relation to ICT and inclusion as possible.
Due to the unpredictable, dynamic and emerging nature of our research object the study takes on an
explorative rather than a hypothesis driven approach. Therefore we choose to produce our empirics through a
case study in a real life classroom setting. In order to sharpen the focus on our research interest, the case had
to fulfil certain requirements: The teacher should be experienced in using ICT in everyday teaching practice
and as a tool or actor in relation to inclusion. Some students in the class should be subjects to an inclusive
practice due to learning difficulties. These requirements were fulfilled in the chosen class where some
students were what Levinsen (2010) calls potentially challenged, as they display learning difficulties beyond
average, but have no diagnosis.
st
We collected data in an average 1 grade class in a suburb to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark with 24
students ‐ boys and girls. We observed the students’ use of ICT during Danish lessons over a period of two
weeks at the end of a 5 week course where the class worked organized as pairs on their assignment with an
average of 5 Danish lessons per week. The students used laptops and MS‐Word to write about a specific
animal of their own choice. They collected information about the animal using a website (danske‐dyr.dk)
where they could read text about the animal and listen to the same information as a sound file. The course
included an introduction to laptops in general and to MS‐Word specifically. As we observed during the last two
weeks of the course, the students had gotten familiar with both hardware and software. The teacher in our
case study had previously participated in a similar research and development project focusing on the
contextual approach (children in difficulties) in relation to ICT and inclusion (Levinsen 2010).
There is strong critique of using cases and case studies in the way proposed in this paper (Yin 1994, Newby
2010). The critique claims the case study’s inability to produce generalizable knowledge and subsequently, the
inability to contribute to scientific knowledge, testing of hypothesis and theory‐building. Flyvbjerg (2006)
argues that the critique is paradigmatic and that most case theory relate to an epistemic and explanatory
tradition in order to cope with the critique. However, the epistemic tradition out rules central aspects of the
unpredictable and emerging lived practice that constitutes the core of both case and practice studies. Taking a
critical approach to the pros and cons of case studies, Flyvbjerg discusses from a constructivist and interpretive
position, to what extend and under which conditions, cases and case studies contributes to scientific
knowledge.
Our research interest is to explore how ICT’s role in relation to inclusion. According to Flyvbjerg “When the
objective is to achieve the greatest possible amount of information on a given problem or phenomenon, a
representative case or a random sample may not be the most appropriate strategy As it is often poor in
information. Atypical or extreme cases often reveal more information …”(Ibid p. 229). Flyvbjerg sets up a
typology for cases and argues that a specific case may represent aspects of more than one type (ibid p. 230):
Extreme: To obtain information on unusual cases, which can be especially problematic or especially good
in a more closely defined sense
Critical: To achieve information that permits logical deductions of the type, “If this is (not) valid for this
case, then it applies to all (no) cases.”
Paradigmatic: To develop a metaphor or establish a school for the domain that the case concerns
Our case is atypical in the sense that it represents a single case and an in depth study into a limited context. It
is therefore expected to produce more information than a literature study or a typical case study. Due to the
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Karin Levinsen, Birgitte Sølbeck Henningsen and Sofie Paasch
specific set of requirements in the selection of the case, this study is atypical and matches both the extreme
and the critical case. The case is extreme in the sense that the teacher is experienced in using ICT in the
everyday teaching practice and has participated in a research and development project aiming at ICT and
inclusion. Accordingly, arguments as: “if the teachers were more skilled”; “if we felt more comfortable with
using ICT”, which are often put into play (Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut 2011) are not important issues in this
case. The case becomes critical due to its extreme qualities and we may argue that if teaching practise and
inclusion works well or display problems or even collapse here, then it applies to other cases as well.
As mentioned, our research strategy aimed at an extensive capturing of the complex and unpredictable
everyday practice in the classroom. In order to sustain an open and explorative approach we applied an
abductive research design (Halkier 2001) where we systematically changed perspectives and approach to the
collected data including an ongoing iterative process shifting between an empirically and theoretical
perspective. The data collection was inspired by ethnographic methods such as observation meaning that we
witnessed and experienced the context (ibid p. 141) while documenting through thick description notes, video
and qualitative interviews.
5. Findings and discussion
Our analysis revealed discrepancies between the teachers imagined teaching practice and use of ICT, mainly
stated though the teachers articulation during the interview and the teachers actual teaching practice
observed in the classroom. With reference to Orlikowski (2009) and her distinction between the two
perspectives on conceptual understanding of technology ‐ exogenous force and emergent process – and the
impact of these on their holders attitude and practice regarding ICT, we find these discrepancies of great
importance. The importance of this finding is strengthened as we found in several instances, that these
discrepancies displayed a negative influence on specific students’ collaboration in the classroom and on the
inclusion of children in learning difficulties. In the following we will present the discrepancies and elaborate on
an explanatory perspective on ‘why’ these discrepancies occur.
To unfold this aspect, we explored the teacher’s approach to inclusion of children as either having or being in
learning difficulties and how the teacher perceived the origin of a specific child’s learning difficulties as either
contextual or immanent. In the case study, the teacher was well reflected and stated in the interview that she
perceived children’s learning difficulties as constructed and influenced by the context, that is, as mainly
situated and constructed in the social arena. Accordingly, the teacher felt that she approached children’s
different learning difficulties with the attitude: children in learning difficulties; but without neglecting, that
some children might have learning difficulties. However, the video analysis of the teacher’s practice shows a
dominant perception of student’s learning difficulties, actions and behavior as immanent and belonging to that
specific student. For example in the practice, the teacher did not research the situation, context or background
before intervening and directed her interventions and scolding towards the individual student displaying
learning difficulties instead of both students in a pair. In these instances we discovered through our filmed
data that prior to the teacher’s interventions occurred disagreements and conflicts between the two students
sharing a computer.
As the literature showed the importance of the teacher’s attitude to inclusion and conceptual understanding
of technology to how the teacher implements ICT into the teaching practice, we combined these specific
approaches with an ICT‐perspective using the concepts compensating and substituting ICT. As introduced
earlier, the compensating approach to ICT aligns with children having learning difficulties that are perceived as
immanent and ‘owned’ by the individual child. Our analysis showed that the teacher primarily perceived the
students’ learning difficulties as immanent and not as social constructed and performed a compensating
teaching practice.
To further clarify the teachers approach to ICT and inclusion, we applied Orlikowski’s two conceptual
understandings of technology as an additional perspective. Our study revealed a dominant exogenous force
perspective in the teachers practice. This became apparent in the teacher’s handling of ICT in collaborative
situations and in the teacher’s handling of students that appeared to be inactive in the class. In relation to the
teachers handling of ICT in relation to collaborations, the teacher introduced the laptops without introducing
learning design‐frame or social guidelines regarding the use of the computers. Therefore, the students had to
find their own way when negotiating collaborative strategies. This omission of the learning design suggests
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that the teacher expected the computer to function in the same way for all pairs, which we interpreted as
perceiving the computer as a predictable and autonomous driver of the learning process and the social
teamwork between the students. Our analyses revealed problematic consequences of this approach to ICT.
We found in several cases students who intentionally excluded their learning‐buddy from the activities at the
computer and we found unproductive quarrels or what Littleton and colleagues (2005) names Disputational
Talk among the students.
When looking at the teachers handling of apparently inactive students, the exogenous force‐perspective
became even clearer. The teacher physically moved students in learning difficulties on their chair and placed
them in front of the computer, apparently wanting them to be hooked up to the computer. The teacher did
not research the situation by questioning the student(s) about the lack of participation and did not include the
surrounding context in evaluating the situation. This reaction points toward the compensating approach to ICT
that focuses on the technology as a predictable driver of a change due to the build in affordances and towards
seeing the learning difficulties and the child’s behaviour ‐ in this case a lack of participation ‐ as originating
from the individual child. This is why the teacher only directs interventions towards the individual child in
learning difficulties. Thus, being hooked up to the computer points to the teachers perception of the computer
as an autonomous driver of the learning process and that the computer in itself can produce the wanted
change and learning in the student.
The teachers handling of apparently inactive pupils and the teachers striving to get these pupils hooked up to
the computer, revealed yet another discrepancy between the imagined and actual practices using ICT. In the
interview the teacher stated that students could contribute to the collaboration not only through being active
at the computer. For example students could contribute by getting ideas and comment on the activities at the
computer. However, the actual practice showed that in order to be perceived as participating and active by the
teacher, students had to be hooked up to the computer. Our study documented that this focus on students as
hooked up to the computer, produced a narrow arena for collaborative activity. We saw students considered
as active by the teacher, because they appeared to be active on the computer, but in fact they were not active
in the way the teacher expected. For example one student typed the letter A and filled out an entire page with
A’s.
The striving for pupils to be connected to the computer also seemed to create other aspects of narrow
perception and understanding of collaboration and situations. In several cases we noticed students who
intentionally used their body to exclude learning‐buddies from the computer and that this exclusion stayed
unnoticed by the teacher. The excluding students was praised by the teacher for being active and participating
at the computer while the excluded student, who now appeared inactive, was scolded for the missing
participation. One could argue that the teachers missing research into the participation, is a result of the
narrow focus on the connection to the computer as well as a result of the narrow perception of behavior,
where behavior is perceived as immanent the pupil in the actual practice and not a result of social influence. In
some cases we saw students object to the exclusion from their learning‐buddy and to the teachers scolding.
The students who managed to oppose were mostly considered by the teacher to be strong both socially and
academically. On the other hand, the teacher perceived the students who did not manage to oppose scolding
or exclusion as having both social challenges in the class as well as learning difficulties.
The teacher’s exogenous force‐approach became apparent in other ways for example in relation to the
teachers understanding of collaboration between the students using ICT. In the interview the teacher
expressed an overall positive interpretation of the collaborations by pairs around the computers and
presented examples of well‐functioning and efficient collaboration between the students. However, our
observations and analyzes revealed examples of collaborative problems among the students. The teachers
understanding of the collaborations around ICT as mainly well‐functioning, effective and resourceful
emphasized how the teachers perceived ICT as a positive mediator and a predictable and autonomous driver
of the teamwork between the students. In practice, this understanding created a tendency to overlook
conflicts in several collaborative situations involving ICT. In several instances we documented that the teacher
did not notice conflicts and subtle battles about access to the computer. The fact that these conflicts were
quite subtle and easy to miss could explain why they passed unseen by the teacher.
When we look at the Disputational Talk (Littleton et. al. 2005) that passed unnoticed by the teacher, we found
that these conflicts often appeared in relation to the use of ICT. Especially we found that the disagreements
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were often directly related to the physical affordance of the digital devices and software in play. Numerous
conflicts arose due to the circumstance that laptops are designed as a single‐person tool and that the students
had to work in pairs around the computers. (This use of laptops is typical in Danish public schools mainly
because the access to computers in schools is limited). The teacher in our study did not guide or support the
students’ collaboration around the laptops, so the pupils had to negotiate their own strategies for the
collaboration, which resulted in various types of quarrel. Typically both parties wanted to handle the computer
and found it difficult to share the access to the computer once they had won the access. This points out the
importance of the teacher providing guidelines and support in the use of ICT.
6. Conclusion
Because it rests upon the individual teachers’ ability to implement ICT into their teaching methods in ways that
are inclusive, the technological view and professional competencies of the individual teacher becomes crucial.
This motivated our case study, were we researched the complex everyday life in a classroom around one
teacher using ICT in the teaching sessions. Our research design strived to capture multiple aspects influencing
a teachers approach and practice around ICT in relation to inclusion.
Our study revealed an incongruity between the teachers’ imagined approach when interviewed and the actual
teaching practice. The interview uncovered an approach towards children’s difficulties, as being mainly socially
influenced with a mainly substituting approach to ICT in relation to inclusion and an understanding of
technology as an emergent and situated process and an unpredictable factor. The teachers practice however
showed an approach towards children’s difficulties, as being mainly immanent in the individual student with a
mainly compensating approach to ICT in relation to inclusion and an understanding of technology as an
exogenous force including a view upon ICT as being a predictable factor and an autonomous driver of a
change.
We found that this discrepancy and a practice dominated by an exogenous approach to technology combined
with a compensating use of ICT led to a narrow interpretation and understanding of the situations in the
classroom. Furthermore, it led to a lack of guidelines around the collaborative work among the students using
ICT and in some cases to exclusion where students in learning difficulties were excluded by their learning
buddy from accessing the computer and were scolded for the missing participation by the teacher. The narrow
approach overlooks important aspects. For example the fact that ICT (also) is a dynamic unpredictable force
and important actor in the social structure of the real‐world classroom.
As a recommendation we suggest that teachers’ professional competence building in the future – both teacher
education and in service training ‐ includes broader and multiple perspectives in order to understand and deal
with the variety of typical situations and behavior related to ICT and inclusion.
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How to Build Your own Science Experiment in a Virtual World
Robert Lucas
Keylink Computers Ltd, Kenilworth, UK
rob@keylinkcomputers.co.uk
Abstract: Currently 3d immersive simulations of science experiments implement a single configuration that the user or
experimenter interacts with. The user may turn knobs and take readings, but the apparatus is, for the most part, pre‐set in
the configuration that serves the particular experiment, whilst the user is expected to take readings for that configuration.
One trend in current science education is to allow students to design, construct and then perform an experiment. This
gives the student a much wider, deeper and engaging experience. However, such an approach is extremely expensive on
time and resources. It is possible to provide this experience in a 3d simulated environment by taking advantage of the
object‐oriented nature of current programming languages. This allows us to build behaviour into our 3d instruments
alongside their graphical representations. This results in virtual scientific instrumentation that is configurable by the end
user (rather than the programmer) which can then be used to assemble an experiment without any further programming.
This allows the same virtual device to be used in different contexts and in different ways. Allowing an instrument to be
dragged into position and then configured for the particular usage required by the experimenter. An example of this is
given in the paper that shows how a timing gate can be designed as a self‐contained virtual component that can be moved
and orientated by the end user to suit many different virtual experiments. For example: In one orientation it can be used
to time a swinging pendulum and in another orientation it can be used to measure the passing time of an accelerated
trolley as part of an investigation into Newton's Laws. It is shown how this approach has been applied to a range of virtual
instruments which allow users to construct experiments from their own design using a library of virtual scientific
instruments which constitute a true virtual laboratory. Providing this flexibility in a virtual environment has enormous
advantages in that there is no extra expense beyond creating the virtual instruments in the first place. Once these are
created any number of users can design and then perform their own experiments in a virtual world. Additionally, creating
a library of virtual instruments enables many different experiments to be rapidly created and performed.
Keywords: 3D, Virtual experiments, virtual instruments, 3d experiments, virtual laboratory, 3d simulated environments
1. Introduction
Over the past few decades computer games that use 3D graphics has grown into a massive industry and the
vast profits made has driven the development of the associated hardware and software needed to realistically
render their content. More recently there has been an increasing use of 3D simulation in science and other
disciplines which takes advantage of the same hardware and software. These applications are sometimes
called ‘Serious Games’, although these also include non 3d games, and encompass a huge range of possibilities
that include language learning, healthcare, safety training, equipment maintenance, astronomy and much
more. An overview can be found in (Connolly et al 2012). There are also many examples by the author, which
include a 3D Celestial Sphere (Lucas 2010), A Telescope Simulator used to train students embarking on a
course in observational astronomy (Lucas, Kolb 2009), some science experiments (Lucas 2009) and an archery
simulation for teaching the motion of projectiles (Lucas 2010).
A slightly different approach to the 3d games engine based applications is the Interactive Screen Experiment
(Hatherley 2009) which uses a set of photographs of an actual experiment to create an interactive movie.
Although these have the advantage of being based directly on an actual experiment, they suffer from a
combinatorial explosion of needed photographs to represent anything which is non‐trivial and often need to
make such drastic compromises that the actual science that is represented is no longer valid (Lucas 2010).
They are mentioned here as they tend to target the same type of application, science experiments, as the
authors work. Other approaches include 3D avatar based collaborative environments such as (Scheucher
2009). In this example, although we have a 3d environment, the experiment itself is a 2d visualisation. The
actual use of 3d to represent the environment and the experiment is very rare indeed as a search on Google
Scholar will confirm.
All of these approaches, where applied to science experimentation, have the equipment ‘nailed down’. The
experiments are rigidly defined by the configuration of the equipment. This is particularly true of the ISEs
where the use of photographs entirely limits the user to those views that have been taken by the designers of
the experiment. Not only is the apparatus nailed down, only one view of it is usually available. The user
interaction in all cases is limited to varying the parameters of the apparatus as it is set up to perform what is
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precisely intended by the designer of the experiment. Furthermore, any scientific apparatus can only do that
which it was intended to do. This is what I call the ’prescriptive use of scientific apparatus’.
Figure 1 shows an example of such an experiment built using a 3d games environment:
Figure 1: A simulation of Rutherford’s gold foil experiment
In this experiment a radioactive source emits alpha particles towards a thin gold foil which can be seen in the
centre of the glass dome. The user can change the angle of the detector and count the number of particles
arriving at the various angles that he/she sets.
The Institute of Physics states that students undergoing laboratory training should have the opportunity to
‘plan an experimental investigation’. Some of the advantages of this are discussed in (Sneddon 2010). The
advantages should be clear as planning an experiment is a deeper experience than simply following a
prescribed approach to obtaining a particular result. In Bloom’s taxonomy (Bloom 1956), his table of the
cognitive domain puts planning and creating at the level of synthesis which is above application or analysis.
The argument for extending this design approach to a virtual environment is made in (Darius 2007) where the
observation is made that the students have the chance to do and re‐do experiments without ‘excessive use of
time and resources'.
The goal of this paper is to show that we can provide students with the opportunity to design an experiment in
a virtual world and that our scientific apparatus does not have to be prescriptive in the sense that it can only
be used for exactly the purpose intended. The following example will make this approach clear.
Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who made important contributions to Quantum Mechanics for which he
received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. When a student, he was asked in an examination how to
determine the height of a building using a barometer. The examiner fully expected that the only correct
answer would be to use the barometer to measure the air pressure at the top and bottom of the building and
use this difference to calculate the difference in heights. However, it is reported (Morris 1969) that Niels Bohr
gave the answer that you were to take the barometer to the top of the building, drop it and time its descent
which then could be used to calculate the height. Other possible solutions are also proposed such as using the
barometer as a length measure. The point to note is these are all valid solutions and we should not tie the
students into doing his experiment in a prescribed fashion. This is the approach taken in creating our virtual
laboratory. We will make our virtual instruments behave (in as much as we can) like their real counterparts
and if the student uses one in a way that has not been predicted then that is all to the good.
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2. The physics engine
As we are planning on letting our user move the apparatus about, we need to understand a little about how
things work inside a 3d game simulation. At the heart of a 3d game development environment is a Physics
engine. This is the software that calculates where everything is and what orientation it is in for each frame
that then gets rendered. It uses Newtonian mechanics to make the necessary calculations. In doing this it
must calculate all collisions between objects, the forces involved and their consequences. This is a
complicated and processor intensive task. Collision processing in particular strains the bleeding edge of our
current systems. Anyone who has played a computer game will almost certainly have spotted the inaccuracies
that occur in Physics engines when computing the consequences of collisions. It is not uncommon to see inter‐
penetration of what should be solid objects when the engines just don’t have the time to detect a collision
early enough.
Figure 2: Lara puts her foot in it.
Figure 2 shows Lara (Tombraider 2014) with her left leg penetrating the body of one of her victims. The
particular Physics being used is Rigid Body Mechanics. When we want an object to behave as an object that
has mass and can be collided with we make it a rigid body. This puts it under the control of the Physics engine.
Figure 3: A rigid body component attached to a cart
In Figure 3 you can see how in the Unity (Unity 2014) game development environment a rigid body component
is attached to a model cart that then causes the cart to move under the control of the Physics engine. A typical
consequence of this is that: should the cart be on a slope, then it will roll down the slope. Also notice that a
box collider is attached to the cart. This is the box that the Physics engine will use to determine any contact
the cart has with other objects. It’s a simple box to keep the necessary amount of computation down.
Applying arbitrary meshes as colliders quickly brings a Physics engine to its knees which will result in a very low
and unacceptable frame rate. This illustrates a typical object oriented approach. The cart is an object which
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has various sub‐objects. These have properties such as Mass and Drag that can be seen in Figure 5 and we can
attach methods to the object (i.e. code) to make them have particular behaviours.
3. Achieving movement of experimental apparatus
We need our users to be able to move objects around and we have the restriction that this must be done
through the actions of the mouse. This is not a trivial task. In the real world picking up something with our
hand, such as an egg, moving it from a fridge rack on to the table seems like a very simple operation. It is for a
human of course, but the actual mechanics that is taking place is hugely complicated. There are forces being
applied to the egg by each finger, there are corresponding reaction forces from the egg onto the finger. A
precise amount of force is applied to grip the egg so that it is neither dropped nor broken. Another precise set
of forces is used to move it and avoid collisions with other objects. If we tried to synthesise this through the
inputs available from a mouse, we might end up with something like the Crane Claw game where the user tries
to use a simple interface to control a claw on the end of a crane to grab a prize and manoeuvre it over the win
chute. All the user effort would go into learning how to move things around. We clearly need a simple
mechanism for moving objects.
If an object is a rigid body then the only way to move it is by applying the necessary force. This works fine for
pushing things around a table, but it is much too complicated for picking something up and moving it in 3
dimensional space. The only option is to stop it being a rigid body whilst it is being picked up and positioned
by the user. We can do this by letting the user click on the object he/she wants to use and then:
Disable the rigid body component.
Calculate from the mouse and camera position a direction to move in.
Make the move.
Process any collision ourselves (removing the rigid body means that there will be no automatic collision
detection).
In the case of any collision, re‐enabling the rigid body.
Using a second click on the object to release it by re‐enabling the rigid body.
The consequence of (5) is that if the user picks up an object and then collides with another object, then the
object is released. This makes picking up an object from the table and moving it a smooth and natural
operation as making contact with the table after the object has been picked up, places it at the point of
contact.
We can use the up and down mouse movement to change the height of an object and the left and right
movement to change the left and right position relative to the camera. This leaves the scroll button to control
the distance of the object from the camera. However, putting an object precisely where you want it when the
object can be moved in 3d and clearly the screen is a 2d representation is a challenge. What is happening
here is that a 3d world is being processed in order to be displayed on a 2d screen, this is then perceived by our
eyes as a 2d image which then is interpreted by our brain as a 3d model! Clearly the intervening 2d
representation is an information bottleneck. What we need is some extra information to establish the depth of
an object into the screen. Various cues are used by the eye which include overlapping which is the strongest
cue (Gregory 1966) and shadows. In practice, an overhead light creating a shadow works extremely well. The
brain is very used to shadows and immediately interprets an object’s shadow as a depth cue.
In (Lucas 2009) an experiment involving a spectroscope is described. This was implemented stereoscopically
using shutter glasses (Lucas 2012). At the time this was seen as a novelty, something that made the
experience a bit more special, but not something that was seriously being considered for the students who
might access the experiment. However, in the current context, where depth perception is extremely valuable
in that it allows us to position objects in a 3d space, it would be a highly desirable approach. It would seem
that shutter glasses have become rather outdated and difficult to obtain given that stereo vision having moved
out of the amateur experimenter market and into mainstream television. However, the advent of the ’Google
Cardboard’ headset as well as the Google Cardboard Application from the Play Store (Google 2014), has made
available a cheap virtual headset that makes use of a smartphone. This makes possible some interesting
developments and we fully intend to investigate the possibilities that this technology offers.
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Figure 4: Using a shadow to place the cart accurately on the track
An added problem is that because all of the objects are capable of colliding with any other objects we can find
any of them in any orientation. If you accidently drop the cart so that it hits the edge of the track then it will
probably turn over, it might even fall on the floor. So it is necessary when picking objects up to be able to
change their orientation. This is simply provided for by using the mouse wheel at the same time as the X, Y,
and Z keys for rotations around those axes.
4. Simulating scientific apparatus
For the range of experiments to be considered in detail here, there are a number of trivial and several more
complicated objects. Among the trivial objects are various blocks that can be used to support a track with a
length scale, a slope, a protractor, a ruler, some simple carts of different masses and a ball bearing. More
complicated devices are a timing gate with a digital timer with an auxiliary gate and some scales for weighing
the carts or whatever else the user wishes to weigh.
Figure 5: The simulated apparatus for a range of experiments
All these objects are rigid bodies and can be picked up and orientated by the user. Dropping a block on the
scales will probably move them. Placing the track onto the blocks takes a deal of care in avoiding collisions
with other objects, a long track is after all a fairly unwieldy object in the real world and it is no different in the
virtual world. Moving these objects around to create a setup for an experiment is a unique experience. It
seems quite surprising when at first you knock something over due to a careless movement, especially when
that object then collides with another object and so on. One very quickly adjusts to the amount of care that is
needed when moving objects around as it gets quite tedious to be constantly having to retrieve objects from
the floor!
The timer is a device that works in a number of ways that can be configured by the user. In its most used
mode it will start timing when the light beam in the U gate is broken. This is constructed as a hierarchy of
components which include the digital display, and the configuration buttons. There are methods attached to it
and various subcomponents to give it the necessary behaviour such as the U gate being rotated by the user
positioning the mouse over the U gate and using the mouse wheel.
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Figure 6: One of the carts passing through the timing gate
In Figure 6 the cart is passing through the timing gate. You can see the spot of light just to the right of the ‘A’.
The digital counter counts the number of seconds that the beam of light is broken. In the simulation the beam
of light is replaced by a collider. This is a necessity as obtaining the value of the light falling on an object is not
something that can be computed without the necessary hooks into the game engine, however this is a
theoretical possibility. Using a collider is a pragmatic solution and does not change the functionality of the
timing gate, it will time whatever passes through it, just like the real light beam one would.
5. Performing an experiment
Various experiments can be designed and performed with the above specified components, among them are:
plotting the acceleration of a ball down a slope to determine the distance/speed relationship, determining the
acceleration due to gravity or establishing the conservation of momentum. In performing the first of these the
user might:
Create a slope by positioning two blocks of different heights on the table and putting the track onto them.
Placing the timing gate over the track and adjusting the height and orientation of the ‘U’ gate part (See
figure 6).
Picking up and dropping the ball‐bearing onto the track at a specific position.
Noting the distance and the elapsed time from the timing gate.
Resetting the timing gate to zero, placing it further along the track.
Repeating from 3.
When the user has collected a set of readings he or she will then be able to plot his or her graph and with
some prompting may be able to establish the relationship between distance and speed (which is clearly not
linear due to the acceleration).
Of course the user might design this experiment quite differently, he or she might use the timing gate
accessory as a prop for the track, after all its height can be adjusted so it does this quite well and is not needed
in this experiment for anything else. In figure 8, an enterprising user has decided to measure the fall of the
ball‐bearing vertically from the top of the table to the floor using the track as a ruler, note that the U gate has
o
been rotated through 90 .
It is the inherent flexibility that is built into each component that makes this possible and makes this approach
a richer tool for teaching Physics. The students have the opportunity to discuss the different approaches taken
and their attendant advantages and drawbacks, an opportunity completely denied them in a pre‐assembled
experiment whether virtual or not.
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Figure 7: The user can adjust the height and angle of the ‘U’ gate
Figure 8: An enterprising use of the track as a vertical ruler
A significant problem is encountered with the accuracy of the Physics Engine in calculating forces and their
consequences. A simple illustration of this is that using the scales to weigh an object repeatedly can lead to
different results. In real life, scales offer very repeatable results with accuracy to a tenth of a gram being
common with a cheap set of electronic scales. In our virtual experiment the reading might vary by as much as
2‐3%. Attempts to improve the accuracy by changing the number of iterations used by the Physics Engine has
not yielded much improvement and this remains a problem that needs to be solved.
6. Extending the science
This is all very well for exploring Newtonian mechanics which is what the Physics engine is simulating anyway.
What happens when you stray into other scientific domains? In different areas we need to supply the
necessary simulation code in the frame update function of the game engine. Clearly, for such a simulation to
be viable we must be able to do such calculations in the very short time interval of a single frame. For
example, in an electrical simulation we would need to add code that performed updates to voltage, current
and charge amongst other parameters on a frame by frame basis. Perfectly good simulators have been
created for electrical circuitry and their methods are directly transferable to a 3d environment with the
additional need for 3d models of all the components being simulated. Connectivity would be determined by
collision detection. As with the examples given here, all components would need to be rigid bodies. A
dropped capacitor would fall to the table or the floor. Furthermore, electrical properties would need to be
assigned to all objects for consistency. A circuit might be completed by accident by placing a steel ruler across
some connections necessitating all objects having a resistance property. In our virtual experiment for
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measuring Planck’s constant (Keylink 2014) we have implemented a multi‐meter which is a device for
measuring a range of electrical properties such as resistance and voltage. It is straightforwardly implemented
as an object (in the Computer Science sense) with the properties and methods that support its functionality
along with the graphics and the necessary animation (the position of the knobs and digital display) that reflect
its operation.
Figure 9: An electrical multi‐meter in a simulated experiment.
Any scientific realm can be accommodated by this method of adding its simulation code into the frame update
procedures although some might be too difficult for today’s computing power. For example, liquids that can
be poured from one vessel to another realistically are currently not possible. If you have seen this being done,
such as in the film ‘Ratatouille’ then be aware that the rendering was not done in real time. In (Collider 2014)
some frames from Monster Inc. are reported as taking 11‐12 hours each.
7. Conclusions
The object oriented paradigm is ideal for representing real life objects with its ability to give any object a set of
properties and behaviours that mimic the real counterpart. This is true where there are no graphics involved
and many simulations take this form. When graphics are added, as we have here, we get the huge advantage
of our objects coming to life and reflecting their real‐world behaviour as 3d animations that the user can
interact with. This approach has been used to great effect in creating scientific apparatus that has realistic
behaviour which can then be used in a flexible way not only to construct experimental scenarios but to allow
the end user to do this.
The experimental laboratory using the timer gates described herein is a rich environment for exploring
Newtonian mechanics despite some problems with accuracy. This allows the user to experiment in a variety of
ways that may not be predictable. This allows the user not only to design the experiment but to experiment
with different designs. It is this element that is such a valuable experience to the budding scientist as
recognized by the Institute of Physics. Easily moving the various devices around proved a challenge when the
interface is limited to mouse and keyboard input. However, this was successfully overcome by a combination
of disabling the Physics for the object and augmenting the usual depth cues with a shadow from a virtual
overhead light. It is proposed that this could be made even more effective by rendering the scene
stereoscopically as has been implemented in a previously created virtual experiment but taking advantage of
the availability of the inexpensive virtual reality headset called ‘Google Cardboard’.
The current implementation represents a significant improvement on rigidly designed virtual experiments. Its
successful implementation has given us the impetus to extend the number of scientific instruments that are
implemented in this fashion and thus increase the number of possible experiments.
References
Bloom B. S. (1956) “Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1: The Cognitive Domain”. New York: David McKay Co
Inc.
Collider (2014) “Pixar by the Numbers – From Toy Story to Brave”. http://collider.com/pixar‐numbers‐toy‐story‐brave/
(accessed 30 May 2014).
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Thomas M. Connolly, Elizabeth A. Boyle, Ewan MacArthur, Thomas Hainey, James M. Boyle (2012) “A systematic literature
review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games”. Computers and Education. Volume 59, Issue
2, September 2012 pages 661‐686.
Darius PL, Portier KM Schrevens E (2007) “Virtual Experiments and Their Use in Teaching Experimental Design”
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Lucas R J, Kolb U. (2009) “Use of 3‐D Virtual Environments in Teaching Physics and Astronomy”. Proceedings of Frontiers In
Science Education Research. Cyprus March 2009 Eastern Mediterranean University press 2009. ISBN 978‐975‐8401‐
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Lucas, R J. (2010). “Using a virtual world for teaching the motion of projectiles”. In Norton, Andrew ed. Electronic
Resources for Teaching and Learning (In press). The Open University, pp. 58–64.
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press). The Open University, pp. 58–64.
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l'Enseignement de la Physique) 17‐21 August 2009 Leicester University. ISBN 978‐1‐4461‐6219‐4.
Lucas R. J. 2012 Virtual Spaces for 3D Animation. Journal of 3D Imaging. Volume 195. The Stereoscopic Society.
Morris V. C. (1969). “Modern movements in educational philosophy”. Houghton Mifflin.
Scheucher, B. Bailey, P. H. Güt,l C. Judson Harward, V. (2009) “Collaborative Virtual 3D Environment for Internet‐Accessible
Physics Experiments” iJOE – Volume 5, Special Issue 1: REV2009, August 2009
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University of Glasgow 9 September 2010.
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Digital Education With IT: How to Create Motivational and Inclusive
Education in Blended Learning Environments Using Flipped Learning
– A Study in Nurse Education
Niels Bech Lukassen1, Annette Pedersen 1, Annegrethe Nielsen1, Christian Wahl1 and
Elsebeth Korsgaard Sorensen2
1
University College of Northern Denmark (UCN), Aalborg, Denmark
2
Aalborg University (AAU), Dept. of Learning and Philosophy, Denmark
NBL@ucnact2learn.dk
AEP@ucn.dk
ann@ucn.dk
chwa@ucn.dk
elsebeth@learning.aau.dk
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine how collaborative IT‐design integrated in pedagogic designs can create
motivation and transfer from an educational setting into the student’s clinical education. Learning design for higher
education can be challenging, especially in subjects with great quantities of theoretical material and where students have
difficulties in linking theory with practice. This paper reports a case study in the nurse bachelor education, in which the
subject studied is “Organization, administration and management”. Former evaluations indicate great student
dissatisfaction. The ways of teaching in this subject was dominated by lectures from one teacher and oral student
presentations. Many students felt excluded and frustrated after class and could not relate the subject content to the
hospital context. In this design we carry out experiments with Flipped Learning integrating Otto Scharmer’s Theory U as a
motivational pedagogical model to ensure quality and a meta perspective in linking theory into internship. The research
design is inspired by action science research experiment and is ontologically embedded with practice as it employs
participatory observation, focus group interviews as instruments to collect data. The learning experiment is based on
blended learning theory and explores ways of creating motivational learning designs to enhance transfer. In a blended
learning environment the teacher must create a community of inquiry and consider factors such as social, teaching and
cognitive presence. This paper is an account of an investigation into how online activities combined with the principles of
Flipped Learning can create and enhance motivation.
Keywords: higher education, blended learning, motivation, transfer, flipped learning, pedagogic, Theory U, inclusion,
collaboration, participation
1. Introduction ‐ The problem of motivation in nursing school environments
The nursing education is a three and one‐half year program consisting partly of theoretical and partly of
clinical education. Graduates are entitled to the title Bachelor of Sciences in Nursing. The holder of the title is
authorized to practice as a Registered Nurse in accordance with the laws of the Danish parliament on
authorization (UC 2014 ).
What initiated our interest was the students’ lack of motivation in a certain element of their 3rd year of
education. In this module (15 ECTS) the main focus is on nursing, acute and critically ill patients’ experiences,
reactions, conditions and actions in relation to acute critical illness, suffering an imminent death. These are
areas, students find exciting, interesting and motivating in itself, obviously part the nursing core and clinical
practice.
One theme (2 ECTS) during this module focuses on the subject nursing management and organization theory.
This subject is perceived as highly abstract, as the students find it hard to understand the theory and are
having trouble seeing how it applies to being a nurse. This is illustrated by these quotes from previous students
following the course, as well as in table 1 (below):
"We are not supposed to be leaders".
"Hard to figure out the connection between the teaching and practice, and this is probably due to
our relatively small practical experience”.
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Table 1: Students’ and teachers’ experienced organization and collaboration theme of the course (previous
module)
From the teachers’ point of view (narratives) From the students point of view (narratives)
Uninterested students Abstract and difficult literature
Unprepared students Boring lectures
“Why can’t students realize that this issue is important” “Dry subject – therefore I choose to stay at home”
“The students only discover the relevance to the end of Lack of relevance to practice and the rest of the
the training (and then it is too late).” modules topics
Organization and management theory is boring
In order to address the motivation issue we were inspired to revise the theme using a design, based on Flipped
Learning, integrating Otto Scharmer’s Theory U as a model. Our expectation was that these changes would
inspire the students to find the course more interesting and encourage them to attend the course and work
within the theoretical frame of the theme. The use of Flipped Learning may enable the teacher to spend more
time to enter a reflective dialogue with the students about the theme content thus reducing heavy lecture
time.
For facilitating online activities the nursing education is using “itslearning” (hereinafter referred to as ITSL) as
their primary tool. ITSL comes with a set of features that one would expect from any learning management
system (LMS). ITSL is using the concept of “courses” to organize the overall structure of the site.
We wanted to motivate and activate the students to increase their conception of the theme in order to see it
as important to their future work as nurses, as they do with the other courses on the subject.
2. Research design ‐ Exploring the pedagogical practice of nursing education
The overall project is designed as an action research project focusing on pedagogic development to induce
motivation and transfer. Four of the authors participated in the design of various teaching elements for the
lessons in question, and one of the authors taught some of the lessons. The choice of action research as
methodological framework enabled us to study and evaluate the pedagogic changes, while participating in
pedagogic development in collaboration with the teachers (Nielsen & Nielsen 2010).
To explore the actual learning process, we applied a range of different methods. As a start we strived to
describe the educational challenge by looking into evaluations of similar courses in earlier years, informal
interviewing of one of the teachers, who also contributed to the narrative shown in the introduction of this
article.
Having decided which IT‐based items we wanted to implement in the five day course, we planned on taking
advantage of every step of the students learning behavior to gather data for later investigations and analysis.
Having exposed material for the students to use in their preparation for the course, we could register how
many of the students who have accessed the material ‐ and the time of registration. We could register how
they performed on the tests and observe, if they had difficulties turning in the different formats of reports we
assigned for them: pictures, sound files, forms and text.
During the sessions we used different kinds of observation method to gain insight in how the students worked
with the material and how they interacted with each other and the teacher.
After the course we conducted 2 focus group interviews with five students each moderated by two members
of the project team. Besides the teachers were asked to reflect on the execution of the theme and how they as
teachers had worked with the students previously.
3. Motivation as the vehicle for learning
In order to learn, the student must be exposed to the subject in question and be able to apply the
psychological energy to acquire the knowledge, skill or competence. Learning is energy consuming and to
mobilize the energy to learn, a learner may experience curiosity or an unsatisfied need for knowledge,
understanding or the acquisition of skills and thus be motivated to spend the energy. Illeris (Illeris 2006)
defines motivation as a component of this driving force developed through life when the individual interacts
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with his or her environment. Learning is seen as a response to a need, but also a delight in itself, through
which mental and bodily balance can be achieved.
Motivation for learning can be promoted by many sources and it is well known that the social environment in
which the education takes place has a big impact on learning (Illeris 2006). Especially for children and young
people are the social opportunities an important vehicle for engagement and commitment in the educational
activities. But other social factors are important also in an education leading to a specific professional such as
nursing. The social construction of the professional identity is at stake and can be seen as part of the
background for the nursing students’ decisive opinions on the organization and management theme. The
nursing students not only find the knowledge presented in the course irrelevant – they may see themselves as
something different from an administrator hence defending their professional identity by refusing
engagement in the organization and management course.
To be able to interpret a learning situation and see the subject as meaningful is crucial for student motivation.
Biesta (Biesta 2013) see the lack of experienced meaning as a main reason for motivational problems in
contemporary education. It is possible, Biesta makes a plea for engaging students in learning activities, in
anticipation of gaining competence. But it is even more important to engage the students in learning
adventures where enthusiastic teachers are able to present subjects and offer activities in such a way that
students willingly undertake the challenge and risk of learning.
Sørensen (Sørensen 2013) has looked specifically on the use of IT in teaching and finds that the use of IT in
itself seems to motivate students to spend energy on learning activities. The three factors that encourage this
are the (1) flexibility of independent study planning, (2) manufacturing products and (3) the use of different
digital media. Sørensen also points out that using competition as a part of learning activities seem to
encourage students to engage in learnings activities by which they may eventually learn (Sørensen 2013).
In an education, which leads to a specific professional role in society, an important focus is transfer from the
learning environment to the workplace. Maximizing the transfer is an important consideration for educators
and students. Educational activities, which seem to have a high impact on transfer will encourage the students
to participate. Wahlgren (Wahlgren 2009) distinguishes between near and distant transfer with near transfer
indicating transfer of knowledge and skills directly to practice situations with similar characteristics and distant
transfer indicating transfer of concepts and more complex analysis of practice situations.
Using IT‐based designs as simulation makes it possible to mimic reality and thereby present knowledge and
skills training in a way that can support near transfer. Simulations as well as other types of IT‐based designs
can support distant transfer by involving students in analytic work, roleplaying and group discussions.
4. A Flipped Learning ‐ pedagogic design
A part of our design is "Flipped Learning". The method was introduced by Salman Khan in 2004, when he and
his staff started producing more than 4,000 tutorials on YouTube about learning mathematics. Khan's goal of
Flipped Learning is to reduce the heavy lectures in class and instead prioritize collaborative and free activities
(Kahn 2013).
As part of the students’ preparation they watch a video where the teacher presents a particular theoretical
issue. If the students have seen the theoretical lecture before the physical session in class, it provides more
time in which:
The students may in the light of the videos make more and more informed questions to the theoretical
content of the lesson.
The students can engage in collaborative processes.
The students may, at their own pace, watch the videos several times.
A Flipped Learning design, is not about choosing between the teacher or the learner‐centered teaching
method, but uses elements of both forms. Peer instruction also has a positive effect. This increases the focus
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on the higher taxonomy levels (Bloom 1956). To get to the top in the taxonomy Blooms point is that the
learning process should make room for feedback and corrections at one to one interactions (Hamdan et al.
2014).
The cognitive psychological phenomenon priming (Gade 1997), also plays a key role in the Flipped Learning
concept. The students have before class reviewed and reflected on the teacher's videos to prime the students'
memory. This gives the students greater opportunity to restore (recall) the knowledge they acquire from the
videos and in the classroom (Hamdan et al. 2014). This can be linked to the theory of pre‐training, where the
students before class have undergone some instructions. Pre‐training is based on research in Cognitive Load
Theory, which states that we have a natural limit to how much information we can handle at once. Pre‐training
can reduce the cognitive overload that can often occur with traditional teaching (Hamdan et al. 2014).
5. Theory U based exercises – post video watching
In our design we used Theory U by Otto Scharmer (Scharmer 2009) as a pedagogic exercise. Theory U offers
participants different processes that lead their journey through different ways of thinking or turn their
awareness on how to make changes within a specific area and sharing experiences
Table 2: Example of an exercise based on Theory U: This particular exercise was used with a provided case
Theory U Group assignment
Downloading patterns from Agree on the most interesting theme in the case that in your point of view is
the past important for nursing practice. Write down cues.
Seeing and sensing Explain each other in group how you understand this specific theme and how you can
use it in your future nursing practice.
Presencing How can you involve other partners at the hospital (doctors, physiotherapists etc.)
when you discuss quality and patient safety?
Crystallizing How can you argue that the terms management and organization can relate to your
nursing practice and is crucial for your profession?
Prototyping What will you change – regarding your theme? Do you have a new understanding of
quality?
Performing Relate your proposal to an evidence based practice and theories in implementation.
How do you implant your intervention?
Before the students were introduced to the exercise they watched a video in which the teacher presents a
particular theoretical issue within the theme organization and collaboration. The idea of using Theory U was to
introduce a new way of seeing organizational and administrative problems in the case. In Scharmer’s model
there are two crucial points that are of interest if we look at our intention of using a motivational model to
ensure quality and a meta perspective in linking theory into clinical pratice. The first point is Sensing. This
phase of the model U does not only bring forth the participants intellectual understanding of a problem from
the case but also encourage the students to verbalize their emotional empathy in relation to the problem. That
way the students get a profound understanding of the problems in the case, which contains several topics
related to the theme.
Throughout the processes in the Theory U the students let go of old ways to learn, old ways to look upon
things and old ways to feel about things. This point is called Presensing and helps the students to reach a
creative space.
A central thing in Scharmer’s thinking is concentrated around the understanding of stop Downloading.
Downloading refers to the daily decisions we make every day that often are based on experiences from the
past we use in the present in a unexamined way (Dencker 2008). Our daily life problem‐solving requires
introspection, self‐discipline and peace if we want to stop downloading and become aware of our unconscious
decisions hence make room for new ways of problem‐solving (Hildebrandt 2012).
6. Inclusion through blended learning
An inclusive learning design must involve all students in class. It must set high expectations and make room for
mutual adaptation between educator and student. An important milestone in our design was to increase
student motivation, participation and create an inclusive learning environment for all nurse students.
Education is all about communication and how communication can make room for participation for the
student. All students in a learning environment must be aware of the common goal, be motivated and show
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interest in the subject to be a participant (Biesta 2014). If the student does not participate in the learning
environment the student is excluded. This student exclusion, is as stated in the introduction, our primary
concern for this class in “Organization, administration and management”. In an inclusive learning environment
we need to create a design which connects the students both physically in class and online with ITSL. Our aim
was to create a community of practice where the students collaboratively can share meanings, ideas,
knowledge, determine solutions and build innovations.
Our learning community was inspired by Lave and Wenger’s concept of legitimate peripheral participation
(Lave & Wenger 1991) and his concept of Communities of practice (CoP) (Wenger 1998), stressing the three
components: 1. Domain. 2. Community. 3. Practice (Wenger 1998).
In our design we provided the opportunity for the student to be a part of a domain. A CoP has an identity
defined by shared domain of interest. An import part of our design was the use of Socrative in class. Socrative
is a free online functional learning aid, which allows the students to share knowledge anonymous. The
students worked with a task that involves role‐play and were asked to submit their conclusions online on
Socrative. This created a visually shared domain of interest where the students were able to share knowledge,
get an overview of the answers from the other groups and discuss agreements and disagreements. After the
session the teacher collected the data from Socrative and placed it in a shared place on ITSL.
In a community it is fundamental that students in the domain interact and engage in shared activities, assist
each other and share information (Wenger 1998). They must build new relationships and strengthen old ones.
This learning concept gave the teachers a significant amount of extended timeframe for meta perspective
collaborative activities and experiments with new group constellations. The students were able to intensively
discuss the (sometimes difficult) concepts and theories in the subject “Organization, administration and
management”. When their interaction and engagement sometimes failed the teacher had the time to sit down
at be an active listener and (new) temporary legitimate member of the student community. Our observations
and focus group interviews shows great satisfaction with this type of learning environment and shows an
engaging, productive and life‐giving classroom. Student quote:
“It gave a good overview, better than what we had in the previous topics.”
“It was good to know that we could ask questions to the teacher even though we didn’t have any
at the time.”
In a CoP, there needs naturally to be a practice. A CoP is not just students who have an interest in something.
The student must develop a shared repertoire of resources, which in our design includes the videos on ITSL,
conclusions from Socrative, answers from the quiz on ITSL and other elements that can be used as a resource
for the student. It can also be an especially interesting conversation with the teacher or classmate that triggers
or inspires the student for further studies. Our primary goal is that learning must be seen as a social
participation ‐ that is, an individual as an active participant in the practice of social communities, and in the
construction of the student identity through these communities (Wenger 1998). Students create in an ongoing
learning process their shared identity through engaging in and contribution to the CoP. The motivation to be a
more central participant in a CoP can give a powerful motivation for learning. Students will have a wish to
grow skills if the people they respect or admire have the same skills.
We adopted an education design model developed by Randy Garrison and Norman Vaughan that provides a
framework for developing a CoP in further nurse education using traditional teaching principles and it
technologies. Garrison and Vaughan (Garrison & Vaughan 2008) present an evidence‐based framework for
collaboratively working in a blended learning environment. The framework, named Community of Inquiry (CoI)
is a recursive model in that each of the core elements supports the others. The elements are social presence,
cognitive presence and teaching presence, and it is important to note the interdependence across and within
the presences (Garrison & Vaughan 2008).
The social presence category represents the category of where the design must provide a risk free learning
environment, where the students can express themselves and develop personal relationships and gain a sense
of belonging to the community.
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First of all ITSL is doing this by offering the students a profile. All students are identified by their real name and
they can add information about themselves, giving everyone else a sense of their personality. Whenever a
student (or teacher) has been active, writing in a forum, posting a file etc. the name of that student will be
connected to the action giving other students the possibility to navigate to the student’s user profile. When
students and teachers login to ITSL they can see a list of users that are online, which give the students an
awareness of their presence.
The students are third year students and are apparently socially grounded as a group. Our observations in the
physical classroom indicate a great level of social interaction with great laughs and personal interest and care
for each other. Social interaction is alone inadequate to sustain a CoI and achieve educational goals and higher
levels of learning require meaningful discourse to collaboratively construct, critically reflect and confirm
understanding (Garrison & Vaughan 2008). Therefore the CoI must in addition include a cognitive presence
that supports the cyclical inquiry pattern of learning from experience through reflection and conceptualization
to action and on to further experience (Garrison & Vaughan 2008), which David Kolb, inspired by Piaget and
Dewey also suggested. Cognitive presence is a recursive litigation, which includes that the students must have
a sense of puzzlement, exchange information, connect their ideas, explore new opportunities and apply new
ideas.
In an LMS like ITSL many of the features support this, if used correctly. An example could be a forum where
students can discuss, give feedback or share ideas with each other or a personal blog where students can
reflect on their own learning or comprehension.
Last but not least the CoI must, in an educational context, include teaching presence to connect the above
elements and secure student productivity. Teaching presence provides facilitation, direction, design,
curriculum, methods and is the crucial element that brings social and cognitive presence together.
7. Findings
During sessions in the classroom employing the principles of Flipped Learning observations indicate how the
time was spend. We found that the teacher dominated the learning environment with one way teaching 20%
of the time while the students worked collaboratively and engaging 70% of the time. The last 10% was used by
technical, practical, and social issues.
In the use of ITSL the teacher decides which features are appropriate to use for a specific course. In our setup
we used the following features:
Rich‐text pages
Uploaded videos and presentations
Assignments
Quizzes
Course dashboard with bulletins
The course content (an area of the course for storing files and activities) contained 15 folders including the one
used by our theme. As each folder had several subfolders the complexity of the course content was
overwhelming for some of the students. The starting point was a rich‐text page that introduced the sessions,
group work and activities for the students. The rich‐text page was a simple way for the teacher to describe the
theme content in one page and students found it useful as expressed at the focus group interview:
“After finding the page I found it informative and useful.”
But not all students were used to this way of presenting information:
“We have never seen this kind of page before and were not informed about it in the first place.”
Obviously it can be difficult to navigate a course in ITSL, especially with that many folders.
As part for our Flipped learning four videos were produced. The students were told to see the videos preparing
for two of the sessions. Each video had a length of 13 to 19 minutes and presented theory for the sessions.
Overall the students were satisfied with the use of videos:
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“I can easily read up on the things watching the videos again.”
“I think I learned more.”
But at the same time students also encountered problems while watching the videos:
“Sometimes the video just stopped and I had to start all over again.”
Unfortunately many students had the same kind of issues with the videos, either problems with pausing the
video or downloading it (often to mobile devices). The video files were uploaded to ITSL and had to be
downloaded, before they could be watched. Different browsers and operating systems apparently handle this
in different ways, a fact that we were not aware of and witch were crucial especially for novice students. Other
comments are more related to the way that theory was presented and that the videos should not be seen as a
replacement of traditional media like the book:
“I need something written in a book that explains the theories as well.”
And that the level of which the traditional sessions are remediation should be considered again:
“It would be great if I could see the teacher while she was speaking.”
Students still prefer looking at the teacher in combination with the slides and not only the slides.
One of the activities that the students should do outside the classroom were quizzes. We did two quizzes on
two different topics encouraging the students to take the quizzes while they were working in groups. After the
course 1/3 of the students had answered the quizzes. At the focus group interviews students found the quizzes
useful.
Even though ITSL can give the students an overview of the course using the dashboard it still seems difficult for
the students to get information. The students chose to make their own online discussions on Facebook.
“We have created our own closed group on Facebook. We are all on Facebook except two
students. We use this to communicate on academic and practical issues in all of our classes. And
we share files and documents as well”.
“ITSL is not logically and intuitively designed” ‐ “It´s very confusing with all those subfolders”
Moving communication between students (and indirectly from teacher to students) from ITSL to Facebook
undermines part of the intention with ITSL and ruins our documentation for their interaction. It also shows
quite well the general relationship of the students to it – they use the tool what they feel most appropriate in
a given case.
8. Conclusion
As expected we found that time in classroom employing the principles of Flipped Classroom was spend on
collaborative group work instead of traditional lecturing. Our empirical data indicated that many students
engaged in high quality discussions resulting in answers to the problems described in a provided case.
To enhance learning a selection of online materials were available to the students. Many students worked with
the materials and produced the intended products, and at the focus group interview students expressed that
they found the exercises helpful to structure their work with the case.
Especially the quizzes were found to be helpful by the students to assess their understanding. To further
exploit this feature the students should be able to revisit all information, videos, resources and activities in
ITSL ensuring that the student at any time can read up on the curriculum.
From the focus group interviews and observations during students’ group work we found that we had
overestimated the students’ ability to understand how the online activities interacted with the activities in the
classroom hence making it difficult for them to benefit fully from the assignments.
In a blended learning environment like this, it is important that the teacher creates a connection between
classroom and online activities. Our observations confirmed the results from literature review that lack of
connection between online activities and classroom activities influence the student opportunities to learn and
engage.
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Our results suggest three primary focus points. The teachers must:
contextualize and summarize the academic materials on ITSL – focus on scaffolding
coordinate their roles in class – focus on collaborative teaching
interact sufficient with students in class – focus on the creating a relationship
Use of IT in education does not create motivation for learning but IT based designs can make a difference. If
the teacher succeeds in creating the relationship between the a digital mediated content and the academic
community in the classroom the student’s engagement is strengthened.
Did our IT based design impose any influence on the students’ motivation and learning outcome? Potentially it
has as we have seen higher degree of student activity and several of our pedagogic designs worked the way
they were intended. Further analysis of the data gathered throughout the theme will help us answering this
question.
The answer to the question will have potential impact on the organization of other higher educational
programs which share the challenge to engage the students in learning subjects which the students do not
perceive as part of the core curriculum.
References
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Unges motivation og læring : 12 eksperter om motivationskrisen i uddannelsessystemet Kbh.: Hans Reitzel, pp. 268
sider.
Biesta, G.J.J., 2014. Den smukke risiko i uddannelse og pædagogik. Aarhus: Klim.
Bloom, B. ed., 1956. Taxonomy of educational objectives : the classification of educational goals. New York: David McKay.
Dencker, L., 2008. De første par skridt ind i Scharmers "U"‐univers [Online]: Ankerhus.
Available at:
http://www.ankerhus.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/ankerhus/dokumenter/artikler/De_foerste_par_skridt_ind_i_Schar
mers_U‐univers_01.pdf [Accessed 09.14].
Gade, A., 1997. Hjerneprocesser : kognition og neurovidenskab. Kbh.: Frydenlund Grafisk.
Garrison, D.R.,1945‐ & Vaughan, N.D., 2008. Blended learning in higher education : framework, principles, and guidelines
[Online]. 1. udgave. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass.
Hamdan, N. et al., 2014. A review on flipped learning [Online]: George Mason University.
Tilgængelig fra:
http://www.flippedlearning.org/cms/lib07/VA01923112/Centricity/Domain/41/LitReview_FlippedLearning.pdf.
Hildebrandt, S., 2012. Introduktion til teori U. Kbh.: Gyldendal Business.
Illeris, K., 2006. Læring. 2. reviderede udgave. udgave. Frederiksberg: Roskilde Universitetsforlag.
Kahn, S., 2013. The future of education [Online]. Kahn Academy.
Tilgængelig fra: http://www.khanacademy.org/talks‐and‐interviews/key‐media‐pieces/v/khan‐academy‐‐the‐future‐
of‐education [Lokaliseret 2014].
Lave, J. & Wenger, E., 1991. Situated learning : legitimate peripheral participation. reprinted edn. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Nielsen, B. & Nielsen, K., Aktionsforskning. In S. Brinkmann & L. Tanggaard eds. 2010. Kvalitative metoder : en grundbog
Kbh.: Hans Reitzel.
Scharmer, C.O., 2009. Theory U : leading from the future as it emerges : the social technology of presencing. San Francisco:
Berrett‐Koehler.
Sørensen, B., Styrk deltagerperspektivet. In N.U. Sørensen, E.M. Skaalvik & Unges lyst til læring (projekt) eds. 2013. Unges
motivation og læring : 12 eksperter om motivationskrisen i uddannelsessystemet Kbh.: Hans Reitzel.
UC 2014, . The Deaconess University College, School of Nursing [Online].
Available at: http://www.sygeplejeskolen.diakonissen.dk/Default.aspx?ID=1106 [Accessed 09.2014].
Wahlgren, B., 2009. Transfer mellem uddannelse og arbejde [Online]. København: NCK.
Wenger, E., 1998. Communities of practice : learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
312
Cyberseniors and Quality of Life: A Focus on Social Networking
Leticia Rocha Machado, Anelise Jantsch, José Valdeni de Lima and Patricia Alejandra Behar
Graduate Program in Computer Education (PPGIE) at Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul (UFRGS), Av. Paulo Gama, Porto Alegre, Brazil
leticiarmachado@yahoo.com.br
anelise.jantsch@gmail.com
valdeni@inf.ufrgs.br
pbehar@terra.com.br
Abstract: In the contemporary world which emphasizes the new, the different and the snapshot, we perceive an inversion
of roles with regard to stages of life and appreciation of individuals. The old age in Western societies has often been linked
to inactivity and biological decline. To reinforce this thought we find the cult of youth which dominates media, advertising
and the contemporary society (Brandão and Silveira, 2010). Aging is not only a question of genetics and biology, but also
psychological and social issues. Aging is a natural development of life and depends on the environmental conditions and
the socio‐cultural characteristics of seniors’ lives (Freitas, 2011). Nowadays the information and communication
technologies (ICT) have contributed to dissemination of knowledge through several means, and to do so ICT use digital
tools. These tools allow not only research but also may provide conditions towards knowledge to be shared and socialized.
Thus, these technologies may help older people to reduce isolation and loneliness, increasing their chances of keeping in
touch with family and friends, including their social relationships through the use of social networks as a tool to facilitate
the active aging achievement (Páscoa, 2012). In this sense the population is increasingly concerned about the quality of life.
Quality of life encompasses different factors and therefore it is considered multidimensional. So, quality of life refers about
biological, educational, psychological and social aspects which include new changes in society. The use of ICTs can help
seniors to enjoy and include themselves in the Knowledge Society, mostly through Digital Social Networks (DSN) where
they can relate with family and friends. The Digital Social Networks (DSN) foster changes in social relationships and they
are a medium that enable changes in social relations, this research aims to investigate the influence of the use of DSN by
elderly who are already digitally included and utilize this type of technology. We investigated the DSN influence in the
quality of life of seniors. For this purpose, a survey was conducted with twelve seniors who participated in a course of
digital inclusion in Brazil, during 2009 to 2013. We used the WHOQOL‐bref Questionnaire of World Health Organization to
evaluate the quality of life perceived by the participants. Our findings indicate that seniors were active participants in the
DSN, and use it mainly to communicate with each other and exchange information as a way to maintain existing
relationships and to obtain new ones. This shows that DSN can improve the quality of life for seniors.
Keywords: computer mediated communication, social media, Web 2.0 tools, digital social networks, Facebook
1. Introduction
The number of older people grows every year (Ala‐Mutka et al., 2008). The World Health Organization (WHO)
reported on Geneva that life expectancy has increased an average of six years around the globe. In Brazil there
was an increase of eight years (WHO, 2014). These data indicate how important is to think about the quality of
life in an older population. In Brazil, as in other countries, the elderly population is increasingly occupying
spaces in the society. To conform to the demographic reality, seniors are participating more actively in social
life. Seniors are becoming more involved in communities, and they are creating new social networks. Today we
can find the elderly at different communities (face‐to‐face and virtual) to improve their knowledge on subjects
of interest of this group (Brandão and Silveira, 2010; Páscoa, 2012).
Among the new ways of learning are the digital technologies. Older people are using more technologies like
smartphones, media players, tablets and more (Chen and Chan, 2014). Despite the larger offer on new
technologies, the elderly still want to learn the use of computer. Seniors see the computer as a great tool to
stimulate memory and to build or to enhance new knowledge. They recognize in the computer a variety of
resources for communication and interactions with family, friends and to be up‐to‐date. The use of tools for
information technology led to virtual and social inclusion to older people, for example, by online social
networks. The changes in our digital society conducted the older people to look for a space in the virtual world.
Social networks are studied in the literature since 1930. There is a wide range of theorists working on the
subject. A social network is formed in different cultures and societies and generally consists of communities
such as family, school, jobs etc. (Sawver, 2011). From the rise of internet in the 90s the scope of social
networks has increased due to the use of communication technologies. With the improvement of internet
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(web 2.0) significant changes in the ways of communication and interaction occurred. By these
transformations it was possible to provide tools to create virtual communities like Orkut, Facebook etc. (Varela
and Ogawa, 2014). This paper aims to discuss the relationship between the use of social networks and the
quality of life in a group of seniors in Brazil. The study was conducted at the Federal University of Rio Grande
do Sul (UFRGS) where, since 2009, our university offered workshops of digital inclusion for older people. This
paper is organized as the following: section 2 presents the concept Quality of Life and the importance of social
networks to seniors; in Section 3 we present the methodology adopted in this research, and a discussion about
data collected is done in section 4. Finally, section 5 presents some concluding remarks about our work and
implications for education and gerontology.
2. Quality of life of elderly and digital social networks
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines quality of life as “the individuals’ perception of their position in
life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals,
expectations, standards and concerns” (WHOQOL, 1995) in accordance with three key principles: functional
ability, socioeconomic status and life satisfaction (Silva et al., 2012). Quality of life and satisfaction in old age
have been related to dependency/autonomy, taking into account aging consequences. There are people who
present a decline in their health status and cognition skills when aging. Others live in a healthy way until they
reach advanced age (Joia et al., 2007). According to Silva et al. (2012), quality of life in old age can be
understood as health maintenance in all aspects of human life: physical, social, psychological and spiritual.
Understanding what the elderly think about quality of life is important for health professionals, educators,
families, government, and society in order to assist them in adopting healthy practices and behaviors facing
the aging process.
Research on social networking and its significance to seniors’ lives has been occurring for many years.
Companionship groups often act like a second family, where seniors look for occupying their free time and
establishing emotional bonds. These groups serve as listening spaces and increase elderly participation in
dialogues, leading them to experience feelings of being valued, avoiding the sense of isolation, reducing
depression and improving self‐image (Oliveira and Queiroz, 2012; Araújo et al., 2005). The nature of a social
network to seniors has a strong impact on their quality of life, for those who have a large number of different
types of relationships live longer, and mortality rates are highest among those with few social connections.
Strong social bonds also tend to relieve depression, increase life satisfaction and stimulate interest in daily
activities (Sundar et al., 2011). Technology contributes to interaction between people, especially in the case of
seniors who often have limited mobility due to health problems or issues of safety in the cities. This interaction
was only made possible via Internet technologies enabling synchronous or asynchronous interactions with
family and friends. This way the seniors do not only receive news of their relatives, but also see and hear them,
making them feel part of these people lives, despite being apart. Digital social networks (DSN) are described as
online spaces where individuals introduce themselves and establish and maintain connection with others. Thus,
DSN can be an alternative to provide to the elderly a greater social interaction.
Nowadays DSN are the fourth most popular activity even more than e‐mail and have almost 10% of the time
spent on the Internet (Lewis, 2011). With great representativeness, Facebook comes as one of the most used
social networks around the world, as a meeting place for sharing, interaction, and discussion of ideas and
issues of common interest. It is an informal environment where any individual including senior citizens can
communicate, share and interact with the purpose of enhancing their social activity. This digital tool can be a
facilitator for the active aging process. For seniors, this tool has the potential to reduce their isolation and
increase interactivity with others (Páscoa, 2012). To have a better understanding about DSN and the quality of
life for seniors, we present in next section the study we conducted using the WHOQOL‐bref questionnaire
about quality of life in a group of 12 seniors in 2013, and how they perceived the use of DSN to an
improvement in their social interaction.
3. Methodology
Social networks have always been part of human interactions. With developments in technology these
interactions have been established in other ways including the virtual environment. Seniors are considered
today one of the active users of the Internet, mainly in digital social networks. For this research we used
qualitative and quantitative methods focusing on the use of digital social networks by seniors and its influence
in their quality of life. The twelve (12) seniors surveyed were 60 years or older and attended a course designed
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for digital inclusion at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, between 2009 and 2012. The course
aimed to empower seniors to use different digital technologies. The continuation of the course of digital
inclusion for seniors, in 2013, had as its main subject the issue quality of life during the aging process, and the
goal was to work with health education. For this purpose, we used digital media for interaction including
Facebook. According to Kececi and Bulduk (2012, p.160): “the main objective of health education is to provide
individuals and society with assistance so that they can lead a healthy life through their own efforts and
actions. Therefore, health education supports and develops all kinds of individual learning processes. Similarly,
it makes changes in the beliefs and value systems of individuals, their attitudes and skill levels; in other words,
it changes their lifestyles”.
Throughout the course we provided materials such as videos and texts that focused on a healthy lifestyle
according to the policy of active ageing (WHO, 2002), the behavioral determinants: healthy eating, physical
activity, preventive behavior and social interaction. The digital social network was one of the resources used
by the participants to discuss and share other materials, as well as their own experiences. In this network
(Facebook), we created a closed group where only the members of our course could post and view
publications. This closed group also promoted a greater interaction among participants and thus helped to
strengthen emotional and social bonds. Data collection involved the use of two instruments: (1) WHOQOL‐bref
(WHOQOL, 1995) questionnaire focusing on quality of life in different domains and (2) social network
evaluation focusing on the technology. The instruments were applied at the end of each course in 2012 and
2013. In addition, observations of interactions among participants in DSN were collected in the process.
The WHOQOL‐bref questionnaire included two general questions related to quality of life and 24 questions of
the original instrument. Data from the WHOQOL‐bref were pilot‐tested with 20 centers in 18 different
countries. WHOQOL‐bref consisted of four domains: physical, psychological, social relationships and
environment. For the purpose of this paper, specific topics of the domain were used as "Environment" and
"Social Relations" in order to relate to the use of digital social networks. In addition to the WHOQOL‐bref, our
study also included a questionnaire using multiple choice and essay questions focusing specifically on the use
of DSN. Both instruments are complementary in analyzing the data and helped us enrich the understanding of
the use of networks and their influence on the quality of life for seniors. The quantitative data were analyzed
based on frequency distribution represented in percentages, average and standard deviation, and were
presented in form of graphs. Qualitative data were based according to Bardin (2009) with respect to content
analysis. In the next section we present the data collected for this study and their analysis.
4. Discussion and data analysis
Twelve seniors have participated of the research with an average of 68 years, majority with an educational
level of university degree (44%), followed by secondary education (33%) and elementary education (23%).
First we present data related to the use of digital social networks, followed by specific data on the quality of
life ending with a joint discussion of collected information. Seniors when questioned about the use of DSN
confirmed that they use it frequently (64% use social networking one or more times per week). Facebook
(www.facebook.com) is the predominant DSN with 75% of use, followed by Orkut (www.orkut.com) with 11%,
Tumblr (www.tumblr.com) with 11% and only 3% by Twitter (twitter.com). Facebook remains one of the most
popular digital social networks considered by older audience. Data published in 2014 show that there was an
increase of elderly users on Facebook. People aged 65 and over represent 45% of users in this digital social
network (PEW RESEARCH, 2014). This preference is due to some factors like the resources are in the users’
language; the simplicity to post content (photos, messages) and to share it; the facility to communicate easily
with friends and family. As quotes one of seniors in our research that "Facebook, because I find it less
complicated to use it”. Seniors utilize DSN for communication purposes (85%), followed by leisure and work
(Figure 1), and they state that the exchange of information and the possibility to meet people from the past is
the great advantage of the use of digital social networks (Figure 2).
In contrast, seniors are afraid of being victims of the Internet attacks like disclosure of their personal data and
privacy invasion. It is because they ignore some safety tips regarding the use of Internet. According to seniors,
social networks influence people opinions (74%). Regarding to the relationships via DSN (friendship, sex), most
seniors indicated that they believe that concrete relationships can occur, despite they have never gone
through such experience (72%). The concrete relationships refer to those that started in the DSN and became
real. In the same scenario, 14% said they do not believe that such relationship can occur and, on the other
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hand, 14% indicated affirmatively that they have gone through that experience (Figure 3). Data obtained about
the use of DSN showed an active and participatory audience in networks, and most of seniors use it to
communicate and exchange information. Relationships established on DSN reflect seniors’ characteristics,
because they have long‐term interactions that are re‐established with the support of technology. At the same
time, data showed to us a public concerned about the impact of DSN in everyday life, especially about security
issues like invasion of privacy and data disclosure.
Regarding to quality of life, data collected in the WHOQOL‐bref (WHOQOL, 1995) showed us a high prevalence
in quality of life of seniors in different domains. To support the discussion about social networks, some aspects
were highlighted in the domains "Environment" and "Social", as we will address below.
Figure 1: Use of digital social networks by seniors
In figure 1 we can see that communication is the functionality that appeals more to the elderly.
Communication plays an important role for seniors because it allows their socialization and participation with
family, even with relatives of different ages. The information and communication technologies (ICT) enabled
faster communication with social circles. The act of communicating can minimize the emotional and affective
needs of this group (Oliveira and Queiroz, 2012). Completing with the comment about how digital social
networks have change the life of a senior: "Certainly, so I can see pictures of my children who live far away, I
can talk to them and send messages. Anyway, I can stay in touch with my kids, relatives and friends ".
Figure 2: Advantages of the use of digital social networks
How is it possible to perceive, in Figure 2, the exchange of information (pictures, messages, videos) is one of
the factors that most appeals to older audiences on Facebook. Despite being the preference of older people
exchanging information still concerns the elderly public. Inserting pictures and videos in digital social networks
is still complicated by the fear of excessive exposure. As an elderly commented "The fear that the use of social
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network leads to an unwanted personal exposure may be an additional factor to my low utilization". With
these data we must examine the importance, or not, of digital social networks for maintaining and / or
creating relationships in the quality of life of this audience.
Figure 3: Concrete forming relationships from interactions of digital social networks
In the domain Environment, we considered three aspects: "Opportunities to acquire new information and
skills" seniors showed that they are not completely satisfied, but very satisfied (67%); with regard to
"Participation and opportunities for recreation/leisure", we found 50% of satisfied seniors, followed by 33%
completely satisfied seniors; considering the aspect of "Health and social care: availability and quality" results
indicate seniors’ very satisfied (75%) (Figure 5). The WHOQOL‐bref data collected showed to us an audience
socially included, where social relationships are well established, reflecting an improved quality of life. As one
of the seniors said: "Retake the social life or enhance it".
Figure 4: Domain social relation
Regarding to the WHOQOL‐bref aspect "Opportunities to acquire new information and skills", seniors showed
a concern about being informed and acquiring new skills for life (Figure 5).
Although a small frequency of the use of the DSN (one or more times a week), when we compare seniors with
teenagers, it is still a significant amount for an audience that did not know how to handle a computer four
years ago. Digital tools allow to seniors a sense of belonging to a wider and virtual community, which allows
them to come into contact with other people, with the society (DOLL, MACHADO, 2011). The risks described by
seniors show a concern about safe web experience. Such perspectives are encouraged by the lack of
information and clarification on the use of technology and their self‐assessment as a human being that has
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limitations that comes with the aging process, according to them. These data were reinforced with the
WHOQOL‐bref results and the speech of one senior "Like children, seniors are easily manipulated". Seniors’
speeches often lead to this: "Communicating with friends and family, make new friends; facilitated
communication, quick information; communications, reunions, entertainment and new friends".
Figure 5: Domain environment
Communication is tied to the construction of social relationships with family, friends or even strangers. Seniors
have confirmed that they believe in the possibility of building concrete relationships from Internet (Figure 3).
Social relationships are critical to a satisfactory quality of life and the WHOQOL‐bref outcomes (Figure 4)
showed that there are satisfactory personal relationships in this group. These relationships are ways to get out
of isolation and loneliness, and are shown in the statements of participants: "Exit isolation ... looking for new
friends... looking for hobbies and innovations; A great benefit because we are always updated and we can talk
same language with grandchildren, children and relatives; Rediscovering old friends (existing friends too), keep
up to date on various subjects and it is a great hobby; Distraction, friendship, be able to express our opinions,
talk; Keeping contact with friends and gather with friends; I participated in a meeting with friends from my
hometown, scheduled by social network". McAuley (2000) and Neto (2000) reported that there is a social
loneliness, in which people feel unsatisfied in personal/social relationships (family, friends, etc.). This
dissatisfaction harms a healthy quality of life. Therefore social loneliness can be addressed in the use of digital
social networks.
The data considered here show a positive influence that the digital social networks perform in the quality of
life for seniors. Our findings are described by the seniors opinion when they were asked if the DSN could help
them in quality of life, and they said yes, according to comments made: "In so far the people are dedicated to
answer to all demonstrations of its own network, this includes them in a social life and produces a sense of
belonging into their relationships; As I said before all of this improves health and keeps me update; I do not
feel lonely because anytime I am sending or receiving wonderful messages; Yes, in so far people decrease the
loneliness and keep in touch with other friends and stay updated".
5. Concluding remarks
Society in general goes through many changes, both as social and cultural paradigms. In this context there is a
portion of population that, unfortunately, is rarely studied: the seniors. At the same time this population is
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joining the society through courses, workshops, lectures or even in an active way at NGOs, unions and others.
Nowadays there are many courses being offered for digital inclusion and even more seniors require learning
current and popular issues. The motivation to learn for elderly people depends strongly on the purpose of the
learning outcomes, and also in how much they consider themselves able to achieve these results (self‐efficacy).
The commitment to meaningful activities for the elderly contributes to good health and satisfaction with life
and longevity (Ala‐Mutka et al., 2008; Kececi and Bulduk, 2012) as is in the case of digital social networks.
This research analyzed the profile of a group of seniors who use DSN, their concerns and purposes. It was also
possible to realize that DSN can greatly benefit quality of life of seniors mainly in social relationships, nearing
seniors to society (family, friends, etc.), through communication and information with the world that
surrounds them. As one of the seniors mentioned "You stay connected to the world". Every year brings new
digital social networks and new features. At the same time, the elderly are increasingly present in this
environment and their anxieties and motivation accompany them. Therefore it is important that studies in
addition to improving the tools in digital social networks, also seek to address issues related to quality of life. It
is up to educators, gerontologists and those working with digital inclusion to provide to this audience a
conscious use of digital social networks, and clear doubts that seniors have, as availability of information,
communication and update forms. There are many possibilities to use the DSN as a benefit to quality of life for
seniors and it is a matter for professionals who work with these people to show them the possibilities and the
potential of the DSN use.
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Students as Learning Designers in Innovation Education
Rikke Magnussen1 and Birgitte Holm Sørensen2
1
ResearchLab: ICT and Design for Learning, Department of Communication, Aalborg
University, Copenhagen, Denmark
2
ResearchLab: ICT and Design for Learning, Department of Department of Learning and
Philosophy, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark
rikkem@aau.hum.dk
birgitte@learning.aau.dk
Abstract: This paper, which concerns criteria for developing technology‐enhanced innovation education, discusses how
teacher and student relationships change in these learning spaces. The case study in this paper involves a school in
Denmark where teachers and students, aged 6‐14, were involved in developing and testing new forms of technology‐
enhanced innovation education as part of the establishment of an EduTechLab at the school. Established in new facilities at
the school, the lab contained learning technologies such as Nao robots, sensor kits, and 3D visualisation and printing
facilities. The goal of the EduTechLab project was to establish a creative learning environment for students and teachers
that would support innovative practice with new forms of learning technology. Part of this goal was to involve students in
innovative design processes in order for them to experiment with their own design solutions to case problems. The project
was organised as a series of workshops and teacher intervention in classes, where teachers were introduced to learning
technologies and innovation process tools, and afterwards tested technologies and learning designs were tested in classes.
Two researchers and two students followed the first six‐month phase of the project, which involved 25 teachers (foreign
languages, mathematics, physics, chemistry and Danish) and 40 children. Video observations were conducted of workshops
and interventions in class, while qualitative interviews were conducted with teachers and students. Our results suggest
that integrating learning technology into innovation education changes teacher roles and enhances the students’ role as
co‐designers of the learning environment and activities. We observed how the planned process and activities, initially
defined and controlled by teachers, gradually changed during the process due to the collaboration that took place between
the students and teachers. The student design process thus steadily changed from being teacher directed to open
experimentation, where students co‐defined processes, technologies and design goals. The impetus for these processes
was partly the fact that the teachers changed their approach after experiencing how well the students handled complex
design processes involving new technology. This paper discusses how these changed roles are an integrated part of
working with knowledge production processes in schools in an ever‐changing landscape of new technologies and how co‐
designer roles can be integrated in innovation education.
Keywords: science education, innovation, design for learning, students as learning designers
1. Introduction
Educating students for innovation in the knowledge economies has become the mantra in most Western
countries (Drucker, 1993). One of the primary tasks of educators has thus been defined as designing pedagogy
to adequately prepare learners to participate creatively in these economies (OECD, 2000). A debate, however,
has ensued on how innovative processes can be integrated into school education (Sawyer, 2006) and how the
design of pedagogy using digital tools, such as games and robot technology, can support the construction of
student designs and the building of innovative competences in science education (Magnussen, 2011).
Widely used in innovation education, integrating digital student production has been shown to motivate
students and to have an effect on learning results Further, it has been argued that the potential of student
production involving digital tools such as podcast and video technologies lies in the knowledge‐creation
process and its use as a vehicle for dissemination of learner‐generated content (Lee et al. 2008). Studies of
teacher and student roles in learning designs with a focus on ICT‐integrated student production, ownership
and iteration also show that ICT‐integrated student productions can facilitate student learning processes and
improve student learning outcomes (Levinsen & Sørensen, 2013).
The case study in our paper is a cross‐disciplinary project at Antvorskov School, Denmark that involved 25
teachers over a six‐month period. The goal of the project was to introduce teachers to new types of learning
technology, such as humming bird sensor kits, Nao robots and 3D visualisation programmes, and for teachers
to create and test teaching content, including innovative processes, digital student productions and subject‐
specific content. The focus of the paper is to discuss how digital student productions, including innovation into
science education, influences student and teacher roles as learning designers.
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2. Background
The debate on how to educate for innovation is based on discussions on how Western economies have
changed from industrial economies to knowledge economies. It is argued that these new economies are based
on the creation of knowledge, information and innovation rather than the production and distribution of
physical objects (Drucker, 1997; Bereiter, 2002). Critics state that educational research has paid little attention
to the shift to an innovation economy and school education does not prepare learners for creative
participation in an innovation economy (Sawyer, 2006). Definitions of innovative competences and what forms
of pedagogy, processes and structures support – or obstruct – building innovative competences in school are,
however, hotly debated. One aspect of this search to define future innovative competences is the
collaborative approach to creating new knowledge in a knowledge economy. In the past, science and
technology studies on actors in scientific research has led to a discussion of what “authentic science” means in
school education from a collaborative perspective (McGinn & Roth, 1999). In contrast to the traditional picture
of the scientist as the isolated genius endowed with superior mental abilities, scientific knowledge in the field
of science and technology studies is seen as emerging from disciplined ways of organising and making sense of
the natural world in a network of actors, and as being a construction of visual presentations (Latour &
Woolgar, 1986; Latour, 1999).
Another string in the debate is based on studies of how new innovative businesses organise innovative work
and learning spaces. Sawyer (2006) argues, based on studies of knowledge creation in innovative companies
and improvisation in artistic processes, that collaboration and creativity are central in understanding
innovation and education in a knowledge society. He argues that innovative American companies, such as the
design companies IDEO and W.L. Gore Inc., centre the organisation on team collaboration and improvisational
approaches, such as rapid prototyping, blending innovation and execution throughout the project cycle, and
create multiple teams to work on the same projects independently so that emergent insights can cross‐fertilize
and blend together. Sawyer combines studies on innovative companies with studies on artistic improvisation
within groups of jazz musicians and theatre ensembles and finds that they are trained to follow basic rules in
their improvisational process, such as rules for building on each other’s ideas instead of rejecting them.
In order to understand how to integrate innovation processes into school teaching, he argues that what he
terms disciplined improvisation is central in innovation education, basing his assumption on results from
studies involving teacher use of improvisational methods. Disciplined improvisation is defined partly as
“collaborative discussions in which students build knowledge together” (Sawyer, 2006, p. 45). This
improvisation is disciplined because it occurs within a broad structure that ideally “balances structure and
script with flexibility and improvisation, as teachers improvisationally invoke and apply routines and activity
structures” (Sawyer, 2006, p. 45). Moreover, “Curricula should be designed to provide scaffolds for creative
group activities, and they should have substantial flexibility build in, allowing students and teachers to jointly
improvise their own collective path as they build their own knowledge” (Sawyer, 2006, p. 45).
Improvisation is thus a collective process between students and teachers, but Sawyer notes that this needs a
different type of teacher preparation and that it can be stressful for teachers to give up control over teaching
activities. Studies on innovation teaching in science classes also show that open‐ended innovation processes
are new for teachers and students alike, both groups explaining that they are used to working with “recipes” in
science (Magnussen, 2011). Understanding how teachers prepare to support open processes in which students
partially guide the direction of the class is key to further focus
In recent years, studies show, however, that students play a central role as learning designers in education
involving IT and technology (Levinsen & Holm Sørensen 2013). Traditionally, design for learning is solely the
teachers’ domain. But when the students – within a framework designed by the teacher – produce learning
objects for other students, this frame paves the way for the students to become learning designers of their
own learning processes and of learning objects with other students as target group. Both students and
teachers act as learning designers (Sørensen and Levinsen 2014a & 2014b). It is important to distinguish digital
production and learning design of students as separate but complementary processes. As digital producers,
the students acquire knowledge about a subject, whereas as learning designers, define (sub)goals, select
content and organise their learning process in relation to producing learning objects for other students. The
processes run parallel in an ongoing complementary interaction, where the students continuously position
themselves as either producers or learning designers (Ibid.)
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Rikke Magnussen and Birgitte Holm Sørensen
The following section presents a study conducted at Antvorskov School, Denmark, which developed an
EduTechLab with a focus on teacher development and testing of learning designs based on inclusion of new
learning technologies and innovation processes. This was carried out with a focus on discussing innovation in
relation to curriculum design and pedagogy with teacher and student participation as learning designers.
3. Case study EduTechLab
The Antvorskov School, Denmark case study involved six months of observing the first phase of development
of the school’s EduTechLab. The main focus of developing the lab was to establish a creative learning
environment for students that would support their ability to work with new forms of learning with technology.
This was done, in part, to give students the opportunity to experiment and develop their own solutions to case
problems using the inclusion of the latest learning technologies. Rather than a narrow focus on technologies as
objects, the goal defined by school leaders at Antvorskov School was to develop a broad understanding of
technology that focuses on the pedagogical use of technology and on relationships and contexts.
3.1 Methodology and methods
The current study is a case study following a single case for a longer period. The methodology used in
developing and conducting the EduTech project however follow a design‐based research process and involve
various design cycles, interventions, analyses and redesign (Brown, 1992). In this paper we describe and
analyse the first phases of problem definition, design, intervention and reflections on redesign. The described
phase is part of a larger development project which continued after the end of the research project.
3.1.1 Recruitment and sampling
Twenty‐five teachers participated in the first phase of the EduTechLab from September 2013 to February 2014.
This first phase included workshops that introduced the teachers to the various technologies, such as Nao
robots, hummingbird sensor kits and innovation processes, and workshops that allowed teachers to design
their own EduTechLab classes that included innovative processes and new technology. The workshops were
cross‐disciplinary and included teachers from different subject areas and grades. After completion of the
workshops, a 24‐hour innovation camp was held where teachers could build designs or test learning designs
with students participating in innovation processes to design digital case solutions. Assisted by two students,
we followed the learning design workshops and the innovation camp. The workshops were designed by two
consultants in educational learning technology employed by the school for developing the EduTechLab. The
plans for workshops develop the interventional process and practice to integrate research in teaching practice.
An example of this was the innovation camp that was suggested by researchers as an intervention spaces
where teachers had the possibility to further develop or test their learning designs and researchers had the
possibility to observe these processes.
3.1.2 Data collection and data analysis
Data collection and analysis was conducted involving different types of data collection methods. Teacher’s
workshop activities and students design activities were documented though video observations conducted by
one research and two students. Video observations were supplemented with video recorded semi‐structured
qualitative interviews with teachers, students and consultants using interview guides with loosely defined
themes guiding the conversation with teachers (Adamson, 2006). Interviews conducted during workshop and
innovation camp activities were aimed at documenting teacher and student reflections in practice. Interviews
conducted after the workshop and design activities were aimed at investigating the teacher’s deeper
reflections after having completed activities.
The video recorded interviews were transcribed and video observations were synthesised using note to
document physical interaction between teachers, students and consultants Transcribed data was analysed
though use of situational analysis were the messy map method was used to map analytical themes in the data
(for an extensive description of the methodological approach and analysis process see: Hebsgaard &
Zachariassen, 2014).
4. Findings
The following sections presents part of our results in themed areas of innovation education and students as
learning designers. The findings are presented in two sections. The first section describes findings done from
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observations and interviews conducted during the workshops teachers participated in before the innovation
camp. The second section describes findings generated from data collected as part of the innovation camp.
4.1 Workshops: Between innovation technology
The teacher workshops focused on introducing them to the technologies acquired for the first phase of
building the EduTechLab and to innovation processes, in addition to guiding teachers in developing their own
learning designs that include elements of innovation and learning technology. The content of the workshops
followed a description, innovation and product (DIP) model developed by the consultants running the
workshops (see figure 1).
Figure 1: The description, innovation and product (DIP) model is based on steps involving 1) a description and
puzzlement, where students describe what the existing technologies are within the area; 2)
innovation and research, where students are given the task to rethink technologies or technology
use; and 3) product and dissemination where the task is to define and present the a product
During the workshops, the consultants referred to the DIP model to discuss what possible elements their
learning designs could contain. The main goals were for teachers to become familiar with the various learning
technologies and for the teacher to develop learning designs and courses that involved student development
of digital designs or products. The teachers, however, were free to interpret how and who developed the
digital designs and what process subjects were included in the courses they designed. The main task of the
learning design workshop was for teachers to answer questions in the DIP model in relation to designing
classes for their students. This was done by filling in answers to the question in an electronic scheme
developed by the consultants.
As a result of observations conducted on the learning design workshops and on interviews with teachers, it
became clear that there was widespread confusion in the teacher groups concerning the primary focus of the
learning designs that involved questions such as: Does this involve teaching students to work with technology?
Using technology as a tool for supporting teaching a subject? Or, creating an innovative new product?
(Hebsgaard & Zachariassen, 2014). Teachers expressed this confusion in the learning design workshop, where
the task was to fill in their course content under the DIP model. A discussion between the science teacher
Frank and one of the consultants illustrates this confusion:
“(...) So in my mind, I had thought: “I'll take hummingbird and then focus my course on helping
students become familiar with the technology. And then I sit here and get a little unsure about
whether that’s good enough in connection to the innovation perspective”. (Frank, science
teacher, conversation with consultant at the learning design workshop).
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Results reported on elsewhere show that there is confusion in parts of the teacher group on what was the
object and and what was the goals of the workshops (Hebsgaard & Zachariassen, 2014). The teachers'
framework of understanding did not seem congruent with the consultants. It showed to be difficult for
teachers to use new digital technology, innovation and planning tool as a single and comprehensive package
for the preparation of a course. Another observation concerned the definition of the concept of innovation. In
an interview at a later workshop the teacher Mads expressed a more general concern in relation to the
innovation aspect. The discussion was concerned about whether the primary goal should be innovation (calling
the camp an “Innovation Day”):
Mads: "Well, I’ll say that I thought a lot about innovation as a starting point and I actually see it
as a bit limiting (…). Because if innovation is the starting point, then I risk saying well, then we
cannot reach the goal. (...) I would prefer if we could call it a science day and then the innovative
aspect could be part of it (...)
Lise: It was the technology that was paramount right? (...) Well, it’s more that they (students)
should not sit back with the feeling of “I haven’t been innovative. I haven’t solved a problem. I did
not create anything new” (...). If you could lead them through the technology and the experience
they got through working with the technology, they could be led into making something
innovative right? In this way, the innovative aspect wouldn’t be the primary goal but could
flourish based on solving the task.”(Mads and Lise, math teachers, interview after the innovation
camp, Hebsgaard & Zachariassen, 2014)).
The dual goals of teaching innovation and digital design can thus be seen as obstructing each other if the
design developed by students does not meet the goals of being innovative in the definition of “something
new”.
One element in the process of integrating innovation into technology education can however be to further
develop the concept of innovation in a school context to include local understandings of “something new” and
innovation as a process such as disciplined improvisation (Sawyer, 2006).
4.2 The innovation camp: Students and teachers changing roles
The goal of the workshops, as described to the teachers, was to develop learning designs to test them on
“Innovation Day”, a 24‐hour innovation camp organised at the school midway through the first EduTechLab
phase. Teachers were free to choose what goals and activities they would focus on during the camp. One
overall explicit goal from the management, however, was that the camp should result in the production of
digital designs that could be presented the following week at a school event to be attended by the Danish
minister of education. Teachers chose different strategies at the innovation camp. Some invited groups of
students to participate in the innovation camp and others used the innovation camp to develop designs for
future teaching, without involving students in the development.
We also observed different strategies for developing and implementing learning designs in different groups of
participating teachers. Overall, these approaches were characterised, on the one hand, by the teachers
developing digital designs for teaching students about certain technologies while, on the other, they involved
developing learning designs to support students’ development of digital designs. One example of the teacher‐
defined digital designs was a puppet theatre that included hydraulic technology for moving the puppets. This
was designed for six‐year‐old students to act out fairy tales. Another example was a Nao robot that a group of
teachers coded to teach English to third grades. Examples of learning designs created to support digital
student design was a case to assist fourth graders in building models of family homes in the future using
physical building materials such as cardboard and sensor kits such as humming bird kits. Another example of
this approach was learning design involving sixth graders in the 3D modelling of a historical building in the local
area.
By interviewing and observing teachers at the development workshop and at the innovation camp, it became
clear that one aspect of the different strategies of developing learning designs was that the teachers had very
different perceptions of how much their students could “handle”. Some teachers stated that their students
could only handle highly structured courses with defined content, activities and results. Other teachers
developed courses with defined end‐goals for student production but with less defined processes and
structured activities. These differing perspectives on the ability of students to solve open‐ended tasks did not
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seem to be solely connected to age and grade. Different teachers in the same class also had different views on
how open‐ended tasks could be in the same class.
In the implementation of the learning designs at the innovation camp we observed, however, how goals,
strategies and approaches changed in the student‐teacher interaction at the innovation camp.
One example of this was the course designed by the science teacher Mads and the mathematics teacher
Dorte. They had designed a course where students had to design future family housing using various sensor
kits. To introduce students to the open‐ended task, teacher 1 had chosen to initiate the course with a defined
task involving construction of an electric circuit. Our observations indicate that the class initially was motivated
and highly interested in participating in the course but gradually became unfocused, also when it came to
doing the electric circuits. As a result of student’s unfocused participation and the drop of motivation, the
teachers changed the focus and the students were allowed to work on self‐defined solutions for building
intelligent houses or other self‐defined designs. This changed the course and students worked intensively with
their designs until late evening, continuing on them the following day. The teacher Mads later reflected on
what the strategy was like to introduce the camp to a familiar subject that would gently lead students into
working with new technologies:
Mads: “I thought a lot about the framework and how open or closed the process should be. I had,
maybe I had a hard time just saying “let’s throw ourselves into it now. (…) that’s why I was
thinking that now they can just get started with constructing the electric circuit, something safe
and recognisable.
Interviewer: For you or for them?
Mads: For me, but then I thought it must be the same for them. That was my thought. But that
was not how I experienced it. And in retrospect, I would say, gee, we should have thrown
ourselves into the hummingbird course from the start. Start with a short description of the
technology, define the framework and then let them get started. That’s what I think we should do
another time” (Interview with Mads, science teacher, after the innovation camp).
Mads had planned the course for students to feel confident by initiating the innovation camp with content
they had previously been introduced to. Results from observations of the execution of the course however
seemed to show that the students were motivated by being allowed to work with their own solutions and by
using sensor kits and other learning technologies despite the fact that they were challenged by technically
difficulties as they had not previously been introduced to various tools. The changed teacher approach
resulted in several student developed designs of various types of family houses where sensors controlled
carports, lifts light and other functions. One group were allowed to define their own case and which resulted in
using sensor kits for development of their own music instruments.
Another example of the changed teacher roles were the course developed by the geography teacher Gitte,
who designed a lesson where students had to focus on learning 3D modelling in order to construct a 3D model
of a local historic building. A group of six students, aged 14, were thus invited to the innovation camp to
participate in constructing the model. When it turned out to be impossible to model the building, the focus
shifted to working with 3D modelling. Operating the software, generating 3D models and processing
photographs of objects, however, turned out to be highly challenging, as the teacher later described in an
interview when asked about what she does when she cannot get the technology to work: "It’s getting it to
work that has been a challenge. I tell them (the students) that I don’t know how it works, but let’s work it out
together". The teacher changed the learning design to focus on student experimenting with 3D visualisation,
and modelling. This resulted in experiments involving 3D modelling and prints of participants and students and
finally development of models of the minister of education at her visit.
The science, mathematics and geography teachers thus changed their approach during the course due to
experiences with how open design processes and experimenting with the various learning technologies
motivated the students and due to challenges involved in integrating the technical platforms into their
teaching. This allowed for a less well‐defined learning process in which students were allowed to define their
own digital designs but also invited to work collaboratively with teachers to define how and for what
technology could be used in the specific educational context (Figure 2).
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Rikke Magnussen and Birgitte Holm Sørensen
2a. Geography
3. Danish theater
4. English
1a. Science
Figure 2: Illustration of how the teacher’s approaches and learning designs changed during the 24‐hour
innovation camp. The different groups of teachers are plotted as coordinates of designing courses
with focus on technology or school subjects (x axis) against highly structured learning designs vs
open ended experimenting designs (y axis)
The three teachers (1a and b and 2a and b in figure 2) thus changed from being more defined to being more
open and experimental, the students focusing less on subject‐specific content and more on what the specific
technology could contribute in a learning context. This was in contrast to the previously described designs for
Danish education (3 in figure 2) where a group of Danish teachers developed a hydraulic puppet theatre
(where students could control puppets while the teachers read a fairy‐tale, and the learning design developed
by English teachers where a robot was coded to teach students English as a foreign language. These learning
designs were not developed for students to take part in the development of designs and thus did not result in
development of student designs.
5. Discussion
This paper discusses how the students and teachers changed roles are an integral part of working with
knowledge production processes in schools in an ever‐changing landscape of new technologies, as well as how
co‐designer positions can be integrated into innovation education. The results of the analysis indicate that
integrating learning technology into innovation education can change teacher positions and enhances student
positions as designers of the learning environment and activities. We have presented results that show that
learning designs that led to students defining design processes were based on teacher creative improvisation.
As Sawyer (2006) argued improvisation is a central element in innovative processes. We suggest a model
integrating teachers and students as learning designers in digital innovation education. The model is based on
the results in the current paper as well as from previous studies (Sørensen & Levinsen 2014a; Levinsen &
Sørensen 2013). The suggested learning model includes two levels: a teacher level and a student level. The
teacher produces a design for learning framework for the students’ production, in this project, the student
production of digital designs. The framework design entailed a project objective, an academic subject and the
organization of teaching processes and evaluation. Within this framework design, the students’ own design of
their learning process is incorporated, allowing them to make choices on how they wish to organise their
learning processes and how they wish to employ the technology in relation to the academic subject. The
students therefore design their own learning processes within the design framework provided by the teacher.
Students and teachers are learning designers but at two different levels. The design of the learning process can
be divided into three phases – each with a different focus. Regarding the teacher, the three phases are: 1)
‘Before’: preparation before practice in the classroom; 2. Practice in the class room; and 3) ‘After’: the
teacher’s evaluation with feed‐forward considerations regarding what needs to be implemented in subsequent
lesson plans.
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Rikke Magnussen and Birgitte Holm Sørensen
The student work also entails three equivalent phases, which are embedded in the teacher’s ‘practice in
classroom’; 1. ‘Before’: Introduction to the framework design for the learning process. It is also in this phases
that the students prepare and organize their productions. 2. ‘Practice/production’: the students carry out their
production process. 3 ‘After’: the students finish their products and these are presented for the other students
along with a final evaluation (See figure 3).
Figure 3: The illustration depicts the temporal relationship between student and teacher positions as learning
designers. The teachers’ phases are portrayed in orange and the students’ in blue
In the ‘before’ phase, the teacher plans the framework design for the students’ collective work/tasks as well as
for his/her own position and activity in the practice phase. In the students ‘before’ phase, the teacher
introduces the student to the learning objective.
The teacher provides academic and organizational presentations and schedules the project deadline.
Thereafter, the teacher’s position changes into being the leader who facilitates, supports and challenges the
students. The students’ ‘after’ phase entails student and teacher evaluations. The teacher thus provides the
framework for his/her own position and practice in the classroom for the overall learning process the students
must complete. The figure shows how the students’ learning process is embedded in the phase, which for the
teacher constitutes ‘practice in the classroom’, and where the teacher acts as a process leader and overall
project coordinator and facilitator for the learning process of the students. The framework design can be
modified or re‐designed through the learning process when the teacher estimates that this is necessary to
support the students’ learning.
Our analysis shows how the planned process and activities initially defined by the framework design and
controlled by teachers gradually changed during the process due to collaboration between students and
teachers. The students’ learning process thus steadily changed from being predominantly teacher directed to
being open and experimental, where the teacher and the students collaboratively re‐defined the processes,
technologies and design goals. In some groups, the students and the teacher worked together on equal terms
and as partners. These processes occurred, in part, because the teachers’ perception about what the students
could handle in complex design processes involving new technology changed. Less technically savvy teachers
changed from being an instructor and facilitator role to being a co‐developer due to the collaboration with
students on solving technical difficulties with the learning technology. The teacher and student collaboration,
co‐production and student‐driven processes thus change the design for learning models as regarding teachers’
practices in classroom and the students’ practice/production phase (See figure 4).
Time
Figure 4: The illustration depicts the temporal relationship between student and teacher positions as learning
designers. The teachers’ phases are portrayed in orange and the students’ in blue
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Rikke Magnussen and Birgitte Holm Sørensen
6. Conclusion
The conclusions presented in this paper are not representative for the entire population of schools as they are
based on a smaller number of case studies. As a result, they require further verification in a larger number of
studies. We believe, however, that we have identified important focus points for further study and design of
innovative digital learning environments. The studies indicate that it is central, in development of innovation
education, to include processes that strengthen student’s roles as learning designers to facilitate processes of
controlled improvisation. It can potentially strengthen teachers role in educational innovative processes to
plan for and include possibilities for student co‐design of learning spaces and can help teachers consider own
position and role in processes involving student innovative digital design.
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Integrating Twitter Into an Undergraduate Medical Curriculum:
Lessons for the Future
Annalisa Manca, Natalie Lafferty, Evridiki Fioratou, Alisdair Smithies and Eleanor
Hothersall
University of Dundee School of Medicine, Dundee, UK
a.manca@dundee.ac.uk
n.t.lafferty@dundee.ac.uk
e.fioratou@dundee.ac.uk
a.smithies@dundee.ac.uk
e.hothersall@dundee.ac.uk
Abstract: There is increasing interest in employing social media tools for educational purposes, but few mature
frameworks exist within Higher Education contexts. We present a case study discussing the pedagogic implications of using
the social media tool Twitter to facilitate a learning activity as part of a public health theme of the undergraduate medical
programme at The University of Dundee ‐ #fluscenario. Whilst adopting Twitter to support novel learning activities led to a
rich communication process and co‐creation of knowledge, students themselves did not recognise this. Furthermore
students viewed these learning activities as gimmicky and did not appreciate the wider affordances of Twitter in
supporting networked learning. We argue that designing good educational activities is not always a “constructive” activity
but sometimes we need to “deconstruct” what already exists in order to make sense of it. We will use Albert Bandura’s
social learning theory concepts and self‐efficacy notion to analyse this case‐study and discuss how a sound educational
design can enhance self‐efficacy. We will also consider "cognitive load", which is increased exponentially in an online
activity as students not only have to deal with the learning content, but also with “satellite” elements such as online
professionalism, digital literacy, learning a new tool and new communication system. Through our reflections educators
can determine common educational uses and affordances, assess the educational value of the use of technology and social
media in teaching, and identify the social and cognitive components they involve. Additional objectives are to identify
learning design and scaffolding strategies that engage students and consider strategies to elucidate processes of learning in
online social networks, which have a critical role in online approaches to learning.
Keywords: higher education, Twitter, medical education, social learning theory, self‐efficacy, learning design
1. Introduction and background
1.1 Social media in higher education and medical education
There is wide adoption of technology across society as it underpins 21st century communication,
entertainment, business and public services including healthcare. In higher education, technology is
ubiquitous and virtual learning environments (VLEs) have been the cornerstone of e‐learning delivery (Jones et
al. 2012). Technology is driving change and the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies, particularly social media,
have seen phenomenal growth in their use and transformed how individuals consume, share and create
information. In the space of 10 years Facebook has grown from one million monthly users to, by the end of
March 2014, over 1.28 billion active monthly users (Facebook 2014 and Sedghi 2014). Meanwhile since 2007,
Twitter, the microblogging service, has attracted 255 million active monthly users tweeting 500 million tweets
per day (Twitter 2014). Universities deploy both Facebook and Twitter as channels to promote their
institutions, disseminate information and support student recruitment. Academics use them to support digital
scholarship, networking and professional development. Interest is also growing across the sector in the role
that social media can play in learning and teaching and especially in collaborative learning as mobile devices
facilitate connectedness outside the classroom.
There is a belief that social media can significantly change the way we learn (Jones et al. 2012) as they
facilitate engagement and the sharing and exchange of knowledge, implying that their integration into learning
and teaching approaches could improve learning outcomes (Prestridge 2014). This is of particular relevance in
medical education where alternative methods to increase interaction and facilitate communication both with
and between students are being explored (Ruiz, Mintzer and Leipzig 2006; Bridges, Botelho and Tsang 2010;
White, Scales and Jayaprakash 2011). However with social media still relatively new territory, uncertainties
surround their application in education, particularly due to concerns around safety (New Media Consortium
2014), privacy, and patient confidentiality (Cheston, Flickenger and Chisolm 2013). Guidelines developed to
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support the responsible use of social media (for example General Medical Council 2013) address some of these
concerns but the lack of high quality evidence from research in this field (Cheston, Flickenger and Chisolm
2013) means there is no clear consensus on how this technology might best be used. Additionally, there is a
lack of guidance for the design of effective Web 2.0‐based learning in a higher education setting although
there have been calls for these in the literature (Sandars & Schroter 2007; JISC 2009). A report of an
independent Committee of Inquiry into the impact on higher education of students’ widespread use of Web
2.0 technologies (JISC 2009: 7), underlined that whilst ‘advice and guidance is available to institutions, there is
no blueprint for implementation of Web 2.0 technologies, and each is currently deciding its own path’.
There is evidence of the utility of social media to support learning and the formation of learning networks,
emerging from massive open online courses adopting a connectivist learning approach (Milligan, Littlejohn and
Margaryan 2013, Siemens 2005). However learning skills and digital literacies are key to this and the belief that
undergraduates are equipped with these to support their learning may be misplaced. The JISC report (2009)
highlights that while students regularly use social networking sites such as Facebook and social media sites like
YouTube to engage with communities and peers in their personal lives; their value when used in support of
learning is not fully understood by students. Increasingly though students are being encouraged to self‐direct
learning, collaborate, create connections, share and build their knowledge together in an interactive dynamic
way. Co‐creation and reciprocal effort are the principal processes. It is very clear that teachers need to create
learning opportunities to help students develop these skills and adopt a supportive role (Harden & Crosby
2000) intervening when needed to facilitate learning and reflection and adopt appropriate learning
frameworks to support this.
1.2 Social learning theory
The study of the connection between the environment and the learner comes from Bandura, who emphasised
the role of social interaction and self‐efficacy in learning. In social learning theory, human behaviour is
continuously influenced by environmental events, behavioural patterns and affective and cognitive factors
(Bandura 1986, 1999). As such, learning happens through interaction and collaboration with other learners,
and observation of others’ behaviour. Human action and learning are rooted in social systems and embedded
in a fine network of sociostructural influences acting in a reciprocal fashion (Bandura 1999). Central to
Bandura’s work is the concept of self‐efficacy: an individual’s belief in their ability to succeed in producing a
particular outcome (Bandura 1977). An important element to consider in any educational setting is that self‐
motivation is influenced by a person’s efficacy expectations. When self‐efficacy perceptions are strong,
individuals will tend to get more involved in activities and put a greater effort in completing tasks (Bandura
1977). However personal expectations of ability are not enough to positively affect a performance, if the real
capabilities are lacking. The role of the teacher becomes essential here to provide direction for learning,
support and incentives to students, so that they can gradually build self‐efficacy.
Every educational experience can be seen as a scaffolding structure where every component contributes to
the structure and its design. Each of these components can be positioned in different directions, touching
others and connecting with them. Each has a weight and a role in the structure; some being more load‐bearing
than others. These systems can only handle a certain amount of weight, so, when we overload them with extra
material they will eventually collapse. We define these components as learning material, activities and tools
which, connecting with each other, will eventually form the elements of learning, in turn providing support for
further learning. All the satellite elements that can contribute to the whole educational experience also carry a
cognitive weight that can eventually cause overload and subsequently a perceived failure from the learner, so
affecting self‐efficacy.
Any activity requiring a large amount of information to be processed by working memory may increase
cognitive load (Sweller 1988). As such, cognitive overload can be triggered during a demanding learning task,
where the processing capacity of the cognitive system is exceeded (Mayer and Moreno 2003). Vasile et al
(2011) demonstrated a direct correlation between academic self‐efficacy and cognitive load within the
academic environment. Thus, in order to maximise the educational value of a learning activity, educators must
ensure that the learning activity is designed to reduce the risk for cognitive load and maximise self‐efficacy.
Designing good educational activities is not always a “constructive” activity but sometimes we need to
“deconstruct” what already exists in order to make sense of it. We will consider the case at Dundee Medical
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School to reflect on the design of a social media‐based educational activity, using the concepts considered
above to reach an insight of the educational values and affordances of technology in teaching.
2. Case study
This case study addresses the design and pilot of a Twitter‐based educational intervention we undertook
within the Public Health teaching during two consecutive academic years (2012/2013 and 2013/2014). The
design of this educational activity, due to the technology use, involved educational and technological
evaluations and went through an iterative process where strategies and approaches were adapted to the
particular context and educational needs. We additionally used learning theory to underpin the design process.
2.1 Why we chose Twitter
Twitter was chosen to support this learning activity, based on the affordance that microblogging has to build
communities (Kear 2011). Individuals’ interests can be identified by the inclusion of hashtags (#) in tweets,
allowing conversations to be followed and connections to be made around specific topics. Self‐organised
learning communities and collectives have emerged around these. Over 4,000 healthcare related Twitter
hashtags are registered on Symplur’s hashtag project which supports participation in social media for health
care professionals (Symplur, no date). One example is #FOAMed (Free Open Access Meducation) (Life in the
Fast Lane 2014), a learning community that has emerged from the emergency medicine community which has
spawned many other learning collectives across different specialties. Three of the authors (AM, EH, NL) were
also familiar with using Twitter to support their own lifelong learning, actively participating in Twitter networks
and chats. Furthermore it offered an opportunity to observe whether students might gain an insight into the
medical education and FOAMed communities on Twitter and the wider benefits these might offer to support
their learning.
2.2 Learning activity design
We designed a series of short scenarios to be discussed online using Twitter to teach first year medical
students about emergency planning and pandemic influenza. The scenarios, based on those originally written
by Alex Talbott and Chloe Selwood on nhssm.org.uk (original version no longer online), were posted on a
dedicated Flu Scenario blog in the Medical School’s VLE, supplemented with resources from media websites
(mostly the BBC) offering students archived footage of real events. A series of questions were used to guide
the discussion in timetabled sessions dedicated to this learning activity. Participation in the flu scenario
teaching was mandatory for all first year students in University of Dundee medical school. We also used a
publicly accessible website (http://dundeepublichealth.wordpress.com/fluscenario/) so that staff and students
from outside the medical school, and members of the public could read the background and follow or join in
the conversation.
According to Bandura’s theory, learners build personal efficacy expectations through four principal sources of
information: (1) performance accomplishments, (2) vicarious experience, (3) verbal persuasion, and (4)
physiological states (Bandura 1977). We integrated these four elements into the design of the #fluscenario
educational activity, incorporating elements in a way that the risk for cognitive overload was addressed, while
facilitating students’ self‐efficacy and engagement with the task (Table 1). After evaluating the first
#fluscenario experience, some variations were introduced in the 2013 activity to address some concerns
related to students participation and enjoyment of the learning experience (Table 1).
Table 1: How Bandura’s self‐efficacy concept underpinned the educational design of #fluscenario
Sources of self‐efficacy and Meaning in the educational design How it was How it was
definition context addressed in 2012 addressed in 2013
1. Performance accomplishment Aim to give students the best Questions to guide As 2012 plus:
Based on personal mastery. When learning experience, modelled the discussion
a learner successfully around students’ learning needs, Storify (gives a
accomplishes a task, personal taking account of their pre‐ Choice was offered sense of
expectations raise, while repeated existing knowledge and the between media for accomplishment to
failures lower them. context in which the new participation the task)(see, for
This is the most influential source knowledge will be acquired and example
of information of self‐efficacy then assimilated in learning. Positive feedback https://storify.com
because it is based on authentic Learning activities should be from tutors /DundeePublicH/fl
experience. Once the level of self‐ created to boost students’ uscenario‐week‐1)
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3. Methodology
This case study aims to evaluate the intervention and inform professional practice and future evidence‐based
decisions (Baxter & Jack 2008). The qualitative case study method has developed within the social sciences and
is aimed at capturing the complexities of a single case within its context (Baxter & Jack 2008). We use a variety
of data sources to explore a phenomenon through different lenses, which allows observing and understanding
it from different perspectives (Baxter & Jack 2008).
3.1 Data collection and analysis
We collected and analysed data combining different strategies and methods, permitting triangulation. The
data mainly consists of a large corpus of text deriving from the Twitter discussion involving students, tutors
and external participants. Email and blog comments were not included in this analysis. A post‐hoc evaluation
questionnaire was completed by 99 (54%) students in 2012, and by 44 (35%) in 2013. The quantitative
responses are briefly summarised below, with qualitative components included in subsequent analysis.
Students who participated through Twitter used the #fluscenario hashtag. Any public tweet made using this
hashtag was collected using a Twitter Archiving Google Spreadsheet (TAGS) (Hawksey 2013). Any student who
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sent tweets using a “private” account did not have their data retained and so was automatically excluded from
the study. Analysis of this educational activity was approved by the University of Dundee Research Ethics
Committee.
Student participation was analysed through social network analysis (SNA), a method using visual
representation of data to obtain information about the relationships within a social network. When a social
network is visualised, the social agents (or “nodes”) are usually represented by points and their connections
(or “ties”) by lines linking one or more nodes. Student learning is influenced by the quantity and quality of
connections in a network and by the students’ position in the network, which is determined by the reciprocal
transfer of information to and from other students (Hommes, Rienties, de Grave et al. 2012). The TAGS tool
used for the Tweets collection and storage is connected to a conversation explorer, TAGSExplorer (Hawksey
2011). This tool automatically creates an interactive visualisation of the collected tweets, which proved to be
particularly useful to perform SNA. Initial content analysis was performed through using text analytics
software (https://www.leximancer.com). We sought evidence of learning and reflection by identifying key
words within the corpus of the tweets that indicated the main concepts of discussion. Additionally,
observation of the pattern of ties in the TAGSExplorer graph, in combination with information obtained from
Leximancer, allowed inferences of how and how much students referred and replied to contributions from the
other participants.
4. Findings
Student participation in 2012 and 2013 is summarised in Table 2. Participation via Twitter, measured by either
percentage taking part, or number of tweets, increased from 2012 to 2013. SNA identified 227 individuals and
5215 connections in 2012 (19th Nov to 8 Dec), and 258 individuals and 1939 connections in 2013 (5thNov to
8th Dec) (Figure 1). This data highlights a decreased interaction in 2013.
Table 2: Participation data for both cohorts
2012 2013
Total number of students in year 184 127
Students participating via Twitter (%) 160 (87) 119 (94)
Students participating via email (and/or VLE in 2012) (%) 19 (10) 5 (4)
Students who refused to participate at all (%) 5 (3) 3 (2)
Total number of tweets 2,987 3,965
Mean number of tweets per student (range) 13.8 (1‐88) 21.2 (1‐105)
Figure 1: representation of the #fluscenario 2013 conversation and social network created by TAGSExplorer
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The image shows 258 nodes and 1939 edges (the “lines”, representing a connection between
nodes). TAGSExplorer creates a dynamic representation of the conversation, which can be re‐played to
reproduce what was actually happening in a particular moment. Follow the QR codes or URLs to replay the
conversations.
A visual representation of the main themes emerging from #fluscenario 2012 can be seen in Figure 2, showing
how words representing the key concepts have been used repeatedly, and how these words are linked to
other conceptually‐related words (evidenced by the lines between the circles). Students were clearly engaging
in on‐task discourse by replying or referring to contributions from peers. Thus they were constructing new
knowledge. This inference is reinforced by individual comments, and parallels the connections between
students seen in the SNA. Similar patterns can be seen in the 2013 data (not shown).
Figure 2: Overview of the main concepts emerging from the whole corpus of tweets during scenarios (2012),
obtained through an analysis made with Leximancer Software. Words with >100 uses are shown as
large coloured circles (themes), smaller circles indicate commonly associated words, while lines
indicate where words are used close to each other
In contrast with the findings above, responses to the evaluation questionnaire were generally negative.
Around half of students (54% in 2012, 48% in 2013) disagreed with the statement “the structure of this activity
was helpful to my learning”. 47% in 2012 and 32% in 2013 disagreed that “using Twitter helped me consolidate
my learning.” In 2013, an additional question asked students to compare the Twitter scenario with other
teaching. 36% report no difference, and 27% considered it worse than other methods.
Fewer students responded to a question specifically asking what students disliked about the activity (Figure 3),
but the overall impression was that students found the character limit very difficult to deal with. Strikingly, a
number of students did not use the material as intended, with 22% in 2012 and 14% in 2013 admitting that
they had not used the VLE or blog to access any materials.
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Figure 3: Summary of student feedback for 2012 vs 2013: reasons why students did not enjoy the activity
(n=58 for 2012, n=8 for 2013)
5. Discussions and conclusions
Our results mirror recent literature (Badge, Saunders and Cann 2012; Junco, Elavsky and Heiberger 2013)
highlighting the pedagogic potential of online social networking tools. Our experience shows that Twitter can
be successfully used as a discussion tool in educational interventions where students participate in a network
of learning. However, triangulating the evidence showed that despite high levels of participation and the
discussion appearing to address the key questions posed, the level of interaction was not that high. In the
2013 cohort this was particularly so, with lower numbers of conversational threads and many of the students
tweeting as if speaking into a crowded room. Furthermore the students’ perceptions of the learning activity
were not overly positive with either cohort.
A critical issue here is to uncover the reasons of an intervention’s impact (Pascarella 2006). An air of
reluctance was evident amongst some students surrounding the adoption of Twitter, due to their perception
that it was a social media tool and not something that should be used in learning and teaching. Lowe and
Laffey (2011) have previously highlighted there can be reluctance around the use of technology which can
result in decreased interactivity.
The cognitive load in the task was underestimated. Low engagement with the task in part of the cohort may be
due to a number of factors. The impact of the 140 character limit of Twitter clearly generated stress for some
students. The intensive nature of a Twitter chat can be overwhelming to newcomers, requiring significant
cognitive effort to follow and participate the treads of conversation. Some of the authors (AM, EH, NL)
reflecting on their own experience of Twitter chats were reminded of their own initial lack of confidence in
active participation. Self‐efficacy built‐up gradually by "lurking” ‐ reading but not actively contributing ‐ and
then joining in conversations and receiving positive and reinforcing outcomes from the chat experiences. The
absence of an introductory session to Twitter in 2013 may account for the larger number of this cohort lacking
confidence in using Twitter and have led to increased overload due to processing the intensity of new
information in the chat activity whilst also learning a new tool. Furthermore, some students find the
requirements of digital professionalism (General Medical Council 2013) difficult to understand, and resent the
incursion of staff into “their” online space, fearing censure (rightly or wrongly).
#fluscenario was designed to influence what Kirkwood and Price (2013) have described as a “qualitative
change in learning”: promoting reflection thus producing deeper learning. To achieve this, we need to account
for the indirect ways in which social technology impacts students’ involvement and learning acting on their
interpersonal experiences (Pascarella 2006). For example considering ways to allow students to be “lurkers”
through promoting reflection (Megele 2014). Badge, Saunders and Cann (2012) highlight the need to
understand the social network within which communication is taking place, and to cultivate connections with
the networks of lower‐performers, which may help address the other challenges of helping students to see the
benefits. Megele (2014) suggests an introductory workshop and hands‐on session in the IT suite, given the
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intensity of the activity to follow. We intend to develop this next academic year and also involve student led
approaches to introduce their peers to Twitter.
The existing broad literature on understanding student development reflects the importance of recognising
the processes underpinning learning in order to design engaging educational activities. When using social
media this is even more true as educators need to carefully evaluate the way in which such technology might
affect the intervention itself and ultimately students involvement and outcomes. Introducing technology in
educational interventions should be “derived from an identified educational need or aspiration” (Kirkwood
and Price 2013 p20) rather than “technology‐led”, this is why using social media in education requires a
framework where precise attention is given to the design process and the means of its use are applied with
consistency. We believe that thorough evaluation of educational strategies using social media, will allow
further developments to be "evidence based", thus gaining the confidence of both teaching staff and students.
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Developing a MOOC: The Romanian Experience
Vlad Mihăescu, Radu Vasiu and Diana Andone
Politehnica University of Timișoara, Timișoara, Romania
vlad.mihaescu@cm.upt.ro
radu.vasiu@cm.upt.ro
diana.andone@cm.upt.ro
Abstract: Started in 2008 and gathering momentum over the past two years, now an online phenomenon, MOOCs
(Massive Open Online Courses) reunite different perspectives over a globalized online learning. The ‘pure’ and initial ones
integrate the connectivity of social networking, the facilitation of an acknowledged expert in a field of study, and a
collection of freely accessible online resources. The others are based on online LMS’s where “open” students, can join in
some or all of the course activities, which might include watching videos, posting on discussion boards and blogs, and
commenting via social media platforms or on chat rooms. Widely it is accepted that MOOCs are disruptive – by their very
nature they tell a different narrative to that of the traditional university. But all major players in the higher education field
have initiated, created or joined a MOOC in the last years. The most successful ones are in widely used languages as
English, Spanish or German. Four universities from Romania started a Romanian MOOC environment, which provides free
access to valuable education in Romanian language, presented by well‐known professors. This papers presents the
planning, structuring but also the technological and pedagogical models used in creating the Romanian MOOC. Which one
from the MOOC models and LMS the Romanian courses can adopt and integrate? How Romanian students can be
encouraged and motivated in attending these courses and how the use of OER and social networking can be encouraged?
These are just some of the questions which the paper answers, based on the Romanian MOOC development, the enquiries
and surveys generated in the universities..
Keywords: MOOC, OER, higher education, LMS
1. Brief history of MOOC
Education is in a period of change. The high tuition prices that increase each year, especially for the
Universities from the United States of America, together with the open education vision of Salman Khan
(founder of Khan Academy), on one side, and the “connectivist bunch” (George Siemens, Stephen Downes,
Dave Cormier, Inge DeWaard, Alec Couros, David Wiley), on the other, has led some of the professors from
Stanford’s Computer Sciences Department to start their own companies that have been the catalyst that
MOOCs needed to become a world hysteria.
Online education, open education, distance studies have taken different forms over time. Much of the MOOC
philosophy is based on Open University’s open approach towards education. An influence for many other ideas
in the future, the Open University (founded in 1969) revitalized distance education because it combined
correspondence instruction, supplementary broadcasting and publishing, residential short courses and support
services at local and regional levels (Marques 2013).
Two early initiatives that were rather unknown, were AllLearn (Oxford, Yale and Stanford collaboration) and
Fathom (University of Columbia).The two were offering online courses for free but didn’t make it through
financial problems (University Business 2006). Another forerunner of MOOCs is Khan Academy, a non‐profit
educational website created in 2006 by educator Salman Khan to provide “a free, world‐class education for
anyone, anywhere” (https://www.khanacademy.org/about). According to Khan, there are differences between
MOOCs and his platform, as he classifies a MOOC as a “transplantation” of a traditional course, and he stresses
the on‐demand capabilities above mentioned as elements not found with a standard MOOC (Akanegbu 2013).
To complete what we’ve mentioned before, the first generally recognized MOOC was developed by George
Siemens and Stephen Downes at the University of Manitoba, Canada. In 2008, Siemens and Downes delivered
an online course called Connectivism and Connective Knowledge (Siemens 2008) as the first MOOC – Massive
Open Online Course, based on a connectivist pedagogy. The course aimed to foster the affordances of social
and participatory media. It relied on the benefits of scale though significant interaction with a distributed
network of peers. Participants were encouraged to use a variety of technologies, and to reflect on their
learning and interact with others. There was no ‘right way’ through the course. The emphasis was on
personalized learning through a personal learning environment. The course attracted a number of over 2,300
people.
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Vlad Mihăescu, Radu Vasiu and Diana Andone
In 2011, Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig, two Stanford professors, set in motion another MOOC experiment,
offering their “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” course, for free, online. More than 160,000 students from
190 countries signed up and, for the first time, an open online course was truly “massive”. It is worth
mentioning the fact that 23,000 students completed the course. After this, the two professors built the start‐
up business Udacity, in 2012.
Two other professors from Stanford, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, have also decided to start their own
company, called Coursera, through which they would offer MOOCs. The for‐profit company, started with a $22
million total investment from venture capitalists. The four initial partners that offered courses were Stanford,
Princeton and the Universities of Michigan and Pennsylvania. Today, as mentioned on their website
(https://www.coursera.org), they have more than 100 partners and over 600 different courses.
Following the 1999 OpenCourseWare (OCW) movement start with the publishing of video lectures by the
University of Tubingen in Germany, MIT OCW truly launched this movement in 2002, soon followed by Yale,
Berkeley and the University of Michigan. The principles of an OCW project are, according to the OCW
Consortium (http://www.oeconsortium.org/):
free and open digital publication of high quality educational materials, organized as courses.
available for use and adaptation under an open license, such as certain Creative Commons licenses.
does not typically provide certification or access to faculty
Ten years later, in 2012, MIT came with a new initiative, MITx which was supposed to extend the concepts of
OCW by offering more structured formal courses to online students, including in some cases the possibility of
earning academic credit or certificates based on supervised examination. MITx joined HarvardX to form edX, a
non‐profit company, initially founded by a $30 million investment from each of the two universities.
Martin Bean, the Vice Chancellor of the Open University UK, observed (Bean 2013) that by the end of 2012, 18
of the top 20 universities in North America were offering MOOCs. This is one of the incentives needed to push
the creation of UK’s MOOC, FutureLearn, established in late 2012, as the first “nationally” defined initiative, as
it is financially sustained by the British Government, and also the first one launched outside of North America.
Of course, in the last couple of years several other platforms emerged, but as this is not the main topic of this
article we are going to resume only to the above mentioned.
2. OER and MOOCs in Romania
In 23 April 2013, partners in 11 countries have joined forces to launch the first pan‐European MOOC initiative,
with the support of the European Commission. Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education,
Culture, Multilingualism and Youth welcomed the new initiative: “This is an exciting development and I hope it
will open up education to tens of thousands of students and trigger our schools and universities to adopt more
innovative and flexible teaching methods. […] It reflects European values such as equity, quality and diversity
and the partners involved are a guarantee for high‐quality learning.” (EADTU 2013)
At this point, OER exist in Romania, but they are at an incipient level. The implementation of OER in Romania is
based on teacher initiatives and sometimes supported by projects (Holotescu, 2014) and it leads to a lack of
national convergence or information.
In Romania learning with ICT or online support have seen a strong development in recent years most
universities having their courses on e‐learning platforms mainly of Moodle or other open source environments
(Ermalai, 2014), but only after login in with an affiliate student or teacher account. In the same time the
Internet penetration in Romania is now up to 55%, the mobile internet use doubled in the last year and it’s
broadband speed situated Romania on top 1‐3 in the last 2 years (InternetWorldStats, 2014). In this context
access to open and flexible education in Romania as well as a common spread of use of OER is becoming a
priority for Romanian education.
In April 2014, the Politehnica University Timişoara had the initiative to create and offer the first Romanian
MOOC. And for this, we’ve joined forces with the “Politehnica” University of Bucharest, The Technical
University of Cluj‐Napoca and the Technical University “Gheorghe Asachi” of Iaşi. These four Universities will
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start piloting MOOCs until the end of 2014. The initiative received the name of UniCampus. Based on previous
experience the UNICAMPUS MOOC platform is developed internally, based on a structure and methodology
presented here.
As for the implementation of this platform, we chose to use a LCMS, and opted for Moodle and we’ve argued
our choice mentioning Moodle’s integration of learning analytics and social media, as well as its familiarity in
the Romanian Higher Education. Using an existing platform which already meets the access control and
analytics requirements is one way to obtain an effective delivery system for MOOCs. As we have seen, social
media is a powerful tool when working with MOOCs, and Moodle integrates most of these recommended
tools. With the appropriate configurations and tweaks, and with a minimal integration with some of the most
popular social networking platforms in use today, Moodle can successfully play this role. (Ternauciuc &
Mihăescu 2014)
3. Proposed structure and methodology
The structure depends on the type of MOOC we want to develop. It can be a cMOOC (connectivist) or an
xMOOC (content based). The cMOOCs are based on the connectivism theory of learning with networks
developed informally. They provide a platform to explore new pedagogies beyond the traditional classroom
setting. cMOOCs provide great opportunities for non‐traditional forms of teaching approaches and learner‐
centred pedagogy where students learn from one another (Yuan & Powell 2013). In a connectivist course,
everything is optional. What is important about a connectivist course, after all, is not the course content. This
serves merely as a catalyst, a mechanism for getting our projects, discussions and interactions off the ground
(Downes 2011). Connectivist teaching and learning consists of four major sorts of activities: aggregation,
remixing, repurposing and feeding forward.
The xMOOCs (appeared in 2011) follow a more behaviourist approach. It is the instructional model, essentially
an extension of the pedagogical models practiced within the institutions themselves. xMOOCs can be divided
into for‐profit and non‐profit. They are based mainly on interactive media, such as lectures, videos and text.
xMOOCs have been criticized for lacking any innovation in what pedagogy is concerned. However, it has a huge
success amongst students, possibly because of the effervescent nature of their discussion forums and their
available learning tools and virtual laboratories (Meinel,Totschnig and Willems 2013).
Siemens (2012) compared the two types of structure saying that “our cMOOC model emphasises creation,
creativity, autonomy and social networking learning”, whereas the xMOOC model emphasises “a more
traditional learning approach through video presentations and short quizzes and testing. Put another way,
cMOOCs focus on knowledge creation and generation whereas xMOOCs focus on knowledge duplication.”. In a
2012 Twitter post, Mark Smithers said: “in an xMOOC you watch videos, in a cMOOC you make videos”.
We would like to propose a combined structure, agreeing with the duality proposal of Crosslin (2014)
Figure 1: Dual layer cMOOC/xMOOC (Crosslin 2014)
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The following structure is proposed after reviewing existing courses on both cMOOCs and xMOOCs.
The students should have the possibility to choose which of the learning pedagogies they want to follow. Of
course, any of the both paths they may choose should respect the curriculum of the course.
When accessing a course, there should be two kinds of structure elements: static elements and dynamic
elements. What do we understand as static elements? Those elements that remain on screen, no matter what
the in‐course activity of the user, are defined by us as static. In the upper part of the screen, we think that the
following should be present: course title, course tutor/tutors, hosting institution and, if provided by the course
creator, a logo of the course. Another part that should be static is the course menu, whatever the course
creator might think as appropriate to include in this menu (course chapters/weeks, discussion forum,
assessments, bibliography, links, etc.). Because of usability reasons, we propose that this menu should be in
the left part of the screen, as research shows that the majority of people first eye‐scroll that side of a website
first (Nielsen 2006 & 2010).
The deadlines should be clearly marked, using a calendar tool, in order for the student to be able to easily
acknowledge how much time he has until his homework or quiz is due. The ‘about page’ should have
information regarding the course, such as the syllabus and the grading system.
The course is structured in x weekly units. For each week, there should be produced and offered video
lectures, reading materials, web links with information and quizzes for students to review their progress. The
videos should contain annotations for quick self‐testing (multi‐answer questions with or without explanation)
and annotations with bibliography and/or useful links for extra‐reading. For programming courses, the in‐video
quizzes should refer to short code sequence writing. The student should be prompted to answer the short
questions in order to advance with the video. The videos should be available with subtitles and captions. There
should be the option to modify the screen resolution, the sound and the speed of playing the video. At the end
of a video lecture, the user should have the possibility to restart the current lecture or to jump to the next
video lecture. A direct link to a help section regarding technical issues should be easily accessible. Another
useful link would be to a forum thread where students spot out content mistakes.
There should be a section of course announcements, included inside the discussion forum. Discussion forums
should be managed and set up for each week, taking into consideration the topic presented in that specific
week. The teacher team should actively moderate this forum, which is separate from the one regarding
technical issues. Chiang and co (MIT Tech review 2013) found out that posts usually fall into three main
categories. The first is small talk, for example student introductions. The second is about course logistics such
as homework deadlines. And the final category is course‐specific questions which are of most use to the
students. The problem is that these posts are not seen because of the small talk. Chiang et al developed an
automatic system that identifies small talk and filters it out. This should help students focus on the useful posts
and enhance the learning experience. Another solution would be with forum grading. Forums should have the
possibility of filtering by date, submitter and/or subject. If there are some forum topics that generate a lot of
reaction from the students, then it would be a great idea to create some more videos that respond to those
topics. Forums are pervasive in MOOCs and have been characterized as “an essential ingredient of an effective
online course” (Mak, Williams & Mackness 2010), but early investigations of MOOC forums show struggles to
retain forum users over time (Coetzee et al 2014). Cheng et al (2011) have shown that students who
voluntarily participate in forums perform better and receive higher exam grades. Reputation systems provide
concrete, yet limited benefits for MOOC forums (Coetzee et al 2014).
A wiki tool would be useful for students and/or teaching staff that want to create or contribute with course
content.
A meet‐up site can be arranged for students who live in the same geographical area to organize themselves
some live study groups. Also, conferencing tools could be useful for virtual meet‐ups. One tool that is open and
accessible is Google Hangouts, an instant messaging and video chat platform. As analysed by McGuire (2013),
experiments in MOOC with Hangouts, despite being a disaster from the technological point of view, was quite
interesting. McGuire took Coursera’s Introductory Human Physiology course by Duke University. Students that
were interested were asked to announce in advance their participation. Only 6 students were invited to join
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the Hangout at a time. This is a great opportunity for the shyer students to be able to interact with the teacher
in a more comfortable environment.
Depending on the nature of the course, we might also need a tool for document sharing possibly
supplemented with rubric‐scoring tools to facilitate peer‐grading.
For assessment of progress, besides the short weekly quizzes there should be multiple choice tests, which the
students can take several times. We consider that they shouldn’t have the possibility to take them an
indefinite number of times, because in our opinion, motivation will decrease. For each question we should
have explanations available after the final submission deadline has passed. Different deadlines with different
penalties should be imputed. One should be able to save his answers before submitting for a future check of
his quiz attempt.
If we are discussing about a computer programming course, then an assignment that requires programming
code would also be appropriate.
How does Coursera’s verification system work? Early in the course, the students will have to hold up a picture
ID in front of a Webcam and then make a photo of themselves. The two pictures will be compared by a human
being, to see if they match. Then, each student will be required to type a short phrase, sort of like a personal
signature, so that Coursera can register his keyboarding pattern. Each time the students will submit an
assignment or quiz they will be asked to type the same short phrase for matching check. However, this system
is not as secure as the fingerprint scan or other biometric methods. (ICEF Monitor 2013)
Homework could also help, with two possibilities, teacher assessment or peer assessment. At the beginning,
we believe that, for our case, teacher assessment is more appropriate, students in Romania being unfamiliar
with the concepts of peer assessment. If the course offers some sort of certification or badge, these homework
tasks should have a number of points granted for the correct solving, partial or total. Assessment tools have to
be user‐friendly and interactive so that they engage and motivate learners.
In a MOOC, assessment does not drive learning; learners’ own goals drive learning. The aim of participating in
a MOOC may or may not be to obtain a credit, or a qualification – the aim is primarily to learn (Masters 2011).
We think that the students should be able to easily access or review their course progress. A to‐do list tool
could be useful, with auto or manual complete fields like course video, weekly quiz, homework or meet up
sessions. The platform should offer three types of content creation for a user. The first type, at a personal
level, should be content that only the student sees, like notes for example. The second type is the one shared
with the teaching staff, something like mail or instant messaging. Finally, the third type of content is the one
shared with all the other learning community, for example blogs, wikis and discussion forums.
The platform should allow the students to create their own blog where to post ideas. When survey
respondents were asked why they participated in blogs, the most important reasons, in rank order, were: 1)
space to develop my own ideas, 2) ownership, 3) self‐expression, 4) familiarity with using blogs, 5) an
attractive layout to express ideas, 6) personal learning, 7) quiet slow reflection, 8) personal relationships, 9)
own pace, 10) establishing a presence, 11) thoughtful long‐term relationships, and 12) personal voice (Mak et
al 2010).
Students should have the possibility to connect to their other services and devices, and also to be able to work
offline. So, all the learning content should be available for instant download, including the videos. There
should be widgets for social media so that the student can share his work or progress, via Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Google +, YouTube or other popular technologies that students use. We think that students need to
have the possibility to export their work via Google Drive, Google Calendar, Planning platforms, or other tools
they might find useful.
In order to have quality content, the teachers and course material creators should have access to a number of
powerful and intuitive tools for content editing and structuring.
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When creating a course, one has to address two types of learners, the novice learner, who needs a meaningful
and explicit path to follow in order to access and understand the learning content, and the advanced learner,
who might want to freely jump between sections and topics, in order to reach the ones meaningful to him.
“Learning content needs to be presented in its hypertextual structure, in order to allow learners
to grasp more than a linear sequence of content, i.e. the rich connections that exist between
knowledge inside and across learning domains” (Meinel et al 2013).
One example of how things go wrong if the structure isn’t designed well enough was pointed out by Morrison
(2013). A factor that could cause considerable distress to students is the lack of instructions for the
assignments or the group activities. When we decide to create a group activity we have to give very clear and
detailed instructions. The students should easily find a description of the purpose of the assignment, why we
chose a group activity over an individual one and how will they benefit from this type of activity. Access to
technical tools should be provided so that students can easily communicate and share in their own group.
When Google Spreadsheet is used for collaborative work, one might expect the Google server to not being
able to handle the traffic and crash.
So, we conclude that building a platform structure for a MOOC is not an easy job, and only after we launch the
first pilot courses we will be able to quantify if our model is both sustainable and usable. We hope that the
developers’, students’ and teachers’ experience with the platform will offer us the best practices to adopt for
UniCampus.
4. Hardware and technology aspects
The platform must allow us to embed video content, and to enrich it with textual explanations and
annotations. The platform should be easily extensible in order to implement teaching methods like game‐
based learning, peer teaching and evaluation, and to connect to virtual laboratories.
Delivering a MOOC to thousands of possibly concurrent users needs a robust technical infrastructure, and a
scalable architecture. We need a tool that both technically and legally is allowed and facilitated
experimentation with and modification of the system (Meinel et al 2013).
Each potential system has its own unique advantages to offer:
Content management systems with respect to the flexibility of the management and delivery of learning
content;
Collaborative platforms with respect to the communication features;
Learning management systems with respect to the support for quizzes and course design (Meinel et al
2013).
We need to estimate the resources that we will need, depending on the type of educational resources and
structure desired by each teacher staff and on the expected number of participants.
The private cloud infrastructure allows flexible scalability and the provision of more computing resources by
simply adding additional physical hosts to the cloud respectively shutting down servers for reduced power
consumption when the server load is low (Meinel et al 2013).
Another mention of the use of a Cloud for demonstrating how artificial intelligence instructors will be able to
grade thousands of students is of Dr. Peter Norvig: “We have a system running on the Amazon cloud, so we
think it will hold up,” (Markoff 2011).
An xMOOC platform requires fewer sub‐systems but must, of course, be designed to handle very high volumes
and inputs from all over the world. However, whereas universities own and operate multiple Moodle
installations, the administrative components of MOOCs (especially if they begin to make extensive use of
Learning Analytics (Siemens 2010)) are too complex for a teaching unit in a university to operate without huge
resources. For this reason most universities might eventually opt for cloud‐hosted MOOC services with control
over data releases through contracts with for‐profit service providers (Daniel 2012).
e‐Learning technologies that are widely used in MOOCs include:
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High‐quality indexed video;
Data capture and analytics;
Delivery platforms that combine the qualities of social networking sites like Facebook with the content
delivery, discussion, and grading functions of the traditional learning management system (Voss 2012).
Technologists are already actively working to augment MOOC platforms with a plethora of products such as
tools to support contextual in‐text and in‐video discussions, formation of study groups and project teams,
discussion boards with voting and other features, and ways MOOC learners can connect not only in real time,
but also in the real world (Grover et al 2013).
In our opinion the most important aspects when it comes to the hardware and technology components of a
MOOC platform is to maintain its scalability and integration with collaborative technologies.
5. Conclusions
The universities’ reasons to get involved in the MOOC development are very different and they range form
marketing to innovation and community support or, in some access, CSR Corporate Social Responsibility. But it
is also true that they try to position themselves as global leaders of innovation, and as educational institutions
capable of delivering high‐quality education on a global scale.
We consider that in today’s world, it can be beneficial for every University to at least try the MOOC
experience, from a user experience, and for any higher education academic it can be an experience of a
different. Offering the best courses of each university er, when it comes to courses for people who are not
regularly attending it, is a great opportunity both to nourish minds but also to promote itself through
educational delivery method. For Romanian universities, which are public funded, the involvement on the
development of a Romanian MOOC Is mainly backed by their belief that valuable knowledge and information
need to be made available, freely to the public and into own national language.
Acknowledgements
This work was partially supported by the strategic grant POSDRU/159/1.5/S/137070 (2014) of the Ministry of
National Education, Romania, co‐financed by the European Social Fund – Investing in People, within the
Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007‐2013.
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Amongst Swedish Students
Peter Mozelius, Otto Elggren, Joakim Clysén and Mats Wiklund
Stockholm University, Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm,
Sweden
mozelius@dsv.su.se
otel5362@dsv.su.se
jocl6284@dsv.su.se
matsw@dsv.su.se
Abstract: Digital games have been introduced as educational tools in upper secondary education (Wiklund and Ekenberg
2009) and studies show signs of improved language skills for students playing digital games (Mitchell and Savill‐Smith 2004;
Brandberg 2010), but there are few cases where digital games are used for physical education, or exergaming. To explore
former secondary school students’ attitudes towards the use of digital games in physical education, a study was conducted.
Survey findings were complemented through interviews aligned to the survey questionnaire. Results show that 59% of the
respondents were positive to the concept of using computer games to aid physical education, while 40% claimed that it
would not affect their attitude towards physical activities. The remaining 1% stated that it would reduce their motivation
for physical education classes if exergames were introduced. Results showed no clear connection between individual
interests and attitude towards exergames, except for those with a high interest in gaming showing a more positive attitude
in general. Some variations in the attitudes towards different game genres were shown with stationary exergames being
the most popular.
Keywords: digital games, physical education, exergaming, sports and health, educational tools
1. Introduction
In modern society computers and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are ubiquitous.
Contemporary research has pointed out that the use of computers and digital games are increasing,
particularly in the youngest age groups. In 2010 the Swedish Media Council carried out a study on the use of
digital media amongst children between 6 and 9 years of age. The study shows that a majority of the children
has access to digital games, and that most of the children regularly spend considerable time playing various
kinds of digital games (Swedish Media Council 2010a). In a follow up study the Media Council presents results
indicating a similar situation for secondary school students as well (Swedish Media Council 2010b).
These findings have been confirmed by a survey showing that 86% of Swedish secondary school students play
digital games on a regularly basis and that 80% of them pursue this activity 20 hours or more per week
(Brandberg 2010). A special category in the wide variety of available digital products is educational games. In a
broad definition educational games can be seen as games that are designed to support learning through a
combination of gaming and educational content (Moreno‐Ger et al. 2008). Another term is serious games,
clearly implying that the game should not be designed for entertainment purposes but rather for distinct
learning outcomes (Kapp 2012).
Serious games can be described as: “… a mental contest, played with a computer in accordance with specific
rules, that uses entertainment to further government or corporate training, education, health, public policy,
and strategic communication objectives.” (Zyda 2005, p. 26). Exergames can, depending on design, be seen as
a variant of serious or educational games focusing on physical training activities. Another definition is digital
games that combine exercise with game play. Such games have been reported to potentially improve health
status through increased caloric expenditure and heart rate (Staiano and Calvert 2011).
Digital games have been introduced as educational tools in various subjects in Swedish schools during the last
decade, especially in the teaching and learning of history and foreign languages. Other studies have explored
Swedish teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards game‐based learning in general (Wiklund and Ekenberg
2009; Brandberg 2010; Wiklund and Glimbert 2005; Lindell and Olsson 2010). A further study has explored
teachers’ opinions on using games in physical education (Klang and Osvald 2012), while less is known when it
comes to secondary school students’ attitudes to exergames in physical education classes.
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Furthermore, computers and gaming (as well as television) have often been associated with a sedentary
lifestyle (Tremblay and Willms 2003; Telama et al. 2005). On the other hand, some studies explore computer
games specifically designed to encourage physical activities (Lin et al. 2006; Staiano and Calvert 2011).
1.1 Problem
Trials using digital games to increase physical activity have shown that a positive effect on body/mass index
can be seen (Maddison et al. 2011). While studies show that the curiosity for digital games in educational
context increases in Sweden (Brandberg 2010), the interest and participation in traditional sports have
declined (Sköld 2010). Findings from other studies show that students’ motivation for general fitness activities
are lower today than in earlier generations, close to 50% of female students and 25% of the males appear to
have a lack of motivation for physical education (Kristoffersson and Stiglund 2012). Without knowledge of
students’ attitudes towards the usage of computer games in the physical education context, a key factor is
missing when discussing the possible use of exergames in school to address health and fitness issues in the
light of today’s digital culture.
1.2 Research question
Would, in the opinion of students with varying interests in training and gaming, the use of exergames in school
increase or decrease their motivation for physical activities and participation in physical education classes?
2. Related research
As discussed by Biddiss and Irwin (2010), physical inactivity in children is a significant health issue that will
likely need to be addressed through a combination of approaches including both enticing voluntary activities
and structured interventions. Digital games increasing physical activity provide an appealing opportunity for
self‐directed use (ibid). To also include structured intervention, usage in school is an interesting possibility.
Swedish schools have a long tradition of using alternative media in teaching and learning sessions with the
most frequent complement to books being film, and the use of film in teaching sessions is a practise that is
accepted as an effective teaching tool (Andersson and Hellqvist 2008). There is also a Swedish institute in
operation that suggests appropriate films and aligned discussion topics to schools and teachers (Nilsson 2009).
Music is another medium that Swedish students get in contact with in several con‐texts in primary and
secondary school (Ståhlgren 2004). Also, during the last decade the use of computers and the internet in
general has increased in teaching contexts (Swedish Media Council 2010b). In the light of this development,
internet can be viewed as an accepted and widely used teaching tool in Swedish schools in a way similar to film
and music, while there may be more scepticism regarding the newer medium of digital games.
Arguments for using games as learning tools based on the nature of today’s learners have also been
presented. Using the term digital natives, Prensky claims that “Today’s students are no longer the people our
educational system was designed to teach.” and remarks that “Today’s average college grads have spent less
than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games…". (Prensky 2001, para. 1)
Another aspect of computer games that has been noted to support learning is the practice principle, defined
by Gee (2003, p.71) as an important principle involved in successful learning situations utilising games:
“Learners get lots and lots of practice in a context where the practice is not boring (i.e. in a virtual world that is
compelling to learners on their own terms and where the learners experience ongoing success)”. Another such
principle highlighted by Gee is the achievement principle: “For learners of all levels of skill there are intrinsic
rewards from the beginning, customized to each learner’s level, effort, and growing mastery and signalling the
learners ongoing achievements”. (Ibid., p. 67)
Regarding game‐based learning in Swedish schools, some studies have been exploring the potential of learning
English (as a second language) by gaming. The English language is frequently used in digital games, and
Swedish gamers today have English skills at a level such that many games are released without translation to
Swedish. One study reports that the students undertaking an IT‐programme at the John Bauer secondary
school have improved their English skills by playing games [19]. Also a study using games as the main teaching
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tool in upper secondary education has reported positive results regarding skills in English as a second language
(Wiklund and Ekenberg 2009).
From another perspective, it is particularly interesting that the critique formulated by Linderoth regarding
certain types of games being problematic when used in educational contexts (Linderoth 2012), have no
bearing for exergaming. Linderoth describes cases where the underlying design of some games reward the
amount of time spent playing, rather than tasks hard to complete, resulting in a sense of achievement and
progress even if only repetitive and non‐challenging task are performed by the player. In an exergame context,
such player behaviour can be the very key to a successful result. Thus what could be seen as negative when
using games for theoretical learning, could in fact be a positive aspect for physical training sessions.
In the area of interaction with computer games it has been noted by Jenson and de Castell that new and more
sophisticated types of input devices is enabling a particular type of learning activity that, even though it is
related to the learning area, should be distinguished from general usage of simulations: imitation. A simulation
might use the pressing of various buttons as inputs, even though the buttons as such are conceptually
unrelated to the initiated actions triggered by them. There is in most cases no morphological connection
between the action the player performs when pressing a button and the in‐game action that results: “There is
of course an entirely arbitrary relation between the player’s actions (‘press A’, for example and Mario’s
jumping). A button press is the technologically mediated means to the avatar’s jumping, but it is of course
nothing like the jumping. A button press bears no resemblance to a jumping event.”. (Jenson and de Castell
2009, p. 3)
However, the concept of imitation implies performing an action in a morphologically similar way, requiring
more precise position/movement sensors embedded in input devices: “In order to play, the player must
imitate a golf swing, or a tennis swing, a baseball swing or even rolling a bowling ball with the controller. In
effect, the player imitates the ‘real world’ action that is correlated with the action within the game.” (ibid., p.
4). Jenson and de Castell remarks that the current trend with more advanced input devices constitutes an
epistemological shift away from simulating various actions, enabling imitation of those actions in computer
games.
This results in a situation closer to traditional learning where children can morphologically imitate the
behaviour of more experienced mentors through digital games (ibid.). In the light of this situation, the concept
of computer games contributing to increased health and fitness can be discussed. As concluded by Best, while
it is yet not possible to conclusively establish that exergames is a viable tool to promote physical education in
youth, research does suggest that exergames have the potential to benefit physical health (Best 2013).
3. Method
This study was conducted with a mixed method research strategy involving common characteristics in such
cases such as combining quantitative and qualitative data, using the mix of methods to support data
triangulation, and applying a problem‐driven pragmatic approach to gather data (Denscombe 2003). An online
survey was combined with semi‐structured interviews where the data from the survey is the main source of
information, backed up by the interviews as a subsidiary data source to improve the understanding of
students’ attitudes towards exergames. Similar to case studies the entity or phenomenon studied is explored
in depth by using a combination of data collection sources (Creswell 2009), in a setup where the different data
sources together should generate a deeper understanding (Remenyi 2012).
The respondents were divided into nine different groups based on their interest in physical exercises and
gaming. The various groups could then be analysed separately and compared to each other. Since physical
exercises is the central factor in this study the groups are primarily defined by the students’ level of interest in
physical exercises, while the students’ level of interest in gaming is used to further subdivide the groups as
shown in the results section below.
Also the respondents attitudes regarding four specific game genres to be used in training exercises were
examined, enabling comparison of their perceived usability in the context of physical education. For the
purpose of calculating mean values, the responses were weighted as: completely uninterested = ‐2,
uninterested = ‐1, uncertain = 0, interested = 1 and very interested =2. In an attempt to dig deeper into the
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students’ attitudes to the use of digital games in physical education classes, a schema for semi‐structured
interviews was constructed based on the survey questions and the study’s area of focus. Interviews were con‐
ducted online in a web chat with two male and to female students to complement the survey data with in‐
depth discussion.
4. Results
The number of respondents was 100, consisting of both current and former Swedish secondary school
students. The respondents were distributed among the defined groups as follows:
Respondents with a low interest in physical exercises (34)
1a) Low interest in gaming: 6 respondents
1b) Medium interest in gaming: 6 respondents
1c) High interest in gaming: 22 respondents
Respondents with a medium interest in physical exercises (50)
2a) Low interest in gaming: 11 respondents
2b) Medium interest in gaming: 7 respondents
2c) High interest in gaming: 32 respondents
Respondents with a high interest in physical exercises (16)
3a) Low interest in gaming: 5 respondents
3b) Medium interest in gaming: 4 respondents
3c) High interest in gaming: 7 respondents
The gender distribution was 80 % male and 20 % female respondents. Table 1 shows the indicated attitudes
towards using exergames to increase motivation in physical education broken down by gender.
Table 1: Indicated change in interest to participate in physical education classes if exergames were introduced,
as percentages and broken down by gender
Attitude Male Female
Strongly increased interest 11 15
Increased interest 48 45
Neither decreased nor increased 40 40
Decreased interest 1 0
Strongly decreased interest 0 0
The findings regarding attitudes towards using exergames to increase motivation in physical education broken
down by respondent groups are shown in table 2.
Table 2: Indicated change in interest to participate in physical education classes if exergames were introduced,
as percentages and broken down by combinations of interest in physical exercises (1‐3 with 3
indicating the highest interest) and interest in gaming (a‐c with c indicating the highest interest)
Attitude 1a 1b 1c 2a 2b 2c 3a 3b 3c
Strongly increased interest 17 0 9 0 0 22 20 0 14
Increased interest 33 67 59 36 29 53 0 75 29
Neither decreased nor increased 50 33 32 55 71 25 80 25 57
Decreased interest 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0
Strongly decreased interest 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Regarding variations in attitude toward the usage of specific game categories as tools in physical education,
the results were as shown in table 3.
Table 3: Indicated attitudes towards using specific game categories in physical education
Attitude Stationary Portable Edutainment / Game
exergames exergames edugames simulations
Very interested 23 22 11 29
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5. Discussion
The different attitudes shown in the numerical data detailed in the results section were further detailed by the
conducted interviews where some respondents argued against the concept that various kinds of exergames
could be a strong motivator for increasing physical activities. One respondent stated that: “I have a hard time
seeing how games might change my general attitude”. Another respondent did not really see exergames as a
serious tool: “To stand here and wave a Wii bat is in my opinion not a real sports activity” (translations by the
authors).
Other students wanted to involve games like Paintball (a version of what is otherwise often referred to as
Lasertag). Both games are are physically challenging competitions between two teams where hits are marked
by colour splashes from paint‐filled plastic projectiles or infrared sensors detecting laser beams, respectively.
Moreover there were suggestions on using virtual golf games, in conjunction with remarks that actual golf is an
expensive activity. One finding regarding the current situation was that only 2% of the respondents had
experience of using any of the four studied game categories in their physical education in secondary school.
However, in a time when secondary school students belong to the so called digital natives (Prensky 2001)
generation the use of exergames seems like a promising approach. Students’ passion for digital games will
likely increase further and it is not inconceivable that they will view games as a natural ingredient in a future
physical education setting. Also, mobile phone apps acting as training companions are a recent trend. With
functions such as step counting and running route mapping there is potential for increased motivation. With
students using their personal mobile phones in physical education classes, exergames in their various forms
could be seen as cross‐platform applications supporting health improvement.
Quotes from the semi‐structured interviews contained two interesting standpoints that both could be topics
for further research: “DDR dance mats and other exergames would be great fun but the school needs to
purchase and maintain them. To repair the dance mats might be costly” and “Exergames could be a valuable
aid for students with disabilities that have gaming experience” (translations by the authors). The first quote is
in line with findings in (Talbot 2011) reporting malfunctions with dance mat technology, while the second
quote expresses a similar attitude to those described in (Evett et al. 2011) where the Nintendo Wii tennis
game was evaluated and given positive feedback by persons with disabilities.
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6. Conclusions
A majority of the students were positive to the idea of using exergames in physical education and only one
percent has a negative opinion. The most positive attitudes towards using stationary games and game
simulations can be found among students with a moderate interest in physical activities and a great interest in
gaming. Students with a high level of interest in physical activities are mainly interested in portable exergames
that can be used as add‐ons to their current sport activities. The lowest interest in using games is found in the
group with a low interest in physical as well as gaming activities, a category mainly interested in game
simulations.
Recommendations are to explore and evaluate the concept of exergames further, since very few negative
attitudes were identified. Digital games can never replace teachers in the physical education setup but can
function as add‐on tools, stimulating students to increase their physical activities. An often neglected group in
physical education are the disabled, where exergames may serve as technology to enhance physical excercises.
Such existing exergame equipment that is produced for home use has limited durability, while for daily use in
schools there is likely a need for higher quality and more robust design.
Exergames is an emerging field that is perceived positively by most in the digital natives generation in this
study. An especially interesting potential can be seen regarding stationary games and simulations. Since those
participants advocating these games the most only have a moderate interest in physical activities, there is
much room to change their sedentary lifestyle.
Future work
To get a clearer picture of attitudes towards using exergames in physical education including possible changes
after experiencing various implementations, a longitudal study is needed. The issue of possible uses of
exergames to aid persons with physical disabilities in their training merits a separate study.
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Education for all by ICT4D Hubs: A Sri Lankan Case Study
Peter Mozelius
Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University, Sweden
mozelius@dsv.su.se
Abstract: ICT4D, here defined as the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in developing regions, has
been classified as one of the most powerful and cost efficient ways to improve the standard of living in the developing
world. Many regions in Asia have shown a rapid but heterogeneous development where information technology has made
a drastic change to urban regions and globalisation but often left rural areas without much investment with further
urbanisation as result. The aim of this study is to describe and discuss how a number of ICT4D initiatives and the creation
of eLearning hubs in Sri Lanka have been supporting education for all and local development. ICT4D hubs can have various
physical as well as virtual shapes and organisational models but should always facilitate education and development by the
use of ICT. Some examples of studied eLearning hubs are telecentres, primary schools, online distance programmes,
eLibraries and learning object repositories. A number of case studies have been conducted between 2006 ‐ 2012 using
interviews, observations and participatory action research for the data collection. Findings show that many of the analysed
hubs have contributed in positive ways to the general progress of the country and most urban areas in the Western region
have had a rapid development where ICT has been an important catalyst. Sri Lanka has had an outcome that must be
classified as better than average with increased opportunities to education and ICT hubs as multipurpose meeting points.
Contributing main factors to the successful development is the high literacy rate, the chain of ICT4D projects and a
committed implementation of eServices. Several initiates have contributed to development but the internal gap has rather
grown and knowledge sharing and inter‐project cooperation has failed. What could be seen as a strength in the Sri Lankan
ICT4D model is the way top‐down management sometimes is combined with bottom‐up activities. At the same time as the
gap between Sri Lankan cities and the developed world has diminished the internal digital divide has increased and there
exists a need for further support of the islands eastern and northern regions. The recommendation is to enhance the
islands existing rural ICT4D Hubs and upgrade them to more autonomous and service‐oriented ICT4D routers that could
handle the islands future eGovernance and eHealth services. Found keywords for successful outcomes are commitment,
collaboration, communication and coordination.
Keywords: ICT4D, ICT4D hubs, eLearning, blended learning, Sri Lanka
1. Introduction
Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) is an approach to improve the socio‐
economic situation in developing regions. The term ICT4D mainly refers to the potential of ICT as a catalyst for
development. Most research in this field has been focused on the evaluation of existing technologies and often
with tools and techniques of Western or Far East Asian origin (Sutinen and Tedre, 2010). Important ingredients
in ICT4D are eLearning, eDemocracy, eGovernment, eHealth, free and open software, capacity building and
infrastructure development. Huge amounts of money have been invested in ICT4D initiatives with funding
from international aid organisations, state funded aid agencies and multinational companies. Identified
problems to address are lack of infrastructure, lack of coordination and poor adaptations to the socio‐cultural
context. It is a complex multidisciplinary and multi stakeholder domain with crucial factors like authentic local
needs, competence and sustainability. (Mozelius et al, 2009)
st
Many Asian regions have had a rapid but heterogeneous development in the 21 century where information
technology has made a strong impact on urban areas but often left rural areas without much change and with
further urbanisation as result. Sri Lanka is a country in the developing world with a high level of literacy and a
well‐established policy of free education. Primary and Secondary school are free and accessible for all but far
from everyone leaves Secondary school with all grades in order and career opportunities. For higher education
there is a bottleneck and the actual intake to tertiary education for the year of 2009 was 19,650 and the
number of students left out of the university system was over 100,000 in the yearly intake. (Warnapala, 2009)
During the two last decades the country’s use of ICT has increased rapidly in urban areas and the new digital
divide is a rural‐urban duality. (Gaiani et al, 2009b) On the Sri Lankan island computerisation and internet
facilities are more frequent in the capital Colombo and bigger cities like as Kandy and Galle. In more sparsely
populated non‐urban areas, where over 75% of the population lives, there are less computers and a less
developed infrastructure (Hansson et al, 2010). After the fast growth of the Internet in the 1990s when IT was
extended to ICT a lot of ICT based aid projects were rapidly initiated in developing regions, and often to rapidly
without appropriate planning, design or evaluation. Two identified and discussed problems from what has
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Peter Mozelius
been called ICT4D 1.0 are the lack of scalability and the lack of sustainability. (Heeks, 2008) Projects have
rapidly started but also with a sudden death.
In the shift to ICT4D 2.0 there is a need for new approaches, new technologies and new intellectual
integration. A big challenge is how to deliver the Internet to the remaining billions people who still lack access
(Heeks, 2008), another is how to use ICT and eLearning to realise the idea of Education for all. This study
explores how region‐wide dissemination of blended learning might be implemented by the use of ICT4D hubs.
ICT4D hubs have various physical as well as virtual shapes and organisational models but with the common
denominator that they should facilitate education and development by the use of ICT.
1.1 Education for all
The Education for All (EFA) movement is a global initiative to support basic education with good quality for all
children, youth and adults coordinated by UNESCO. There is an international agreement on six education for
all goals that should be met by 2015 (UNESCO, 2014). This study has a focus on goal 3 and goal 6.
Goal 3: Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access
to appropriate learning and life‐skills programmes.
Goal 6: Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized
and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life
skills
1.2 Aim of the study
The aim of this study is to describe and discuss to how a number of ICT4D initiatives and the creation of
eLearning hubs in Sri Lanka have been supporting education for all and local development.
2. Computer network hubs, eLearning hubs and ICT4D Hubs
Traditionally the word hub has two different general meanings:
A focal point
The central point of a wheel or a propeller where the axle passes through
(Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus, 1987)
2.1 Computer network hubs, switches and routers
In the interconnection of computer networks the simplest and most straightforward way is to use a hub. In this
context a hub is a simple electronic device that accepts frames with data as input and retransmits the
information to the hub’s outgoing ports (Kurose & Ross, 2001). The hub itself is ignorant of the transmitted
information. Simple hub devices have been an easy and widely used technique to interconnect computers in
small networks. A star‐shaped computer network resembles of a wheel with spokes where the centre of the
star network is called a hub (Comer, 2001).
Figure 1: The star network topology where computers attach to a hub
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Peter Mozelius
A network switch does the same work a hub, but more efficiently by analysing the data traffic that passes by
and learns from the analysis. Initially, a switch knows nothing more than a hub and simply retransmits the
incoming information to all its ports (Notenboom, 2012). But by using the destination frame of arriving data
packages the switch can learn and register where the information should be passed on (Comer, 2001). Routers
are more complex and smarter than hubs and switches, (Notenboom, 2012) and can be seen as programmed
computers or intelligent intermediate systems used for connecting networks that may or may not be similar
(Stallings, 2000).
2.2 eLearning hubs, ICT hubs and Sri Lankan ICT4D hubs
Hubs in the context of eLearning and ICT4D should be seen both in the classical definition as focal points and
with the computer network hub ability of receiving and retransmitting information. They could also
metaphorically represent the central point for the axle that provides region‐wide knowledge dissemination.
ICT4D, eServices and education must involve more than just the mere access to digital content where hubs
also ought to be meeting points for students, teachers, subject matter experts, instructional designers, content
developers, technicians, support staff, content development, facilitation …
2.3 eLearning hubs
The term has mostly been used in Asian distance education contexts where major Chinese cities like Guangzho
and Bejing have been the base for an organised nation‐wide distribution of mass‐education (Chen & Zhang,
2003) (Quan‐rong, 2007). It has been discussed if the Chinese large scale distance education hubs should be
aimed at making profit or not (Kaisheng, 2003) and how to reach China’s rural regions (Changwen, 2008).
eLearning Hub has also been the name of an educational initiative launched by the Chinese Ministry of
Education aimed at establishing a ICT supported lifelong education system (Weimin, 2007).
Another Asian hub idea is to establish Singapore as a local eLearning hub (Yue & Lim, 2003) or as a global one
for world‐wide dissemination of distance education (Anderson, 2003). In both perspectives the Singapore
based eLearning hub should use modern high‐end technology and recruit specialists from all over the world
(Cordeiro & Al‐Hawamdeh, 2001). Globally the term eLearning hub has also been used in the description of
virtual learning platforms in general and for WebCT platform in particular (Canessa, Fonda, & Radicella, (2002)
(Damoense, 2003).
2.4 ICT hubs
With the emphasis more on infra‐structure and basic e‐Services there has been a discussion on ICT hubs
mainly in South Africa (Jacobs & Herselman, 2005) (Pade, Mallinson & Sewry, 2009) but later also in countries
like Malaysia (Basaruddin et al., 2011) ICT hubs are compared to eLearning hubs more like Community service
centres with a more multi‐purpose setup aimed to support rural development (Jacobs & Herselman, 2005) and
resembling of what in Asian countries are called Rural Knowledge Centres, Information Kiosks or Telecentres
(Mukerji, 2008) (Gaiani et al., 2009a).
In contrast to eLearning hubs the ICT Hubs are located in rural areas to support the local communities and
rural development. To be sustainable they are often designed as multi‐purpose service centres providing a
wide variety of services and not eLearning and distance education only. ICT Hubs can have internet connection
and commercial services but they can also be non‐commercial hubs for blended learning like Sri Lankan OLPC
schools (Mozelius et al., 2012) and in the shape of Sri Lankan off‐line telecentres (Mozelius & Megammaana,
2011).
2.5 The Sri Lankan ICT4D hubs
The concept of ICT4D hubs could briefly be described as a combination if eLearning hubs and ICT Hubs as they
are described above. Like eLearning hubs ICT4D hubs can have various physical as well as virtual shapes and
organisational models but should always facilitate education and development in various ways. Like ICT Hubs
ICT4D hubs must also be designed to support rural areas and local development. Sri Lankan ICT4D Hubs
explored in this study are:
The National eLearning Centre (NeLC) in Colombo
The eBIT programme at the University of Colombo, School of Computing (UCSC)
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Peter Mozelius
Telecentres in the Nenasala network
Primary schools in the Sri Lankan One Laptop Per Child initiative
Digital online Learning Object Repositories developed used at UCSC
3. Methodology
Data has been collected in a longitudinal case study of selected ICT4D hubs in Sri Lanka during 2006 – 2012.
Main methods for data collection have been interviews and observations but in the Colombo based NeLC and
eBIT projects the author have also been participating in the daily work in two Swedish – Sri Lankan aid
projects, the AsiaLink/eBIT project and the NeLC project. The author’s work in these projects could be
described as participatory action research in the sense that digital content and software systems have been
designed, constructed and evaluated.
The AsiaLink/eBIT project was a four year Swedish‐Dutch‐Sri Lankan collaboration funded by the European
Union. Overall objective in the project was to improve the dissemination of Higher Education in Sri Lanka by
curriculum development and implementation of effective eLearning methods to bridge the countries
knowledge divide. Except from being an observer of the project, the author has also participated in content
development, course evaluation and staff meetings (Mozelius et al., 2009). In the NeLC project the author was
the team leader for the development of the eNOSHA learning object repository. NeLC was a Sida funded
project with the objective to create a national centre of excellence in the field of eLearning and distance
education (NeLC, 2014).
4. Sri Lankan ICT4D hubs
BIT and eBIT – Bachelors in Information Technology
At the end of the 20th century there was an increasing demand for IT graduates in the Sri Lankan industry and
while traditional university system could not increase the intake for IT‐programmes. To address this issue, a
new tailor made Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) was designed and started at the University of
Colombo in 2000 (Wikramanayake et al., 2007). Already from the beginning of BIT, technology enhanced
learning was given special consideration to allow students to practice the use of ICT. Information about the
programme such as registration, curriculum and examination was published online. Initially this was a simple
website but later it was transformed to a student portal with extended functionality. The BIT programme, that
included foreign students as well, has now a new updated eBIT version that has become one of the most
popular IT programmes on the Sri Lankan island (Mozelius et al., 2011a).
eBIT – The Online Version of BIT
The BIT curriculum was revised in the AsiaLink/eBIT project to support the development of online courses
based on student centred collaborative learning. A new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) based on Moodle
LMS was established and customized. This new and localised eLearning framework was introduced as the
"Vidupiyasa" (Interface for Learning and Knowledge). Interactive digital content was developed following
international eLearning standards for 28 courses in the six semesters that builds the eBIT programme. This
new eBIT programme was aimed to increase the low pass rate in the BIT programme by providing activity
based content and online adapted assessment. After one year, the pass rates for the first two semesters were
thrice as high as before. Students also obtained better grades in their courses due to the new and more
interactive eLearning content and e‐assessments. (Mozelius et al., 2011a)
The National eLearning Centre
Technology enhanced learning and distance education has rapidly grown in many developing regions and open
universities can now reach a far larger population than in the 20th century. But the development of high
quality eLearning content is now more time consuming and costly (Boyle 2003) (Pagram & Pagram, 2006).
Universities and other educational organisations in developing countries need to deal with these issues if they
should be able to deliver high quality education.
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To address these challenges an UCSC based eLearning centre was started, at the same time as the department
was founded in 2002, to support the transformation of BIT material into interactive eLearning content to
support the curriculum development and to make eBIT an improved alternative for external studies. (Mozelius
& Hatakka, 2009). At the same time as there was an ongoing collaboration with Swedish experts, the eLearning
Centre also got Japanese support, and had a dialogue with Australian universities. Important tasks for the early
eLearning Centre were to implement the curriculum changes and to develop aligned activities and learning
objects. After the migration to the Moodle virtual learning environment all learning objects, on more complex
aggregation levels should be stored in SCORM format. At the eLearning Centre a model for rapid and efficient
content development was established serving courses with more than 5000 students only in the eBIT
programme. A priority at the eLearning Centre has been to always deliver and keep the deadlines and
sometimes quality has not been the prime objective. (Mozelius & Hatakka, 2009)
The eLearning Centre rapid development model could be seen as a conveyor belt where the involved actors
have strict and defined roles in the content development process. Syllabi based on chosen course books are
designed by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and later passed on to Instructional Designers (IDs) as the blueprint
for the aligned course content. Each syllabus is later broken down in to smaller chunks of activities by the ID.
Interactive learning activities are then designed as story boards by the IDs and passed on to the Content
Developers (CDs) for the actual implementation. To be efficient and be able to deliver quickly CDs often use
templates in Flash, HTML and JavaScript or redesign material retrieved from the Internet.
The Nenasala Telecentre Network
One initiative under the eSri Lanka umbrella (eSri Lanka, 2011) is the creation of the Nenasala telecentre
network. A project that should strive to meet the infrastructure requirements in rural areas and address the
information and communication needs island‐wide through the establishment of telecentres to provide ICT
based eServices (Nenasala, 2014). Technology enhanced learning and e‐services are rare phenomena in rural
areas (Gamage & Halpin, 2007). The Nenasala network was launched to provide access to ICTs for people in
rural regions in Sri Lanka and with the main objectives of:
poverty reduction
peace building
social and economic development (Nenasala, 2014)
Nenasala is a Sinhala word that translated to English means a centre for knowledge and Nenasala is the given
brand name for the 600 community driven Telecentres in rural Sri Lanka. The overall aim is to reduce the
internal digital divide, develop culture and promote commerce and community integration. Nenasala
telecentres are equipped in several ways but normally with 2‐4 computers and a printer. Many telecentres, but
not all, have satellite broadband Internet access. (Meegammana et al, 2010) There were different telecentre
implementations on the island before the launch of the Nenasala network and in the inception phase a lot of
different organisation models were tried. Telecentres were often, and still are, started and housed in
collaboration with existing local organisations. Three currently common models for telecentre organisation in
Sri Lanka are: The Temple model, The Family model and The Entrepreneur model (Gaiani et al, 2009b).
In the Temple model the computer hall is located close to Buddhist temples and even if the monks are not
conducting the ICT training they are involved in the daily organization of the telecentre. Sometimes, like in the
Thalakumbura Telecentre located in a Buddhist temple in the Badulla district, the younger priests also attend
the IT training (Meegammana et al, 2010). Nenasalas with a Family model for organization are run at home of
one or usually several family members. Longer or shorter courses and teaching sessions are given in the
families’ houses or apartments and in evenings and at weekends. The Entrepreneur model can have many
shapes, one interesting and working solution can be found in the Etampitiya telecentre in the Sri Lankan Hill
Country where 2 young innovative software developers as the organisation team. One of managers is of Tamil
origin and the other is Singhalese. At the same time as they provide IT training for visitors of Tamil as well as of
Singhalese origin they are running a company providing low cost computers in the region. (Gaiani et al, 2009b)
There are currently (July 2014) 765 telecentres located all over the island mainly in rural and semi‐rural area
but with three recently inaugurated nenasalas in Colombo. The reason for establishing telecenres in urban
regions as well is to increase ICT for youth and schoolchildren of low income families. One of the main
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Peter Mozelius
objectives in the Nenasala initiative is to establish 1000 telecentres with a geographical spread all over the
island. (Nenasala, 2014)
The Sri Lankan OLPC Initiative
Like in many other countries there have been several different concepts of one‐to‐one computing
implemented on the Sri Lankan island. One example is the so called eVillage project where Intel’s Classmate
computers are used in an initiative where students share computers with internet access. Another example is
the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative which is the project that this thesis will focus on. In Sri Lanka all of
the involved primary schools initially provided one laptop per student but later computers have broken down
and not been repaired or replaced. What makes the Sri Lankan OLPC model special is that there has been a
chosen focus on digital content development in local languages instead of Internet connectivity. (Mozelius et
al., 2012)
Initially there were nine schools in nine different provinces selected for a pilot project with funding from the
World Bank. Students in the schools are from different ethnic groups in schools that are located in poor rural
areas where computers are absent in schools and in people’s homes. In the deployment of the first 1000
computers the OLPC Sri Lanka Foundation has collaborated with the Ministry of Education. Later private sector
funding has enabled an increased the number of laptops and an additional 350 units was purchased and
distributed to another four schools with a total of 1350 students with their own personal computers that are
brought home after school. The implementation and the computer based teaching and learning sessions in the
13 schools have been monitored by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education and the World Bank officials. (OLPC
Sri Lanka, 2011)
Digital content based on the primary school curriculum was developed in English for learning objects on
Mathematics and English and local languages. Later the developed content was translated into the two main
national languages Tamil and Sinhala with different versions for different schools. The computers’ operating
system has been translated to both national languages and all students can now work with laptops and
learning material in their mother tongue. Teachers have got basic training in how to use the computers and
how to lead teaching sessions based on the distributed digital learning objects (Rahuman & Wikramanayake,
2009). The Sri Lankan Ministry of Education has, unlike in many other OLPC implementations, chosen a model
where emphasis is put on content development in local languages Sinhala instead of a focus on Internet access
and an online search for learning material (Mozelius et al., 2012).
In this study 6 of the 13 OLPC schools have been visited with a geographical and ethnic spread from west coast
Singhalese schools to an east coast Muslim school and a Tamil school in the northern Jaffna region. Selected
and visited primary schools are:
Geographical locations: Schools in Urban, Rural and Semi‐rural areas
Urban: Jaffna
Semi‐rural: Kalagahawela, Gampaha and Palmunai
Rural: Blackwood and Kukulkatuwa
Ethnic groups: Schools in Singalese, Tamil and Muslim dominated areas
Muslim: Palmunai
Tamil: Blackwood and Jaffna
Singalese: Kalagahawela, Kukulkatuwa and Gampaha
eNOSHA a Learning Object Repository
eNOSHA is an open source Learning Object Repository (LOR) designed and developed in a collaboration
between UCSC in Sri Lanka, and two Swedish universities during 2009 and 2010. This software system is built
with the idea that, subject matter experts, content developers and instructional designers with different levels
of permission should be able to store store and reuse learning objects on four different aggregation levels
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Peter Mozelius
(Hettiarachchi et al., 2011). The eNOSHA system was designed based on a needs analysis at UCSC in late 2008
and was taken into use and testing at the eLearning Centre at UCSC in early 2010.
In the evaluations done by content developers and instructional designers at the eLearning Centre users were
not satisfied with the systems usability and user‐friendliness. There were also complaint on multiple logins and
suggestions to integrate eNOSHA with the frequently used Moodle virtual learning environment. As a result of
the evaluation the system was integrated in the Moodle system with features for fast and user‐friendly
searching (Mozelius et al., 2011b). The LOR was later in 2011 installed at a Finnish university for further testing
and updating. Today the eNOSHA system is used at some European and African universities but the idea of
establishing the LOR as a virtual ICT4D hub in Sri Lanka was a failure.
5. Conclusions
Use of ICT and the creation of ICT4D hubs can be an efficient way of making impact on developing regions if
aid projects are conducted and combined in an appropriate order where infrastructure is built before the
introduction of services. It is also of great importance that the hubs and ICT4D initiatives are based on the local
needs and coordinated. Sri Lanka has in the 21th century started a myriad of projects but coordination and
evaluation are seldom there. Important issues for the discussed ICT4D hubs are commitment, collaboration,
communication and coordination.
To bridge the gap between urban and rural are the main challenges to address in the next decade. Like in
many other countries the idea of sharing digital content in online repositories has been discussed but not
really implemented. Most of the analysed ICT4D hubs act like network hubs receiving and disseminating
information without control mechanisms for efficiency and collaboration. For a better and more well‐
organised dissemination of eLearning the next step should be to develop the ICT4D hubs further and make
them ICT4D switches, or even better, intelligent ICT4D routers.
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The Role of ITG in Supporting use of e‐Learning Strategies: A‐
Comparative Study
Tembisa Ngqondi1 and Marlien Herselman2
1
Department of Applied Informatics, Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology, Walter
Sisulu University, East London, South Africa
2
Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Commerce & Management, University of
Fort Hare, East London, South Africa
tngqondi@wsu.ac.za
MHerselman@csir.co.za
Abstract: This paper reports on the role of Information Technology Governance (ITG) in supporting teaching and learning
techniques through e‐Learning strategies in the institutions of higher learning. The emerging of information technology (IT)
has contributed in reshaping and improving the teaching and learning process in the institutions of higher learning. E‐
Learning in particular, became an important tool in supporting new techniques of teaching and learning in the age of
technology. E‐Learning is a tool that uses multimedia technologies and the Internet to improve the quality of learning by
facilitating access to resources and services; however its effectiveness depends on acceptable IT infrastructures. The use of
e‐Learning in supporting meaningful and effective diverse teaching and learning techniques requires well established
hardware and software IT infrastructure. Since IT has become an enabler and a hub for the organization’s operational and
strategic decisions; it is therefore identified as a strategic topic for public and private organizations. The IT strategic plan
can be achieved through embracing ITG. Literature defines ITG as leadership responsibility that addresses different
organizational structures, processes and rational mechanisms in ensuring sustainable organization’s strategies and
objectives. ITG creates an environment whereby IT, e‐Learning and teaching and learning strategies are discussed and
supported in different levels of the organizations. Literature indicates that a lot of studies have been done in identifying
the role of IT in improving e‐learning strategies but little has been done in investigating ITG components. ITG is an
overarching approach in addressing organizational holistic approach in aligning core business objectives with IT objectives.
To investigate the role of ITG in supporting e‐Learning strategies a purposive case study was conducted in three institutions
of higher learning namely; university A, university B and C. The investigation of this premise was conducted through
various qualitative measures such as briefing sessions (mini workshops), observation, document analysis and individual
interviews. Findings indicate that embracing ITG in the institution of higher learning contributes effectively in using e‐
Learning as a teaching and learning tool. The findings further indicate that ITG practices are still challenged in the university
setup since the execution of IT responsibilities are centrally managed and championed by IT unit. The mixture of
decentralization and centralization of IT decisions are still resisted by other units. The identified implications/ challenges
are identified as further research topic. The contribution of ITG strategic alignment approach in the institutions of higher
learning was investigated for diverse activities; however this paper reports on only one aspect which is the role of ITG in
supporting e‐Learning strategies for effective teaching and learning techniques.
Keywords: e‐learning, information technology governance, information technology, teaching and learning
1. Introduction
The administrative and academic activities of the institutions of higher learning have been drastically
transformed by the emerging of information technology. The emerging of IT has also challenged the traditional
teaching and learning approach since it has introduced diverse complex technological learning aids (Collins &
Halverson, 2009). As IT becomes easier to access and understand, it increasingly permeates academic activities
in the institutions of higher learning whereby it enabled lectures to integrate technology into their teaching
and learning strategies (Arabasz, et al., 2003). The technology driven teaching and learning techniques raised a
demand on employing high quality IT infrastucture that can accommodate diverse e‐Learning strategies
(Bichsel, 2013). Teaching and learning is the core business of every academic institution of higher learning; it is
therefore a strategic topic discussed in executive structure(s) of the university. Since IT has transformed
traditional strategies of teaching and learning into e‐Learning approach, e‐Learning became high in the
strategic decisions of different academic institutions of higher learning. A question rises “what is the role of
ITG in supporting the execution of e‐Learning strategies in the institutions of higher learning?”. ITG is defined
by Weil & Ross (2004) as the decision rights and accountability framework for encouraging desirable behaviour
in the use of IT. This definition explains the role of ITG for the effective execution of e‐Learning strategies.
Since ITG is concerned with the entire IT function of the university; it therefore addresses the holistic
alignment of IT and university’s objectives that help in achieving its strategic goals. Yanosky & McCrede (2008)
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Tembisa Ngqondi and Marlien Herselman
indicate that ITG is an organisation approach that acknowledges everynone’s stake and empowers all the
stakeholders in determing the directions IT is to take.
E‐Learning is not well effective without proper IT infrastucture which is not aligned with univesity objectives,
this justifies why ITG is important in supporting e‐Learning strategies. This paper has investigated the role of
ITG in supporting effective e‐Learning strategies in three universities. The approach these institutions use in
embracing ITG was studied to identify common and different trends on how ITG contributes towards effective
e‐Learning strategies. The results of this paper present the strenghts and limitations of ITG in supporting e‐
Learning strategies in comparison with theoritical perspectives offered by literature. The impetus for this
paper is derived from the following research question, aims and objectives:
Main Research Question:
What is the role of Information Technology Governance Practices in supporting e‐Learning strategies in the
academic Institution of Higher Learning?
Sub‐Questions
What are the theoretical advantages of embracing ITG in supporting e‐Learning strategies as promoted by
literature?
This is aiming at investigating and analyzing the existing relavent literature that relates to e‐leaning and
ITG approaches which can be used as a base in supporting the importance of ITG strategies in executing e‐
learning strategies
What are the ITG strategies employed by cases studied in supporting e‐Learning strategies?
Identify the case of universities’ best IT Governance practices that will contribute in supporting e‐Learning
strategies.
Identify the strengths and weaknesses (challenges) of the adopted IT Governance approach at case
universities’ that will serve as a base for best ITG approach in supporting e‐Learning.
Create a guide for the baseline IT Governance approach that will contribute towards the establishment of
effective ways in supporting e‐Learning strategies for the institution of Higher Learning.
The content of the paper is described in the following sections.
2. Literature review
2.1 Defining e‐learning
E‐Learning is a new concept which emerged in 1990s after the prevalent and easy access to the internet.
Literature has identified e‐Learning as a new tool with potential to improve the traditional teaching and
learning techniques and has discovered new educational phenomenon (Dziuban, et al., 2004). Since e‐Learning
is a new concept it is still a topic of interest for different researchers such that it has different names such as:
web‐based learning, online learning, distance learning and the list is infinite. However this study is referring to
it as “e‐Learning”. Itmazi (2013) identifies three types of e‐Learning approaches as follows:
Enhanced approach: the eLearning solutions used to support, facilitate and enhance the face‐to‐face
learning by using web‐based technology like course management systems. This approach cannot reduce
face‐to‐face academic seat time more than 24%.
Blended approach: this kind mixes traditional face‐to‐face and online learning, consequently, a substantial
portion of content is delivered online; typically this approach can reduce 25 to 74% of face‐to‐face
meetings.
Online Approach: it uses virtual learning (VL) which can be realized without any need to face‐to‐face
meeting, however, this approach could have some face‐to‐face meeting such as examinations but more
than 75% of the course content is delivered online.
The common factor in all these e‐Learning approaches is that they all use IT in executing teaching and learning
mandate. Since different researchers agree that e‐Learning is a tool that promotes quality learning anywhere
and anytime through different multimedia technologies and internet; e‐Learning is therefore suggested to be a
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strategic topic of the institutions of higher learning (Pirani & Yanosky, 2008). By definition, it is evident that the
effective implementation of e‐Learning strategies is imposible without the existance of the acceptable basic IT
infrastructure. According to De Haes & Van Grembergen (2005, 2008) the pervarsive use of technology has
created a critical dependency on IT which calls for a specific focus on ITG. E‐Learning on the other hand is a
technological driven tool which relies solenly on good IT infrastructure. A call for a specific focus on ITG by
information technology qualifies the reason why effective execution of e‐Learning strategies can be
established well if ITG is considered in the process. The following section defines ITG and the theoretical
background of ITG in supporting e‐Learning strategies.
2.2 Overview of ITG
ITG is a concept that has become an important issue in the field of Information Technology (De Haes & Van
Grembergen, 2008). The pervasive use of technology has created a critical dependency on IT that calls for a
specific focus on ITG (Van Grembergen, et al., 2007). ITG is defined as the leadership and organisational
structure and process ensuring that an organisation’s IT sustains and extends its strategy and objectives (IT
Governance Institute, 2003). Nugroho (2014) argues that ITG in an organisation does not happen by
coincidence, in a decentralized environment such as a university, a regular review to renew the ITG structure
to take account of changing institutional and technological environment is needed. This is further supported by
Weil & Ross (2004) when indicating that ITG is the decision rights and accountability framework for
encouraging desirable behavior in the use of IT. These decision rights consist of five IT‐related decision areas in
every organization and these decisions areas are connected. Table 1 describes how ITG decision areas support
the execution of e‐Learning strategies.
Table 1: Description of how key IT governance decision support e‐learning strategies
Key ITG Decisions Relevance to e‐Learning
IT Principles Decision: ITG enabled university executive committee to discuss how
High‐level statements about how IT is used in the e‐Learning strategies can create value in achieing teaching
business and learning mandate. It also enabled the executive
(How can IT create a business value?) university structures to identify and plan for relevant IT
systems that can collaboratively support e‐Learning
strategies of the entire university.
IT Architecture Decision: ITG enable e‐Learning strategies to be discussed in forums
Organization logic for data, application, and whereby university policies are developed and discussed.
infrastructure captured in a set of policies, This contributes in integrating e‐Learning strategies in the
relationships, and technical choices to achieve overall university policies. Meaning it is not discussed in
desired business and technical standardization isolation to other university policies.
and integration.
(What technical guidelines and standards can be
used?)
IT Infrastructure Decision: ITG enable e‐Learning strategies to be adopted as an
Centrally coordinates shared IT services that institution mandate not a specific unit responsibility. It
provide the foundation for the enterprise’s IT further enabled e‐Learning IT support systems and human
capacity. resources to be integrated into the university budget which
(How can the organization build the shared enable possible sharing of services by different
services?) units/faculties. All faculties receive equal share of resources
based on their needs.
Business Applications Needs: ITG enabled the university to use a unified e‐Learning
Specifying the business need for purchased or systems except for the specialised systems. This enables e‐
internally developed IT application. Learning strategies to promote collaborative teaching and
(What applications can be used?) learning strategies. This assists the university in identifying
relevant and up‐to‐date software.
IT Investment and Prioritization Decision: ITG enabled the importance of e‐Learning hardware and
Decision about how much and where to invest in software needs to be discussed and approved in the
IT, including project approvals and justification institutional forums which enable the smooth execution of
technique. e‐Learning practices.
(How much and where can the organization
invest?)
As much as this paper is focusing on ITG and e‐Learning, the ITG overiew in this paper as captured by different
authors indicates that ITG is a helicopter approach that focuses on the overall alignment of IT and business
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objectives in achieving the organization vision and mission. Ridley (2006) argues that ITG finds the balance and
direction that satisfies organizational needs and obligations to ensure innovation and effectiveness of an
organization’s departments. Balancing direction in ensuring innovation and effectiveness of organisation’s
units confirms that ITG brings transparency in the functional and top level structures of the organisation. The
effective ITG principles are guided by best ITG practices which include but are not limeted to King III Report,
VAL IT, and COBIT.
King III Report
The King III Report is an extension of King I & II which focused mainly on compliance governance practices
guided by the “comply or explain” principle over and above the other legislated governance issues. The
“comply or explain” principle was later identified as a limitation in conveying King Committee objectives of
identifying how the principles and recommendations could be applied instead of using them as a compliance
tool. The King III Report adopted another principle known as “apply or explain” which conveys the King
Committee’s intent to guide directors in deciding on the best practices to achieve the objectives of the
corporate governance principles and to further explain how the principles and recommendations should be
applied. A chapter in the King III report captures issues such as business rescue, application of the code,
language gender and terminology, effective date, appreciation and information technology governance
VAL IT
Val IT is a governance framework that provides a set of management principles, processes and practices that
enable the enterprise to maximize the delivery of business value from investment involving IT (IT Governance
Institute, 2008a). These principles are developed to support leadership in the institution at different levels by
providing clear and consistently applicable guidelines and supporting practices. They further guide the
organisation’s Board and executive management in carrying out their IT‐enabler business investment roles in
ensuring that IT provides the optimal value at a reasonable cost with known and acceptable risk (IT
Governance Institute, 2006). Val IT and COBIT frameworks complement each other; the IT Governance
institute indicates that Val IT extends and complements COBIT. Val IT focuses on delivering business value
while COBIT delivers the technology capacity that is required. The Val IT focuses on decision‐making and
realisation of benefits by answering the questions, “are we doing the right things and are we getting the
benefits?”, whereas COBIT focuses on the execution by answering the questions, “are we doing them the right
way and are we getting them done well?
Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT)
COBIT is a good guide for implementing effective IT Governance in the organization. They consist of the best
standards recognized world‐wide (Hardy, 2006); COBIT standards are easily integrated with other best
practices and are known as the best practice for IT Governance, security and controls (IT Governance Institute,
2008a). The demand for effective IT Governance in the private and public sector has also increased the level of
COBIT standards adoption and acceptance. Since IT has become a key resource for all enterprise, a need for IT
to be governed and managed in a holistic manner taking in the full end‐to‐end business and IT functional areas
of responsibility has resulted in the development of new COBIT 5 version. The establishment of COBIT 5 did
not make COBIT 4.1 less important but has added a number of new drivers that improve and address the IT
pervasive needs of the stakeholders (Service Talk, 2012).
The above mentioned best ITG practices confirmed that ITG is not functioning as a tower, it is built on a solid
base of recognized principles. This has been confirmed by the findings of this paper which were obtained
through the following research methodology.
3. Research methodology
In order to identify the role of ITG in supporting e‐Learning strategies, key components of e‐Learning and ITG
as presented in literature were identified. Literature presents mainly generic ITG approach in the academic
institution of higher learning without dwelling on a specific focus of the e‐Learning strategies. The best
theoretical argument as captured in Table 1 presented a solid base of literature in analyzing the role of ITG in
supporting e‐Learning strategies.
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This study adopted a qualitative research philosophy. It has embraced a case study approach which carried out
in three phases. Triangulation data collection approach was also embraced since data was collected using
different data collection methods such as document analysis, briefing sessions and interviews. The selection of
participants was based on the findings captured from the briefing session and document analysis. Participants
were selected from different operational levels of each university. The participants were a mixture of different
portfolios in the university which confirmed their availability and accepted the request to participate.
The research sample for this paper consists of different groups of participants, and these groups also vary from
different cases under this study. The IT Governance setup for each of the three institutions studied was
completely different. The participants were purposively selected according to their role in the institution’s IT
Governance. The participants included the Deans of faculties, Directors and Heads of administration,
information and communication technology, facilities and library, different portfolios of IT Governance forum
representatives and staff members from the ICT support desk. The participants were approached and agreed
to participate in the research. The consent form was attached to the letter requesting access to the
universities. Sample group is presented in a Table 2. The study was carried out in two years since however
interviews was carried out for a month for universities, document analysis was carried out for two years since
it formed part of the researcher’s PhD project. The three universities captured in Table 2 were used as an
experimental group to learn different approaches used by each university in integrating integrated ITG
principle into e‐Learning strategies to improve teaching and learning practices as summarized in Table 3 and
concluded in a proposed mode in Figure 1.
Table 2: Sample group
Universities Participants Number
International University Dean of Faculty 1
(university A) Director – ICT Technical 1
Director – ICT Academic 1
Director – Administration 1
Head of ICT Library 1
Head of ICT Facilities 1
ICT – Coordinator 1
ICT Support Staff 1
Demand Managers 2
Software Advisory Board 2
Member of ICTC 2
Member IT Strategic Committee 2
National Benchmark Director: Center for Teaching and Learning 1
(University B) Senior Director – ICT 1
Director – ICT Development 1
Registrar 1
Director Library 1
Managers of Facilities 2
Director ICT – Technical 1
ICT Support Staff Managers 2
IT Faculty Managers 2
Main Case ICT Director 1
(University C) ICT – Administrator Representative 1
ICT Acting Director and COO 1
ICT Senior Staff 1
Total 30
Data was collected in the form of audio recordings and written field notes while practicing different qualitative
measures in different case studies. Data analysis was carried out using within‐case analysis to analyze and
interpret data to explain and present the role of ITG for e‐Learning strategies. Within‐case analysis employs
the thematic analysis approach where common themes and meanings are obtained and coded into small
chunks. The coding of themes was achieved through a systematic process of data analysis. The transcriptions
of interviews were done and documented by a professional person. The researcher studied the transcriptions
and grouped them into different categories that cover common textual data. The grouping of common themes
in the data analysis approach was obtained after the systematic process of data analysis. The analyzed data
presents that summary of findings in the next section.
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Tembisa Ngqondi and Marlien Herselman
4. Findings
This section presents the summary of findindings from cases studied. The findings are presented in different
themes demonstrating the role of ITG in supporting e‐Learning strategies. The identified challenges in
executing the e‐Learning strategies are also identified. For the purpose of confidentiality names of the
institutions will be coded as institution A, B and C. The summary of findings are presented in Table 3.
Table 3: Summary of findings from cases studied
Themes Institutions Participation e‐Learning Support ITG Challenges
5. Proposed integrated ITG model
The proposed ITG model shows the areas that are addressed within the ICT structure. Various functionality
which are included in this guide identify the key areas the IT Governance can address in the institution. The
model shows that all the functional units interact with the institution information technology Forum.
Communication between functional units and the institutional information technology governance forum is
bilateral. This model is not fixed institutions can start off with few committees and grow them as the
institution identify a need for more committees. Institutions can decide on the names of committees as it
suites them. Although this paper is focusing on ITG and e‐Learning various operational activities of the
institution can benefit from this model.
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Tembisa Ngqondi and Marlien Herselman
Institution Management Committee (IMC)
ICT Support Community
Services Engagement
ICT Institutional Committee
Strategic Plan
Committee
Deans, (IISPC)
Faculties &
Students
Research,
Teaching
Institutional and
ICT Financial Information Learning
Committee Technology
Governance
Forum (IITGF)
Administratio
ICT Steering n Support
Committee Committee
Facilities
&Infrastructure
Assurance Committee
Figure 1: Proposed ITG model to support institution mission and vision
Institutional information technology governance forum is a university forum which comprises of all key
stakeholders of the university that decide and agree on budget allocation for special institutional IT needs that
support all the institution operational and strategic activities including e‐Learning. The representation of
various stakeholders is not prescriptive but identified at a unit level. The MIC owns and leads the processes of
establishing and developing the institutional IT strategies through the IISPC committee. The IITGF is a forum
whereby all key stakeholders of the institution meet to discuss IT projects, agree on IT plan, cost the projects
and produce an adopted institution wide plan of the implementation of IT projects. As it is stated above the
constitution of ITG forums is not limited to the identified institutional units but can be less or more depending
on specific institutional needs.
6. Conclusion
This paper describes how ITG practices support e‐Learning strategies in the institution of higher learning. It
also reveals that ITG is high on the agenda of the university whereby the mix of structures, processes and
relational mechanisms enabled the effective implementation of IT‐institutional strategic alignment at different
executive and operational level in the institution of higher learning. The commitment, support and
participation of the different university’s ITG committees and senior leadership is identified as key contributing
factor in the success of executing e‐Learning strategies in the institution. The identified strengths and
limitations of ITG for effective and gaps of executing the institution strategies. However the lack of
participation of stakeholders at an operational level has created a communication breakdown. ITG best
practice such as the King III Report COBIT and, VAL IT are defined as best ITG practices guiding the effective ITG
strategies. The findings on this paper have successfully presented the role of ITG in supporting e‐Learning
strategies. The ultimate goal of pursuing this research has been achieved.
Acknowledgements
I would like to say a special thanks to NUFFIC / WSU project for funding my study, and or arranging and
organizing my research visit to the University of Groningen. Dr van der Duim, Dr Renzo, Ms Lakerveld, thank
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Tembisa Ngqondi and Marlien Herselman
you for your hospitality and welcoming spirit and guidance during my stay in the Netherlands. I further extend
my appreciation to Ms Huizinga, a secretary who tirelessly assisted me in scheduling my interview
appointments and everyone who participated in my data collection. Ms Uys and everyone who assisted in
coordinating all my interviews at the Stellenbosch University, as well as people who participated in the
interviews, thank you so much. Special thanks to Ms Williams (Zenande) for your time in reading my work. I
express my greatest respect and honor to my supervisor for her guidance for all her support.
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369
Multimedia Teaching Materials for Development of Pupils’ Culture
of Problem Solving
Jarmila Novotná
Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Education, Prague, Czech Republic
jarmila.novotna@pedf.cuni.cz
Abstract: The main goal of the presented paper is to show how electronic teaching materials can be designed in such a way
that they support pupils’ creativity and culture of problem solving. It focuses on e‐textbooks, e‐manuals and materials for
the teachers who use ICT in their classrooms. The paper also focuses on the extent to which the potential of multimedia
teaching materials is made use of in practice and on the possible modifications whose result will be turning these materials
into materials that develop pupils’ creativity and independence. The paper builds on two areas: on the concept of “pupils´
culture of problem solving” as it used in the research project GAČR Development of culture of problem solving in
mathematics in Czech schools and on those properties of multimedia teaching materials that make them a suitable tool for
development of pupils´ creativity and culture of solving problems. Teaching materials have impact not only on the selection
of concepts and types of tasks but also on the selection of solving strategies a teacher introduces, or possibly encourages
or recommends to their pupils. Multimedia teaching materials have an immense potential in support of development of
pupils’ creativity. The author demonstrates on three examples how electronic teaching materials can, if their potential is
used well, enhance pupils’ creativity. In Example 1, an analysis of few pages selected from a Czech multimedia teaching
material that fails to support pupils’ culture of problem solving is followed by a demonstration of possible modifications of
the material that change it from a mere conversion of a printed text into electronic form into a material which makes use
of the potential of multimedia teaching resources fully. Examples 2 and 3 illustrate the possible use of electronic materials
as scaffolding in situations when routine calculations are too long (Example 2) or when fast access to a missing piece of
information is needed. The results presented in the paper have significant consequences for pre‐ and in‐service teacher
training.
Keywords: multimedia teaching materials, pupils’ culture of solving problems, problem solving, heuristic solving strategies
1. Introduction
Textbooks and other teaching materials are undoubtedly one of the important factors in education, both in
teachers’ and pupils’ point of view. They have impact not only on the selection of concepts and types of tasks
but also on the selection of solving strategies a teacher introduces in the lesson and possibly encourages or
recommends to be used by their pupils. The extent of the use of multimedia teaching and learning texts and
materials has been quickly and constantly increasing both within lessons and as tools for self‐study, see e.g.
(Hoyles, Lagrange, 2010), (Drijvers, 2012). In most cases teachers may rely on the fact that their pupils will
have no problem to use these multimedia teaching materials, either because of their skills from ICT lessons or
thanks to their everyday life experience.
It is generally believed that in consequence of the nature of multimedia teaching materials their use in lessons
will have positive impact not only on pupils’ motivation (as they make lessons more interesting) but also on
pupils’ attitudes and approaches to problem solving as well as their understanding of the concepts. At the
same time teachers will be expected to adapt their teaching strategies to the changes in the learning
environment which are required by work with multimedia teaching materials. But does this really happen in
everyday teaching practice?
Implementation of multimedia teaching materials into classrooms is highly topical not only in teaching practice
but also in research. Research focusing on implementation of multimedia teaching materials into (not only)
mathematics suggests that neither teachers nor pupils make use of the potential that multimedia teaching
materials offer. E.g. Jančařík and Novotná (2011) give examples of situations in which multimedia teaching
materials are not used efficiently, where their use is merely formal. In these situations the only difference from
traditional work with printed texts is the form in which information and assignments are presented to pupils,
not the way pupils work with it.
Implementation and use of any technological means into lessons should always be based on the principle of
efficiency. In comparison to the situation when no ICT is used, it should always be meaningful and beneficial. In
this paper, we focus predominantly on how multimedia teaching materials can help to develop pupils’
creativity and independence when solving problems using heuristic strategies. The author explores whether
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Jarmila Novotná
multimedia teaching materials used nowadays really support not only the use of heuristic strategies and thus
also pupils’ creativity, but also their understanding of mathematics. The desired impact of the use of
multimedia materials should be a boost in pupils’ motivation to solve problems. The paper asks and looks for
answers to the following questions concerning the use of multimedia teaching materials in lessons with the
aim of clarifying relevant issues:
How can multimedia teaching materials help to develop pupils’ creativity in solving problems targeted at
development of the use of heuristic strategies?
Is this potential of multimedia teaching materials made use of in practice to a sufficient extent? This is
closely linked to the issue of how to modify the existing materials that use technological devices and
multimedia, yet do not sufficiently develop pupils’ creativity and independence, in a way that their use
would trigger this development.
The paper presents examples of existing multimedia teaching materials. These examples are used to show how
the materials can be used in such a way that pupils’ creativity in and understanding of mathematics are
developed. Besides this, attention is also paid to how electronic materials can be used as a means of support in
problem solving. The paper comes out of an extensive research of pupils’ culture of problem solving conducted
within the frame of the research project GAČR Development of culture of problem solving in mathematics in
Czech schools; for details see e.g. in (Eisenmann, Novotná, Přibyl, 2014), (Břehovský et al., 2013), (Novotná,
Eisenmann, Přibyl, 2014).
2. Theoretical background
The paper integrates two areas of mathematics education research: development of pupils’ culture of problem
solving and creation and use of multimedia teaching materials.
2.1 Pupils’ culture of problem solving
In school, problems are traditionally used as an instrument to check if and what pupils have learned, and more
rarely as an opportunity to learn mathematics. Consequently, pupils understand problems as a tool of
assessment (grading), not as a tool helping them to learn something applicable in different contexts. However,
tasks and problems can also be approached from a different standpoint: we should try to divert pupils’ and
teachers’ attention to problems as such. In this perspective, pupils get a chance to perceive problems as
something that gives them an opportunity to be creative and to build something new on the basis of these
problems (Novotná, 2009). This approach to problem solving, among other, helps pupils in situations when
they do not find a suitable solving algorithm in their repertoire of knowledge. It motivates them to look for
suitable heuristic strategies for the solution.
The use of heuristic strategies in problem solving is referred to in this text in accordance to Polya (1945, 1973)
and Schoenfeld (1985), i.e. when other than an algorithmic solution typical for school mathematics is used. The
use of heuristic strategies has been discussed by many researchers, e.g. Fan and Zhu (2007), Eisner (1982),
Sandford (1985), Kaufman (1985) or Stacey (1991). However, these works do not focus on the use of
multimedia devices for development of heuristic strategies. In this paper we focus especially on how new
technological devices, especially (but not only) multimedia devices, can contribute to development of pupils’
creativity in problem solving, also in cases when pupils cannot find the algorithm appropriate for solution of
the problem in their knowledge base.
Examples of heuristic strategies in problem solving can be found e.g. in (Eisenmann, Novotná, Přibyl, 2014),
(Břehovský et al., 2013), (Novotná, Eisenmann, Přibyl, 2014), (Novotná et al., 2014), who present partial results
of work on the research project Development of culture of problem solving in mathematics in Czech schools. In
(Eisenmann, Novotná, Přibyl, submitted) it is shown that the use of technological tools can facilitate pupils’
selection of some particular solving strategy and provide means for creative, non‐algorithmic solving. In the
paper, the author focuses on whether and how this potential is made use of.
2.2 Multimedia teaching materials
Rapid development in the field of communication technology naturally has impact on the area of education. It
not only calls for changes in teaching strategies but also calls for creation of new teaching materials specific for
such environments. According to Dostál (2009, p. 20) multimedia teaching materials are a “digital tool
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Jarmila Novotná
integrating various forms of documents or data (e.g. text, table, chart, animation, images, sounds etc.),
mediating or imitating reality, supporting higher degree of illustrativeness or facilitating teaching”. They offer
information expressed in many different forms with the intention of magnifying the effects on the learner and
their senses. The concept of the effort to affect the learner in a multisensory way is not new; it can be come
across already in Comenius’ Didactica magna from 1657. The current technological means allow us to
implement this idea in a much richer way.
Most textbooks used in the Czech Republic do not work with heuristic strategies (Novotná, Eisenmann, 2014).
The textbooks are based on problems and tasks whose aim is to practice and drill selected parts of
mathematics through school algorithm strategies. Very little attention is paid to development of pupils’
creativity. There are many reasons for this unsatisfactory situation, e.g.
textbooks are usually designed for teachers’ practice, therefore they are guided by the prevailing teachers’
demands; heuristic solving strategies are not commonly used by Czech teachers of mathematics;
non‐algorithmic character of heuristic strategies often requires a lot of additional explanations, which
exceeds the required scope of a textbook;
the potential danger of misuse of heuristic strategies so that they become just another algorithmic
procedure.
Most of these reasons are connected to the use of printed textbooks and can be weakened or eliminated by a
well‐designed e‐textbook or other multimedia teaching materials.
Multimedia teaching materials differ from written or audiovisual aids especially by their interactivity
(Pavlovkin, 2007). They allow double‐sided communication of the learner and the material. Their potential for
development of pupils’ culture of problem solving is thus far from negligible. They offer more space for
presentation, inclusion of various types of presentations, multi‐level organization of materials etc.
The use of e‐materials in teaching has been paid much attention to on ECEL conferences, e.g. (Tomos et al.,
2013). The main goal of the presented paper is to show how electronic teaching materials can be designed in
such a way that they support pupils’ creativity in problem solving, especially with focus on the use of heuristic
strategies. It also shows how any teaching material can be enriched by integration and use of technological
devices. The paper thus does not only focus on e‐materials for teachers who use ICT, especially interactive
boards, in their lessons but also on possible ways of making electronic materials more useful and efficient.
3. Examples of multimedia teaching materials; possible modifications that aid to support
development of heuristic solving strategies and creative approach to mathematics
In the next part of the paper, three examples will be discussed to demonstrate how electronic teaching
materials can, if their potential is used well, enhance culture of pupils’ problem solving and creativity. This is
done through an example of a Czech multimedia teaching material which fails to develop pupils’ culture of
problem solving but has the potential of being modified in such a way that is stops being a mere conversion of
a printed text in an electronic form and becomes a material which fully makes use of the potential of
multimedia teaching sources as well as through examples of how selected technological devices used at the
right moment can support creativity.
In other words there are two different types of multimedia teaching materials. Example 1 not only shows how
interactive board might be used inefficiently without supporting pupils’ creativity in problem solving, but also
offers possible modifications and improvements to make the material really useful in the classroom, to meet
the demands of constructivist approaches to mathematics education. Examples 2 and 3 show how electronic
materials can be used in problem solving either for getting rid of lengthy routine calculations (Example 2) or
for fast access to a missing piece of information (Example 3).
Example 1: Direct proportion, material for interactive board
This material contains many shortcomings that are quite common in the Czech environment and that
considerably devaluate advantages of the use of multimedia teaching materials. The material was designed for
13 to 14 year old pupils. The material was created as a conversion of a printed textbook into electronic form.
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It consists of nine pages on the topic of direct proportion. Its interactivity is realized only by the fact that when
answering the posed questions, pupils can get the desired answer by clicking in the appropriate place. 2 pages
feature questions in whose case a pupils’ click on the selected area shows the answer. On 1 page, there is an
answer that is too long and does not fit in the given area. In the remaining pages there are tasks to be
completed and the pupils check their solution with a sample solution that appears if they click in a given place.
Any other potential that multimedia teaching materials offer is not made use of. Let us now describe two
pages of the teaching material and let us show how it could be modified to give its users more space for
independent creative activity.
Page 1 is meant to serve as an introduction to revision of the topic. At the top of the page, there is the
question What do we already know about direct proportion?. The question is followed by 5 lines numbered 1
to 5. When clicking on a number, a statement about direct proportion appears on the screen. These
statements are those that the teacher (who created the teaching material) expects the pupils to know and
recollect. The following are the statements in the order in which they are presented on the page: It is a
dependency between two quantities x and y; y increases as many times as x increases; y decreases as many
times as x decreases; it is given by the formula y = k . x; its graph is a straight line or its part).
Analysis of how the page supports pupils’ creativity: The whole page focuses on a mere recollection of
knowledge the teacher expects the pupils to have. It is not clear how the teacher will handle the following
situations under these circumstances:
Some of the pupils come with another statement on direct proportion which has not been programmed
on the page.
A pupil proposes a statement which is partially or completely wrong.
Pupils will not propose the statements in the given order. How can they know which number to click on to
verify correctness of their answer?
Note: If this material had been designed for revision of a topic the pupils had already mastered, it would have
been more meaningful to start this revision by giving an example of a real‐life situation based on direct
proportion and by giving an example of an everyday life situation without direct proportion. An example of this
approach might be inclusion of a simple situation from a skiing trip in which pupils calculate how much a week
pass will cost if a) only individual passes are sold and there is no discount for groups; b) individual passes as
well as passes for groups of 2 and 5 skiers are sold and larger groups of skiers get discounts. In case b) pupils
can also try to find out what combination of passes will be the most budget‐wise. All this either in the situation
that the whole class will go on the trip or in the situation that one pupil gets sick shortly before departure and
must stay at home.
Proposal how to make better use of the potential of interactive multimedia environment: The page will be
designed in such a way that pupils might use its one part to record their own ideas and proposals. They will
write in the section all the statements they formulate on direct proportion. If any of these correspond with the
statements hidden under the numbers, the respective number will light and the teacher will move the
statement to the corresponding number as another formulation of the same property. This will be controlled
by the teacher as he/she knows which statement is hidden under which number.
The statements that are not formulations of any of the hidden statements are then discussed by the pupils. In
case the statements are true, they are moved below the numbered statements or they are highlighted by a
different colour and stay on the smart board. If they are wrong, the teacher’s intervention is required. When
planning the lesson, the teacher will have to consider the possible mistakes and prepare counterexamples
which he/she then opens to show; he/she can first encourage pupils to come up with their own
counterexamples. If the pupils come with an unexpected answer, the teacher can switch to an empty page and
create an counterexample together with the pupils (for which he/she can use appropriate software such as
GeoGebra, Excel etc.) The problem at this stage is, obviously, that the teacher can never foresee all the
possible statements his/her pupils will come up with. That is why the teacher should consider the use of both –
interactive board and blackboard. If the class manages to disprove some of the statements, it should disappear
from the smart board with one click.
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If some of the statements the teacher anticipated are not proposed and the number is not lit, the process of
proposing new and new statements can continue until the pupils have no other idea or until the numbers are
all lit.
Page 2 provides yet more revision of the already taught subject matter. The top of the page reads: How does
the graph of direct proportion change in relation to k? The bottom of the page asks: Formulate a conclusion
and verify your statement. If we click on an arrow, Figute1 opens.
Figure 1: Translation: The graph of direct proportion is a straight line through the origin. The coefficient
determines the slope of the straight line
Analysis of how the page supports pupils’ creativity: The page asks a question the answer to which is not
given straight away. This means pupils have a chance for their independent discovery. However, to many
pupils the instruction with the arrow acts as a signal to simply “look how this should be” (similar happens
when pupils solve tasks in printed textbooks with explicit examples of solving procedures and results – instead
of looking for a solving strategy and the solution, pupils very fast move to the part offering the solution and
the result and then guess the solving process not from the situation but from the result). In this case many
pupils will not discover but accept the provided statements.
Proposal how to make better use of the potential of interactive multimedia environment: If individual
discovery, albeit individual, in pairs, in groups or as the whole class is to be supported, the possibility to get to
the correct answer at once without any effort must be removed. Experimenting must be reinforced e.g. by
linking the material to a discovery game. An example of such a game may be e.g. assembling dominoes with
graphs of direct proportion and the formulas; groups of pupils can compete who will finish the domino game
faster; this domino can of course be created on an interactive board. The domino tiles can be moved on the
interactive board and correctness of the matching checked.
These two pages are followed by practice tasks that require very traditional solving procedures with the only
difference from the traditional textbook: if the teacher or pupil clicks in the indicated place, the correct answer
appears. In some places the solver may be moving one of the possible answers into the given area. If the
selected answer is the right answer, the colour changes.
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Clearly, it can be concluded that the material fails to make use of the potential of multimedia teaching
materials.
Example 2: Word problem on division of the whole into unequal parts
Problems on division of the whole into unequal parts can be solved using many different solving strategies,
from careful consideration and use of graphical representation of the relations to an algebraic solution using
equations. If pupils are able to solve linear equations, the teacher is likely to guide them to their use. However,
is this needed? What if a pupil is not able to set equations or finds it difficult? Let us illustrate on one problem
how the use of multimedia environment can help a pupil not only to find a suitable non‐algebraic solving
strategy and solution but also to understand the structure of the problem and then create the equation if
required.
Pupils are to solve the following problem: The total salary Mr. Novák’s daughters, Pavla and Marie, got was
181 CZK. Marie had 37 CZK more than Pavla. How many crowns did each daughter get? (Novotná, 2010).
To solve this problem, several arithmetic as well as algebraic solving strategies can be used. One of them is
systematic experimentation. The solver chooses value one for Pavla’s salary on the first trial and calculates the
corresponding Marie’s salary and then the sum of both salaries. The sum is very small. That is why the solver
increases Pavla’s salary by 1 CZK and continues in the same way. He/she carries on doing this until the sum of
both salaries is 181 CZK.
As long as the values are set correctly, this strategy will lead to the right result but it is very long and
painstaking and pupils will very likely give up looking for the solution as they will not be patient enough to do
the calculations long enough. This may be avoided even without the use of computer or other suitable
technological device: e.g. by not increasing the value of Pavla’s salary by 1 CZK but in larger sums. Then the
solver can approach the right solution in “jumps”, i.e. he/she uses the strategy of solution by approximation.
Of course, the use of computer or some other technological device will help overcome tediousness of the
solving procedure. A well prepared teaching material will offer various types of software that can be opened
and used for the solution of the problem with respect to the selected strategy and with respect to the
suitability of different types of software for the selected strategy. A pupil suggests a suitable solving strategy,
in this case e.g. systematic experimenting. He/she decides to use the spreadsheet Excel. The reasons for this
decision may be manifold, i.e. he/she has already had some experience with this software, he/she is not
familiar with any other offered software or cannot image how other software could be useful for the solution
etc. As soon as he/she opens Excel and fills the first tested value in the first row of the table, by simple
expansion of the table he/she gets as many values within a few seconds, that he/she needs for correct
solution (in bold in Table 1).
Table 1: Extract from systematic experimentation in Excel
Pavla Marie Together
1 38 39
2 39 41
3 40 43
…
71 108 179
72 109 181
73 110 183
…
Similarly, other software can be used in other problems, e.g. GeoGebra etc.
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Jarmila Novotná
Example 3: Search for information about some (also non‐mathematical) object that is in the assignment of a
mathematical problem and is unfamiliar to the pupils
The presence of one or more terms or concepts, unknown to the pupils, might be an obstacle in problem
solving. Teachers’ experience confirms that this may become a real obstacle to pupils’ success in the solving
process. Pupils may e.g. fail to solve a problem they would be able to solve in a more familiar context. In a
traditional lesson where no technological devices are used, it is up to the teacher to explain what the unknown
word means, what the properties of the object are, how these properties may be made use of etc. However,
this kind of explanation does not necessarily encourage the pupils to (at least) try and solve the problem.
This is another type of situation asking for the use of multimedia teaching material with the intention of
supporting pupils’ natural curiosity and creativity. The material can give the pupils access to databases and e‐
books where they can look for the unknown word or term and find the needed information about it. It is then
up to every pupil whether they will make use of these sources or not. The teacher stops being the transmitter
of ready‐made information but becomes a facilitator of inquiry‐based pupils’ activity.
An approach like this was used e.g. when solving the following problem for upper secondary school students
(Kocourková, 2014):
A confectioner is commissioned to bake a cake in the shape of a hip roofed house. The cake will be made of
two equal prism corpuses. Let the vertices of the prism (corpus) be ABCDEFGH, then the following holds:
|AB| = 50 cm; |BC| = 30 cm; |AE| = 15 cm. One corpus will need no working and will be used as the building.
The other prism with necessary cross‐sections will be used as a roof. If the confectioner wants to work the
prism ABCDEFGH into a hip roof, she will have to make cross‐sections through planes: α = ↔ ABS EG, where S is
the center of line segment EG; β (B, C א β); γ (C, D א γ); δ (A, D א δ). All planes of the section have the same
deflection from the base plane of the prism (ABCD). One corpus weighs 5.4 kg and 350 g of the cake cost
149 CZK. How many grams will the cake weigh before it is decorated? How much will it cost (round it to Czech
crowns)?
The assignment includes the term hip roof, which is not familiar to students. Unless they have access to
information they will probably give up any attempt to solve the problem as they do not know what the cake
looks like. However, if they use electronic resources and materials, this will not happen. The teaching material
may offer access to several websites where students can try to find the needed information (it can be found on
many websites including e.g. Wikipedia). The students in the reported study not only did not feel discouraged
to solve the problem, they actually found it very interesting and when looking up the unknown information
they learned a lot about properties of roofs. They also saw pictures from many different parts of the world.
The use of multimedia approach in this case also supported creativity and independence.
4. Concluding remarks
The use of information technology has quickly become integral part of our lives and in consequence also of
education. One can hardly imagine life without the use of modern communication technologies. Work with
multimedia teaching materials is highly motivating for pupils. It represents a shift from a mere transmission of
ready‐made facts to pupils’ own activity and involvement. This applies to all subjects, not just mathematics
(more about chemistry e.g. in Zákostelná, Šulcová, 2010).
The few selected examples above illustrate that an appropriate use of well‐developed multimedia teaching
materials results in pupils’ better understanding of the subject matter, in their independence and creativity,
i.e. in development of pupils’ culture of problem solving. It must be stressed here again that this is not merely
a matter of the use of suitable materials but also their appropriate and meaningful use in lessons.
The results presented in this article are important not only for teachers and their pupils, for development of
their culture of problem solving, but also for pre‐ and in‐service teacher training. If teachers do not come
across these issues during their pre‐ or in‐service training, they are very likely to be unaware of the potential
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multimedia teaching materials have. They will also fail to realize that they can actively participate in the
process of production of these types of materials. And this has the advantage of making the material tailor‐
made for the needs of their specific group of pupils.
Acknowledgements
The research was supported by the project GAČR P407/12/1939.
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377
Virtual Project Management: Evaluation of an e‐Learning
Environment
Rosane Pagano and Garry Blair
Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, Manchester, UK
r.pagano@mmu.ac.uk
g.blair@mmu.ac.uk
Abstract: Project Management is a multi‐disciplinary subject area that covers a large knowledge base. More important, a
deeper understanding of this area is, to a great extent, dependent on practice‐based methods of learning, beyond the
necessary assimilation of theory. This can pose some challenges to the delivery of higher education programmes in this
area. Simulation could be the way forward as a means of replicating a ‘live’ project environment without the associated
risks and resource issues. This paper reports on the value of learning by experimentation in project management education
through the use of computer simulation in order to virtually re‐create the dynamics of a project environment. The learners
in this study were post‐graduate students at a UK university. The simulation software used to create the virtual
environment reproduces ‘real’ project complexity in a user‐friendly mode, and it is normally used for the development of
professional managers. The objectives of the study were to assess, for the subject student group, the following: (1) if the
learner’s perceived ability to apply project management knowledge was greater after the simulation experience; (2) if the
increase in the learner’s perceived ability to apply project management knowledge was greater for participants with little
prior project work experience, after the simulation experience; (3) if the learner’s team performance (team’s simulation
score) was smaller for learners experiencing difficulties with team interaction, than for those in a productive team
interaction in a virtual environment. The study was carried out in two all‐day simulation sessions. One addressed objectives
1 and 2 of the study. Here learners were put in teams of four or five to play the role of project manager and decision maker
during the simulation, and they worked together face to face. The other session addressed objective 3, however here
participants were geographically dispersed. An inter‐institutional education program cooperation took place in order to
form global teams. Learners from three universities located in three different countries composed each global team (two
or three from each location formed a global team of six or seven participants). The focus of objective 3 was on investigating
the potential challenges to performance of virtual team interaction, where cloud‐based resources and digital
communications were used. A more sophisticated version of the simulation software was employed in order to generate
this distributed e‐learning environment. The findings suggest that: overall the learners’ perceived ability to apply project
management knowledge was greater after the simulation experience; after the simulation experience, the increase in the
learners’ perceived ability to apply project management knowledge was greater for participants with little prior project
work experience; the learners’ team performance was not significantly less for learners experiencing difficulties with team
interaction in the virtual environment.
Keywords: virtual learning community, distributed simulation, distributed e‐learning environment
1. Introduction
Project Management is a multi‐disciplinary subject area that covers a large knowledge base. More important, a
deeper understanding of this area is, to a great extent, dependent on practice‐based methods of learning,
beyond the necessary assimilation of theory. This can pose some challenges to the delivery of higher education
programmes in this area. Simulation has been perceived as the way forward as a means of replicating a ‘live’
project environment without the associated risks and resource issues (Martin 1999). The value of modelling
and simulation in education has long been recognised, historically and predominantly in ‘hard sciences’ with
extensive use of quantitative models. Project management simulation however, in order to be effective, needs
to challenge learners not only in the application of analytical techniques but also the application of ‘soft
science’. The e‐learning environment evaluated here uses quantitative and qualitative models of sufficient
complexity to realistically emulate project management practice. It provides a fertile learning ground, without
over complicating and obscuring to the students the key skills to be applied. At each decision making point
during the simulation process students receive feedback on how ‘good’ their decision was.
The project management simulation software in use here also goes beyond the typical traditional educational
simulation systems in as much as it supports geographically dispersed participants. It emphasises the value of
team work to learning, and, more important, it gives the opportunity to expose students to the current
challenges of managing international teams which are globally dispersed (Koster 2010). The distributed
simulation requires participants to rely intensively on real‐time digital communications. As synchronous media
technology is becoming more and more ubiquitous in project management professional practice, the
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distributed simulation is an opportunity for students to experience virtual work interaction. It also brings
multi‐cultural issues to the fore.
Modelling and simulation are fundamental built‐in intellectual mechanisms in all human beings, as proposed
by Jacques Monod, medicine Nobel Prize winner (Monod 1970), in his investigation of human intelligence.
Even if they are most of the time subconscious, they are nonetheless the basis of understanding. It is generally
agreed that education cannot rely entirely on the process of accumulation of factual knowledge. Enacting
models of the ‘action’ is an important part of the learning process. Computer simulation can harness those
cognitive abilities in a relatively short period of time, and without the associated risks and resource issues. This
paper reports on the value of learning by experimentation in project management education through the use
of a distributed computer simulation in order to virtually re‐create the dynamics of a project environment. In
addition, in the light of a growing cohort of part‐time students, some indication was sought of the added value
of the simulation exercise for this group of students with prior project work experience.
2. Research setting
The participants in this study are post‐graduate students at a Manchester Metropolitan University Business
School (MMUBS) taking a semester module on project management. The simulation software used to create
the virtual environment reproduces ‘real’ project complexity in a user‐friendly mode, and it is normally used in
commercial settings for the development of professional managers. The software is web based. At MMUBS,
the simulation process takes place over one day (9 am until 5 pm), consisting of five main stages. The first
stage is dedicated to planning activities, such as allocating tasks to people and scheduling quality review
meetings. This is done by inputting information into the simulation software. The second stage is the
uninterrupted run of the project over four weeks of simulated time, during which the system will generate
‘project events’ that need to be acted upon. The third stage is the discussion of lessons learned up to that
point, and, based on this reflection, doing minor adjustments to the project plan. The fourth stage is the
uninterrupted run of the project over the remaining seven weeks of simulated time (completing eleven weeks
in total for the whole project). The final stage is to reflect on the whole process, assisted by the decision
making audit trail report generated by the system. Students work in teams, making collective decisions, in the
role of project manager. Each team, running its own simulation, can monitor its performance scores with
regards to optimising costs, time, quality and motivation throughout the process.
The objectives of the study were to assess the following: (1) if the learner’s perceived ability to apply project
management knowledge was greater after the simulation experience; (2) if the increase in the learner’s
perceived ability to apply project management knowledge was greater for participants with little prior project
work experience, after the simulation experience; (3) if the learner’s team performance (team’s simulation
score) was reduced for learners in a global virtual team, in relation to those in a co‐located team environment.
Two all‐day simulation sessions were carried out as part of the project management programme. In the first
session objectives 1 and 2 of the study were investigated. In the second session objective 3 was the focus of
the investigation. Students would have had the equivalent of six weeks input on the various areas of
knowledge required by the simulation exercise, prior to the first simulation day.
In the first simulation day, participants were put in teams of four or five to play the role of project manager
and decision maker, and they worked together face to face. To address objectives 1 and 2, the instrument for
data collection was a pre‐test and post‐test of the participants’ level of confidence in their ability to apply their
knowledge in fifteen areas of project management (Table 1). The areas of knowledge were informed by those
identified by the Association for Project Management (APM 2013). Performance indicators are naturally often
based on the publicised ‘Body of Knowledge’ of professional associations, as seen in (Artto et al 2001) and
(McCreery 2003). There were 45 participants in this simulation, of which 38 completed the feedback sheet –
17 were full time students and 21 were part time students with project management experience.
In the second simulation day, participants were geographically dispersed. An inter‐institutional education
cooperation took place in order to form global teams, and run a distributed simulation. Learners from three
universities located in three different countries composed each global team. The universities taking part were
MMUBS, England, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland, and Scholokhov Moscow State University,
Russia. Two or three learners from each location formed a global team of six or seven participants in total. A
more sophisticated version of the web‐based simulation software was employed in order to support this
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Rosane Pagano and Garry Blair
distributed e‐learning environment. Each member of a particular global team sees, in their own location, the
same simulation events. However, to arrive at a collective decision and progress the project, team members
have to interact with others in real‐time using technology mediated communication lines (cloud‐based
resources and a variety of devices). Typically, students had Skype running on a tablet plus headphones,
alongside another device running the simulation.
Table 1: PRE‐test and POST‐test of the participants’ level of confidence in their ability to apply their knowledge
in fifteen areas of project management (full‐time and part‐time students)
PRE‐ POST‐
Please circle: Full‐Time or Part‐Time Please circle: Full‐Time or Part‐Time
“Assess how confident you are in your ability to “Assess how confident you are in your ability to
effectively apply your knowledge in each of the effectively apply your knowledge in each of the following
following areas” areas”
1 – very low level of confidence 1 – very low level of confidence
7 – very high level of confidence 7 – very high level of confidence
RATING RATING
1 Project planning in general 1 Project planning in general
2 Managing project risks 2 Managing project risks
3 Estimating project scope 3 Estimating project scope
4 Sequencing of project activities 4 Sequencing of project activities
5 Estimating project activity times 5 Estimating project activity times
6 Managing stakeholders 6 Managing stakeholders
7 Allocating project resources 7 Allocating project resources
8 Managing project change 8 Managing project change
9 Designing project performance measures 9 Designing project performance measures
10 Performing as an effective project leader 10 Performing as an effective project leader
11 Building team consensus 11 Building team consensus
12 Negotiating for resources 12 Negotiating for resources
13 Using project reports 13 Using project reports
14 Evaluating the performance of project 14 Evaluating the performance of project
personnel personnel
15 Managing the motivation of project 15 Managing the motivation of project
personnel personnel
Also, throughout the day event and for the duration of the simulation, a video conference link between the
three universities remained open. The activities taking place in all three locations were projected on a large
screen at each location. There were three key points in the day when students from Manchester, Bern and
Moscow were brought together through video conferencing: the opening of the event; discussion of lessons
learned at the end of four weeks simulated time; discussion of lessons learned at the end of the simulated
project; close of the event with the distribution of prizes to the members of the best performing team. This
project management distributed e‐learning environment is a pioneering initiative by the three universities.
To address objective 3, the instrument for data collection was to ask participants to rate their team work
experience on a Likert scale, as indicated in Table 2. Open comments were also invited in order to identify
perceived problems and perceived benefits in the virtual team work process. There were 17 learners at
MMUBS location taking part in this second simulation day – the distributed simulation – out of which 13
completed the feedback sheet, as shown in Table 2. Each group at MMUBS represented the Manchester
‘branch’ of the project, part of a global team distributed over Bern, Moscow and Manchester.
Given the small sample, the analysis was limited to descriptive statistics. However, the findings have been
encouraging to continue with the use of computer simulation in the project management curriculum delivery.
This evaluation can also be the beginning of a longitudinal study.
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Table 2: Rating of team work experience in a virtual environment
“Assess your team experience throughout the global project team simulation.”
RATING: FROM 1 – strongly disagree, TO 7 – strongly agree
RATING
1 The workload was fairly balanced across all team members.
2 Team members cooperated well throughout the exercise.
3 Our team worked through the exercise in an efficient manner to build team consensus.
4 Team members all participated equally in the team decision making process.
5 Our team maintained a pleasant working atmosphere.
6 Our team worked out disagreements in an equitable manner.
7 Team members were highly motivated to perform well in the exercise.
8 Team members shared problems as and when they have arisen.
9 Overall I am satisfied with my team experience.
10 I would be willing to work with my team on an actual project in the future.
What were the main problems and main benefits of working in a virtual team on this exercise?
Please write below any other comments you might have with regards to your team interaction in a global virtual
environment.
3. Findings
Firstly, with regards to objective 1, there is some evidence that, overall, the learners’ perceived ability to apply
project management knowledge was greater after the simulation experience. Table 3 shows descriptive
statistics for each statement representing an area of knowledge, before the simulation and after the
simulation. Thus column 1 in Table 3 (1‐B), for example, shows aggregated measures of all the ratings for
statement 1 before the simulation. The measures are Average rating, Standard Deviation, Minimum rating and
Maximum rating. Table 3 shows that the average rating increased after the simulation, for all areas. The
minimum rating is higher after the simulation, for all areas. The maximum rating reached the top of the Likert
scale (7) after the simulation, for all areas.
Table 3: Average rating, standard deviation, minimum rating and maximum rating, before and after the
simulation exercise, for each area of knowledge
1‐B 1‐A 2‐B 2‐A 3‐B 3‐A 4‐B 4‐A 5‐B 5‐A 6‐B 6‐A 7‐B 7‐A
Avg. 4.32 5.11 3.92 4.74 3.74 4.71 3.97 4.89 3.74 4.79 4.03 4.92 4.21 5.16
Stdv. 2.83 1.41 2.83 0 2.12 0.71 1.41 0.71 2.12 2.12 1.41 1.41 2.12 0
Min. 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 2 1 2
Max. 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 7 7 7 7 7
8‐B 8‐A 9‐B 9‐A 10‐ 10‐ 11‐ 11‐ 12‐ 12‐ 13‐ 13‐ 14‐ 14‐ 15‐ 15‐
B A B A B A B A B A B A
4.08 5.03 3.45 4.53 4.18 5.11 4.53 5.32 4.11 5.24 4 4.89 4.08 4.63 4.29 5.63
2.83 0.71 1.41 2.12 2.12 0.71 2.83 0.71 1.41 0 2.12 1.41 0 0.71 0.71 2.12
1 2 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
7 7 7 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 7 7 6 7
It is worth noting that the average percentage increase for the average ratings of all areas was 23%. The
knowledge area for which the students overall displayed the highest increase in confidence was ‘15‐Managing
the motivation of project personnel’, with 31% increase. The knowledge area for which the students overall
displayed the least increase in confidence was ‘14‐Evaluating the performance of project personnel’, with 14%
increase. Also, the dispersion of scores (standard deviation) decreased after the simulation, suggesting a more
convergent student perception of where they are at (level of confidence) after the exercise. The exception to
this is the areas 14 and 15, for which the least and the highest increase in average rating were achieved,
respectively. The patterns shown in Table 3 and discussed here provide some indication of the effectiveness of
the exercise, broken down per area of knowledge, which informs course planning and delivery.
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On close inspection, 21 out of 38 respondents dropped their rating for at least one area of knowledge, after
the simulation exercise. An informal conversation with some of the students revealed that they felt they had
overestimated their initial rating. The simulation experience increased students’ awareness of the range of
issues involved in applying that particular knowledge, and as a consequence, the students seemed to have ‘re‐
positioned’ their level of confidence after the exercise. Despite this, all areas still showed an average increase
in rating. It does mean though that the student perception of the significance of the post‐rating needs further
clarification in future data gatherings. Table 4 shows number of students against number of areas where the
rating dropped.
Table 4: Number of students against number of knowledge areas where their rating dropped
No of drops 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
No of students 17 6 4 5 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Table 5: Number of students who dropped their rating in each area of knowledge
Area 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
No of students 9 6 4 3 5 2 2 3 2 3 4 2 2 8 4
A complementary view of this data set is shown on Table 5, that is, the number of students who dropped their
score in a particular area of knowledge. As indicated on Table 5, areas 1 and 14 display the highest number of
student ‘re‐positioning’ of level of ability to apply that knowledge, with implications to course planning and
delivery of areas of the curriculum.
To address objective 2, two separate similar analysis were conducted for full‐time students (FT) and for part‐
time (PT) students, and then compared. Table 6 shows the percentage increase of the average rating for each
area of knowledge, broken down into two groups (FT and PT).
Table 6: Percentage increase of the average rating for each area of knowledge after the simulation
Area 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Avg
FT(%) 29 22 30 27 23 32 19 27 42 24 12 26 34 23 37 27
PT(%) 11 20 23 20 32 16 25 20 24 21 21 29 14 8 27 21
It also shows that the average percentage increase for the FT group (27%) is higher than the average
percentage increase for the PT group (21%), suggesting that, after the simulation experience, the increase in
the learners’ perceived ability to apply project management knowledge was greater for participants with little
prior project work experience (FT group). The area of knowledge with the lowest increase in the average
rating was ‘14‐Evaluating the performance of project personnel’ (8%) for PT students, and ‘11‐Building team
consensus’ (12%) for FT students. The area of knowledge with the highest increase in the average rating was
‘5‐Estimating project scope‘ (32%) for PT students, and ‘9‐Designing project performance measures‘ (42%) for
FT students.
Objective 3 was addressed on the second simulation day, which was the distributed simulation across three
international locations. A small number of 13 students took part in this exercise, as it was not a compulsory
part of the programme. However the number of teams running the simulation were still the same as in the
first simulation day (ten), and global teams were typically six in size.
Table 7 suggests that all students have had a predominantly positive team work experience (the higher the
value on the Likert scale, the more positive the experience). The simulation scores were very close together,
showing no major discrepancies in performance between teams. Also, scores were typical of those normally
achieved during past non‐distributed simulations, suggesting that team performance was not significantly
reduced for learners experiencing virtual team interaction, in relation to those in a co‐located team
environment.
Table 7: Frequency distribution of levels of agreement for each aspect of team work (1 to 10)
Level of Agreement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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Rosane Pagano and Garry Blair
Level of Agreement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0
5 3 2 1 1 2 2 0 4 0 3
6 5 4 8 7 3 3 8 4 3 3
7 4 7 4 3 8 6 5 5 9 7
total 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13
The comments (free text) made by participants with regards to the virtual project management work
experience were clustered into themes. For the comments on perceived issues, the following categories were
identified: no issues (23%); communication (46%); decision making (23%); proximal development (8%). In the
no‐issues category, participants explicitly indicated that there were no problems at all. The communication
category refers mostly to the connection to the remote server running the simulation (38%), but a small
proportion (8%) referred to issues related to cloud‐based resources and digital medium used to communicate
with other members of the team located at another country. The decision‐making category includes all
expressions of feeling challenged by the pace at which decisions were required to be made during the running
of the project. This is an expected outcome. The simulation software runs at an ‘average’ speed, that is, slow
enough to allow thinking and learning from each situation, but fast enough to create a realistic pressure time‐
wise commonly found in project management. It highlights the importance of building a timely team
consensus. Finally, the category named proximal development evokes Vygotsky concept of ‘zone of proximal
development’ (Vygotsky 1978) – learning as a transformative act and crucial to Vygotsky’s theory is the
sociality of the transformation. This category comprises a participant view that the virtual environment is
nearly as good as face‐to‐face interaction, but not yet quite as good in providing that sociality. Historically,
though, technology is evolving towards a more and more satisfying virtual reality.
As to the comments on perceived benefits, they gravitated around the following themes: overall experience
(‘great’, ‘good’, ‘learned a lot’); new ways of working (internationalisation, virtualisation); praise for the
technology (‘very good’); knowledge sharing; and harnessing decision making. Some 23% of participants did
not explicitly indicate any particular benefit (no response). Those are participants who experienced some
problems with the server connection. However, despite the references in the comments to problems with
connection to the server, all teams actually finished within the planned time frame, performed reasonably
well, and perceived benefits gained from the experience. This suggests that the connection problems were not
drastic enough to outweigh the benefits and compromise the overall experience. It is worth noting that the
majority of students (62%) did not indicate any problems with the server connection. The verbal feedback on
the day was very positive. The three partner universities held three trial sessions (one to two hours) prior to
the event, testing the technology – video conferencing system, cameras, computer systems running the
simulation, internet connections on location. Checking the technology is vital although communication traffic
on the day is hard to predict. Also important was to brief the students thoroughly on what to expect, due to
the novelty of the set up for them. The difference in time zones required careful planning with regards to the
time window to hold the event, and to the availability of support staff. The server connection issues have been
reported to the simulation software supplier so to improve the learning experience for future cohorts.
4. In conclusion
In the light of the increasing internationalisation and the increasing virtualisation of project management
practice, the simulation setting discussed here proved to be an excellent resource in preparing students for the
current work environment and potentially enhancing their employability. This distributed e‐learning
environment facilitated and enhanced collaborative learning, by extending the participants’ network of
professional relationships beyond the ones developed in their home University.
Relationships in collaborative learning can be represented by strong and weak ties (Rogers, 1995) (Granovetter
1973). Established strong ties, forged by frequent interactions, means that individuals share common meaning
and therefore benefit from an effective conduit for communication and knowledge sharing. There is a risk
though that strong ties may inhibit the infusion of different perspectives. The concept of weak ties – socially
remote connections – counteracts this potential downside. Granovetter argues that weak ties are the routes
through which new knowledge that are initially socially remote (in this case in the professional practice
context) may reach an individual. The strength of strong‐ties networks is to convey interpersonal influence,
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and the strength of weak‐ties networks is to convey new perspectives. In the context of students as
prospective project managers doing this simulation exercise, strong ties are catalysts for sharing resources
within MMUBS, while weak ties with prospective project managers and tutors outside MMUBS are catalysts
for sharing resources from external sources. A combination of both types of networks is desirable in the
learning environment.
An example of an electronic embodiment of a professional network with ties of various degrees of strength is
LinkedIn. This however is relatively passive. Distributed technology, such as the distributed project
management simulation, where participants are brought together by a common goal to be achieved within a
time frame, can heighten the benefits of collaborative learning. Current technology has a far reach, with
potential for underpinning wider educational networks. There is opportunity for embedding more
international and globalised learning experiences and activities in the curriculum. A fertile ground for this to
happen could be, for example, to tap into existing networks of academic institutions in partnerships such as
Erasmus Exchange, World Wide Exchange, Study Abroad schemes. Distributed e‐learning environments as in
this case, where a core range of teaching and learning activities are real time and synchronous, are also a great
stimulus for academics to share good practice in a larger scenario, and to reflect on the challenges of
internationalising the curriculum. It sharpens the focus for knowledge sharing, providing a good ground for
offering international perspectives on common problems, developing new educational delivery mechanisms,
and managing resources to the effect of the most efficient outputs achievable on an international context.
References
Association for Project Management (2012) APM Body of Knowledge, 6th edition, APM.
Artto, K., Lehtonen, J. and Saranen, J. (2001) Managing projects front‐end: incorporating a strategic early view to project
management with simulation, International Journal of Project Management, vol 19, pp 255–264.
Granovetter, M. (1973) The strength of weak ties, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 78(6), pp. 1360‐1380.
Koster, K. (2010) International Project Management, Sage, London.
Martin, A. (2000) A simulation engine for custom project management education, International Journal of Project
Management, vol 18, pp 201–213.
McCreery, J. (2003) Assessing the value of a project management simulation training exercise, International Journal of
Project Management, vol 21, pp 233–242.
Monod, J. (1970) Le hasard et la necessite, Seuil, Paris.
Rogers, E. (1995) Diffusion of Innovations, The Free Press, New York
Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in Society, Harvard University Press.
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Web Based Pronunciation Training in Denmark and the Contribution
of Learning Theories to Online and Web‐Based Adult Second
Language Teaching and Learning
Karen Petersen
Aarhus University, Denmark
kp@dpu.dk
Abstract: For decades foreign and second language teachers have taken advantage of the technology development and
ensuing possibilities to use e‐learning facilities for language training. Since the 1980s, the use of Computer Assisted
Language Learning (CALL), Internet, web 2.0 and various kinds of e‐learning technology has been developed and
researched comprehensively in extension of predominantly communicative language teaching approaches focusing on
training language skills. While international, in the 00’s the use of web 2.0 technologies in particular have been introduced
for developing reading and writing skills in Denmark, special attention has been towards the development of web‐based
materials for Danish pronunciation. This paper sets out to introduce differences between the international and Danish use
of web‐based language learning and teaching, and to address dilemmas and challenges for the use of CALL, IT and web 2.0
in L2 teaching and learning.
Keywords: e‐learning, education theory, language acquisition theory, behaviouristic, cognitive and constructive
approaches in e‐learning, online education theory, second language learning
1. Introduction
Since the introduction of computers in the early 1960s, a particular focus in language teaching and language
teacher education has been on the fact that computers can assist language acquisition and learning. Over the
years many computer‐supported training programs for foreign and second language teaching have been
developed. After the introduction of the Internet in the early 1980s and 1990s IT‐based language teaching, in
addition e‐learning platforms, online language learning and, web 2.0 technologies developed quickly.
The fast development within information technology and the possibilities to inherently use online teaching and
learning facilities including social media represent new challenges and demands facing researchers of language
learning, teacher education and teachers (Chapelle 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009; Thomas 2009; Wang and Vásquez
2012; Warschauer 1996).
Language education of Danish for adult Speakers of Other Languages (DSOL) and, teacher education is no
exception. As outlined by a Danish researcher Meyer, ‘second and foreign language teaching and learning’ is
an area ‘strongly influenced by the processes of change within information technology’ (Meyer 2005:155).
the mid 1990s the first computer assisted training programmes and multi‐media CD‐ROMs were used in DSOL
language teaching and, in the 2000s, the Internet has played an increasingly important role in second language
teaching in Denmark. Most DSOL language providers in 2013 offer online based second language learning
programmes to foreigners living in and outside Denmark (Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration
2004, 2004a; Petersen 2006, 2007, 2014; Rambøll 2009).
Studies of some of the first online second language classrooms in Denmark from 2006 and 2007 indicate that
on the one hand DSOL teachers in the transition phases from traditional classroom to online second language
teaching were very much concerned about establishing ‘virtual’ social communities in online language
teaching. At the same time learners, on the other hand perceived online language teaching as merely
individual (Petersen 2006, 2007).
Studies of computer or Internet assisted learning furthermore show that students gain significant learning
benefits, but that the reason for this is not the medium, but the instructional strategies built into the learning
materials. This is outlined by Ally:
’meta‐analysis studies on media research have shown that students gain significant learning
benefits when learning from audio‐visual or computer media, as opposed to conventional
instruction; however the same studies suggest that the reason for those benefits is not the
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Karen Petersen
medium of instruction, but the instructional strategies built into the learning materials’ (Ally
2004:3).
Teacher educators and language teachers introducing online second language teaching are thus facing
challenges with respect to design, tasks and content.
This paper sets out to introduce differences between the international and Danish use of web‐based language
learning and teaching, and to address dilemmas and challenges for the use of CALL, IT and web 2.0 in L2
teaching and learning.
2. Concepts and definitions
In continuation of the terminology in international second language acquisition (SLA) research, I use the
concept of first language (L1) to denote the language a person learns as his/her first language, usually referred
to as mother tongue. In contrast, I use the term second language (L2) to describe the second, third and other
languages a person acquires after having learned his/her first language. Language students are usually referred
to as learners. The language use of L2 by learners who are about to learn and develop their second language is
often referred to as an inter‐language. The inter‐language is – in continuation of SLA research ‐ characterised
by being limited, but systematic and dynamic. Despite the fact that teaching and acquiring a second language
has certain features in common with foreign language, I differentiate between second and foreign language
teaching. Foreign language learning will usually take place in classroom environments where learners and
teacher have the same first language (L1); this language is usually also spoken in the community/country in
which learners and teacher live. In contrast, second language learning takes place in classroom environments
where learners and teacher often speak different languages. While learners often speak many different
languages as their mother tongue (L1) and, furthermore are about to learn the language spoken in the
community/country, in which they live – defined as their second language (L2 )‐, the teacher’s first language
(L1) often is the target language to be learned in the second language classroom, that is the learners’ second
language (L2), and the language spoken in the community/country (e.g. Ellis 1994; Mitchell & Myles 2002; Gass
& Selinker 2008; Selinker 1972). In DSOL adult language teaching for example, most teachers speak Danish as
their first language, while the adult learners in the class rooms speak various other languages. In 1996 it was
noted by a Danish linguist that about 100 languages were spoken in Denmark (Stensig 1996). In second
language classrooms – both online and face‐to‐face classrooms – learners and teachers may not have any
common language. Not all foreigners in Denmark have learned English; accordingly, English cannot always be
used as a so‐called lingua franca, e.g. a common foreign language in the second language classroom (Gass &
Selinker 2008).
As mentioned in the introduction computers and Internet have been used in both foreign and second teaching
for several decades. Computer assisted instruction was first used in the 1960’s. Computer Assisted Language
Learning – in abbreviated form known as CALL – has been disseminated to a wider audience in the 1990s (Levy
1997; Warschauer 1996). In accordance with Levy, I define CALL as ‘the search for and study of applications of
the computer in language teaching and learning’ (Levy 1997:1). With the introduction of the Internet, the
concept of blended learning rose. In reference to Elliot (2009), I understand blended learning as ’a form of
learning which balances face‐to‐face contact between trainer and trainee with Internet‐based input delivery
and interaction’ (Elliot 2009:439). Many DSOL language schools in Denmark provide either blended or merely
online language learning. In reference to Ally (2004) I understand online learning as ’the use of the Internet to
access learning materials; to interact with the content, instructor, and other learners; and to obtain support
during the learning process, in order to acquire knowledge, to construct personal meaning, and to grow from
the learning experience’ (Ally 2004: 4). In many online second language platforms a range of web 2.0
technologies are being used. In accordance with Thomas (2009), Wang & Vásquez (2012), Warschauer (2009) I
use the concepts of Web 2.0 and Web 2.0 technologies as referring to ’a perceived second generation of web
development and design that facilitates communication, secure information sharing, interoperability and
collaboration on the Internet’ (Wang & Vásquez 2012:413). Well known web 2.0 technologies are weblogs,
video‐ and audioblogs, wikis, second‐life facilities as well as social media like Facebook, Twitter and,
collaboration facilities like Google docs and others (see Birch‐Andreasen 2005:90).
The possibilities to use various computer, and Internet based facilities in second language teaching are thus
comprehensive and to some degree may even be confusing. The question arising out of this, is how teachers
meeting the new so‐called ‘digital natives’’ generations, who grew up with computers, Internet, mobiles and
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other electronic devices, can choose and design good and useful online or blended second language learning
facilities (Pegrum 2009).
3. Behaviorist, cognitivist, constructivist and socio‐cultural education and second
language acquisition theories in computer assisted and online teaching
The historical development of education theories and the development of theories about second language
acquisition evidence similarities. Ally (2004) introduces three approaches in education and learning theories:
behaviorist, cognitivist and constructivist. In comparison, Chapelle (2009), Gass & Selinker (2008), Wang &
Vásquez (2013), Warschauer (1996, 2009) and other SLA researchers outline, how behaviorist, cognitivist and
sociocultural (constructivist) approaches have influenced theories and research with respect to second
language acquisition and development. Education researchers, second language researchers, and educators
agree upon the fact that various theoretical points of view influence approach, design, tasks, and content of
particular online education programmes (ibid).
The behaviorist approach or ‘school’ in education and second language acquisition emphasizes the
importance of behavior, while understanding the ‘mind as a ‘black box’ in the ‘sense that a response to a
stimulus can be observed quantitatively’ (Ally 2004:8). Behaviorist approaches, according to Ally often ignore
‘the effect of thought processes occurring in the mind’ (ibid). Important in a behaviorist approach is what can
be immediately ‘observed and measured as indicators of learning’ (ibid). In second language learning theories,
the influence of behaviorist approaches, in particular Skinner’s work from 1957 on ‘Verbal behavior’ has been
comprehensive (Gass & Selinker 2008). As pointed out by Warschauer (1996), the first computer programs to
assist language learning were developed in continuation of behaviorist language learning approaches as ‘drill
and practice tasks’. Warschauer (1996) hence, named the first period of computer assisted language learning
‘behaviorist CALL’. Essential in behaviorist CALL is the understanding that ‘repeated exposure to the same
material is beneficial or even essential to learning’ and that the ‘computer is ideal for carrying out repeated
drills, since the machine does not get bored with presenting the same material and since it can provide
immediate non‐judgmental feedback’ (Warschauer 1996:1).
In contrast, cognitivist approaches in both education theory and second language acquisition theories
emphasize the importance of thought processes in learning. Learning – including language learning – is seen as
a process involving memory, thinking, reflection, abstraction and meta cognition. Important in cognitive
language learning processes is that input is first transformed to intake and then may be transferred from the
short‐term memory to long‐term memory. Learner’s possibilities to make own hypothesizes about language,
and individual learner strategies are seen to be essential in cognitivist approaches (Ally 2004; Mitchell & Myles
2002). In contrast to behaviorist approaches, computer or Internet based cognitive approaches do ‘not judge
and evaluate everything the students do nor reward them with congratulatory messages, lights, or bells’
(Warschauer 1996). What is important is how learning content and tasks can be presented in various ways in
the online environment in order to subsequently be stored in the learner’s long‐term memory. As a
consequence different online strategies and many various types of tasks enhancing input processing should be
developed for online second language teaching based on cognitivist approaches.
In constructivist approaches and sociocultural approaches in second language learning theories, firstly the
possibility for learners to construct their own knowledge is seen as essential. Secondly, social contexts of
learning is regarded important and as a precondition for all kinds of learning. As outlined by Ally
‘constructivists see learners as being active rather than passive. Knowledge is not received from the outside or
from someone else; rather, it is the individual learner’s interpretation and processing of what is received
through the senses that creates knowledge (…). A major emphasis of constructivists is situated learning, which
sees learning as contextual’ (Ally 2004: 18). Similarly socio‐cultural second language acquisition theories
emphasize both language knowledge construction and the importance of social contexts as preconditions for
learning a language. As a consequence learners in online second language learning environments – as outlined
by researchers – should be ‘allowed to construct knowledge rather than being given knowledge through
instruction (ibid). Furthermore, learners should be given the possibilities to interact with both online teacher
and other online learners (Ally 2004; Chapelle 2009; Thomas 2009).
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4. Computer assisted and online teaching in international foreign and second language
teaching and learning since the 1980s: Focus on developing the four language skills, in
particular reading and writing
Since the 1960s, international computer‐assisted language learning ‐ CALL ‐ has been developed under the
influence of approaches in second and foreign language teaching, firstly based on behaviorist, and since the
1980s on communicative language teaching approaches. In the 1990s for example, the multimedia phase in
international CALL, mainly used communicative teaching approaches, based on primarily cognitive learning
theories, and the intentions of developing the four language skills (Warschauer, 1996; Wang & Vásquez 2012).
As mentioned in 2006 by the British researcher Newby, the communicative approaches in language teaching
are reflected
’in terms of the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening (…) Seeing language in these
terms (…) has been largely uncontroversial throughout the thirty‐year history of CLT
(communicative language teaching) and it is this category that feeds into what is generally
described as communicative methodology.’ (Newby 2006: 19).
In the beginning of the 2000s, when Web 2.0 technologies were increasingly used in foreign and second
language teaching, research reviews indicate that the new technologies primarily have been investigated and
used for developing language skills such as reading, listening and writing skills (Lui et al 2003; Stockwell 2007;
Wang & Vásquez 2012). As mentioned by Wang & Vásquez in 2012:
’the scope of inquiry on technology and language learning (…) was historically focusing on the
traditional four language skills’ and, in the period after 2005 ‘L2 writing represents the most
investigated area’ (p. 417 and 418).
Wang & Vásquez outlines that the ‘paradigm shift in SLA research’ since the 1990s, with second language
learning and acquisition research moving ‘from a cognitive orientation to a social orientation (…), from an
acquisition metaphor to a participation metaphor (…) seem to be in alignment with many of the attributes of
Web 2.0 technology (such as ease of participation, communication, information sharing, and collaboration)’
(Wang & Vásquez 2012:413). Since 2005 most of the SLA research ‘was framed along sociocultural and
sociocognitive dimensions such as sociocultural theory, activity theory, socio‐constructivism, community of
practice, social cognitive theory’ (p.420). With respect to the use of computer and online language teaching,
this development implicates an increased focus on the social dimensions in communicative language teaching
approaches, viewing online education and
‘the computer as a tool that mediates interactions between language learners and other humans.
(…) Interaction‐based learning is a cornerstone of many socially oriented approaches to L2
learning’ (Wang & Vásquez 2012:420).
5. CALL and online teaching in Danish second language teaching and learning: focus on
pronunciation
In comparison with the international trend, the Danish development in relation to an extensive use of
computers, Internet and Web 2.0 technologies in second language teaching has occurred primarily in the
education of adult language learners. Similarly to the international development, the use of computers and
Internet in DSOL in both the 1990s and 2000s has followed predominantly communicative cognitive language
teaching approaches, focusing on the four language skills (Petersen 2014).
While in international L2 teaching and research, the use of computers and Internet technologies for
developing reading and writing skills in L2 has been dominant, in DSOL education a particular attention on
developing computer and Internet based programmes for Danish pronunciation has been evidenced (Petersen
2014).
In a review report from 2009 on selected computer and Internet based training materials for DSOL education,
financially supported by the Danish Ministry of Education in the period from 2006 to 2009, one third of the
programmes were particularly developed for pronunciation training for adult learners (Rambøll 2009:6‐7).
Since the beginning of the 2000s, various training programmes for pronunciation have been developed both by
private enterprises, language schools and teachers. (Petersen 2014)
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Various reasons for the extensive use of computer and Internet technology for pronunciation training
programmes could be mentioned. Danish researchers and linguists highlight that pronunciation and an
extensive vowel system may create difficulties for adult learners of Danish (Kirk & Jørgensen 2006; Jørgensen
1999). Adult learning of pronunciation of a new language appears to occur differently than children's learning,
and pronunciation differs from other aspects of language learning, by not only requiring cognitive but also
physiological skills (Jørgensen 1999:107).
Another reason may be found in the governmental support. In 2006, on behalf of the Ministry of Refugee,
Immigration and Integration Affairs, responsible for adult DSOL education in Denmark, a report named
‘Towards an effective pronunciation teaching’ was published (Kirk & Jørgensen 2006). In the report it was
among others evidenced that DSOL language teachers’ give lower priority to the teaching of pronunciation, a
statement that was confirmed in a report from 2009 (Rambøll 2009). Here it is outlined that ‘pronunciation in
[DSOL] language teaching is often an Achilles heel for language teachers’, and many teachers ‘are uncertain
about how to teach pronunciation’ (Rambøll 2009:16). In 2008 a comprehensive training manual in Danish
pronunciation for DSOL teachers was published by the ministry responsible for DSOL education in Denmark
(Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs 2008). As a result, since 2006 governmental financial
support was given to the development of computer and Internet based pronunciation programmes for DSOL
(Rambøll 2009).
A further reason for focusing on the development of computer supported pronunciation programmes in the
2000s may however be found in what researchers have described as ‘a relative reluctance’ among native
speakers of Danish to tolerate different spoken Danish. In 1999, the Danish researcher Jørgensen emphasizes:
'The most urgent task with respect to Danish pronunciation [ is ] not the teaching of adult DSOL
learners, but the education of native speaking Danes. We must learn to understand Danish
pronounced with a much wider range of variation than the one we have so far been experiencing
with primarily regional varieties' (Jørgensen 1999: 114/translation into English by Karen Bjerg
Petersen).
Various reasons may therefore explain the particular emphasis and development of computer and Internet
based pronunciation training programmes for DSOL education in Denmark compared to the international focus
on reading and writing.
6. Dilemmas and challenges for the use of CALL, IT and web 2.0 in L2 teaching and
learning
In L2 teaching, in particular Richard & Rodgers’ (2001) reflections on language teaching as influenced by partly
linguistic theory and language learning theory (approach), by partly curriculum design and syllabus (design),
and partly by language teaching itself (procedure), has inspired the understanding of both face‐to‐face second
language teaching, and has also created impetus for reflections about computer and online‐based language
teaching internationally, and in Denmark (see eg Bo‐ Kristensen 2005; Hampel 2006; Holm 1999; Lund 1999).
Hampel suggests to rethink task design for the digital age in continuation of Richard & Rodgers’ discussions
about approach, design and procedure in terms of ‘factors that depend on the specific materiality of the
resources and on the affordances of the modes available also have to be factored in when designing and
implementing tasks for an online classroom’ (Hampel 2006:119).
Hampel (2006) and a number of other studies point to the fact that a combination of media, including various
kinds of Web 2.0 technologies may enhance the possibilities of working with language skills such as reading
and writing (Chapelle 200; Wang & Vásquez 2012). Clearly evidenced effects of computer and Internet assisted
language teaching on learners’ language development compared with face‐to‐face second and foreign
language teaching still need further research (Thomas 2009; Wang & Vásquez 2012).
In an American report from 2010 on the use of computers and internet in primary and secondary education, it
is emphasized that ’educators making decisions about online learning need rigorous research examining the
effectiveness of online learning for different types of students and subject matter as well as studies of the
relative effectiveness of different online learning practices (U.S. Department of Education 2010:54). Other
studies from the USA, furthermore indicate that blended learning seem to be an appropriate way for learners’
to develop their language and other skills (University of Colorado Boulder 2012).
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7. Emphasis on learning theories and multimodality in computer and Internet supported
L2 learning
Several second language researchers highlight the potential of incorporating a plurality of modalities and
affordances that the Internet offers for second language teaching (Chapelle 2009; Gruba & Hinkelman 2012;
Hampel 2006; Pegrum 2009; Thomas 2009; Wang & Vásquez 2012). Hampel for example outlines that ‘we
have to ensure that tasks are appropriate to the medium used and that we develop tasks that take into
account the affordances (i.e. the constraints and possibilities for making meaning) of the modes available’
(Hampel 2006:111). Also Gruba & Hinkelman emphasize that ’the integration of technologies is best achieved
if it is purposeful, appropriate, multimodal and sustainable’ (Gruba & Hinkelman 2012: xv).
8. L2 teachers' vital role in the integration of IT in teaching
Most researchers however emphasize the key role of teacher’s and teacher instructions for efficient computer
and Internet supported second language teaching and learning. Pegrum (2009) for example, stresses that
teachers should be trained in the use of Web 2.0 technologies, and teachers and developers must on the other
hand understand that online education and L2 based e‐learning is not automatically behaviorist, cognitivist or
constructivist or even pedagogically progressive. According to Pegrum, requirements for efficiency, speed,
flexibility and saving money as reasons for introducing computers and Internet in second language teaching
and learning may easily lead to 'poor' content systems. The development of a good design for online education
is time‐consuming, not only in the development process but also in the implementation of IT‐based L2
teaching:
‘While learning about the advantages of Web 2.0, teachers must equally come to understand
that e‐learning is not, in and of itself, automatically constructivist or pedagogically progressive,
and demands for speed, flexibility and cost saving can easily lead to impoverished content
delivery systems. As suggested earlier, some creativity is needed to work within the constraints of
rigid syllabi or assessments. As rewarding as IT may be, well designed online learning will
normally require a heavy investment of time and energy by both staff and students’ (Pegrum
2009:32).
Pegrum continues that ’there is also a danger that (…) technology users will lose the ability to focus clearly as
well as the will to occasionally power down their multifarious communication channels and make time for
reflection – a crucial part of education’ may be downsized (ibid :32).
9. In conclusion
In online second language education it is thus important to be aware of both education and second language
acquisition theories in order to enhance learning. As highlighted by Ally
‘Behaviorist, cognitivist and constructivist theories have contributed in different ways to the
design of online materials (…). Behaviorist strategies can be used to teach the facts (what);
cognitivist strategies to teach the principles and processes (how); and constructivist strategies to
teach the real‐life and personal applications and contextual learning’ (Ally 2004:24).
In second language teaching and learning, ways of meeting the challenges of ‘digital natives’ is not only to
educate technically skilled teachers, but rather to help teachers – and learners – understand that teaching a
second language in online or computer assisted environments demands a comprehensive theoretical
understanding of not only second language learning theories but also education theories. Teachers play a
crucial role in designing good online learning. Pegrum (2009) outlines ’as has been widely argued in the
literature about online learning, and in line with social constructivist pedagogical models, teachers must be
prepared to play a central organizing, guiding and mentoring role’ (ibid: 24). Researchers, teacher educators
and teachers themselves should be aware of this.
References
Ally, M. (2004): Foundations of Educational Theory for Online Learning, Chapter 1 in: Anderson, T. and F. Ellouimi (eds.)
(2004). Theory and Practice of Online learning. Canada, Athabasca University: cde.athabascau.ca/online_book.
Birch Andreasen, L. (2005): Brugeres stemmer i spil. Inddragelse og dialogformer i museers undervisningspraksis. In:
Andreasen, L., B. Meyer og P. Ratleff (red.): Digitale medier og didaktisk design. Brug, erfaringer og forskning.
København: Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitetsforlag.
Bo‐Kristensen, M. (2005): Vurdering af it‐materialer – til dansk som andetsprog for voksne, In: Sprogforum, nr. 35.
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Chapelle, C.A. (2001): Computer applications in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Chapelle, C.A. (2003): English language learning and technology: Lectures on teaching and research in the age of
information and communication. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Chapelle, C.A. (2007): Technology and Second Language Acquisition. In: Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, no. 27, 98‐
114.
Chapelle, C.A. (2009): The Relationship between Second Language Acqusition Theory and Computer‐Assisted Language
Learning. In: The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 93 741‐753.
Elliot, D. (2009): Internet Technologies and Language Teacher Education. In: Thomas, M. (ed): Handbook of Research on
Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning. Hershey, New York: Information Science Reference, 432‐450.
Ellis, R., (1994): The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gass, S.M. and L. Selinker (2008): Second Language Acquisition. An introductory course. Third Edition. New York and
London: Routledge.
Gruba, P. & D. Hinkelman (eds) (2012): Blending technologies in Second Language Classroom. Palgrave: Macmillin.
Hampel, R. (2006): Rethinking task design for the digital age: A framework for language teaching and learning in a
synchronous online environment. In: Recall, vol. 18 issue 01, 105‐121.
Holm, L. (1999): Kriterier for vurdering af undervisningsmaterialer til dansk som andetsprog for voksne. In: På sporet – en
antologi om undervisning i dansk som andetsprog. København: Undervisningsministeriet. Uddannelsesstyrelsens
temahæfteserie nr. 30.
Jørgensen, J.N. (1999): Om tilegnelse af dansk udtale hos voksne indlærere. In: Holmen, A. og K. Lund (red.): Studier i dansk
som andetsprog. København: Akademisk Forlag.
Kirk, K. og L.M. Jørgensen (2006): På vej mod en effektiv udtaleundervisning. København: Ministeriet for Flygtninge,
Indvandrere og Integration.
Levy, M., (1997): Computer assisted language learning, context and conceptualisation, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Lui, M. et al. (2003): A look at the research on computer‐based technology use in second language learning: A review of the
literature from 1990‐2000. In: Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34 (3), 250‐273.
Lund, K. (1999): Approach, design, procedure – en refleksionsmodel. In: På sporet – en antologi om undervisning i dansk
som andetsprog. Uddannelsesstyrelsens temahæfteserie nr. 30. København: Undervisningsministeriet.
Meyer, B. (2005): Sprog med it – it med sprog. In: Buhl, M., B. Holm Sørensen og B. Meyer (red.): Medier og it –
læringspotentialer. København: Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitets Forlag.
Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration/ Ministeriet for Flygtninge, Indvandrere og Integration (2004): It i
andetsprogsundervisningen – processer og perspektiver (red.: Nielsen, G.Ø., M.S. Pedersen & C.A. Linderoth).
København: Ministeriet for Flygtninge, Indvandrere og Integration.
Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration/ Ministeriet for Flygtninge, Indvandrere og Integration (2004a): It‐
baserede undervisningsmaterialer til danskuddannelse for voksne udlændinge m.fl. København: Ministeriet for
Flygtninge, Indvandrere og Integration.
Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration/ Ministeriet for Flygtninge, Indvandrere og Integration (2008): Dansk
udtale – en undervisningsvejledning (red. G. Ø. Nielsen m.fl.). København: Ministeriet for Flygtninge, Indvandrere og
Integration.
Mitchell, R. and F. Myles (2002): Second Language Learning Theories. London: Arnold.
Newby, D. (2006): Communicative Language teaching – In: Fenner, A. and D. Newby: Coherence of principles. Cohesion of
competence. Exploring theories and designing materials for teacher education. Strasbourg: Counsil of Europe.
Pegrum, M. (2009): Communicative Networking and Linguistic Mashups on Web 2.0. In: Thomas, M. (ed): Handbook of
Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning. Hershey, New York: Information Science Reference, 20‐42.
Petersen, K.B. (2006): ‘Collaborative and situated learning on the web – how can teacher education theoretically and
practically respond to changing demands and roles of teachers /actors in multicultural, global and local contexts? A
Research based on case studies of online second language learning in ‘communities of practice’, Proceedings, ISTE,
26.th Annual Seminar, April 2006, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Petersen, K.B. (2007): ‘E‐learning in virtual communities of practice and beyond? Research findings based on interviews
with students and teachers in second language e‐learning settings in Denmark’, Proceedings, ICEL 2007, The
International Conference on e‐learning, New York.
Petersen, K.B. (2013): ‘Virtual communities of practice in second language learning – fiction or reality?’ GSTF Journal of
Education, Vol. 1, Nr. 2, 30.11.2013, s. 1‐6.
Petersen, K.B. (2014): IT in Second Language Learning and Teaching in Denmark ‐ Theory and Practice/IT og digitale medier
i andetsprogsundervisningen – teori og praksis. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitet.
Rambøll (2009): Evaluering af materialerne fra puljen ’Udvikling af it‐baserede undervisningsmaterialer til
danskuddannelserne for voksne udlændinge’. Aarhus: Rambøll.
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Press.
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sproglære. København: Dansklærerforeningen.
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Thomas, M. (2009) (ed): Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning. Hershey, New York:
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May 25th 2013): http:// http://www.colorado.edu/oit/academic‐technology/research/evaluation‐evidence‐based‐
practices‐online‐learning‐meta‐analysis‐and‐review
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Review of Online Learning Studies. Washington: US Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and
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Policy Development. Policy and Program Studies Service. URL (retrieved, June 6 2013)
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence‐based‐practices/finalreport.pdf
Wang, S. and C. Vásquez (2012): Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning: What Does the Research Tell Us ?, In: CALICO
Journal, 29 (3), 412‐430.
Warschauer M. (1996) "Computer Assisted Language Learning: an Introduction".
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Hershey, New York: Information Science Reference.
392
Rubrics for Quality Assessment of e‐Learning Course
Toomas Plank1, Anne Villems1, Lehti Pilt1, Merle Varendi2, Eneli Sutt3, Egle Kampus3 and
Kai Peiel3
1
University of Tartu, Estonia
2
IT College, Estonia
3
Information Technology Foundation for Education
toomas.plank@ut.ee
anne.villems@ut.ee
lehti.pilt@ut.ee
merle.varendi@itcollege.ee
eneli.sutt@hitsa.ee
egle.kampus@hitsa.ee
kai.peiel@hitsa.ee
Abstract: From the year 2008, the Innovation Centre of the Information Technology Foundation for Education in Estonia
runs the process of awarding “Estonian e‐Course Quality Label” to applicants from different national vocational and higher
education institutions. The process of awarding quality labels is structured on three tiers: self‐assessment, organizational
and expert level. The process which is described in our previous article (Villems, 2013), needs well defined criteria as
considerable bases for evaluation. For self‐assessment and expert level evaluations, the quality criteria are prepared in the
form of two rubrics, both with more than 20 quality criteria. Both rubrics coincide in majority of questions, but the self‐
evaluation rubric has additional criteria, which only authors of the course are able to evaluate. To make the process of
evaluation smoother and easier to manage, interactive web‐based software was developed. As the real responsibility for
the content of the course is in the hands of particular educational organization, we did not prepare e‐learning course
evaluation criteria for them. Their evaluation has to reflect students’ feedback and agreement with the quality of the
content. In this paper we will discuss the choice of criteria used in the above‐mentioned rubrics, and how we explain their
four levels, from poor to excellent. We also describe the process of choosing and further development of these criteria and
explain how these are connected with our “Quality Manual for e‐Courses (Pilt, 2010). Feedback on the described quality
process is gathered during quality assessment evaluation process from different parties each year (applicants i.e. authors
of the e‐courses, expert evaluators and quality team members). Based on this feedback continuous further development of
quality criteria and rubrics is taking place. We enhance the list of criteria in rubrics, criteria explanations, interactive web
tool and all other aspects of this e‐learning quality process.
Keywords: e‐course quality assurance, quality criteria for e‐learning, rubrics, Estonian e‐learning quality label
1. Introduction
Since 2004 previous Estonian e‐Learning Development Centre (current Innovation Centre of the Estonian IT
Foundation for Education) which coordinates developments in the e‐learning field in Estonia, runs a contest for
the title "E‐course of the year". In 2007 Estonian e‐Learning Development Centre formed a quality assurance
task force consisting of experts from many different higher education organisations with the following aims:
To create guiding materials for the instructional design process of e‐learning and blended learning courses,
aimed at the teaching staff and educational technologists of higher and vocational education organisations.
To publish quality criteria for e‐learning courses and design the process of awarding "Estonian e‐Course Quality
Label".
The process of awarding the e‐course quality label to applicants from different vocational and higher
education institutions was initiated in 2008 and in the year of writing this article we plan to expand the process
also to secondary schools. Quality label is meant to both, 100% e‐learning courses and blended learning ones.
For the compilation of the „Quality Manual for e‐Courses“ (Pilt, 2010) we took “Quality Manual for E‐learning
in Higher Education” (Ubachs, 2009) as a model. Manual is a step by step guide on how to create or improve e‐
learning or blended learning course. Essential quality criteria are indicated at the end of each chapter of the
manual. These criteria serve as a basis for self‐ and expert evaluation within the quality label process.
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The initial phase of the creation of instructional guide for teachers was not easy. There were some
fundamental questions, such as what methodology to use for evaluation of e‐learning courses and how to
define quality. After one year the cooperative efforts resulted with the first web‐based version of quality
manual for e‐courses. In parallel we developed the concept and rules of procedure for awarding e‐learning
course quality label and its application process which has broadly remained the same until now (Villems,
2013).
In this paper we will discuss the choice of criteria, which lay in the bases of the evaluation rubrics, and how we
explain their four levels, from poor to excellent. We also describe the process of choosing and further
development of these criteria and explain how these are connected with our “Quality Manual for e‐Courses”
(Pilt, 2010).
2. Basic framework for quality assurance in e‐learning
In (Ehlers, 2006) authors debate: “Quality [of the e‐learning] seems to be in the eye of the beholder”. Many
authors are most concerned about educational content of the e‐learning courses, others deal mainly with the
quality of e‐learning technologies. Content and technology based approaches seem not fruitful from our
perspective. As we are working on national level, but the responsibility of the content lays by the law on
educational organization itself. Technologies used by e‐learning are the most frequently changing components
of the course. We wanted to concentrate on design and development of the course and process of running it,
getting feedback from students.
So we can formulate our aim to develop quality assurance criteria to help course designers in their
instructional design process of building an e‐learning or blended learning course, also to help them to run it
and get adequate feedback.
Quality criteria have to support all stages of course development. The most well‐known model for course
development is ADDIE (Branch, 2009). As our “Quality Manual for e‐Courses” (Pilt, 2010) is also built on ADDIE
model, we decided to design quality criteria based on the same model.
3. Design process for e‐learning quality criteria and rubrics
Rubrics are seen as the most adequate evaluation tool which can guide communication between different
evaluators and between author and evaluator. Interactive web based system is created for both: authors of
the course for self‐evaluation process and for external evaluators for individual and group evaluation.
Based on the ADDIE model, we formulated 29 quality criteria to course authors for their self‐evaluation in
2008. Today we use 27 criteria for this purpose. The rubric for external evaluators contains mainly the same
criteria used for self‐evaluation, excluded are 7 criteria, which are difficult by outsiders to evaluate or to
testify. For example the criterion: “The course is tested before its use in the actual learning process” cannot be
testified by external experts.
First rubric, based on formulated criteria, was composed in 2009. Aim to build a rubric was to simplify the work
of external evaluators and reduce their subjectivity.
The rubric can be used for quantitative evaluation in points (every criterion is evaluated on a scale from 0
(poor) to 3 (excellent). The quantitative marks can be used by evaluators teams to make final consensus
decision (to attribute quality label to the course or not), but also by our quality team ‐ to discover
discrepancies in the decisions or problems due to bad formulation of some criteria.
We determined the six most important quality criteria using the interrelationship diagraph method (Brassard &
Ritter, 1994). Three of the key criteria are connected with the of course objectives, one measures the course
structure and usability; one evaluates comprehensiveness of the study guide. The last key criterion which
monitors how copyright law is followed, was added recently (in 2012), when we improved the formulation of
the criteria.
4. Criteria analysis
The criteria are distributed to five categories according to the ADDIE model:
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Analysis of the needs, target group and content;
Designing the learning process;
Course development;
Implementing the course;
Course evaluation.
Each of these groups is important in different stage of e‐course development.
Each criterion has two versions: short and long one. By default, the short criterion is displayed. But if this is not
understandable for applicants or evaluators, they can click and open the long one, which explains the criterion
in more detail.
Each criterion in the rubrics has four levels, from poor to excellent. These levels are described in two versions.
Short one, displayed by default, is just: “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. But if this is not
understandable, long one can also be opened by clicking.
The full rubric for self‐evaluation is presented in its short form in table 1 with key criteria marked with * and
those, omitted in expert evaluators with ‐. Each group of criteria is shortly explained in this paragraph.
4.1 Analysis phase
Here course authors should think to whom they will present the learning material, what the target group
needs and what they are capable of doing. Authors should define the objectives/aims of the course and
learning outcomes for students. The course content should correspond to the learning outcomes.
4.2 Design phase
Here the authors should consider, whether the syllabus corresponds to the institutional requirements. Authors
should clearly outline the prior knowledge and skills for potential students. Authors should also check,
whether the learning outcomes and real learning activities in the course are in good correlation; and whether
authors really evaluate the achievement of learning outcomes by assessment in the course.
The learners should be aware about the assessment ways and deadlines, they also need the frequent feedback
about they progress. The amount of material and activities of the course have to be in accordance with
amount of credits the students earn. All technological means have to support the learning process and not
hinder it.
4.3 Development phase
Here the authors should consider the good practices of creating and presenting the digital material and all
materials have to be in accordance with copyright law.
For learners it is important, that they could find everything intuitively and a written study guide has to be
available. To understand the requirements in the course, the syllabus should be presented and cover the
entire course. The manner in which the course materials are provided has to correspond to the technical
capabilities of learners. Important is also the use of appropriate media for delivery of materials.
It is a very good practice to test the course with some students before launching it officially. At the same time,
the authors should also regularly verify that each and every link in their course works and all necessary
applications run.
4.4 Implementation phase
The teachers should support learners’ active participation in the study process (interaction, creation of
learning communities etc.). The facilitator of the course has to fulfill different roles (technical, organisational,
social and pedagogical) or to use assistance for those roles. Teacher himself has to follow the timetable.
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It is important to inform the learners about grades and credits and gave systematic feedback about their
overall progress.
4.5 Evaluation phase
The feedback from learners is very important for continuous further improvement of the course. And teachers
should encourage the learners to give the feedback to the course as easily as possible. In addition, the teachers
themselves can and should take notes during the course in each year of running it.
5. Feedback analysis
In the Quality Assessment process we continuously gather feedback both from course authors and external
evaluators with the aim to clarify the wording of the criteria and rubrics’ explanations. If the problems were
found, the wording was adjusted during the next year’s quality process. One important question that arose in
initial stage of quality assurance process development was for example: Are all quality criteria for e‐learning
courses still necessary? Are any of the criteria more important than others?
5.1 Applicants’ feedback
On the average over past seven years, 40% of applicants gave us feedback about the quality label process.
They indicate that most helpful for them have been the special trainings and the help of educational
technologists of institutions. They mention also the guiding material. During past seven years, the number of
uses of “Quality Manual for e‐Courses” has grown remarkably.
As the most valuable result of the quality label process, the applicants consider the feedback to their courses,
as this helps them to make their course better. The authors need an objective external look at their courses,
both from technical and pedagogical point of view. In addition to pointed weaknesses, the recognition of good
practice is also important to the applicants.
We asked the applicants also about which criterion was the most difficult to answer. There was no single
criterion pointed out as a difficult one. Throughout the years the answers were different and only the criterion
about testing the course before its actual use was mentioned during several years. Most probably the reason
for this is not the difficulty but the fact that most often teachers have not tested they course before the actual
learning process and they are timid to admit this.
Table 1: Rubrics for quality assessment of e‐learning course (self‐evaluation). P=Phase; N=No.
Quality
P N requirement Strongly disagree Rather disagree Mostly agree Strongly agree
1‐ The course The course does The course The course The course fully
matches the not match the partially matches matches the matches the
needs and needs of the the needs of the needs of the needs of the
capability of the participants nor participants and participants but participants and
participants. their capability to does not take only partially their capability to
participate. their capability to takes their participate.
participate into capability to
account or only participate into
Analysis (1‐3)
partially takes it account.
into account.
2* The course has The aims and The aims and/or The aims and The aims and
formulated aims learning learning learning learning
and learner‐ outcomes are outcomes cover outcomes of the outcomes have
centred learning missing or one of the course only course exist. been properly
outcomes. them is missing. partially or the There are formulated.
formulated shortcomings in
learning formulation.
outcomes are
teacher‐centred.
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Quality
P N requirement Strongly disagree Rather disagree Mostly agree Strongly agree
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Quality
P N requirement Strongly disagree Rather disagree Mostly agree Strongly agree
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Quality
P N requirement Strongly disagree Rather disagree Mostly agree Strongly agree
study materials
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Quality
P N requirement Strongly disagree Rather disagree Mostly agree Strongly agree
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Quality
P N requirement Strongly disagree Rather disagree Mostly agree Strongly agree
hinder the
conducting of the
course.
23 Learners’ active Conditions for Conditions for Conditions for Learners are
participation in activating activating activating directed towards
the study process learners have not learners have not learners have not active
(interaction, been established been established been established participation in
creation of for the course (no for the course (no for the course (no the study process
learning groups, groups, groups, for the full
communities etc.) communication communication communication duration of the
is supported. options etc.). options etc.). options etc.). course and active
participation is
taken into
account in the
evaluation.
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Quality
P N requirement Strongly disagree Rather disagree Mostly agree Strongly agree
5.2 Evaluators’ feedback
We analyzed the feedback of the evaluators using the matrix diagram method. Matrix diagram is a graphical
tool that shows the relationship between two or more criteria. In our case we analyzed the importance and
the complexity of the evaluation criteria.
In Figure 1, the complexity of the assessment criteria is evaluated on x‐axis and the importance of the criteria
on y‐axis (number shows the amount of evaluators who marked that this criteria is complex or important).
From the figure we can see that in 2011, it was difficult to assess the criterion ‐ “The study materials and study
activities correspond to the volume of the course”. Then we improved the wording of this criterion and trained
the evaluators, thus in 2013 this criterion was already better understandable.
In 2013, a new criterion arose: the following of the copyright law (see figure 1).
In 2014, this criterion was still difficult to evaluate but, at the same time, the evaluators especially stated the
importance of this criterion.
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Figure 1: The complexity of the assessment criteria versus the importance of the criteria in year 2011 (above)
and 2013 (below)
This method enables to continuously monitor the changes both in importance and in understanding
/interpretation of the criteria.
6. In conclusion
We can conclude that our 7 year effort to compile and improve the list of evaluation criteria and two
evaluation rubrics is justified. The difference between points acquired from self‐evaluation and external expert
evaluation is decreasing from year to year. The process continues and all its components are improving step by
step.
References
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Branch, R.M.(2009), Instructional Design: The ADDIE Approach, Springler
Ehlers U.‐D., Pawlowski J.M. (2006) Handbook on Quality and Standardisation in E‐Learning. Springer,
Pilt L., Kusmin M., Plank, T., Villems, A., Varendi M., Kusnets K., Niitsoo M., Dremljuga‐Telk M., Koitla E. (2010). Juhend
kvaliteetse e‐kursuse loomiseks (Quality manual for e‐courses). Tallinn: e‐Õppe Arenduskeskus, http://www.e‐
ope.ee/_download/repository/Kasiraamat2.0.pdf
Ubachs, G. (2009) E‐xcellence. Quality Assessment for E‐learning a Benchmarking Approach. EADTU
Villems A., Pilt L., Plank T., Varendi M., Sutt E., Dremljuga‐Telk M. (2013) Quality Assurance Processes in E‐Learning.
Estonian case. The International Journal for Innovation and Quality in e‐Learning. No 1.
403
Models of Communication and e‐Learning Pedagogies to Boost
Educational Effectiveness
Maria Magdalena Popescu, Ruxandra Buluc and Luminița Crăciun
Carol I National Defense University, Bucharest, Romania
popescu.maria@myunap.net
buluc.ruxandra@myunap.net
craciun.luminita@myunap.net
Abstract: Success in the 21st C depends on individuals’ ability to conduct research, find, organize, summarize data and
communicate all their findings, relate and interconnect, as 21st C itself is about breaking the boundaries and being
ubiquitous, technologically literate, cognitively flexible and open, robust users of e‐information and e‐knowledge, tech‐
savvy, well‐equipped individuals who share, exchange and build knowledge constructs within tech‐rich environments. In
this given context, educators have a make‐or‐break opportunity and an obligation at the same time, to charter a new path
for education and secure economic competitiveness. e‐learning is the medium for all this, since e‐learning offers ubiquity,
personalization and trans‐disciplinary, multiculturalism and sociability, as McLuhan’s medium is the message. Medium, this
time called e‐learning, is the bridge which enhances learning attitudes and behaviors beyond mere cognitive exposure and
achieves all this by means of communication. Moreover, a significant part of our daily communication is, in fact, planned
communication, especially when it is deliberately used to achieve more general or specific objectives which cover
everything from purpose‐oriented conversations to a wide range of educational or informational processes. Hence,
planned educational communication ‐ as a topic of interest‐ exhibits its strongest, most discernible side in the volume of
information transmitted, its softer side in relation to the attitudes it fosters and, possibly, its least visible but most
pervasive side in the ways it influences and shapes behavior. This paper offers a view on the communication process
unfolding within and beyond the e‐learning environment, with challenges that, if left unaddressed, will curtail our
competitiveness and diminish our standing in the world. While there have been inordinate studies of e‐learning tools,
software products, types of learning and learners, more or less portable devices for individual or collective use, little ‐ if
anything ‐ has been said regarding the types of communication which trigger alterations in one’s attitudes, skills or
behaviors and regarding the way e‐learning can incorporate them. That is why the present paper touches upon types of
communication that can be used inside the e‐learning event, using both synchronous and asynchronous means, upon the
parties involved and how they induce changes. We pay particular attention to the effects such communication processes
can stir inside personal learning sequences as well as inside socially constructed contexts of learners. Who is to thrive in an
e‐learning type of training? Is it the instructor or the student? Is the community sufficiently tightly knit in the e‐learning
process as to change attitudes and behavior along with knowledge input all by means of effective communication? If so,
which are the communication patterns to be followed and which pedagogies are appropriate for this? All these are
questions to be answered in the present paper.
Keywords: communication models, pedagogies, educational effectiveness, e‐learning, interactivity
1. Introduction
The students enrolled in higher education programs at present have been around computers and information
technology all their lives and to say that they are tech savvy is an understatement as IT is part of their cognitive
makeup. They cannot imagine their lives without computer technology, so their educational experiences
should not attempt to deprive them of it, but rather to incorporate it in order to enhance learning.
As Shank notices, “Not only is sharing content using technological tools easily, as many of these kinds of tools
are free, removing another barrier to use. People are increasingly sharing information, getting help, finding
people with similar interests, and learning from each other. This shift from one‐way to a two‐way medium is
much closer to Tim Berners‐Lee’s original notions of how the Web should work” (Shank 2008: 244).
Consequently, people are becoming increasingly used to looking for information online, to making their own
selections, to assembling information in ways that are most suitable to their needs, to interacting with experts,
reading blogs, writing emails, to tailoring their learning experiences to meet their personal expectations and to
reach their desired outcomes. This way they communicate 24/7 but also, simultaneously, while formal and
informal as well as non‐formal learning take place without too much effort from either the giver or the taker of
knowledge.
In this light, Strijbos, Marens & Jochems (2004) propose a series of constraints that may aid in the
development of process‐oriented methods to counter‐act some more real‐life interaction patterns in the
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online environment. They are general enough to apply to any domain of study and relevant enough to guide
the design of any online educational platform. Firstly, it is necessary to determine the type of learning
objective to be achieved and the expected interaction. The task‐type will be selected in accordance with these,
and then the necessary structure will be indentified as well as the extent to which this should be enforced or
loosened. The best suited group size also needs to be established and lastly, the best type of computer support
that could facilitate learning, encourage the expected interaction and lead to the achievement of the goals.
If all these aspects are taken into account, the benefits that a computer‐supported collaborative learning,
could promote are numerous, as Stahl (2004) and Gutierrez‐Colon Plana (2009) explain:
To supply new media that ensures a pedagogical discourse which facilitates collaboration
To support building negotiation skills by collaborative groups.
To avoid the teacher dependence, where communication goes through the teacher or where he is the only
dispenser of knowledge.
To present students with learning experiences relevant for their future professions
Gutierrez‐Colon Plana (2009) states that e‐learning facilitates constant access to information and content
updating, as information and knowledge are decentralized. The students become more autonomous, more in
control of their educational development. Consequently, they should receive “just‐in‐time”, “just‐for‐me”
customized education that better prepares them for the rest of their lives, allows them to be free and to find
meaning for themselves, thus fostering the development of life‐long learning abilities. Besides, e‐learning
facilitates a different kind of communication, a continuous communication, be it synchronously or
asynchronously. In which ways this communication is different or particularized to the endeavor it serves is an
issue this paper is trying to answer.
2. Models of communication employed in e‐learning
As the practical and tangible side of all of the above, all the already mentioned principles have been applied in
a media studies course to produce what it was meant to be our online student magazine; the medium of
communication was an online environment that complemented the lecture time activities and where the tool
used was an editing and collaboration tool called Lucidpress, a Google application. Lucidpress allows for article
writing and insertion of images, of videos and visual aids as page makers, both for design and layouts; what is
mostly beneficial with Lucidpress is having “ many different users working in the same environment—and not
just the same environment, but the same page actually. That was a total revolution.” What is true is that being
built on HTML 5 and web standards, Lucidpress works on every well‐known browser and internet‐reaching
device, allowing people to collaborate, share and see what each other is doing, boosting incremental team‐
work and enhancing a spirit of cooperation, communication and dialogue. Comments left directly on the
document and group chats that eliminate compiling notes, allow for instant feedback, enhance thus real‐time
communication giving it all a sense of here and now and thus fall short on lags in responses and set aside
misinterpretations. Being able to invite others to join your work conversation in a project‐based learning
process by having the flexibility to customize permissions levels and deciding on the roles for editors,
commentators and mere viewers, Lucidpress as a tool for collaborative and project‐based learning proves to
be an effective application in the computer assisted learning processes; what is mandatory though is the
internet connection , as all the Lucidpress‐based e‐learning process is fully dependable on the online
environment, where communication can go both synchronous and asynchronous.
In this context, should we use this tool as a complement for the course work, in a blended learning system kind
of teaching, we need to concentrate on behavior, communication and group performance which are governed
by the material sistem in which the group is working, the logical system of tasks the users perform and the
social system embedding the users. Group performance will be achieved when these systems are in
compliance (Abric, 2002: 187) so, while the never‐ending technological progress and constant endeavour to
gain 21st C skills have set e‐learning on the rise, educators are doing their best to prepare individuals for an
ever demanding society, teaching others and themselves simultaneously.
The Internet as a service that enables remote communication, allowing both sending and receiving information
has clearly become the basic means to ensure interaction and keep us connected to stay alive, so
arrangements for access to information disseminated by the media are increasing, along with the possibilities
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for interactive communication (social media), since it is by communicating that we discover the world and gain
access to news while allowing ourselves to stay tuned to others and thus to ourselves, since only by knowing
others do we get to know ourselves better.
Moreover, when it comes to e‐learning, communication is subjected to psycho‐pedagogical parameters,
defining a framework for action, which involves the use of certain methods to facilitate learning and to
connect transmitters and receivers who are in a recognized and accepted contractual relationship. Bourdieu
(1994: 65‐66) appreciated this relationship as legitimate in the sense that the two parties involved in the act of
teaching( student and teacher) recognize their status and accept their messages, the intercommunication
operating on the basis of mutually agreed rules. „Communication‐ he says‐ in a position of teaching authority
involves legitimate senders, legitimate receivers and a legitimate language. It takes a legitimate sender, i.e.
someone who recognizes the implicit laws of the system and, on this basis, he/ she is recognized and recruited
into the chain of communication. It requires recipients to be recognized by the sender as worthy to receive his
message, which means that the transmitter has the power to exclude those who should not be there”.(
Bourdieu,1994:65‐66)
From Aristotle to Shannon, Weaver and Laswell, various models of communication employed in planned or
impromptu conversations have had the same target, irrespective of pattern‐ to have information that triggers
action on either or both sides of the funnel. Whereas Aristotle considered that a speaker first comes up with
his personal output, selects the best of what it is and then combines it to later render it as a texture to the
public’s eye and ear, Laswell carefully goes further on to stress importance to the medium, the audience and
the effect rendered by the communicator and communication itself. In our case, the medium is the internet,
online application activated, the audience is the students’ community attending the media studies course
including the tutor who is the professor himself, while the effect of the communication they have is the
production of the magazine itself.
Figure 1: Aristotle model of communication
Figure 2: Laswell’s model of communication
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Should we look at both Aristotle’s and Laswell’s model simultaneously, then one can easily notice from the
two figures above that Aristotle’s model is embedded into the Laswell’s one, not as individual steps but as a
whole complex into one stage; more specifically, all steps Aristotle sees in delivering communication are
wrapped up in Laswell’s stage of “says what”, since the sender, the channel, the receiver and the effects
resulted after were not among the ancient model of communication, were not seen as utterly important; the
speaker was more focused on himself than on the outer world. Nonetheless, what it matters to us as e‐
learning supporters, conscientious and professional users is that since the e‐learning system ( a.k.a. as the used
software or learning management system‐LMS) does most of the part with Artistotel’s elements ( discovers,
arranges, clothes and delivers) obviously guided by the tutor, then all the other steps/ elements of building up
the communication in Laswell fall into the user’s responsibility entirely. Thus, e‐learning falls under both
Arisotle’s and Laswell’s model of communication process.
In this light, JL Bordewijk and B.van Kaam (fig.3) will be mentioned as telecommunications experts who have
developed a model structured on four subtypes that can be easily identified in the e‐learning specificities of
this study.
Control of Information Source
Central Individual
Control of time and Individual Consultation Conversation
choice of subject Central Allocution Registration
Figure 3: A typology of information traffic ‐ McQuail (1994) from Bordewijk &van Kaam (1986)
Thus, allocution as a model illustrates how speech information is simultaneously distributed from a center
point to multiple devices. It is a situation where the teacher sends to the students all that are related to the
production of that magazine‐ in our case‐ featured and bibliographic materials related to seminar topics along
with other information on the course issues for the envisaged students. They say that "Speech is the typical
pattern of one‐way communication and that the message is transmitted from one (teacher) to many (students,
trainees) while the possibilities of recording feedback are reduced.”( Berciu, 2010:172) However, even in case
of lectures there is need for feedback, be it in the form of non‐verbal signs, as this knowledge transfer activity
always relies heavily on a permanent communication in order for the message to be effective. While working
on the Lucidpress magazine, feedback can also be given by simple replacements of templates, without any
further notice.
Another feature of this model is that the communication time and place are established by the sender or the
"center".
The conversation model highlights the fact that people in the communication network proposed by the teacher
enter into direct interaction, bypassing the focus, choosing the partners and the time, place and the subject of
the communication. This model is applied when chat rooms are embedded, forums or virtual classrooms with
a slot for synchronous interaction. In this type of model the partners are equal during the information
exchanges that can take place between several people at once. Students communicate with each other to
achieve certain group projects, share information about the bibliography for the course of or in connection
with the sites that one can access to solve specific assignments etc. This way of communication contributes to
the strengthening of the group structure. This model is heavily relied upon in our project based learning
embedding Lucidpress Google application for the online magazine production.
The consultation model is focused on situations in which a person outlying the communicational chain tries /
wants to obtain information from the center, where there is a database (handouts, bibliography, addresses,
website links for homework course etc.). Students often call teachers for additional information related to the
theme of the course, trying to clarify certain concepts or make connections to prior knowledge. This type of
communication is conditioned by time or place, but is important that the answer gets in due time. This model
is applicable to tutoring sessions when one to one input is performed, for instructional scaffolding. This model
has also been employed in our magazine‐output project, seen as conversation initiated from students towards
the coordinator ( the chief‐editor), for questions and suggestions on the design, layout or simply the choice of
existing templates.
Registration, the fourth model proposed by the Dutch researchers, is the reverse situation of the consultation
model, i.e. the center (teacher) requests and receives information from the originally built group of
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participants. Registration enables the teacher to check the number of accesses on the materials proposed for
study or course evaluation questionnaires.
Students’ active participation in their own training helps them structure the information received and builds a
positive image to the teacher about the interest attached to the discipline. Registration can be done without
the person at the center. In this respect Lucidpress helps even more as its software records any change
performed; here the LMS enters center stage to help capitalize in the learning analytics. This way, the
professor can easily verify, even asynchronously, what the students have been doing with the edited materials.
Similar options can be given as access to certain students within the project.
The four subtypes of the model proposed by JL Bordewijk and B.van Kaam are complementary; they overlap in
the learning activity in which Internet is used as a means of communication, their weight being different
depending on the stage, more accurately according to timing and subject‐matters resulting from the curricula.
In case of e‐learning, communication within the group for students who may not have encountered each other
before is conditioned by a blended learning system, where the face‐to‐face stage allows for group bonding and
common interests sharing, to later leave the e‐learning stage (in our case the Lucidpress magazine production)
for collaborative and project based learning to advance through the situations proposed by the teacher. The
structure of communication within the group constitutes the organization of interactions through which each
member of the group’s interventions and his/her direction can be identified. Through a careful follow‐up we
can get information related to the direction in which the group members interacted (hierarchical, centralized
or random), in other words we can image how the group works.
First of all, the teacher is required to conduct a communication network structure with the group or groups
that he will interact with. The communication network is made up of all the means existent within a given
group, that is, all the communication channels available to a group. When exchange conditions are pre‐
existent to the group, the network can be more or less centralized. In a centralized network, all
communication acts necessarily pass through the middle, while in the other type of network each member of
the group has the opportunity to directly address all the participants.
For the centralized network, Bavelas (1948) proposes a model in which the group is asked to solve a series of
simple problems from which he notes that the group achieves maximum of efficiency when placed in such a
network. The central character is recognized as a leader and organizer, a position the teacher holds in the e‐
learning process. When the network is centralized, the drawback is represented by the participants’ level of
satisfaction, which is lower – the more centralized, the lower the morale. Should more students take part as
leading stage characters in turns, this flaw can be reduced to a minimum when a smooth and constant
communication is entertained among students and supported by professor. Interesting but also misleading is
that although group members’ morale is relatively low, leadership satisfaction is high. This is especially so
when students are actively involved for short period of times in leading the editing or layout of parts of the
project and thus have all the other colleagues report to them, listen to them and be providers for what the
coordinator asks. Beside leadership skills, cross‐communication enhances knowledge exchange and builds
trust, meta‐cognitive skills, changes attitudes and influences behaviors.
In the non‐centralized network, the organization and role distribution are missing; therefore the
communication is inefficient, but universally appreciated, as the old‐spoon‐fed type of teaching. The non‐
st
centralized network is inefficiently used for e‐learning in a context where 21 skills like communication and
team‐work are among the basic ingredients.
3. E‐learning pedagogies: Collaborative and project based learning
When embedding one’s teaching activities in an e‐learning program, collaborative learning goes hand in hand
with communicative pedagogies as they foster an environment in which students exchange information freely
among themselves and with the instructor while at the same time assimilate, internalize and learn how to
operate with the concepts in real‐life situations and in real time. Stahl (2004: 54) suggests the term
“collaborative knowing” rather than learning because, in his view, the word “learning” focuses more on the
individual and the individual processes of constructing knowledge rather than on the group interaction that
collaboration implies and entails. Moreover, it switches the focus from the accumulation of knowledge that
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has traditionally been the focus of any pedagogical process, to the integration, processing and utility of the
information presented. In other words, it is not what the students know, but how they integrate their
knowledge into the projects they work on, collaboratively. “Building collaborative knowledge (…) is a particular
way in which a group may construct a new degree of understanding about the topic under investigation” (Stahl
2004: 54). That is, the result will be more than the sum total of its parts. It will constitute a leap in knowledge
and understanding that could not be achieved by any one individual alone. In an age when technology has
enhanced communication multi‐fold and in which no product can be the result of only one mind, it is essential
that collaboration be built into any technology‐enhanced curriculum.
Similarly, Bereiter (2002) explains that any successful meeting that attempts to solve a problem or design an
item cannot be broken down into individual contributions. Its makeup does not consist of the bits and pieces
that construct the discourse; on the contrary, it is an emergence that results from the collaboration process as
a whole. This view supports Stahl’s stance that learning, just as any other meeting of the minds, is a “gradual
construction and accumulation of increasingly refined and complex cognitive and linguistic artifacts” (Stahl
2004: 64). As participants, the students in this case collaborate in the learning process making use of their
diverse previous knowledge and, by interacting directly with the new concepts, internalize them more
efficiently and make them an integral part of their cognitive structures.
Connection to Heidegger can be made here, for the distinction between tacit or practical knowing and explicit
or theoretical knowing. In his view, the former takes priority over the latter, since one needs to have
background knowledge of the world and social interactions therein to comprehend any given statement.
Consequently, meaning is built through social collaboration, social interactions as previously said. “Meaning in
the context of collaborative learning is viewed as an integral part of communication, and therefore, necessarily
as shared within a community” (Stahl 2004: 65). As Lave & Wenger (1991) explain, this participative meaning
which eventually becomes institutionalized is, in turn, “reactivated by newcomers” as part of their own
knowledge building processes. We would add that it is not simply reactivated, but also enhanced, possibly
refined, tweaked, adapted to the newcomers’ needs, especially in this fast‐evolving technological
environment.
Collaborative learning also depends on the thorough understanding and use of another concept. All cognitive
development processes occur within situated discourse. As Dillenbourg (1999) posits, in collaboration, by
definition, it is not separate individual contributions that are significant, but rather the work done by the
whole group together in a given situation/context. This gives rise to situated discourse, which is of extreme
relevance for the e‐learning environment especially as, in this case, the medium itself shapes and defines
discourse. As Stahl details, “[b]uilding knowledge takes place dramatically differently in a technologically
produced environment” (Stahl 2004: 76). The main difference is that communication in this situation is not
face‐to‐face, both oral and written but mediated. While some complain that computer‐mediated interaction
decreases attention span and focus, we would argue that, due to the intransitory nature of the written word,
but also of the virtual environment qualities, more information could actually be retained, processed and
utilized, as written information can and is nicely backed‐up by verbal and non verbal communication, in virtual
meetings, via chat rooms, virtual classrooms or second life environments, games and social media that are all
conducive to e‐learning –based knowledge transfer.
In today’s tech savvy world, in order for situated discourse and, implicitly, learning to be authentic, one needs
to take computer‐mediated tasks into consideration and actually make them an integral part of the
collaborative learning process. As Kirschner et al. explain, learning needs to take place “in a setting where
there are shared realistic and relevant problems, where there are shared needs and goals, where there is room
for multiple perspectives on the problems and their solutions, where there are shared responsibilities both for
the process of achieving a final product and for the product itself, and where there is mutual trust between the
participants such that they are valued for their contributions and their initiative” (Kirschner et al. 2004:4) A
student must, therefore, learn about a subject not simply theoretically, but by being emerged in the specific
culture it presupposes. Computer‐mediated communication is part of any such culture nowadays.
Consequently, the role of e‐learning increases exponentially as many of the communication processes that
support the accomplishment of tasks in any field in contemporary society are done in the online environment.
On the other hand, in keeping with the tenets of the first supporters of project‐based learning (PBL), Barron
and Blumenfeld, contemporary, technology‐based and enhanced PBL are a vital component of collaborative
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learning. The two approaches inform and support each other in building an authentic learning environment.
Moreover, it has been noticed that working with PBL helps to develop critical thinking, collaboration and
conflict resolution skills (Beckett & Miller, 2006), problem‐solving abilities (Finkelstein et al., 2010). As a result,
not only do students internalize the concepts better but they also develop what we would call meta‐skills that
transgress any one field of study, and could be applied to all domains and situations.
Boss & Krauss (2007: 12) put forth a series of characteristics for PBL that we consider of vital importance and
relevance. Firstly, it must be at the core of the curriculum, not a mere after‐thought or additional activity. This
means that the curriculum deals simultaneously with theoretical and applied concepts. The students engage in
authentic activities, existent in the real world, and, as a group, build and practice knowledge that matters to
them through collaboration. Technology itself is an integral part of discovery, communication and
collaboration, of the whole learning process, as is the case in the real lives of this plugged‐in generation, the
Millennials. We would also add that, through technology, students have access to information and resources
from all over the world, which enhances their comprehension of and functionability in this global village.
Should we ponder over which pedagogies are appropriate for e‐learning, of particular interest to many e‐
learning researchers have been those pedagogies associated with social interactions and online discussions
(Stephenson, 2002). Online discussions can be facilitated by an inordinate number of solutions or applications,
like Computer Conferencing, a web‐based communication system that supports asynchronous, textual
interaction between two or more persons, Lucidpress‐ the Google app we used in our online magazine
production, chat rooms, forums, wikis, etc. Online discussions combine input from tutors and students, and
provide opportunities to examine their online interactions, which have been facilitated by the technology.
Consequently, a great emphasis was placed not only on the written communications as they might reveal
evidence of students’ participation, contribution, communication and work that shows knowledge application,
and criticality among other indicators of meaningful and effective learning, but also on verbal and non‐verbal
communication‐ actors on this stage can interact via direct dialogue, via visuals input, graphics or sound
messages. Moreover, tutors’ input could be monitored for facilitation, feedback and other evidence of
effective teaching. Cooperative, collaborative and project‐based learning are the e‐pedagogies mostly inclined
to using all models of communication here above mentioned, perfectly matching an e‐learning type of training,
be it synchronously or asynchronously, blended or mere distance learning per se.
4. Conclusions
While e‐learning is heavily based on information and communication technologies, this paper approached
models of communication, both planned and impromptu, and analyzed their functionality in an e‐learning
environment seen as a blended learning system, to cope with information needed for the production of a
media communications course project: an online students’ magazine, using project based learning and
collaborative learning as preferred e‐pedagogies. Subsequent to the analysis made and having in mind the
questions set at the beginning of the paper, we can conclude the following:
computer based learning is an inherent tool for the present and coming generations, for whom “net
st
generation” is already a buzz word, both in developing hard and soft skills so much called upon by the 21
century skill‐set.
project based learning applied in e‐learning customizes permission levels and decisions from the centre of
communication source (tutor)
learning and communication can be performed via e‐learning provided the status of the parties involved is
mutually agreed
if we focus on communication models, the e‐learning system discovers, arranges, clothes and delivers the
information ( Aristotle’s model), while the users do the control analysis (who says it), audience analysis (to
whom) and the effects analysis (with what effect)
for a good, smooth and constructive communication process with e‐learning, blended learning is
mandatory to the detriment of full distance learning, so that students get to know each other and
enhance the flow of communication from the face to face stage, as collaborative and project based
learning can easily advance when group members interact hierarchically, centralized and randomly at the
same time, in a network set up by the teacher. The network can be centralized; the more centralized, the
lower students’ morale is, as their satisfaction is low.However, if more students take lead and become
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centre stage, this flaw can be reduced to minimum. Leading communication role is a must for all students
to take, in turns. Moreover, beside working more effectively in a project, morale is boosted, leadership
skills are improved while cross‐communication enhances knowledge exchange and builds trust,
metacognitive skills, it changes attitudes and influences behavior. All this can be done via both planned
and impromptu communication in e‐learning using applications conducive to this, web cams, chat rooms,
video streaming, Google apps like Lucidpress ( the one we used in our study)
among pedagogies associated with social interactions, collaborative and project based learning are
preferred since they both build authentic learning, while using communication in collaboration, problem
solving and conflict resolution skills are triggered.
knowing what medium to select in the e‐learning vast array of applications, being aware of the
arrangements and style as well as means of delivering the application we select, what is left for us
educators are the other elements in the models of communication: who says it‐ we, the students; whom
we address to and with what effect; concentrating on the effect we carefully select the medium so that
the message gets across having as little alterations as possible. Considering now that not only verbal but
also non verbal communication can be rendered in e‐learning (videos, podcasts, web links),we can only be
promoters of raising awareness in communication, irrespective of the distance and technology used, as
message as the cornerstone for attitude and behavior change can gradually be more and more accurate,
building knowledge, skills and giving more information mobility for educational means.
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Methodological Issues in Research on MOOCs
Juliana Raffaghelli and Donatella Persico
Institute for Educational Technologies, Italy
raffaghelli@itd.cnr.it
persico@itd.cnr.it
Abstract: The raise of attention to the relatively new phenomenon of MOOCs has put them at the cutting edge of the
debate on networked teaching and learning. Research on MOOCs seems to have overcome the exploratory phase, and is
approaching a consolidation of themes and objectives. However, little attention has been paid to methodological issues in
MOOCs research. Furthermore, the methodological approaches most widely adopted in this area could cast out
conclusions, which should be reconsidered either from a critical theoretical point of view, or from studies of empirical
replication. In this paper the authors have reviewed fifty‐seven journal articles on MOOCs in order to analyze the
methodological approaches most commonly adopted in this field of research. The results have been initially grouped,
taking into consideration the traditional methodological classification: quantitative, qualitative, mixed‐methods, design‐
based research, literature review, theoretical contribution. Furthermore, the methods adopted within the above
mentioned approaches have been considered. In order to deepen on the understanding about the methodological
approaches, the conceptual model “full cycle of educational research”, with its seven phases has been adopted to classify
the several articles reviewed. On these basis, the authors analyze the “methodological trends” within the field of MOOCs.
The purpose is to show gaps and criticalities as well as to suggest future directions for selecting methodological approaches
in the field of MOOCs research.
Keywords: MOOC, methodological approach, trends, educational research
1. Problem statement and objectives
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have been given an impressive attention since late 2011 (De Freitas
2013; EDUCAUSE 2012). From Siemens’ early experiences in 2008, several initiatives were launched in US and
Canada, and more recently, in Europe (Ebben & Murphy 2014). The model has seen a very fast expansion that
was defined a hype (Young 2013) due to the dimensions of coverage in both magazine articles, blogs and more
recently, in scholarly literature (Liyanagunawardena et al. 2013). This phenomenon was clearly connected to
the idea that MOOCs could be a springboard for Higher Education change due to the revolution they
encompass regarding key issues as accessibility, openness, excellence of teaching staff tightly connected to
very successful research and business activities (Educause 2010) (Knox et al. 2012). The high quality of
contents, produced by prestigious academics, in conjunction with open access, was supposed to put the basis
for “quality for all” (Barber et al. 2013). Beyond the enthusiastic response of thousands of students and
teachers, and the involvement of hundreds of institutions, concerns are also raising, mostly regarding
sustainability from the point of view of both the institutions and the participants (De Freitas 2013)(Guàrdia et
al. 2013). In this context, the first scholarly publications, appeared in 2009 and significantly increased in 2013.
To our knowledge, two literature reviews have been published (Liyanagunawardena et al. 2013; Ebben &
Murphy 2014). Two phases of scholarship about MOOCs have been identified in the most recent literature
review (January 2014,Ebben & Murphy, op.cit) the first phase, running approximately from 2009‐2011, is that
of the experimentation, enthusiasm and engagement with connectivist pedagogical approaches and the
discourses of Open learning. This is followed by a second phase (2012/2014) focused on exploring and applying
pedagogical and technological approaches aiming at massification of higher education as a twofold approach
improving access to education renewing higher education business models; a phase that gave raise to some
criticisms regarding for example drop‐out rates and sustainability According to the first literature review
(Liyanagunawardena et al. 2013) four major problems must be faced by researchers and MOOCs designers: (a)
the need for exploring all of the stakeholders’ perspectives in MOOCs (learners, creators, teachers,
institutions, etc.), taking into consideration advantages and disadvantages for every perspective; (b) cultural
tensions within MOOC pedagogies, resources, learning environments;(c) ethical aspects in using data
generated by MOOCs; (d) learners effective strategies to deal with information overload and self‐regulate
within MOOCs (including avoiding drop‐out). Taking into consideration this situation the scholarship of MOOCs
seems to have overcome the purely exploratory phase, and to approach the consolidation of research focus.
However, little attention has been paid to methodological issues in the research on MOOCs: indeed, according
to the two above mentioned reviews most studies are based on the case study approach, very appropriate for
an initial, exploratory phase of development of scholarly debate, but less appropriate to test hypothesis and
draw theoretical assumptions. Furthermore, the robustness or appropriateness of research methods could
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require further discussion by the research community. In spite of the existence of the above two literature
reviews, this field of research is very challenging due to its fast development, the novelty of some of the
problems faced and the amount of data to be handled. It is for this reason that the authors look at the
appropriate selection of the methodological approach as one of the main a keys to obtain relevant results and
move less tentatively towards the solutions of the problems faced. To move a first step in this direction, the
paper reviews fifty‐seven journal articles on MOOCs, including the above mentioned two literature reviews ,
with the specific aim of analyzing the methodological approaches adopted against the topic of the research
and the (where existing) educational theory embraced.. On these basis, the paper analyzes and discusses the
trends of the methodological approaches adopted overall and by specific MOOCs’ research topics. The
purpose is to show gaps and criticalities as well as to suggest future directions for selecting research methods
in the field of MOOCs research, contributing to a better definition of the methodological debate of this field of
research.
2. Data collection method
Reflecting the time span of the MOOC phenomenon, the articles reviewed here were published from 2008 to
May 2014 in peer‐reviewed journals. Four specialized databases were searched for papers with the term
“MOOC” in the title, the abstract or keywords. This generated more than 300 articles, which were analyzed,
eliminating a) duplicated articles, due to overlaps between databases and b) articles with full text in languages
other than English, c) pieces of work other than research peer‐reviewed papers like reports, position papers,
magazine articles, etc.. Proceeding papers were also excluded from the analysis for this article, but they were
included in the database of reviewed literature for a further phase of analysis. The bibliographical references
of the articles initially selected allowed for the identification of 8 additional articles often cited but not indexed
in the four databases consulted. Out of 192 articles finally retrieved, 57 journal articles remained and were
analysed. Table 1 and 2 show which databases where consulted, and the figures of the articles retrieved. Table
3 shows the Journals consulted.
Table 1: Distribution of papers analyzed per year
Table 2: Specialized databases consulted
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The data was assigned to a database comprising the fields as described in table 4. For the sake of this article,
only the fields relevant to the aim of the paper were considered. This led to leave out from the study the
following fields: (6,7,8,13,14,15). The analysis was organized as follows: Firstly, the “descriptive fields”,
referring to the type of article, authors, and publications date, were taken into consideration in order to
produce tables 1,2, and 3. Secondly, the “research problem” and the “purpose of the study” were bundled
together to build the dimension of analysis called “Research aim”. Thirdly, the methodological approach (field
11) was analyzed. Fourthly, the methods of data collection and data analysis were considered. Lastly, an
existing theoretical framework (Gorard 2004) was used to identify the distribution of papers along the cycle of
educational research and development. This framework, is briefly described in the “discussion” section. For
every field of the database, whenever there were difficulties in categorizing the paper due to unclear
specification or lack of information the value “not clear” was used.
Table 3: Journals consulted and authors
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Table 4: Database fields’ and values assigned
3. Data analysis
This section presents the results of the data analysis. For every dimension, a brief explanation is provided of
how the “values” within the dimension were created; descriptive statistics about the data, their discussion and
some examples of the qualitative data collected in our database, are hence introduced.
3.1 Research aims
As mentioned above, this dimension was elaborated taking into consideration fields 9 and 10, that is, the type
of “research problem” and the “purpose of the study”. Some values were selected to define the research aims
of the articles, these values work as an overarching semantic category, assigned on the bases of the two
component fields. For example, one research problem could be How to choose tutoring styles to promote
succeed (defined as active participation instead of lurking) in cMOOCs; and the purpose of the study
Experimentation of two ways of tutoring in cMOOCs; the value finally selected would be teaching processes in
MOOCs. As a result, the nine categories showed in the Figure 1 were identified. While most categories could
be considered self‐explaining, the category of “Design for Learning” was distinguished from “Teaching
processes in MOOCs” since the former refers to the representational tools and strategies regarding MOOC’s
design while the latter refers to the more concrete teaching activities and strategies used within the MOOC.
The category “MOOC’s pedagogy” was differentiated from “Teaching processes in MOOCs”, “Learning
processes in MOOCs”, and “Design for learning in MOOCs”, by including papers dealing with conceptual and
theoretical issues of the former three categories.
Figure 1 shows that 17 out of 57 papers deal with LPM, followed by far by DPM, MP and MID. However, within
these 17 papers it is possible to identify different sub‐categories: the most important one regards the
problems of completion rates in MOOCs, as well as factors hindering or promoting learners’ engagement; this
is followed by the issue of Self‐determination and the literacies required to participate in MOOCs, including the
proficient use of digital technologies and social media. Furthermore, the problem of emotions expressed by
the learners was considered in more than one work within LPM. The aims identified (taking into consideration
the research problem and purpose) were central in our analysis as they should have a strong influence on the
type of methodological approaches and methods adopted. Taking into consideration Gorard’s (2002) definition
of “warrants” of educational research for its trustworthiness, there must be coherence between a research
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aim (its ontological characterization) and the methodological approach, attempting to generate critical
evidence that can be rationally deconstructed and discussed within the scientific community. To instantiate
this complex concept we could bring this example: while a literature review is a study that requires the
analysis of specialized documentation (scholarly literature), a study on learning processes will require both the
literature and specific forms of collecting data, that go from discourse or students’ assignments, to surveys,
tests and learning analytics.
Figure 1: Research aims (Within the text, the values will be cited using the acronyms in capital letters)
3.2 Methodological approach, methods and methodological phase
The methodological approach and the methods used constituted two dimensions in our analysis, that were
formulated on the basis of the main theoretical definitions adopted in the field of educational research
methodology (Arthur et al. 2012). According to this, there are two main overall “approaches”, the Quantitative
and the Qualitative approach (some call them “paradigms”) (Lincoln et al. 2011). More recently, the debate
regarding methodologies for research effectiveness and quality has led to the configuration of a “third field”
(Gorard 2004), that of “Mixed Methods”, regarding the possibility of mixing, in several phases or research
activities, the two types of methods, within a more pragmatic approach (Tashakkori & Teddlie 2014).
Moreover, another line in the educational methodologies is that of “Design Based Research” (Anderson &
Shattuck 2012). The classification of papers falling out of the mentioned categories, led to create other three
values: Literature Review, Conceptual and Theoretical articles. While the first is self‐explaining, the other two
referred to a) papers dealing with conceptual schemes or models created by the authors; b) papers dealing
with theoretical discussion and frameworks for analysis. Figure 2 shows the distribution of Methodological
approaches and Figure 3 illustrates the specific methods adopted.
Taking into consideration that MOOCs could be considered a nascent phenomenon for educational research, it
can be expected to find a significant number of theoretical and “conceptual” studies, as it was the case: 18
papers out of 57 went from more theoretical issues like how MOOCs could address connectivist learning, to
what we denominated “conceptual” studies. These last consisted in categorizations of the existing literature,
creation of dimensions/concepts and eventual application to a case, or classification of cases using the
framework. It is to be noted that the concepts were mostly created by the authors, on the basis of the
literature or their own experience, not on the basis of more systematic methods (systematic review of
literature, grounded theory, factor analysis, etc.).
Another important category was that of “mixed methods”. While the complexity of phenomena under analysis
in educational research makes this approach particularly useful (Gorard & Cook 2007), it is to be highlighted
that many studies classified within this category did not take a clear position, but just mentioned the use of the
approach and hence introduced a profusion of data that was not always coherent with the main research
question or purpose of the study. A clear position would encompass, instead, mentioning the approach,
explaining how the research problem was formulated and how, when and why the quantitative and qualitative
data was collected. This was even more evident for the studies that we classified as “not clear”: in those
studies the methodological approach was not expressed; there was an initial formulation of the research
problem followed by several types of data (like learning analytics, together with the results of surveys, learning
artifacts produced by the students, excerpts of discourse taken from online fora or social networks). In some
cases, it seems that the availability of data produced by a MOOC influences “ex post” the methodological
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approach rather than the opposite. To this regard, as it was early said by Ann. L. Brown (Brown 1992), in
educational research experimentations it is usual to produce a maze of data, but it is necessary to select and
introduce those elements that answer a research question in a relevant way. For instance, we observed many
studies in which the number of blog and forum posts, as well as other social networks interactions (like
twitter) were presented, often in the form of descriptive statistics. However, none of the studies mentioned
parameters (internally created and validated by the same authors, or compared against previous studies, or
generated by others) to support the interpretation of data: as if the sole number would “speak”.
Figure 2: Methodological approaches
Figure 3: Methods adopted
It is also to be noted that there were only two studies dealing with methodological issues in the research on
MOOCs. While it is clear that this is a “niche” study, it could also be concluded that there is little concern about
the problem of research methods and its connections with both practical and theoretical problems to be
faced. With regard to the methods adopted (Figure 3), we observe that most studies (20/57) adopted the use
of surveys (pre‐ and post‐ training) attempting to study the learners profiles (skills, motivations, prior
knowledge) their activities and feelings along and after their participation at MOOCs, their opinion about
pedagogical practices. The surveys mostly consisted in closed, quantifiable questions as well as open and
narrative questions, supporting the selection of the “mixed methods” declared as methodological approach.
The second method preferred was the conceptualization and description/classification applying concepts (i.e.
exploring how teaching, learning, assessment, and the pedagogy can be characterized in a cMOOC versus a
xMOOC).
Little use of other more specific and systematic methods regarding both qualitative and quantitative traditions
was observed.
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For the qualitative case, very few studies declared explicitly the method of discourse or thematic analysis; this
method was mentioned in some studies but the data presented (some excerpts of discourse from the
electronic corpus justifying other quantitative data collected) leave the reader with doubts about the
rigorousness of the method application. Still with regard to qualitative methods, in at least two studies the
method chosen was “virtual or online ethnography” but the data collected (learning analytics, results from a
survey, discourse from forum and social media), the type of analysis and the interpretations (taking into
consideration the figures cast out by the survey and learning analytics) ignored completely the procedures
recognized within this research approach. In fact, an ethnographic research would require a deep exploration
of a cultural group (the learning culture in a MOOC) from the point of view of the subjects of the study.
Interviews, the analysis of critical incidents, sharing with the participants the meanings of their own
productions are frequent in an ethnographical study, but completely absent in the two MOOC’s studies
mentioned above.
For the quantitative case, the massive use of descriptive statistics is sharply contrasted with the sporadic use
of other types of statistical instruments like correlation, factor analysis and inferential statistics. This can be
interpreted as a consequence of the type of studies conducted (rather exploratory, instead of experimental),
and it is coherent with the fact that MOOCs are a nascent field of research. However, a tendency to “describe
cases” or “generate frameworks” to conceptualize the problem even if appropriate for a first phase, leads to
the recommendation to adopt more systematic approaches, both as design experiments or as controlled
experimentations. It is to be noted that only one out of the 57 studies analyzed implements a randomized
experiment to show the differences of effectiveness of videos in both traditional undergraduate courses and
MOOCs. The study concludes that the videos implemented in traditional courses were more effective than
those used in the context of MOOCs. Eight of these quantitative studies collect data using Learning Analytics
(LA) (Ferguson 2012), based on the tracking functions of the Learning Management System used. These data
mostly regard the online activities (clicks on specific resources, records of interactions, etc.). LA appears in
early works as well as in the more recent cases of scholarly literature. While there is one work (Bieke et al.
2014) addressing the way LA could be connected with specific theoretical constructs (Networked Learning) and
the operational implementation of them through a specific method (Social Learning Analytics) and specific
tools (Social Learning Analytics Tool), the other seven works tend to use LA as a method to provide “additional
information” regarding the frequency of interventions or interactions amongst participants. In these papers,
the connections between the constructs discussed (for example, collaborative learning or self‐directed
learning) where loose, and the data was not elaborated further than descriptive statistics.
4. Discussion
The evidence reported in the above section shows little variation with regard to the methodological
approaches and methods adopted along the period covered by our study. While the topic aligns with the two
periods mentioned by Ebben & Murphy, regarding the methodological concerns the evolution has been
somehow slower. To analyse the methodological developments in MOOCs research, we adopted Gorard’s
framework of the “full cycle of educational research” (Gorard 2004)(Gorard & Cook 2007) to classify the
papers analyzed. According to Gorard, the research cycle covers seven phases of development(reported in
Figure 4), from the acknowledgement of existence by the scientific community to the studies aimed at fine
tuning specific problems within the bigger picture, and the studies analyzing impact or technology transfer. As
Gorard explains:
“In this cycle, reviews and secondary analyses might appear in Phase 1, theory building and small‐scale field‐
work in Phase 2, etc., with smaller experiments being part of Phase 5 and full randomized controlled trial only
appearing once in Phase 6” (Gorard, op.cit, p. 319)
We classified the research works explored according to this framework, allocating the “theoretical” and
“conceptual” studies to phase 1; the case studies exploring phenomena without intervening to generate
experimental situations to the phase 2; the studies validating a design or an approach to the phase 3; the
design experiments (design‐based research) analyzing immediate impact to phase 4; the design experiments
that promoted cycles of trialing accompanied by small improvements and further analysis (intra‐subject
analysis), to phase 5, and randomized experiments (inter‐subject analysis) to phase 6. It was impossible to
assign any research to the phase 7. Figure 4 shows the distribution of works analyzed along the phases of the
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education research cycle. Figure 4 shows that the studies regarding Phases 1‐4 covered 89% of studies; and
within this, 50% was assigned to studies in the Phase 1 and 2.
These results roughly aligned with Gorard’s point: “We also agree that experiments are currently lacking in
education research practice writ large, and that most education research gets stuck in Phases 1 to 4. In other
words, it is stuck working towards a randomized trial that hardly ever gets done” (Ibidem).
It is valuable, in any case, the research works passing to the phase of prototyping and trialing (Ph4), which
encompass the analysis (on the basis of qualitative and quantitative data) of impact (on specific categories).
This is suggesting that that there is an evolution in the type of studies regarding MOOCs: in the near future we
will possibly witness research activities regarding several cycles of analysis of impact or experimental research
activity. However, we wish to highlight that we do not consider the “phases” in a hierarchical or linear way. A
robust methodology encompasses good research questions, addressing relevant educational problems, and
implementing the type of study that gives better answers to those questions. This means that an exploratory
study attempting to configure a research field, or a specific phenomenon within it, is as important as it is a
randomized experiment.
Figure 4: Distribution of the papers analyzed along the phases of the “full cycle of education research” (Gorard,
2004, p.319)
5. Conclusions
Educational research has been criticized and its results have been scarcely considered by policy makers and
practitioners (Shelton 2011). This may be due to the fact that it is a young discipline and it has a long way to
go, but if educational researchers want their voice to be heard the quality and trustworthiness of the studies is
of paramount importance (Gorard, op.cit). In this review of the literature about MOOCs the focus is on the
research methodologies used and several issues have been faced, such as defining the categories, classifying
the studies, and discussing the shortcomings in the evolution of the methodological debate within the
research in the field. The results of this study have been interpreted in the light of Gorard’s framework of the
“full cycle of educational research” and suggest that research on MOOCs is mostly collocated at the level of the
first four phases of such cycle. This isn’t a peculiarity of this field of research, but it shows that this area of
work faces two main and strictly related issues. The first one regards the need for a “methodological tuning” of
educational research methods to the field of online learning and, more specifically, to that of MOOCs; with the
aim of producing a more mature and extensive application of consolidated and systematic educational
research methods to the field of MOOCs. The second is the need for an evolution of the methodological
approaches under the pressure of the specific needs of this research field: an example of such evolution is
given by the intensive application of LA to face the problems raised by the need to analyse large amounts of
data about large cohorts of learners.
Regarding the first issue, it has been pointed out that researchers in the field of networked learning come from
several disciplines and professional fields (Conole & Oliver 2006). This is probably due to the fact that the field
of research is multidisciplinary as well as young, but is also likely due to the complex nature of the educational
problems under analysis in the case of MOOCs. In any case, the different scientific backgrounds and skills of
the researchers involved lead to different epistemological and ontological conceptions about the nature of
educational problems and the way these should be studied. This is, at the same time, a strength and a
weakness. It is a strength, because it allows to face a phenomenon (MOOCs) which is multifaceted and
multilevel, going from the learning and teaching processes, to its contribution to institutional development
and to the educational theory. It is a weakness, because it has led to gaps in the consistence of the research on
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MOOCs and hence it hinders the plausibility of conclusions. This entails that the methodological approach and
research methods should be carefully discussed and selected against the research question, taking into
consideration the methodological debates as well as the technical specificities regarding a method, namely,
digital ethnography. This is what we would call a process of “methodological tuning”. In connection with our
reflection about the diversity of perspectives in the field of MOOCs research, a further area of research could
be how the epistemological and ontological diversity amongst researchers collaborating in a research project
regarding MOOCs is acknowledged.
Regarding the second issue, we consider that the “methodological tuning” should not prevent the evolution of
the methodological approaches needed to tackle the research concerning MOOCs. The nature of the problems
faced is often rather new: large cohorts of students, very large amounts of data, new ways of learning
determined by unprecedented freedom of choice within the framework of courses that are online and open. In
other words, the research field of MOOCs has peculiarities that require the adoption of suitable and possibly
new methods with its practical as well as theoretical implications for the development of the research field.
This exploratory study leads us to suggest that MOOCs have evolved very fast as phenomenon as well as a
research topic; that the scientific community found equally quickly focus of research either theoretical and
empirical; but that there has been less concern regarding the methodological reflections. We are still
processing the data emerged from our review of literature: there are further issues that have not been dealt
with in the context of this article, like the issue of ethics and the use of public data without informed
consensus; further instantiation of connections between the research problem and the types of methods
adopted, as well as the robustness of such connections; the geographical areas covered by the studies and the
cross‐cultural concerns about the generalization of data, and so on.
These are research directions for the near future, to draw a picture of a body of scholarly literature relevant
for the educational community, and possibly for a broader audience.
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A Proposal for a Novel e‐Learning System for the Visually Impaired
Ahmed Rana1, Ibrahim Zincir2 and Samsun Basarici1
1
Computer Technologies Department, Yaşar University, İzmir, Turkey
2
Computer Engineering Department, Yaşar University, İzmir, Turkey
ahmed.rana@yasar.edu.tr
ibrahim.zincir@yasar.edu.tr
samsun.basarici@yasar.edu.tr
Abstract: According to World Health Organization (WHO), 285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired
worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision. It is a well‐known fact that for the visually impaired it is
not possible to access the information via drawings and figures, as there is no interpretation. In addition, it is not easy to
search through a passage for the relevant information as Braille takes much more time to read and finally a lot of
memorization is necessary in order to achieve success in life. As standard procedures and systems for education are not
sufficient for these people, a novel approach is necessary. The recent advances in information and communication
technologies (ICTs) have placed e‐learning at the front row of education methodologies for the disabled. E‐learning
applications and websites specifically designed for accessibility help to improve the quality of the education without
undermining the functionality and the usability. This paper first outlines the challenges and the shortcomings of e‐learning
schemas for the visually impaired and then proposes a novel touch screen application implemented via an effective and
interactive, user‐friendly e‐learning system.
Keywords: e‐learning, higher education, visually impaired, linear learning
1. Introduction
Today, even with the enormous advancements in technology, for people with any kind of disability, it is really
difficult to have a proper education. Although e‐learning brought new perspectives and chances to these
people, they only provide opportunities to a selected group. Standard e‐learning schemas and methods only
help the ones who can easily access and use computers but for the visually impaired people they are not
enough, and they cannot benefit of the rapid development of the ICT in the domain of e‐learning technologies.
This paper explains the challenges of e‐learning systems for the visually impaired people and then outlines a
new approach in order to overcome these problems. This approach implements a novel application specifically
designed for visually impaired students that work at touch enabled mobile devices using Android OS
(Operating System). This application inherits a unique perspective and enables an easy to use, intuitive and
effective implementation of e‐learning systems. It divides the touch screen simply to four main areas and then
whenever the end‐user touches the necessary section of the screen, the application responds via sound and
vibration depending on the action/impact required. In addition, the proposed application enables a visually
impaired person to simply draw the Braille letters over the touchscreen and once the gesture is completed, it
reads the letter aloud so that the user can go back and change it if it is necessary, or to continue to the next
one.
2. E‐learning systems for the visually impaired
Today, more than 1 billion people with disabilities are living in the world while approximately 150 million of
them are school age children and 19 million of them is estimated to be visually impaired (out of the 285 million
visually impaired worldwide) (Laabidi et al. 2013, Mokiwa 2013). It is really difficult to design a virtual learning
environment for visually impaired people since for them it is important how the information and its contents
are delivered and standard e‐learning approaches lack this perspective. A lot of development and research
have been done about e‐learning systems but most of them only analyses task‐oriented perspectives that lacks
any real interaction of the system with the end‐users (Butucea 2013, Mokiwa 2013). Task‐orientated approach
mainly improves the accessibility of a web‐based application in terms of its utility but never really improves
the usability. Web‐based applications are designed to serve a purpose. Basically all of these e‐learning systems
only provides the appropriate information/data to the student in an artistic and different way but never really
tries to apprehend or to measure whether the end‐user has really perceived the lecture in real time or not
(Basarici et al. 2012, , Zincir et al. 2013). Hence, a user centric design approach that focuses on an e‐learning
environment for disabled students is necessary.
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Ahmed Rana, Ibrahim Zincir and Samsun Basarici
People with disabilities may use special hardware or software for the computers such as screen readers,
alternative keyboards and speech inputs but even with these adaptive technologies accessing course materials
can be difficult. Email is widely used tool for the e‐learning even with the pupils, as it can be accessed by the
screen readers. Webpages are also a great source to deliver contents but it have to be designed accordingly as
screen readers can’t read graphics and translate videos. Webpages should have conformed accessibility
standards such as W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 or images should include
alternative text for screen reader users and videos should contain proper interpretation. Standard e‐learning
systems for the visually impaired users scan or read material by tabbing through the headings and/or viewing
all the links of a document. Hence, any e‐learning system designed and implemented without taking into
consideration of how screen readers work, can make it very difficult for the visually impaired end‐users to
understand what is really going on (Babu et al. 2013, Buzzi et al. 2012, Olufisoye et al. 2013, Taylor et al. 2012).
Once there are any spelling mistakes or a change of language at the same page screen readers have great
difficulty to deal with these challenges, since they do not really see anything on the screen but just use script
of codes in order to read the text in question. Also, because of their nature they are not capable of dealıng
with images. Finally it should be noted here that not everything on the Internet is designed by the software
developers via taking into consideration of visually impaired people.
There are plenty of utilities, which do provide some convenience specially finding a location using GPS
applications, reading newspapers, weather updates, radio scanning etc. and most of these utilities are
designed for a specific operating system platform which requires the users to buy a smartphone/tablet of a
particular brand. Our proposed application will be used on most commonly used operating systems and
available to all kind of smart phones and tablets free
Another method used in e‐learning systems for visually impaired people is voice recognition systems. These
systems can enable access to communication and learning, by making text synchronized with speech that will
then support a healthier virtual environment for the disabled users, according to (Butucea 2013, Suzuki et al.
2013, Wald 2008). Previous research proposes a probabilistic strategy approach of how these people use web
interfaces and claims that by defining a tree structure of web pages, visually impaired persons will have almost
a normal experience in using software testing platform (Hochheiser 2010, Butucea 2013). Still voice
recognition systems all by themselves are not capable enough to deal with many problems arouse for the
people with the disabilities and do not guarantee ease of use and accessibility (Babu et al. 2013, Basarici et al.
2012, Butucea 2013, Zincir et al. 2013).
In a successful e‐learning system, all features should work with or without mouse or any other input device.
Key pages layout should be simple and consistent, as this will also help students with low vision or learning
impairment (Babu et al. 2013, Basarici et al. 2012, Butucea 2013, Hochheiser 2010, Olufisoye et al. 2013, Zincir
et al. 2013). In addition, (Gross et al. 2013) states that implementing a multimodal interaction enables a much
more free and natural communication via interfacing users with automated systems in both input and output
and hence visually impaired users can utilize their “body‐sense” to find elements. In order to achieve an
efficient and successful virtual learning environment for the visually impaired people, a novel approach is
necessary which takes all these into consideration. It should be noted here that, when we talk about the novel
approach towards e‐learning actually we are emphasizing about the software side at the user‐end, not about
curricula or content delivery methodologies as it has been already a featured research. The proposed
framework that will be explained in the next section, therefore inherits a multimodal, task‐oriented, user‐
centric and constantly evolving structure. A side effect of this approach is also that it decreases the load of the
short term memory below the proposed seven plus/minus two chunks by Miller (1956).
3. Proposed framework
In this proposed framework, an application will be implemented over a mobile device with an interactive
touch screen (a tablet or a smart phone initially powered with Android OS, later IOS and Windows platforms)
that will inherit voice I/O and screen reader layout specifications as well as capacity to recognize touch screen
gestures. The initial startup screen will be divided into 4 sections containing 4 different set of programs where
the user will be able to navigate each section by clicking it once and then getting back a voice response (simply
name of that specific section). These 4 sections will be called Utilities, Email, Office Programs and D‐Box where
the D‐box section will be access point for the client side to the e‐learning program (Figure 1).
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Ahmed Rana, Ibrahim Zincir and Samsun Basarici
Figure 1: Startup screen
As the name suggests, D‐box (Distance Learning Box) will be the most important part of the application while
the other 3 sections will lead to the standard applications accordingly inside Android Ecosystem. Once the
visually impaired user double clicks any one of these sections, depending on the section, the application will
route to the next user‐friendly sub‐section.
Figure 2: D‐Box screen
For D‐Box section, the application will direct the client to the next screen where the screen will be again
divided into 4 new subsections; D‐Mail, D‐Doc, D‐Chat, and D‐Test (Figure 2). D‐Mail section will be the part
where the student will exchange messages with the system administrators, other respective stakeholders and
lecturers whenever it will be necessary. While D‐Doc section will be the part where online and offline contents
will be accessed (videos, audios, slides and documents related to the specific e‐learning courses), D‐Test
section will inherit sample questions and answers as well as time‐restricted mock‐up tests. Finally, D‐Chat
section will provide real‐time audio and video conferencing abilities with other students, lecturers and
administrators whenever and wherever it will be essential.
Figure 3: D‐Box keyboard 1
The e‐learning system will also inherit a keyboard module that will be accessible from any application installed
on the device. This module will inherit two different types of keyboards. The first keyboard will cover the
whole screen and again a single click over a specific region will activate the voice output describing what that
section will do while double click over the same region will enable the application to accept is as it is pressed
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Ahmed Rana, Ibrahim Zincir and Samsun Basarici
(Figure 3). This simple interactive keyboard layout will be used very easily by any end‐user with any capacity
since after a period of trails the locations of each letter and symbol will be effortlessly memorized.
The second keyboard on the other hand, will be different from the first one and will let the visually impaired
user to draw any letter from the Braille alphabet over the screen and then will recognize it by implementing
simple image processing algorithms (Figure 4). Once the letter is drawn the module will read aloud the specific
letter in question. It should be noted here that, at any time during the execution of any keyboard, the end‐user
will be able to easily change the keyboard type by double tapping with two fingers over anywhere of the
touchscreen.
Figure 4: D‐Box keyboard 2
To summarize in all of these sections, the e‐learning application will implement three main commands, a single
tap over the touch screen will make the application to read aloud whatever is touched or typed, a double tap
will make the application to execute the necessary command and thrice tap will make the application to go
back (to the previous section). In addition to these, the application will also let the visually impaired people to
navigate throughout the system by shaking and holding the device in different positions. Basically it will
implement accelerometer and gyroscope sensors so that once the required setting is activated, according to
the position of the device relative to the floor that the user is standing, lowering the top left of the device will
cause the system to read aloud the left top part of the four section/menu of the screen, e.g. Utilities at the
startup menu. After this if the device is shaken than the necessary action will be executed, e.g. the system will
navigate to Utilities section. Each time when the user goes into a sub‐section the screen will once again remain
the same as in four parts and execution procedure will be repeated similar to the main screen until the last
part is activated. Finally it should be noted that the proposed framework will inherit and implement the use of
Google TalkBack throughout the e‐learning system.
4. Conclusion and future work
This paper outlines the challenges and the problems in higher education for the visually impaired and
discusses the implementation of an e‐learning system which inherits a novel approach that will be
implemented over mobile devices powered by Android OS. The system is designed so that it will motivate and
support its users which will in return increase the efficiency and the feasibility of the education for the visually
disabled people. It is expected that this system will decrease the short term memory load of the users because
the system is designed in a way that eases its use with an intuitive interface. The interaction is based on more
or less natural behavior of its user. The consistency of the screens and the input/output methods make the
whole system easy to use and to access.
As this paper is meant to introduce a novel concept of computer usage for visually impaired people it is
obvious that future work will focus more on the implementation and test of the system. The implementation
phase has already been started and in progress. Partners in the field of educating visually impaired students
are supporting the system development with their knowledge and will also perform the tests after the system
is being installed. The proposed model and its implementation will also become a part of YES (Zincir et al.,
2013) where system integration process is also an ongoing progress.
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Can Wikis Exploitation be a Teaching “Promising Land” in Secondary
Education? A Complementary Teaching Tool in PROJECT Course in
Secondary Education
Eleni Rossiou
University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece
rossiou@uom.gr
Abstract: Wikis are mainly used in companies of software development for writing reports and documentations. In
education, wikis are mainly used for cooperative problem‐solving. It seems that wikis are widely promoted as collaborative
writing tools and gain in popularity in educational settings. Project is an obligatory course in first and second grade of
Lyceum School and it is a new research‐based course in Greek Lyceum curricula, since 2011‐2012. Teachers are assigned as
instructors and students choose one of the available topics of research according to their interests. Teachers suggest the
topics but the students as well and the final availability is defined in the teachers’ meeting. Doing “research” is a new issue
both for teenagers since research is new to their experience and for teachers since they are not used in supervising
research projects. During the previous school year 2012‐2013, teachers of the project “My city, you make my life…a
bicycle” decided to develop a wiki for interaction between students, students‐educational material and students‐teachers.
The main reason was the communication between students and coordination of the educational process outside the class
since the class hours had planned for outdoors activities aiming to experiential learning. Wikis aimed to help students
develop their skills in doing research through a collaborative process in the context of this innovative subject. The results of
our empirical research through observations, questionnaires and interviews showed that encourages students’
collaborative learning behaviour, it develops their motivations, attitudes and performance and it helps them to synthesize
their final research through e‐collaboration and wikis exploitation can be a “promising land” in Secondary Education since
it promotes students’ collaboration and skills development in group‐working, exchanging opinions and sharing material,
critical reflection and learning how to do a research.
Keywords: wikis, project, e‐collaboration, secondary education, teaching tool
1. Introduction
In most of the countries all over the world the continual increase of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) availability and the development of Internet access have led teachers to more frequently
design with an easier way their educational interventions and complement with e‐learning their teaching
process in the class or part of it (Herrington, Reeves & Oliver 2005). The concept of "blending” emerged after
the experimental implementation of e‐learning in various universities which gave an insight into its
potentialities and weaknesses (Aydin & Yuzer 2006). Blended learning focuses on active educational
techniques and increases the interactivity between students‐students and students‐teachers (Garrison &
Kanuka 2004). The traditional didactic process that is implemented in teaching in Secondary Education shows
weaknesses and this constitutes a significant reason for the difficulties that students face up (Gogoulou et al.
2008).
In Greece, since 2007 teachers are trained in using ICT in educational praxis and just the last year (since May
2013) teachers of ICT are trained for ninety‐six (96) hours training by trainers who had been trained for 380
hours a year before. This training is under the framework of the project “In‐Service Training of Teachers for the
utilisation and application of ICT in the teaching practice” of the Operational Programme “Lifelong Learning”,
NSRF (2007‐2013), which is being implemented with co‐funding from the European Union and the European
Social Fund, and it is the continuation of an older respective project “B‐Level in‐service training” which was
completed in 2008. It concerns an action of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs which has
undertaken to form a consortium of its bodies which is comprised of The Organisation of Teacher Training,
the Research Academic Computer Technology Institute (RA‐CTI) and the Pedagogical Institute (PI), and from
24/2/2012 the consortium has been reformed and includes the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP) (successor
of the project, after the Organisation of Teacher Training and the Pedagogical Institute, were shut down
according to law Ν.3966/24‐5‐2011), as final beneficiary and the Computer Technology Institute & Press
“Diophantus” (CTI “DIOPHANTUS”) (this is how RA‐CTI was renamed by law Ν.3966/24‐5‐2011), as scientific
partner (http://b‐epipedo2.cti.gr). One of the issues of the training course in use effectively WEB2.0 tools in
educational praxis. So, they create and implement educational scenarios that use Web2.0 e‐tools as blogs,
wikis e.t.c. and they focus not developing technical skills but in significance of digital literacy.
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Eleni Rossiou
The curriculum of ICT in Primary and Secondary Education does not aim only to increase students’ technical
and communication skills but mainly to motivate students by providing multiple learning opportunities. Wiki is
an appropriate Web2.0 tool that promotes collaborative learning and knowledge construction and information
through a continuous material enrichment and can support teachers’ teaching and learning design to achieve
their educational goals.
Recently, the educational community is interested in using web‐based collaborative technologies ad wikis in all
levels of education (Τselios et al. 2011). Wikis are better than other Web2.0 tools not in technical
characteristics but in communication and collaboration practices that can easily support (Ma & Yuen 2008). In
education, wikis can be used with three basic ways: sharing material, cooperative/collaborative document
production and public discussion (Karystinakis & Paraskeva 2013). It is a web2.0 e‐tool with which teachers can
support students’ learning, teach with an interactive way and involve students in a collaborative, creative
educational process. Students develop their creativity skills and especially skills on editing information, and
communication skills and they work in a community framework which make them more responsible and active
members of a group. Recently there is an increase on using wikis in the educational process. Teachers and
instructors recognize the value of wikis and they choose them in order to organize their courses.
The “Greetings from the World”, wiki, schools from various places cooperate and publish their experiences.
This wiki aims to students’ sharing of experiences and familiarizing themselves with characteristics of countries
that they have never visited (Greetings From The World 2011). They learn from and with their
peers. (http://greetingsfromtheworld.wikispaces.com/). A similar approach is the wiki that refers to different
cultures, natural landscapes and civilizations of various countries. Its aim is to encourage students to discover
the culture of their country and comprehend its position in the whole world and also to develop collaboration
skills (Metasaga 2011). Another wiki, with a more didactic approach was created and implemented in 2012 in
the context of the course of Algorithms in the last grade of lyceum school to students 17‐18 years old, in
Greece. The course of algorithms is a course that is examined in national level for students’ success in the
University. The aim of the wiki was to develop students’ skills in problem solving via collaborative activities.
Results showed that wiki encourages collaboration and develop students’ motivations, attitudes and
performance (Karystinakis & Paraskeva 2013).
The aim of the current paper is to investigate if wikis can be a “promising land” for teaching in Secondary
Education via promoting students’ collaboration, skills development in group‐working, opportunities for
exchanging opinions and sharing material, critical reflection and alternative way on learning how to learn and
do research. The research questions include: which are students’ preferences in wiki activities during the
course and which is the teacher/tutor role when wiki is used in teaching process? Also, it is evaluated the
technological environment and the educational methodology that has followed.
In the following sections, firstly the framework of the project course and the wiki benefits are posed briefly,
then the research methodology is described and the results of research are drawn and discussed. The last
section includes the conclusions according to wikis implementation in the Project course and some
recommendations for tutors in a wiki‐class and further research suggestions are described.
2. Wiki effect and the project course in secondary education
The literature shows that as far as students work in a wiki, they are introduced in the process of creating the
content of a webpage. They develop creative skills (Kear et al. 2010), especially skills of synthesizing
information and verbal expression and creative flexibility by accepting the others’ amendments (Neumann &
Hood, 2009). This perspective of creativity is an important point for students’ cultivation, not only in the class,
but also at the level of imagination and new meanings. The product creation and contribution increases the
sense of ownership and consequently their commitment to a common goal. In a wiki students are no longer
passive recipients of knowledge, but they produce it (Sanden, & Darragh 2011). This increases the
commitment they feel about the final product and the community created, increases the desire to help each
other and to protect the community (Neumann & Hood, 2009).A key feature is the "visibility" or
"transparency" that exists‐as opposed to traditional forms of learning‐enabling commenting and evaluating
products among community members. When working on a wiki, students synthesize and evaluate continually
their work. Therefore, gain experience and after some time become able to evaluate and judge more easily the
level of their work and to improve (Lai & Ng 2011). Finally, the development of students’ interpersonal and
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Eleni Rossiou
communication skills, especially consensus and compromise, in an environment where the outcome drives the
interpersonal problem solving are achieved. Also, favoured interactions between the students (Huang et al.
2010) and teachers, for example, are informal discussions between participants and keep students and
teachers connected and configure so sincere cooperative relations between them.
However, there are doubts if wikis can be used in teaching of different learning topics in Secondary Education
and especially in a research course. The “Project” course, or “Research work” course, named as project, is a
st nd
compulsory course and it is a part of the curriculum of the 1 and 2 Grades of Lyceum School in Secondary
Education. This course has firstly taken place during the school year 2011‐2012 in 1st Grade and in 1st and 2nd
grades during the school year 2012‐2013. Teachers are assigned as instructors and students choose one of the
available projects for doing a research, according to their interests. During the school year, students
participate in two projects (one per quarter) and the course is implemented for two consequent hours per
week and this course is not examined at the end of the school year but it is evaluated. The final
mark/evaluation is a combination of a) final artifacts (final document and construction), b) students
participation during the process of the course completion, c) the final presentation. Especially the final
presentation is taking place in an event that aims to familiarize students with their exposure in the public and
the management of public speech, but also to ensure quality and, above all, the authenticity of the work
(Matsaggouras 2011).
The research work in the context of the project course, follows the approach of decreasing guidance for the
common questions that have been configured in the plenary of the "group of interest ', because the guided
exploration has proven highly effective (Hmelo‐Silver, Duncan and Chinn, 2007). Relative to the above new
course research work (Kellett 2005; Exline 2004.), are referred to the educational significant of project course
as it:
stimulates students’ thinking, creativity and initiative \through direct and active involvement in all phases
of the research work,
increases the interest for individual courses, because students realize in practice the contribution of
taught courses in understanding the world and dealing every‐day problems and major issues of life locally
and globally,
engages students in thinking and the scientific method as the aim of education requires, in original
working conditions,
aims to develop reflection, critical thinking and self‐criticism and personal responsibility around human
choices and actions, the dominant norms, values and socio‐political and ethical dilemmas in modern
multicultural societies,
promotes collegiality and collaboration, as students within the research groups collaborate to study the
issues and develop common work with scientific background, by creating documents and construction of
various artifacts (construction, technology solutions , artistic creations , etc.),
creates channels of communication between school and the local community, its problems and
authorities,
considers issues at local, national and global level thus preparing students to think and act as responsible
citizens of their country and the world.
3. Research methodology
The blended learning course implemented in the classroom and outside of it, to nineteen (19) students of the
2nd Grade of the Experimental School of Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece (Protypo Peiramatiko
Scholeio Panepistimiou Thessalonikis, Greece) in the context of the Project course during the school year
2012‐ 2013. When the Project started and during setting up the “educational contract” the need of blended
learning was raised. The reason of this need was the Project requirements and the students’ needs and
preferences on both “learning by doing” and plan and implement outdoors activities with bicycles. Since
“research” was a new topic for teenagers and they were unexperienced on it, instructors of the project “My
city, you make my life…a bicycle” developed a wiki for interaction between students‐students, students‐
educational material and students‐teachers. The wiki aimed to help students to develop their skills in doing
research through collaborative activities in the context of this innovative subject. The objectives of the project
were to investigate a) the reasons that people do not use bicycle in their daily life although they were
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Eleni Rossiou
informed by different campaigns and b) teenagers’ opinions, positions and behaviours on using a bicycle. The
learning outcomes and expected results of wiki usage were: to promote students’ collaboration in developing
their skills in exchanging opinions and sharing material, reflecting, learning how to do a research. Also, it was
important to lead them to synthesize their final research document through e‐collaboration.
The research methodology that was followed to evaluate the exploitation of wiki in the project course includes
online questionnaires, interviews and discussion with the whole class. The return rate of the questionnaires
was 16/19 students and eight (8) students were interviewed similar key questions regarding: a) the main
reasons of their participation and their preferences in wiki activities in order to collect data on the knowledge
that they have gained and the factors that affected i.e. the collaboration affect in their learning, b) the easiness
of navigation in the wiki environment, c) the role of discussions in forums and chats and of collaboration in
large and in small groups, d)teachers’ role and characteristics and e) the educational methodology that was
implemented during the whole course with wiki usage. The evaluation of the blended learning course achieved
with a) the degree of students’ successful assessment and progress in the wiki environment, b) the students’
answers in the evaluation questionnaire and c) the teacher’s observation essay which is a paper that is written
after teacher has observed students’ action process in wiki per week and the Group Essay/Research report.
This report had to include literature review, research methodology, research results and conclusions. Also, in
Appendix students included a short report of their e‐diaries and description of their activities outside the
classroom.
The “Project” course in the Wiki space
Wiki is the tool that it was used as: a) announcements‐board, b) resources pool, c) communication channel
between students‐students, students‐teachers and students‐educational material d) forum for exchanging
opinions and ideas between students and place for solving queries, e) e‐space for organizing students’ work f)
place for providing feedback on students assessments, g) monitor on students’ work and their evaluation, i)
place to co‐plan and co‐organize group meetings in the class and activities outside the class j) e‐space for
evaluating project meetings and activities (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The project course in the wiki space
The technological environment that used was the pbworks (http://www.pbworks.com) due to its easy
students’ familiarization with it and the free of cost.
Firstly, students became members of the wiki and the tutors gave them the privileges of being able to change
almost everything in a page of the wiki, from the content up to the title and way of navigation in it. The wiki
content belonged to no‐one (ego‐less) since everyone was responsible for it and each student had to a) accept
the fact that someone else could change his/her material and b) have in mind this fact when he/she acts in
wiki place. Also, wiki was independent from time (end‐less) and could always be available and be developed in
timeline since users can change the content (Lamb, 2011). A very important element of the wiki was discussion
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of each group since all students had to contribute and also it could be a forum between students of each group
or between groups or between all students. In order to increase students’ responsibility, their membership
was not anonymous and all students could comment any new entry or material uploaded. Thus, all students’
actions in the wiki were clear and the history of actions could display any change in the wiki content. Although
change during the time were important the wiki of the project course was organized in thematic topics
(Engstrom & Jewett 2005) according the students’ obligations as it concerns assignments and final documents.
Each student was owner of a folder for his personal work and also co‐owner of the group folder (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Each student in the project course has three kinds of roles: as student himself, as member of a small
group (W1 or W2 or W3 or W4) and as member of a large group (W)
The difficulty in wiki administration was that as far as students could delete anything there was not case to
restore the deleted material. Also, since all users were registered with their email, they were informed via
email about any change, update in wiki. No written rules had been agreed in groups meeting as it concerns
students’ contributions and actions in the wiki. Students had not met difficulties in start using wiki and they
had the opportunity to participate, and collaborate although they were not at school and they did not have to
arrange meetings at particular time to complement their assessments. .
The main aim of the wiki usage was the content and not the appearance and this is the reason that its pages
seem as simple webpages without attractive graphics. The search tool in the wiki with keywords and the
different ways of navigations in it (starred pages, history, pages folder, menus links in wiki and outside of it)
made the navigation easier.
4. Results ‐ discussion
Many researchers support the wikis usage in educational praxis since the benefits provided are important for
learning and teaching (Tselios et al., 2011). The collaborative work via wiki promotes students’ active learning
(Yan, 2008). Although wikis exploitation are still an issue for researchers and there are opposite results, in this
section the results of the wiki usage in a project course shows that WIKIs exploitation is a “promising land” in
Secondary Education. But it is not a proof and it is necessary to experiment wikis in various courses and levels
of education.
All students of the project course participated willingly in wikis evaluation. Most of them are boys (75%) and
only one does not use computer at home and but this student uses Internet at school or other place (Net‐café,
etc). Students participated in wiki because it was asked by the teachers of the course (68,75%) and it was
necessary to fill their personal diary (68,75%) which was an assessment per week (Figure 3). Other reasons
were the continual updated about the project process and the plan for external activities (37,5%), the
possibility to communicate with teachers (18,75%), the process of solving queries or asking for help from
classmates or teachers (12,5%). As students explained in interviews they prefer to solve queries face‐to‐face at
school meetings.
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Figure 3: Reasons for students’ participation in WIKI
The traditional relations of power still exist in school community but the whole community has the same aims
and focuses to make them successful with wiki collaboration. The value of community is demonstrated in
Baltzersen (2010) research, and the focus is sharing, collaboration and the creation of a collective product
rather than competitiveness. So concepts of "special" ‐ "experience" ‐ "best" are degraded.
As it concerns the activities that took place in the wiki during the course, students prefer the activities that
refer to teachers’ explanation, to collaboration with classmates of their group and other groups as well (Figure
4). Other students’ preferences are: opportunity to discuss with classmates and teachers (43,8%), possibility to
find more educational material and resources (37,5%), ask and answer questions (37,5%), and presenting their
work to other students (37,5%). It is strange that students do not give high attention to teachers’ annotations
on their work and as they clarified in the interview this happens because they are not available during the
week due to their lessons that they do attend after school time and the commenting by teachers means more
hours for working on the one subject.
Figure 4: The most important wiki activities according to students’ view
The wiki allows learning in a more student‐centered and democratic process since anyone can participate, edit
publications, change or supplement texts directly (Ruth and Houghton, 2009). The results are visible to
everyone, so everyone can evaluate them, discuss and change. The process of discussion allows students to
form their own opinion based on the information processed by the community.
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At the end of the course students expressed their opinion about the necessary qualifications that teachers
should have in order to implement wikis during the educational process (Figure 5). They emphasized that they
have to be skilful in using ICT since wikis is a web‐based tool. Also, they have to have organizational skills
(62,5%) and skills on motivating students (62,5%). Almost the half of them (43,8%) believe that teacher should
know very well the research process since it is a process different to teaching process. They do need to be
aware about the research topic and provide help about the way of doing research and the appropriate
resources as well. Other important skills are considered: friendliness (31,3%), transferring of knowledge
(18,8%), rewarding students’ attempts (18,8%) and promoting students’ interaction (18,8%).
Figure 5: Wiki‐tutor qualifications according to students’ view
Students believe that it is very significant to be encouraged by their teacher not only to participate and be
active during the educational process but to be consistent in the Project course assessment (complete their
project work, fill in their digital diary weekly and be active in the wiki environment)The most important
characteristics for teachers are hierarchically: students’ motivation (43,8%), well‐organised (25%), foster
students’ interaction (18,8%), understand students’ needs (18,8%), knows very well the taught subject (Figure
6).
Figure 6: Wiki‐tutor qualifications hierarchically
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According to students’ opinion on educational methodology, they were asked to rate their participation as it
concerns the place that participated, the way of being implemented and the educational material provided. In
details it is not so important that they could participate from home (37,5%). The level of students’ satisfaction
on various parts of educational methodology is drawn in Figure 7.
Figure 7: Students’ opinion on Wiki activities
Almost the 70% of students feel satisfied a lot or enough on the encouragement and the opportunity of
discussing or exchanging opinion , one out of 8 students are a little satisfied and only the 6,23% of the students
are not satisfied at all. As it concerns both the opportunities of collaboration and active participation, and the
easiness of asking questions they are satisfied very much (25%) or a lot (37,5%) or enough (37,5%) and only
one student is not satisfied at all. The student who was not satisfied at all was the student who had not
internet access at home and according to his interview this had been the reason of his worry, anxiety and
dissatisfaction was the only one who had faced up difficulties on Internet access and completing the wiki
activities. The most of the students are very much (18,8%), a lot (37,5%) or enough (37,5%) satisfied from the
educational material available in the wiki environment. Students satisfied a little said that they had not had
time to navigate themselves through all the pages of the wiki and this means that they did not manage to read
through all the available educational material. As it concerns the frequency and the duration of their
participation in wiki activities (Figure 8), the most of them (56,3%) suggest once per week for one hour (75%).
Figure 8: Students’ preferences on duration and frequency on Wiki activities
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As it concerns the technological environment of the web2.0 e‐tool students evaluated the easiness of using it
as it concerns the discussions and solving queries, the updating of their personal pages and the process of
uploading files (Figure 9).
Figure 9: Students’ opinions on technological environment of WIKI
Almost three out of four students find the environment very easy (20‐25%) or easy (31‐44%) or easy enough
20‐44%) to use. The easiest part of the above activities is considered the process of uploading files.
5. Conlcusions and future plans
In this paper it is presented the blended learning approach via wiki which was implemented during the project
course entitled “My city, you make my life …a bicycle”. The project course is an obligatory course in Secondary
Education, it runs per semester and students do research. The exploitation of wiki supported interaction
between students, students‐educational material and students‐teachers and helped students to develop their
skills in doing research through collaborative process in the context of this innovative subject. Through wiki
teachers led students to synthesize their final research through e‐collaboration. The results of the educational
research showed that wiki encourages students’ collaborative learning behaviour and develops their
motivations, attitudes and performance. But there are still difficulties with students who have not Internet
access at home either because they are not PC owners or due to parents’ no‐allowance to use computer
instead of studying other lessons.
This blended learning course via wiki seems to offer big support to teachers to prepare their lessons of a new
course at school in a way that promotes interactivity, collaboration, group‐working and self‐controlled
studying. The wiki offered students the opportunity to synthesize their own diaries firstly and then their
project essays and familiarize themselves with distance and both self and group learning, with self and group
assessment and writing a text using language properly, with discussion, with uploading and submitting files to
Web.
Some more implications of the current empirical research on the Project Course include the teachers’ skills and
the way of wikis exploitation as it concerns the time, the activities and the educational methodology. In
details, teachers should be well qualified on ICT, encourage students on completing their assessments online,
and be aware on research process. As it concerns the time, the students’ availability is once per week for one
hour. Students’ preferences on activities are related student‐centered activities which promote interaction
between students‐students, students‐teachers and students material.
With wikis in research project courses, teachers can design their tutoring and re‐use their digital material,
support their students’ learning from distance according to their educational needs and follow educational
strategies suitable to their learning style. It is recommended to tutors to: a) organize the wiki environment
such as it will be easy navigated and effective in learning b) communicate via wiki frequently and promote
students to participate via posting question, opinion, work update, sharing information, c) monitor their
students properly and follow their activities in the wiki d) answer queries and questions and push students to
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continue when they feel stuck e) evaluate periodically the educational process and take seriously into
consideration students’ needs, suggestions or absence.
It is expected that the wikis exploitation in other project courses will give more recommendations on how
wikis can be used and also, wikis exploitation in various lessons may give important opportunity on learning via
social media in Secondary Education.
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The Memory of Links: A Consequence of ICT and Connectivism
Javier Sarsa
Dept. of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education of the University of Zaragoza, Spain
jjsg@unizar.es
Abstract: Every day we are selecting and storing contents in ICT devices which are intervening or will intervene in our
future knowledge acquisition. The relations established between our brain and different external resources also need to be
stored in some part of the long‐term brain memory. Under this premise, this paper defines and analyses the ‘Memory of
Links’ concept (MoL) as a consequence of the connectivism phenomenon. That implies the continuous memorization of
locations due to the creation of new connections with ICT devices permanently. The MoL is a part of our biological memory
specifically and deliberately used to remember the external location of a vast group of resources and some notions about
them. The resources themselves make up your linked or extended memory. So, this paper defines what the MoL concept is
and how it seems to work. We intend to show the existence of such MoL and its importance. The results of a questionnaire
applied to University students confirmed that each student must remember up to 10 different types of locations where he
or she stored important information. As regards the latter, some clear associations were identified in relation to several
types of resources (documents, photos, music and videos) which were predominantly stored in offline spaces (hard disks,
pendrives, smartphones...). It was also noticed that the organization, synchronization, centralization, maintenance and
periodical‐review habits were poor. Bearing in mind that nowadays there is an increasing part of the brain memory (MoL)
which is related to digital contents, it is urgently needed to reinforce some adequate habits to maintain the MoL active and
its linked external resources operative. Finally, we argue the MoL, as long as it is well managed, is essential for learning,
since it serves as a launching pad towards new knowledge creation. Therefore, the educational implications of the size and
quality of the MoL remain unexplored.
Keywords: memory of links, connectivism, extended memory, open learning, lifelong learning, hypermedia
1. Introduction
Since the advent of ICT a new difficulty has emerged. It is necessary to simultaneously manage a large set of
devices, the traditional and the new ones. And, above all, we have to cope with the complexity of indexing all
this information in the limited memory of our brain. Most of us use computers, laptops or smartphones as if
they were an extension of our biological memory. We store files on these ICT devices, such as documents and
e‐books, videos, pictures, speeches, music, maps, interactive applications, etc. Sometimes we only annotate its
address on the Internet (its URL). At the same time we continue preserving traditional media, i.e., data written
on paper (books, magazines, sticky notes, diaries…), to which we must often resort. We also keep links to other
links, or list of links, and to top it off, connections to the memory of other people ‐we dip into them to get
information we know they know, when needed‐. This huge quantity of associations is the result of many
different and combined processes which include search, selection and storage/organization of contents.
Considering the psychological point of view, at least we need to memorize and recall the locations where the
selected information is.
In this way, a part of our brain memory which we are calling the ‘Memory of Links’ (MoL) is continuously being
filled with connections to external resources, digital or not, which constitute a potential source to reach a
higher learning. The Memory of Links extends the concept of digital hypermedia to our biological memory. It
can be considered that our physical brain memory is used as the source of the hyperlinks which lead to
information we have already selected. Figuratively, a part of our biological memory becomes part of the
hyperlinked world. Moreover, our mind is able to rebuild links which have disappeared or are broken on the
Internet, thanks to the resources we stored in different devices, which are still present in our MoL and can be
retrieved following the path. Our memory acts as the nexus between the offline and online worlds. While
these associations between our memory and the external information are not broken and the resources are
available, we will be able to use them in a similar way to that information contained in our real brain memory.
Therefore, the contents addressed by our MoL constitute an extension of our brain memory, which is made
possible thanks to the memorization of links.
This phenomenon is gaining importance, because of the potential modifications it supposes to the way we
learn. “The Internet has become a primary form of external or transactive memory, where information is
stored collectively outside ourselves...” (Sparrow et al, 2011, p.776). “Our brains rely on the Internet for
memory in much the same way they rely on the memory of a friend, family member or co‐worker. We
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remember less through knowing information itself than by knowing where the information can be found”, said
Sparrow (2011). There is an intense debate to determine whether this facility (of having the resources only
one click away) is damaging learning. So, Carr (2008) wonders…, is Google making us stupid? He emphasizes
the results of a study whose conclusions indicated that online researchers typically read no more than one or
two pages of an article or book before they would ‘bounce’ out to another site.
Many processes of search and selection of information usually end with the storage and maintenance of the
information itself, or just bookmarking the location where that information is. The collections of links are
sometimes shared on bookmarking websites, like Delicious or Diigo. Content curation sites (like Scoop) have
become one of the most successful practices on the Internet. The greater the desire to acquire new knowledge
we have, the higher this need of linking external information is, whereas if there is no such willingness then
the phenomenon hardly occurs. If we consider the pedagogical field, this fact takes much more importance,
since a great part of our future acquisition of knowledge may depend on the maintenance of those external
resources which represent our extended memory. Do the linking and maintenance processes themselves lead
to a higher knowledge? Probably. But not all the collected information will turn into knowledge. For Ash
(1998), information will not become knowledge until it is processed by the human mind. Therefore, without
the necessary cognitive effort, a great part of our extended memory is abandoned or forgotten.
From our perspective, it is necessary to reveal the existence, structure and dimension of the Memory of Links
and the mechanisms to maintain these links operational as well as to manage them properly for facilitating
further learning. The strengthening of these links connected to external information actually means that we
are reinforcing the starting point to incorporate new knowledge. In other words, the development of habits to
create new links in our MoL, organize and review them, can act as a seed for a subsequent learning, getting
more advantage of the resources which have been already selected and indexed.
In this paper we are exploring the MoL concept, its dimension and the pedagogical implications of its
acknowledgement. Do students identify their own MoL? Do they maintain their MoL and linked resources?
How many devices do they use?
2. Background
Indeed, it can be considered that the linked external information is an extension of our memory, as Vanebar
Bush seemed to point in his conceptual design of the Memex (Memory Extended) machine. Memex was
planned for the user to store books, files… in the form of microfilms, which could later be retrieved with great
speed and flexibility. Memex innovation laid in the fact of establishing associations between information
nodes: “This is the essential feature of the Memex. The process of tying two items together is the important
thing” (Bush, 1945). It was the beginning of the hypertext concept. The design of Memex was ready to create
connections among information entities (he called them “explicit links”). However, Bush did not consider
whether these links were also established between the information and the memory of the individual. What
amount of links did learners choose to remember and where did they annotate them?
The MoL concept may also resemble to “society as distributed memory” (Roberts, 1964) or to “distributed
cognition” (Hutchins, 1995) concepts. Again, they are quite different to MoL. In the first one, Roberts
“characterized the cognitive properties of a society (its memory capacity and ability to manage and retrieve
information) by looking at what information exists, where it is located, and how it can move in a society”
(Hutchins, 2000, p.2). The second one, “distributed cognition”, was developed by Hutchins and has roots in
other psychologists (Vygotsky, 1978; Minsky, 1985). It supports the idea that cognitive processes occurs within
a social environment, e.g. interaction with other persons (Salomon, 1993).
A combination of both concepts has been named more recently as connectivism (Siemens, 2004). It points out
the changes brought by the information society. Connectivism is trying to gain a foothold among the learning
theories. One of its statements is that maintaining and nurturing connections is needed to facilitate continual
learning and that the “know‐where” is a key factor. Downes (2012, p.325) argues that “connectivism is the
thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections”. Connectivism does not emphasize the
importance for the individual of memorizing the links (MoL), neither of indexing, organizing and reviewing
them for the future learning. The MoL is a consequence derived from connectivism, but which implies
memorization by the individual.
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Connectivism is perhaps a derivation of previous learning theories (close to Ausubel’s anchorage idea) and
which can be explained from them. Verhagen (as cited in Kop and Hill, 2008) considers that connectivism is
unsubstantiated and not a learning theory but a pedagogical perspective. We stand out that this pedagogical
advantage would have to be with the ability to organize information in our MoL to obtain a higher yield of the
existing information in Internet. So, a part of our brain memory, the Memory of Links (MoL), is used for
keeping track of the locations where our most precious assets reside. That is why the MoL must be considered
an important psychological construct.
The MoL receives nourishment when we memorize the locations where the information is and simultaneously
we learn some notions about such information. It requires the permanent existence of the external
information itself, which constitute the linked or extended memory. Therefore the linked or extended memory
is composed of the real resources which potentially extend our cognitive schemes. These contents have been
previously found, selected and stored or indexed and must be easy to locate and quickly accessible.
Meanwhile, the rest of information available on Internet is unknown for us (if we do not know the existence of
certain information, it cannot be considered as belonging to our MoL neither to our extended memory).
For Gray et al (2006), when we try to measure the trends to choose between the internal memory and the
information stored in external devices, individuals draw upon one or another store depending on the time
which is supposed for retrieving the information, regardless of where it is. That is, individuals will resort to
external resources if they think the seeking process is quicker than to obtain them from their memories.
However, we state that a more important factor to consider is if users master the information or only have
notions about it. The use of external resources is fundamental as long as individuals do not have knowledge or
little certainty on the matter. So, the factor ‘mastery’ would prevail over the factor ‘time’ until a sufficient
competence would be reached.
Furthermore, some recent studies claim that when apprentices have certainty that the information is available
on some device (e.g. Web), they do not need to memorize it so much as if it was not stored. They remember
the place where it is but not the information itself. The experiments conducted by Sparrow et al (2011) found
that people are less likely to remember information when they are aware of its availability on online search
engines. Indeed, Web pages have offloaded memory demands from our brain but they have created the new
exigency to save the reference to the location of the information in our memory. That is why we must pay
additional attention to keep and organize the links and notions in our MoL.
3. The ‘memory of links’ and ‘extended memory’ concepts
As it is mentioned before, the MoL is the place of our biological memory used to store the location of
important information we like to have at our disposal and, as minimum, some notions about this information.
Each one of these link‐notion pairs is connected to our external selected resources. The group of resources
themselves, digital or not, constitute our linked or extended memory.
The links in the MoL may be strong or weak, depending on the degree in which we remember where the
information is. A link would be weak when we have no certainty of the location of the resource or when we do
not know if it still exists. Of course, our MoL can forget any of its links. A typical example of this situation
occurs when we do not remember anything at all about a document we kept a long time ago. We do not even
remember having saved it. But, one day, we find it by chance and recognize it. Then, we internally rebuild the
link and it becomes part of our MoL again. This phenomenon was referred by Atkins (2001) as ‘spreading
activation’. It allows the strengthening of the links and, maybe, can help to recover other links also forgotten.
Anderson (1983) claimed that the first contact with an element creates a trace in our memory with the
strength of one unit. Each subsequent contact would increase its strength, and according to the fortress, the
likelihood and speed of information retrieval would increase. This strengthening process has been named as
‘consolidation’ (Nelson and Gilbert, 2005). This finding is also used in distributed learning processes enhancing
relational memory consolidation (Litman and Davachi, 2008). In the same way, the periodical review of links
could serve to reinforce them.
The group of locations, stored in our biological memory (MoL) can lead to folders, documents, browser
bookmarks/URL, social network profiles, contact’s comments, digital resources in desktop or mobile devices,
and also notes in diaries, post‐it, lists, etc. A link in the MoL can point directly to a document (it would be a first
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level link; for example a PDF document about “solar energy” inside a pendrive) or to a set of resources (e.g. a
folder containing bookmarks about “solar energy” in a browser; they would be second level links). At least two
links are necessary to reach a resource in the second level. We would need to retrieve from our MoL the folder
location and find the bookmark needed.
On the other hand, we need to have some notion about the resources we are going to retrieve. The notions
can be intense or vague, depending on the level of knowledge on the linked resources. The link will be also
considered as weak whether the notions or rudiments we have about the external linked resource are null or
when we have only vague notions about it.
The ‘Memory of Links’ model has been illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Conceptual representation of the MoL as a part of the brain biological memory and its connections
with external information (linked or extended memory)
Unlike what happens when the information is in the biological memory, in order to reach external information
starting from the MoL three steps are needed: first, we have to remember that some time ago we stored a
specific piece of information about a topic (this is the notion); second, we remember where it is stored (the
link); and third, we need to access to it (in the extended memory, e.g., a pendrive, a URL…). On the contrary, to
retrieve data from the biological memory only the last step is needed, i.e. to retrieve the information from the
long‐term memory moving it to the working memory. Both situations have been rightly exposed in Otto and
Inga case (Menary, 2010, p.10): “Otto has to remember that the relevant information is in his notebook before
looking it up. Inga, by contrast, just remembers where the address is”.
The linked information, which constitutes our linked or extended memory, is those targeted by the first level
or subsequent level links. It can be stored anywhere, like in hard disks, pendrives, virtual disks (Dropbox,
Google Drive…), phone memory cards, mailboxes (Hotmail, Gmail…), bookmarks (in different browsers and
computers), blog entries, printed books and documents, social network contacts, the memory of physical
people, DVDs… or in several of these places at the same time.
With so many resources, the MoL can become oversaturated early. The claim which says we only use a 10% of
our brain capacity was revealed to be a myth (Beyerstein, 1999; Radford, 1999). By contrast, the memory of
an adult is saturated. An adequate organization of the internal links (MoL) and extended memory (i.e. the
linked information itself) make easier the quick location and recovery of knowledge, enabling greater
efficiency in the management of time. The periodic review of links, the notions and the verification of the
existence of the information allow the strengthening of the associations (consolidation) and provide a starting
point to reach a greater knowledge.
4. Method and results
A questionnaire was applied to university students (n=96) with an average age of 28 years. They were studying
a degree on education. Firstly, the questionnaire had been successfully applied to three pilot participants.
After its application to the sample, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the whole set of items and individuals
was 0.78, which is considered enough.
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Through a set of items, we asked them questions related to their MoL and extended memory. The main
questions intended to find out how many devices they were using to store their information and how
intensively. Before that, the students were stimulated to dump their MoL, or at least an approximation to it,
writing it on a paper list. They also were encouraged to think what types of resources they usually stored or
bookmarked and if they considered that those were an important part of their extended memory.
As a result, the students acknowledged to use a large group of different storage devices. The bar height (Figure
2) indicates the average number of locations in which students store their information. For example, each one
was using 2.2 pendrives/memory cards (mean=2.2; mode = 2). This is the most common device and all the
students said to use at least one of those. However, some students regularly used up to 6 pendrives/memory
cards.
Following pendrives, the preferred places to store information were email accounts (mean=1.8; mode=2).
Social network accounts, especially Facebook and others, were in the third place (mean=1). Mode was zero
because many students did not have social profile whereas others had between 3 and 5 social profiles in which
they stored information (sd=1.4).
Next positions were for desktop computers, laptops, lists of bookmarks (the item asked for the number of
browsers in which they had bookmarks), smartphones, paper diaries, external hard disks, personal virtual hard
disk (cloud storage spaces), digital spaces shared with other people and, finally, other devices (e.g. ebook
readers).
Figure 2: Average number of locations that the students were using as their extended memory (these locations
contain the resources to which their MoL is pointing to). CD/DVD media were excluded because of
the presence of many outlier data
In total, the average number of locations used by the students was close to 10 (mean=9.5; sd=3.6). Therefore
each student must, as a minimum, remember 10 locations where he or she has stored important information.
Of course, within these locations, multitude of folders, mailboxes, pages, lists… may exist. These holders have
also to be memorized in the MoL, as well as the notions about the specific documents. That means that the
amount of digital objects to be remembered in their MoL is huge.
The survey tried also to determine this quantity. We admit that it is really difficult to calculate an
approximation of the total number of resources (digital objects) of each type from the data gathered. The data
provided by the participants were matched with the real ones for a small random sample of individuals (n=10).
They were interviewed and it was decided that the provided data were not accurate. That means that the
students provided us with data usually eyeballed, for this variable. The interviewed students brought their
laptops, pendrives and smartphones. They were asked about the number of files and folders in their devices as
well as in their social profiles, browser bookmarks and folders in their email accounts. It was revealed that all
of them did not were able to recall how many folders and files they had. Their answers were dozens or even
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hundreds of units of distance from their questionnaire answers. During the in‐person exploration of their
stored resources some students were surprised to discover contents they had forgotten to have. In respect of
text documents, several students declared to ignore the theme of a lot of documents. That reveals the lack of
control on our MoL and the weakness of some links and notions.
Despite these findings, the surveyed participants affirmed to have evidence of all or almost all contents they
kept and a very or good enough organization of the information (77%). We can here check their over‐reliance
on this matter.
Some questions were made in respect of organization, centralization, synchronization, maintenance and
periodical review of resources.
Organization: the most part of students (mean=92%) did not know about bookmarking sites like Delicious
or Diigo. A 94% did not use information organizers (like Evernote or OneNote) neither passwords
organizers (like LastPass). Therefore, their habits to keep their external information organized were
reduced to maintain a files and folders structure shared out among different devices.
Centralization: Students did not have their information centralized. They used an average number of
locations close to 10. In spite of this, almost 88% of students did not have a list of these places; they relied
on their internal MoL to remember where the information was.
Synchronization: Only a 2% is using applications to synchronize their resources among different
repositories and devices. They maintain structures of files repeated in different devices but these
structures do not necessarily coincide in versions or number of files.
Maintenance: They do not protect conveniently their extended memory, since they said to have backups
of only a few things. A scant 10% of students claimed to have backups of everything and 33% of almost
everything
Periodical review: Only a 45% said to resort to the stored information frequently, which means many of
them (55%) usually “store and leave behind”. And only a 10% reveal to dedicate some time periodically to
sort their resources. This reviewing task is important in order to strength the notions over the information
(when the mastery is reached it is supposed the user does not need the link so often).
When they were asked to identify how much intensive the relation between ‘storage devices’ and ‘type of
resource’ was, they evidenced a strong association between smartphones and personal data, and between
folders in desktop or laptop computers, and photos, music and videos. Text documents were stored in
computer folders, pendrives and email accounts. Figure 3 shows the complete data, without distinction among
documents used to learn and those for leisure.
Figure 3: Intensity of relations between ‘storage locations’ and ‘type of resources’
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5. Discussion
The study reveals that the digital locations used by the individuals are diverse and their organizational habits
poor. But, how much importance should be given to the development of organizational habits? The way we
organize our extended memory could influence how good and quickly we learn. The reason is that the
extended memory, together with the brain memory, constitute a single meaningful unity. We resort to one or
other of these memories indistinctly. The management of the associations between our inner MoL and the
external locations and resources is essential. It requires self‐discipline and a constant reviewing and screening
of these associations. However, it seems that the individuals do not explicitly acknowledge the importance of
such extended memory.
That justifies the need of organization, but there is no software able to organize everything. For the external
resources, the introduction of a systematic mechanism to sort them into categories would be enough. But
usually they remain scattered. The synchronization among the places where the resources are stored
(browsers, tablets, smartphones, notebooks, people’s mind, etc.) is complex. Some of them are network‐
connected but others are isolated. In respect of centralization, the significance that some tools have acquired
(Delicious, Google Bookmarks, Diigo for bookmarks or OpenID, LastPass… for passwords) reveal the need to
freeze our memory overload. They allow saving URL, making categories, annotations, sharing bookmarks,
archiving the information (so avoiding volatility problems), etc. In recent years it has also emerged a bunch of
software to synchronize folders, calendars, email accounts, contacts, etc., especially with mobile devices.
Note‐taking has become easier with the use of tools like Microsoft OneNote, Evernote, Catch Notes and others,
which represent a great advance. But again, even though these tools are very helpful, they definitively are not
a panacea. The problem is far to be solved because applications do not have the ability to synchronize all
devices and types of information.
In order to properly manage and keep fit our MoL, some recommendations have been identified:
The creation of indexes or categories. Being organized is a matter of creating effective systems for
routinely handling different types of information and everyday situations that require memory (Nelson
and Gilbert, 2005).
The offloading or copy of the MoL to a list (list of locations). It can freeze brain memory space. So, the list
location will be the only place to remember, if needed. Centralization software is really useful for
offloading the MoL.
The frequent review of the MoL to strength the links and improve the notions we have about the linked
resources. Maybe some links are not lost but its strength may wane (Anderson, 1983). Repetition helps to
encode information by forcing you to pay attention to it (Nelson and Gilbert, 2005).
The MoL updating. Thus, discarding from our MoL associations which are already broken or useless. This
can be particularly complicated when links are very strong. Sometimes the MoL links are still there but the
external resource in the extended memory is already disappeared.
The MoL growth, fostering the inclusion of new topics, with the aim of extending our learning horizon.
6. In conclusion
In this document, we are admitting the existence of an internal Memory of Links (MoL) composed of a
collection of links and notions about the linked information. These links lead to external resources which are
frequently saved on ICT devices. These resources constitute our linked or extended memory.
The creation and maintenance of links and notions (MoL) is an essential starting point for the generation of
new learning, considering the knowledge society we move in. This would nowadays mean that, in case of the
inexistence of such MoL (or of an empty MoL), the scope and pace of learning would be limited. But, on the
contrary, an increasing MoL can lead to new inquiry and inquisitiveness.
From our questionnaire it has been extracted the conclusion by which the MoL, in the analysed group of
students, is composed of links to any kind of resources, distributed in a group up to 10 devices or sites. It
seems that the students have strong links related to those contents which have an immediate and explicit
usefulness for their youth interests (photos, music and videos) and to text documents which are in the range
of their current studies. It is difficul to know the exact quantity of resources indexed by their MoL.
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Statistics reflect the confidence that respondents have in their MoL (locations and notions). But there is a lack
of organization protocols, for example using lists, and an absence of a systematic process to make backups of
the resources. We stress that teachers have the responsibility to recommend their students to keep their
extended memory resources ordered, locatable and updated.
As future directions we would like to stress the need that students become aware of the importance of their
MoL and its maintenance. We stress that one of the main tasks for the instructors should be the discovery of
new digital contents and repositories of resources for their students. And we pose one question to be clarified
in the future, is it the incorporation of new links to the MoL itself a way of learning?
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Cambridge, MA.
444
Understanding and Utilizing the Effectiveness of e‐Learning: A
Literature Study on the Definitions, Methodologies, and Promoting
Factors of e‐Learning Effectiveness
Signe Schack Noesgaard1, 2 and Rikke Ørngreen2
1
The Universe Foundation, Sønderborg, Denmark
2
ResearchLAB: IT and Learning Design, Dep. of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg
University, Copenhagen, Denmark
ssn@learning.aau.dk
rior@learning.aau.dk
Abstract: A structured search of librarian databases revealed that the research into the effectiveness of e‐Learning has
heavily increased within the last 5 years. Taking a closer look at the search results, the authors discovered that researchers
define and investigate effectiveness in multiple ways. At the same time, learning and development professionals within
public and private organizations are increasingly met with a demand to prove the effectiveness of their learning and
development initiatives. This paper investigates the concepts of effectiveness in e‐Learning. It broadens the definition of
effectiveness and qualifies certain measurements of same. Preliminary results from a literature study and an empirical
investigation of ‘the effectiveness of e‐Learning’ for science teachers (K12) are combined. The paper discusses the
following research questions: How is the effectiveness of e‐Learning defined? How is the effectiveness of e‐Learning
measured? What makes e‐Learning solutions effective? The literature study entailed a structured search of literature,
which left the authors with 761 relevant abstracts from journal articles. The sorting criteria were that the articles’ topics
were on the effectiveness of e‐Learning within adult learning contexts, and that the articles were based on an empirical
study. The selected abstracts are currently being coded and analyzed in detail. Although this literature study is still a work
in progress, the authors have already discovered 19 distinct ways to define effectiveness. The findings indicate that
effectiveness is defined as ‘learning outcome’ in 41 % of the articles. Moreover, the most common way to measure the
effectiveness is clearly through quantitative methods and a pretest/posttest‐setup is most commonly used. An empirical
study of an e‐Learning solution for science teachers (K12) brings valuable elements into the discussion of the findings of
the literature study. The empirical study suggests that it is difficult to turn e‐Learning into improved teaching performance,
as the participating teachers for instance apply several strategies to avoid substantial changes to their work practice.
Furthermore, the study shows that solely measuring on the fulfilment of pre‐defined learning objectives as effectiveness
parameters, disallows developers and researchers to see unexpected and unintended transfer to practice based on the e‐
Learning program. Finally, the research brings valuable input to the discussion of the validity of self‐assessments suggesting
that participants are able to report on their own practices provided certain qualitative survey approaches. Understanding
the many ways to define effectiveness can help learning and development professionals reflect on their practices and thus
better target their measuring efforts to counting what counts for them and their stakeholders.
Keywords: effectiveness, e‐Learning, adult learning, literature study, definition, measurement
1. Introduction
The research into the effectiveness of e‐Learning has increased heavily within recent years. This is due to
primarily the growth in technological possibilities for IT and learning, as well as an increased political and
organizational attention to “what works” in learning. Figure 1a, reflects the total of 761 papers in our search,
and Figure 1b reflects 111 intensively coded abstracts (details in the methodology section below). The number
of papers decreases in the year 2013, because the structured search took place beginning October 2013.
Consequently, not all papers published in 2013 are included.
In the following analysis, the authors investigate the effectiveness definitions and measures applied by
researchers. This paper is structured around the three research questions: How is the effectiveness of e‐
Learning defined? How is the effectiveness of e‐Learning measured? What makes e‐Learning solutions
effective? Hence, the aim of this literature study is to create a structure of the research within the field to
understand the characteristics, tendencies, and connections between the applied concepts.
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Figure 1a: Number of published papers per year
Figure 1b: Number of published papers with abstracts coded per year
1.1 The literature study ‐ methodology
When searching for systematic reviews and meta‐studies on the effectiveness of e‐Learning several are found
within health care and language learning. These reviews do, however, primarily include quantitative studies
based on certain criteria, such as sample size (Veneri, 2011), transparency in statistical numbers provided
(Grgurovic, Chapelle, & Shelley, 2013; Means, Toyama, Murphy, & Baki, 2013), or homogeneity of respondent
and predefined outcome measures (Rosenberg, Grad, & Matear, 2003). Only one meta‐review related to the
literature study of this paper was found. This included both qualitative and quantitative studies in an
integrative review evaluating student outcome of distance learning in the nursing education literature
(Patterson, Krouse, & Roy, 2012).
The quantitative meta‐reviews found aim to document the effectiveness of e‐Learning, i.e. consolidating the
data of a number of quantitative studies to understand if e‐Learning is effective. The mixed method meta‐
review mentioned above, describes the state of the research, explains how the studies evaluate different types
of outcomes, and discusses different aspects of learning effectiveness. This is somewhat similar to the
intention of the present paper, which also applies a mixed method methodology. However, in here a much
larger amount of research articles is brought into play due to broader selection criteria. Hence, this paper is
not concerned with re‐investigating how effective e‐Learning is, but with understanding definitions,
measurements, and promoting factors of e‐Learning effectiveness.
The authors conducted conventional subject searches in 30 academic databases (In J‐stor, Scopus and
Proquest (28 databases)) on the effectiveness of e‐Learning in adult contexts as per below (Table 1). All fields
of research were included in the searches as e‐Learning can be created to support any subject and may thus
appear within any of these. The searches only included articles in English and where possible only peer‐
reviewed journals were included. Please note that the chosen synonyms for ‘effectiveness’ include ‘transfer’
and ‘application’. This may have placed extra emphasis on finding articles defining effectiveness as such.
The searches initially revealed close to 1000 articles. A rough sorting of articles, which excluded articles clearly
irrelevant to the subject brought down the number to 761. If the paper contained an empirical study on the
effectiveness of e‐Learning, and the e‐Learning solution under investigation was targeted at working
professionals or students within professional or higher education, then the abstracts were carefully coded and
analyzed in great detail (using Nvivo 10). When doubts about relevance or coding of the abstracts surfaced, the
two authors discussed the specific abstract, decided on the best coding, and documented the learning from
the discussion in a shared document.
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Table 1: Applied search string
effect* OR transfer* OR applica* OR impact OR outcome*(search title)
AND
“e‐Learning” OR e‐Learning OR online OR web‐based OR “web based” OR technolog* OR WBT OR WBL OR
blended OR Internet OR Distance OR CBT OR CBL OR distance OR Computer OR mobile OR simulation* OR “social
media” OR “community of practice” OR game* OR gamification* (search title)
AND
learning OR training OR education OR development OR “competence development” (search title)
AND
adult OR “competence development” OR lifelong OR profession* OR employe* OR worker* OR “further
education” OR master OR business* (search abstract)
NOT Children OR Child OR kids OR Youth OR “Technology transfer”(search anywhere)
Before the coding began, a rough coding scheme was created based on the research questions, which entailed
parent codes (named ‘nodes’ in NVivo) like ‘definition of effectiveness’, ‘research question’, ‘research
methodology’, ‘subject area’, ‘audience’, ‘theories applied’, ‘technology applied’, ‘ key findings’ etc. The
detailed coding tree was, however, created through in‐Vivo‐coding, a grounded approach, where codes are
added as the analyses reveals relevant factors and by applying the original statement of the source as code
name (Harry, Sturges and Kingner 2005). In addition, new sub‐nodes are continuously being created as new
definitions, new findings of effectiveness factors, new technologies etc. appear in the abstracts.
Currently 224 abstracts have been carefully read, and 111 of these papers lived up to above criteria and have
been coded in detail using the above mentioned method. These abstracts have been chosen randomly, and
not alphabetically to avoid cultural influence due to local spelling of surnames.
The below results are based on the coding of the 111 abstracts.
1.2 The empirical study – bringing context into the literature study
The research question of the empirical study is if, how, and why an e‐Learning program for science teachers in
the Danish elementary schools (K12) works in practice. Thus, the empirical study lives up to the criteria of the
literature study as it focuses on the effectiveness of e‐Learning for working professionals. This empirical study
is brought to play as it exemplifies some of the challenges highlighted by the literature study.
The solution and the learning design is a competence development initiative on the natural science teaching
methods. In this project, effectiveness is understood as the transfer of learning, which positively impacts
teaching practices. The e‐Learning solution was investigated intensively from February to June 2014 with 7
teachers at three Danish elementary schools.
The data gathering method entailed extensive in‐class video‐recordings and observations. The researcher
recorded the teaching and used a mobile ethnographic approach, i.e. the teachers had a small camcorder
attached to their neck, which enabled the researcher to view the teaching from the teachers’ perspective. This
data consists of approx. 120 hours of in‐class video recordings and 100 pages of observation notes. Secondly,
the researcher had reflection‐sessions at the three schools with 2‐3 teachers at a time before and after the e‐
Learning. These sessions were inspired by the mind tape/retrospective interview methodologies (as in Kumar,
Yammiyavar, Nielsen 2007). Thirdly, the teachers’ interaction with the e‐Learning including their preparation
for classes was recorded through Camtasia; a software that allows for both recoding the screen, mouse
movements, and a picture‐in‐picture setting of the user. Here the think‐aloud approach was applied (Nielsen,
Clemmensen & Yssing 2002). This data consist of approx. 25 hours of video recordings and 40 pages of
observation of teacher interaction with the e‐Learning. Finally, the teachers responded to a satisfaction survey
immediately following the conclusion of the e‐Learning as well as a pre‐survey shortly before initiating the e‐
Learning and a post‐survey approx. one month after completion of the e‐Learning. The latter will be repeated
6 mounts after completion. This final data consist of 28 responses to the surveys of approx. 20 questions each.
The approach to gathering empirical data was specifically designed to capture some of the complexity,
possibilities, challenges, and actual realizations of impact on teaching practices – expected and unexpected. In
the following the preliminary results of the empirical study is included when they provide valuable input to the
research questions of this paper.
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2. How is the effectiveness of e‐learning defined?
In the literature study approx. one third of the abstracts are currently coded; still, as many as 19 different ways
to define effectiveness has been located. These are listed below in chronological order with the definition
most used at the top. Table 2 refers to 92 papers of the 111 currently coded. The remaining abstracts did not
state the target audience and are therefore not included in this table.
The individual numbers under the 19 definitions amount to 170 and not 92 papers. This is because a set of
definitions is often used to investigate the effectiveness of an e‐Learning solution, for example several papers
use both ‘learning outcome’ and ‘satisfaction’ as part of their effectiveness definition (fx. Harrington & Walker,
2009; Jung, Choi, Lim, & Leem, 2002; Maloney et al., 2011). The numbers of this list is continuously changing as
the study proceeds, though the clearest tendencies is expected to stay relatively stable, as these have not
changed significantly in the latest abstracts reviewed.
Table 2: Definitions of effectiveness divided by adult learning context
Work related
Total
Higher education learning
Number of papers: 52 40 92
Distribution of papers:
Learning outcome 29 9 38
Transfer (application to practice) 3 15 18
Perceived learning, skills, or competency 11 6 17
Attitude 8 3 11
Satisfaction 8 3 11
Skills acquired 5 5 10
Usage of product 4 5 9
Learning retention 4 4 9
Completion 0 5 5
Motivation and engagement 3 2 5
Organizational results 0 5 5
Application to simulated work practice 0 4 4
Self‐efficacy 0 4 4
Confidence 1 2 3
Cost‐effectiveness 1 2 3
Connectedness 1 1 2
Few errors 2 0 2
Raised Awareness 0 2 2
Success of (former) participants 1 0 1
Undefined effectiveness 10 2 12
57 % (52/92) of the papers are within higher education. Within this field, the most prominent definition of e‐
Learning effectiveness is clearly ‘learning outcome’ with 56% (29/52) of these papers applying this definition.
Within work related learning the most used definition is ‘Transfer (application to practice)’ with 38% (15/40) of
the papers within the field applying this definition.
‘Learning outcome’ refers to participants showing signs of new understanding stemming from the e‐Learning
initiative. ‘Learning outcome’ is of course a broad definition, but often in the abstracts of higher education, the
definition is clarified in terms of measurements, for example: “Student learning measurements included: pre‐
test, final examination (post‐test), and final letter grade.” (Boghikian‐Whitby, & Mortagy 2008).
Within the field of work‐related learning, the actual application of learning or performance of employees is
essential. For example in a study on teachers' technology competencies, it was not ‘knowing about’, but the
actual “integration of computer activities with appropriate inquiry‐based pedagogy in the science classroom”
that constituted effectiveness (Angeli 2005).
It is, however, interesting that ‘Transfer (application in practice)’ is sometimes evaluated through the
participants’ self‐assessments: “Outcomes were measured across levels 1 to 3 of Kirkpatricks hierarchy of
educational outcomes, including attendance, adherence, satisfaction, knowledge, and self‐reported change in
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practice” (Maloney et al 2011) and “A follow‐up questionnaire showed that two‐thirds of those who viewed the
program had subsequently reviewed the performance data for the initial wire they were using and 20% had
changed it.” (Marsh et al 2001). This brings into light the discussion of whether or not it is possible for learners
to assess own transfer, i.e. if people say what they do, or if researchers, managers, peers, or learning
professionals also have to observe what is actually done.
On the other hand, since much attention in the learning literature is given to engagement and motivation as
necessary factors for knowledge gain and learning transfer, it is surprising that only 5 papers include these
aspects in their research (Table 2).
Some papers investigate the interrelatedness of more aspects of effectiveness, such as the relation between
learning outcome/retention and behavior. As an example, Hagen et al. (2011) found that “…the effects of the
intervention on security awareness and behavior partly remains more than half a year after the intervention,
but that the detailed knowledge on information security issues diminished during the period.” Such a study
challenges the idea that behavior change can be measured through learning retention.
Table 2 also shows that the abstracts within higher education operate with few definitions besides ‘learning
outcome’ while the papers within work related learning to a larger extent apply the great variety of definitions.
This could be because universities work with performance requirements that primarily revolve around
examination grades and completion rates, leading to measures of effectiveness as cognitive knowledge
indicators. In a work‐related setting, effective learning entails a broader repertoire, including aspects that are
not bound to the individual or a project group such as application to work context, organizational results, cost‐
effectiveness etc.
In addition, it became clear in our analyses, that many abstracts and some papers do not state how they define
effectiveness. 13 % (12/92) of the abstracts leave effectiveness completely undefined.
2.1 Why is this important?
The many ways to understand the effectiveness of e‐Learning has benefits: it means that professionals and
researchers have substantial flexibility in their work to define, measure, and claim effectiveness of e‐Learning
solutions. The broadness of the concept does, however, also bring challenges. Effectiveness bears different
meaning to different people ‐ still effectiveness is often left undefined even by researchers. This may lead to
misunderstandings, and the definitions of effectiveness bringing most value to participants and stakeholders
may not be applied. Hence, illuminating the many ways to define effectiveness can spark reflection and
inspiration on utilizing the concept of effectiveness most appropriately for one’s purpose. Thus, it enables
learning professionals to better align expectations and target their measuring efforts to counting what counts
for them and their stakeholders.
3. How is the effectiveness of e‐learning measured?
The above section broadens the understanding of the definitions applied within research into the effectiveness
of e‐Learning. But how are these definitions then investigated in the various studies? How do the researchers
measure effectiveness and which consequences does this have? Of the 111 abstracts coded in detail, 63
abstracts identify their research design.
Table 3: Research study methods
Mixed Qualitative Quantitative
All abstracts coded with… 9 5 37
Comparative studies applying… 0 1 18
In table 3 the first row depicts the distribution of research studies coded as mixed, qualitative and quantitative
studies. In addition, 30 comparative studies were found. 11 of these do not describe in the abstract if they are
conducting qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research. The rest allocate their research as shown in
the second row. Consequently, nearly 73 % (37/51) of these studies are quantitative. Almost half of these are
comparative studies, which compare e‐Learning with traditional face‐to‐face and/or blended learning. The vast
amount of comparative quantitative studies may be due to the steady interest of policy makers in this research
(Grgurovic et al., 2013).
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The literature study reveals that the most common way to measure effectiveness is through a quantitative
pretest/posttest‐setup. To come to an understanding of which effectiveness definitions are most used in which
kind of studies, the effectiveness code was correlated with the research methods applied. Such a correlation
shows that ‘learning outcome’ is used more frequently in the quantitative studies (18 papers) than those who
are qualitative (2 papers) and mixed studies (1 paper). Of course there are in total more quantitative studies
identified than there are qualitative, but the quantitative studies use of ‘learning outcome’ is significantly
higher than this factor.
This literature study reveals that the quantitative studies apply a broader number of the 19 effectiveness
definitions. Qualitative studies could be assumed to have a rich repertoire of effectiveness definitions, but this
is not the case. Instead, the qualitative studies tend to use only one and sometimes two of the 19 definitions.
This could be because qualitative and mixed methods studies aim to go into depth with a single concept and
the intentions are often to understand the why’s of such a concept. This requires a lot of time and resources to
investigate, meaning one or two concepts may be chosen for the effectiveness definitions, whereas
quantitative research definitions are chosen as set of variables constituting effectiveness.
The reason for the distribution of research methods in this literature study could be due to both a publication
and policy bias. Writing rich descriptions of the ‘why’s’ in qualitative research does require more space than
reporting on means and standard deviations. Very few journals allow for such prolonged papers. Not only do
the journal policies require authors to adhere to a maximum word‐count, but quantitative papers also tend to
be in higher demand, in reference to what Grgurovic (2013) names a ‘publication bias’, i.e. the tendency to
publish only studies with statistically significant findings.
3.1 Why is this important?
As stated, most research into the effectiveness of e‐Learning focuses on measuring if and/or which e‐Learning
solutions are effective using quantitative measures. In the empirical study of the e‐Learning program for
science teachers the goal was to understand the complex structures when attempting to change teaching
practice by use of e‐Learning. The solution has an on‐the‐job learning approach, including in‐class practice, and
a facilitated team‐based competence development setup. Still the empirical study shows that great effort is
needed to turn e‐Learning into improved teaching performance.
The qualitative analysis of the teachers’ interaction with the e‐Learning (Camtasia recordings) shows three
prevailing strategies, which the teachers use to avoid substantial changes to their work practice:
‘Find statements to reject content’ means that the teachers seemed to be searching for single elements in
the e‐Learning solution, which they could use to prove it was unrealistic to teach in the suggested ways,
considering their specific work context. Some even stated that they preferred the ways of the e‐Learning
solution, but their context would not allow for it.
‘Modify content to make change less demanding’ refers to the teachers consciously or unconsciously
modifying the content so it either became the same as their current practice allowing to state that they
are already teaching this way or changing the content so it became easily applicable. Bransford and
Schwartz (1999) made the related discovery that people often change the transfer situation until it
becomes similar to something they know (Lobato, 2006).
‘Pinpoint content easily implemented’, which meant that the teachers found the elements of the content,
which they could easily apply to their teaching without changing it fundamentally.
In the quantitative and qualitative surveys, the teachers were asked to evaluate their application of the
program’s learning content in the very lessons in which the class‐room observations took place. This enabled
the researcher to compare the self‐assessments of transfer and transfer related concepts (motivation,
knowledge, and self‐efficacy) with the observation material. This led to the conclusion that all teachers
following the program have made noticeable changes in their teaching practice, however, largely by using the
third strategy mentioned above.
This research design (see 1.3) also enabled the researcher to capture unintended and unexpected transfer. As
an example, one teacher became so fond of her new way of posing questions to the pupils that she now uses
the method when she teaches history as well. On the other hand, her co‐worker became insecure to an extent
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which negatively affected her teaching. Research into learning transfer shows that the classical notion of one‐
to‐one transfer from learning to practice must be challenged (see Lobato, 2006). A challenge when evaluating
effectiveness is that unexpected transfer, which can have both positive and negative impact on performance,
may not be analyzed, if only known and a priori concepts are investigated. Thus, if only quantitative survey
data was gathered, a partly misleading picture of the transfer of learning would have been drawn in the
empirical study.
In addition, the teachers generally overestimated themselves in both pre and post‐test. However, by including
the qualitative elements of the survey (e.g. teachers describe what they did in the lessons with their own
words), most discrepancies between self‐assessment and observation were clarified and responses could be
accepted or corrected accordingly.
A concern is thus the amount of pure quantitative research in the literature study. Results solely relying on
rating scales and multiple choice tests can easily become misleading. Openness to participants’ own unframed
understanding even if solely part of a survey format, can potentially give more valid and usable answers on the
effectiveness of e‐Learning whether it is defined as learning transfer, learning outcome, satisfaction, or any
other definition calling for surveys.
4. What makes e‐learning solutions effective?
As part of the coding process, all abstracts were provided with codes on whether the e‐Learning was effective,
not effective, or partly effective, provided this was stated or indicated in the abstracts, which was the case for
61 of the 111 abstract. Table 4 shows the distribution.
Table 4: Is e‐Learning effective or not?
Effective 41
Not effective 6
Partly effective 14
Knowing the challenges of e‐Learning, the fact that only 10% (6/61) of the studies are classified as ‘Not
effective brought the validity of the classifications into question. Taking a closer look at the abstracts it became
clear that a large amount of the empirical effectiveness studies were conducted by researchers which
appeared to have a stake in the success of the e‐Learning solution. This issue of ‘effectiveness bias’ means that
the literature study at this point does not support the investigation into which e‐Learning solutions are
particular effective. Perhaps future analysis of the papers in questions can unfold this question. What the
study can explore is instead the factors that influence e‐learning effectiveness.
A qualitative view on the factors, which the researchers state as promoting or prohibiting e‐Learning
effectiveness across the spectra of definitions, methodologies, and e‐Learning media, provides valuable input
to e‐Learning design and research. Through in‐Vivo‐coding, 34 factors were found. Subsequently, a
condensation took place in which the 34 factors were divided into the three categories: Individual (subject),
Contextual scaffolding (context + object), and e‐Learning solution and process (artifact). These categories are
inspired by the concepts of activity theory, as they relate to learning and transfer of learning (such as in the
thinking of Engestrôm, Leont’ev, Vygotsky and Orlikowsky). The categorization of the factors is a simplification
of these theories, which nevertheless show an interesting distribution of the factors (Table 5). The papers of
the literature study clearly prioritize the e‐Learning solution and process over contextual factors yet increasing
attention is paid to the importance of the context in which the learners work (Noesgaard, 2014). The reason
for this phenomenon may be that the contextual factors are perceived as too complex and changeable to
investigate and control for research, and that these lay outside the responsibility of learning professionals.
Table 5: Factors that influence effectiveness
Individual (subject) Context scaffolding (context + object) E‐Learning solution and process
(artifact)
Age Learning environment Active learning
Entrance scores Support Applicable to practice
Experience in profession Technological resources available to Balance between asynchronous and
Language (second language) user synchronous activities
Learner characteristics Time available to learn Cognitive load
Learner preferences Collaboration
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4.1 Why is this important?
Understanding factors which research deems critical for e‐Learning effectiveness in adult contexts can enable
learning professionals to reflect on their priorities in learning design. The list can be used as a form of check‐
list to ensure that those factors which learning professionals consider relevant for their specific e‐Learning
participants, contexts, and solutions are taking into account.
5. Conclusions
This paper has discussed the following research questions: How is the effectiveness of e‐Learning defined?
How is the effectiveness of e‐Learning measured? What makes e‐Learning solutions effective? It has shown the
multiple ways to define effectiveness. Further, the authors highlighted the benefits of reflection on and
clarification of the way in which these definitions are brought into play in research and practice. The
definitions qualify certain measurements of effectiveness. In this regard, this paper suggests that applying
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purely quantitative measures on the fulfilment of pre‐defined learning objectives disallows research and
practice to capture unexpected and unintended transfer to practice and presents potential sources of error.
However, including open‐ended qualitative questions in surveys can substantially improve the validity of such
approaches. Lastly, this paper has presented factors promoting and prohibiting the effectiveness of e‐Learning,
and it encourages learning professionals to consider these factors, especially the contextual ones, when
designing for e‐Learning effectiveness.
6. Limitations and further work
The literature study has certain limitations: First of all, the fact that the analysis is based on abstract and only
to a small extent takes the full papers into account, categorizes the papers in ways which may have been
slightly different had the full papers been analyzed. Second of all, e‐Learning is dealt with as one single
concept, while it entails a great variety of delivery methods, technologies, and learning designs. These
variations are, however, also coded in the literature study, and the authors look forward to unfolding the
concept of e‐learning generally as well. Third of all, the literature study considers a large number of papers
compared to other literature studies. Still, the quantitative analyses will benefit from the number of coded
abstracts increasing as the study proceeds, since some of the findings are based on relative small numbers for
this approach (Table 2). The qualitative findings also become richer and more nuanced as the number of
papers grows. Last of all, the reader must know that both researchers have been involved in discussions of the
design of the e‐Learning solution tested in the empirical study. Hence, the researchers may also be affected by
‘effectiveness bias’. The researchers will continue to debate these concerns as the study continues.
Acknowledgements
This research is part of an industrial PhD project funded by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and
Science in a partnership with the Universe Foundation.
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Status quo of Media Usage and Mobile Learning in Engineering
Education
Katharina Schuster
Center for Higher Education ‐ TU Dortmund University
Katharina.Schuster@ima‐zlw‐ifu.rwth‐aachen.de
Abstract: The usage of different kinds of media is part and parcel of teaching and learning processes in higher education.
According to today’s possibilities of information and communication technologies, mobile devices and app‐usage have
become indispensable for a big share of the population in everyday life. However, there is little empirical evidence on how
students use mobile devices for learning processes in higher education, especially in engineering education. Within the
project “Excellent Teaching and Learning in Engineering Sciences (ELLI)”, three large technical universities (RWTH Aachen
University, Ruhr‐University Bochum, Technical University Dortmund) follow different approaches in order to improve the
current teaching and learning situation in engineering education. Many of the corresponding measures are media‐related.
In this context, a broad understanding of media is applied which includes hardware as well as software. Amongst others,
research is conducted on the topics of mobile learning, virtual laboratories, virtual collaboration, social media services and
e‐learning recommendation systems for teaching staff. In order to match the literature and results of the project with the
current habits of study related media usage of students, the three universities conducted a survey in cooperation with the
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The KIT’s questionnaire covers more than 50 education‐related media and IT‐
Services and has been applied at over 20 universities in 6 countries. For the survey conducted within the ELLI project, the
topic of mobile learning was added to the questionnaire. Over 1.500 students were asked about their habits of study
related media usage in terms of frequency of use and level of satisfaction. Regarding the topic of mobile learning, the
students were asked for the kind of hardware and the kind of apps they use for higher education purposes. The 130
identified apps were clustered regarding subject and function. This paper presents the main results concerning the
students’ general habits of study related media usage and their mobile learning habits. It concludes with a special focus on
the possibilities mobile devices offer to the improvement of engineering education.
Keywords: media usage habits, social media, mobile learning, engineering education
1. Introduction
The media usage at universities is highly diverse. Printed learning material, digital documents or complete
online courses are just a few examples which illustrate the broad variety of media and IT‐services offered to
support the students’ learning processes. Especially web‐based services like search engines, facebook or
special tools for online learning induced significant changes in society and in the landscape of higher education
during the last years. In contrast to analogue media such as printed books, digital media and IT‐services for
learning purposes have been referred to as e‐learning for the past 20 years. The term can be specified
regarding the function of the corresponding service. Reinmann‐Rothmeier (2003) distinguishes between three
lead functions: E‐Learning (a) by distributing, (b) by interacting und (c) by collaborating. In the case of e‐
learning by distributing, the main function of the medium is to distribute information. E‐learning by interacting
applies to media and IT‐services which allow the student to interact with the system without any additional
personal help. E‐learning by collaborating refers to processes of social problem solving and therefore also
refers to the principle of “learning from different perspectives” (Reinmann‐Rothmeier 2003). Within the first
focus of this paper, the research question of which function is needed most from the students’ point of view
was investigated.
In previous cycles of the KIT’s study on habits of study related media usage, Gidion and Grosch (2012) found
that students prefer services which are linked to face‐to‐face learning settings, such as printed and electronical
script or the online catalogue of the university’s library. Media which require active participation are being
used less frequently. Virtual teaching and learning environments are also being used not only seldom but also
with a low rate of satisfaction (Gidion and Grosch 2012).
Since one of the research foci of the ELLI project is learning with social media services, another question being
investigated within this paper was whether students use services like facebook for studying. Social platforms
such as facebook or information services like twitter provide an easy access as well as already implemented
possibilities for communication by means of groups, private messages and forums for the students during their
studies. Other web based media services for communication and collaboration such as wikis, weblogs and
forums were implemented increasingly for the teamwork of students also in the teaching of engineering
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during the last years (Dittler 2009). Surveys at other universities and faculties (Schiefner 2011) as well as
statements of teachers of the engineering sciences (Thöing 2014) show a rather hesitant use of this kind of
media by students, which is in line with the results of Gidion and Grosch (2012).
The second focus of this paper lies on the use of mobile devices and apps in teaching and learning contexts.
The use of such devices and apps has become indispensible for many people’s everyday life. According to the
Federal Statistical Office of Germany, the number of mobile internet users in Germany increased in 2013 by
43 %. Amongst the 16 to 24 year olds, 81 % use mobile internet (Federal Statistical Office 2014). The trend
towards mobile computers also applies to the type of technical devices being used: In 2013, 65 % of all
German households were in possession of a mobile computer, e.g. a laptop, a notebook or a tablet‐PC. The
Federal Statistical Office asserts that the share has multiplied almost six‐fold compared to surveys in 2003.
Most households (33 %) use a mobile device additionally to the stationary PC, followed by almost as many
households (32 %) who solely use a mobile device. The number of households, which solely use stationary PCs
is decreasing: Whilst in 2003 the share was at 51 %, it dropped 20 % in 2013 (Federal Statistical Office 2013).
Looking at these statistics, it is a logical consequence that the use of mobile devices is also increasing within
the context of higher education. Current literature offers only little empirical data on the question how
students are using mobile devices for their learning processes. In addition to that we do not know if, how often
and in which contexts the students were asked by teachers to use their mobile devices in learning contexts in
class or for the learning process in general.
In recent years the technology shift has changed the way how mobile learning is defined – from PDAs to
smartphones and tablets. This is also visible by looking at different definitions over time. Quinn (2001) offered
a rather technology‐centered view in 2001 by saying that mobile learning is „elearning through mobile
computational devices: Palms, Windows CE machines, even your digital cellphone“. Sharples et al. (2010) have
a more user‐centered view by describing the learning environment and adding the learners’ autonomy
regarding the choice over time and place. In order to go even more into detail an extended literature review
was conducted in the ELLI‐Project. Thus over 100 definitions on mobile learning were found in about 240
different sources. The definitions could be divided into 3 different clusters, either highlighting the mobile
devices itself, the flexibility for the learning process or new didactical approaches. The following quotations
illustrate this variety and are taken from the most cited sources in the context of Mobile Learning:
“What is new in ›mobile learning‹ comes from the possibilities opened up by portable, lightweight
devices that are sometimes small enough to fit in a pocket or in the palm of the one’s hand”
(Kukulska and Traxler 2005).
“Mobile Learning devices are defined as handheld devices and [...] should be connected through
wireless connections that ensure mobility and flexibility”(Quinn 2001).
“[Mobile learning] provides the potential of personal mobile technologies that could improve
lifelong learning programs and continuing adult educational opportunities” (Sharples 2000).
Summing up all these perspectives, Crompton et al. (2013) published a description of their literature research
regarding the mobile learning evolution over the years. According to them, mobile learning means “learning
across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices”. In
addition to that, four different but central characteristics of mobile learning can be identified based on
literature (Maske 2012):
Use of mobile devises
Local independence for learning
Contextualization of the learning process
Informality of learning
In the following, the methodology of the study is described, including the description of the sample. The
results are presented in two sections. The first section describes the ten most and least used media and IT
services, as well as their corresponding values of satisfaction. In the second results section, the results on
mobile learning are presented. The paper concludes with a broader view on all results presented and depicts
further research questions.
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2. Methodology and description of the sample
The survey used a questionnaire that was developed at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 2009 (Grosch &
Gidion 2011). It was conducted several times before at 20 universities in 6 countries. One of the KIT’s long‐
established survey’s aims is to identify the potential of a university, which media and IT sectors still need to be
supported further and which are already used by the students. The three universities RWTH Aachen University,
Ruhr University Bochum and TU Dortmund University issued the questionnaire in co‐operation with the
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 2013. It focused on the students’ habits of study related media usage, in
order to expand the empirical database and to match it with the other topics focused in the ELLI project, such
as mobile learning, virtual laboratories, virtual collaboration, social media services and e‐learning‐systems.
More detailed, the research questions were:
Which function of e‐learning is needed most and least from a students’ point of view?
Which role do social media services play for study related media usage?
Which kind of hardware and which kind of apps do students use for studying and what are the
consequences for mobile learning activities of universities?
Therefore the survey asked engineering students from the three universities for frequency of use and level of
satisfaction for 54 media and IT services as well as hardware devices. To deliver a complete picture of media
usage habits, the items related to university internal as well as to external services. Students had to respond to
each given item by answering the question “Which of the given devices or services do you use for your
studies?” Each item, e.g. e‐book reader, had to be responded using a five point scale, ranging from „very
frequently“ to „never“. Due to the special focus on mobile learning, the questionnaire was modified and
several items were added to the original KIT questionnaire. Going more into detail with regard to the use of
software on mobile devices, the survey asked for apps, which are already used by the students in the context
of learning.
The survey was synchronously carried out at the three universities. A total of 1587 engineering students
answered the questionnaire between April and May 2013. Most of the students were first‐ (59.6%) or second‐
year (19.4%) students. 81.6 % were male, 18.4 % were female students. The results of media usage habits in
general were conducted with the means of descriptive statistics, calculating the percentage of students who
used a medium or an IT‐service frequently or very frequently. The same calculation was performed for the
least used media and IT‐services. In addition, the corresponding satisfaction value was calculated for the most
and least used media and IT services. To get deeper insights into the usage of mobile devices, the percentage
of how many students used a specific device frequently or very frequently. Moreover, students were asked,
which apps they use for study purposes. The given apps were analyzed qualitatively with an explorative
approach, i.e. no categories had been conducted previously. After a first round of scanning the data, the apps
were clustered by subject. In a second round of analysis, the apps were clustered by function. In a last step,
the proportion of the categories was calculated for each cluster.
3. Results
3.1 General media usage of students
The media and IT services most frequently used in the context of academic studies are presented in Figure 1.
The service most frequently used is the Google search engine. This corresponds to the fact that Google is the
most‐used search‐engine in the internet in general (Alexa 2014). According to different web analytics services,
also Wikipedia and Facebook are ranked among the most frequently used sites of the web (Alexa 2014,
Quantcast 2014, SEOmoz 2014).
As the results show, e‐mail services of the university are being used frequently. It seems that communication
via e‐mail for learning purposes, e.g. to correspond with professors or with fellow students, is common and
well established. The frequent use of course accompanying slides (78.7 %) and course accompanying lecture
notes (75.3 %) online reflect media usage habits which fall in the category e‐learning by distributing
(Reinmann‐Rothmeier 2003). The use of analogue media in the form of course materials printed (68.4 %) is less
frequent, but still among the top 10 of all surveyed media and IT services. The fact that google books (77.1 %)
and other electronic books (39.5 %) are also amongst the top 10 of study related media, underlines
the function of e‐learning by distributing as important once more from the students’ point of view.
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Katharina Schuster
50.4 % of all students stated that they use e‐learning opportunities specifically provided by the department
frequently or very frequently. This reveals the fact that each e‐learning solution provided has to fit the
corresponding study field, an approach which is also followed within the ELLI project.
Figure 1: Most used media and IT‐services
Apart from the top 10 of media and IT‐services used most in a study related context, the data was also
extracted for the least used media and IT‐services. The percentage of frequency as well as the corresponding
satisfaction rate is shown in figure 2.
A very obvious difference is that the average discrepancy between frequency and satisfaction in this dataset is
three times bigger than for the items of the most used media and IT services. Whilst the absolute average
discrepancy in the most used media and IT services is 9.7 %, it is 23.1 % in the least used media and IT services.
If we look at the services in detail, a first conclusion is that Facebook is the clear leader when it comes to social
networks. Whilst Google + is still used by 4.6 % of the students, other providers share only 1.8 % of the lot. This
also corresponds to the results of web analytics services mentioned above. The microblogging system twitter is
only used by 2.4 % of the students for study purposes.
Although twitter is also amongst the top ten web sites worldwide according to web analytic systems, it has not
become common for study purposes yet. Dictionary software is also not used very frequently. This might be a
result of frequently updated and well‐established services which are also available online, such as leo.org or
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duden.de for the German speech community. Social bookmarks don’t seem to be needed very often. Only
1.6 % of the students claim to use them frequently or very frequently.
Figure 2: Least used media and IT‐services
The two second biggest values for the discrepancy between frequency of use and satisfaction occur for two
innovative virtual reality technologies which already find their way into higher education: Gesture Computing
and Augmented Reality. Both are not used very often (4.1 % and 3.1 %), but the usage leads to high
satisfaction. It can be assumed that the seldom usage of such technologies does not happen by choice. It
seems more likely that students don’t have enough possibilities yet to use the technology, or at least not as a
regular part of their studying. The seldom use of the technologies might be the result of lack of supply, not of
demand. This could also be the explanation for the seldom use of digital game‐based learning. Wikis which
require active involvement are not used very frequently, which is in line with previous results of the KIT’s
survey published by Gidion and Grosch (2012). However, it can not be assumed, that forms of learning with
and by user generated content are being avoided in general. An aspect for further investigations is to filter all
forms of media and IT services which involve user generated content and to analyse their acceptance on a
deeper level.
3.2 Mobile learning
In the following, all results regarding the topic of mobile learning are presented. Most of the questioned
students (87.7 %) own a smartphone. The corresponding value for the tablet PC is much lower with
27.7 %.Therefore if teaching staff decides that the usage of tablet PCs is required for the course, students must
be given the opportunity to borrow such a device. The results of hardware usage for study purposes regarding
frequency of use and satisfaction are shown in figure 3.
The results of the survey show that 63.9 % of the students use their smartphone often or very often in context
of learning, whilst only 26% use their tablet computer often or very often for studying. The latter is not
surprising, as tablets are not very distributed among students yet. E‐book readers are used even more rarely,
as only 4 % use this device often or very often. The last question in this context was, how often the students
use mobile apps for learning. The answers reveal that the use of apps explicitly for learning is not very
common yet. Only 7.2 % of the students use mobile apps often or very often. This is a fairly low value.
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Competing conclusions of this result could be that there either are no adequate apps for studying, that existing
apps are not usable or that students just do not know them.
Figure 3: Frequency and satisfaction of hardware usage for study purposes
Going more into detail the students were asked to name the apps they are already using for study. All in all
13.5 % of the students answered this question with “yes” and named an app which they used for study
purposes. In total, the students named 357 apps (139 different ones). Based on the answers a ranking on how
often the apps were named was worked out and the top five could be identified. In the following these are
explained briefly. Merck PSE is an interactive periodic table of chemical elements and was named 47 times
(13%). Wolfram Alpha, a computational knowledge search engine, was named 26 times (7.3%). 22 times
Schnittkraft‐Meister, a game‐based learning app to calculate cutting forces, was mentioned. For file hosting
and as a cloud service mainly Dropbox is used (4.8%). From those students who named an app, 4.2% use
Ankidroid, a program to design customized and personalized flashcards and use them for studying.
Furthermore the different apps were clustered, firstly by function and secondly by subject. In this context
again all 357 answers were taken into account and duplications were ignored, in order to calculate the relative
distribution among the app naming.
Function oriented cluster: Dividing the apps by the purpose they are used for, 7 different clusters could be
identified. 109 (31%) of the named apps serve as any kind of database. 79 (22%) apps serve the organization of
learning and 47 (13%) times an app for any kind of application and testing was named. Furthermore the
students named 40 (11%) apps which fall in the category of language dictionaries, 30 (8%) apps which assist
the students to make notes or edit documents and 20 (6%) apps for cloud computing. 32 (9%) apps could not
be allocated to any cluster. Hence these were summarized under “others”. The results are visualized in figure
4.
Subject oriented cluster: Looking at the related subjects the named apps could be allocated to six different
clusters. The biggest cluster (160; 45%) is formed by named apps, which had no connection to any special
discipline. In this cluster apps like Dropbox or apps used to make notes are summarized. This cluster is
followed by mentioned apps for mathematics and chemistry/physics (each 57; 16%). 49 (14% of the) times
language learning apps, 30 (8%) times mechanical engineering or logistics apps and finally 4 (1%) times apps
used in context with electrical engineering/informatics were named. These results are visualized in figure 5.
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Figure 4: Apps clustered by function
Figure 4: Apps clustered by subject
The results show that most of the used apps provide a general use without any subject relation. Looking into
the list of named apps in this context shows that programs helping to organize the learning process, providing
cloud computing and helping to edit documents dominate this kind of use. Hence, this is the area were
students currently see the biggest advantages of app usage for study purposes. There are only some
exceptions that provide the possibility for concrete knowledge application in a special subject context. Looking
at those apps with a special subject connection it is visible that more apps are used in context with basic
sciences in comparison to applied sciences. As in this study only engineering students were asked it is clear
that even in engineering classes apps on basic sciences can be used. A second look into the app list shows that
these apps in most cases are some kind of database (e.g. Merck PSE) – the biggest among the function
oriented clusters. A question for further investigation can be, why only the minority of the mentioned apps
could be used for subject related application. Is this a question of app quality or are there simply not that
many apps? However the results indicate that are still high potentials lying in the development of specialized
apps. Even if there are some apps, those are not used very often. The fact that in general only a little bit more
than 13% of the students could even name apps they are using for study purposes shows that very clearly.
Considering furthermore that from all asked students (over 1500) only 47 named the most often mentioned
app underlines this finding.
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Katharina Schuster
4. Conclusion
To summarize, students mostly use media and IT‐services with the function of distribution of information.
Facebook as probably the most common example of social media services is being used for study purposes,
whilst other social media services like google+ or the microblogging service twitter have not found their way
into universities yet. It can be stated that the study related media usage partly reflects the media usage in
general. This is shown by the frequent use of popular sites like Facebook, Wikipedia or Google. Although with
the given data, no statements can be made regarding cause and effect, it could be possible that especially in
their first years at university, students use their already established mechanisms of media use as a starting
point, before they develop other, more demanding and complex forms of e‐learning. This can be interpreted
as a form of reduction of complexity in the first years of studying. Especially to improve the introductory phase
of the studies, which is affected by high dropout rates in engineering education, the relation between media
usage and experience needs to be investigated on a deeper level.
E‐learning services are being used more frequently than books or printed course materials. As a consequence
for the ELLI project, this means that e‐learning recommendation systems for teaching staff can be supportive
for finding the tool that fits the teaching goals best. This could be of great help, especially for subject‐specific
e‐learning opportunities, as in engineering education. Especially if the e‐learning system is supposed to provide
more functions than just distributing information, a personal recommendation is of great value. Since the
conducted study focused on the students only, it cannot be determined whether the seldom usage of gesture
computing or augmented reality is a consequence of the students’ choice or of a lack of supply. Assuming that
the latter is true, the ELLI project follows the right direction doing research on mixed‐reality systems like the
Virtual Theatre (Schuster et al. 2013). However, the application of such innovative hardware requires
technical, psychological and subject‐specific didactical skills in order to lead to the desired learning outcome
(Schuster et al. 2014, in press). Since “learning from different perspectives” is important for social problem
solving (Reinmann‐Rothmeier 2003), it seems to be an important precondition to teach students the
competences they need in a globalized and digitalized working world. Why students don’t use interactive or
collaborative media and IT‐services more often still needs to be investigated on a deeper level.
The results on mobile learning show that the use of mobile devices is not as common as it might be expected
from general trends (Federal Statistical Office 2013). For example only a little bit more than a tenth of the
students named apps they are using for study purposes. This could have at least two reasons. On the one hand
it is possible that not enough appropriate apps exist, at least those which are usable in a learning context.
Another explanation is that the students simply do not know which apps can be used effectively for which
purpose. To conclude, the students must be supported in finding adequate apps. Even though the use of
mobile apps at this point is not very common, mobile devices offer unique possibilities to support collaborative
working processes. Especially the apps the students already named in the survey should stay in focus and it
should be investigated why these apps are used for engineering education and what defines their unique
selling point. In addition to that more qualitative studies are necessary on that point. In order to go more into
detail student interviews should be conducted asking for reasons why they use or do not use their mobile
devices for learning.
Acknowledgements
The present work is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the project “Excellent
teaching and learning in engineering sciences (ELLI)”.
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Technology on CALL: Improving English Language Learning in a
Spanish Context
Beatrice Segura‐Harvey and Sue Greener
University of Brighton, UK
B.SeguraHarvey1@uni.brighton.ac.uk
S.L.Greener@brighton.ac.uk
Abstract: The acquisition of English as a second language remains a vital necessity for business in a globalized environment.
Once a particularly early pioneer of e‐learning, second language acquisition has not moved with current thinking on
learning and rapid technological advances in terms of platforms and devices. The focus of this paper is a much needed
review of “computer assisted language learning (CALL)” with recommendations for continued research and development
applied to a Spanish context. With the recent economic crisis in the Spanish economy, due to global economic pressures
from 2008, there has been a dramatic drop in employment, which consequently has forced Spanish citizens to leave the
country looking for work. However, the variable quality of language teaching and learning in schools has produced a deficit
in skilled workers and professionals with a suitable level of working English. These two areas of change, CALL and Spain’s
employability issues, mean that businesses and language academies have to tackle the deficit. This paper describes
research into the potential benefits and difficulties faced by businesses and individual learners in improving English
language acquisition and aims to determine whether improved use of technology could help. The global use of CALL was
investigated and, within this context, research was conducted in Spain with learners of English and language academy
directors to analyse the environment of computer‐assisted language learning within Spain. This was a cross‐sectional study
using mixed methods for the purposes of triangulation of data: following a review of relevant literature, the results of a
student survey and a management survey were analysed and used to develop realistic online lessons with Spanish students
to test out the concepts identified in the research. The outcomes of this case study are also presented in the paper,
although at this stage of the research only a very limited test has been possible. The study has focused attention on a
holistic view of the environment and attitudes towards CALL from the perspective of students and managers of language
academies. These issues include self‐directed learning, feedback automation, English proficiency, computer competency
and attitudes towards CALL. The findings are of particular importance for businesses needing a good level of English
proficiency and learners and teachers using CALL. The report concludes with recommended areas of further research into
the country’s potential further development and distribution of CALL. Also, it draws together the economic impact of
improved English language acquisition and how Computer Assisted Language Learning could promote this positive change
and attitudes.
Keywords: computer assisted language learning, employability, attitudes towards technology, Spain
1. Background
In 2008, Spain was among several countries that suffered from a severe economic recession. Five years on,
the country is still recovering from the crisis and in 2013 27% of the population were reported as unemployed,
equating to 6.232 million people (International Monetary Fund, 2013). A natural reaction to the saturated job
market is the increase in job competition. One critical skill that many businesses in a range of sectors are
requesting from future employees is English for work purposes. Furthermore, in 2012, it was reported that
40% of Spanish people believed “the language barrier to be a significant hindrance to effective cross‐border
relations in the business sector” (English First, 2012). According to English First (2013), Spain ranked last in
English proficiency between 2007‐2009. However, in 2013, Spain has ranked higher than France and Italy.
Nevertheless, Spain is still positioned 23rd on the index with “moderate proficiency” which places it 3rd to last
out of the EU countries reviewed in the report. There could be many reasons why Spain has improved its level
of English proficiency over the last 4 years such as: a reaction to the economic pressures of the recession; pro‐
English education governments that have backed changes to the education and training of English; and the
change in attitudes from employers considering English as a “basic skill” rather than an “admirable” one
(English First, 2013).
2. Call
Computer assisted language learning (CALL) has been used generally since the 1980s but was first discussed in
the 1950s (Kenning 1990). CALL now attempts to integrate second language acquisition with pedagogy and
web technology. Increasingly Web 2.0 technology involving user generation is linked with social constructionist
theory to provide the conceptual framework for CALL (Garrett 2009, Bin Zou 2013, Ernest 2013, Vetromille‐
Castro 2013, Luo 2013, Altunay 2013). This holds whether we are discussing the independent learner, the
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autonomous learner, the co‐operative learner or the incidental learner. The literature suggests the need in
CALL for learner autonomy plus either explicit guidance or scaffolding, or at least the strong presence of
explicit monitoring and feedback. Self‐direction and determination are vital for learners using CALL since there
are rich resources available through video, global newscasts, audio pronunciation in electronic dictionaries etc,
but the learner needs to find out how to navigate and practice through these general consumer
communication tools (GCCTs). Bin Zou (2013) describes, for example, a study of self‐correcting online tools for
development of pronunciation, in which the segmental characteristics of pronunciation (phonetic and syllabic)
could be improved through auto‐feedback, but the supra‐segmental characteristics which are needed for tone,
stress and duration of a syllable, and the prosodic feature related to tone, pitch, speed and level, are not
automatically corrected, although necessary for well understood speech. Widely available tools such as
podcasts and video conferencing are also regularly in use for second language acquisition (see for example
Lord and Harrington 2013), as are interactive games involving voice recognition and speech interactive
software. Texting and micro‐blogging may seem at first glance to be less than helpful for SLA but do
increasingly provide authentic and naturalistic opportunities for self directed language learners.thus the
development of a wide range of Web 2.0 tools for communication have driven a broadening array of tools
suitable for CALL, whether through guided instruction or for the use of autonomous learners. In this paper, we
attempt to find out the extent to which such tools are used in SLA in private language academies in Spain, and
whether there is further opportunity to drive English language learning for work through CALL.
3. CALL in Spain ‐ the study
The cross‐sectional research conducted was exploratory in nature and took a more holistic view of the CALL
environment and English language learning within Spain, as it was to connect technology and human
interaction in terms of learning a language. Therefore, both the external and internal reality were considered
through an interpretive view and explored through a mixed methods approach. A subjectivist approach was
adopted for the primary data collection (surveys and case study).The quasi‐experimental study used an
inductive approach for the collection of secondary and some primary research (survey), as it was used to build
assumptions to explore within the test case study within a concurrent triangulation design of global CALL and
English proficiency within Spain.
The initial student survey, which focused on individual respondents' demographics, English proficiency,
computer skills and attitudes towards CALL, used a snowball sampling technique and was used to make initial
contact with 153 private language academies strategically chosen for their geographic location. Each province
within Spain was searched on www.google.es with the words “academia de ingles” and the contact
information of the top three academies on the search were recorded into a database. Only two academies
were ultimately able to participate due to the time of year the research was conducted, further contacts will
be necessary to follow up this initial study. For the management survey, which focused on current presence of
online services and existing considerations for potential future use of CALL within academies, an initial self‐
selection sample frame was used and due to limited response, a second sample was taken with an additional
218 academies contacted. Finally for the test case study, Spanish students living in Brighton were contacted to
take part. The case study was undertaken to offer a CALL based English language class in order to evaluate
student responses and consisted of pre‐class homework that supported self‐directed learning and the usability
of general consumer communication tools (GCCTs) such as mobiles, blogs, podcasts, online games etc (Garrett
2009). Then the students completed an online survey, took part in a Skype lesson and finished with a semi‐
structured interview.
4. Findings and discussion
The 165 respondents to the student survey in academies were predominantly female, at 61.3% with an age
range significantly higher in the brackets of 20‐29 years (58%) and 30‐39 years (26%). 18% of the participants
were unemployed compared to the national average of 27% (International Monetary Fund, 2013). The English
proficiency questions highlighted that 82% of the academy students had been studying English for 0‐5 years.
This data excluded English education during primary and secondary school. Furthermore, 70% of the
respondents described their level of English as below B2 (Upper Intermediate), which is the international level
for ‘English for work’. In addition, 60% of all respondents considered ‘future work’ as a reason for learning
English. Thus, an attitude towards English language as a key skill for employability can be deduced from the
data. Concerning the importance of various language skills associated with English proficiency, speaking (82%)
and listening (30%) were considered the two most important skills, and they were the two skills that were
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Beatrice Segura‐Harvey and Sue Greener
considered to be their weakest (speaking 52%, listening 26%). Regarding the participants' computer
competency, 99% of the respondents reported that they had access to an internet connection either at work
or at home and only 10% stated that they used the computer between 0 and 5 hours per week, which suggests
that 90% use the internet on a regular basis. In addition, all respondents answered the question regarding
their competency using email and nearly 50% stated they felt ‘confident’ using email, Microsoft Word and
Excel. However, 9 respondents did not answer the question regarding Skype. Interestingly, 42% stated they
had not learnt English through a computer before but 68% said that they would in the future. 30 comments
were made that described reasons for not wanting to learn English through CALL, the common responses
were: “I prefer the classroom”, “it doesn’t support conversation” and “I prefer person (sic)". It could be
deduced from these responses that personal contact and physical space are important to Spanish EFL learners.
Conversely, 85% said one of the main benefits of CALL was flexibility, which is a particular benefit for business
learners.
The purpose of the management survey within the academies was to evaluate the current presence of an
online service and any existing considerations for potential future use of CALL within the academies. This data
was collected from 16 academies across Spain with an average number of 250 students in an academy.
However, 38% of academies were reported to be running at below 50% capacity and almost a third functioning
between 71‐80% capacity. Interestingly, only one third reported that they had an online service offering
information, supplementary materials, courses, core materials and tests/exams. But 35% of the academies
with the online platforms reported that 10% or fewer of students were using the services. Therefore, the data
suggests that a minority of the academies is integrating CALL platforms within their services. Finally, the
management were asked questions regarding any future projections for moving into a CALL platform within
their academies: 87% stated they would not be offering 100% online classrooms and common reasons given
included lack of technical skills, insufficient human resources, time constraints and methodological focus
within the academy. When asked hypothetically which skills their academy would like to focus on within an
online platform, the responses were distributed fairly evenly; however, listening scored highest with 69% of
respondents choosing the skill. Interestingly, 56% chose speaking which made it the second most popular skill
to focus on. Furthermore, two thirds of the academies said they would use an already established online
language classroom.
In order to test out some of these findings from language academies, a small test case study was prepared and
conducted using GCCTs throughout the entire process. The pre‐class homework was issued in a Microsoft
Word format and completed using a computer to listen to audio clips online and create maps and sent back for
marking in the same format. Because the literature had suggested that auto‐feedback mechanisms were still
patchy in quality, being less able to correct errors in context than a teacher involved in synchronous
communication, and because synchronous approaches are available via Web 2.0, the lesson was conducted
using Skype video conferencing and the message box was used in a similar way to a whiteboard. Two students
completed the case study with individual Skype lessons and interviews. Initially, they were asked to complete a
homework task that comprised of a variety of skills taught in a typical English language course. The students
were allowed to do as much or as little of the homework as they wanted. The two students competed all the
homework with varying types of errors within the two pieces of work. Overall, the students had very positive
attitudes towards the tasks and mostly showed understanding of the task requirements. However, without
specific guidance from a teacher some errors were made in relation to task understanding. Both students fell
into the most common age range of the survey results (20‐29 years). Even though the students were at B2
level, one student had been studying English for 1‐2 years, whilst the other student 6‐8 years. The students
both chose “future work” as their reason for learning English and when asked which skill is the most important
both chose “listening” but one student also chose “speaking”, answers which were typical in the student
survey. The students’ answers to the questions regarding computer competency and attitudes towards CALL
also fitted closely to the survey.
Within the interview and the lesson both students demonstrated a level of self‐directed learning whilst
completing the pre‐class homework and within their comments towards learning through a computer. Student
B commented on the positive nature of self‐directed learning through a computer but also highlighted the
need to use the equipment properly without which it was seen to be ineffective:
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“if you have a laptop, you can use the dictionary, the Internet, look at some different articles if
you are not sure about a particular topic… So it is very useful if you use it properly, but if you
don’t it is completely useless”.
She gave examples of useful self‐directed tasks, such as research for a discussion and ‘useless’ tasks, such as an
Internet translator website. The word ‘usefulness’ was present in both interviews. Student A highlighted the
need for body language whilst communicating with people when at a lower level of English. She went on to say
that if she was at a lower level than B2 then she would not consider learning English online but now that she is
at a B2 level she would find online classes ‘useful’? The students’ attitudes towards CALL were generally
positive. The students appreciated the flexibility of the class and supported this with examples:
“you can do at your home, when you can, when you are happy to do it” (Student A).
The importance of this mental change was explained in more detail by student A expressing “a more positive
mind” attributed to the learning process. Furthermore, student B added a perspective of educational culture,
stating, “in my country, at university and school they just give you the books and say ‘here you go, go learn
that’ ” which consequently lead onto the discussion of fully self‐directed learning. Student B expressed her
belief that a teacher is an integral part to the learning process and sided with the blended learning
environment,
“you can’t just leave everything to the laptop or some programmes. You always need a person, a
teacher to explain to you where you are wrong and where you are not.”
Finally, when the students were asked about the use of CALL in terms of computer competency, student A did
not offer an opinion on the subject. However, student B referred back to her past education as a factor altering
her attitude to the process. Throughout her education she used pen and paper to take notes and prepare
work. This ingrained habit affected her outlook on the usability of the computer for learning: “I am not used to
that and it is my state of mind. But I have that state of mind because of the education I had”. It is possible that
this area of doubt in this student’s mind could be an issue for students in general and so further research into
students’ culturally conditioned perspectives would offer a deeper evaluation into the students’ motivations
towards CALL in general.
The Skype software allowed for free conversation with minimal technological issues. The major problems with
communication during the lesson were the inability to make eye contact and use body language to: direct the
flow of conversation, help student understanding of a concept and offer them encouragement. As the reliance
on silent communication was very limited, there was a stronger focus on the ‘mmm’s and ‘ah ha’s. Also the
interviewer felt that smiling was paramount as eye contact was impossible. The technological discrepancies
with the two lessons were freezing and blurred screens. However, these issues did not at any point during the
lesson or interview disrupt the conversation or understanding.
This study so far has shown from the survey data that the combination of local economic disintegration and
unemployment in Spain has meant that English language learning has increased in demand over recent years
and is still rising due to the growing acceptability in attitudes towards English as a key skill for future
employability. Public perception in this area has been reported as changing and policies made by the Spanish
government within the primary and secondary education systems further supports a move to an increase in
English proficiency throughout the country in the years to come. Due to a combination of factors from the
research, Spain’s present position in the technological arena suggests potential development in CALL. The
contributing factors were: Spain’s high position in the global Internet ranking. Within the student survey nearly
all participants stated they have access to an internet connection and only 10% of respondents stated they
spent 0‐5 hours per week on the computer. All participants responding to the student survey answered the
questions regarding internet browsing and email. Therefore, it could be assumed that computer access and
competency is high within the country as the data shows access to GCCTs (such as Internet and related
applications), which is one of the intrinsic building blocks to the development of CALL in a Web 2.0 context.
Furthermore, even though the management survey from the findings is relatively small, a possible hypothesis
could be deduced from the results for further research: The English Language Learning industry in Spain is not
maximising its revenue by moving into a new technological gap within the market. The survey participants
were not working at full capacity in their traditional classrooms. However, 87% claimed that offering a 100%
CALL platform was not under consideration over the next year. This attitude towards CALL as an area of new
revenue is possibly not being currently assessed by this industry. Even so, this hypothesis needs further
research and therefore can only be suggested in this report.
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A wide range of different types of GCCTs is being researched globally. The technological advancements in this
area are developing into a wide range of platforms supporting many forms of learner styles and underpinned
by a range of pedagogical theories. Whilst technological advancements are leading the CALL development, it
seems that from the literature, teaching methodologies and second language acquisition (SLA) theories are
‘catching up’ with the research on methods of effective use of technology and learning a language. For
example, automated feedback seems to still be in its infancy in terms of a sophisticated platform offering a
wide range of feedback styles. Consequentially, some of the literature claims that there needs to be more in‐
depth research on this and other areas that link technology and learning together. Even so, technology is
increasingly available to the public on a global scale and on account of Spain’s membership with the European
Union, this provides the nation with access to some of the fast paced technological advancements in the
world. Therefore, the combination of Spain’s change in attitudes towards English language as a key skill for
employability and the speed at which the technological advancements are reaching the public domain, it could
be concluded that the future of CALL appears set to grow.
The data from the student survey showed that even though nearly 68% of the participants would consider
using CALL to learn English, there were qualitative responses that highlighted student apprehension or
unawareness to the potential variety of CALL platforms available. Another popular characteristic in all the
research data emphasized the importance of the level of flexibility CALL offers. In the student survey 84% of
respondents chose flexibility as a criterion for motivation to use CALL. Subsequently, the case study
participants connected this aspect of flexibility to a more positive mindset when working. Furthermore, the
literature indicated that the term flexibility went beyond the concepts of freedom of time, location and choice.
The variety of platforms also displayed flexibility in terms of diversity of uses of different learner styles, for
example, through the use of sensory learning and/or culturally authentic materials. In spite of the present
environment, future progression and studied attitudes of CALL, the findings in this project raise questions as to
the level of student competency within both technology and learning skills when using CALL.
Firstly, the student survey, showed that computer competency and access could be high within Spain.
However, there were participants who omitted the questions in regards to confidence when using Skype.
Additionally, the case study displayed that whilst both students completed the pre‐class homework effectively,
one of them drew attention to a potential cultural issue that students could have. During her education in
Spain she was used to working with a pen and paper and so associated learning with this method of
documentation. Despite this point, the homework called for the students to use a more self‐directed form of
learning as many of the tasks were slightly ambiguous by design. The two participants therefore, displayed this
style of learner approach, which is in line with much of the literature in this report. The literature not only
suggested that there needed to be some degree of self‐direction when using CALL but that a learner strategy
of “the life‐long learner” was a positive attribute within a student.
5. Concluding remarks
The global development of CALL offers a potentially new form of learning for students in Spain and, although
the platforms are not in popular use in Spain at present in private language academies, there is an opportunity
for growth in this field. If there were to be an expansion of CALL in the country then this could offer students a
variety of flexible approaches to improve their English so as to gain an increased level of employability. This
method could also be conducive to a more authentic business environment due to the technological approach
of international communications now used. Consequently, this could not only improve an individual’s
professional prospects but, if successfully executed on a large scale with wide spread English education
through CALL, it could improve the global prospects of the economy as a whole by having skilled workers with
an international standard of ‘English for work’.
Even though CALL is not integral to the spread of English proficiency within Spain, it does offer a new method
of accessibility and appears to meet a significant gap identified in this study in private language academies. On
the other hand there are many factors that will affect the level of development of CALL in Spain and if a
business is considering this platform it will need to take into account many issues regarding culture,
technological competency, motivational attitudes, student accessibility and technological effectiveness in the
current environment. Attitudes towards the importance of English have been changing, so it would be
beneficial for a business to take advantage of this development and lead an already growing market into a
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diverse and expanding phenomenon of computer assisted language learning based on social constructionist
principles and supporting self‐direction in learning.
References
Altunay, D., (2013) The Role of Open Educational Resources in English Language Learning and Teaching. International
Journal of Computer‐Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 40 (2) 97‐107
Bin Zou, Zing, M., Xiang, C., Wang, Y., Yuping, W., and Sun, M., (2013) Computer‐Assisted Foreign Language Teaching and
Learning: Technological Advance. International Journal of Computer‐Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 3 (3)
99‐104
English First. (2013). EF English Proficiency Index. English First.First, E. (2012). English First. Retrieved 11 15, 2013, from
English First Website: http://www.ef.com.es/about‐ef/press/release/news_25_04_2012/
International Monetary Fund. (2013, 04). Retrieved 11 20, 2013, from
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2013/01/weodata/index.aspx
Ernest, P., Catusus, M., Hampet, R., Heiser, S., Hopkins, J., Murphy, L., and Stickler, U. (2013) Online Teacher Development:
Collaborating in an online learning environment. Computer Assisted Language Learning. 26 (4) 311‐333
Garrett, N., (2009) Computer‐Assisted Language Learning and Teaching Trends and Issues Revisited: Integrating Innovation.
The Modern Language Journal. 93. 719‐740
Lord, G., and Harrington, S., (2013) Online Communities of Practice and Second Language Phonological Acquisition.
International Journal of Computer‐Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 3 (3) 34‐55
Luo, T. (2013) Web 2.0 for Language Learning: Benefits and Challenges for Educators. International Journal of Computer‐
Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 3 (3) 1‐17
Vetromille‐Castro, R., Marie Moor, A., Bohlmann Duarte, G., and Hoffmann Sedres,N. (2013) From Learning Objects to
Language Learning Objects: Communicative Language Teaching principles in CALL materials. International Journal of
Computer‐Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 3(2) 82‐96
469
Achieving Flow Through Gamification in the Course of Computer
Games
Martin Sillaots
Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
martins@tlu.ee
Abstract: Gamification is the use of game elements in non‐game environment, for example in the educational contexts of
courses and lessons. The safest candidate for implementing gamification in education is the course of computer games
because game‐like course format is supported by the course content. How the students accept this kind of approach? Can
gamification make the learning more engaging? Can students feel the stop worrying about themselves and lose the sense
of time – feel the flow? To answer to those questions two courses (one for Cross Media master students and one for
bachelor level students) of Design of Computer Games were organised like games. Different game elements (experience
points, scoreboard, avatar, chance, competition etc.) were integrated with the course to gain the atmosphere of game. In
the end of each course the feedback information was collected and the flow conditions (balance, concentration, clear goals,
feedback, autonomy and immersion) were measured. It turned out that the same gamification methods lead to the
different level of flow in different cases. Relatively small aspects can disturb the flow.
Keywords: flow, gamification, game design, course design
1. Introduction
Gamification is the use of game elements in non‐game environment (Kapp 2012). This method is frequently
used in marketing and business conditions (Huotari & Hamari 2011). Education is one field where game
elements have started to use lately (Kapp 2012). In most cases the gamification is implemented in order to
increase the engagement among students (Fitz‐Walter et al. 2011). The easiest case for course gamification is
the course of computer games because the course content is supporting gamified learning activities (Sheldon
2011). Is it possible to design the course in the way that students immerse with the learning activities and they
don’t notice the time passing? This kind of immersion (Baños et al. 2004) and flow (Csikszentmihalyi 1990) is
typical to the computer games. Players can spend hours with playing their favourite games and not noticing
what’s happening around them. It would be nice to engage students with the study process in the same deep
level then players of video games.
The aim of this study is to design and implement two courses of Computer Games as games and evaluate does
this leads to deeper immersion? Game elements like goals, avatar, experience points, scoreboard, levels, luck,
collaboration, competition and feedback were integrated with course design. The model of flow was used for
measuring the immersion among students on the gamified courses. First the game elements used for
gamification are introduced. Next, the tool for measuring the flow is described. Then the case courses are
introduced and finally the flow is measured.
2. Game elements
Before we start talking about game elements it is important to define what game is? “Game is a activity of play
in the pretended reality where participants try to achieve challenging goal by acting in accordance with rules”
(Adams 2009). By this definition game does not have to be competition. Some authors distinguish games from
the simulations saying that game is always competition against something or somebody. Game does not have
to be purely entertaining. E.g. educational games have a serious goal. Some serious games are not even fun
(e.g. medical simulators). Depending on the genre and type games can contain following elements (Adams
2009):
Clear goals
Interactive activities for achieving the goals
Instant and rich feedback to the activities
Competition among players
Collaboration in teams
Clear rules – game objects and relations between them
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Martin Sillaots
Rewards like experience points, scoreboards and badges
Levels as game units or rating or difficulty of the game
Balance between skills and challenges
Luck, chance or randomness
Risk of failing
Game world – imaginary place where players go during the gameplay
Characters – avatars and non‐player characters
Game aesthetics – graphical and visual elements
Interactive story telling
Immersion – loosing the sense of time and stop worrying about self.
Some of the game elements (e.g. goals, rules and collaboration) are very close to course elements. Some of
the game elements are similar but named differently (e.g. grades are rewards, learning units are levels,
learner’s profile is avatar). Some of the elements should be part of the course design but sometimes they are
missing (e.g. instant and rich feedback, balance between learner skills and assignments). Some of the elements
are not so frequently used in educational conditions (e.g. competition, luck, risk, story) and some of them are
difficult to implement (e.g. game world and aesthetics).
3. Flow
When goals are clear and activities are organised in engaging way the participants loose the sense of time and
they stop worrying about themselves. This kind of immersion is typical for computer games. (Baños et al. 2004).
How to evaluate the level of immersion on the gamified course? Several theories exist for analysing users
enjoyment like disposition, attitude, transportation, cognition, parasocial interaction and flow (Oliver & Nabi
2004). When most of the theories provide narrow models for enjoyment, the theory of flow gives general
structure suitable for summarising the aspects of enjoyment. It enables to build a instrument for measuring
the design of the course (Sweetser & Wyeth 2005).
Flow is a state of mind where the user is concentrated on the certain task so deeply that they are loosing the
sense of time and stop worrying about other things. It’s optimal experience in the level of mind and body
when the user absorbs to the activity and feels deeper enjoyment (Csikszentmihalyi 1990). According to
Csikszentmihalyi for achieving the state of flow following conditions should be provided:
Balance between challenges and users skills. Also constant growth of the level of difficulty accordance
with the growth of skills.
Distractors are avoided and concentration is supported.
Tasks are fulfilled spontaneously and effortlessly. Activity must be rewarding for its own sake.
To achieve flow conditions following elements are important to meet:
Achievable tasks – difficult but achievable through great effort.
Ability to concentrate on task.
Clear goals – it should be clear what is needed. How to achieve that, is open.
Tasks provide instant and rich feedback.
Autonomy – user is controlling her actions.
Deep but effortless involvement – concern of everyday life disappears – Immersion.
Concern of self disappears – Immersion.
Loosing the sense of time – Immersion.
Several researchers have used the concept of flow for measuring the user engagement while playing
videogames (Brockmyer et al. 2009) (Sweetser & Wyeth 2005) (Beume et al. 2008), e‐learning games (Fu et al.
2009), participating in online courses (McGrath & Bayerlein 2013), or in online idea competitions (Witt et al.
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2011). According to previously listed sources, the elements for the model of flow are: balance, concentration,
goals, feedback, autonomy and immersion.
4. Case courses
In order to increase the students’ engagement, two courses of Game Design were organised as games:
Game Interactions (G1) course was held in the spring semester 2013 for Cross Media and Interaction
Design master students. During the entire semester 6 face to face contact lessons were organised (4h
each). 20 students out of 21 (95%) finished the course.
Computer Games (G2) course was held in the autumn semester 2013 for Cross Media bachelor students.
Course had 12 contact sessions (4h each). 23 students out of 35 (66%) finished the course.
The objectives of the both courses were to provide an overall understanding about game research and theory,
design and implementation. The main focus was on the game design. The content of the course was based on
the book “Fundamentals of game design” (Adams 2009). Following topics were covered: game structure and
elements, design process and roles, game idea and concept, gameplay, core mechanics and balancing, story,
game world, characters, user interface, paper and digital prototypes. Learning activities were inspired by the
book “Multiplayer Classroom” (Sheldon 2011).
In both case courses started with introducing the learning goals. First assignment was the design of personal
avatar. Students were encouraged to use nicknames that are related with the course content. They were also
asked to design an icon for the avatar and write character background story. The main objective for avatar
design was to generate safe names that can be used in the scoreboard and not to violate the law of protection
of personal data. Every assignment had three sub‐activities: creating and uploading an artefact (document or
drawing or prototype), presenting the artefact in the class, answering and asking questions. E.g. during the
avatar assignment every student designed her profile for the course VLE as avatar. Based on the quality of
assignment, experience points (XP) were achieved. Randomly selected five students had a chance to introduce
their avatar in the front of the class and answer to the questions. Additional XP’s were offered based on the
quality of presentations and questions.
Next assignment was related with analysing and introducing student’s favourite digital game. Students had to
write a short paper about one game and to describe its genre, gameplay and other elements. Third assignment
was selecting role for the game design team based on student’s background. Role selection affected the team
formulation.
Forth assignment was providing an idea for the new computer game. Every student had a chance to pitch the
idea in front of the class. After presentations voting was organised. Students had to select the most attractive
ideas. In different cases the voting was organised differently. In G1 every student presented ideas in the front
of the entire class and every student had a chance to evaluate all ideas. Because this process was too time
consuming in G2 first the teams were formed and students introduced their ideas in smaller groups. Voting
was made inside of the group and the selected idea was introduced to the rest of the class. In both cases the
owners of the selected ideas earned some extra XP’s.
Based on selected roles (and in G1 case also on game idea preferences) the teams were formed. TeamUp
(http://teamup.aalto.fi) tool was used for creating heterogeneous teams. This tool enables to form groups
automatically based on students’ preferences so they could work with suitable game idea and to hold a
desired role in the team.
After forming the teams rest of the activities were conducted as a joint effort. Students were asked to
compose a document to describe the specification of the new game, design the game challenges and activities
(gameplay), specify core mechanics of the game (rules), write a story for the game, design graphical items for
the game world (backgrounds, characters, objects), compose paper prototype and implement digital prototype
for the game. For game development the eAdventure (http://e‐adventure.e‐ucm.es) platform was used.
eAdventure doesn’t require programming skills. Every assignment involved creating a short documents or
artefacts, presenting them in the front of the class and asking questions from other teams. The members of
the teams earned XP’s per every assignment in equal level. Most of the activities involved cooperation inside
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the teams and competition between teams and provided immediate oral feedback to the students. The aspect
of chance was reduced during the team activities because it affected only the order of presentations.
The course ended with the final exam (Big Boss Fight) where teams introduced their game specifications and
demonstrated digital prototypes. Visitors from game industry were invited to listen students’ presentations
and ask questions. After the exam students were asked to conduct self‐evaluation. They had a chance to adjust
the amount of XP’s that were collected during the teamwork.
Every activity generated certain amount of experience points (XP). Based on XP’s students were listed in the
scoreboard. Game levels were based on scores and later they were converted in to grades. Course included
several bonus activities and possibilities to earn extra XP’s like testing and evaluating different game projects
and providing links to additional learning materials.
5. Methodology
In the end of each course the feedback was collected from the students in the format of online questionnaire.
Altogether 32 students out of 43 (74%) who finished the course with the positive result, responded ‐ 17
students from G1 (85%) and 15 students from G2 (65%). The goal of the survey was to evaluate did the
gamification leaded to the flow (were the flow conditions achieved)? Questions were adapted from the
previous surveys done by different researchers (Brockmyer et al. 2009) (Fu et al. 2009). 13 questions were
asked from the G1 course participants. The questions were expressed in the form a Likert scale, and with a
free text field for additional comments. For the G2 the previously used questionnaire was modified by adding
questions. 21 single choice questions with free form comments were asked. Questions from two different
surveys were mapped according to the Flow model (Brockmyer et al. 2009) concerning: balance (G1 3
questions; G2 4 questions), concentration (G1 3; G2 3), goals (G1 3; G2 2), feedback (G1 1; G2 3), autonomy
(G1 2; G2 4) and immersion (G1 1; G2 5).
The interval scale with values: yes = 4, rather yes = 3, rather no = 2, no = 1 was used for the answers. The
neutral answer was left out intentionally to force students to take clearer standpoints. Arithmetical averages
were calculated for every question and for the group of questions (flow element).
Table 1: Scales for the questions and results
Scales Value Min Max
Yes 4 3.26 4.00
Rather yes 3 2.51 3.25
Rather no 2 1.76 2.50
No 1 1.00 1.75
During the data analysis, average results were tied with text‐based explanations. The consequent
interpretation key was the following. The range from 1 to 4 was divided in to 4 equal intervals. When the
average rating belongs to the range from 4 to 3.26 then this flow element was successfully achieved (Yes).
Rather yes if the result belongs between 3.25 and 2.51. Rather now if the result belongs between 2.5 and 1.76.
Element was not achieved if the result belongs to range from 1.75 to 1. All quantitative estimations were
combined with students’ qualitative comments.
6. Results
In general all flow aspects were achieved in high level (total average rating 3.27 – yes) but the flow in G1 (3.38
‐ yes) was achieved in much higher level then in G2 (3.15 – rather yes). In this case younger students (G2 was
formed from bachelor students) felt flow in lower level then older G1 master students.
Table 2: Average ratings for flow elements per courses
Flow Conditions G1 G2 Average
Balance between challenges and skills 3.25 Yes 3.39 Yes 3.32 Yes
Avoid distraction and enable concentration 3.43 Yes 3.24 Rather yes 3.34 Yes
Clear goals 3.65 Yes 3.34 Yes 3.49 Yes
Instant and rich feedback 3.59 Yes 3.62 Yes 3.61 Yes
Control and autonomy 3.03 Rather yes 3.05 Rather yes 3.04 Rather yes
Immersion 3.29 Yes 2.54 Rather yes 2.92 Rather yes
Average flow 3.38 Yes 3.15 Rather yes 3.27 Yes
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It is apparent from the students’ comment that in both cases they enjoyed the gamified course but according
to their remarks, stronger flow was achieved among G1 students then in G2. G2 students felt difficulties with
motivation among team members, physical learning conditions that did not support teamwork, the way in
which the teams were formed and personal attitude towards learning.
In both cases students enjoyed the final presentation of game prototypes the most because it had an audience
of professionals that gave their availability to come and to challenge students with questions and remarks. The
composition of the audience was perceived incredibly high in quality.
6.1 Balance
In both cases students found the difficulty of the assignments to be in balance with their skills and knowledge.
As there were no programming skills required to attend the course, none of the tasks was too difficult. In both
cases students felt that the difficulty level rather increased during the course. First exercises like creating an
avatar or writing the main idea of the game were really easy, but as the course came closer to an end, the
missions (for example the digital prototype and at the same time preparing for big boss fight) got more time
demanding.
Table 3: Average ratings for questions about balance
Questions G1 G2
Learning activities were suitable for students’ skills 3.35 Yes 3.51 Yes
Difficulty of the tasks increased during the course 3.12 Rather yes 3.00 Rather yes
Skills increased during the course 3.29 Yes NA NA
Average Balance 3.25 Yes 3.39 Yes
They also mentioned that managing the teamwork was getting harder when the course proceeded. One team
leader was expecting team members to contribute to the further development of the game idea but fellow
students refused to do that. Instead they expected clear development tasks from the manager. Another team
leader was not happy when team members tried to reshape the core concept of the game. In negative
comments students mentioned that they needed more time for teamwork. G2 students mentioned that they
expected more practical work instead of theory.
6.2 Concentration
In general the concentration to learning activities was higher among G1 students then G2. In both cases
students found that the biggest factor for higher engagement was the content of the course. They mentioned
enjoying the creative nature of the learning activities. Also the possibility to earn XP’s was mentioned as a
motivating factor. One G1 student commented: “The idea to give XP for completed tasks and for being active
in the class is really great, but unfortunately what is good is always given too little. I would have expected
more ways to be interactive and earn points for various fun tasks which would be completed during the class,
maybe there just weren't that much time for that.”
Table 4: Average ratings for the questions about the concentration
Questions G1 G2
Course provided stimuli for involvement 3.65 Yes 2.73 Rather yes
It was easy to focus on course content 3.24 Rather yes 3.00 Rather yes
Learning activities were relevant to the course content 3.41 Yes 4.00 Yes
Average concentration 3.43 Yes 3.24 Rather yes
G2 students found that the gamified course design helped them to concentrate on learning activities. One
student commented: “Learning through gaming is a good idea to motivate young people nowadays”. G2
students provided controversial comments towards the work in teams. Half of them enjoyed work in teams
because it provided opportunities to discuss ideas and solutions. Other felt frustration because the lack of
communication and low conscientiousness among team members. One G2 student said: “I could have done
more, but got discouraged because of my team. If they do nothing, why should I?”
In both cases students found it relatively easy to focus on course if the assignments were delivered on time.
Some students’ mentioned that they had difficulties because of other responsibilities (other subjects and job
tasks). G2 added another factor that made focussing harder – not suitable classroom. Classes took place in the
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cinema hall. The room was too big, too dark and the physical conditions supported comfortable sitting instead
of active involvement.
Both G1 and G2 students found that all learning activities were relevant with the course content. Some
students recommended to skip the theoretical part of the computer games and focus only on practical hands
on game design.
6.3 Goals
In both cases the goals of the course and the scoring system was clear for most of the students. Some students
mentioned that the goal or the scoring system was not understandable in the beginning of the course but they
got clear during the process.
Table 5: Average ratings for the course goals
Questions G1 G2
Course goals were clear 3.71 Yes 3.47 Yes
Rewards were appropriate for the effort needed 3.53 Yes 3.20 Rather yes
Average to Goals 3.65 Yes 3.34 Yes
It was also mentioned that scoring system was too complex and took too much time for explanations. Few
students did not like the use of randomness but it affected very small amount of course activities and was
mostly related with creating the order of presentations. G2 students comment that final exam should provide
more XP’s
6.4 Feedback
In both cases students perceived the feedback to be instant and rich enough. Feedback was provided through
oral comments, email messages and scoreboard.
Table 6: Average ratings for the feedback
Questions G1 G2
Feedback was instant 3.59 Yes 3.80 Yes
Feedback was rich NA NA 3.40 Yes
VLE was easy to use NA NA 3.67 Yes
Average Feedback 3.59 Yes 3.62 Yes
Although the question about the ease of use of the VLE was not asked from G1 students, they discussed VLE
related aspects in general comments. In both cases students were satisfied with the VLE and found it easy to
use compared to other VLE’s. In negative comments they mentioned that they have too many different
learning platforms and it is complicated to orientate in all of them.
6.5 Control
In both cases learners felt moderate control (rather yes) over their learning activities and progress during the
course. Mostly the control was based on individual contribution to assignments. Students from G1 emphasise
the importance of the engaging activity. This is also mentioned in G2 students’ comments but more frequently
they mention the importance of the scoreboard – XP’s were more important to them to measure their
progress then for G1 students.
Table 7: Average ratings for the control
Questions G1 G2
Learners implemented different strategies for getting positive results NA NA 2.57 Rather yes
Learners had control over learning activities NA NA 3.33 Yes
It was possible to correct mistakes NA NA 3.33 Yes
Learners had control over the progress 3.03 Rather yes 3.47 Yes
Average for Control 3.03 Rather yes 3.05 Rather yes
Students also listed several aspects that did not respond to their control: management of teamwork (in some
teams) and randomly pointed presentation tasks.
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6.6 Immersion
G1 students felt much higher immersion during the course compared to G2. One reason for this could be the
more detailed set of questions that was asked from G1. But based on students’ comments it is clear that
immersion among G2 students was lower.
Table 8: Average ratings for immersion
Questions G1 G2
Learning activities were engaging 3.29 Yes 3.20 Rather yes
During learning activities I forgot my everyday troubles NA NA 2.13 Rather no
During learning activities I felt that time is passing faster than usually NA NA 2.33 Rather no
During learning activities the concern about self disappeared NA NA 2.53 Rather yes
During learning activities I felt emotional connection with other students NA NA 2.53 Rather yes
Average immersion 3.29 Yes 2.54 Rather yes
G1 students found the learning activities highly engaging because the nature of assignments. Students
commented that it was really engaging to write analyse of the favourite game or story for the game, produce
the trailer for the game or prepare for the final presentation. Students felt strong emotional connection with
their project and this motivated them to contribute more actively.
Although G2 students mentioned that it was interesting to shape a mere idea in to something that can be
created, it did not lead to forgetting everyday troubles. In the beginning of a course the time was passing fast,
but in second half, it was slowing down. G2 students were more focussed on collecting XP’s then finishing
deliverables. The motivation dropped when the amount of points required for the positive grade was collected.
In some teams G2 students felt that team spirit dominated over the self. In this case they also felt a stronger
emotional connection between team members. In one team one student tried to control the entire process
and was not taking in to account fellow students’ opinions. And in some teams the connections remained
weak because students did not contributed to teamwork enough.
7. Discussion and conclusion
The aim of the article was to design two courses as games to achieve the stronger involvement among the
students and measure the effect of the gamification with the help of model of Flow. In one case (G1) the state
of flow was achieved in much higher level then in another (G2). What are the possible reasons that lead to the
different results in similar courses?
The main reason for the weaker flow among G2 students was probably related with the mechanism how the
teams were formed. In G1 all students introduced their ideas for the new game. Best ideas were selected
through voting and teams were formed around the teams (students had a chance to choose whit what idea
they would like to work). In G2 (because of bigger number of students) first the teams were formed and then
the idea was selected inside the teams. Most likely this caused the situation where some of the team members
did not feel emotional connection with the selected idea.
Another aspect that can influence the flow is the nature of students’ motivation. Students’ comments
provided plenty of evidences to understand that students from G1 were more driven by the intrinsic
motivators (to them the nature of the assignment was engaging) when G2 students were mostly interested in
collecting XP’s ‐ extrinsic motivators. Maybe it was not reasonable to provide XP’s to the activities that are
engaging enough? This is also accordance to the Kapp’s recommendations – provide points for boring activities,
interesting activities are engaging because of their nature (Kapp 2012). Games and game design are perceived
as engaging topics for most of the students because they are related with play and creativity.
Third aspect could be the physical conditions of the course – cinema hall is not suitable place for active
involvement. And finally G2 students’ attitude to learning was different compared G1 students. G2 students
had different excuses (other courses and busy times at work) for missing the classes.
For conclusion, gamification of the course can increase the involvement among students and the model of
Flow can be used for measuring the deepness of the immersion. Following comment from one G1 student is
representing nicely the general attitude of the entire group: “I found the course challenging and engaging. The
idea to structure the course like a game was at first strange, but then refreshing. Such way to present the
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course made it from the beginning pertinent to the subject and gave us immediately the idea that when we
talk about games all our engagement has to be within the game world. I would like other lecturer to have the
same risky, but interesting way to present and see academic lectures.”
In presented cases there is a plenty of space for improvement:
Teams should be formed around the game ideas.
Create scoring system that supports work in teams. E.g. Let fellow students to grade team presentations.
Based on this the average score for the presentation is given to the teams. Finally team has to share
earned points between team embers based on their contribution.
Replace scoreboard with team personal task list that describes what should be done and what is done.
References
Adams, E., 2009. Fundamentals of Game Design, New Riders; 2 edition.
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Beume, N. et al., 2008. Measuring flow as concept for detecting game fun in the Pac‐Man game. In 2008 IEEE Congress on
Evolutionary Computation (IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence). IEEE, pp. 3448–3455.
Brockmyer, J.H. et al., 2009. The development of the Game Engagement Questionnaire: A measure of engagement in video
game‐playing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), pp.624–634.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., 1990. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Harper &Row.
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477
Learning Biology With Interactive Digital 3D Content: Teacher
Attitudes
Leo Siiman, Mario Mäeots and Margus Pedaste
Centre for Educational Technology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
leo.siiman@ut.ee
mario.maeots@ut.ee
margus.pedaste@ut.ee
Abstract: E‐learning has the potential to transform the educational experience by going beyond traditional ways of learning
such as reading textbooks or listening to in‐class lectures. Digital content forms the foundation of e‐learning and internet
connectivity makes the delivery of digital content fast, reliable and convenient. However, thus far most e‐learning content
has been simply traditional content converted to digital form (paper textbooks become e‐books and in‐class lectures
become online video lectures). But digital content can offer new functionality that transcends the limitations of traditional
content. One important example where this is true is digital 3D models. Digital 3D models allow learners to interactively
navigate and visually examine the spatial structure, composition and arrangement of objects. This type of interactivity
supports spatial thinking, which is strongly linked to academic success in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and
mathematics) disciplines. The STEM subjects are important drivers of innovation and economic growth in knowledge‐based
societies, but currently the number of young people pursuing and obtaining high qualifications in STEM is insufficient to
meet the future needs of many developed countries. In this paper we explored how digital 3D content can enhance and
improve STEM learning. To investigate this topic we created a digital 3D model of the human respiratory system,
distributed it via a web‐based platform to three experienced biology teachers and then conducted in‐person interviews
with the teachers. Based on the teacher responses we were able to synthesize four instructional design principles
(dynamic, spatial, informative and authentic) that characterize what effective 3D content should look like. The opinions
and attitudes of teachers towards using digital 3D models for teaching a domain‐specific STEM subject, and their views on
the learning experiences afforded by 3D content are important for designing and using new e‐learning content so it
impacts student learning in an effective and meaningful way.
Keywords: e‐learning, visualization, digital 3D content, STEM education, secondary school, teacher attitudes
1. Introduction
Digital 3D content in education is an emerging trend where new opportunities for teaching and learning exist
(Bodenlos and Lennex, 2012). With digital 3D models students can interact with content in ways not previously
possible. Interacting with digital 3D content has the potential to improve a students’ understanding of
scientific structures and processes (Siiman and Pedaste, 2013). Yue (2012) showed that realistic computer‐
based 3D views improve spatial thinking. Spatial thinking can be defined as an ability to create, retain, retrieve,
and transform well‐structured visual images (Korakakis, Pavlatou, Palyvos and Spyrellis, 2009, p. 391). Spatial
thinking is an important factor, or even a fundamental ability, related to future academic success in the
subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Yue, 2012; Wai, Lubinski and Benbow, 2009).
Besides offering potential academic advantages through enhanced spatial ability, 3D content can be visually
stimulating and thus a promising way to motivate young students to study STEM subjects. A recent and
successful intervention to reverse declining student interest in computer science has been to teach novice
students using a visual programming environment rather than with a syntax‐dependent text‐only
programming language (Siiman, Pedaste, Tõnisson, Sell, Jaakkola and Alimisis, 2014). Visual programming
environments seem to bridge the appeal young people feel towards modern forms of entertainment (e.g. CGI
enhanced movies, multimedia video games) with the seriousness and focused attention required to learn
computer programming. Similarly, digital 3D content is nowadays commonly used for entertainment purposes
(e.g. special effects imagery in films and television, environments and objects in video games). But less
attention has been placed on taking advantage of digital 3D content for educational purposes. One barrier has
been a lack of easily accessible and pedagogically grounded examples of 3D content, especially at the K‐12
educational level.
Recently, in fall 2013, the Smithsonian Institution launched an online 3D web portal to make available to the
general public interactive 3D digitisations of some of their historic artefacts (http://3d.si.edu). They used a 3D
laser scanner to create digital 3D models, thereby preserving accurate geometrical and colour information
from the objects. Alongside the digital 3D archive, the Smithsonian Institution is currently working on creating
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new educational resources and a STEM curriculum around 3D technology (http://3d.si.edu/article/educators).
They envision that digital 3D data sets can be used to create engaging learning experiences in K‐12 classrooms.
For example, the design of a 3D model can be explored and examined using 3D computer software and later a
plastic version of the 3D model can be printed using a 3D printer. Nevertheless, these pedagogical ideas have
not yet been systematically tested in classrooms and the effectiveness of 3D content to improve learning is still
not well understood. More information, especially from teachers and students, is needed to evaluate the
potential of digital 3D technology in education.
In this study we collected and analysed the opinions and attitudes of three secondary school biology teachers
about using a digital 3D model. The teachers were provided with a web‐based 3D biology model and asked to
interact with it. Their feedback was later documented through in‐person interviews. Three research questions
framed this study:
What features of 3D models are necessary to satisfy the requirements of the secondary school biology
curriculum?
What biology topics can be more effectively taught with 3D models rather than with traditional content?
Are teachers willing to create 3D models themselves?
2. Methodology
The general design of this study consisted of two parts: creating a 3D model for teachers to interact with and
interviewing teachers about their experience with the 3D model.
2.1 Digital 3D model creation
The human respiratory system was chosen as a specific example from which to build a digital 3D model. We
purposefully attempted to make the 3D model as simple as possible with the intent of retrieving open‐ended
feedback from teachers who might be encountering digital 3D content for the first time. To create the model
we first obtained relevant 3D content from the BodyParts3D database (http://lifesciencedb.jp/bp3d). The
BodyParts3D database is a repository of open‐access 3D human anatomy digital data released under the
Creative Commons license CC‐BY SA 2.1JP (Mitsuhashi, Fujieda, Tamura, Kawamoto, Takagi and Okubo, 2009).
We downloaded the following 3D parts: pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchiole, lungs, and a human
body silhouette. Using the free, open‐source 3D software Blender (http://www.blender.org) we assembled the
parts together. In addition we designed a learning activity to accompany the model.
The learning activity we chose to create was based on learning activities with 2D visual pictures or diagrams
that teach biology knowledge. A 2D diagram with lines or arrows indicating different parts of an object is often
used to test whether students can correctly identify and label the parts they see. We adapted this 2D exercise
into a 3D learning activity by attaching tags to individual parts of the 3D model. A learner then has to find the
tags and correctly label the part name as well as the corresponding tag. This activity forces a learner to
navigate a three‐dimensional virtual space by rotating, panning, and zooming. It is assumed that skilful
navigation in a 3D environment can improve a learners’ spatial ability.
To distribute the 3D model to teachers we used the website Sketchfab (https://sketchfab.com). Although
Blender is a powerful software application for creating and displaying 3D content, it was decided that a web‐
based platform would be a more convenient way for teachers to access and interact with a 3D model. Any web
browser that supports WebGL graphics (most browsers nowadays fully support WebGL) is able to display 3D
interactive models on Sketchfab. Navigation (i.e. rotating, panning, zooming) in Sketchfab is most conveniently
accomplished with a three‐button mouse (left mouse button to rotate, right mouse button to pan and mouse
scroll button to zoom).
Figure 1 shows a screenshot image of our web‐based 3D model of the human respiratory system (accessible at
https://skfb.ly/zPrn). The human body silhouette was designed to be semi‐transparent so that internal parts
are visible, but without sacrificing entirely the outer human body contour. The internal respiratory parts are
opaque and each one is coloured differently. Figure 2 shows a screenshot image after a user has navigated in
the 3D environment and found a particular tag. Figure 2 shows that the bronchi part has a tag labelled ‘mudel
748’.
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Figure 1: Interactive digital 3D model of the human respiratory system. The web‐based 3D model is accessible
at https://skfb.ly/zPrn
Figure 2: Navigating in the 3D environment (i.e. rotating, panning and zooming) allows a learner to find tags
attached to individual parts on the 3D model. The bronchi part shown here has a tag labelled ‘mudel
748’
2.2 Teacher interviews
After the 3D model was created we were ready to distribute it to teachers and collect their feedback. We
chose to conduct exploratory interviews with the teachers to obtain in‐depth information about their attitudes
regarding 3D content for biology education. Three experienced biology teachers (Hanna, Kaisa and Liisa; not
their real names) from separate secondary schools in Estonia participated in this study. Hanna had 25 years of
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experience as a teacher, Kaisa had 20 years and Liisa had 18 years. Interviewing teachers with many years of
experience allowed us to explore the new potentials of 3D content from the perspective of experts. A semi‐
structured expert interview is a useful method to gather information from a person possessing extensive
knowledge in a certain field of activity (Meuser and Nagel, 2009).
The same e‐mail letter was sent to all three teachers inviting them to participate in a research study. The letter
contained a link to the web‐based 3D model, instructions for navigating the 3D environment with a mouse,
description of the learning activity to find tags on the models, and a request to participate in an interview
about their experience with 3D content. Follow‐up communications with the teachers led to scheduling in‐
person interviews with the teachers at their respective schools. Two researchers went to conduct each of the
three interviews. Each teacher was asked the same three questions:
What connections does the 3D model have with teaching the secondary school biology curriculum?
What suggestions do you have for creating new 3D models?
Would you be ready to create 3D models yourself?
A time limit of approximately 30 minutes was set for each interview. The teachers were encouraged to give
open‐ended responses. The two interviewers individually recorded field notes on paper, mainly because of the
advantages field notes have in terms of simplicity (Tessier, 2012). When collecting interview data with field
notes it is important to transform the ideas and memories into a well‐written form as soon as possible while
impressions are still vivid (Sanjek, 1990). In our case the two researchers compared their notes with each other
the day after each interview in order to reach a consensus on the main points expressed by the teachers.
3. Results
The results of the interviews with the three teachers are organized according to the three questions that were
asked. The questions addressed the topics of connection to the secondary school curriculum, suggestions for
improvement of 3D content and willingness to create 3D content.
3.1 Relevance to the secondary school curriculum
The first question asked the teachers whether the 3D model they examined was relevant to teaching the
secondary school biology curriculum in Estonia. All three teachers answered that the model was insufficient to
satisfy the needs of the secondary school biology curriculum.
Hanna said that the model by itself gives too little information. She indicated that simply navigating in a 3D
environment to look at different parts of a model does not provide an adequate learning experience for
students. Kaisa said that the model does not enable a student to learn independently with it, and therefore
requires a teacher to fill‐in the missing information through teacher‐led instruction. Kaisa also mentioned that
the model is inadequate for independent learning because it lacks textual descriptions of the parts and does
not provide feedback. Liisa said that the secondary school biology curriculum does not particularly devote a lot
of time to teaching human anatomical structures and that this model does not have strong connections to the
curriculum. She remarked that 3D models to teach human anatomy might be beneficial at the basic school
level where learning biological structures is first introduced. Liisa also indicated that a possible future elective
course (currently being discussed at her school) to teach human anatomy and physiology at the secondary
school level might benefit from 3D models.
Hanna remarked that physical 3D models of human anatomy are available to many biology teachers in Estonia,
and can demonstrate the same information as computer‐based 3D models in terms of showing the spatial
arrangement of parts with respect to one another. Liisa mentioned that the digital 3D model was too general
and its teaching advantages small compared to using physical 3D models. However, Hanna pointed out several
potential advantages of digital 3D models such as the ability to zoom inside parts and that open‐access digital
models are free of cost when compared to relatively expensive physical 3D models.
Both Hanna and Kaisa stressed the importance of teaching biological processes at the secondary school level,
and remarked that the static 3D model they examined did not currently support the learning of biological
processes. Hanna also mentioned that the model did not facilitate an inquiry approach to learning because a
teacher would have to explain too many essential key points.
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3.2 Suggestions for improvement
The second question asked the teachers to propose their own ideas for improving 3D content in order for it to
be educationally effective at the secondary school level. The teachers cited specific examples where 3D models
could be potentially beneficial. Since the example 3D model dealt with the human respiratory system the
teachers focused on other topics related to human anatomy.
The teachers provided examples of human anatomy topics where 3D content could be beneficial for looking
inside parts, looking at parts that are hidden by other parts, and correcting visual misunderstandings that
might occur with traditional 2D learning materials. The teachers cited several examples: all three teachers
mentioned the nervous system and specifically the brain structure, Hanna and Kaisa mentioned the structure
of the human heart, Kaisa and Liisa mentioned the excretory system and the structure of nephrons in kidneys,
Hanna and Kaisa mentioned the structure of the eyes and ears, Liisa mentioned the reproductive system, and
Hanna mentioned the digestive system.
Additionally, the teachers brought out aspects related to teaching biology at the secondary school level that a
3D model should include. All three teachers wanted more textual information to accompany the 3D models.
For example, Hanna mentioned an option for students to click on a part and then textual information such as
the name of the part appears, Liisa mentioned including interesting textual facts about the parts with the
model, and Kaisa mentioned including text that describes the processes associated with an individual part.
Kaisa remarked that textual info about a 3D model should be easily retrievable for a student (i.e. a maximum
of two clicks to access relevant info). Hanna and Kaisa mentioned several times during their interviews that 3D
content should support the teaching of processes. For example, Hanna said that the human respiratory model
needs to show how the breathing process occurs (i.e. air is inhaled through the nose and mouth, travels down
the trachea, etc.). Another example mentioned of a process was the path food takes as it travels through the
human body. A third example was to show how nephrons filter blood inside kidneys. A forth example was the
renewal process of human skin cells. A fifth example of a process that could benefit from using a 3D model was
the circulation of blood through the heart.
All three teachers saw the potential advantage of 3D models to illustrate processes as providing more real‐life
authenticity to teaching biology topics versus the use of traditional learning materials such as 2D animations.
Hanna strongly stressed the need to integrate the inquiry learning approach when using 3D models. Liisa
mentioned that 3D models should include a measurement scale so that students can estimate the size of the
objects and develop an intuitive sense of object dimensions.
3.3 Willingness to create 3D content
The third question asked during the interview focused on whether the teachers would be ready to create
digital 3D models themselves.
Hanna and Kaisa were not ready to create 3D models themselves because they viewed their computer
competence as too low or felt that it would take too much time. They saw themselves as users, not creators, of
3D content. Liisa, however, did express a willingness to create digital 3D models. But she remarked that the
computer equipment at her school needed to be updated to support such a task.
As an additional remark, all three teachers mentioned in their interviews that navigating the computer‐based
3D model using a mouse did not present any technical difficulties for them.
4. Discussion
In general the teachers indicated that 2D content does not always present a complete and authentic picture
when teaching biology content. A potential solution could be to use 3D content, but if the 3D content is too
simple then the ‘aha moment’ quickly disappears and student motivation to learn independently is diminished.
Therefore it is necessary to identify design features that need to be considered in order to create effective 3D
content.
Based on the teacher interviews and their suggestions for improving 3D content, we synthesized four
principles to characterize effective 3D content. The principles indicate that 3D content should be more
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student‐centred and encourage students to reason inductively. In contrast, the simple 3D model we presented
in this study required extensive teacher guidance and deductive instruction to satisfy the learning outcomes
expected of the secondary school biology curriculum.
The four principles for effective 3D content are: dynamic, spatial, informative, and authentic.
Dynamic. This principle means that a 3D model should be able to support the teaching of processes and
therefore requires animation.
Spatial. This principle reinforces the implicit nature of 3D content, i.e. that objects can be interactively
explored in three‐dimensional space.
Informative. This principle arose out of the constant demands by the teachers that informative textual
material accompany the visual 3D models.
Authentic. This principle refers to offering content within a more realistic and immersive situation.
The simple 3D model tested by the teachers could be improved by applying these four principles. The dynamic
principle suggests improving the 3D human respiratory model by showing how the human breathing process
occurs; e.g. the path air follows to deliver oxygen to where it is needed in the body and the subsequent
removal of carbon dioxide by exhalation of air out of the body. Animating the breathing process would make
the model more ‘alive’ while also allowing a learner to interactively examine it in three‐dimensional space
(thereby satisfying the spatial principle). The informative principle indicates that text appear somewhere so
that the process is clearly explained in words. The informative principle is consistent with instructional
methods for designing effective multimedia learning, where it is stressed that both words and pictures are
needed to facilitate deeper learning (Mayer, 2003). The authentic principle could improve the model by
showing a range of proportionally accurate and realistic sizes of the parts involved in the breathing process.
During the process of breathing air travels through the mouth, nose, trachea, bronchi, lungs, bronchioles,
alveoli, and finally to red blood cells. This range of sizes involved in the breathing process can be easily
demonstrated by a computer‐based 3D model through zooming in and out.
In the context of interactive multimodal learning environments, Moreno and Mayer (2007) reviewed five
design principles (guided activity, reflection, feedback, control and pretraining) that were found to promote
effective learning. These principles apply in general to any learning content. The four principles (dynamic,
spatial, informative and authentic) offered in this work are more specific to optimizing the advantages of 3D
content. From this point of view they should be considered within the specific context of developing effective
3D content for improved learning of STEM subjects.
Finally, it is important to note that the recommendations to improve 3D content studied in this paper came
from teachers working at the secondary school level. The biology curriculum at that level is focused more on
teaching processes rather than structures. As mentioned before, one teacher remarked that perhaps primary
school students would benefit more from simpler designed 3D models, since at that level the learning of
structural features is first introduced. Hence, the appropriate level of 3D content complexity may therefore
depend on the age or prior knowledge level of the students for whom it is intended.
5. Conclusion
Digital 3D content offers new possibilities to enhance STEM education and enrich e‐learning. In this study
three teachers were interviewed about their experience with using a 3D model. Their feedback was used as a
basis to propose design principles for creating effective educational 3D content. A limitation of this study was
the small sample of teachers from which we collected data. Another limitation was the web‐based platform
(Sketchfab) used to deliver the 3D model does not promote the full functionality digital 3D content has to offer
(i.e. creating 3D content, animated 3D content) that other 3D software provides (e.g. Blender). Future studies
should modify 3D content according to the four principles proposed in this paper and test it with students in
order to investigate the effect digital 3D content has on student motivation, academic performance and long‐
term knowledge and understanding.
Acknowledgements
The 3D model of the human respiratory system used in this research was created in the context of the
Estonian project Biodigi (http://www.biodigi.edu.ee), financed by the European Social Fund.
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References
Bodenlos, E. and Lennex, L. (2012) “3D technology in the schools”, Paper presented at the Society for Information
Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2012, Austin, Texas, USA, pp 4209‐4211.
Korakakis, G. G., Pavlatou, E. A., Palyvos, J. A. and Spyrellis, N. N. (2009) “3D visualization types in multimedia applications
for science learning: A case study for 8th grade students in Greece”, Computers & Education, Vol 52, pp 390‐401.
Mayer, R. E. (2003) “The promise of multimedia learning: using the same instructional design methods across different
media”, Learning and Instruction, Vol 13, pp 125‐139.
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17‐42.
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anatomical concepts”, Nucleic Acids Res., Vol 37, pp D782–D785.
Moreno, R. and Mayer, R. (2007) “Interactive multimodal learning environments.”, Educ Psychol Rev, Vol 19, pp 309‐326.
Sanjek, R. (1990). “A vocabulary for fieldnotes”, In R. Sanjek (Ed.), Fieldnotes (pp. 92‐139). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press.
Siiman, L.A. and Pedaste, M. (2013) “Towards a pedagogy for using digital 3‐D content in science education”, Paper
presented at the 6th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville, Spain, November, pp
5992‐5999.
Siiman, L. A., Pedaste, M., Tõnisson, E., Sell, R., Jaakkola, T. and Alimisis, D. (2014) “A Review of Interventions to Recruit and
Retain ICT Students”, International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science, Vol 6, pp 45‐54.
Tessier, S. (2012) “From field notes, to transcripts, to tape recordings: Evolution or combination?”, International Journal of
Qualitative Methods, Vol 11, pp 446‐460.
Wai, J., Lubinski, D., and Benbow C. P. (2009) “Spatial Ability for STEM Domains: Aligning Over 50 Years of Cumulative
Psychological Knowledge Solidifies Its Importance”, Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 101, pp 817‐835.
Yue, J. (2008) “Spatial Visualization by Realistic 3D Views”, Engineering Design Graphics Journal, Vol 72, pp 28‐38.
484
If you Could Choose, how Would you Show Your Teacher What you
Have Learned?
Ivana Šimonová
University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
ivana.simonova@uhk.cz
Abstract: Nowadays, it is generally acknowledged that the instructor´s teaching style should match students´ learning
preferences. In this context the ICT‐supported instruction is considered suitable and beneficial for students of all learning
styles, as it offers a wide range of tools and activities which can be tailored to any learning style and used by any teaching
style instructor. But how does this work when learners´ knowledge is assessed? Despite the assessment is recognized a
crucial part of the process of instruction, teachers often tend to use tests (either standardized or non‐standardized ones,
printed or online) of the same types for all learners, which means learners´ individual assessment preferences are not
reflected at all. Teachers strive to make assessment more systematic, transparent, objective so that to provide all students
with the ´same´ conditions. This ´fair´ approach is the cause of the ´un‐fair´ conditions from the point of individual
preferences within the process of learners´ knowledge assessment. Generally,researches in this field are built on
expectations that the match between teaching and learning styles will result in improving learners´ knowledge. In our
research we included individual assessment preferences in the design of ICT‐supported process of instruction. The research
ran in the subject of English for specific purposes (IT English) and the sample group consisted of more than 200 students of
bachelor Applied Informatics and master Information Management study programmes. The research followed two phase
structure. First, we detected student´s individual learning preferences by Johnston´s Learning Style Inventory. It consists of
28 statements evaluated on five‐level Likert scale and three open‐answer questions – Question N. 2 focuses on preferred
ways of performing learner´s knowledge (see the paper title). Second, we monitored learners´ experience, opinions and
preferences for various types of knowledge assessment. The collected data underwent the process of frequency analysis.
Results proved significant correlation in the group of precise processors, slight (not significant) correlations in groups of
technical and sequential processor (most respondents felt into these two groups), while confluent processors
demonstrated their exceptionality not only in learning but in assessment preferences as well.
Keywords: higher education, learning styles, assessment format, LCI
1. Introduction
How can we pretend any longer that we are serious about creating a learning society if we have no satisfactory
response to the questions how we ourselves learn, how the learning can be enhanced, whether learning
difficulties could be better understood as the teaching problems, what learning model we operate with and
how it should be used to improve our performance. These were the original questions asked by Coffield et al.
(2004) before they started research on the systematic and critical review of learning styles in post‐16
pedagogy at the beginning of 2000s.
It is generally acknowledged that the instructor´s teaching style should match the students´ learning styles.
Felder et al. (2002) say that mismatching can cause a wide range of further educational problems – e.g. it
favors certain students and discriminates others, especially if the mismatches are extreme; on the other hand,
if the same teaching style is used repeatedly, students become bored. Gregorc (2004) claims that only
individuals with very strong preferences for one learning style do not study effectively, the others may be
encouraged to develop new learning strategies. Only limited numbers of studies have demonstrated, e.g.
those mentioned by Coffield (2004) that students learn more effectively if their learning style is
accommodated. Other studies have proved that there was no statistically significant difference in students´
knowledge built in the educational process supported by ICT and within the traditional, i.e. face‐to‐face
instruction. The question is whether tailoring the process of ICT‐supported instruction (in this case running
within the LMS) to student´s individual learning preferences results in the increase in knowledge. To discover
this was the main objective of the three‐year research project “A flexible model of the ICT supported
educational process reflecting individual learning styles.“
This project arose from the Ch. A. Johnston´s concept “Unlocking the will to learn“ (1996). The traditional
learning process is based on belief that all learning occurs as part of learner´s intelligence. The greater the
intelligence, the more a child can learn. Johnston attracts attention to the verb can, as no one says ´will learn´
(1996, 16). To describe the whole process of learning, Johnston uses the metaphor of a combination lock saying
that cognition (processing), conation (performing) and affectation (developing) work as interlocking tumblers;
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Ivana Šimonová
when aligned they unlock an individual´s understanding of his/her learning combination. The will lies in the
centre of the model and interaction is the key. She compares human learning behaviour to a patterned fabric
where the cognition, conation and affectation are the threads of various colours and quality. It depends on the
individual weaver (learner) how s/he combines the threads and what the final pattern is.
Johnston (1996, 48‐50) designed the Learning Combination Inventory (LCI) consisting of 28 statements,
responses to which are defined on the five‐level Likert scale, and three open‐answer questions:
What makes assignments frustrating for you?
If you could choose, what would you do to show your teacher what you have learned?
If you were the teacher, how would you have students learn?
The LCI differs from other widely used inventories (e.g. by Kolb, Honey and Mumford etc.). It emphasizes not
the product of learning, but the process of learning; it focuses on how to unlock and what unlocks the learner’s
motivation and ability to learn, i.e. on the way how to achieve student´s optimum intellectual development.
This was the main reason why LCI, not any other traditional tool was applied for detecting respondents´
individual learning styles. The responses to LCI describe the schema (pattern) that drives students´ will to
learn. Respondents are categorized into four groups as follows:
sequential processors, i.e. the seekers of clear directions, practiced planners, thoroughly neat workers;
precise processors, i.e. the information specialists, info‐details researches, answer specialists and report
writers;
technical processors, i.e. the hands‐on builders, independent private thinkers and reality seekers;
confluent processors, i.e. those who march to a different drummer, creative imaginers and unique
presenters.
Then, each individual pattern consists of four types of processors of various quality and quantity, e.g. it
includes sequential processing on the ´prefer´ level, precise and technical approaches on the ´accept´ level and
´rejects´ confluent ways of processing information.
The same approach is applied on learner´s showing the teacher what s/he has learned. The term of testing
styles was used as it keeps the line of learning and teaching styles researched before. Our understanding of
this term closely relates to Question 2 in Johnston´s LCI: ´If you could choose, what would you do to show your
teacher what you have learned?´, in other words in our research we focus on assessment preferences of single
students, i.e. (1) what are the approaches to, ways, types of assessment or testing knowledge which would be
appreciated by single types of students (processors) in the ICT‐supported process of instruction and (2) do the
preferences in certain types of assessments relate to learning and/or cognitive preferences/styles of individual
students in the ICT‐supported process of instruction?
2. Theoretical background
Modern education systems require considering individual differences while planning a learning environment.
In this process the focus has always been on learning styles, approaches, strategies etc., whereas assessment
preferences of students have been widely ignored. Hence, while planning the learning environment, students’
assessment preferences should be taken into consideration. The concept of ´assessment preferences´ refers to
students’ opinions, attitudes, and preferences of assessment methods and its properties (Birenbaum, 1997).
The level of benefit that the students get from the instructing and assessment activities varies according to the
individual differences they have. So many individual differences (such as students’ learning styles, motivations,
strategies they use while learning, personalities etc.) affect the students’ performance, success and the level of
the benefit they get from such a process of instruction. On the other hand, besides the individual differences
related to learning, students’ perception about the assessment process has great importance to the quality of
education in general (Doğan, Atmaca, Aslan, 2012). But, the final question still exists: What else can be done to
make the ICT‐supported process of learning easier? Following the Felder´s multistyle approach (Felder, 2010)
we would recommend to use a wide range of methods, strategies and approaches which have been
successfully applied in the face‐to‐face form of instruction for ages and to use them under the conditions of e‐
learning. Or, the Bloom´s digital taxonomy introduced by Churches (2010) might be one of the tools.
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Above all, there exists another phenomenon which might be adjusted to individual preferences – testing
styles, i.e. individualized approaches to the process of knowledge and skills assessment reflecting student´s
preferences.
In modern education systems, the instruction and assessment should be thought as whole, not separate
processes. This situation reveals the relations between the characteristics related to learning and assessment.
The researches show there is a relation between students’ assessment preferences and individual differences
related to learning such as learning styles, approaches etc. Birenbaum, Gutvirzt (1995), Birenbaum, Rosenau
(2006), Cohen (1995), Gijbels, Dochy (2006). Therefore, in order to increase the quality of the education, there
should be a harmony (match) between students’ perceptions about learning – assessment approaches that the
teacher applies in the classroom.
Testing (assessment)‐related problems should be taken into account from the view of assessment format.
Most educators have been well aware of this factor and have adjusted their teaching to learners´ preferences;
they have included approaches and strategies preferred by single types of learners and excluded those not
appreciated. But, what about the field of testing learners´ knowledge and skills? Are the “testing styles” taken
into account? (Mitchell, 1994). Unfortunately, despite assessment is recognized a crucial part of the process of
instruction, teachers often tend to use tests (either standardized or non‐standardized ones, printed or online)
of the same types for all learners, i.e. learners ´individual preferences in testing are not reflected at all, as
Leither mentions (2011). Teachers are pushed to make assessment more systematic, transparent, objective, so
that to provide all students with the ´same´ conditions. But – this ´fair´ treatment is the cause of the ´unfair´
conditions from the point of individual preferences in styles of testing. Leither started experimenting with
giving students choices on their exams when offering the option to taking exams in the multiple‐choice or
open‐answer form. As expected, the group where preferences in testing styles were reflected reached
significantly higher test scores (the difference was 5.51 %, p < 0.005 level) (2011, 417). The data produced by
the whole Leither´s pedagogical experiment were also analyzed according to several other criteria, including
e.g. whether learners´ choice of a type of test is relevant to their learning styles, or not, what
students´opinions on assessment and exam formats are and others.
3. Research design and methodology
We followed the Leither´s pedagogical experiment (2011) and ran the research which focused on single types
of processors according to Johnston´s LCI and learners´ preferences in assessment formats, i.e. how the
sequential, precise, technical and confluent learners would show their teacher what they have learned.
The process of research was structured into three phases: (1) learning preferences of all students were
detected by LCI; (2) each student expressed his/her preferences in assessment format/s; the collected data
were statistically processed by the method of frequency analysis (Hatch, Lazaraton, 1991), interpreted and
discussed. Totally 324 students of the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove
participated in the research, i.e. all students enrolled in the first year of bachelor Applied Informatics and
master Information Management study programmes in 2013/14. The learning preferences of the research
sample are displayed in figure 1.
Figure 1: LCI preferences in the research sample
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The data show the ´accept´ field is wide. This result means most students are able to accept (i.e. to have their
knowledge tested by) any of the provided assessment formats. Whereas approximately 10 % of confluent
processors expressed the rejection of some formats, this approach was very rare with other types of
processors. On the other hand, the sequential processors stated more than 20 % of preferences in some
formats, followed by technical (approx. 13 %) and precise learners (8 %); the confluent processors expressed
hardly any preferences (approx. 3 %). For the further course of research, data of only those students whose LCI
pattern showed at least one preferred type of processing were included in the research sample, i.e.
respondents having ´accept´ and ´reject´ types within their patterns only were dropped out, while those having
two or three preferred types were included in all the groups concerned – totally in two or three groups (totally
12 respondents), none of the patterns contained four preferred types of processing. These data are analyzed
in detail in figure 2.
The learning preferences having been detected by the LCI, students articulated their preferences in various
assessment formats. Totally 18 formats were listed and described to be selected from. The formats are
presented in table 1. Students were encouraged to mark (tick) those ones ´which they would choose to show
the teacher what they had learned´. Both the oral (O) and written (W) formats were included in the list,
offering individual or group work, with/without pre‐defined field of interest and open‐answer or multiple‐
choice tasks. The appropriateness of each assessment format to the type of processor was evalauted on the
10‐point scale (1 – full preference, 10 – full rejection). The collected data were clouded into three groups as
follows: group 1 – I prefer this format (evaluation 1, 2, 3 were included); group 2 – I accept this format
(evaluation 4, 5, 6, 7); group 3 – I reject this format (evaluation 8, 9, 10).
Table 1: Types of assessment formats
Format Form Description
O1 individual Student is asked a question from the pre‐defined list.
O2 individual Student is asked a question from the unknown list.
O3 individual Student provides answer, teacher listens to the student.
O4 individual Teacher‐student dialogue starting with question ´What were you most interested in within
this subject?´, teacher listens to student´s answer without interruptions.
O5 individual Teacher‐student dialogue starting with question ´What were you most interested in this
subject?´, teacher asks additional questions to the topic.
O6 individual Teacher‐student dialogue starting with question ´What were you most interested in this
subject?´, teacher asks questions to relating topics.
O7 group Students sit at the round table, each answers his/her question.
O8 group Students sit at the round table, each answers his/her question, other students add the
answer.
O9 group Students sit at the round table, they answer the same question ‐ each student adds
something new to previous student´s answers (first‐come first‐choice principle), several
rounds of answers are recommended.
O10 group Students sit at the round table, they focus on the same question (problem) using critical
analysis, evaluation, application of previous knowledge and experience etc.
W1 individual A question (problem, topic) from pre‐defined list is set for essay writing.
W2 individual A question (problem, topic) from unknown list is set for essay writing.
W3 individual Multiple‐choice test with 1 correct answer.
W4 individual Multiple‐choice test with 2+ correct answers.
W5 individual Yes/No test.
W6 individual True/False test.
W7 group Students introduce results of the project they worked on during the semester; topic was
set at the beginning of the semester.
W8 group Students introduce results of the project they worked on during the exam day; topic is
selected from the unknown list.
Other proposals Students were encourage to present any comments, proposals, …
In figure 2 the data showing assessment preferences of single types of processors are displayed.
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Figure 2: Assessment preferences of the sequential, precise, technical and confluent processors
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4. Results, interpretation, discussion
The collected data were processed by the method of frequency analysis and displayed in figure 2 presenting
preferred assessment format/s (columns in black colour), accepted formats (grey columns) and rejected
formats (black‐white striped columns).
At first sight, black columns are eye‐catching in first three figures, with highest frequency in the technical
processors´ figure in both the oral and written formats, whereas lowest occurrence is displayed in confluent
processors´ figure in written format. Highest frequency of rejected formats appeared in the precise processor
group in oral group formats, followed by lower but slightly more frequent occurrence detected in confluent
processor group.
A more detailed sight having been applied, following features were detected:
Sequential processors
preferred individual exams based on teacher‐learner dialogue, possibly directed by the teacher, followed
by teacher listening to student´s answer without interruptions, having the question from the predefined
list; writing tests (Yes/No, multiple‐choice with one correct answer, True/False; writing essays on any
topic;
accepted individual exams with unknown questions and group exams been asked individual questions or
solving one problem in the group, when questions were not known before;
strongly rejected multiple‐choice tests with 2+ correct answers, followed by writing essays on unknown
topic, and nearly each respondent rejected individual oral and written exams focused on a question from
the predefined list and all types of written test.
Precise processors
preferred not been interrupted in oral exams, i.e. answering a question from the pre‐defined list, been
listened by teacher when speaking or running a teacher‐learner dialogue on what they were interested in
this subject, writing multiple‐choice test with one correct answer, Yes/No and True/False type;
accepted all three oral group exams, writing essays on unknown topic and multiple‐choice test with 2+
correct answers;
rejected both types of group oral exam, mainly the critical analysis of the problem and all dialogue‐based
forms, as well as work on projects within the exam day.
Technical processors
definitely preferred dialogue‐based exam, the individual form, when teacher listens to student´s answer
to the question from/out of the list, multiple‐choice testing with one or 2+ correct answers;
accepted group exams, either in the form of critical analysis of problems, or adding information to
previous students´ answers;
rejected teacher´s questions on topics relating to the question, all types of group exams and writing essays
(of both types).
Confluent processors
preferred writing essays (of both types) and working on projects (of both types); having individual exams
based on their interests and running without been interrupted with teachers´ questions;
accepted all types of group exams and (a few of them) True/False and Yes/No testing;
rejected answering both pre‐defined and unknown questions and other students adding comments and
information to their answers in groups, written forms of testing of all types.
In literary reviews it is rather difficult to find studies which focus on assessment formats in relation to learning
preferences; these topics are widely researched separately. Despite this fact, similar results were collected by
Montequin, Fernandez, Balsera and Nieto (2013) who researched technical and human aspects reflected in
group dynamics, i.e. they studied how different combinations of student profiles could explain different group
dynamics and at the same time predict the final success of the group. They produced conclusions similar to
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those of technical processor group. On the other hand, Markovic et al. (2013), who dealt with adaptive
distance learning and testing system, stated that personalized profiles adapted the learning and assessment
process to learner´s preferences designing and using adaptive testing systems as part of the curriculum. If
multimedia materials are used, either working with static texts and image‐based sources, or dynamic video‐,
animation‐based materials, the visual/verbal preferences are activated and final knowledge performance is
tested by adaptive tools reflecting individual preferences (Chen, Sun, 2012). Compared to this result, Al‐
Hudhud (2012) complains about the lack of adaptive interaction tools in the current LMSs; consequently (in his
opinion) the LMSs cannot reflect learners´ preferences, neither in learning, nor within the assessment process.
In his study he produces design requirements to be implemented so that the LMSs were able to accommodate
learner´s preferences.
5. Conclusions
In the Czech education environment the theory of adaptive e‐learning is being developed at the university of
Hradec Kralove, Faculty of Informatics and management (Simonova, Poulova) and University of Ostrava,
Faculty of Education (Kostolanyova, Kapounova, Sarmanova et al.). Kostolanyova (2012) focuses on the roles of
LMS and the teacher as the activators of the process of e‐/learning providing the learner with either
personalized, or non‐personalized process of learning. In this process, the various assessment formats are
implemented. In her research she uses the VARK questionnaire and the Learning Style Inventory by Dunn and
Dunn, which was standardized for the Czech language (Dunn, Dunn, 2009). Reflecting her and Leither´s results
we are going to continue this research focusing on verification of correlations between single types of
processors defined by Johnston (sequential, precise, technical, confluent) and formats of assessment, as
presented in this work, by comparing the test scores collected from various assessment formats which
match/mismatch to the processors.
Reflecting the fact that current process of instruction is widely supported by modern information and
communication technologies, we strongly recommend the problem of assessment styles to be taken into
consideration not only in the traditional way of teaching/learning but also in the ICT‐supported instruction.
Widely used multiple‐choice tests in electronic version are the first step within this process which should be
definitely followed by considering their appropriateness to learners with different learning and assessment
preferences. Whether these will be detected by the LCI (as in our research), or by another tool is the subject of
individual researcher decision and the research design reflection.
Acknowledgements
The paper is supported by the Excellence project N. 2208.
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attitudes. Journal of engineering education, Vol. 91, No. 1, pp. 3‐17.
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Felder, R.M. (2010) “Are Learning Styles Invalid? (Hint: No!)”, [online],
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492
Smart Learning and Collaborative Authoring Based on Knowledge
Level
Yeong‐Tae Song1, Yuanqiong Wang1 and Yongik Yoon2
1
Computer and Information Sciences Department, Towson University, USA
2
Sookmyung University, Seoul, Korea
ysong@towson.edu
ywang@towson.edu
yiyoon@sookmyung.ac.kr
Abstract: As the functionalities of the modern society are getting more complicated, the demands for required knowledge
to its constituent members are getting more diversified, i.e., target conformant customized knowledge set is required.
Even though traditional classrooms are trying to churn out the students with such knowledge sets, they still fall short of
meeting such demands. Online schools and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) play substantial roles in meeting the
demands with quick turnouts in their contents. However the core of the issue is in the granularity of the necessary
knowledge components, i.e., how to provide necessary knowledge components – customized to each learner ‐ based on
the learner’s knowledge level and their purposes. The required knowledge sets for the various domains of the society are
constantly changing but due to the rigidity of the current knowledge delivering system, it is difficult to accommodate such
needs. The following questions may be asked to summarize such situation: How can we make sure that the learning
materials delivered are at the right level for the learners’ knowledge level in some domain? How can we make sure that
the learning materials created are by the qualified authors in the domain? As an effort to answer these questions, we
propose a smart learning management system that contains smallest meaningful possible learning objects that can be
dynamically assembled to meet various needs of the required knowledge set based on each individual learner’s knowledge
level and needs. To ensure that the learners are getting the right level of learning contents, and to help ensure the quality
of the learning contents, we attempt to measure the knowledge level that is objectively acceptable for both learner and
leaning object provider. In our approach, semantic search is conducted to identify relevant learning objects based on the
given learning goal and needs. The learner's knowledge level will then be utilized to determine which learning object is
appropriate to the learner with certain knowledge level. For that, we assess a learner or an author’s knowledge level as a
multi‐criteria decision making process. Factors, such as highest level of education, professional training, level of work
experience, courses taken from credible organization in some selected field, and etc. are used as the general criteria to
determine their knowledge level. AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) is adopted for this purpose. The result from AHP will
serve as the basis to identify the learning components at the right difficulty level for the learner to satisfy their learning
goal. To make the system more flexible, the weight for each criterion can be adjusted depending on the purpose of the
evaluation. Learners can also adjust the difficulty level of the learning components manually. As for the provider, the
measured knowledge level will be used to evaluate the qualification of the potential author or collaborative authors for a
particular domain so as to ensure the quality of the learning object created.
Keywords: smart learning, collaborative authoring, learning object, knowledge level
1. Introduction
Modern technology and smart services are available in various aspects of our lives nowadays. These
technology and services make our life more convenient, enjoyable, and productive. The convenience offered
by such services and technology leads to more diversified requests on the functionality in our society, i.e., as
our society changes, so do the requirements in corresponding knowledge set. Since the demands for the new
and modified knowledge are constantly changing, learning systems must be flexible enough to accommodate
such changing demands. Certain portions of existing knowledge may still be useful and even considered base
knowledge but there are portions that are completely new or modified from existing knowledge set.
The total number of existing job titles in the US alone is currently about 30,000, (Answers, 2014). The
requirements for each title are continuously evolving to meet the needs of the changing functionality in our
society. Our higher education institutions are working hard to provide the knowledge sets for such needs.
However, there is always a gap between academia and industry due to various issues such as accreditation,
curriculum design, credit hour limitation, etc. that contribute to slow response to the changes. Online schools
and more recently MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) are also trying to close the gap with their prompt
delivery of learning contents but the gap is often times too wide to close. Another problem we are facing is the
qualification of knowledge provider of those required and domain specific knowledge sets. Learners who are
seeking new positions or career advancements may come up with learning goals that are needed to fill up the
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Yeong‐Tae Song, Yuanqiong Wang and Yongik Yoon
knowledge gap between what they know and what the employers require. Ideally speaking, it can be
represented as:
For each knowledge domain d
Learning Goal (d) = required knowledge level (d) – learner’s knowledge level (d)
There have been some approaches in assessing learner’s knowledge level for the evaluation of students'
learning (Eberly center, n.d.; TEP, 2014) but not in the level of applying the knowledge level into designing the
learning goals. In some rapidly changing fields, it is always challenging to find relevant learning materials for
the field. In such field, agility is the key factor to be successful, which in turn necessitates the demand for the
capable authors. However, in such field, one author may not have sufficient knowledge set to create all the
learning materials needed. Therefore/In this case, collaborative authoring is needed and encouraged. By
combining each author’s specialty, it may be possible to provide a complete knowledge set needed for some
demanding fields. The issue is how to ensure the quality of the learning materials. One way to ensure the
quality would be assessing potential authors' knowledge level for the specific domain before qualifying them
to be the authors.
In summary, this paper is to address the following research questions:
RQ1: How can we make sure that the learning materials delivered are at the right level for the learners’
knowledge level in some domain?
RQ2: How can we make sure that the learning materials created are by the qualified authors in the domain?
In addition, we also explore other ways to utilize the assessed knowledge level of an individual. For example,
the competency of an employee for a position may also be assessed by the knowledge level for a specific field.
The knowledge level for the position may be predetermined so the result of the knowledge assessment may be
compared in order to determine the placement of an employee.
After the brief review on the knowledge level assessment, learning objects and learner profile, a proposal of
how the knowledge level can be assessed is presented, followed by suggestions on how the assessment result
can be utilized for different purposes. To conclude, future research direction is discussed at the end.
2. Literature review
2.1 Background on knowledge level assessment
With diverse background of the online learners, it is essential to present right level of learning material to each
learner. One of the key factors in determining the level of learning material is based on a learner's prior
knowledge level in a given domain. Therefore, it is crucial to find a way to assess learner's knowledge level.
When assessing someone’s learning, six levels were identified: (1) knowledge or remembering; (2)
comprehension or understanding; (3) application or applying; (4) analysis or analyzing; (5) synthesis or
creating; and (6) evaluation or evaluating (Bloom, 1956, Anderson, et al., 2000, Clarks, 2013). Unfortunately, it
is not always easy to assess someone’s knowledge level automatically.
Many approaches have been adopted to evaluate a student's learning. Eberly Center from Carnegie Mellon has
categorized these approaches based on the types of measures they use, including the ones using direct
measures and the ones using indirect measures (Eberly Center, n.d.). Direct measure approaches include tests,
concept maps, portfolios and auditions, etc. Standard tests have been widely used as a key measure of one's
knowledge level. For example, many people take standard tests to obtain professional certificates to
demonstrate their knowledge level in a specific area. Many industries have widely adopted certificates, such as
MCSE certification by Microsoft, CCNA by Cisco, etc. Tang, Cen and Cheng (2010) proposed a distance learning
system that attempted to provide learners with different level of instruction based on the assessment of
students' learning level. They also used learner's test records to determine their knowledge level.
Unfortunately, one’s test score is not the only measure showing his knowledge level. Moreover, not everyone
takes those tests due to access and cost issues.
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Yeong‐Tae Song, Yuanqiong Wang and Yongik Yoon
Namatame and Ueno (2006) tried to evaluate learner's knowledge level on concept mapping tasks. They
analyzed students' records on their repeated attempts of quizzes through an e‐learning system. The repeat
attempts were analyzed based on a consistency index. They then applied Bayesian network to categorize
students into three different groups, students who have sufficient understanding, students who have not
enough understanding, and students who have an inadequate understanding.
However, the direct measure approaches may not always show the overall knowledge level of a learner. For
example, obtaining a certificate may demonstrate some of the knowledge level categories, such as
remembering, understanding and applying depending on the types of questions included in the test. However,
the level of knowledge in terms of "creating" may not be well assessed in this case. Indirect measure
approaches, such as self‐reports, inventory of prior courses and experiences, etc. (Ederly Center, n.d.) may
sometimes need to be included in the assessment process. Simpamba (2011) presented a case study that
evaluates the knowledge level of the parliament members based on their self‐report data containing
information regarding the members' level of education; the attendance of training workshops, seminars and
exchange visits; and the utilization of parliamentary tools after the attendance of the workshops. This
information was utilized to predict members' training needs.
Previous research on assessing one’s knowledge level is mostly based on one type of measures, either direct or
indirect measures. However, one measure does not always reflect one's knowledge level accurately.
Unfortunately, there was few reported study on how to comprehensively assess a learner's knowledge level
with all the possible measures automatically.
2.2 Bayesian theory and analytical hierarchy process (AHP)
A Bayesian network is a probabilistic graphical model for representing causal relationship among variables
(Pearl, 1988). It stems from conditional probability theory. The probability of an event B given event A is
calculated by using the form:
P(B|A) = P(A|B)*P(B)/P(A)
Where P(A|B) is the conditional probability of A given B, and P(A) and P(B) are the probabilities of
events A and B.
To construct a Bayesian network, the following steps need to be taken: identify possible variables, construct an
undirected graph of all variables, determine the direction of the edges, and create the conditional probability
table. The training data for creating the Bayesian network can be obtained from expert interview or the
collection of historical data from the participants.
Even though researchers in the education technology design have been trying to provide adaptive learning
experience to the learners, many are using Bayesian theory alone for this purpose. For instance, Burdescu,
Mihăescu, and Logofătu (2008) presented a proposal in using naive Bayes classifier to improve learner's
proficiency. Unfortunately, the simple Bayes classifier being used in their proposal assumed that the effect of
an attribute value on a given class is independent of the values of the other attributes. Ma, Wei, Hu, and Guan
(2011) proposed the use of Bayesian theory to create a Bayesian belief network classifier model to provide
better recommendations to the learners. In a smart learning system, we need to recommend the right learning
materials to the learners not simply based on their preference, but also their personal learning goals.
Therefore, simply applying Bayesian approach may not be enough. A more comprehensive approach that
utilizes both Bayesian theory and AHP is needed.
AHP is widely used when making decisions in very complex problems. Saaty (1980) presented AHP as a
weighted score approach with three principals: Hierarchy representation and decomposition, Priority
discrimination and synthesis, and Logical consistency. After decomposing the decision goal into a hierarchical
structure, there can be multiple levels in the final structure. The levels in between the first and the last level
contain criteria and sub‐criteria of the problem. Experts/users will need to do pair‐wise comparison of decision
criteria to establish the relative importance of each criterion comparing to others in the same level (Table 1).
The pair‐wise comparison is then reduced to a comparison vector by the eigenvector method. The coefficients
aij are normalized to the interval [0,1]. The weights for each criterion will also be normalized so that the sum of
weights equals to 1.
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Yeong‐Tae Song, Yuanqiong Wang and Yongik Yoon
∑ (wi) = 1 (wi: the weight for the ith criterion).
Table 1: Pair‐wise comparison for criteria (where aij is relative importance of ith criterion comparing to the jth
criterion
Criterion1 Criterion2 Criterion 3 Criterion 4
Criterion1 1 a12 a13 a14
Criterion2 a21 = 1/ a12 1 a23 a24
Criterion3 a31 = 1/ a13 a32 = 1/ a23 1 a34
Criterion4 a41 = 1/ a14 a42 = 1/ a24 a43 = 1/ a34 1
After establishing the weights for each criterion, we rate a candidate (i.e. learner, learning object, and author)
against the criteria identified (aij, for the rate ith candidate received when being evaluated against jth criterion
in Table 1).
The weighted sum for a candidate will then be:
S(Ai) =
,where wj is the weight for the jth criterion, aij is the score for the ith candidate on the jth criterion.
Both Bayesian theory and AHP have been widely used in decision making research. Huang and Bian (2009)
presented an experiment using Bayesian network and AHP to present personalized recommendation for the
tourists based on tourist's travel behaviour and other users on the website. Papic‐Blagojevic, Gajic, and Dokic
(2012) proposed more applications for the application of Bayesian network and AHP in tourism in Serbia. We
believe similar approaches can also be applied in higher educational setting.
3. Learning objects
Learning object may be termed as reusable learning resource that has meaningful chunk of information in
some domain. It should be specified in such a way that can be easily searchable for broader use. In our
proposed approach, we have followed the industry metadata standards ‐ Dublin Core (Dublin Core Metadata
Initiative, 2002) and IEEE LOM (LOM, 2002) ‐ to express each learning object element effectively searchable
and interoperable in the networked environment. We have used the following elements to express the
contents: title, description, keyword subject, creator, type, audience, publisher, identifier, format, size, typical
learning time, difficulty level, language and cost.
Careful design of a study plan may be used to satisfy an individual learner’s learning goal by assembling
relevant learning objects.
3.1 Learner profile
There are two competing standards in industry – IMS LIP (IMS Global Learning Consortium Inc., 2001) and IEEE
PAPI (IEEE LTSC, 2002). In our approach, we mainly followed IMS LIP and its XML schema format to represent
the basic learner profile and study plan completion information. In IMS Learner Information Profile, there are
11 core structures to describe a learner such as identifications, security keys, transcripts, goals, qcl
(qualifications, certifications and license), activities, interest, competency, relationship, affiliation and
accessibility.
3.2 Smart learning management system (SLMS)
The smartness of the learning management system (SLMS) lies in the fact that it can promote the effectiveness
of the learning by satisfying major learning needs such as providing relevant learning contents to its learners
and dynamic assembly of learning contents so it can meet the needs of rapid changes in learning environment.
In our view, the smartness in learning management system understands the learning needs of the learners
from their searches automatically and provides learners with customized learning contents based on their
knowledge level and previous performance and preferences. The smart e‐Learning system in this research aims
at building smart learning environment where learners’ learning contents may be adapted to new learning
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goals based on the learner’s performance and their learning styles as well as their past knowledge level. In an
attempt to satisfy such requirements, we have implemented a smart learning management system (SLMS) as
shown in the figure 1.
Figure 1: Dynamic study plan creation in SLMS
The SLMS (Song, Y. el al., 2013) focuses on a few things, namely, learner profile, dynamic study plan creation
using relevant learning objects based on each learner’s learning goal, and ontological learning content
management system (LCMS). A study plan has a set of learning objects that is relevant to satisfy a certain
learning goal and may be used interchangeably with a course. In the figure 1, the search keyword is in the
learning object search window and the search result that includes all related learning objects as well as directly
matched learning objects. The relationships among the leaning objects in the LCMS are defined by the web
ontology language (OWL). The list on the right column shows dynamic study plan creation. It involves drag and
drop of the relevant learning objects in the search results to the right column. Once the study plan is created,
the study plan will be associated with the learner’s profile so the SLMS can monitor the progress.
4. Assess knowledge level ‐‐ a proposal
4.1 Previous knowledge level information collection
As suggested in the literature, both the records from direct measures as well as indirect measures will be used
to assess a learner's knowledge level. After a learner signs up to the system, he will be required to create a
profile containing his previous knowledge level information. The learner will be required to identify one area
of study that he is interested in. Once the area of study is identified, he will be required to provide more
information in the given field, such as the highest level of education obtained (including the year the diploma
was awarded), certificates and licenses obtained (year and name/nature of the certificates and licenses), past
work experience (nature of the work, years of experience, artefacts created), and any related course taken
previously.
4.2 Knowledge level assessor
An AHP model can be applied in learning systems to provide the assessment of a learner's knowledge level. To
construct this model, the following stages are applied: (1) constructing a hierarchical model including possible
alternatives and the criteria for each alternative; (2) conducting a pair wise comparison for the criteria; (3)
finding the relative weight of each alternative against each criterion; and (4) calculating the score of each
alternative based on the relative weight.
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Yeong‐Tae Song, Yuanqiong Wang and Yongik Yoon
Goal:
Criteria Assessing Knowledge Level
Learners
Figure 2: AHP model for assessing a learner's knowledge level in a specific field
Figure 2 above shows the AHP model in order to evaluate a learner's knowledge level in a specific field. The
relative importance of each criterion will be determined by doing a pair wise comparison of the criteria. To
properly determine the weights, it is necessary to consult the experts in each field to conduct the pair‐wise
comparison. To the benefit of this discussion, a default weight for each criterion is assigned at the author's
discretion to illustrate the idea (Tables 2‐6).
Table 2: Comparison matrix for criteria
Criteria Educational Professional Past Working Courses taken in Average
Level Training Experience SLMS Weight (wi)
Educational Level 1 1/3 1/5 1/3 0.079
Professional 3 1 1/3 1 0.222
Training
Past Working 5 3 1 1/3 0.331
Experience
Courses taken in 3 1 3 1 0.369
SLMS
Table 3: Comparison matrix for sub‐criteria for "educational level"
Criteria Highest Degree Awarded Year the degree awarded Average Weight (wi)
Highest Degree Awarded 1 1 0.5
Year the degree awarded 1 1 0.5
Table 4: Comparison matrix for sub‐criteria for "professional training"
Criteria License Year license Certificate Year certificate Average Weight
obtained awarded obtained awarded (wi)
License obtained 1 1 1/3 1/3 0.129
Year license 1 1 1/3 1 0.179
awarded
Certificate 3 3 1 1 0.388
obtained
Year certificate 3 1 1 1 0.304
awarded
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Yeong‐Tae Song, Yuanqiong Wang and Yongik Yoon
Table 5: Comparison matrix for sub‐criteria for "past working experience"
Criteria Original Years of working Main job Average Weight
Work done experience function (wi)
Original Work done 1 1/3 1/3 0.140
Years of working experience 3 1 1/3 0.287
Main job function 3 3 1 0.574
Table 6: Comparison matrix for sub‐criteria for "Courses taken in SLMS"
Criteria Number of courses taken Time the courses taken Average Weight (wi)
Number of courses taken 1 1 0.5
Time the courses taken 1 1 0.5
Based on the data collected in each learner's profile described in section 3.1, each learner will then be rated on
each criterion identified in the model. Rating will be assigned to each learner based on the information he
provided in the profile. Any missing information will have a default rating of 0. For example, high school or
equivalent, B.A., B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. are the possible degrees recognized in the learner's profile. The relative
weight for each possible degree can be calculated using the same way as we did for determine the weight of
each criterion above.
Once the rating is done, the knowledge level for the specific learner will then be calculated as:
Knowledge level = ))
,where Wi is the weight for ith top level criterion, Wij is the weight for individual sub‐criterion in for ith
top level criterion, and aij is the rating against the sub‐criterion for this learner.
In order to make it easier to use of the knowledge level assessment result, one’s knowledge level will be put
into one of three categories: novice, intermediate, and advanced/expert. Therefore, threshold will need to be
determined after the above calculation is done. Default threshold can be defined in the system while allowing
it to be adjusted by the user to accommodate the special needs. For example, learners whose knowledge
levels are at 20% of the total score or lower will be identified as "novice"; the ones with scores fall in between
21% to 80% of the total score will be identified as "intermediate"; the upper 20% will be regarded as
"advanced/expert". For each knowledge level identified, it will be mapped to corresponding level of learning
objects. For instance, a learner who is at the intermediate level of a given subject should be presented the
learning object in that subject at intermediate to expert level. Unless being requested by the learner, learning
objects at “novice” level will be filtered out for this learner.
4.3 Learning goal mapping based on knowledge level
As modern society demands deeper and more customized skill sets, the existing training materials or learning
objects may not be able to satisfy their learning needs. Such variety of learning needs necessitates customized
study plan that may be able to satisfy each individual learning need. The variety of leaning needs also come
from their knowledge level even with the same leaning need depending on each individual learner’s current
knowledge level.
In Figure 3, Learning goal mapper module takes learner’s learning goals and learner knowledge level as input
and search the learning object / study plan repository for the learning object/ study plan that are relevant to
the learner’s knowledge level. Sequencing and filtering module filters out irrelevant results and makes the
sequence that follows dependency relations among the learning object. The three knowledge level assessors
have different purposes for different participants.
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Yeong‐Tae Song, Yuanqiong Wang and Yongik Yoon
Learning objects (study plan)
Sequencing
Learning goal
Learning goal Search result and filtering
mapper
LO/SP
learner Learning style
Learner knowledge level
LO/SP
repository
Learner profile
Training, certificate, license, education, etc.
Training, certificate, license, education, etc.
collaborative author
knowledge
skill set level assessor knowledge knowledge Register
for level assessor level assessor learning object
collaborative for learner for employee (LO)
author Learning object
Qualified employee
Required Skill set
Qualified knowledge level
management For authoring authoring
Figure 3: Knowledge level utilization
4.4 Potential applications for knowledge level assessment
As illustrated in Figure 3, the assessed knowledge level can be utilized in three different areas, namely, for
satisfying a specific learning goal, for qualifying collaborative authors, and for qualifying collaborative authors.
We created a domain list (DL) from college majors in (http://www.mymajors.com/college‐majors/). Any
relevant criterion R as listed in the figure 2 in the profile will get corresponding weight as illustrated in the
table 2 ~ 6 and be recorded in the profile in association with the corresponding domain D in DL. If a relevant
criterion such as certificate or training is multidisciplinary, there may be more than one relevant domain. For
example, if the domain of interest is computer science, indexed by k, and a profile in consideration has a
certificate for health informatics that may consist of two domains such as computer science and medical
science indexed by m. Then only the computer science is the relevant criterion so the corresponding weight
may be recorded as R(k) /2.
The following steps suggest how the assessed knowledge level can be utilized for different purposes:
1. Select a learner’s profile
2. Assess the learner's knowledge level in a specific domain D
a. Search for relevant factors, e.g., education level, and their corresponding weights for the
domain D
b. The summation of the weight determines the knowledge level for the domain D
3. Application areas
a. For satisfying learning goal
i. Semantic search on the required learning objects
ii. filtering on the returned results based on the resulting knowledge level from
step 2
iii. sequencing the results based on the dependency among the learning objects
iv. The filtered and sequenced list of learning objects, called study plan, is created.
It is a customized knowledge set that is required to achieve a specific learning
goal for the learner
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Yeong‐Tae Song, Yuanqiong Wang and Yongik Yoon
b. For qualifying collaborative authors
i. Determine the required knowledge level for authoring in a specific domain
ii. Compare with assessed knowledge level for a potential author
a. If not satisfied Notify the potential author and ask for profile
update for the domain
b. Perform the step 2
c. If not satisfied, disqualify the potential author
2. Else notify the potential author for the qualification
c. For the placement of employees
i. Determine the required knowledge level for the competency of the position
ii. Compare with assessed knowledge level for potential employees
iii. Notify the potential employees of the result
5. Conclusion
In order to meet the diverse knowledge demands from continuously changing society, there have to be a way
to measure the kind and level of knowledge required. We surveyed a number of approaches in assessing
knowledge level and suggested how to fill the gap in knowledge levels by utilizing reusable knowledge
components called learning objects. In this paper, we proposed an approach on how to assess knowledge level
of learners, collaborative authors, and employees based on their profile ‐ previous education, professional
training working experience, and courses taken in a learning system in a specific field. Moreover, we suggested
how the assessment result can be utilized in three different areas, such as providing appropriate learning
objects/study plans to the learners, qualifying potential candidate to participate in collaborative authoring,
and placing employees to the right positions.
The proposed work laid foundation on how to systematically manage knowledge resources for both learning
and human resource management.
6. Future work
This paper only presented a proposal on how the knowledge level can be assessed and how the result of this
assessment can be utilized for different purposes. More work is needed to implement and test the proposed
framework.
We are currently working on the ontological verification of the proposal, which requires building ontology on
each domain. Each domain needs to be decomposed into constituent building blocks and to build relationships
among them. Semantic search on the related knowledge components may reveal more accurate
representation of human knowledge level on a particular domain.
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502
Evaluation as a Powerful Practice in Digital Learning Processes
Birgitte Holm Sørensen and Karin Tweddell Levinsen
Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark
Birgitte@learning.aau.dk
kale@learning.aau.dk
Abstract: The present paper is based on two empirical research studies. The Netbook 1:1 project (2009–2012), funded by
the municipality of Gentofte and Microsoft Denmark, is complete, while Students’ digital production and students as
learning designers (2013–2015), funded by the Danish Ministry of Education, is ongoing. Both projects concern primary and
lower secondary school and focus on learning design frameworks that involve students’ agency and participation regarding
digital production in different subjects and cross‐disciplinary projects. Within these teacher‐designed frameworks, the
students perform as learning designers of learning objects aimed at other students. Netbook 1:1 has shown that digital and
multimodal production especially facilitates student‐learning processes and qualifies student‐learning results when
executed within a teacher‐designed framework, which provides space for and empowers students’ agency as learning
designers. Moreover, the positive impact increases when students as learning designers participate in formative evaluation
practices. Traditionally, the Danish school has worked hard to teach students to verbalise their own academic
competencies. However, as our everyday environment becomes increasingly complex with digital and multimodal
technologies, formative evaluation as a learning practice becomes central, requiring the students to develop a digital and
multimodal literacy beyond the traditional, language‐centred type. Students’ digital production and students as learning
designers is a large‐scale project that follows up on the findings of Netbook 1:1. It experiments further with various
evaluation practices in a digitalised learning environment that focuses on different phases of the learning processes and
includes feed‐forward and feedback processes. Evaluation as a learning practice in a digitalised learning context focuses on
students as actors, addressing their self‐reflections, responses to feedback from peers and feed‐forward processes, and
responses to feedback from teachers and feed‐forward processes.
Keywords: formative evaluation, summative evaluation, self‐evaluation, peer evaluation, teacher evaluation, digital
learning processes, multimodality, evaluation design
1. Introduction
Traditionally, Danish schools have worked hard to teach students to verbalise their own academic
competencies. However, the advent of new media impacts on the representative forms of subject matters and
calls for new subject knowledge. The representative forms are specifically changed through multimodality; the
subsequent, new subject knowledge is needed not only because the technology is available, and multimodal
competencies are core competencies of the 21st century (Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and
Development [OECD] 2008). New subject knowledge is also necessary because multimodal means of
expression function as an externalising vehicle for reflection and construction of meaning (Sørensen &
Levinsen 2014), in the same way as speech and writing externalise thoughts and enhance learning (Dysthe,
Hertzberg & Hoel 2001). With multimodal expressions, the students achieve a broader repertoire through
which to experience the world and express themselves while learning. Gradually, as education becomes more
digitalised and multimodal, schools are challenged to provide new subject knowledge, together with
professional capacities, to describe multimodal competencies and specify learning objectives and what must
be taught and evaluated.
Since the 1990s, especially in the UK, there has been a growing interest in developing formative evaluation,
since evaluation has proven to be a powerful learning practice in contemporary constructivist learning designs,
such as cooperative, action or problem‐based learning that aim at students’ active participation and agency
(Black & Wiliam 1998, Harlen & Deakin Crick 2002, Tanner & Jones 2003, Hattie & Timperley 2007). At the
same time, formative evaluation functions as a means of navigation for the actors during the process of
transformation undertaken in schools as digitalisation expands (Luckin et al. 2012). This development has led
to an increasing interest in digitally supported, formative evaluation practices, a field marked by new ideas and
innovation, such as experiments with mobile technologies and social networks (Ibid.). Summative evaluation
has recently been actualised by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that ranks
students’ performance among the OECD member‐countries. The PISA results and the ranking of countries have
set the agenda for educational politicians, educators and researchers across Europe, shifted the focus from
formative to summative evaluation (Dysthe 2009, Shewbridge et al. 2011, p. 7) and released huge investments
in digital, multiple‐choice tests and measuring designs (called The Digital National Tests in Denmark). In both
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Birgitte Holm Sørensen and Karin Tweddell Levinsen
formative and summative digital evaluation designs, multimodality and students’ agency stand weak (Wyatt‐
Smith & Kimber 2009); accordingly, the development and production of evaluation designs that encompass
both constructivist and social constructivist, digitalised learning designs and the various modalities and their
interrelations as representations, emerge as a major challenge. Moreover, since their definition 50 years ago,
the concepts of formative and summative evaluations have become weakly defined (Taras 2008).
Our research in Netbook 1:1 (for further reading about research design, data collection and analysis, see
Levinsen & Sørensen 2013 and Sørensen & Levinsen 2014) shows that evaluation formats, ranging from
students’ self‐evaluation over peer evaluation to teacher‐initiated evaluations in various designs, are crucial
for students’ subject‐related and trans‐disciplinary learning, the way they work and how they design and
conduct presentations. In the ongoing research and development project, Students’ digital production and
students as learning designers, we experiment with various evaluation practices, learning objectives and
criteria for evaluation. The present paper describes the basic framework for formative and summative
evaluations and various evaluation formats that have been developed and tested in the project, illustrated by
empirical examples. Additionally, we touch on theoretical approaches and discuss new challenges, such as
student governance and multimodality in evaluations.
2. Literature study
The teacher’s awareness of the students’ knowledge (or lack of it) and abilities is pivotal to the design of a
learning framework that involves students’ agency. In practice, to facilitate learning, both the teacher and the
student must be aware of the student’s (pre)condition and progress. To achieve this awareness and transform
it into a teacher’s assessment and the students’ understanding of their learning levels and challenges, the
generally agreed practice is evaluation – a huge topic ranging from national tests to the kind of everyday
classroom practices that are the focus of the present project. Evaluation is divided into two main categories:
formative and summative (Shriven 1967, Bloom, Hastings & Madaus 1971).
The research literature regarding the respective roles of assessment and summative and formative evaluations
in students’ learning and empowerment as agents in relation to their learning is primarily produced in the UK.
According to Tanner and Jones (2003), Taras (2008) and Black (2013), the research focus has mostly been
directed towards formative rather than summative evaluation. Taras pointed out that the relationship
between the two forms is weakly described: “More seriously, the absence of this discussion has resulted in the
distortion of this relationship, which has led to a misunderstanding of both assessment processes” (Ibid. p.
173).
Taras (2008) and Tanner and Jones (2003) argued that the formative and summative concepts are often used
to denote and distinguish between two types of evaluation: teacher and classroom assessment (formative
assessment) versus external/national assessment (summative assessment). In contrast to the general
definition, Brookhart (2001) emphasised function and purpose rather than type and claimed that both
classroom and external assessments are applicable to formative and summative purposes. Tanner and Jones
(2003, p. 276) defined an “assessment event” to include: “…the preparation for the assessment by both the
teacher and the student, the feedback from the assessment offered by the teacher, and the impact of the
assessment on the subsequent learning behaviours of the student”. Accordingly, the formative purpose of any
evaluation or assessment should be to provide feedback that helps students identify gaps and assist in their
learning progress and performance. Luckin and colleagues (2012) maintained that traditional understandings
of evaluation are challenged by digitalisation in terms of various digital‐supported evaluations, together with a
range of modalities that expands the need for literacy beyond written texts and spoken words. The very notion
of classroom assessment is also challenged by the hybrid space that emerges through mobile and wireless
technology and dissolves the brick‐and‐mortar‐defined limits of the physical classroom (de Souza e Silva 2006,
Sørensen, Audon & Levinsen 2010).
The works of Black and Wiliam (1998, 2009) and Hattie and Timperley (2007) showed that positive impact on
students’ learning performance is strongly connected to interaction and continuous evaluation by the teacher
as an integrated part of everyday teaching. Luckin and colleagues (2012) also found that evaluation as a
learning practice, combined with digital production, strongly supports students’ academic and cross‐
disciplinary learning, the way they work and how they shape their projects and presentations, while their
awareness of their own capabilities changes substantially as they progress. In the UK, the so‐called
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Birgitte Holm Sørensen and Karin Tweddell Levinsen
assessment‐for‐learning movement had promoted formative over summative evaluation until recently (Taras
2008); the consequence has been a research focus locked on the negative effects of testing (Black 2013).
Moreover, the term evaluation is currently preferred over assessment (Taras 2008). As a counter movement,
the present PISA programme promotes summative evaluation as a driver for learning over formative
evaluation (Dysthe 2009). In this situation, most research aims at producing evidence that either of the
evaluation types performs better than the other, rather than focus on how they might enhance each other or
how they should be understood or defined.
The general research focus has been on the teacher‐driven evaluation and assessment that aim to provide
both teacher and students with knowledge that improves the students’ performance, as presented in OECD
Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education – DENMARK (Shewbridge et al. 2011). The focus on the
teacher as the main provider of feedback and feed‐forward corresponds with the general view within the
learning design theory that learning design – including evaluation and assessment – is the teacher’s domain
(Dale 1989, 2000).
In contrast to the generally accepted position, we discovered in our research (Levinsen & Sørensen 2013,
Sørensen & Levinsen 2014) that even young students are able to act as learning designers. We found that
practices ranging from students’ self‐evaluation over peer‐evaluation to teacher‐initiated evaluations in
various designs are crucial for students’ subject‐related and trans‐disciplinary learning, the way they work and
how they design and conduct presentations. The students actively reflect on and use both the feedback and
feed‐forward produced in both ongoing evaluations during the work process and final evaluations.
In the ongoing project, Students’ digital production and students as learning designers, we take these ideas a
step further. We coin the concept of students as learning designers, meaning that students act as learning
designers of their own learning processes, including forms of evaluations within a teacher‐designed framework
that empower students’ agency through digital production of learning objects aimed at other students. In the
project, we experiment with various evaluation practices with formative purposes, learning objectives and
criteria regarding evaluations that:
focus on different phases of the learning processes;
contain feed‐forward and feedback processes; and
focus on students as actors and address their self‐reflections, responses to feedback from peers and feed‐
forward processes, and responses to feedback from teachers and feed‐forward processes.
3. Research design and methodology
The project is based on a combination of Action Research and Design Based Research using quantitative and
qualitative approaches. The overall framework for the project includes interventions within different subjects.
The interventions are in accordance with Design Based Research designed with increasing complexity from
simple mathematic exercises to more complex trans‐disciplinary activities that involve advanced technologies
such as social media, robotics or location‐based technologies. In accordance with Action Research, the
researchers and the teachers collaborate closely when preparing the interventions locally at each school as the
interventions must be integrated in the ordinary planning of the school year.
The project is complex in many ways and produce data using two main approaches within an overall mixed
methods framework (for details see Levinsen et al. 2014): 1) Baseline measures are conducted as a long term
diachronic quantitative survey combined with qualitative structured observations at the start, middle and end
of the project; 2) each of the six interventions are followed through a combined synchronic and diachronic
approach where the researchers as action researchers follow the interventions in order to document and
identify changes and developments of the performed practice. Qualitative data are collected before, during
and after the interventions in the form of individual semi‐structured interviews, semi‐structured focus groups
and informal conversations with teachers and students, as well as video, photo and artefacts. The aim is to
produce a complementary set of data that records and documents the interventions and allows for analysis of
their impact on the students’ learning and the teachers practice.
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4. Formative and summative evaluations as learning practices
Luckin and colleagues (2012) mentioned two important processes to explore in using evaluation practices in
order to identify what and how the learner knows and understands. The first is the student’s reflection on his
or her own learning activities. In doing so, the student develops an understanding and becomes empowered
about how to improve his or her learning activities and strategies. These reflections are qualified through
dialogue and practice. The second process is the teacher’s evaluation of and reflection on the student’s
learning activities. The learning processes are qualified by the teacher’s feedback and feed‐forward to the
student, as the student should learn to respond to critical comments and include them in the ongoing learning
activities and reflections. If the learning design framework provides a basis for ongoing formative and
summative evaluations, the evaluation activities may function as a driver for reflection and learning for both
teacher and student.
In agreement with Brookhart (2001), we understand summative and formative evaluations as functions that
may take place both inside or outside the (hybrid) classroom and with the purpose of providing both teacher
and students with appropriate knowledge to strengthen and stimulate students’ academic development. Along
with Scriven (1967) and Bloom and colleagues (1971), we understand these functions as having different
points of departure. Thus, summative evaluation lends itself to a backward‐looking perspective that aims at
evaluating completed tasks and whether (minimum) competencies have been achieved in relation to defined
learning objectives. On the other hand, formative evaluation refers to a forward‐looking perspective that aims
at producing feed‐forward that supports the students’ future learning, ways of working and collaborating, and
presentations and presenting performance. Thus, we understand evaluations as learning practices that are
performed by both teacher and students as functions with a purpose. Summative evaluation is mostly
conducted at the end of a learning process, while formative evaluation may take place both during and at the
end of a learning process. The two evaluation practices are complementary; summative information is about
the distance to the goal (learning objective), while formative information helps define and navigate the
journey (learning) towards that goal.
As mentioned above, we find that design for learning is both the teacher’s and the students’ domain. Netbook
1:1 (Sørensen & Levinsen 2014) showed that the students operate at all three levels of Dale’s model (1989,
2000): practice, organising and planning, due to a teacher‐designed frame, which centres on the students’
learning process and subject‐related reflections. The frame defines an arena, where the students take on
responsibilities and act as learning designers under the teacher’s supervision. We find that students evaluate
and reflect on their practice during the process by using everyday language, while the teacher’s reflection in
action is based on his or her professional theoretical knowledge and competencies. From a design‐for‐learning
perspective where the students’ learning is driven by their reflections and evaluations as learning designers,
we have further developed Dale’s model into a four‐level Design for Learning Model. In the new model (Figure
1), the fourth level belongs solely to the teacher’s domain.
Figure 1: Four‐level design for learning model
Taking the departure point from the students as learning designers, evaluation becomes a pivotal practice for
both the learning process and learning results. Evaluation should be a core learning practice in any teacher‐
based design frame, explicitly formulated in terms of function and purpose, and actively integrated into the
students’ agency as learning designers. Apart from Luckin and colleagues’ (2012) two processes, we work with
three variations of evaluation practices:
students’ self‐reflection and self‐evaluation,
peer response with feedback and feed‐forward and
teacher response with feedback and feed‐forward.
Before we unfold the evaluation practices, we should explain the feedback and feed‐forward concepts that are
present in all three practices and form the basis for evaluation as a learning practice. Feedback aims to:
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take stock
share knowledge
evaluate a process and/or a result
Feedback is a practice where summative and formative purposes may function complementarily. When
feedback aims at taking stock, it is often given during the learning process. However, feedback may also
function as summative at the end of a learning process and provide an overview to the student about what is
or is not learned and which competencies are acquired or not. When the aim is sharing constructed knowledge
among students, feedback may equally be generated during and/or after the process. When the aim is to offer
a critical or an appreciative response, evaluation is typically performed at the end of the process, when the
work is completed and presented. Feed‐forward aims to:
proceed with a process,
generate new ideas and
produce changes.
Sometimes, feedback and feed‐forward are intertwined, since feedback often leads to conversations about
how to proceed, and knowledge sharing leads to new ideas. However, in our context, it is convenient to focus
on feed‐forward if the purpose is solely formative, such as if the students are at a standstill, the teacher finds a
lack of subject‐matter quality in their work, the organisation of their work does not function, and changes are
needed. The teacher may choose to intervene and challenge the students to reset their usual ways of thinking
and doing and inspire new strategies to proceed. Feed‐forward may also occur spontaneously, for instance, if a
student finds useful ways of using a program or an app or discovers information that may be shared with the
class. As feedback, feed‐forward may be given both during and after a learning process. For both teacher and
students, feedback and feed‐forward may function as drivers for redesigning both the frame and the learning
design.
5. Students as learning designers, and evaluation practices
In this section, we present examples of evaluation practices from the projects Students’ digital production and
students as learning designers and Netbook 1:1, based on subject‐related, trans‐disciplinary and individual
contemplative projects.
5.1 Students’ self‐reflection and self‐evaluation
The teachers develop a digital objective and an evaluation sheet for the students to fill in at the end of a
project. The evaluation sheet is included in the student portfolio and used during student‐teacher and student‐
parent‐teacher conversations. In the early grades, the students possess limited writing skills, so the sheet has a
mix of check marking and a few written answers. The teachers plan the activity with a generous time frame
and perform formative guidance while the students evaluate themselves in relation to the following
chategories
Subject/trans‐disciplinary learning
Working practice – organisation, collaboration
Product and presentation
Technology.
Modalities
Working efforts
In this manner, the students’ evaluation refers to the teacher‐defined objectives for the project, which stem
from the legislated learning objectives for Danish schools. These objectives are discussed with the students for
their understanding and rephrased to student‐language (Figure 2).
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Figure 2: Example of a digital questionnaire in which second‐grade students answer questions after studying
an author and his books (authors’ translation)
In the early grades or if the students are not yet used to evaluation as a learning practice, it is important to
introduce the format thoroughly, since its purpose is to provide an arena for the students’ reflections on their
learning process and the learning itself.
It may be an issue of whether check marking supports reflection. However, in the early grades, it is important
that all categories are present and allow the students to become accustomed to and build a repertoire of
relevant criteria to master the evaluation of various learning objectives and the dimensions of the learning
process.
5.2 Responses with feedback and feed‐forward
Ongoing evaluations with feedback and/or feed‐forward can be used as short time‐outs, where students
and/or the teacher show and tell something that others can learn from, for example, when students have
found out how to animate a graphic element. A complementary summative and formative purpose may also
be included at the end of a learning process.
Figure 3: Ongoing evaluations with feedback (backward‐looking critiques and comments) and/or feed‐forward
(forward‐looking comments and suggestions on what can be done)
In our project, the students continuously uploaded their work or collaborated directly in the cloud. Therefore,
all products, notes and stages in the processes were accessible for both the teacher and the peers at all times.
They were both easily shared online and mediated using the interactive whiteboard during time‐outs.
Peer response: During the process, peer response is provided as planned or as spontaneous time‐outs where
the students take stock of the progress in relation to the overall time frame. Short presentations using the
interactive whiteboard allow for peer comments on the quality of the work and suggestions for improvements.
The whiteboard can be used as a tool to add layers and comments directly on the digital work. As an
evaluation practice with a formative purpose, peer response is both useful for subjects and trans‐disciplines,
working practice, and use of technologies and modalities, since it supports ongoing improvements. Peer
response as a final evaluation of subjects and trans‐disciplinary projects focuses on the students’ digital
products, the acquired subject or trans‐disciplinary learning, and the working practice, including subject‐
related and social collaborative aspects. Peer response as a final evaluation of individual contemplative
projects focuses on each student’s final product and the way the student uses modalities to present and
mediate the product and the content. During the peer response, the teacher stays in the background and
guides the evaluation in terms of how to express relevant critiques without hurting the receiver and ensuring
that all relevant aspects are brought into play. The students’ self‐evaluation is also an element in the final peer
response as it is a driver for the formative function of peer response.
Teacher response: The teacher may both produce process and final evaluations and hold summarising
conversations with individual students. As the learning manager, the teacher needs to maintain awareness of
the various aspects of the learning processes and the students’ challenges, then uses this knowledge to select
important issues for either process or final evaluations. The teacher’s professional background and knowledge
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about the students help him or her select what to allocate to the plenum and individual conversations,
respectively. The evaluation may be organised in various ways; accordingly, the teacher must possess a
repertoire of practices that suits the evaluation purposes, such as: Are there only right or wrong answers or
alternative possibilities? Is the purpose to reflect on a subject or to inspire more in‐depth work with the
subject matter? What kind of evaluation enhances the students’ future learning processes, and what may be
vulnerable?
th
For a full week, 10 ‐grade students work on trans‐disciplinary projects, using art and architecture in their
neighbourhood. They employ various digital production tools to produce short videos, texts, photos, etc.,
about the neighbourhood. These are published through the social location‐based, mobile gaming platform
SCVNGR that allows users to build a game‐layer on top of the world. During the week that also includes peer‐
response sessions, the teacher accesses the digital productions and takes stock of the students’ process,
progress and challenges. This knowledge is used to provide formative input to the students in the form of
feed‐forward regarding the thoroughness of their mediating content and the functional and aesthetic use of
their modalities. At the end of the process, the final file constitutes the students’ delivery of the assignment
for the teacher’s assessment.
6. Concluding discussion
The use of language bears an impact on whether the students take the evaluation as a formative input for
future work. Littleton and colleagues (2005) developed the concept of “thinking together”, addressing various
forms of dialogue and questioning that may either enhance or hamper collaboration and learning. “Thinking
together”, combined with an explorative manipulation of digital representations, is also useful in evaluation
processes, especially when language functions as a vehicle for exploration and construction of knowledge and
as a driver for reflection. The underlying reason is that the teacher may use the students’ articulation of and
work with the digital product to identify challenges and exploit the acquired knowledge to reorganise the
frame or details in the learning design. In the Danish school, similar to higher education, no tradition exists for
evaluating the teacher’s work as an evaluator. Nonetheless, we note an advantage in involving students in this
aspect of the teacher’s practice, for instance, the learning design and the teacher’s communication and
interaction with the students.
Digital technology offers a wide range of options for developing evaluation as a learning practice. We found
that teachers and students used shared networks and cloud technology to create new dynamic frameworks for
both the teachers’ work with evaluations and for the students’ peer evaluation. Accordingly, there is a need
for research and development regarding how technology may support summative and formative evaluation
practices during and after learning processes. It is also necessary to explore and develop digital solutions that
enhance the analysis of evaluation results and support the teachers and students decision making on how to
transform produced knowledge into efficient practices. Teachers are already exploring digital options; Luckin
and colleagues (2012) specifically cited social media.
We have already mentioned the beginning impact of digitalisation on the forms of evaluation such as digital,
national summative types and the competitive approach used in the PISA programme. However, other
dimensions such as multimodality, creativity and innovation that are actualised by digitalisation also influence
evaluation. When students’ approach to subjects become multimodal, and subjects are mediated digitally
through multimodal representations, multimodality becomes part of both the subject matter itself and the
related academic competencies. As mentioned in the introduction, the Danish school has aimed at teaching
students to verbalise their own academic competencies. However, the advent of new media and their impact
on representative forms and competencies call for new subject knowledge, not only because the technology is
st
available and multimodal competencies represent a core competence in the 21 century (OECD 2008). New
subject knowledge is also needed because multimodal modes of expression function as an externalising vehicle
for reflection and construction of meaning, together with speech and writing (Sørensen & Levinsen
2014).Thus, multimodal means of expression provide students with both a broader repertoire for expressing
themselves and a more nuanced tool for experiencing the world. This means that multimodal means of
expression not only have to be part of the articulation of evaluations in a digital learning environment, but the
students’ use of the former should be evaluated as a competence with defined learning objectives. This issue is
an important dimension in future discourses on any subject and its related knowledge regime. For the
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teachers, it is a major challenge to develop learning designs for evaluation‐as‐a‐learning practice in a
digitalised learning environment and to include both the modalities and their interrelations.
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The Cost Model in the Course Financial Literacy
Libuše Svobodová
University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
libuse.svobodova@uhk.cz
Abstract: The importance of electronic education has been increasing, steadily developing and constantly changing in the
last decade in the Czech Republic. The article deals with the creation of the calculation and monitoring of the costs in the e‐
learning course. The topic is very important, because almost all organizations are involved in monitoring costs and cost
models, monitoring revenues, creating of calculations and in pricing strategy. There is defined the term e‐learning at the
beginning of the article. In the following part there are described the various forms of e‐learning. The purpose of the article
is aimed on designing of the model for monitoring of costs and also establishment of calculations for e‐learning teaching.
The model will focus on the environment in the Czech Republic. Specifically, it will be designed model that could be used at
the Faculty of Informatics and Management at the University of Hradec Králové by preparing of the course “Financial
literacy” in the context of lifelong learning. The course will be composed of more financial subjects such as taxation,
accounting, banking, financial markets and others. Education will be channeled through the LMS Blackboard. There will be
used both on‐line and off‐line forms. Synchronous and also asynchronous tools will be used in communication. Social
networks or investment games will be used in some topics. The students can test knowledge in them in practice. The
absolving of the course could increase the financial literacy, which is not classified in the Czech Republic on the sufficient
level. Due absolving of the course the education in this field should improve the financial literacy of people that will
consequently make their lives better. A detailed research together with the analysis and critical assessment of accessible
materials will enable to identify the way how structure the costs and propose the calculations for preparing and teaching
the course. The analysis of this initial state will consequently enable to identify key deciding. There will be proposed
options how many students will have to study the course at a certain price. Primarily and secondary sources were used
within the framework of the topic.
Keywords: calculation, course, costs, model, financial literacy
1. Introduction
The rate of household debt is growing in most countries. At the same time the supply of new financial products
is increasing. For people, it is important to master financial literacy and to know what to focus on in this field.
Financial literacy is the starting point of this paper. Financial literacy is defined in various ways; there is no
universal definition. Important steps have been made in this issue in the Czech Republic and a lot of other
measures are being prepared with a number of institutions. Despite financial literacy in the Czech Republic
based on the results of studies (The National Strategy for Financial Education 2010), (Financial literacy in the
Czech Republic), Atkinson and Messy (2012), (Financial literacy in the Czech Republic. Czechs and financial
literacy? Worse is the only Mexico and Slovakia ...), (Knowledge of Czechs in insurance is below average),
(Financial literacy Czechs is low) is not at a sufficient level. Due it might be useful for citizens of the Czech
Republic to study a comprehensive financial literacy course in the framework of the lifelong training.
2. E‐learning
E‐learning is usually perceived as electronic learning. Typically this means using a computer to deliver part, or
all of a course whether it is in a school, part of mandatory business training or a full distance learning course.
2.1 Support in the sphere of e‐learning and in the business education at the University of Hradec
Králové
Alike most universities University Hradec Králové and especially Faculty of Informatics and Management has
been using intensively e‐learning courses for several years. First fully distance courses, which were formed in
1997, were based upon WWW pages. A tutor placed on them study materials, tasks or assignments. E‐mail
served as a means of communication. In 1998 the first complex distance course for lifelong education was
completed. It is a milestone, as this year development of e‐learning course started. Up to 2001 four e‐learning
courses were run (six terms with more than 100 participants). This year e‐learning courses were opened for full
time students (Poulová, 2004). In the following years the faculty started to use a virtual platform
LearningSpace for distribution of e‐learning courses. Later WebCT virtual environment replaced it and is
currently being used. They both offer necessary and helpful tools and services to ensure e‐learning courses of
high quality. WebCT was replaced with LMS Blackboard.
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Nowadays (in 2014) there are running more than 100 courses (in Czech, in English, in German) in the learning
management system Blackboard. These courses are dedicated to: full‐time studies, combined studies and
lifelong learning. Many of teachers from the Faculty of Informatics and Management used today this virtual
environment such as support for their teaching.
The current state of e‐learning at the Faculty of Informatics and Management is on a high level.
Thanks to LMS and created courses could our Faculty of Informatics and Management aimed also for the
interuniversity studies: RIUS (the InterUniversity training between three Czech Universities. The University of
Hradec Králové ‐ the Faculty of Informatics and Management, the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen and
Tomas Bata University in Zlín) and EVENE (Erasmus Virtual Economics & Management Studies Exchange. There
were involved students from 9 universities from the European Union). We know that we can educate citizens
only via e‐learning form.
2.2 Forms of e‐learning
E‐learning can take many forms:
Purely online – there are no face‐to‐face meetings
Blended learning – it is combination of online and face‐to‐face
Synchronous or asynchronous
Instructor‐led group or self‐study or self‐study with subject matter expert
Web‐based or computer‐based (CD‐ROM) or video/audio tape
For our course “Financial literacy” we calculate to use blended learning with synchronous and also
asynchronous type of communication. The students should study also without the personal meeting. It ups on
the people whether they will come to arrange meetings with specific questions. By study it will be possible to
use also social media or investment games, for example Youtube with the practical illustration (Černá, 2013) or
games descripted in Svobodová (2014). At the beginning of each topic mentioned in the next parts there are
planned meetings once every two months. In the case of interest can be the terms adjusted. Self‐education
will be the main direction. The students will study via LMS Blackboard. Teaching quality will depend on the
tutor and on the quality of materials (Klímová, 2011), (Šimonová, 2013). The motivation to study is important
in the lifelong training (Svobodová, 2011).
3. Materials and methods
The research procedure followed two phases:
First, to introduce the problematic of the new project and control process with the budget setting process
and calculation of the break‐even analysis.
Second, to propose lectures for the new e‐learning program and the costs that are associated with it.
The reason of the planned new study program is the lack of financial literacy of citizens in the Czech Republic
and the demand for this field of study and insufficient supply. The studies about financial literacy in the Czech
Republic were mentioned in the Introduction. Study in this topic will be carried out according to interest by
different age groups in all regions.
The main goal of the article is aimed on designing of the model for monitoring of costs and also establishment
of calculations for e‐learning teaching.
4. Results, interpretation, discussion
4.1 The planning of the new project and control process
This chapter brings description of a process to establish the new e‐learning course for lifelong training in the
field of financial literacy. When we would like to prepare the new course “Financial literacy” it is necessary to
do bellow mentioned steps.
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The figure shows the planning and control sequence within a business and starting of the new e‐learning
course. Once the objectives of the e‐learning course have been determined, the various options that can fulfil
these objectives must be considered and evaluated in order to derive a strategic plan. The budget is a short‐
term financial plan for the business that is prepared within the framework of the strategic plan. Control can be
exercised through the comparison of budgeted and actual performance. Where a significant divergence
emerges, some form of corrective action should be taken. If the budget figures prove to be based on incorrect
assumptions about the future, it might be necessary to revise the budget.
Figure 1: The planning and control process of the new project (new study program in lifelong training)
The question should be: How should budget help to managers?
Budgets are generally regarded as having five areas of usefulness. These are:
Figure 2: The main five benefits of budgets to the business
The budget‐setting process
The figure shows the sequence of events in the preparation of the budgets. Once the budgets are prepared,
they are communicated to all interested parties and, over time, actual performance is monitored in relation to
the targets set out in the budgets.
Traditionally, much budget setting has tended to be on the basis of what happened last year, with some
adjustment for any changes in factors that are expected the affect the forthcoming budget period. This
approach is sometimes known as incremental budgeting.
Zero‐base budgeting (ZBB) rests on the philosophy that all spending needs to be justified. Thus, when
establishing, say, the training budget each year, it is not automatically accepted that training courses should be
financed in the future simply because they were undertaken this year. The training budget will start from a
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zero base and will only be increased above zero if a good case can be made for the scarce resources of the
business to be allocated to this form of activity.
Figure 3: Steps in the budget‐setting process
ZBB encourages managers to adopt a more questioning approach to their areas of responsibility. To justify the
allocation of resources, they are often forced to think carefully about the particular activities and the ways in
which they are undertaken. This questioning approach should result in a more efficient use of business
resources. With an increasing portion of the total costs of most businesses being in areas where the link
between outputs and inputs is not always clear, and where commitment of resources is discretionary rather
than demonstrably essential to production, ZBB is increasingly relevant.
Figure 4: The budgetary control process
Budgets, once set, provide the yardstick for assessing whether things are going to plan. Variances between
budgeted and actual performance can be identified and reacted to.
Effective budgetary control
Good budgetary control requires establishing systems and routines to ensure such things as a clear
distinction between individual managers´ areas of responsibility, prompt, frequent and relevant variance
reporting, and senior management commitment.
There are behavioural aspects of control relating to management style, participation in budget setting and
the failure to meet budget targets that should be taken into account by senior managers.
The budgets should have also below mentioned criticisms:
Cannot deal with rapid change
Focus on short‐term financial targets, rather than value creation
Encourage a “top‐down” management style
Time‐consuming
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Based around traditional business functions and do not cross boundaries
Encourage incremental thinking (last year´s figure, plus x per cent)
Protect rather than lower costs
Promote “sharp” practice among managers
Budgeting is very widely regarded as useful and extensively practised despite the criticisms
4.2 Costs
Cost may be defined as the amount of resources, usually measured in monetary terms, sacrificed to achieve a
particular objective. The costs incurred by a business may be classified in various ways and one important way
is according to how they behave in relation to changes in the volume of activity. There are costs that:
are fixed (stay the same) when changes occur to the volume of activity and
vary according to the volume of activity.
We should have also stepped fixed costs. Most fixed costs are not fixed over all volumes of activity. They tend
to be “stepped”. This means that, in practice, great care must be taken in making assumptions about fixed
costs. The problem is particularly heightened because most activities will probably involve fixed costs of
various types (rent, supervisory salaries, administration costs), all of which are likely to have steps at a
different points.
For most of the managers is very important to be familiar with the break‐even point (BEP). It is the level of
activity (in units of output or sales revenue) at which the total costs (fixed + variable) are the same as total
sales revenue.
Calculation of BEP is as follows:
total sales revenue = fixed costs + total variable costs.
It is also possible to rewrite the formula as:
number of units of output at BEP = fixed costs / (sales revenue per unit variable costs per unit.
Use of knowledge of BEP is for managers necessary for a particular activity, for risk assessment. With this issue
is also concerned contribution per unit, margin of safety and operating gearing.
Contribution per unit = sales revenue per unit less variable cost per unit.
Margin of safety = excess of planned volume of activity over BEP.
Operating gearing = the extent to which the total costs of some activity are fixed rather than variable.
Some managers use also Profit volume (PV) chart that is an alternative approach to break‐even (BE) chart.
Economists tend to take a different approach to BE, taking account of economies (and diseconomies) of scale
and of the fact that, generally, to be able to sell large volumes, price per unit tends to fall.
On the next figure there are presented the relationship between above mentioned terms.
The bottom part of the graph represents the fixed cost element. To this is added the wedge‐shaped top
portion, which represents the variable costs. The two parts together represent total cost. At zero activity, the
variable costs are zero, so total costs equal fixed costs. As activity increases so does total costs, but only
because variable costs increase. We are assuming that there are no steps in the fixed costs.
The bottom part of the break‐even formula is known as the contribution per unit. It is called „contribution“,
because it contributes to meeting the fixed costs and, if there is any excess, it also contributes to profit. The
margin of safety is the extent to which the planned volume of output or sales lies above the BEP. The relative
margins of safety are directly linked to the relationship between the selling price, the variable costs and the
fixed costs.
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Figure 5: Break‐even chart
Though the BEP can be calculated quickly and simply it does not mean that the graphical approach of the
break‐even chart is without value. The chart shows the relationship between cost, volume and profit over a
range of output an in a form that can easily be understood by non‐financial managers. The break‐even chart
can therefore be a useful device for explaining this relationship.
The usefulness of being able to deduce the BEP is that it makes it possible to compare the planned or expected
volume of activity with the BEP and so make a judgement about risk. Planning to operate only just above the
volume of activity necessary in order to break even may indicate that it is a risky venture, since only a small fall
from the planned volume of activity could lead to a loss. There are also failing to break‐even analysis. Where a
business fails to reach its BEP, steps must be taken to remedy the problem: there must be an increase in sales
revenue or a reduction in costs, or both of these. The BE analysis has also some weaknesses that are necessary
to take into consideration.
Below there are mentioned three general problems:
Non‐linear relationships. The management accountant´s normal approach to break‐even analysis assumes
that the between sales revenues, variable costs and volume are strictly straight‐line ones. In real life this is
unlikely to be so. This is not probably not a major problem.
Stepped fixed costs. As was mentioned above it is a type of
costhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/expense.html that is more or less constant over a low
level shift in activity, but which changes incrementally when activity shifts substantially. An example of a
step fixed cost that might be incurred by an education process would be the need to add the new subject.
Multi‐product business. Most business do not offer just one product or service. This is a problem for
break‐even analysis since it raises the question of the effect of additional sales of one product or service
on sales of another of the business´s product or services. There is also the problem of identifying the fixed
costs of one particular activity. Fixed costs tend to relate to more than one activity – for example, two
activities may be carried out in the same rented premises. There are ways of dividing fixed costs between
activities, but these tend to be arbitrary, which calls into question the value of the break‐even analysis.
Despite some problems, the notion of break‐even analysis and BEP seem to be widely used. The media
frequently refer to the BEP for business and activities.
4.3 Planned subjects in the course financial literacy
In the whole e‐learning course there are planned 10 areas that are very important in the financial issues. We
came up with the following:
Basics of Finance
Banking and Stock Exchange and Financial Markets
Business Economics
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Fundamentals of Economics (micro and macro)
Fundamentals of Financial Accounting
Insurance
Personal Bankruptcy
Public Finance
Small Firms and Accounting for Managers
Tax System of Czech Republic
Students will have not only to complete the entire course, but it will be possible to choose the individual areas
that they need in their life. It is calculated with the final short test at the end of each topic. After successful
finishing of each topic they will get also the certificate about the absolved topic and also the whole course.
In the next step we should define the fixed and variable costs in the study courses. It is calculated that the
offices for the manager of the courses, administrator and lecturers will be in the same building together with
the students from the Faculty of Informatics and Management.
Some examples of costs that are likely to be fixed in our cost model are:
an overhead costs such is rent, insurance, cleaning costs, telephone calls, postage, electricity, water,
depreciation, payment for the LMS Blackboard, and others. This payment is done as percentage from the
income to rector´s office.
Advertisement is necessary not only at the beginning but regularly.
Other fixed costs are the staff salaries, especially manager and administrator of the course and also the
salaries of the lecturers by preparing of the materials for the course.
The costs that are likely to be variable in the prepared project are the salaries for the lecturers. They will be
calculated on the basis of the taught hours in the courses and hours necessary for actualisation of the study
materials. Teaching will provide teachers from the Department of Economics. They have got the great
qualification. Involved will be those that have rich experience with blended learning. There are no other
variable costs instead of the printing the materials.
Figure 6: List of fixed and variable costs in the proposed project
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It will be necessary to calculate all fixed costs together. Variable costs will be calculated on the basis of
students per semester. In consideration for lecturers salaries will be taken the taught hours and the
actualization of the materials in the new cycle. Most of the topics are frequently updated (taxation,
accounting, banking and investing, insurance). The second part of the variable costs will be the printing costs
(most materials will be only on‐line so it will be the small amount).
In this paper will be not done the detailed calculation and budget with the concrete numbers because of the
sensitivity. It is expected that the biggest two costs groups of the planned project will be salaries of lecturers
and the overhead costs.
Price will be determined so that the course could allow citizens to pay. There will be granted a discount of 10%
for completion of all courses and 5% at completion of half of them. The discounts would be able to motivate
students´ study of several issues.
From the price, variable and fixed costs it will be possible to calculate above mentioned break‐even point,
contribution per unit, margin of safety and operating gearing.
During the first year will be regularly monitored students' interest in detail and evaluated economic data. After
each half‐year, the overall assessed students' interest will be calculated income and expenses that are
associated with the project. There will be monitored, what subjects are most interested in whether
participants choose all courses or part of them. Based on the data rates will be adjusted if appropriate, will be
adjusted frequency and more. In next years will continue the monitoring of the students´ needs and economic
data. On the basis of those information should be changed the budget of the project and other.
Finally, it is great to compare the value of the costs to the value of the benefits, and use this analysis to decide
course of action. To do this, calculate the total costs and the total benefits of the study program, and compare
the two values to determine whether the benefits outweigh the costs. At this stage it's important to consider
the payback time, to find out how long it will take for you to reach the break‐even point. It is the point in time
at which the benefits have just repaid the costs of the project.
5. Conclusion
To determine the financial cost of education in the financial field, the student must consider a number of
factors. First, how many classes are needed to reach the desired level of skill? Second, what school or program
will be providing these classes? Third, will the student be required to purchase any additional hardware or
software? And finally, do the computer courses qualify to be paid for partially or completely by an employer or
by some other agency? By considering these factors, students should have a rough idea of the expenses they
may face in pursuing their education (Computercourseguide).
When you are planning to establish a new e‐learning program, you must take into account not only fixed but
also variable costs. In connection with their knowledge and estimate of the number of students we can
calculate the price for completing various areas of the entire course, which students can study as needed. As
we have seen, break‐even analysis can provide some useful insights to the important relationship between
fixed costs, variable costs and the volume of activity. It does, however, have it weaknesses. In marginal analysis
we concern ourselves just with costs and revenues that vary with the decision and so this usually means that
fixed costs are ignored. This is because marginal analysis is usually applied to minor alternations in the level of
activity, so it tends to be true that the variable cost per unit will be equal to the marginal cost, which is the
additional cost of producing one more unit of output.
During the study year, it is necessary to monitor the students' interest and, if necessary, make needed
adjustments.
Acknowledgements
This paper is written with financial support from specific university research funds of the Czech Republic
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport allocated to the University of Hradec Králové Faculty of Informatics and
management, project no. 2111/2014.
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Atrill, Peter. McLaney Eddie. (2007) “Management Accounting for Decision Makers”. Fifth edition, London: Prentice Hall,
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Černá, M. and Svobodová, L. (2013) “Social Media Landscape”, Efficiency and responsibility in education 2013 :
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0http://library.iated.org/publications/INTED2014
Svobodová, L. (2011) “Constructivism and e‐learning in the business theory”, EDUCON 2011: IEEE second annual global
engineering education conference, IEEE, US Piscataway
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Piscataway, pp. 351 – 354, ISBN 978‐1‐4799‐2161‐4
The National Strategy for Financial Education 2010. Ministry of finance.
Financial literacy in the Czech Republic. URL:
http://www.cnb.cz/miranda2/export/sites/www.cnb.cz/cs/spotrebitel/financni_gramotnost/mereni_fg_tk_2010121
3/financni_gramotnost_20101213_stemmark.pdf
Atkinson, A. and F. Messy (2012), “Measuring Financial Literacy: Results of the OECD / International Network on Financial
Education (INFE) Pilot Study”, OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions, No. 15, OECD
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Financial literacy in the Czech Republic. Czechs and financial literacy? Worse is the only Mexico and Slovakia ... URL:
http://www.investujeme.cz/cesi‐a‐financni‐gramotnost‐horsi‐je‐jen‐mexiko‐a‐slovensko/ ‐
Knowledge of Czechs in insurance are below average. URL:
http://www.cap.cz/ItemF.aspx?od=10&list=DOKUMENTY_01&view=pro web tiskové zprávy
Financial literacy Czechs is low. URL: http://www.uspory.cz/clanky/novinky/zivotni‐pojisteni/financni‐gramotnost‐cechu‐je‐
nizka http://www.computercourseguide.com/determining‐financial‐costs.html
519
E‐Learning Advantages and Disadvantages Through an
Experimentation
Razika Tahi1, Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani2 and Tayeb Bouazid3
1
Electrification of Industrial Enterprises Laboratory, Department Of Economics, M 'Hamed
Bougara University of Boumerdes, Algeria
2
Computer Science Department, Fgei Faculty, University Of Tizi‐Ouzou, Algeria
3
Department of English University Of M’sila, Algeria
raztahi@yahoo.fr
farida.bd2011@yahoo.fr
tbouazid@yahoo.fr
Abstract: The progressive introduction of the License‐Master‐Doctorat system in Algeria has started in 2003. This very
system requires qualitative enhancements and changes regarding education, research and evaluation. In order to support
the teacher in his pedagogic and scientific activities, the Ministry of Higher Education has initiated the Distance Learning
National Project (DLNP) which aims at integrating Information and Communication Technologies in Education (ICTE)
through both videoconference and e‐learning. Substantial investments have enabled universities to acquire high‐
performance hardware. As for the human support, technical and pedagogic trainings have been provided, the context in
which we have benefited from several trainings in e‐learning. Insofar as the integration of ICTE is an iterative process, in
perpetual development, that gets better according to its evolution, a decade after launching this DLNP, what about the
practice? Was there any generalization of e‐learning in the universities? Were the teachers ready for this change? Is this
change adapted and adaptable to the socio‐economic environment of the Algerian university? How to generalize its
practice to adapt it to our specific needs? It is to these questions that we will attempt to give answers in this paper using
data from an experiment about an e‐learning training on information management. We followed the principle of iterative
and incremental development approach which is based on the evolution of the training design in stages (pre‐project study,
contents design, educational scenarios development, tests and evaluation of the training). The experimentation has
underlined strong points (tutorial system, courses structuring and presenting, activities, adequacy between the training
content and its objective) as well as weak ones (lack of learning autonomy for learners and bad time management,
bureaucratic and technical problems). A critical analysis of this experimentation led us to make some concrete proposals
for a better integration of ICTE. As for the potential human resource (especially students, teachers and administrative
managers), it’s necessary to make them aware, to inform and train them yet always by assisting them. From the technical
standpoint, many initiatives are already under way (fit out all the classrooms with video projectors, some classrooms have
computers for each student), whereas training teachers, especially for the collaborative work, is the main aspect to take
into account. Insofar as the e‐learning trainings don’t fit our socio‐cultural environment, they could be replaced by cross
trainings such as the blended learning and thus secure a return on DLNP investments.
Keywords: pedagogical scenario, e‐learning, information and communication technology for education, socio‐
constructivism, pedagogical engineering
1. Introduction
The subject of this paper is a feedback on training in e‐learning, entitled "Learn to understand and analyze
information" which can help students better understand and analyze information. For the development of
this training, we followed the various phases of an instructional design model starting with a preliminary
analysis of the project (requirements analysis, idea mobilizing, target population and broadcast media) and
ending with a testing device (testing and evaluation), through an analysis of training content, the development
of pedagogical scenarios and design of multimedia.
This experiment enabled the observation of existing constraints on the implementation of such an e‐learning
project by highlighting the difficulties that are often lacking a theoretical model. We cannot say that training in
e‐learning mode provides better results than classroom training, however, an assessment will highlight the
strengths and weaknesses of this experiment.
We organize our article in five parts. The first one deals with the overall identification of the training. The
following three parts match the three periods of the training (before, during and after). The last one is
dedicated to the discussion.
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2. Overall identification of the training
This distance learning has been designed to take place over fifteen days with a full‐face combination of a day
and a half to become familiar with the tools used on the platform. The learning objective is to learn how to
acquire and develop reflexes when facing critical analysis of information, and consequently analyze
information with scientific objectivity. Something which is, particularly, important for economist and managers
who often use encrypted information for decision making reflexes.
The development of a multimedia learning environment must be part of a larger project. What we propose is
part of the distance learning project developed by the Ministry of Higher Education (MHE) which began in
2003.
The expected benefits of this training project, are multiple from a qualitative and quantitative point of view
for students, teachers and the institution. Chart 1 below synthesizes all of these benefits.
Table 1: Summary of expected benefits for students, teachers and the institution
Benefits / students Benefits / teachers Benefits / institution
Getting started with the Use of new teaching practices that Efficient use of hardware that
student's own training that will suit better the socio‐economic is currently underutilized.
enable him to learn how to context. Creation of digital content.
learn. Providing a methodological Establishment of resource
Mastery of the process of contribution and support to learners banks by grouping on CDROM
finding reliable information. through better management and of all the tools needed for
Saving time in the analysis of monitoring of individual paths training.
information. (learning platform integrating the Setting up a server or Internet
Best performance in students’ centralized monitoring of course, use Intra gathering all classified
scientific synthesis works. of assessment software, etc.). and listed resources..
Students’ awareness of the Introduction of ICT in university Specific benefits to the
media power, to use the education with a new experience institution in terms of
information with caution. that facilitates the sharing and reducing the cost of training
Access to training that uses ICT, exchange of educational materials its students by integrating ICT
and improving the level of among teachers. across the organization for
computer literacy tool. Improving classical education by medium and long term
Teaching students collaborative making the best use of time and distance learning.
work. providing content that meets the
Autonomy due to users’ flexible expectations of learners.
organization involving
pedagogical self‐monitoring.
3. Before the training (preparation)
First of all, we start by listing the tasks we’ve done before the training, assuming the role of the designer.
We’ve drawn up and designed many documents among which a detailed specification, a presentation
brochure of the training, a pretest for students selection, learning activities among which a multiple choice
question paper, a series of exercises, two situational problems and a course divided into three parts.
This course has been designed according to the assigned training objectives. It is an audiovisual production
that has already been tested face‐to‐face with a computer for each student. Structuring mediation and
researchers in cognitive psychology focusing on the benefits of ICT on learning, memorizing and understanding
demonstrated that we keep in mind 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of
what we see and hear, 80% of what we say and 90% of what we do. This course is presented as scripta‐audio‐
iconic, learners will be able to keep in mind after a first viewing 50%, even 60% of this presentation, a
significant percentage compared to 10% remembered during a text reading.
After the drawing up of these documents, we had to put them on‐line so we assumed the coordinator’s profile.
The multiplication of possible technologies and arising choices are a major challenge and one of the greatest
opportunities for distance learning at the same time. For our project we chose the Univ‐ct learning platform,
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Razika Tahi, Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani and Tayeb Bouazid
and the Moodle platform for filing the audio course, a glossary and a Multiple Choice Questionnaire (MCQ).
Our strategies and scenarios are based on the many advantages offered by the platform Univ‐R ct . It is
suitable platform for collaborative learning and social constructivist model, strengthened by the variety of
collaboration tools. We were compelled to learn how to use these two platforms and it required too much
time. So as to optimize time, we’ve drawn up a detailed schedule of the training through a diagram of activities
that shows all the tasks to be done either by the learners or the teachers and a specifications chart as well.
Figure 1 presents the diagram of the first two activities.
Figure 1: Activities diagram (activities 1 & 2)
The learners’ selection and registration happened during this stage through a pretest which was a
questionnaire to be filled by candidates. This questionnaire was divided into two parts. The first one was a
multiple choice question paper (MCQ) thought up to assess the candidates’ skills to read and comment a piece
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Razika Tahi, Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani and Tayeb Bouazid
of information. The second part of the questionnaire was dedicated to candidates’ information (computing
level of knowledge, working methodology, available time for training, etc.) to adapt the training to their needs.
We’ve registered 10 students, from the Algerian Hight School of Business (ESAA) who we’ve chosen among 30
candidates, and 4 teachers from the university who, in addition to be interested in the training subject, wanted
to learn how to use a learning platform.
As it was scheduled a face‐to‐face of one day to enable learners to take control of the platform, we’ve visited
where it was planned to take place. It is a room in the Center of Networks and Information and
Communication System (CRSIC) where material conditions fit to this kind of face‐to‐face. We also made sure
that it was free for our face‐to‐face.
4. During the training (experimentation)
We will briefly present the first course of the face‐to‐face day for the handling of the platform, then the
distancial procedure.
For the e‐learning face‐to‐face, we did three for various reasons, but none has achieved its objective, namely
the handling of the learning platform. As two different populations were concerned by our training (UMBB
teachers and AHSB students), we initially opted for two face‐to‐face (a face‐to‐face‐for each population). The
first one for UMBB, and the other for the AHSB where the communication officer assured us that all facilities
were available.
For the first UMBB face‐to‐face, material conditions were excellent, learners (teachers) were very motivated,
but a bureaucratic problem that has arisen on the same face‐to‐face day, prevented us achieving for we’ve
been prevented from the access to CNISC room. Concerning the AHSB students face‐to‐face, we encountered
connection problems to enter the platform (due to port 1500 which was closed for security reasons). We have
presented the platform and the objectives of the training on slides, but none of the activities in the PS has
been done. A third face‐to‐face took place at the UMBB where we could use the CNSIC hardware, but there
was no internet connection throughout the day. Due to these problems we sent tutorials to students so they
can become familiar with the learning tools, but it was obviously not enough.
For training, we had planned four Synchronous Meetings (SM) that actually took place, but not without
difficulty. During the first SM where learners were invited by e‐mail, only six of the fourteen learners‐ learners
enrolled on the platform (three of the four UMBB teachers initially enrolled have withdrawn after face‐to‐face)
were present. The agenda of the meeting had to be modified to suit to the situation where the majority of
learners had difficulties to use the platform tools. After this meeting, different absent learners were contacted
by phone to confirm or decline their participation in the training. Among the eight missing learners, four of
them informed me that they had problems to connect to internet at a late in the evening so they decided to
quit. Three students from the AHSB have withdrawn at the last moment because they had received
convocation for an internship, so they could not take the training. From fourteen registered testers on the
platform, the experiment was reduced to a group of six students; two of them were unable to complete the
training for personal reasons.
Insofar as the training was only at its beginning we tried to 'recruit' other emergency testers from our
environment (especially UMBB colleagues) by heightening their awareness on the importance of ICT in
education. The timetable originally scheduled for this seminar has slightly been changed, but we could catch
up thanks to both on the part of learners and the tutor big efforts. Thus, during the second SM, the
composition of the group of testers has been modified, consisting of four students from the AHSB, three UMBB
teachers and a retired person from the hydrocarbons sector. The composition lasted until the end of the
training. The following steps of the SM schedule have been observed, but they were often disturbed by many
connection problems.
The main points of the schedule were fairly well respected by learners. Whereas the team members meetings
has not been respected. There was no team meeting, although this point has been reminded many times by
the tutor through emails that guided them to prepare for meeting. The interactivity between learners
happened during this training essentially through forum or e‐mail or sometimes by phone. Filing work
deadlines were more or less respected. Some found it difficult to hand in the work on the platform, hence
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Razika Tahi, Farida Bouarab‐Dahmani and Tayeb Bouazid
slight delays that have not really disrupted the training. Learners the agenda of the last synchronous meeting,
showed both strengths and weaknesses of the training and proposals were made by learners. Given the
importance of these two points, an evaluation grid to be completed and returned with concrete proposals was
sent to learners to improve such training in the future.
5. After the training (results)
We conducted a double assessment, relative to the content of training (through MCQ) and the other with
respect to the organizational, technical and pedagogical aspects of training (through an evaluation grid
distributed to learners).
5.1 Evaluation results of training content.
The choice of evaluation this training was quite difficult insofar as a comparison between what was planned in
the scenario of specifications (SS), and what has been done highlights a relatively large gap, mainly due to
random factors that have forced us to make impromptu changes to fit the situation. Thus we chose an
objective assessment so as not to compare, the progress of the training compared to what was originally
planned in the schedule, but to compare the level of learners before training and the level reached after the
training.
We present in Figure 2 the results of pre‐test and post‐test, and the duration of time that learners spent on
the learning platform.
Figure 2: Results
The gap 40 between learners’ level of knowledge before training (red) and after training (in green) is quite
significant.
As for number of hours spent by learners on the platform, we noticed a high turnout. During the first ten days
of training, the students were on vacation AHSB (winter). When they return to classes, their access to the
platform decreased significantly. The learner has spent more hours on the platform.
5.2 Results of the overall evaluation of training and learning platforms
We present the results obtained through the following Table 2.
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Table 2: Evaluation results of training learners
Strengths : ☺ Weaknesses :
Technical aspects
Pleasant ergonomics (for Univ‐Rct only) Too frequent internet logging off.
Permanent Technical Support of the tutor Power failure (especially in Boumerdes)
Access to Moodle Problems accessing Univ‐Rct
Adequate computer equipment to CNISC Under‐utilization of tools UnivRct / Moodle
Difficulties in orientation in space platforms
Organizational aspects
Timeliness of training according to the SS Very bad‐face‐to‐face
No drop during training Lack of cooperation from UMBB staff
Good attendance of learners and tutor The UMBB learners and those of the AHSB have
Record of the tutor feedback in a very short time never met
after the submission of assignments Monitoring dashboard not respected
Pedagogical aspects
Adequacy of training content with its objectives Lack of exchange on the platform between
Tutor’s permanent availability learners
PS topical subjects Too short duration of the course, resulting in a
Usefulness of resources to treat PS very intense pace of work
Tutor’s pedagogic, behavioral and didactic Not enough collaboration
competence Low level in French language (especially for UMBB
students)
The results of this assessment are derived from counting questionnaires completed by students and shown in
Table 2. It can be noticed that there were almost as many weaknesses as strengths in this training.
6. Discussion
The results obtained during the post‐test are more positive. They show that the objective of the training which
was to develop a critical approach towards information and to analyze information with scientific objectivity
has been achieved. The implementation of this training was long and difficult, the results may be positive, but
we obtain in classical trainings similar results, with much less investments either from learners or from
teaching and technical staff. Regarding the use of the platform, according to statistics from Univ‐Rct, only the
cat has been daily used and is still in very poor technical conditions. But was it the right tool? It seems not
insofar as this tool was not suitable to the context of our technological infrastructure. It has been also noticed
in the SM group where nearly half the time, that learners and even the tutor were disconnected from the
platform during periods of time more or less long (a few minutes to over an hour).
The integration of ICT in education requires at least the following three conditions: having a functioning
computer, mastering computer skills, and adapting their teaching strategy. The absence or only the failure of
one of these three points could compromise the rational integration of ICT. Have these three essential
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elements to the success of the integration of ICT in teaching conditions been respected? It is clear, that was
not the case.
Computer equipment. Although huge investments have been made by the Guardianship universities, it
was not enough. Indeed as we have seen human problems (bureaucratic) or hardware (no internet
connection) have seriously disrupted training.
Mastery of computers. Some learners mastered this tool very well, in comparison to others who had
difficulties for essential training manipulations which required a greater investment of work for some
learner and the tutor.
Teaching strategy to adopt. In this course, we had to change teaching strategy. We went from an
expository strategy (rules, principles, concepts, etc.) to a problem‐solving strategy (PS), more compatible
with the use of ICT in tutoring as it favors taking initiative of the learner to solve problems. In the
competency‐based approach (using PS) some learners’ skills are necessary, particularly pedagogical,
scientific and organizational autonomy. He must know how to collaborate, communicate, manage time
and sometimes fend for himself in complex situations. However, from an early age in the traditional
education system, the student was "Formatted" to be taught rather than to learn. Thus, this new
approach work by problem situations has a little bit "confused" learners at the beginning of training. No
collaboration on the platform has been realized. If the collaboration and communication are frequently
cited as value‐added processes, their implementation remains difficult, especially if the number of
students in a group is high.
7. Conclusion
The experimentation has enabled us to underline strong points (tutorial system, courses structuring and
presenting, activities, adequacy between the training content and its objective) as well as weak ones (lack of
learning autonomy for learners and bad time management, bureaucratic and technical problems). In addition
to the learning tools that are different compared to a classical face‐to‐face training, it was necessary to change
the pedagogic method (especially the cognitive approach) since we can’t use new tools and keep the same
learning reflexes. A critical analysis of this experimentation led us to make some concrete proposals for a
better integration of ICTE. Concerning the positive points, they should be perpetuated and above all
generalized. As for the potential human resource (especially students, teachers and administrative managers),
it’s necessary to make them aware, to inform and train them, yet by assisting them. Teachers’ training is a
fundamental element for the ICTE integration. From the technical standpoint, many initiatives are already
under way (fit out all the classrooms with video projectors, more and more classrooms have computers for
each student, etc.), whereas involving teachers and administrators, especially for the collaborative and
cooperative work, is the main aspect to take into account. The integration of ICTE is not an implementation
that could be done by virtue of a mere implementing decree. It is actually a long process that requires an
adaptation time and several changes to enable a progressive adaptation of these tools to the situation. It is too
long that the use of these new tools involves the change of the pedagogic method as well, hence the relevance
of this kind of experimentation that helps us considering in practice the changes to be carried out progressively.
References
Akbal, M. (1997), When Communication Opposed To Information, Editions Dahleb, Algiers.
Akkari, A. And Payet, J.P. (2010), Transformations Des Systèmes Éducatifs Dans Les Pays Du Sud, Editeur De Boeck
Supérieur, Bruxelles.
Bihouee, P. And Colliaux, A. (2011), Enseigner Différemment Avec Les Tice, Editions D’organisation, Eyrolles.
Boly, V.(2009), Engineering Innovation, Edition Hermès‐Lavoisier, France.
Delaby,A. (2008), Créer Un Cours En Ligne Editions D’organisation, Eyrolles.
Donnay, J. And Bru, M. (2002), Research, Practice And Knowledge In Education, Collection : Perspectives On Education
And Training, Editions De Boeck Université, Brussels.
Jacquinot, G. And Fichez, E. (2008), The University And Ict. Chronicle Of An Announced Innovation, Editions De Boeck
Université, Brussels.
Jonnaert, P. (2009), Compétences Et Socioconstructivisme. Un Cadre Théorique, Editeur De Boeck Supérieur, Bruxelles.
Kiyindou,A. (2009), Fractures, Mutations, Fragmentations : De La Diversité Des Cultures Numériques Hermes Science
Lavoisier, France.
Raucent, B. And Verzat, C. (2010), Accompagner Des Étudiants. Quels Rôles Pour L’enseignant ? Quels Dispositifs ? Quelles
Mises En Œuvre ? Editeur De Boeck Supérieur, Bruxelles.
Robert, P. (2009), Une Théorie Sociétale Des Tic : Penser Les Tic Entre Approche Critique Et Modélisation Conceptuelle,
Edition Hermès‐Lavoisier, France.
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OCRA ‐ Authentic Mobile Application for Enhancing the Value of
Mobile Learning in Organic Chemistry
Othman Talib1, Azraai Othman2 and Tengku Putri Norishah Tengku Shariman3
1, 2
Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
3
Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia
otalib@upm.edu.my
azraaiothman@yahoo.com
tgputri.norishah@gmail.com
Abstract: Mobile learning has now become a new phenomenon in education as most mobile devices, especially
smartphones and tablets, can run user‐friendly mobile applications. Moreover, most mobile devices are affordable and
equipped with technical specifications that enable the download of simple mobile applications to enhance learning. This
paper discusses the application of a prototype mobile application, known as the Organic Chemistry Reaction Application
(OCRA), which has been designed to run on any mobile devices with touch screen commands. The OCRA is a unique mobile
application that allows its users to create their own organic molecules using hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and halogen atoms.
In OCRA, the users are able to explicitly form and break chemical bond between atoms by sliding their fingers to move the
electrons or atom, and predict logically the mechanics of three fundamental organic mechanism reactions ‐ addition,
substitution, and elimination. Users can use the touch screen feature to demonstrate the organic reaction mechanism
explicitly through an electron moving technique, which is used to conceptually visualize the mechanistic steps in organic
reaction mechanism. This enables the users to understand the macroscopic and microscopic concepts of organic reaction
mechanism. Besides, the OCRA is a game‐like mobile application with the objective of acquiring correct answers by
achieving specific goals. It uses a touch screen feature to demonstrate the organic reaction mechanism explicitly, while the
electron moving technique is employed to conceptually visualize the mechanistic steps in an organic reaction mechanism.
The utilization of OCRA, therefore, is as an alternative tool to learn and understand organic reaction mechanism. This
prototype is a user controlled tool, which provides convenience and flexibility besides being capable of enhancing a user’s
confidence in learning organic reaction mechanism. Hence, the OCRA is a practical example of a mobile application that has
been innovatively designed to enhance the value of e‐learning in the educational context.
Keywords: mobile application, organic chemistry, addition, substitution, elimination, touch screen
1. Introduction
The advent of computer technologies has shown positive impact on learning in the classroom. Now, the
availability and feasibility of mobile gadgets in the context of education, such as mobile phones and computer
tablets, have brought the technologies from a stand‐alone application in the classroom environment to mobile
application in the mobile learning environment (Revell 2014), (Bidin & Ziden 2013). Moreover, a mobile
application can be installed or downloaded easily in almost all mobile devices. A variety of mobile applications,
such as games, can be downloaded for free from Google Play or Apple store via the Internet, and the same is
applied for learning mobile applications. This provides vast opportunities for educators to look for and use
innovative mobile applications in education as an alternative approach to enhance students’ learning. Such
mobile applications, or better known as “apps”, have created a new platform for mobile learning in the
context of education. As for most students and the young generation, who are surrounded by computer
technologies, mobile applications are not new to them, but what they need is an appropriate model of mobile
application contents (Hardyman, Bullock, Brown, Carter‐Ingram, & Stacey 2013) that could be applied to
support their learning.
The paper explains an overview of the mobile application concept and discusses its application in chemistry
education. This paper demonstrates one innovative mobile application for teaching organic reaction
mechanism, namely, Organic Chemistry Reaction Application or OCRA.
2. Mobile application
Mobile learning has been recognised as a new challenge to facilitate learning through mobile devices. In
addition, studies have been conducted worldwide to look into the factors on how to effectively use mobile
applications in both formal and informal educational contexts. Mobile applications can be understood as
learning through mobile devices. Nowadays, mobile devices are portable and easy to handle. Therefore, the
mobile devices can be used for fixed and formal classroom and/or informal and out of the classroom learning.
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The famous statement for these formal and informal environments is “learning anywhere at anytime” using
mobile devices (Bidin, & Ziden 2013). The accessible of learning materials at “anywhere, anytime” is in line
with the fact that almost all students own mobile devices, with which they make phone calls, watch videos,
find information, play games, communicate through social networking applications, and send short messages
at real time. The same principle has now attracted educators to convert mobile devices as a formal and
informal learning devices by developing mobile applications to deliver subject content to the students
“anywhere, anytime”. Moreover, the mobile content should cater to diverse students as enrichment and
addition to formal learning, besides emphasizing on the delivery of specific and achievable learning objectives
in an easy, interactive, and engaging way (Tsoi 2011). Meanwhile, Pollara, in her analysis on eighteen studies,
has found that a majority of samples perceived that mobile devices, such as PDAs and mobile phones, are
suitable for mobile learning (Pollara, & Broussard 2011). However, there are questions that need to be
answered. Is mobile learning suitable within the mainstream of education? What are the criteria that mobile
applications should possess to suit the formal educational system?
The mobile applications used in mobile learning are not specific to any kind of subject matter. For example, the
mobile application that is used in the medical field (Revell 2014) by trainee doctors is the “iDoc”, which acts as
a library of medical textbooks to get instant information in the workplace. Next, another study examined the
effectiveness of mobile application related to organic chemistry (Tsoi 2011). This study used iPhone as a
mobile device with touch screen capabilities to evaluate a prototype mobile application on a specific topic of
“functional groups”. One of the aspects that should be taken into consideration is “…..the device should
support the objectives of the course and be user‐friendly enough so that the learner engages with the content
being supported by the device” (Tsoi 2011). However, there are also arguments on the suitability of mobile
applications to replace classroom learning, and the limitation of certain subject content to be delivered via
mobile devices (Keegan 2005), as well as the argument that mobile applications only bring about short
excitement and engagement in learning (Kinash, Brand & Mathew 2012; Rogers, Connelly, Hazlewood &
Tedesco 2010).
Incorporating mobile applications in education has now been widely recognized as an alternative to teach and
learn through dynamic forms of visual presentations with multimedia capability, either in a formal or an
informal education context. Mobile learning applications are supported by the significant growth of mobile
devices, which have been repurposed not only for socialization, but also to deliver information effectively,
especially for the new generation of students, who are known as the “net‐generation” or a technology‐
focused generation (Samsiah Bidin & Azidah Abu Ziden 2013). A mobile device empowers students to access
education content and activities from anywhere, and at anytime through autonomous and individual learning.
To date, not many educators have explored the use of mobile applications seriously in the context of
education because there are not many choices of educational mobile applications in the market compared to
game applications. Bidin and Ziden (2013) have listed two factors which have influenced the tremendous use
of mobile applications ‐ the features and usability of the devices. Most mobile devices are portable because
the size is relatively small and light in weight. Hence, users can easily download an application to their mobile
device as an education platform, and the mobile device can be carried to anywhere and at anytime to access
educational content.
Among the young generation, learning is considered as an active and continual process that should not only
occur in a classroom, but as long as the learning materials are accessible at anytime. Moreover, most mobile
devices are not only affordable, but are also equipped with technical specifications that enable the operation
of simple yet powerful applications that promote learning. The leading author in digital games, Mark Prensky
(2007), has suggested that learning could be part of a game application; for example, an educational mobile
application can involve students in an interactive gameplay environment that spurs them to achieve certain
levels or goals in an exciting and engaging way. Thus, the challenge now is for educators to create realistic,
authentic, and engaging educational mobile applications that are suitable for particular target groups.
3. Nature of organic chemistry
As an essential subject for students who study the Science‐based academic programmes, organic chemistry
currently is a prerequisite and compulsory subject for other courses in universities like chemical engineering,
forestry, food technology, agriculture, medicine, and pharmacy. Wright, Cotner, and Winkel (2009) found that
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students who had not completed the organic chemistry course, as a prerequisite before taking the
biochemistry course, were more likely to withdraw from their major subjects than those who had completed
the organic chemistry subject. Meanwhile, Levy (2008) argues that most students regard organic synthesis a
difficult topic to study even though the concept of organic synthesis is one of the most crucial aspects to
understand in organic chemistry; the nature of organic reaction mechanisms involve dual understanding of
abstract and dynamic concepts.
In learning organic chemistry, students need to understand how to select electrons that should be moved and
rearrange the atoms or molecules after forming or breaking apart the covalent bonds to yield a final product
(Lopez, Nandagopal, Shavelson, Szu, & Penn 2013). All the processes from reactants to products are abstract
and dynamic. Students find it difficult to understand the organic reaction mechanism phenomena as most
educators have failed to explain and visualize these abstract and dynamic concepts explicitly (Kozma 2003). As
a result, many students have difficulty to visualize the organic reaction mechanism at the particulate level.
This is why many educators look forward to using animations for visualizing and representing the particulate
levels of organic reaction mechanism. As a mobile application, this approach can be further enhanced for
students to access these animations as an autonomous and individual learning tool.
A main concept in organic synthesis is the mechanism of organic reactions, which demonstrates how the
reactants are converted to products. Traditional organic chemistry classes rely on textbooks and teachers’
explanation to understand the topic. Most educators use the “arrow pushing” technique, a widely used tool
(Berg, & Ghosh 2013) with the talk‐and‐chalk approach to present the mechanic aspect of organic reaction
mechanism under investigation. However, it is difficult for this technique to portray what actually happens
during the organic reaction mechanism. Consequently, students fail to “see” the organic reaction mechanism
in the same way as their teachers. As an alternative, students would use direct “memorization”, which they
believe to be an effective way to understand the basic principles of organic reaction mechanism; however, this
ignores the fact that they will encounter more complex organic mechanism reactions in the future.
Figure 1 below shows an example of the arrow pushing technique to portray the organic reaction mechanism.
This example is taken from http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/
Figure 1: Example of “arrow pushing” technique
Realizing that teaching organic chemistry has always been dependent on talk‐and‐chalk, this paper introduces
an alternative approach that integrates animation in a mobile application. This mobile application provides
opportunity for students to demonstrate their own step‐by‐step discrete sequences of organic reaction
mechanism.
Since it is challenging for teachers to facilitate students with authentic materials for teaching and learning
organic reaction mechanism, it is believed that the use of mobile application will provide viable solutions for
engaging students in a straight forward approach. To date, no study has been conducted on the use of a
mobile application to enhance students’ comprehension of organic reaction mechanism. Furthermore, there is
no literature currently available that specifically addresses the implementation of a mobile application for
organic chemistry, especially one that optimizes the use of animation to employ abstract and dynamic organic
reaction mechanism at the particulate level of presentation.
After intensive literature search, most mobile applications found on the internet deal with general chemistry
contents, such as Sym MO (http://comcen.nus.edu.sg/technus/go_mobile/sym‐mo‐chemistry‐app/ ) and
chemistry apps for Android (http://www.appszoom.com/android_applications/chemistry). One of the mobile
applications in organic chemistry is called TsoiChem (Tsoi 2011), which emphasizes only on the topic of
“functional groups”. However, none of the mobile applications focuses on helping students to visualize,
practice, and understand the process of organic reaction mechanism through a dynamic and interactive
format.
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Therefore, this paper is focused on describing a mobile application that integrates animations and looks into its
application as a tool to visualize, practice, and understand chemical processes that involve the rearrangement
of atoms and electrons, as well as the break apart and formation of covalent bonds. It is believed that the use
of an educational mobile application is a promising means of fostering effective teaching and learning in
organic reaction mechanism.
4. Mobile application for organic chemistry reaction
Organic chemistry is a core subject for science‐based courses starting from secondary school until the
university level. The comprehension of how organic reaction mechanism occurs is crucial in the synthesis of
new organic molecules. The three most fundamental organic reaction mechanisms are addition reactions (such
as electrophilic, nucleophilic, and radical reactions), elimination reactions (E1 and E2 reactions), and
substitution reactions (SN1 and SN2). In organic reaction mechanism, a single bond between atoms consists of
two electrons that are generally presented by one single covalent bond. Other electrons, which are not
involved in bonding, are usually shown as dots on the atoms, representing the so‐called free electrons. It is
crucial for students to understand these three basic concepts of organic reaction mechanism before they can
learn more advanced topic.
These organic reaction mechanisms directly involve the movement of electrons during the process of forming
and breaking apart of chemical bonds. The most popular approach of showing these processes to understand
the organic reaction mechanism is called the “arrow pushing” technique (Levy 2008). The arrow is used to
show the movement of a pair of electrons from an electron rich location to an electron poor location. The
arrow pushing technique is used to show the movements of electrons during the forming and the breaking of
chemical bonds. Using “arrows” to show the movement of electrons is actually an additional “load” during the
thinking process of students because they cannot actually see what occurs during the process.
Hence, this paper presents an educational mobile application, namely the Organic Chemistry Reaction
Application (OCRA), in order to demonstrate the usefulness and flexibility of the application for learning
fundamental concepts of organic reaction mechanism. OCRA is not a total game application, but it has a few
game‐like activities with the objective of acquiring correct answers or achieving a specific goal.
The OCRA uses a touch screen feature to demonstrate the organic reaction mechanism explicitly, while the
electron moving technique is employed to conceptually visualize the mechanistic steps in an organic reaction
mechanism. The OCRA allows its users to form and break apart a chemical bond between atoms by sliding
their fingers on the screen to move electrons or atoms, and predict logically the mechanistic steps of the three
fundamental organic mechanism reactions ‐ addition, substitution, and elimination. This technique enables the
users to understand the particulate nature of organic reaction mechanism.
OCRA is driven by simple and explicit content, although it does include animations to excite and stimulate
users’ thinking. This mobile application can be used effectively on mobile devices, such as smartphones and
tablets. The touch screen feature in these devices assists the users to demonstrate the organic reaction
mechanism explicitly via electron moving technique; the technique that conceptually visualizes the
mechanistic steps in an organic reaction mechanism.
The prototype mobile application discussed in this paper is a user controlled tool, which offers convenience
and flexibility besides being capable of enhancing a user’s confidence in learning organic reaction mechanism.
With the touch‐screen feature in the mobile device, users can practice to form or break apart an organic
reaction mechanism without the need for typing or drawing any molecule, atom, electron or even an arrow.
The utilization of OCRA, therefore, is perceived as an alternative tool to learn and understand organic reaction
mechanism. As for the millennials, utilizing a mobile application is one of their common daily activities.
The basic idea in the development of OCRA is actually based on the revised Bloom’s taxonomy model –
Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyses, Evaluate, and Create (Krathwohl 2002). The first step in learning
organic chemistry is to know and remember how to draw organic molecules. Then, the students should
understand the principles of nucleophile, electrophile, and free radicals. After applying these principles in the
organic reaction mechanism, the students can analyse every movement of the electrons, including the
breaking apart and the formation of covalent bonds, whilst at the same time, they are expected to critically
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think of the arrangement of the molecules as a possible final product. This critical thinking process by students
involves the acts of evaluation and creation. Finally, the students can check if they have completed the process
accurately. Thus, OCRA has the capability to activate users’ learning by facilitating them to create their own
molecules and organic reaction mechanisms.
4.1 Interface
Figure 2 displays the interface of OCRA. The five basic atoms in organic chemistry are shown in different
colours with their valence electrons, in terms of the Lewis dot structure. Most organic molecules are made up
from these atoms. The students need to click or tap on the atoms to build a molecule with single, double or
triple bonds.
At the bottom of the screen, there is a simple instruction for the users to construct the twenty different
molecules listed, before they can proceed to try out the twenty basic organic reaction mechanisms. The
exercise starts with the building of H2 molecule. The users can try the next exercise by tapping on the “CLEAR
ALL” button, and then, the ‘Next’ button. After completing the task, the students can tap on the “Check”
button to check their answers.
Figure 2: OCRA interface – no need for keyboard
4.2 Creating H2 molecule
The OCRA starts with a simple task – creating a hydrogen molecule. In order to create an H2 molecule, the
users have to tap twice on “Add” under the H atom, and then, two H atoms will appear on the screen. Next,
they should move the electron valence from one of the atoms, so that both electrons of each atom are facing
each other as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Tap and move the atoms and electrons to face each other
Figure 4 shows that as users move both atoms to approach each other, the electron valence from the atoms
will attach to form one covalent bond. Finally, the H2 molecule is formed!
4.3 Creating CH4 molecule
On the other hand, in order to create the CH4 molecule, the students should tap “Add” to get four H atoms and
one C atom. Next, they can move the electrons to connect them, and form four covalent bonds, as shown in
Figures 5 and 6.
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Figure 4: The H2 molecule is formed automatically!
Figure 5: Touch “Next” and create a new CH4 molecule
Figure 6: The CH4 molecule is formed
4.4 Creating C2H4 molecule with double bond
The users can also create a double covalent bond. A double covalent bond is created when two pairs of
electrons are shared between the carbon atoms. Figure 7 shows two carbon atoms sharing two pairs of
electrons to achieve a stable molecular structure.
Figure 7: The C2H4 with double bond
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Othman Talib, Azraai Othman and Tengku Putri Norishah Tengku Shariman
4.5 Organic reaction, C2H4 + X2
There are twenty basic organic reaction mechanisms prepared in the OCRA. One of the reactions is between
ethane and halogen:
C2H4 + X2
The user needs to create both molecules and predict the product by moving the electrons and atoms. The
reaction between C2H4 and halogen is shown in Figures 8 and 9 below. The double bond is broken apart to add
both halogens in an additional organic reaction mechanism.
Figure 8: The reaction is called halogenation
Figure 9: This is an example of addition reaction mechanism
4.6 Free style mode
After the completion of all the tasks, a user can use the “Free Mode”, as shown in Table 10, to freely create
their own molecules and try out any reaction. This flexibility gives unlimited choices to the users and educators
to prepare their own tasks.
Figure 10: Users can use the “Reaction: Free Mode” to create their own reactions!
Therefore, it is about time to employ a more flexible technique to demonstrate the organic reaction
mechanism. The advancement in mobile applications should be exploited to complement the current “pushing
arrow” technique with more authentic tasks. These authentic tasks are able to demonstrate conceptually the
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mechanistic steps of organic reaction mechanism through the movement of electrons during the breaking
apart and formation of chemical bonds.
Moreover, the OCRA is a mobile application that allows students to experience, in an autonomous and
interactive way, the technique of predicting their own organic reaction mechanism. Once they have completed
this task, they can go on to evaluate their performance and understanding. OCRA is an innovative educational
mobile application that confers students the freedom to experiment and move the electrons of atoms and
molecules to create a final product of an organic reaction. As a result, this mobile application is not only
interactive, but also engages students to further improve their learning.
Other than that, the OCRA provides interactive teaching tools for demonstrating all the three organic reaction
mechanism topics. Hence, OCRA is believed to be a unique example of an educational mobile application that
could encourage students to practice their understanding of organic reaction mechanism in an effective and
engaging way when they apply the abstract and dynamic concepts of organic reaction mechanism via mobile
application. The app allows students to predict logically the products that are produced in any organic reaction
mechanism. This means the OCRA is not just for “drill and feedback”, but it is more towards “participatory
simulation” as students are expected to independently learn and construct their understanding in an authentic
environment.
Finally, authentic tasks, as promoted in OCRA, are suitable for secondary to higher education as they project
the concept of “learning by doing” or practice‐based tasks (Cronje 2014). The OCRA can be downloaded on
mobile devices as an Android mobile application, and even a web‐based version is also available. Therefore,
the OCRA is a potential mobile application for the Millennial or “Net‐generation”, who often use mobile
applications to search for information (Foley 2012) and have the preference for a learning process that is
similar to playing a game (Prensky 2005).
5. OCRA evaluation: The experts’ opinion
Interviews with Expert1, Expert2 and Expert3 (experienced chemistry teachers and technologies users) were
conducted to provide comments on how OCRA can be beneficial to students. The interview sessions served to
provide detailed information about OCRA, if it meets the learning objectives in understanding organic reaction
mechanism, the user‐friendliness, usability, the advantages and disadvantages of using OCRA.
The interviews which employed a semi‐structured approach began with a brief demonstration on how to use
the OCRA. The questions asked were (i) Does the application meet the learning objective in understanding the
basic organic chemical reactions? (ii) Can this mobile application be classified as a 'user‐friendly' learning tool?,
and (iii) What are the advantages and disadvantages of this application in learning organic reaction
mechanism?
Based on the results from the interviews, all the experts optimised that OCRA is ready as a mobile application
for mobile learning. For example, Expert2 mentioned clearly that “This (mobile) application meets the need of
helping students to learn basic organic chemical reactions, especially among students with weak foundation …
it uses more appealing visual and interactive… displays the symbolic representation of chemical and
submicroscopic….”. This proclamation is supported by Expert3, “this application meets the minimum
requirements in learning organic chemistry, especially in the beginning or introduction to organic chemical
reactions….”. The results from the interviews indicated that the OCRA should be ready as a mobile application
in the classroom and would be helpful for the students to learn organic reaction mechanism and can be
blended in the classroom lesson. The experts interviewed revealed that they believed OCRA can support
students to learn organic reaction mechanism.
As for the second question regarding the “user‐friendliness” of OCRA, the Expert1 stated that the mobile
application needs to provide more meaningful feedback instead of just “well done”, whilst the first and the
third experts requested for a simple demonstration video and instructions on how to run the mobile
application.
In response to Question 3 about the advantages of using OCRA as a mobile application, the answers given by
Expert1, Expert2 and Expert3 can be summarised that OCRA provides the opportunity for students to move
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and visualise the movement of electrons in an easy way in sub microscopic and symbolic levels, while the
forming and breaking of chemical bonds are easily demonstrated. As for the disadvantages, OCRA seems to be
lacking in feedbacks and it is only suitable for basic organic reaction mechanisms.
6. Conclusion
There is a need for the development of more authentic learning tools that specifically optimize the use of
mobile applications to portray abstract and dynamic organic reaction mechanisms at the particulate level. In
developing the OCRA, the most difficult aspect had been to cope with the more advanced and complex organic
reaction mechanism and to measure the level of students’ comprehension. This mobile application can be
subscribed and it delivers the content to accommodate the variety academic background, learning styles (Tsoi
2011), and also enhance the motivational level (Pollara, & Broussard 2011) (Broussard 2011) (Bidin, & Ziden
2013). Based on the discussion above, it is believed that, generally, OCRA is an example of innovative
educational mobile application that supports authentic learning in organic chemistry. Furthermore, future
research will be conducted to study the effectiveness of OCRA for long term understanding and to what extent
this mobile application is able to answer not only “how”, but also “why” organic reaction mechanism occurs to
get the desired product.
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The Relevancy of Digital Literacy for Malaysian Students for
Learning With WEB 2.0 Technology
Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman1, Othman Talib2 and Nazerin Ibrahim1
1
Multimedia University, Malaysia
2
University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
tengku.norishah@mmu.edu.my
otalib@upm.edu.my
nazerin@mmu.edu.my
Abstract: E‐learning has transitioned from mere retrieval of information to active participation of students who voluntarily
engage in the learning process. As Riedel (2009) reported, Web 2.0 is about putting the power to learn and create in the
hands of the students. Before the advent of Web 2.0, e‐learning was primarily used to complement traditional pedagogical
modes with an online component, whereas web 2.0 technology introduced new modes of learning, enabling greater
reflection and discussion among learners as they construct knowledge online (Lau, 2012). Therefore at this stage, the role
of digital literacy in e‐learning is even more relevant. Digital literacy which refers to the effective and efficient use of web
2.0 technology to access and use the digital information needed for a variety of online tasks (Coiro, Knoble, Lankshear &
Leu, 2008) should not be regarded as a separate set of skills, but instead embedded within and across e‐learning activities
and tasks. Although today’s students have grown up around technology devices and most probably use these devices on a
daily basis, they may not have necessarily have the digital literacy to appropriately use web 2.0 technology for
constructivist e‐learning activities and tasks. For this research, questionnaires were distributed among students in several
universities across Malaysia to identify the digital literacy competencies of students for application in e‐learning. Thus, this
paper reports the findings of the study which aims to answer the following questions: (1) What are students’ perceptions
regarding their digital literacy competency? (2) How does digital literacy affect their e‐learning with 2.0 technologies? The
results revealed that even though students have high confidence in using Web 2.0 technology, they still lacked the digital
literacy competencies needed to successfully accomplish e‐learning tasks and activities.
Keywords: digital literacy, Web 2.0 technology, e‐learning, technical domain, cognitive domain, social emotional domain
1. Introduction
Digital technologies and new media are now prevalent in many aspects of teaching and learning. Consequently
students need to develop more than just their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills; they
need to be aware of the broader context in which these technologies and media function so they will be able
to apply their ICT skills effectively and efficiently in an increasing digital world. ICT skill is not a factor whether
or not students are able to be effective e‐learners in universities across Malaysia because ICT has been used as
a tool and a way to improve the pedagogy of teaching and learning in schools and universities across Malaysia
since 1996. Furthermore the national e‐Learning project, which involved the creation of web presence, web
tools that promote collaboration, and web‐based services to students to obtain sought‐after information, was
launched in 2000 (MOHE, 2011). One of the project’s milestones was providing a Learning Management
System to all public universities that offers e‐learning applications such as Communications (96.2%), Course
Delivery (96.2%), Productivity (88.5%), Content Development (80.8%), and Administration (73.1%). However,
only a few of the universities (65.4%) had LMS features that encourage students’ involvement, such as group
work and portfolio [15]. Therefore, it is not surprising that only 4.7% of students studying in Malaysia’s
universities indicated that technophobia is one of the problems they faced in adopting e‐learning (M.A. Embi,
2011).
For the Internet generation university students, known as well as the digital natives (Prensky, 2011), surfing
the Internet and working on computers is considered second nature in view of the fact that they have never
known a world without technology or the Internet; they frequently and actively communicate, cooperate, and
connect using technology in the virtual realm. One of the technologies that they often utilise is Web 2.0
applications such as blogs, Instagram, social networking and video sharing sites, among others. Moreover, the
e‐learning environment has changed to integrate and utilize Web 2.0 elements to create an environment and
system that supports e‐learning 2.0; an approach of learning that is centred on collaboration and constructive
learning activities mediated by a range of Web 2.0 tools for exchanging content and sharing knowledge
(Riedel, 2009; M.H. Zakaria , Watson and Edwards, 2012). Hence, Web 2.0 tools should prompt students to
actively participate in e‐learning activities at their respective universities.
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Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman, Othman Talib and Nazerin Ibrahim
2. Problem statement
It is undeniable that students are engaging actively with technology, however they may not be intuitively
digital literate as conceived by the Internet Generation Theorists. A number of studies (Banwell and Gannon‐
Leary, 2000; Case, 2002; Coiro, Knobel and Lankshear, 2008; Combes, 2007; Jones, Ramanau, Cross and
Healing, 2010) have brought up contrary evidence that indicates this generation may not be as adept as has
been supposed in employing technology as an electronic information resource. Unfortunately, being a digital
native does not mean having innate digital literacy. Most often students are unable to discern the validity and
value of information found online, or use that information appropriately; they also have few constraints on
using digital technologies for sharing purposes like understanding copyright issues. In light of these findings,
the present study is significant to identify the digital literacy competencies of students for application in e‐
learning. Today's students need help acquiring these abilities and behaviours.
2.1 Objectives and research questions
In order to answer the problem statement, the researcher had developed a few research objectives which are
to determine:
the level of digital literacy competence as perceived by students when they apply web 2.0 technology for
e‐learning tasks; and
the effect of digital literacy on students’ e‐learning tasks with 2.0 technologies
The research questions built from this research are as follows:
What are students’ perceptions regarding their digital literacy competency?
How does digital literacy affect their e‐learning with 2.0 technologies?
3. Review of literature
Computers and digital technologies have merged the previously known literacy skills, such as writing, reading
or numeracy problem‐solving with new literacy skills in constructing new knowledge, creating media
expressions, and communicating with others, in the context of specific life situations in order to enable
constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process (Passey, 2011). Digital literacy is a concept that has
arisen out of the current lifestyle and online practices of the Internet Generation, like communication and
interactions with advanced digital applications and devices. Lankshear and Knobel (2003) have described new
literacies as new types of knowledge associated with “digitally saturated social practices” (p.11). For example,
word processing has become a standard for writing (instead of pen and paper), emails and short messaging
system has dominated modes of communication, and sites like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube have enabled
users to share ideas.
Moreover, a digital literate person will adapt to new, emerging technologies faster and pick up new semiotics
language for communication. According to Martin (2010), a digital literate person has the awareness, attitude
and ability to appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate,
analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and
communicate with others. To design a pedagogy suitable for the Web 2.0 environment, educators are advised
to embed constructivist theory in classroom practices that often comprise four critical conditions: (1) Multi–
construction of learning process/ perspectives, (2) Contextual learning that suits to learner’s needs (3)
Mediated learning tools (technology) and semiotic tools (signs), and (4) Social‐dialogical activity of learning
(Duffy and Cunningham, 1996). Web 2.0 technology supports constructivist learning activities that encourage
dialogic discourse among students to encourage students to look beyond their own views and incorporate
realistic or authentic contexts for learning. As an example, project based learning with ICT has been applied to
engage students in classrooms as a means to help students acquire knowledge more easily as they are the
ones who are involved in the process of gathering the information from web‐based resources and presenting
their ideas on‐line. Consequently, a digitally literate student will be easily adaptable to this constructivist based
Web 2.0 learning environment because these conditions are believed to match the digital natives’ philosophy
of learning, whereby they have a preference to search for authentic meaning through exploration and
discussion (Lankshear and Knobel, 2003).
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Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman, Othman Talib and Nazerin Ibrahim
In light of these theories, literacy is generally understood today as being inclusive of various technological,
cognitive, and social skills that adapt to a “rapid and continuous process of change in the ways in which we
read, write, view, listen, compose, and communicate information” (Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear and Leu, 2008).
Hence, digital literacy should not be viewed from the narrow perspective of acquiring ‘ICT skills and
competencies’, where digital literacy is reduced to knowledge of computer softwares such as MS Excel, Word,
and other similar softwares commonly used in universities for teaching and learning purposes. Voogt and
Pareja Roblin (2012) argue that digital literacy should not be regarded as a separate set of skills, but instead
embedded within and across the other 21st century skills and core subjects. Calvani, Fini and Ranieri (2008)
proposed a conceptual model to represent digital competence. As illustrated in Figure 1 below, digital
competence is the ability “ to explore and face new technological situations in a flexible way, to analyse, select
and critically evaluate data and information, to exploit technological potentials to solve problems or to create
knowledge collaboratively, and finally, to foster awareness of individual responsibility and respect for others”
(p.161).
Figure 1: Digital competence framework (Calvani et al, 2008)
Similarly, at a more specific level, Ng [18] has suggested three main domains of literacy that are associated
with digital literacy, which are technical, cognitive and socio‐emotional as shown in Figure 2 below.
Figure 2: Digital literacy model (Ng, 2012)
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Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman, Othman Talib and Nazerin Ibrahim
These three (3) intersecting domains involve interaction with digital based resources for decoding, reproducing
and creating data. For example, the technical domain intersects with the cognitive domain because to
construct and reconstruct knowledge, it necessary to navigate through digital media, and use online and
offline tools to decode and convey meanings in the best sense possible (Ng, 2012). In summarizing the above
discussion, being digitally literate requires the development of technical, cognitive and social emotional
competencies. These three competencies encompass a set of abilities necessary for creating content,
organizing and sharing content, reusing or repurposing content, filtering and selecting content across a variety
of digital platforms, which is known as transliteracy. Other online practices such as self‐broadcasting, and
social networking also need to use digital technologies with cognitive, technical and social emotional
competencies. Finally, all these tasks and practices require another set digital literacy ability which protects
students online, like managing identity and maintaining privacy (Wheeler, 2012). As Howard Rheingold
explained in his book, NetSmart (2012), access to technology is no longer an educational problem in the
current Web 2.0 learning environment, but the delineation between those who know how and those who
don’t know how to search, sift and discern relevant information is.
4. Data collection
This study was exploratory in nature, focusing on a convenience sampling of the final‐year students who are
pursuing their degrees at two universities in Malaysia. A survey was conducted with this group of students
through a common Project Management subject which is a compulsory subject for all final‐year students.
Empirical data were collected through a survey questionnaire. Out of the 785 registered final‐year students,
420 of them responded to the questionnaire. The general approach employed to design the questionnaire is to
combine both the pre‐coded and open questions. The pre‐coded parts are used with a number of listed items
and students are required to tick the boxes most relevant to them. A degree of openness is provided in the
survey for the students to give their responses about their thoughts on digital literacy in their own words
through the open‐ended questions. The students’ perception was measured through a list of propositions
listed in the questionnaire in order to collect the relevant information regarding what they perceived as their
skill and confidence in using technologies for digital literacy purposes, like filtering and selecting content,
socialising and communicating, creating, organising and repurposing content as well as digital identity and
digital safety.
The first section of the questionnaire gathers demographic data pertaining to age, gender, nationality, course
of study and Internet access. The second section is designed to gather information about patterns of ICT and
Web 2.0 utilisation. The third section contains items that examine the respondents’ digital literacy level. This
section contains 18 questions on a four‐point scale marked as: 1 (Basic competency), 2 (Moderate
competency), 3 (High competency) and 4 (Expert Competency). The respondents were asked to perceive and
self‐evaluate their digital literacy level along this continuum. The measurement sub‐scales used to assess
digital literacy adhere to the following domains:
Table 1: Instant digital competence assessment instrument
Domain Contents
Technical 6 items focusing on examining students’ understanding and abilities in using
computers and the Internet in their daily lives
Cognitive 6 items related to general cognitive skills, mostly linguistic or logic‐linguistic
capacities
Social‐Emotional 6 items related to three subsections focusing on protecting personal data,
respecting other Net users and being aware of the digital gap
Scale scores were obtained by summing the score for each item. The maximum possible score that a
respondent could obtain was: 4 (point 4) × 18 (items) = 72. The minimum possible score that a respondent
could obtain was: 1 (point 1) × 18(items) = 18. The scores from the survey would be used on a scale of 18–72
to mark the respondent as Basic, Moderate, High or Expert. Table 2 illustrates the three literacy domains and
the items that indicate competency for each domain.
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Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman, Othman Talib and Nazerin Ibrahim
Table 2: Level of digital literacy
Category Scale
Basic Competency 18‐30
Moderate Competency 31‐44
High Competency 45‐58
Expert Competency 59‐72
5. Data analysis
5.1 Profiles
The profiles of the respondents were analysed by using the SPSS descriptive analysis function. The outputs are
tabulated as seen in Table 3.
Table 3: Demographic characteristics of respondents
Characteristic N %
Gender
Male 199 47.4
Female 221 52.6
Total 420 100
Age at survey time
22‐24 296 70.5
25‐27 118 28.0
28‐30 5 1.19
above 30 0 0.00
Missing 1 0.24
Total 420 100
Nationality
Malaysian 328 78.1
Non‐Malaysian 92 21.9
Total 420 100
Technologies used to access Internet **
Mobile phones 194 46.2
Smartphones 282 67.1
Tablet 202 48.1
Lap top with built in 409 97.4
Wi‐Fi
Desktop 56 13.3
IPod/portable music/video devices 35 8.3
Experience in using Internet technologies**
Using search engine to locate relevant information for 420 100.0
academic work
Using online library catalogue 196 46.7
Using online learning materials (e‐learning) 385 91.7
Using social networking websites (e.g. FB) 393 93.6
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Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman, Othman Talib and Nazerin Ibrahim
Characteristic N %
Using instant messaging or chat (e.g. WeChat, 377 89.8
WhatsApp)
**Respondents may check more than once and all that apply, hence there is no total count for that dimension
and the count of percentage is based on 420 as 100% for each item/mobile device.
Some highlights of the demographic profiles of the respondents are as follows: Forty seven (47.6%) of the
participants in this study were male and fifty two percent (52.6%) were female. Over seventy percent (70.5%)
of the respondents were between 22‐24 years of age and slightly less (28%) were 25‐27. The remaining 1%
were older than 28 and are not considered traditional students. All of the students have access and are
connected to the Internet especially through laptops or smart phones. Despite being students, without their
own income source, a large number of the students own mobile devices from the higher price range; as an
example 67% owns a smart phone and another 48% owns a tablet. Therefore, mobile devices are presently
considered a necessity for students as a convenient way of communicating and sharing or retrieving
information. From their experience in using Internet technologies, we can conclude that the majority of
students use the Internet for learning (92% use online learning materials provided by their lecturers and 100%
use a search engine to locate relevant information needed to complete academic tasks or assignments),
communication (94% use social networking sites and another 90% use the instant messaging application), and
to a lesser extent entertainment (63% play online games and 76% watch and listen to audio‐visual content).
5.2 Students’ perception regarding digital literacy
To determine the level of digital literacy competence among technical students, a questionnaire was used to
measure the perception of students regarding their digital literacy as they apply Web 2.0 technology for e‐
learning tasks. All variables were analysed by descriptive statistics (i.e. frequencies, means and standard
deviations). To test the reliability, the internal consistency of the skill levels questionnaire was measured using
Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The alpha for the whole sample was found to be 0.82, indicating a good level of
item reliability (George and Mallery, 2003) that has exceeded the minimum alpha of 0.6 (Hair, 1998). The
percentage of competency level for each literacy was compared to the Level of Digital Literacy Competence
Table (refer to table 2). All the data collected were analyzed using the SPSS software and reported to
determine the digital literacy competency level of Malaysian students, as perceived by students who are
studying technical courses at two universities.
Table 4: Students’ perception of digital literacy level
Digital Literacy Domain Mean Standard Deviation
Technical
Technical skills in using ICT for learning online 3.83 0.95
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Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman, Othman Talib and Nazerin Ibrahim
presentations, digital stories, wikis, blogs)
Navigate the Internet without getting 3.68 0.82
disoriented
Manage files in computer and in the cloud 3.56 0.85
Content creation with multi‐media tools (e.g. 3.12 0.800
Image editing, video editing, web page
software)
Computer maintenance (e.g. fixing virus 3.03 0.89
problem or solve other technical problems)
Cognitive
Awareness of issues related to web‐based 2.23 0.87
activities e.g. cyber safety, search issues,
plagiarism
Evaluation of information sources (reliable, 1.30 0.65
trustworthy, authentic or credible trustworthy
or authentic)
Use advanced search options in search phrases 2.63 0.73
(AND, OR etc)
Use search tools that combine multiple fields to 2.57 0.86
limit the search (e.g. limiting to a date range, or
to a chosen publication)
Search by using keywords commonly used in 2.88 0.87
the discipline
Filter and select relevant information 3.05 0.80
Social Emotional
Awareness of copyright restrictions 2.64 0.96
Control of privacy, security and access 2.99 0.86
permissions
Collaborate with peers on project work and 3.12 0.73
other learning activities
Peer assistance over the Internet e.g. through 2.59 0.96
Skype, Facebook, Blogs
Practice Netiquette to avoid offending people 2.90 0.98
Share file legally with others (e.g. using social 3.08 0.70
bookmarking to organise and share
information)
Based on Table 2: Level of Digital Literacy, the digital literacy level of competency among the respondents is
shown in Table 5 below.
Table 5: digital literacy level of competency
Frequency Percentage
Basic competency 32 7.6%
Moderate 218 52.0%
competency
High competency 170 40.5%
Expert competency 0 0
Total 420 100
In concluding the findings, the means for all the competency levels for each respondent were calculated (Table
4.4) to advance an overall ranking of their digital literacy competency level. The analysis (Table 5) revealed that
40.5 of the respondents are in the high competency category, while 52% are in the moderate proficiency
category, and 7.6% are in the basic competency category. None of the respondents fell in the expert
competency category.
Based on the Table 4, according to the perception of students on their digital literacy competency, the overall
level of digital literacy competency in the technical domain is high among technical students with a mean of
above 3.00 for all 6 items. However, the mean for the cognitive and social‐emotional domains is considered
moderate overall. Although these students can be accorded the status of being tech savvy, being highly
competent in using Web 2.0 technology, they still need to improve on certain digital literacy aspects in order
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Tenku Putri Norishah Tenku Shariman, Othman Talib and Nazerin Ibrahim
to successfully apply their Web 2.0 technology skills for learning purposes. A few of these aspects include
being able to evaluate the credibility of information sources or assist their peers effectively over the Internet.
These are instances of the crucial aspects of digital literacy in the cognitive and social emotional domains that
students need to grasp in order to be successful participants of e‐learning at higher education institutions.
These findings indicate three aspects of digital literacy, namely technical, cognitive and social‐emotional
competence, are needed by Malaysian students in order to participate actively in Web 2.0 constructivist
learning activities. Digital literacy is not a purely technical competency, and should not be dissociated from the
cognitive and social‐emotional aspects of literacy that are required to enhance the accomplishment of
students in their academic tasks as they engage with a multiplicity of multimedia and digital technologies to
“process, interact and use information and communicate in fundamentally different ways than any previous
generation” (Kingsley, 2010).
6. Conclusion
E‐learning with the use of Web 2.0 technology emphasizes on creating a community of scholars among
students since it offers an assortment of tools that learners can mix and match to meet their individual
learning style and get support from other participants (Rheingold, 2012) . Web 2.0 technology facilitates the
individual students to collaborate, create, and share content with other students (Lau, 2012). Therefore, e‐
learning has progressed from its initial purpose of just delivering course materials to students and focusing on
one way knowledge transfer to a more interactive, student‐centred, and collaborative form of knowledge
transfer.
In general, the study has ascertained that Web 2.0 technology is already in the hands of students, however
further training and exposure is needed to ensure effective and productive use of ICT and Web 2.0 technology
for e‐learning activities. This study offers an insight about technical students’ perceptions of their digital
literacy competence; majority of the students are either in the high competence or moderate competence
category. However, there is still space for improvement in the cognitive and social emotional domains of
digital literacy. It is suggested that to achieve quality learning and successful integration of Web 2.0, the
following factors have to be taken into consideration (Conole and Alevizou, 2010):
• Both instructors and students must support student‐centered educational approach.
• A pedagogical approach must allow students to contribute to knowledge creation.
• The approach must be well structured and understood by both instructors and students. The students
must not be confused as to what is expected of them, and to what standard.
• The processes and students output must be assessed as part of overall course assessment practices.
In conclusion, the deployment of Web 2.0 technology for e‐learning in higher education institutions is a
positive intervention to improve the learning process of students. Therefore, any new effort in e‐learning
implementation must try to accommodate to the students’ differences and needs, including their digital
literacy competency level. From her study, Ng (2012) revealed that most students were not as concerned
about the technical aspects of unfamiliar technologies compared to planning and preparing content and
integrating it with Web 2.0 to create artefacts. Consequently, the process of finding information and
multimedia materials to create learning artefacts is of the upmost importance. Digital literacy is an important
factor that facilitates students to improve their e‐learning participation. Research in current literacy needs
should not view digital literacy as a purely technical skill, or else researchers are in a delusion that online
activities are divorced from social and cultural concerns (Conole and Alevizou, 2010). It is undeniable that
technical skills are an advantage in e‐learning; nevertheless this research clearly shows that e‐learning at
higher education institutes have other specific digital literacy requirements for their students, like the
cognitive and social emotional domains, hence higher education institutions should incorporate digital literacy
in their instruction to enhance their students’ digital literacy competence.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) for granting an Exploratory Research
Grant Scheme (ERGS) to undertake the study for a period of two years (August 2012 ‐August 2014).
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544
English Language Usage in SNS and Mobile Phones: A Bane or
Boon?
Saraswathy Thurairaj, Er Pek Hoon, Swagata Sinha Roy and Pok Wei Fong
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
tsaraswathy@utar.edu.my
erph@utar.edu.my
swagata@utar.edu.my
pokwf@utar.edu.my
Abstract: The unprecedented growth of technology in all areas of education and industry has greatly impacted the
language learning environment, especially via social networking sites (SNSs). Furthermore, judging from the demographic
details of account holders, younger and younger people are getting tech‐savvy and jumping onto the social media
bandwagon. It is therefore interesting to study how learners use language to communicate. A review of literature shows
that several factors are associated with language learning trends: motivation, learning environment and imitation. This
paper presents a quantitative study conducted on 236 respondents from private universities in two states in Malaysia. The
study aims to assess the influence of the language used in SNSs in students’ everyday language usage, taking into
consideration their various levels of English proficiency. The survey questions helped identify linguistic features such as the
frequency of code switching, eccentric spelling and leet, which expanded the research base. Amazingly, although typed
communication is becoming ‘shorter’ through the use of acronyms and abbreviations, these young users are totally familiar
with the graphic symbols and other abbreviations used in such typed communication. That the majority of respondents
were from the Chinese ethnic group added to the fact that mother tongue use also played a part in affecting their
proficiency in the English Language. The questionnaires were analyzed via the descriptive statistical method. The data
obtained showed the heavy usage of short messaging texts by almost all respondents who own a mobile device. The text
discourses were then analyzed to authenticate research findings as well. In the final analysis, it was found that the constant
and frequent use of short messaging did not profoundly affect the participants’ English language proficiency. Due to the
requirements of the universities’ examination papers, it was found that participants consciously avoided language used on
SNSs for their written examination papers. The explosion in SNSs has actually given rise to a generation of super‐fast finger‐
tapping youngsters who, more often than not, are creating their own meta language, which for this research is an exciting
opportunity to explore the implications and far‐reaching consequences on their English language execution. This medium‐
scale survey was conducted at two major locations as a prelude to greater mining of data and an even bigger research
opportunity. In Malaysia, where the student generation is lapping up SNSs and mobile phone apps such as Whatsapp,
Viber, Hangouts, Line, WeChat and Tango, this research is beneficial as a starting point for research on the ‘evolution’ of
the English language in these areas and the extent to which the influence might foster or stunt proficiency in the language.
This can potentially also facilitate the comparative analysis of how the English lingo of students from metropolitan and
cosmopolitan or rural and urban areas is controlled by their engagement in SNSs. The results of the present study will
definitely enrich the corpus of work conducted on the influence of language of social media and encourage further detailed
research in this area.
Keywords: language usage, linguistic features, mobile phone, and social networking sites
1. Introduction
English is the lingua franca used extensively in inter‐national dialogues, making the knowledge of English a
basic requirement; however, Malaysians seem to have a poor command of the language, with improper use of
the language found in daily conversation. The shortcut lingo spawned on instant messaging is drastically
deteriorating students’ vocabulary. Many learn the language by observing and imitating what is spoken and
written to them. For example, one linguistic feature that evolves out of this shortcut lingo is “leet”.The term
“leet” is derived from the word elite. Leet is also known as leet or leet speak.Basically, it is an alternative
alphabet for the English language that is mostly used on internet and chatrooms.For example, the leet spelling
of the word “leet” is 1337 and l33t. Hence, the leet alphabet is a specialized form
of symbolic writing. Manglish, or ‘mangled English’ which is also frequently used, is a concoction of Malaysian
English words, or words which are interchangeably used from the Malay, Chinese and Tamil languages.
With the growth of the usage of shortcut lingo, users cannot differentiate between formal and informal
language and are inclined to use improper formats and sentences that stifle Standard English. This
phenomenon has given rise to Internet slang. This raises the question of its effect on students. For students
who lack English proficiency, will the use of such slang further deteriorate their English? Or will it affect the
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proficiency level of those already proficient in the language? Students are unable to recognize improper and
ungrammatical language usage in these mediums, which can in turn ultimately affect their career in the
corporate world. Students also have problems communicating in proper English when they communicate
orally or in writing with people, especially with workplace management. The main factors contributing to this
problem is the cost of receiving good language education and the intrinsic feeling of inferiority of a non‐native
speaker when conversing with a native speaker.
Mobile phone users can communicate with others by using symbols or abbreviated forms of words and
sentences in order to save space, time and money (Mphahlele & Mashamaite, 2005). Similar observations can
be seen regarding the communication‐style of social networking users. The present study aims to investigate
how Internet slang used on SNSs and mobile phones differ from Standard English and the reasons for Internet
slang usage on these social platforms. This research objective is to investigate the variables that influence
English proficiency among the students in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). The objectives of the study
are as follows:
To determine the association between language preference and English proficiency
To examine how abbreviations and short forms relate to English proficiency; and
To investigate the relationship between the usage of SNSs and English proficiency.
Language preference
H1
Usage of SNS
H3
Figure 1 Research framework
Figure 1 shows the relations among the independent and dependent variables. The independent variables are
language preference, abbreviations and short forms as well as usage of SNS; however, the dependent variable
is English proficiency of the respondents. Based on this, our hypotheses are:
Hypothesis 1: There is a relationship between language preference and English proficiency.
Hypothesis 2: There is a relationship between abbreviations and short forms and English
proficiency
Hypothesis 3: There is a relationship between usage of social networking sites (SNS) and English
proficiency.
This area still remains somewhat under‐researched, particularly in the Malaysian context.This study hopes to
enrich the knowledge on the study of language usage on SNSs and to motivate other researchers to conduct
further studies in this area.
2. Literature review
Language and communication play a crucial role in information sharing, specifically on the use of information
technology in education. Tools and platforms such as Facebook enhance communication and human
interaction and can potentially be harnessed for language learning.The number of SNS users has increased
tremendously over the past five years, especially among teenagers. Many users have created Internet slang to
communicate and express their thoughts on SNSs and mobile networks.Various researches have shown that
Facebook impacts all levels of academia and academic settings. In opening up new worlds of learning for both
teachers and students, Facebook has been found to have the potential for use in educational applications.
Roblyer et al. (2010) found that Facebook can also become a valuable resource to support students’
educational communication and collaboration with faculty, providing a different model of how online tools can
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be utilized in educational contexts. Meanwhile, Cummings (2011) describes how social media impacts higher
education through five (5) interconnected ‘‘literacies’’–attention, participation, collaboration, network
awareness and critical consumption.
Grosseck (2008) and Muñoz (2009) have found that SNSs like Facebook and Twitter enable students to share
information (e.g., when a Facebook ‘Group Page’ is created for a class or course subject), to learn about their
classmates, to communicate with their classmates and professors, and to post and discuss relevant class
information. In Twitter, a message is linked to a course or class blog that offers students opportunities to
discuss various kinds of asynchronous online discourse. Kabilan et al. (2010) found that the students believed
Facebook could be utilized as an online environment to facilitate the learning of English since it led to
improvement of language skills, confidence, motivation to communicate in English and a positive attitude
towards learning English as a second language. The research found that only 8.1% of students disagreed that
Facebook can be an effective online environment to facilitate their practice of writing in English. In terms of
reading practice in English, 7.5% of the students claimed that Facebook is not a suitable environment.Hence,
Kabilan (2010) concluded that language instructors need to integrate Facebook as an educational project with
pre‐determined learning objectives and outcomes in order for the learning experience to be meaningful.
As professed by Aydin (2012), studies on the educational benefits of social networking focus on specific areas
such as social learning, e‐learning, environmental learning, business, art, and chemistry education. Social
networking can be utilized as a social learning resource and space for new literacy practices. Creating a well‐
crafted social learning platform would most likely require a deeply collaborative effort among technology
experts, educators, social learning theorists, psychologists, sociologists and students. Md Yunus et al. (2012)
investigated the advantages and disadvantages of integrating social networking tools into the ESL (English as a
Second Language) writing classroom and discussed ways to plan related activities. Data collected through an
online discussion board from TESL students in a state university in Malaysia revealed that integrating social
networking services in ESL writing classrooms can broaden students’ knowledge, increase their motivation and
build confidence in learning ESL writing. The main hurdles inintegrating social networking tools into ESL writing
classes were students’ difficulty in concentrating on the materials when using computers, lacking equipment,
lacking access to the Internet, and having insufficient time for facilitators to interact with the students.
Internet slang and short message services have been shown to have an impact on the English language. It was
estimated that 90% of schoolchildren owned a mobile phone, and 96% used text messaging. This shows that
young people are active ‘texters’ (Plester et al., 2008). Internet slang was invented for the purpose of saving
keystrokes. As typing is much slower than speaking, in order to counter this problem, people started
shortening words and creating new words. As for the impact of texting on English proficiency, Craig (2003) and
David (2008) similarly concluded that texting through SNSs in some ways improves students’ literacy as it
provides more opportunities to engage with the language. Craig (2003) found that it also threatens students’
literacy because it creates undesirable reading and writing habits due to common use of abbreviations and
unusual jargon, thereby damaging students’ ability to employ formal literacy skills. Text messaging is deemed
to be detrimental to students’ language proficiency since students mix this “text language” with the standard
language they learn at school. Consequently, students displayed numerous errors ranging from incorrect
spellings to “ungrammatical” sentence constructions (Mphahlele &Mashamaite, 2005).
Drouin (2011) examined the frequency of text messaging, use of ‘‘textese’’ and literacy skills (e.g., reading
accuracy, spelling and reading fluency) in a sample of college students in America. Co‐relational analyses
revealed significant positive relationships between text messaging frequency and literacy skills (spelling and
reading fluency) but significant, negative relationships between textese usage in certain contexts (e.g. emails
to professors) and literacy (reading accuracy).Those reportedly using more textese on SNSs and those using
more textese in emails to professors had significantly lower reading accuracy scores. Regarding writing skills,
Drouin (2011) also discussed the new shift of writing instruction and pedagogy that uses social networking
tools in order to gain students’ interest in learning language.Research‐based best practices and a sample
writing assignment were presented to illustrate a new model of composing in an online environment that is
encouraging to teenagers. Given that teenagers did not appear to recognize their out‐of‐school writing as
‘‘real’’ writing, Drouin (2011) emphasizes that one should be equipped with a variety of mentoring strategies
and knowledge of different communication modes, which includes social networking and media platforms like
Facebook.
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Computer‐assisted language learning has been shown to have its disadvantages. Cummings (2011) states that
computer‐assisted language learning will never be able to substitute for teachers because there could be
issues of control in administrating relevant exercises in language teaching and learning. Nevertheless, the
researchers conceded that they offer new opportunities for better language practice and may significantly
reform a country's educational system. Mphahlele and Mashamaite (2005) suggest that applications of
expression tools such as blogs, MySpace, Facebook and Bebo into language learning contexts require further
investigation by the computer‐assisted language learning community. The use of SNSs in educational contexts
has not been sufficiently explored despite the prevalence of social networks around the world (Roblyer et al.,
2010). Research should investigate the various uses of Facebook within educational contexts. Kabilan (2010)
suggests that future research focus on the meaningfulness of Facebook to students ' language learning
experiences.
3. Methods
There were 236 students from a private university in Malaysia who participated in this study.The respondents
ere selected based on convenience sampling method.The responses were obtained from June 2013 to
February 2014. The questionnaire was designed based on various question types such as multiple choice
questions (MCQ), open‐ended questions, yes/no questions, Likert scale questions (ranging from strongly agree
to strongly disagree), ranking questions (1being the best/most preferred to 5 being the worst/least preferred),
and frequency questions (frequently, occasionally and never).The respondents answered questions on what
influences their English proficiency via SNSs and mobile phones. Respondents had to answer all the
questions.However, only the following questions were analyzed in this study, and were grouped into three
independent variables based on the objectives of this study.The full questionnaire will be provided upon
request.
a. The association between language preference and English proficiency.
Q8. What language do you prefer to use when you are communicating with your friends at university via
the SNSs as listed (in the questionnaire)?
Q18. Do you use only one language communicating with your friends via SNSs and mobile phone in each
conversation?
b. The association between abbreviations and short form and English proficiency
Q12. Do you use proper abbreviations or short forms when communicating with your friends in UTAR
through SNSs?
Q13. Why do you think UTAR students use linguistic features or abbreviations and short forms in these
three mediums?
Q25. If you use any of the Internet slang below, how frequently do you use it on SNSs?
Q30. Using linguistic features such as improper grammar, abbreviations and code‐switching to
communicate with your friends will have a negative impact. What do you think about this statement?
c. The association between the usage of SNSs and English proficiency.
Q11. As a student, which do you think is the best media to learn English from?
Q14. Do you agree that Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones can enhance your language skills?
Q17. Rank the following elements in terms of your preference as the language you use in Facebook, Twitter
and mobile phone.
The respondents were required to indicate perceptions of their own and friends’ English proficiency:
Q16. How do you rate the language your friends use when communicate with you via social network and
mobile phone?
Q26. How would you rate your English proficiency?
4. Findings and discussion
4.1 Descriptive statistics
Table 1 provides a summary of demographic information for all respondents, including gender, age, region,
education level, owning a mobile phone, and availability of short‐message service (SMS).
Table 1 shows that from the total 236 respondents, 103 were male (43.6%) and the remaining 133 were
female (56.4%). Female respondents were 12.8% more than male respondents. Additionally, the table showed
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that 99.2% of respondents fall under the category of 15‐24 years old; however, people within the age of 25‐34
years were relatively low (i.e., only 0.8%). Among the respondents, 68.6% were from the central region
(Selangor) followed by 17.4%, 9.3%, 2.5% and 2.1% from the northern (Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak), southern
(Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor), east coast (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang) and west coast regions (Sabah,
Sarawak) respectively. Among the 236 respondents who owned a mobile phone, 99.2% used the SMS function.
Only 0.8% of all respondents did not use it.
Table 1: Respondents’ profile
Characteristic Frequency Percent (%) Cumulative percent (%)
Gender
Male 103 43.6 43.6
Female 133 56.4 100.0
Age
15‐24 years 234 99.2 99.2
25‐34 years 2 0.8 100.0
Region
Northern Region 41 17.4 17.4
Central Region 162 68.6 86.0
Southern Region 22 9.3 95.3
East Coast Region 6 2.5 97.9
West Coast Region 5 2.1 100.0
Mobile Phone
Yes 236 100.0 100.0
No 0 0 0
Short‐message service (SMS)
Yes 234 99.2 99.2
No 2 0.8 100.0
Figure 1: How often do you use these social networking sites?
Time spent on SNS: 89.8% of respondents logged into the SNSs daily. Only 1.7% of them logged in less than
twice a week.
The most preferred social networking sites: The most preferred sites were Facebook, Google+ and Twitter
which were 99.2%, 36.4% and 24.2% respectively from 236 respondents. MySpace and LinkedIn were the
least‐used SNSs among the respondents.
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100% 0.85
80%
63.56 75.85
60%
99.15 92.37 96.61 98.31 98.73 100.00
40% No
20% 36.44 24.15 Yes
0% 7.63 3.39 1.69 1.27 0.00
Figure 2: Do you use any of the following social networking sites?
4.2 Inferential statistics
Table 2: The association between language preference and English proficiency
Panel A: How do you rate the language of your friends when they communicate with you via social network and
mobile phone?
Very
Good Good Average Poor Very Poor Chi‐square p
Q8 English 1.4% 27.2% 64.6% 5.4% 1.4% 5.417 0.712
Chinese 19.3% 76.1% 4.5%
Others 100.0%
Q18 Yes 1.7% 12.1% 81.0% 5.2% 7.594 0.108
No .6% 28.1% 65.2% 5.1% 1.1%
Panel B: How would you rate your English proficiency?
Q8 English 3.4% 21.1% 62.6% 10.2% 2.7% 14.218* 0.076
Chinese 9.1% 68.2% 21.6% 1.1%
Others 100.0%
Q18 Yes 3.4% 13.8% 75.9% 5.2% 1.7% 7.041 0.134
No 1.7% 17.4% 61.2% 17.4% 2.2%
*Significant at
Table 2 illustrates the chi‐square test results for the first objective.The chi‐square tests in the Panel A suggest
that perceived English proficiency of friends does not significantly associate with language preference
( and number of language ( .However, the self‐perception of
English proficiency is significantly associated with language preference ( .Among
those who prefer to use English when communicating with friends using social networking sites indicated
higher level of confidence on their English proficiency, where 3.4% respondents perceived they are very good
and 21.1% are good.
Table 3a: The association between abbreviations and short form and English proficiency
Panel A: Q16. How do you rate the language of your friends when they communicate with you via social
network and mobile phone?
Very Very
Good Good Average Poor Poor Chi‐square p
Q12 Yes 1.0% 23.2% 70.0% 4.8% 1.0% 1.657 0.799
No 31.0% 62.1% 6.9%
Q13a Yes .5% 24.4% 69.8% 5.4% 15.994*** 0.003
No 3.2% 22.6% 64.5% 3.2% 6.5%
Q13b Yes 1.1% 27.4% 68.4% 3.2% 3.278 0.215
No .7% 22.0% 69.5% 6.4% 1.4%
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Panel A: Q16. How do you rate the language of your friends when they communicate with you via social
network and mobile phone?
Very Very
Good Good Average Poor Poor Chi‐square p
Q13c Yes 1.4% 30.6% 65.3% 1.4% 1.4% 5.474 2.242
No .6% 21.3% 70.7% 6.7% .6%
Q13d Yes 39.5% 57.9% 2.6% 6.524 0.163
No 1.0% 21.2% 71.2% 5.6% 1.0%
Q30a Yes .7% 26.6% 66.4% 4.9% 1.4% 2.665 0.615
No 1.1% 20.4% 73.1% 5.4%
Q30b Yes 1.5% 16.8% 74.5% 6.6% .7% 11.618** 0.020
No 34.3% 61.6% 3.0% 1.0%
Q30c Yes 28.9% 65.8% 3.9% 1.3% 2.767 0.598
No 1.3% 21.9% 70.6% 5.6% .6%
Q30d Yes 1.8% 30.6% 61.3% 5.4% .9% 7.792* 0.099
No 18.4% 76.0% 4.8% .8%
Panel B: Q26 How would you rate your English proficiency?
Q12 Yes 1.4% 15.5% 66.7% 14.0% 2.4% 6.483 0.166
No 6.9% 24.1% 51.7% 17.2%
Q13a Yes 2.4% 15.6% 65.9% 14.6% 1.5% 5.018 0.285
No 22.6% 58.1% 12.9% 6.5%
Q13b Yes 2.1% 16.8% 61.1% 16.8% 3.2% 1.825 0.768
No 2.1% 16.3% 67.4% 12.8% 1.4%
Q13c Yes 6.9% 23.6% 58.3% 6.9% 4.2% 21.267*** 0.000
No 13.4% 67.7% 17.7% 1.2%
Q13d Yes 18.4% 65.8% 13.2% 2.6% 1.17 0.883
No 2.5% 16.2% 64.6% 14.6% 2.0%
Q30a Yes 2.1% 22.4% 59.4% 14.7% 1.4% 10.055** 0.040
No 2.2% 7.5% 73.1% 14.0% 3.2%
Q30b Yes 1.5% 12.4% 68.6% 16.1% 1.5% 6.026 0.197
No 3.0% 22.2% 59.6% 12.1% 3.0%
Q30c Yes 2.6% 23.7% 60.5% 13.2% 6.432 0.169
No 1.9% 13.1% 66.9% 15.0% 3.1%
Q30d Yes .9% 18.0% 64.0% 15.3% 1.8% 1.993 0.737
No 3.2% 15.2% 65.6% 13.6% 2.4%
*Significant at ; **Significant at ;***Significant at
Table 3b: The association between abbreviations and short form and English proficiency
Q16 Q26
Correlation Correlation
coefficient P‐value coefficient P‐value
Leet ‐.154** .018 ‐.006 .932
New jargons ‐.030 .649 .096 .143
Unusual jargons ‐.100 .125 .014 .836
Acronyms ‐.096 .143 ‐.141** .031
Shortening of words ‐.130** .046 .023 .723
Code switching ‐.028 .668 ‐.081 .217
Misspelling ‐.152** .020 ‐.125* .055
Letter homophone ‐.074 .257 ‐.158** .015
Letter‐number combinations ‐.018 .788 ‐.007 .909
Onomatopoeia .063 .335 ‐.064 .325
Malaysian English .052 .429 .023 .727
Repetition .060 .356 ‐.137** .035
Capital letter .090 .169 .042 .518
Eccentric spelling .052 .428 .080 .223
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Saraswathy Thurairaj et al.
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This conclusion is further confirmed by the finding on Q14.The extent to which the respondents agree that
Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones can enhance their language is positively correlated with their perception
of their friends’ English proficiency.The more the respondents prioritize grammar ( , and
spelling ( , the better the respondents rate their friends’ English proficiency.
The last two columns of Table 4 report the finding on their self‐rated English proficiency.The priority on
grammar is positively related to self‐rated English proficiency ( , while the priority on
code switching is negatively related to self‐rated English proficiency (
5. Conclusion
The results show that most respondents set their own preferred language as a default language in SNS. The
Chinese language is the most common and preferred among the respondents. This is causing less contact with
English, making it worse for those who read and speak English on a daily basis. This negatively impacts the
respondents’ proficiency in the English language. However, the usage of abbreviation and short forms does not
affect English proficiency. This is because the respondents tend to be aware of the examination requirements,
the non‐compliance of which would affect their scores. According to Thurairaj et.al. (2012) the users are able
to switch their minds and apply different sets of words to cater to their purpose and to the occasion. Therefore
in formal writing, students consciously avoid using short forms, which does not affect their English
proficiency.The usage of SNSs such as Face book, Twitter and mobile phones enhances English proficiency as
these SNSs can be accessed worldwide and thus allow people all over the world to post and share their
thoughts, feelings, news and articles. Since these are mostly penned in English, users tend to learn English by
default, through SNS.
Acknowledgements
The researchers would like to extend their gratitude to the respondents who have made this project possible.
This project is funded by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Research Fund (UTARRF) and for this, the researchers
are grateful for all financial assistance and support from UTAR.
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554
Students’ Learning Preferences and Patterns of Media and
Information Technology Usage in Higher Education Institution
Florica Tomos¹, Michael Grosch², Oana Cristina Balan³, Andre Clark¹, Haydn Blackey¹, David
Turner¹ and Edgar Bennett¹
¹University of South Wales, UK
²Karlsruher Institute for Technology, Germany
³Cardiff University, Wales, UK
florica.tomos@southwales.ac.uk
Michael.grosch@kit.edu
oc.balan@live.com
Haydn.blackey@southwales.ac.uk
Andre.Clark@southwales.ac.uk
David.turner@southwales.ac.uk
Bennnett_edgar@yahoo.com
Abstract: Within the context of technological change and globalisation, virtual universities are facing two challenges: the
demand of designing educational technologies and the willingness to accept the trend in students’ learning preferences for
new emerging technologies.Furthermore, the expansion of websites era, which comprises the development of web 2.0 and
web 3.0, enables a shift from users’ participation to users’ collaboration. Therefore, virtual universities need to consider
not only students’ learning outcomes but also their preferences and satisfaction with emerging technologies, in the context
of the web era. This paper will explore the learning behaviour, the frequency of technology usage for studies and the
satisfaction with the use of media and information technologies. In order to investigate this, a representative empirical
survey was conducted in a HEI in Wales, using a structured questionnaire with 143 questions. A non probability sample of
students was asked questions regarding media, technology use for learning as well as students’ preferences and
satisfaction with technology. Statistical analysis of the data will include analysis of variances and means values, as well as
ranking the media services. The preliminary results showed that Facebook, Google and instant messenger were the most
used by students. The findings will help to improve the understanding of media and information usage patterns by
students. The results of the survey will support previous research on new emerging technologies.Additionally, as part of an
international research project conducted throughout Europe and Asia, this paper will help the validation of a theoretical
model on media acceptance.
Keywords: virtual university, media technology, media acceptance, students’ learning preferences
1. Introduction
The aim of this study is to investigate students’ learning preferences and patterns of media technology and
information usage in Higher Education Institution (HEI) and to further previous research in this field (Grosch,
2011; Grosch and Philips, 2012; Tomos et al., 2012; Tomos et al., 2013).The target audience for this research is
made of educators, HEIs, lecturers, researchers and policy makers.The objectives of the research are as
follows:
To find out students’ learning behaviour, preferences and patterns of media technology and information
usage in HEI;
To discover trends in students’ learning preferences for new emerging technologies;
To help the validation of a theoretical model on media acceptance, the Media Acceptance Model (MAM).
As the world is facing a technological revolution, Barassi and Treré (2012) acknowledge that the websites era is
part of this global event.According to Barassi and Treré (2012) besides the increase in social networking and
global communication technologies, the new era of web 3.0 will be characterised by collaboration between the
users.Therefore, an emphasis has to be placed upon the academic research into students’ preferences and
patterns of media technology and information usage in HEI.This study will undertake a research into a HEI in
order to discover trends in students’ learning behaviour and their preferences for new media
technologies.Additionally,the research will support and help the validation of the theory model ‘Information
Systems Acceptance’ (Grosch, 2011) and will evaluate the contextual role for students’ learning behaviour and
preferences for new emerging technologies.The content of this study will consist of five sections.The first
section will provide an overview.The second section will introduce the virtual university, as the main creator of
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knowledge and the main trends in students’ learning behaviour and learning preferences for new emerging
technologies.These subsections will be followed by a perspective on the paradigm shift from users’
participation to users’ collaboration and the theory model called Information Systems Acceptance. Section
three of this academic research paper will describe the research methodology employed within the study.
Section four will present the findings and data analysis. Finally, section five will formulate the conclusions and
recommendations, as well as the contributions to knowledge and the limitations of this study.
2. Virtual university
According to Cornford and Pollock (2003), in the last decade there were both an increasing demand for higher
education and a crisis within the higher educational system.Consequently, researchers (Cornford and Pollock,
2003) regarded new emerging technologies as a technique for solving the crisis, as well as a means of response
and survival.It was suggested by Cornford and Pollock (2003) that online or virtual university became visible as
a new type of university.In other words, virtual university can be defined as a projection of the traditional
university into the future, by using new information and communication technologies, with undoubted
consequences for teaching and learning.Further, technological revolution changes the way knowledge is
created and transmitted.Thus, the main creators of knowledge – universities – have to adapt to the change
imposed by the presence of new emerging technologies and the software designers.The main characteristics
of the new era technology, generated by the computer‐based technologies, are the following: networking,
multi channels of information, new ways of conveyance of information, synchronous and asynchronous
interaction between users or participants (Odin, 2004).Moreover, it seems that the new technological
revolution not only requires the adjustment of teaching and learning practices to students’ learning behaviour
and their technological preferences, but also supports Vygotsky’ s (1978) cognitivist theory of
learning.According to Odin (2004) new technologies facilitate communication in real time and the launch of an
interactive learning community. Odin (2004) argued that the virtual university is projecting a new student
learning perspective, based on: collaboration (Barassi and Treré, 2012), interdisciplinary and intercultural
approach to learning.Further research conducted by Salmon (2011) supports this view.Thus, Salmon (2011)
also emphasises the idea of time and space, and states that due to the presence of virtual learning
environments (VLEs), students can learn by asynchronous and synchronous interactions within the
virtual/online classrooms, regardless of time and space. This author also suggests that new emerging
technologies nurture and determine students’ learning behaviour and learning preferences.Hence, the
importance to find out students’ learning preferences for new emerging technologies. By contrary, Walker
(2006) claimed that it is the pedagogy that ‘shapes’ students’ profile as learners.Whilst other authors such as
Robins and Webster (2002) describe ‘virtual university’ as embedding both global and technological changes.In
other word, it is the global and technological changes that affect students’ learning behaviour and
preferences.Finally, it was argued by Crook (2002) that it is the process of virtualization within the university
environment, which commands an increase in the quality of student learning experience and as a
consequence, the emergence of knowing students’ learning outcome and student’s voice. Furthermore, the
globalization impacts upon human circumstances, upon HEIs and their teaching function as well as upon their
commercial function in competing with other universities to ‘capture’ a segment of the global student
population (Wagner, 2004).
2.1 Trends in students’ learning behaviour and learning preferences for new emerging
technologies
In order to meet students’ learning preferences for new emerging technologies, lecturers and educators in
general, need to conform to the new technological trends in education, and incorporate the technology into
their teaching (Marsh and Villar, 2012).However, as stated by Marsh and Villar (2012), the level of students’
digital capabilities are heterogeneous.It infers that, there is a correlation between students’ digital capabilities
and their learning behaviour and learning preferences for particular emerging technologies.For this reason,
there is a need to find out students’ preferences and patterns of media technology and information usage in
HEI. This will help to elucidate the research problem under consideration and will assist virtual university to
adjust accordingly to the trend in students’ learning preferences with new emerging technologies and their
digital capabilities.
Research conducted by Han (2013) demonstrated that, an increase in social interaction leads to increase in
student learning.According to the results of the research (Han, 2013) it seems that students used social media,
such as e‐Blog and e‐Education platform, not only to search for information and gain knowledge, but also to
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produce and share information.Consequently, it infers that students had an active and participative role in
producing information and knowledge, and as a result, they constructed learning.Furthermore, the majority of
students owned a desktop, a laptop and Smartphone, whilst a third of students from the sample, were active
participants on the Facebook, the most popular technology used for learning and communication.Additionally,
it appears that the popularity of Facebook is a consequence of their ‘habit’ to build and update information
regarding their social profile within the network.Nevertheless, in view to enhance students’ learning, Han
(2013) focused on students’ learning behaviour with new emerging technologies, and emphasised the
importance for educators to ascertain how students learn efficiently with social media technologies.A further
survey carried out by Opgenhaffen and d’Haenens (2012) indicated a relationship between the pattern usage
of online news media and students’ learning outcome.Furthermore, they conveyed a second relationship,
between student’s control over learning content and the learning outcome.Nevertheless, a more recent study
(Yang, Brown and Braun, 2014) suggested that the patterns of media usage might be determined by students’
gender and context (geographical distance).
To find student media usage behaviour, more research was developed by Grosch and Philips (2012) in HEI in
Thailand and compared to the results from a survey conducted in HEI in Germany.The results showed that web
2.0 media (Google, Instant Messenger and You tube) were used for learning, by the majority of students from
the representative sample.Further, students showed preferences especially for the following: Google, web
search, as well as handouts prepared by the teachers, and online dictionaries, together with a few more media
services.However, the results of this research emphasised the students’ preferences for easy to use media
instead of e‐learning services which requested high level effort.Very important, the study found an impact of
the country’ s culture upon the adopted style of teaching, but no cultural differences within the usage of global
media.A second research conducted by Grosch (2011) was aimed to develop and test a Theory Model for
Information Technology Systems Acceptance in higher education, and ensure high quality of information
systems, such as: library catalogues, student service portals, learning platforms, etc.Grosch (2011) conducted
13 surveys across countries.The present study supports Grosch’s (2011) research and helps to validate the
theoretical model regarding information system acceptance (usage satisfaction and usage frequency).It was
argued that, although e‐learning tools are a flexible type of learning and it seems to be fundamental for HEIs in
Europe, there is a lack of research on internet based e‐learning tools in HEIs (Martínez – Torres et al.,
2008).Consequently, Martínez – Torres et al. (2008) created the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) aimed
to prove a relationship between the quality of usage of web‐based tools and students’ learning behaviour. The
study is a hypotheses tested approach that demonstrated the possibility of a relationship between
interactivity, student control over a few e‐learning tools and the acceptance of the e‐learning.The proposed
model discovered that 31.8% of the variance in student learning behaviour was recognised as a consequence
of student’s perceived acceptance due to usefulness of the e‐learning tool. Furthermore, in Martínez – Torres
et al. (2008) opinion, there was a shift towards the new paradigm called ‘lifelong learning’ characterised by
learning‐centred principle, with its specific – web‐based e‐learning tools. Other authors (Saphran, 2008)
adopted a before and after research design and conducted both an online survey with 255 participants and
case studies research approach, to investigate whether the web technologies (e‐learning) support
collaborative learning.A very interesting result was discovered within Saphran’s (2008) research, which
otherwise supports previous studies mentioned above – that Facebook was used by 74.12% of the students
from the surveyed sample.The last studies mentioned to support this research are Oliver and Goerke (2008)
and Ramnarine‐Rieks, McKnight and Small (2011). Oliver and Goerke (2011) investigated students’ behaviour
when adopting handheld devices and web 2.0 to help learning.The results of this research distinguish from
others by highlighting the existence of different levels of interest corresponding to different geographical
areas.Finally, the last study in discussion, carried by Ramnarine‐Rieks, McKnight and Small (2011) supports the
idea of collaborative learning with the help of learning technologies.
2.2 Theory model – information systems acceptance
Having these questions in mind, a survey questionnaire was developed. As there was no existing theory model
applicable to measure and compare the acceptance of various media services a new model, the Media
Acceptance Model (MAM) was developed by the author (Grosch, 2011), including a media typology. It is easy
to apply and especially useful when it comes to comparing many media services. In this model, media are
understood as technologies supporting and extending human communication. Getting information is regarded
as a unidirectional form of a communication process. Hence, information services are also understood as
media services. Regarding digital media, this definition includes software as well as hardware. Media
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acceptance is considered to be a special form of technology acceptance. It is seen as an indicator of the quality
of a medium from the subjective (here: the student’s) point of view. From that perspective media quality can
be evaluated by measuring the acceptance of the media services. As there is no such thing as an overall or
general media acceptance, but only the acceptance of certain media services, the acceptance of 53 media
services was empirically operationalized by measuring their usage frequency and usage satisfaction. Later on,
both categories were merged into an acceptance variable by creating the mean value of usage frequency and
satisfaction. Therefore, media acceptance has to be understood in the way it was measured and the
interpretation of the results is also limited to this understanding.
Figure 1: Theory model, Grosch (2011)
3. Research methodology
This is a cross‐sectional study (Kumar, 2005), aimed to find out students’ learning preferences and patterns of
media technology and information usage in HEI.The study used the quantitative research method with a
structured Questionnaire as the main data collection method. The Questionnaire was designed by Grosch
(2011) for a research conducted throughout Europe and Asia. It contains a total of 143 items. It measures the
usage frequency and satisfaction of 53 media services, among them information services (Google, Google
Books, library catalogues, printed books, eBooks, printed journals, e‐journals, Wikipedia, open educational
resources and bibliographic software) communication services (internal and external e‐mail, Twitter,
Facebook) e‐learning‐services (learning platforms, wikis) and media hardware (Wi‐Fi, notebook, desktop
computer, smartphone). Other variables are also evaluated, such as: the learning behaviour, media usage
during free time, media related skills, education biography and socio‐demographic factors.
The study population was the student population in a HEI in Wales, the United Kingdom.The sampling
technique was probability random simple sampling and the size of the sample was 140 participants (Kumar,
2005).The data was collected, coded and analysed by using SPSS as software package.There were considered
ethical issues in data collection, by asking the consent and permission from the participants and by
maintaining confidentiality (Kumar, 2005). The self‐completing questionnaires were delivered at the university
library at Higher Education Institution, Wales, the UK, in March 2013. They were handed over to the
respondents and collected 20‐30 minutes later, using probability random simple sampling technique. The
questionnaire was given to 140 students, four questionnaires were cancelled, three questionnaires not
returned. Hence, 133 valid questionnaires were left.
Beginning with a first survey carried out at the German Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2009,
currently (June 2014) a total of 25 surveys at 20 institutions of higher education in six countries were carried
out. Ten more surveys are in the planning phase and will be conducted in 2014/15. In the long run, a global
online survey will be established and the questionnaire will be available in twelve languages (currently five).
The survey is internationally standardized and therefore can be used by any institution of Higher Education
worldwide.
4. Findings and data analysis
This section will provide an overview with the ranking of all surveyed media services, usage frequency and
satisfaction for studying with all 53 surveyed services. Together with the finding analysis for this study, there
will be a comparison relating the media usage results for studying, with the media usage results during free
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time and also, with the media usage of students from other countries and universities that were surveyed
during a wide research project across countries. The following table gives an overview of all media services
that were surveyed:
Table 1: Frequency and satisfaction ranking of the surveyed media and IT services; Mfrequency: 0=never –
4=very often; Msatisfaction: 0=very unsatisfied – 4= very satisfied
Frequency Satisfaction
Rank M SD Rank M SD
Internet connection at home 1 3.49 1.105 1 3.47 .880
Google Search 2 3.47 1.025 3 3.24 1.050
University e‐mail account 3 3.12 1.236 12 3.01 1.166
Wireless connection (wi‐fi, WLAN) on campus 4 3.12 1.197 6 3.14 1.069
Wordprocessing 5 2.98 1.325 5 3.15 1.090
University website 6 2.89 1.221 9 3.05 1.003
E‐learning platform (Moodle, Blackboard) 7 2.78 1.299 20 2.88 1.142
Computer labs on campus 8 2.78 1.265 4 3.15 .947
Online slides (PowerPoint, Keynote) from teacher 9 2.70 1.351 14 2.93 1.135
Notebook computer/Netbook 10 2.70 1.604 7 3.10 1.180
E‐mail account not from university (MSN, Yahoo, Gmail) 11 2.66 1.481 23 2.83 1.324
Online lecture notes and journals from teacher 12 2.65 1.302 18 2.88 1.168
Online services of the university/faculty library 13 2.62 1.284 13 3.01 1.043
E‐Books (pdf or other format) 14 2.62 1.404 11 3.02 2.074
Google Books 15 2.58 1.509 10 3.03 1.127
Desktop PC 16 2.53 1.516 2 3.31 1.019
Mobile Internet connection (with notebook, tablet or mobile phone) 17 2.52 1.532 8 3.09 1.207
Printed handouts from teacher 18 2.50 1.335 15 2.93 1.139
Printed books 19 2.50 1.277 19 2.88 1.168
Online dictionary 20 2.40 1.389 25 2.81 1.229
Web portal for online student web services 21 2.37 1.412 24 2.82 1.050
Working with own notebook on campus 22 2.35 1.596 16 2.88 1.217
Wikipedia 23 2.34 1.461 32 2.56 1.338
E‐version journals 24 2.33 1.465 29 2.68 1.274
Print‐version journals 25 2.06 1.456 27 2.73 1.210
Facebook 26 2.01 1.640 37 2.44 1.474
Online materials from other universities 27 1.98 1.463 17 2.88 1.025
Mobile phone (smartphone, iPhone) 28 1.98 1.570 21 2.84 1.306
Online services of other libraries (not own university) 29 1.90 1.537 31 2.63 1.278
Dictionary software installed on your computer 30 1.90 1.614 26 2.74 1.218
Video sharing websites (YouTube) 31 1.88 1.582 30 2.65 1.330
Presentation software 32 1.84 1.532 33 2.52 1.349
Learning software 33 1.83 1.526 28 2.72 1.112
Google+ 34 1.61 1.659 36 2.46 1.486
Interactive online tests/self tests 35 1.50 1.470 34 2.52 1.345
Tablet computer (iPad, Galaxy Tab, Zoom) 36 1.50 1.754 22 2.84 1.419
Online exams 37 1.46 1.516 35 2.48 1.405
Newsgroups, Internet forums 38 1.44 1.412 40 2.38 1.467
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Frequency Satisfaction
Rank M SD Rank M SD
Wikis with active participation as part of the class 39 1.34 1.357 47 2.10 1.453
E‐learning as part of the class 40 1.31 1.489 38 2.42 1.415
Instant messenger (MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Skype) 41 1.23 1.415 44 2.26 1.482
Recorded lectures (audio, video) 42 1.19 1.502 41 2.33 1.425
Social bookmarking (Delicious) 43 1.16 1.455 42 2.32 1.426
Bibliographic software (Endnote, Zotero) 44 1.15 1.441 43 2.32 1.373
Mobile apps for learning 45 1.12 1.347 49 1.99 1.363
Virtual class in real time (virtual lectures, web conferences) 46 .98 1.375 45 2.21 1.456
Virtual class in non‐real time (web seminars) 47 .98 1.332 46 2.17 1.464
Twitter 48 .97 1.366 53 1.85 1.444
Other social networks (LinkedIn) 49 .86 1.230 48 2.01 1.450
Augmented Reality applications (Geotagging in Google Earth) 50 .73 1.226 51 1.89 1.805
E‐book reader (Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader) 51 .67 1.251 39 2.39 1.563
Gesture computing (Kinetics XBox, Nintendo Wii, iPhone interface) 52 .60 1.115 52 1.86 1.465
Game‐based learning (stock simulation) 53 .56 1.017 50 1.95 1.495
In the table above, the different media types are used with different frequency and satisfaction. The internet
connection at home is the most often used service for studying. Other most intensely used media types are IT
services (Wi‐Fi, computer labs etc.) and online information media (teachers’ online notes, e‐books etc.).
Classical e‐learning services are used only on an average to low level.Also social media, though often used
during free time are not often used for studying:
Table 2: Usage of social media during free time vs. for studying; M: 0=never – 4=very often
During free time For studying
M SD M SD
Facebook 3.15 1.171 2.01 1.64
Video sharing websites (YouTube) 2.87 1.232 1.88 1.582
Facebook is used often during free time but just averagely for studying. Also the other social media services
show a lower usage frequency for studying than during free time. Especially the new services that are intensely
discussed on conferences and in journals, such as virtual learning scenarios, (virtual lectures, MOOCs etc.),
augmented reality applications, gesture computing (Kinetics XBox, Nintendo Wii, iPhone interface) and game‐
based learning are used only very little and also with low satisfaction. Especially complex scenarios to create a
virtual university (virtual lectures etc.) are used little and with low satisfaction.
University e‐Mail and other university internal services, such as Wireless connection (wi‐fi) on campus,
university website, learning platforms, computer labs are used more often than in the other surveyed
countries and universities. However, at the same time these services are used with relatively low satisfaction.
Nevertheless, there are also services which are used on a lower level than their satisfaction values, such as
tablet computers and mobile phones.
Compared to the other surveys carried out by Grosch and partners from 20 universities in six countries (Gidion,
Capretz, Grosch & Meadows, 2013; Grosch, 2012a; Grosch, 2012b; Grosch & Philips, 2012; Grosch, Berger,
Gidion & Romeo, 2012; Grosch & Gidion, 2012; Grosch, 2013; Rodrigo, Grosch & Andres, 2013) some
commonalities as well as differences occur. The long term surveys discovered that digital text media are the
most important media types for studying in higher education. This could be confirmed during this survey: e‐
books, google books and online notes of the teacher are already used more often than the traditional printed
text book.As a general feature, the results of this survey, confirm the result of the other surveys.
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5. Conclusion and recommendations
Although the findings highlighted that some of the university’s services, such as internal e‐Mail, wireless
connection on campus, university website, learning platforms and computer labs are used more often than in
other countries, however, they are used with relatively low satisfaction values. This fact leads to the
conclusion that students are encouraged by the university to use these services.As a consequence, further
research should be conducted on methods of increasing satisfaction level.Equally important, will be to
endeavour and maintain the high frequency of media usage. Therefore, future research should be also
conducted on techniques of enhancing service quality and recommendations can be given to other HEIs to
improve their IT infrastructure.Furthermore, the improvement of these services could lead to a better overall
learning environment.
Although the social media like Facebook or YouTube are used often during the free time, they are used
significantly less for studying.Consequently, their potential for learning has to be reflected critically on the
background of this effect. The fact that students are intensely using social media during the free time does not
necessarily mean that these services have the same potential for studying. Further, if HEIs want to implement
social and collaborative media services into the learning environment of their students, they have to actively
promote these efforts and survey and evaluate the success of the implementation.Other results, such as the
success of digital text media hint to more potential in other areas, e.g. supporting self‐controlled learning by
providing good information infrastructure for students. Also mobile technologies seem to have a high potential
that has not unfolded yet. The same interpretation can be considered for the virtual university scenarios like
virtual lectures etc.
There are certain limitations regarding the interpretation of the results. Due to the small size of the sample, it
cannot be regarded to be representative. Comparisons between subgroups also could not be carried out, as
well as multivariate analysis. However, there were a total number of around 15,000 surveyed students,
belonging to samples collected at other universities and countries.As the results of this study, confirm the
results of an extensive research project, it can be assumed that the results of this project are valid and
reliable.This study will further the previous studies conducted by Tomos et al. (2012; 2013) and will be part of
a larger research project started by Grosch (2011).Therefore, by extending the work of others and helping
other research to validate a theory model, as well as by clarifying existing issues in the research field (Grosch,
2011), this study will be a contribution to knowledge (Trafford and Leshem, 2008).
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Ellipsis Marks in Interaction on Discussion Forums: The Case of
Czech Pre‐intermediate EFL Learners
František Tůma
Institute for Research in School Education, Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, Brno,
Czech Republic
tuma@ped.muni.cz
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to introduce selected results of an analysis of pre‐intermediate English as a foreign
language (EFL) learners’ interaction on asynchronous discussion forums. The findings are based on a learner corpus (299
postings within 8 discussion threads) compiled from two discussion tasks which were a part of a blended learning EFL
course. The participants were Czech university students in the EFL course. Their proficiency in English was slightly below
the fully developed CEFR A2 level. Conversation analysis (CA) was conducted on the corpus. The inductive and emic nature
of CA made it possible to uncover some specific mechanisms underlying the learners’ interaction on the forum. The results
presented in this paper are related to non‐verbal aspects of the learners’ interaction on the forum, particularly to the use
of ellipsis marks (i.e. multiple dots). It was discovered that ellipsis marks were used for listing, transition, personal
evaluation, referring to the previous posting and asking for response when taking leave, thus ranging from non‐interactive
uses functioning on a sentence level to highly interactive uses which co‐constructed exchanges on the forum. One of the
most interesting findings is that when used at the end of a posting which included (explicitly or implicitly) a question or a
request for answer, the posting was always replied to. On the other hand, when ellipsis marks were used at the end of a
posting presenting one’s opinion, the posting was never replied to. We interpret the latter use of ellipsis marks as
completing the evaluation. The findings are related to other research findings and it is concluded that interaction on a
discussion forum presents a specific platform, differing from speech or writing. The relevance of the paper to foreign
language teaching and ICT in education lies in the outcomes of the analysis, i.e. the description of different uses of ellipsis
marks in online interaction. The findings cast light on the nature of learner‐learner interaction in a foreign language and on
the ways of their utilizing ellipsis marks to express a wide range of meanings. More generally, this paper discusses how
ellipsis marks helped the learners’ reach mutual understanding, i.e. intersubjectivity. Thus the paper contributes to the
theoretical grasp of online learner‐learner interaction in English as a foreign language.
Keywords: interaction, computer‐mediated communication, conversation analysis, ellipsis marks, discussion forum, English
as a foreign language
1. Introduction
This study presents selected results from a larger research project whose main aim was to investigate the
learning and use of English as a foreign language in a group of pre‐intermediate students in a blended learning
course (e.g. Tůma 2010, 2012). Based on the texts produced by students interacting on asynchronous
discussion forums, a learner corpus was compiled. Since it seemed that some of the analyses, grounded in the
cognitive SLA (second language acquisition) framework, resulted in inconclusive results, a more social SLA
orientation was adopted in subsequent analyses in order to capture the nature of learner‐learner interaction.
Using conversation analysis, we described some of the underlying mechanisms regarding interaction in one
discussion thread (Tůma 2013). In this study we present the results of an extended analysis capturing the
whole corpus (i.e. eight discussion threads) and concentrate on the use of ellipsis marks as one of the aspects
of non‐verbal interactional means, which the previous study (Tůma 2013) did not address.
The structure of this study is the following. First, we briefly review studies on interaction on discussion forums.
Second, we introduce the methodological background to researching interaction by means of conversation
analysis. Third, we introduce the context for the study. Fourth, we present selected outcomes of the
conversation analysis and discuss them.
2. Interaction on discussion forums
The shared activity and mutual influence among learners constitutes a fundamental part of the teaching and
learning processes both in in‐class teaching and online. Due to the grounding of the research presented in this
study in dialogism (and relatedly in conversation analysis, see below) we prefer the term interaction to other
terms such as communication or discourse, which seem to imply other theoretical and epistemological
positions. We understand the term interaction in line with its etymology, i.e. comprising the
adverb/preposition inter (between, among) and noun action borrowed from Latin actio (performing, doing),
thus referring to the mutual influencing among participants.
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We agree with Crystal (2011, p. 21) in that language used in online interaction “is identical to neither speech
nor writing, but selectively and adaptively displays properties of both”. Furthermore, different modes of
delivery seem to differ in a number of features (Crystal 2011). It is therefore vital that (not only) educational
research describe and understand the nature of online interaction.
Interaction in online settings has been studied from a number of perspectives, including quantitative linguistic
approaches and conversation analysis. In the following paragraphs we outline some of the studies conducted
in these traditions as well as authoritative accounts of the nature of online interaction.
Although the features of online interaction include the discourse, syntactic, lexical and morphological levels
(for an overview, see Herring 2012), we focus mainly on typography. In online interaction generally,
participants use a number of non‐alphabetic symbols, non‐standard capitalization, emoticons, drawings
composed of keyboard characters and multiple punctuation (Herring 2012). Vandergriff (2013) used a
microanalytic approach to study how multiple punctuation, lexical surrogates (e.g. “hmmm”) and emoticons
were used by a group of advanced learners of German. Emoticons have been studied extensively (for an
overview, see Dresner & Herring 2010) and letter repetitions were studied, for example, by Kalman and Gergle
(2014), who quantitatively approached a corpus of emails written within a US‐based company. As far as ellipsis
marks and blank turns are concerned, Ong (2011) analyzed how 16–17 year old Singaporean students used
these features in a quasisynchronous chat.
As far as research on interaction on discussion forums is concerned, there exist a number of studies adopting
conversation analysis (e.g. Stommel & Meijman 2011) to study online interaction more generally. Conversation
analysis has also been employed to study specific aspects of online interaction (e.g. Ong 2011).
This study builds on the author’s previous work (mainly Tůma 2013) in which one discussion thread was
analyzed to reveal establishing the types of exchanges, the participants‘ dealing with redundant and late
messages, the ways of using emoticons and the participants‘ (re)orientation towards the learning task. A
follow up analysis was aimed at more in‐depth exploration of the way specific typographic features were used
in the discussions. In the present study we focus on ellipsis marks.
For the purposes of our research, we adopt dialogism as an epistemological framework and conversation
analysis presents an analytic tool.
3. Dialogism and conversation analysis
Linell (1998) introduces dialogism along with monologism, in whose opposition dialogism can be understood.
Relatedly, Marková (1982) speaks of the Cartesian and Hegelian frameworks.
Whereas in monologism the individual is viewed as an analytical unit, dialogism presupposes actions and
interactions in their contexts as analytical units (Linell 1998, p. 7). In monologism, cognitive functioning is often
viewed through the computational metaphor, which implies one‐way understanding of communication. The
speaker (sender) produces an utterance to be decoded by the listener (receiver), which presupposes the
passive role of the listener (Marková 1982, pp. 60–79; Rommetveit 1988). However, in dialogism interaction is
understood as the mutual reaching of higher intersubjectivity, which implies active roles of the participants
(Marková 1982, pp. 140–183). It follows that each utterance presupposes a partner to whom it is addressed
(Vološinov 1973, p. 85).
In monologism, interaction is viewed as information transfer from the sender to the receiver. Thus interaction
becomes “largely an epiphenomenon, reduceable to sequences of individual actions” (Linell 1998, pp. 23–24).
On the other hand, dialogism views interaction as a collective process in which the participants mutually
influence each other and in which any utterance “makes response to something and is calculated to be
responded to in turn” (Vološinov 1973, p. 72).
From the above positions it follows that context of interaction is viewed in different ways in the two
frameworks. Whereas in monologism one can decontextualize utterances (Rommetveit 1988), in dialogism
context plays an important role (Vološinov 1973, pp. 85–93). Context in dialogism can comprise the previous
utterances and the situatedness of utterances. It should also be stressed that context in dialogism is viewed
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dynamically: on the one hand, the aspects of context are pre‐structured, on the other hand they are re‐newed
and re‐constructed during interaction (Linell 1998, pp. 127–158).
As far as the nature of language is concerned, dialogism generally views language as a form of social action,
which is also relevant to conversation analysis (Schegloff et al. 2002, pp. 4–6), in which interaction realized by
means of language is referred to as “talk‐in‐interaction” or “institutional talk” (Drew & Heritage 1992).
It should be pointed out that the dividing line between ordinary talk‐in‐interaction and institutional talk is
rather blurred (Drew & Heritage 1992, p. 21). In the context of this study, the institutional character of the
interaction under investigation was in that the participants used English to interact despite their shared
mother tongue (Czech) and also in that they contributed to the discussion forum as a part of the course
assessment. The way the task was designed (see below) also shaped the interaction.
Conversation analysis (henceforth CA) was employed in this research as the main analytic tool. CA aims at
understanding social order through analysis of talk‐in‐interaction, building on ethnomethodology, which is
compatible with dialogism as discussed above.
The underlying assumption is that talk‐in‐interaction is important in social life in terms of both everyday
concerns and society at large (ten Have 2007, p. 10). Relatedly, CA deals with naturally occurring talk‐in‐
interaction, which is the object of analysis. Other defining positions of CA include the emic (i.e. participants’)
orientation (ten Have 2007, pp. 34–35), the views that “talk‐in‐interaction is systematically organized and
deeply ordered” and that “the production of talk‐in‐interaction is methodic” (Hutchby & Wooffitt 1998, p. 23;
see also Seedhouse 2004, pp. 14–16).
CA can be characterized as an inductive and data‐driven analysis. The analytic procedure can be outlined in
three steps. First, the analyst starts by identifying relevant phenomena and related passages, which is often
referred to as “unmotivated looking” (ten Have 2007, pp. 120–121; Seedhouse 2004, p. 38). Second, the
analyst carries out a micro‐analysis of the passage in which the phenomenon of interest occurred. As a result,
a provisional analytic scheme is formulated. It should be pointed out that the participants’, i.e. emic,
perspective is adopted; mechanistic treatment of the data is generally rejected in CA (Schegloff et al. 2002, p.
18). Third, other instances are to be found in the corpus in order to refine the provisional analytic scheme. This
can be achieved by locating similar cases or deviant cases (ten Have 2007, pp. 147, 153). Steps 2 and 3 require
a systematic and thorough analysis (ten Have 2007, p. 162).
The findings are generated by the refining of the provisional analytic scheme. Starting in a unique
(micro)context, similarities are sought with other instances, thus working with a more abstract contextual level
(Schegloff 1987; Seedhouse 2004, pp. 208–215). The robustness of the analysis can be achieved by
comprehensive data treatment, which covers all the relevant data in the corpus (ten Have 2007, pp. 147–149).
It should be emphasized that CA does not aim at empirical quantitative or statistical generalizations (ten Have
2007, p. 149). Instead, CA aims at “theoretical grasp of interactions’ underlying ‘rules’ and ‘principles’” (ten
Have 2007, p. 150; see also Seedhouse 2004, pp. 253–261), which can be achieved through analytic induction
as we described above.
4. Context for the study
In this study build on our previous research conducted in an EFL course taught at a regional public university in
the Czech Republic in the academic year 2010/11. The target level of the course was the CEFR (2001) A2 level
and within the online component of a blended learning course, a set of online discussion tasks was conducted.
A learner corpus was compiled from the forum threads, which comprised the core of the online discussion
tasks. The discussions were realized by means of Moodle discussion forums within the course in which the
students had enrolled.
The corpus comprises eight discussion threads: four from the beginning of the semester and four from the
end. In the first discussion the students were asked to introduce themselves, find things in common, choose a
name for their group and elect a group leader, whereas in the final discussion the students introduced their
plans for summer holidays and were asked to find some plans that they had in common. The discussions lasted
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for 12–14 days each and the students were asked to follow the discussions and contribute from their homes at
least three times per week. There were five persons in each group and each group was dedicated a single
discussion thread. In total, the corpus encompasses 13,622 words in 299 postings (for more information on the
design of the online discussion tasks, see e.g. Tůma 2010, 2012).
5. Research findings
In this section we present the findings related to the use of series of dots, which can be referred to as a row of
full stops or ellipsis marks. Typically, there were three dots, but two, four or five dots also occurred in a chunk.
Altogether there were 67 occurrences of ellipsis marks. In seven occurrences, ellipsis marks were used in
combination with emoticons (e.g. “... :‐)”) or in combination with onomatopoeic expressions (“wow... :‐)”,
“....hehe”), in which the interpretation seems to be a complex one and influenced by the other element typical
of this type of interaction. We therefore concentrate mainly on the uses of ellipsis marks as such.
The analysis showed that the uses of ellipsis marks can be situated on a continuum. One end of the continuum
presents the use of ellipsis marks for listing, thus functioning at the sentence level, while the other end of the
continuum is an interactive use of ellipsis marks, thus functioning at the discourse level. We discuss the
findings and illustrate them by examples. It should be pointed out that the extracts are presented in the form
that they occurred on the forum, i.e. we did not correct or modify the extracts except changing student names
for the sake of protecting their anonymity. For the purposes of this study we shortened some of the messages,
which is indicated by [...].
5.1 Ellipsis marks as listing
One of the least interactive uses of ellipsis was that of listing, whose examples are shown below. Since this use
of ellipsis marks does not seem to go beyond the sentence level, we only present relevant passages. The
students used ellipsis marks at the end of a list (1) or a question (2). In (3) ellipsis is accompanied by “etc” and
in (4) ellipsis is situated in front of the last object.
(1) […] my favourite serials are HIMYM, Big bang theory, Dexter, Top Gear, The Simpsons,...
(2) And what movies do you like most? Comedy, horror, thriller ,....?
(3) […] My hobbies are sport and music. I like skiing, swimming, skating, playing volleyball,...etc
(4) […] I will sell my ceramics, earrings, pictures...and honey drink (mead) :‐) […]
With the exception of (4), the dots could be substituted for “and so on” or “etc”. In (3) the actual presence of
“etc” seems to emphasize the potential length of the list (this use of ellipsis marks occurred only once in the
corpus), whereas in (4) the presence of the final object seems to be of importance, perhaps because of the
playful use of the word “mead”, which is similar to the Czech word for honey (i.e. “med”, which does not
denote the alcoholic drink made from honey). This middle use of ellipsis marks occurred only once and seems
to be a borderline case between the use of ellipsis marks for listing and transition, since the dots may well
stand for other objects, or solely indicate transition to an object of a different kind or, perhaps, a dramatic
pause.
5.2 Ellipsis marks as transition
Multiple dots were also used as transition between different ideas, thus functioning on an above‐sentence
level. As discussed above, (4) could function as transition as well as listing. In (5) ellipsis connects the idea that
the situation was easy to solve and the actual solution that Suzan becomes the leader of group C and that the
participant is proud of Suzan. In (6), the dots link the apology with a reason. In (7) the ellipsis marks connect
the problem that the group members were unable to find plans that they all had in common and what follows
seems to be a request for a solution. In (8) a number of ideas are connected. The writer first shows empathy
and understanding which she connects to her problem (she was assigned a non‐standard bed at the student
dormitories). This is linked to her personal feelings about the situation. Finally comes the coda.
(5) Suzan, you can see nobody responded to you, so everything is up to you.
It's easy... You are C leader and I'm pride of you ;‐). […]
(6) […] I am sorry, that I am writing now..I was in Austria […]
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(7) […] I think it will be hard to find the plans that we have in common for the holidays. How I
look, most often have something to do only some of the group and the rest is different..
What are we doing with it?
(8) Oh, I understand you... :‐) I am from Moravia and I slept in additional bed 8 months... I was
horrible... But I lasted out to the end :‐) […]
It should be pointed out that the uses of multiple dots followed by a line break as exemplified in (7) were very
frequent in the corpus, often resulting in a question, conclusion or another idea. Whereas in (5) the use of
ellipsis marks seems to be replaceable by colon, in (6) and (7) conjunctions expressing cause and effect can be
used, and in (8) more complex expressions seems to be needed to convey a similar meaning (e.g. the first
series of dots can mean “because I had the same problem”). It can be concluded that the dots can represent a
number of relationships between the elements that they connect. Apart from that, the use of the dots seems
to complete the authors’ argumentation.
5.3 Ellipsis marks in personal evaluation
The third use of multiple dots is related to evaluating the previous content. In (9) the writer is responding to a
question related to the tragic flood in a number of towns (including Chrastava) in the country, while in (10) the
writer is responding to another message expressing a dream of going to Australia and New Zealand.
(9) Yes, my parents had in Chrastava flood,but now everything is fine. They had water up to the
thighs at home and two meters of the house,but they were doing well. Some people lost all their
goods.....
(10) Once I would like to visit New Zealand too, my cousin was there 1 year and it was wonderful..
What these and other two messages in the corpus have in common is that the dots occur at the very end of
the message. Our interpretation is that in these messages the authors intended to evaluate the message
content, that is in (9) the author seems to be expressing the her parents were luckier than others, who lost all
their properties, and in (10) the author appears to be agreeing that going to New Zealand is a good idea.
Interestingly, all of the four messages of this kind were not replied to. This leads us to the conclusion that the
scope of the ellipsis marks at the end did not go beyond the actual message. However, having read the
postings, one tends to start considering or evaluating the situation as well. As compared the previously
introduced uses, this use of ellipsis marks seems to be more interactive and dialogic.
5.4 Ellipsis marks for referring to the previous posting
There was one occurrence of ellipsis marks referring to the previous posting, in which the participant
introduced himself and mentioned that he was enrolled in the study programme Leisure time pedagogy. The
dots used in (11) refer his message asking the author additional questions.
(11) ...and what about you and our pedagogy of leisure time?Do you like it?
Used this way, the dots seem to substitute for the name of the addressee, and possibly a greeting and/or an
explicit reference to his being enrolled in the same programme. This interpretation can be supported by the
fact that (11) was responded to by the addressee.
5.5 Ellipsis marks as a part of asking for response when taking leave
The last and most interactive use of dots was that at the end of a message as shown in (12), in the forms such
as “Thanks for your answer …” or “Bye, bye ...”.
(12) Suzy: Hi Tom,
I thought, you will be teacher. Or you study Sports Management? I don't now...
Tom: Hi Suzy,
I won't be a teacher, I study a sports management. I would like to be a maneger. [...]
What is striking is the fact that all of these uses of ellipsis marks were successful in that the addressees
(concrete individuals or any members of the group) always responded. It seems that the dots contributed to
the construction of adjacency pairs in the forum exchanges. Of course, there were other question‐and‐answer
exchanges without using ellipsis marks at the end of the first pair part, yet there were a number of occurrences
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of unanswered messages. It is beyond the scope of this study to discuss the factors that contributed to the
successful realization of question‐and‐answer pairs (this issue is partly addressed in Tůma 2013). We can
conclude here that the use of ellipsis marks at the end of the first pair part seemed to complement the floor‐
shifting function of an utterance, i.e. nominating the other participant to contribute.
6. Discussion of findings and conclusions
As suggested in various parts of the presentation of results, it seems that there is a wide range of uses of
ellipsis in pre‐intermediate English learners’ interaction on discussion forum. Some of the uses, such as
example (4), can be mapped onto the equivalents in speech (e.g. pause) and others, such as example (1) are
consistent with writing. However, there were a number of other and specific uses of dots which cannot be
attributed to speech or writing. Especially asking for response when taking leave seems to be typical of
discussion forums. This supports Crystal’s view that online interaction “is more than an aggregate of spoken
and written features” (Crystal 2011, p. 21).
As far as the body of existing research is concerned, our findings are in accord with Ong (2011, p. 227) in that
ellipsis marks do not function only as punctuation marks, but they can carry a number of pragmatic meanings
in different context and sequences. However, since Ong’s (2011) study was conducted in quasisynchronous
chat and focused on blank turns and ellipsis marks‐only turns, the only overlap is in that both blank turns in
quasisynchronous chat as well as ellipsis marks at the end of forum posting seemed to facilitate interaction. On
the other hand, Ong (2011, p. 225) presented instances of more than ten dots in a row, while in our corpus the
longest stretch of ellipsis marks was five dots long.
As far as use of dots at the end of an utterance is concerned, Vandergriff (2013, p. 5) holds that this marks the
status of the turn as “unfinished” or “open”. Similarly to Ong (2011), her study was conducted in
(quasi)synchronous settings, which is not fully compatible with asynchronous discussion forums. According to
our findings the occurrence of ellipsis marks at the end of the posting can, similarly to Vandergriff’s
interpretation (2013, p. 5), mark “the sequence as ‘to be continued’ and thus provides a space for expansion
(perhaps akin to dialogic expansion [...])”. However, in our data we also found ellipsis marks in final positions
whose function was to evaluate the posting and did not elicit response (see section 5.3). The difference
between Vandergriff’s (2013) and this study is in that her class were a group of advanced learners of German,
whereas the participants in this study were pre‐intermediate EFL learners. It can be assumed that the use of
ellipsis marks for evaluation (see section 5.3) did not elicit any response due to the limited range of language
functions that the participants were able to convey. Indeed, showing empathy and support may require a
relatively high level of proficiency (see CEFR 2001), especially without physical co‐presence. In that case the
evaluative nature of this use of dots would need reconsidering. However, the four messages analyzed in
section 5.3 were different from those discussed in section 5.5, since they did not include an explicit (or
implicit) a request for response caused by the lack of knowledge or agreement, which justifies the existence of
a specific category.
As far as interaction on asynchronous forum is concerned, Stommel and Meijman (2011, p. 21) found that the
use of ellipsis marks can signal hesitation and add that “it seems as if the dots are there for the readers to fill in
what the writer has meant”, which supports the number of interpretations that we afforded in sections 5.1–
5.5.
As far as the limitations of this study are concerned, it should be pointed out that the method (CA) and
theoretical and epistemological positions (dialogism) adopted in this study imply that interaction was the main
focus. We therefore did not attempt to assign the frequencies of using ellipsis marks to individual students,
which would require different (rather monologist) positions. Apart from that, it should be pointed out that we
did not present the findings related to the absence of ellipsis marks in contexts similar to those in which ellipsis
marks were used. Although in Tůma (2013) we analyzed instances of missing responses (i.e. incomplete
question‐and‐answer pairs), the focus of this study and the space available did not allow us to discuss the
(missing) uses of ellipsis marks in more detail from this perspective.
The findings seem to reflect not only the social actions, but also the participants’ mutual understanding of the
social actions. These organizations comprise a component of “the architecture of intersubjectivity” (Seedhouse
2004, p. 237), whose part is also the use of ellipsis marks. Thus the project outcomes can also contribute to our
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understanding of how the interactional mechanisms facilitate intersubjectivity in interacting in a foreign
language, which is in line with what social SLA proposed by Firth and Wagner (2007).
As far as the relevance of the findings to foreign language teaching is concerned, the findings support the view
that the nature of online interaction is different from both written and spoken modes. Moreover, the learners
in this study seemed to utilize ellipsis marks in a number of different ways to express different meanings. This
should be acknowledged when dealing with online discourse in foreign language teaching – not only when
reading texts, but also when the learners are expected to interact online. In relation to the outcomes of CA,
ten Have (2007, p. 11) holds that “the core phenomena have been identified, but they can be explored further
and there exists an enormous variety of settings, conditions, and languages for which the local organization of
talk‐in‐interactions can be fruitfully studied”. In line with this, this study hopes to contribute to the body of
research on online interaction by revealing some of the mechanisms underlying learner‐learner online
interaction in a foreign language.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the project “Employment of Newly Graduated Doctors of Science for Scientific
Excellence“ (CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0009).
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569
Distance Learning in Amazon Region: Tackling Rhetorical Situations
in the Communication Context of E‐TEC IFPA
Márcio Wariss Monteiro
Federal Institute for Education, Science and Technology of Pará (IFPA), Belém‐PA, Brazil
marcio.wariss@ifpa.edu.br
Abstract: Considering adequate communication with stakeholders as a crucial factor of e‐learning acceptance,
implementation and development, this paper is aimed at better understanding and analyzing actual problems involving
communicative practices in distance learning and how to tackle those situations where it emerges an exigency to change
beliefs and attitudes by means of argumentative discourse, namely rhetorical situations according to L. Bitzer’s classic
definition. Analyzing the case of e‐Tec Brazil Network, a Brazilian governmental distance learning program carried out by
IFPA in the Amazon region, this paper presents a model intended to guide the identification of institutionalized and
interpersonal aspects of a social communication context. By distinguishing these two constituent dimensions of any
communication context, this model sheds light on the relation between those components which may affect the success of
communication within a distance learning program. In the context of the distance learning program in question, a lack of
interactions between teachers, tutors and students can be partially resolved by an adequate discourse capable of
constraining decisions to bring about significant modifications on the situation. The model of communication context
presented here is also helpful to elicit rhetorical exigencies, audiences and constraints that should be taken into
consideration in order to construct argumentative responsive discourses.
Keywords: rhetorical situation, social communication context, distance learning, online communicative practices,
argumentation
1. Introduction
This paper was motivated by an actual necessity of tackling a communication problem observed in the context
of a Brazilian distance learning Program for which I had just been invited to coordinate. After a few days
leading the program, I noticed a lack of interactions between teachers, tutors and students directly involved in
the courses.
Knowing that instructor‐student interactions is a fundamental aspect for distance learning implementation,
acceptance and development (Holmberg 1989; Pirilä & Yli‐Luoma 2007; Selim 2007; Nehme 2010; Riaz, Riaz &
Hussain 2011), I decided to analyze the situation in order to search for solutions immediately. After discovering
breakdowns in the technological infrastructure of some Program’s telecenters and realizing that it would not
be possible to change it easily, I focused on situations that could mitigate the problem, namely change in
beliefs and attitudes concerning e‐learning. Actually, e‐learning implementation does not relies only on
technological solution, but on social and behavioural contexts (Tarhini, Hone & Liu 2013).
In this way, this paper is aimed at better understand and analyze actual problems involving communicative
practices in distance learning and how to tackle those situations where it emerges the necessity of changing
beliefs and attitudes by means of discourse.
The model of communication context suggested by Rigotti & Rocci (2006) and the conception of rhetorical
situation as defended by Bitzer (1968) will be combined in order to support the analysis of the problematic
situation at issue. Thus, after an outline of the Brazilian distance learning Program in question and the
presentation of Bitzer’s theory and Rigotti & Rocci’s model, both approaches will be combined in order to map
the actual communication context where emerges the lack of interactions to be tackled and to elicit those
relevant elements that should be taken into account to solve the problem.
The approach we propose in this paper might help people in charge of e‐learning programs/courses to map
the complex social communication context of their programs considering both institutionalized and
interpersonal aspects involved in communicative practices occurring in their programs/courses.
2. The E‐TEC IFPA program: A brief presentation
E‐TEC Brazil Network is a governmental program promoted by the Brazilian Ministry of Education aimed at
subsidizing the development of technological and professional education by means of distance learning. The
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program is intended to expand and democratize professional education by offering technical courses especially
for those people living in the countryside or in the outskirts of major metropolitan areas. Actually, the ultimate
purpose of the program is the economic and social development of these marginal areas.
E‐TEC Brazil Network covers all the 26 Brazilian states and the Federal District supporting the implementation
of approximately 257 courses in 841 E‐TEC telecenters in partnership with 49 educational institutions. One of
these partner institutions is the Federal Institute for Education, Science and Technology of Pará (IFPA), which
serves about 1,500 students enrolled in 6 courses offered in 10 E‐TEC telecenters. This partnership will be
called E‐TEC IFPA henceforth.
IFPA acts in the state of Pará, situated in the North Region of Brazil, an area notably marked by unfavorable
socioeconomic conditions and poor technological infrastructure. Moreover, the state of Pará is part of the
wide and peculiar Amazon Region. In this context, therefore, distance learning is extremely challenging due to
factors like scarce access to technologies (computers, mobile devices, software, Internet etc.), telecenters with
limited and deficient bandwidth, distance between E‐TEC IFPA Central Office and telecenters, lack of adequate
transportation systems to visit some telecenters and deliver material to be used in the courses (equipments,
books, DVD etc.), low educational level of students from countryside enrolled in the program and so forth.
Even though E‐TEC Brazil Network is meant to be a distance learning program, the model implemented by IFPA
is more likely a blended learning because in general all the courses are composed by 80% of computer‐
mediated activities on Moodle (video lessons, assignments, emails, forums, chats etc.) and 20% of local
activities at telecenters. It is worth emphasizing that IFPA is an institute mainly devoted to professional
education and the specific necessities of the courses offered – namely Informatics, Metallurgy, Urban
Sanitation, Fishing, Aquaculture and Tourism – require spending some time and efforts in practical/laboratory
classes led by teachers or tutors at telecenters.
Taking into account these circumstantial conditions, especially the lack of a satisfactory technological
infrastructure, it is natural to expect that communications problems occur during the courses. They do exist.
However, online interactions between participants in the context of E‐TEC IFPA are not only hampered by this
infrastructural condition. There are also problems in the communication between teachers, tutors and
students arising from aspects not concerned to technological matters. Some of them, we will see, can be
considered rhetorical situations according to Bitzer’s (1968) classic definition, i.e., situations where it emerges
an exigency to change beliefs and attitudes by means of discourse. This kind of situation is what really interest
to this paper.
3. Bitzer’s rhetorical situation
Taking into account that rhetoric is a way of producing effective changes in reality through the mediation of
discourse, Bitzer (1968, p. 6) says:
Rhetorical situation may be defined as a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations
presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if
discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as to bring
about the significant modification of the exigence.
Bitzer remarks that any rhetorical situation is a kind of invitation to a response. Thus, he argues rhetoric is
situational, i.e., a rhetoric discourse arises as a response to a given situation which, according to the rhetor,
must be changed. In other words, the situation calls the discourse into existence and gives its rhetorical
significance: “[…] so controlling is the situation that we should consider it the very ground of rhetoric activity
[…]” (ibid., p. 5).
According to Bitzer, prior to the creation and presentation of discourse, any rhetorical situation is constituted
by three elements: exigence, audience and constraints.
“Any exigence is an imperfection marked by urgency; it is a defect, an obstacle, something waiting to be done,
a thing which is other than it should be.” (Bitzer 1968, p. 6). However, an exigence is not rhetorical if cannot be
changed (e. g. death or natural disasters) or can be modified by means other than discourse.
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Once rhetorical situations demand discourses intended to modify reality by influencing people to change
beliefs and/or attitudes, it is expected an audience to be addressed. Hence, the audience of a rhetorical
discourse corresponds to “those persons who are capable of being influenced by discourse and of being
mediators of change”. (ibid., p. 8).
Finally, constraints are the third constituent of a rhetorical situation. Bitzer says that persons, events, objects,
and relations have the power to constraint decisions and actions needed to modify a given exigence. He gives
examples of standard sources of constraints: beliefs, attitudes, documents, facts, traditions, images, interests,
motives and the like (ibid. p. 8).
Bitzer emphasizes that a rhetorical situation invites not only any response, but a fitting response whose
elements (theme, matter, purpose, style) are usually prescribed by the situation itself (ibid., p. 10‐11). Also, he
argues that there is a “propitious moment” to put forward a fitting response. The rhetor, therefore, needs to
look carefully at a given situation in order to grasp its very exigence and choose the fitting audience, be aware
of relevant constraints involved in the rhetorical situation under analysis, and must stay alert, otherwise he
loses the right moment and the situation may decay or become even more complicated (ibid., p. 13).
Observing the complex implementation and development of E‐TEC IFPA courses, the lack of online interaction
between teachers, tutors and students may be the main setback noticed in the context of E‐TEC IFPA. This is a
very complex problem involving shortcomings related to the poor and defective technological infrastructure
found in rural areas of Amazon Region. Such exigence, however, cannot be said rhetorical once it is not
possible to change it by means of discourse. On the other hand, investigating this communication problem, it
emerges exigences that could be affected by discourse, like misconception about distance learning and
disinterest in implementing chats and forums as well as participating in them.
Considering adequate communication between stakeholders as a crucial factor for the success of distance
learning – both in terms of motivation/persistence (Holmberg 1989; Simpson 2004; Tello 2007; Nehme 2010)
and learning outcomes (Pirilä & Yli‐Luoma 2007) –, Rigotti and Rocci’s communication context model will help
us to identify and relate relevant institutionalized and interpersonal factors that should be observed in order
to tackle those rhetorical exigencies related to scarce interactions between participants of E‐TEC IFPA.
4. Rigotti and Rocci’s social communication context model
Rigotti & Rocci (2006) propose a model of social context of communication intended to help understanding,
constructing and evaluating communicative events. The model is founded on an interdisciplinary perspective
highlighting that “communication context not only constitutes an essential factor in the process of production
and interpretation of speech acts, but also is integral to the constitution of meaning itself” (ibid., p. 157). In
other words, without considering the context in which communicative processes take place, it would be much
more difficult – actually impossible in some cases – to have success in communicating or get a satisfactory
comprehension of communicative events.
The authors advert, however, the model “is not aimed at including every kind of information that can enter the
common ground, nor every kind of dimension that can be relevant for interpreting utterances”. For instance,
material situations and temporal‐spatial coordinates of communication events do not figure in the model
(ibid., p. 170).
Rigotti and Rocci synthesize a context of communication in the following graphical representation:
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Figure 1: The communication context (Rigotti & Rocci 2006)
Figure 1 shows two dimensions that must be taken into account to a better comprehension of communicative
events: the institutionalized and the interpersonal dimensions
The institutionalized dimension is essentially characterized by the notion of activity types, which was
introduced by Levinson (1992, p. 69) as “a fuzzy category whose focal‐members are goal‐defined, socially
constituted, bounded, events with constraints on participants, setting and so on, but above all on the kinds of
allowable contributions”. In Rigotti and Rocci’s model, in turn, activity types are the result of the
implementation of interactions schemes within interaction fields.
Interaction field is the actual social reality where communicative practices take place. It is defined by specific
hierarchically organized shared goals which generate social roles and define the mutual commitments of them
(Rigotti & Rocci 2006, p. 172).
Interaction schemes, in turn, can be understood as “culturally shared recipes for interactions”, i.e., schemes of
those communicative practices which structure and organize a given interaction field (ibid., p. 173).
The actual context of communication arises exactly from this intertwined relation between interaction scheme
and interaction field:
In order to obtain an actual context I need to map an interaction scheme onto an interaction field
where real commitments are present. To do so the roles of the interaction scheme need to be
made to correspond to compatible roles in the interaction field. (Rigotti & Rocci 2006, p. 173).
In the model, Rigotti and Rocci also show that “The implementation of interaction schemes within interaction
fields generates a network of roles that are linked to each other through corresponding communication flows”
(ibid., p. 174). According to them, communication flows can be understood as “the repeated, stable
occurrence of an interaction scheme between certain roles in an interaction field” (ibid., p. 174).
Rigotti and Rocci’s model points out that institutionalized roles are implemented by individual or collective
subjects having their own interests, desires and goals, which may be aligned or not with institutional interests
and goals. Conflicts between individual and institutional interests and goals give rise to cases of “agency
relationship” in which the subjective dimension generally tends to have priority over the institutional one
(ibid., p. 74). Indeed, since individuals normally act in different interaction fields and belong to varied cultural
communities (nation, religion, language etc.), the subjective dimension always exceeds the institutionalized
role played by them in a given interaction field.
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In this way, Rigotti and Rocci underline the attention that must be paid to the interpersonal dimension of a
context of communication. They remark that personal and communal aspects should be taken into
consideration to better understand this interpersonal dimension. The personal aspects are related to
interpersonal relationships between individuals who play institutionalized roles, their common experiences
and shared stories. The communal aspects, in turn, concerns the proper culture of the interaction field, with
their myths, rites and models (Cantoni 2004).
5. Rhetorical situations in the communication context of E‐TEC IFPA
After presenting Rigotti and Rocci’s model of social communication context and Bitzer’s conception of
rhetorical situation, we propose to combine both theories in order to shed light on an actual communication
problem in the context of E‐TEC IFPA, namely the lack of interactions between teachers, tutors and students.
Regarding the specific situation to be analyzed, Rigotti and Rocci’s model allows to map the complex context of
the Program and to identify relevant elements to compose argumentative discourse intended to change the
situation at issue.
According to Rigotti and Rocci’s model, in order to deal with this rhetorical situation concerning E‐TEC IFPA, a
rhetor should be aware of the intertwined social reality corresponding to the institutionalized partnership
between E‐TEC Brazil Network and IFPA, and also of personal relationships between people involved in the
Program and their cultural background.
Considering E‐TEC IFPA as an interaction field, its main shared goal is to offer and develop technological and
professional education by means of distance learning. In this way, some social roles (content producer,
teacher, tutor, coordinator and so forth) were created specifically to achieve this goal. These social roles and
their respective commitments are legally established on documents of the Brazilian Ministry of Education
listing a series of tasks, attributions, rights and duties that must be observed for the adequate implementation
of the Program. Furthermore, students enrolled in the Program also have their rights and duties established by
IFPA, the educational institution to which they are directly associated.
Regarding interaction schemes, there are schemes arranging interactions intended to manage and organize
the Program strategically, like consulting, deliberation, problem‐solving, mediation and so forth. However,
what really interest to this paper are those schemes structuring interactions which are supposed to involve
teachers, tutors and students. Since we have the institutionalized roles of teacher and tutor, it is important to
note that teaching and tutoring are different interaction schemes, even if both roles are meant to be involved
in interactions with students. This means that it may be necessary to address different discourses to teachers
and tutors in order to change the lack of interactions we are dealing with.
In E‐TEC IFPA, the most frequent communication flows should be those related to teaching and tutoring, which
encompass online synchronous and asynchronous practices (video lesson, web conference, email, forum, chat
etc.) as well as local practices (laboratory and practical classes). These recurrent interaction schemes “select”
the communication roles (participants) of those practices. For instance, video lessons followed by web
conferences or chats are communicative practices supposed to involve teachers and students, as well as
tutorial forums and chats are supposed to involve tutors and students. Conversely, in practice these
communication tools are not used as they should be.
As said before, E‐TEC IFPA is more likely a blended learning. For each course/subject, there are 80% of
computer‐mediated activities on Moodle and 20% of local activities at telecenters. In reality, the 80% of
computer‐mediated activities can be considered ineffective most of the time. Students usually access Moodle
at the beginning of each course/subject to download the material they have to study (texts, exercises, videos
etc.), which remain available for 3 or 4 weeks. After that, they normally access it again only to post those
compulsory assignments. The fact is for the great majority of the students, what really interest is the 20% of
local activities at telecenters, when they have more opportunities to talk with teachers/tutors. This is because
tools like forum and chats are rarely used in order to establish communication with students. Since these
communicative practices are not promoted regularly, students have no reason and motivation to access
Moodle frequently (Pirilä & Yli‐Luoma 2007). In sum, Moodle becomes a mere repository of files to be
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downloaded. This is a typical example of “conservative innovation” according to Cysneiros (1999), i.e., the use
of new technologies without implementing new methods to teach and learn.
To grasp the entire complexity of the E‐TEC IFPA communication context it is not sufficient to look at the
institutionalized dimension. Relationships and stories involving people playing institutionalized roles should be
taken into account too. Actually, subjective factors involved in communicative practices are really relevant
especially because “Such stories may also turn out to influence the institutional dimension” (Rigotti & Rocci
2006, p. 174).
Interpersonal aspects are more difficult to grasp because in general they are not explicit. In this way, in order
to elicit relevant elements from the interpersonal dimension of the E‐TEC IFPA communication context we
asked teachers, tutors about the lack of online interactions on Moodle, especially those via chats and forums.
Knowing that one of the most critical success factors for e‐learning acceptance and implementation is
instructor’s attitude towards interactive learning and teaching via online technologies (Freedman, Tello &
Lewis 2003; Selim 2007), we asked teachers and tutors why they were not planning and implementing online
activities on Moodle like chats and forums to interact with students.
The most frequent answers from teachers are: a) problems with technological infrastructure in telecenters do
not allow students to participate in synchronous activities like chats and web conferences; b) inexistence of
documents or instructions defining that they do have to use these online educational resources (chat, forum
etc.) in the development of the courses; c) the engagement of students is inexpressive in terms of quantity and
quality when chats and forums are proposed; d) the communication with students via forum and chats are not
teachers’ attribution of teachers, but of tutors.
Tutors, in turn, rapidly dodged the question by saying that their profile on Moodle does not allow to create
chats and forums hence such resources should be implemented by teachers. Furthermore, according to tutors,
problems with technological infrastructure in telecenters like interruptions of internet access hinder the use of
these online tools.
Finally, asking students why they do not effectively interact with teachers and tutors participating in chats and
forums, they mentioned: a) prolonged interruptions of internet signal; b) many of them cannot go to a
telecenter frequently; c) many of them revealed a deliberate refusal to engage in online interactions, instead
they prefer to ask questions and clear doubts while attending face‐to‐face classes at telecenters; d) there is no
motivation to participate specially in online forums since teachers and tutors rarely give feedback for
questions, doubts and assignments.
First of all, taking into account what is said by actual subjects playing communication roles involved in the
interactions schemes of teaching and tutoring, we can say that problems with the technological infrastructure
are at the base level of a hierarchy of communication barriers in distance education: nothing else matters if
communication cannot be established (Berge 2013). For what we propose in this paper, this situation will not
be considered since it is not rhetorical. Furthermore, these problems do not really prevent the development of
the courses. What really is at issue is the fact that the lack of online interactions persist even if the
technological infrastructure is functional.
The actual rhetorical exigences to be tackled are those related to beliefs and attitudes of teachers, tutors and
students which impact on the acceptance (Selim 2007; Kim 2008) and the effectiveness of distance learning
(Webster & Hackley 1997; Kensky 2003). According to what they said, the lack of interactions is a situation
which entails at least: a) no interest in implementing and participate in chat and forums; confusion on roles of
teachers and tutors; and misconception about distance learning.
In order to solve the lack of interest in creating chats and forums, an argumentative discourse should be
addressed to teachers. They are the fitting audience of this situation since teachers are responsible for
planning their courses/subjects according to ministerial documents defining E‐TEC social roles and outlining
their attributions, rights, duties. Bitzer (1968) do not talk about a fitting rhetor for a given rhetorical situation
but we can say that Course Coordinators and the Program Coordinator are those capable of constraint
teachers’ actions towards the implementation of chats and forums in E‐TEC IFPA courses. Besides the
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coordinators, the mentioned ministerial documents, and teachers’ working contracts are constraints to be
taken into consideration in order to modify the situation. In addition, successful experiences of a few E‐TEC
IFPA teachers in adopting these online interaction tools should be used as arguments to change reluctant
teachers’ beliefs and attitudes. Certainly, there are also lots of arguments from different points of view in the
extensive research and literature showing the importance of such online interaction resources to distance
learning.
The confusion on roles of teacher and tutor is undoubtedly an exigence which arises from the interpersonal
dimension of E‐TEC IFPA communication context. Broadly, in the context of the Program, tutors are meant to
help teachers in the development of the courses. In practice, however, many tutors become the very teachers
of the courses because actual teachers usually and conveniently delegate their work to tutors. In this case,
shared experiences and relationships influences the institutionalized dimension in a way that shared goals and
mutual commitments of an interaction field could be at risk – it is a typical case of agency relationship. In order
to solve this confusion, the Program Coordinator should address a discourse to both teachers and tutors based
on what is established on those ministerial documents concerning rights, duties and attributions of social roles
created to support the Program ‐ legal established penalties could be also considered if necessary.
Finally, students’ answers and attitudes show there is a shared misconceived idea of distance learning in the
communal common ground (Clark 1996) of E‐TEC IFPA community. Actually, what we observe is that students
are not really conscious of this way of teaching and learning. They are enrolled in E‐TEC IFPA courses just
because there is no other possibility to attend a “traditional” on‐site course where they live. Thus, first and
foremost it is necessary to construct a discourse capable of leading them to understand the nature and the
characteristics of distance learning. Without a clear idea of distance learning will be difficult to students to
really accept and engage in the courses (Dabaj & İşman 2004; Riaz, Riaz & Hussain 2011). Here, explanatory,
motivational and argumentative discourses from multiple rhetors – coordinators, teachers and tutors – may be
the better strategy to change students’ beliefs and attitudes concerning distance learning. Moreover, one
should not forget that E‐TEC IFPA students’ acceptance of distance learning also relies on the solution of the
two other situations mentioned above.
6. Concluding remarks
What we have proposed in this paper is an approach aimed at better understanding and analyzing rhetorical
situations with the help of a model of communication context.
This is a first attempt to combine Bitzer’s conception of rhetorical situation and Rigotti and Rocci’s model of
social communication context. Putting them together seems to be insightful to better analyzing those kinds of
situations involving communication problems which can be changed by means of rhetorical discourse.
Undoubtedly, it will be necessary some more work in order to refine and enrich this approach in a more
systematic way.
In this paper we proposed to deal with the lack of online/instructional interactions observed in E‐TEC IFPA
communication context. We found three main exigencies to be tackled in order to solve this communication
problem: a) no interest of teachers in implementing and participate in chat and forums; confusion on roles of
teachers and tutors; and a shared misconceived idea about distance learning. For selecting fitting audiences
and relevant constraints, Rigotti and Rocci’s model revealed to be a handy tool.
It remains to be proposed a method to construct argumentative discourses based on the presented approach,
which reveals its usefulness in eliciting relevant institutionalized and interpersonal elements that a rhetor
should be aware of in order to construct an adequate responsive discourse intended to change beliefs and
attitudes.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará (IFPA), more specifically
its Pró‐reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós‐graduação (PROPPG) for giving me opportunity to present this paper.
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577
Continuous Competence Development Model for Teacher Teams:
The IT‐Pedagogical Think Tank for Teacher Teams (ITP4T) in Global
Classrooms
Charlotte Lærke Weitze
ResearchLab: IT and Learning Design, Aalborg University, Denmark and VUC Storstrøm,
Denmark
cw@learning.aau.dk
Abstract: This paper presents the development of the IT‐Pedagogical Think Tank for Teacher Teams (ITP4T), a continuous
competence development model. The model was co‐designed following a design‐based research approach with teachers
from VUC Storstrøm’s (VUC) Global Classroom (GC), an innovative hybrid synchronous videoconference concept (Weitze &
Ørngreen 2014). The ITP4T model responds to the needs and challenges that the teachers and the organization in VUC’s GC
are experiencing in the new technological teaching environment. Ultimately, it aims to create a new practise for teachers,
enabling them to create their own continuous competence development. This article describes how and why the different
components of the model were developed in response to the teachers’ challenges. Such challenges included lack of time,
competence and support from the educational organisation to innovate learning design to correspond to the new
technological learning environment. Using this model at a weekly two‐hour meeting, we focused on creating motivating
and engaging learning designs for the students, while gathering qualitative data in the process. This research found that it
is possible to establish an agile ongoing practice enabling the teacher team to reflect, innovate and create. The model also
provided teachers with thinking and acting technologies enabling change and the opportunity to anchor knowledge and
locate new solutions for the frequent IT‐pedagogical issues on a theoretical and practical level; this process empowered,
engaged and motivated their daily working life.
Keywords: pedagogical innovation, reflective learning, ICT integration, competence development in teams, organisational
development with teams, developing and anchoring knowledge in the educational organisation
1. Introduction
This paper presents a new continuous competence development model: the IT Pedagogical Think Tank for
Teacher Teams (ITP4T). To develop this model, we used the design‐based research method (DBR) with the
teachers as co‐designers, focusing on how to create innovative and motivating learning designs for teachers
and students in a hybrid synchronous video‐mediated teaching context.
1.1 Purpose of the ITP4T model
The purpose of the ITP4T model is to provide teachers and educational organizations with a new practice and
reflective tool that enables them to create pedagogical innovation in an ongoing and structured way, thus
creating new sustainable designs for learning. The model responds to the needs and challenges met by
teachers in Global Classroom (GC). These teachers have to become pedagogical innovators, adopting new
educational technology and changing learning designs accordingly (Collins & Halverson 2010; Weitze &
Ørngreen 2014). As students are the end‐users, ITP4T seeks to create qualified and motivating learning
opportunities (Hutters et al. 2013). ITP4T aims at providing a chance for competence development in the
teachers’ busy lives, using their daily problems as starting point and with team support in their close teaching
environment (Dede et al. 2009).
1.2 Case
The case organization, VUC Storstrøm, an adult learning centre in Denmark, is applying the concept Global
Classroom (GC). GC is a full‐time upper secondary general education program lasting two year based on a
hybrid synchronous virtual and campus‐based videoconference concept. In GC, adult students daily can choose
freely between participating in class from campus or from home; in this sense, the GC concept aims at
breaking down the walls of the classroom. The aim of creating this flexible class is to offer a learning
environment that responds to the need of adult learners, enabling them to complete their education while
fitting it into family and working life. Earlier research has found that many students find this flexible form
relevant and motivating in spite of challenges in the learning design and occasional technical difficulties
(Weitze & Ørngreen 2014). The teachers combine traditional classroom‐based teaching techniques with
synchronous online teaching. This is due to that some of the students attend class via videoconference from
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Charlotte Lærke Weitze
home, and are represented via video and sound on a screen in the classroom (Figure 1a and 1b). The teachers
thus prepare their daily learning design without knowing how many students will be physically present in the
classroom and how many will be attending online.
(a)
(b)
Figure 1: The global classroom (GC) set‐up
1.3 Problem area
This section (1.3) seeks to provide an understanding of the background for this project, the development of an
innovative team model (ITP4T). It begins by describing aspects of how the GC educational environment differs
from a traditional environment before outlining some of the challenges that GC teachers face.
GC teachers are exploring new territory when teaching in this synchronous hybrid environment. To a great
extent, teachers can use traditional learning design encompassing teacher lectures, student presentations,
class discussions, group‐work and off‐line assignments. However, the teachers express that engagement and
motivation factors can be challenging; for example, it can be difficult to activate the students at home and
carry out a class discussion on equal terms for all students. This paper deals with these problematic aspects of
GC teaching, aspects that call for pedagogical innovation. The teachers’ statements show they are mentally
taking the physical environment into consideration as a starting point when planning the learning design.
Though this approach may have many advantages, the quality of the facilitated learning processes might also
benefit from using online teaching strategies (Laurrilard 2012; Beetham & Sharpe 2013; Harasim 2011; Bender
2003; Spector et al. 2008).
To establish a well‐functioning learning environment, the aim of this videoconference system is to make the
artefact (the videoconference system) a transparent detail in the interaction between the teacher and the
students; in other words, the technology ideally disappears from the teachers’ and students’ immediate
attention during the interaction process (Dourish 2004). However, this transparency experience disappears the
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moment technical problems occur. In fact, the smallest technical flaw may eliminate the system’s “invisibility”.
For instance, if the sound is unclear during a classroom discussion, the result will be a disturbance in the
learning environment. In the GC learning environment, it is also relevant to consider the physical body. When
learning in a traditional brick‐and‐mortar classroom, we seldom are conscious of our body, apart from in
subjects like sports and art. Thus, our body can be regarded as transparent, so long as it is functioning well; it
immediately engages with the space and objects in its proximity, and normally our postures and movements
occur without the need for conscious reflection. In other words, this feeling of bodily‐transparency lets us
experience our body as being in the world and not separate from it (Dolezal 2009). When learning through the
videoconference interface, the students at home are presented in the classroom via picture and sound, and
the student at home can see and hear representations of the students and the teacher from campus. However,
in the interaction with the classroom, the transparency of the body is broken because the students cannot act
with their bodies in the classroom from home. For example, if the teacher hands out a paper in class, the
students at home cannot feel and grab the paper. These different phenomena of broken transparency in GC
call for attention and innovative learning designs.
In one of the many variations of blended and hybrid learning, the students work together in class, and then
continue working asynchronously in a debate forum from home; in other variations all students work at home
and interact through videoconference settings like Adobe Connect, or they work asynchronously through
different interactive educational technologies. In these learning designs, all the students are in the same kind
of “room or mode”. However, in GC, the students are in two different rooms or modes at the same time, partly
in class and partly at home. Some teachers have noted that when they focus their attention on the students at
home, the students on campus start talking about other things. Similarly, during on‐campus debates, the
students at home tend to remain passive. As one teacher put it, “If I just had to teach an online class, I think it
would be easier”. This situation calls for new strategies providing the students with equal working conditions,
for example, through the use of interactive educational technologies “inside” GC. There also have been
challenges regarding the management and the teachers’ shared understanding of what it takes to implement
this new teaching concept (GC). Such issues may leave the teachers with a feeling of being victimized, since
they find it difficult to find the time to learn and implement the needed pedagogical competence to create
innovative learning designs.
1.4 Research area: Development of a pedagogical innovative practice
When analysing the above problem, one might interpret that the situation requires educational institutions to
provide a space for teachers to experiment with and develop new GC learning concepts. Therefore, this
project proposes a new kind of practice to enable pedagogical innovation based on the following aims: 1)
Experimenting and co‐designing with GC teachers through DBR to create a new continuous pedagogical
innovative practice in the organisation based on teacher preferences; 2) working on theoretical and practical
levels in this development phase, discussing and implementing the results in the process; 3) developing an
agile working practice that enables the teachers to change teaching strategies in relation to current demands,
new issues and the organization's strategies; and 4) providing a structured, reflective and pedagogically
innovative way to experiment and find solutions that will empower the educational institution to move quickly
in new directions, through the teachers’ professional knowledge.
2. Research objective and methodology
The ITP4T model was developed as part of a PhD project researching the following question: “What elements,
methods, processes and practices can contribute to the creation of reflected, innovative and motivating
learning designs, for teachers and students in a hybrid synchronous video mediated teaching context, with a
focus on how to create motivating learning for the students?” The teachers in GC participate in mapping and
solving their own problems while developing innovative learning designs that involve digital technology. The
research was conducted as a combined DBR and action research (AR) study, using the best and most
meaningful approaches from both (Majgaard, Misfeldt and Nielsen 2011; Susman and Evered 1978). After the
diagnosis and action‐planning phases (Weitze, Ørngreen 2014), the research proceeds to step four and five in
AR: taking action and evaluating (Susman & Evered 1978). Qualitative methods were used to investigate how
the AR and DBR competence development experiments answered the research question. The data included
field notes, audio and videotaped utterances, and observations from the described workshops and informal
meetings (table 1).
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The sub‐questions for this part of the research process then becomes: Which elements, practices and
processes are essential in the following circumstances: 1) when creating a practice where change and
anchoring can take place in the organization, 2) when teachers are seeking to become initiators and
developers of their own visions and innovative teaching practices, 3) when creating tools and methods for
innovating the teaching practice due to the continuous changes in educational technology, 4) when creating an
organizational tool that enables continuous competence development in a sustainable form, thus giving
teachers opportunities to participate in their daily visionary leadership, and 5) when attempting to move from
a feeling of being victimized to being empowered teachers in GC.
Table 1: The material from the research process
3. Theoretical frame for the research and development of the ITP4T
This section will outline theory relevant to the current case for developing a continuous competence
development model for teacher teams.
3.1 Pedagogical innovation
The use of educational IT is not new; however, the pace of new technologies and their educational
applications continuously calls on teachers to develop new skills. When teaching, the teacher is preserving
culture in the sense that he or she embodies an educational system that delivers value according to the
current rules and regulations of the society and educational institution. At the same time, however, the
teacher continuously changes pedagogies to encompass new needs and regulations. Implementation of
educational IT often is initiated by the project management in the educational institution in order to leverage
better and more inspiring learning. However, the implementation of IT can be a challenge for the teachers
because they need time to experiment. This need can be approached from two angles: 1) investigating the
current learning design in terms of how IT can contribute or 2) considering technology and experimenting with
the learning design that can be generated from the new technological possibilities.
Innovation is a debated term but one definition of innovation is “those activities that based on new knowledge,
are developing new opportunities, and in the utilization, generates added value” (Wikipedia, 2014). In this
definition, innovation thus consists of ideas and creativity, inspired and informed by new knowledge that
opens up new opportunities; perhaps most importantly, the innovation process comes to life, creates value
and becomes more than just an idea. In pedagogical innovation, the teachers aim to create innovative learning
designs with new opportunities that create added value for the students. Research shows that teachers do not
fully utilize the available pedagogical and academic possibilities provided by IT (EVA, 2012). This fact indicates
that teachers need to learn to work with IT learning tools, but also that they need support for the process of
innovation and for the development of innovative thinking (Darsø 2011; Laurillard 2012). What is innovative
for one teacher might be a traditional way of working for another teacher; therefore, the teachers benefit
from working together and learning from each other’s strengths while supporting one another’s weaknesses.
Working with innovation in teams is a strength because working in a dynamic community and not solely as
individuals enables the construction of strong concepts that combine knowledge and non‐knowledge in
previously unknown but highly relevant ways (Darsø 2007; 2011).
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Lotte Darsø (2011) has developed a pedagogical innovation model called the innovation diamond (ID),
suggesting which knowledge and social frameworks promote innovation processes in groups. The ID thus
constitutes an analytical tool for the preparation and planning of an innovative pedagogical development
phase. The four areas in the diamond are knowledge, non‐knowledge, conceptualizing and relationships.
Figure 2: The innovation diamond (ID) (Darsø 2011)
The learning takes place through experience in practice ‐ learning by doing. In essence, if all four corners of the
diamond are considered, rich conditions will emerge for pedagogical innovation. When working in the model,
the team starts out with a problem area or area of interest to be approached in the ID (Darsø 2011) and then
approaches the non‐known area creating new concepts.
3.2 Reflection and professional development for teachers
Pedagogical innovation is important when developing competence, but so is reflection (Dewey, 2008). Erling
Lars Dale, professor in pedagogy, distinguishes between three levels of competence for the professional
teacher: C1, C2 and C3 (Dale 1998). C1: The first competence‐level is the teacher’s execution of the daily
teaching practice in class, with targeted learning and attention on the activities. C2: At the second
competence‐level, the teacher plans. She constructs, analyses and interprets the curriculum, produces training
material and organizes professional, interdisciplinary and differentiated instruction. She formulates goals and
evaluates as well as discusses current problems with colleagues. C3: The third competence level is a reflection
space for the study of learning design theory and for critical reflection, development and research. To become
a professional teacher, the educator must be able to reflect and develop her practice systematically in
collaboration with colleagues with the use of professional theory (Dale 1998). For the GC teachers to be more
professional teachers, it is relevant for them to reflect on the third competence level, C3, in teacher teams. For
example, they obviously could be inspired by discussing online teacher development literature (Rice 2012;
Bender 2003) or online virtual teacher courses (Coursera 2014).
It is not a new concept to work in teams in order to create ideal conditions for the teachers learning in
educational institutions. However, research shows that when the teachers work in teams aiming at developing
the best possible conditions for facilitating student learning processes, they often end up focusing on the
practical functionality of the teaching: the practical, disciplinary and organizational aspects. Also, teamwork
among teachers tends to happen in a culture with cosy, family‐like structures, which can make it difficult to
move beyond the participants' core beliefs and experiences (Tingleff 2012). Therefore, it is important to
maintain a focus on creating innovative learning designs for the students, going beyond the borders of the
teams’ experiences and maintaining attention on working at the third level of competence, C3, in the
innovative team process (Dale 1998).
4. Research design
In fall 2013, three teachers from the GC participated in a competence development project. The project was
designed as two parallel movements: 1) A series of eight competence development workshops on which the
teachers participated in reflective and pedagogical, innovative, competency development educational
workshops to respond to the issues and needs expressed by the GC teachers (Weitze 2014). In the first four
workshops, the researcher was responsible for leading the workshops. In the last four workshops, the teachers
took over the competence development, while the researcher participated as a facilitator and debate
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contributor. The teachers’ presented their version of the ITP4T model at a GC conference and later were
examined as ITP4T‐model teachers. In May 2014, two new teacher teams started using the ITP4T‐model as a
preparation for working in GC. 2) The second movement involved a participatory and iterative AR/DBR
research project. At the workshops, the discussions and experiences were concerned with how to structure
the innovative reflective pedagogical process. Methods heavily were discussed and reflected upon, using an
appreciative inquiry approach (Mejlvig 2012). Between the workshops, the researcher evaluated the notes,
utterances and observations in order to develop and refine the ITP4T model. The researchers’ active way of
participating in the workshops calls for attention on her role, with a danger of biasing the research, while at
the same time, making it possible to observe, analyze, bring up relevant theories and share these reflections
with the teachers in the iterations.
5. Theoretical and grounded analysis of the empirical data
The following is an overview of the ITP4T model (figure 3), describing how it was developed as well as some of
its theoretical foundations.
Figure 3: IT‐pedagogical think tank for teacher‐teams (ITP4T). Please see description below
The goals and milestones involve development, innovation and learning processes and are illustrated as the
coloured lines and black circles at the bottom of the model in Figure 3. The ITP4T‐model consists of five points:
A‐E that are carried out, or performed, by the teacher team at the weekly two‐hour meeting, followed by the
weekly assignment (Figure 3). The development of goals and milestones for the competence development is
an important part of the model. It is also important to develop a strategy for how to integrate the
collaboration and knowledge exchange with management; thus, this model also encompasses organisational
development. The teachers contributed to the model initially by describing their problematic issues (illustrated
as S in figure 3) by working with the suggested new practices and by experimenting with and reflecting on the
different parts and iterations of the model. In this manner, they qualified the model by participating in the
design process.
In the following section, each workstation (A‐E) or area of the ITP4T model will be described in terms of the
following: 1) problem areas; 2) experiments: empirical and theoretical background for experiments, co‐design
with the teachers, findings in the research process; and 3) summary of the recommendations for each point as
an analytic result of the research.
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5.1 G & M) Goals and milestones for the competence development (Figure 3: G & M)
Problem area: The teachers found it difficult to be innovative and find time in their daily lives to develop
competences for teaching in GC, and to distinguish what the problems actually were in GC (Weitze & Ørngreen
2014). The teachers acknowledged that they needed to train using different interactive pedagogical
technologies, but also realized that they had to experiment with how they could develop and use the
technology from a pedagogical angle. This experimentation would help them develop a sense of how to
combine the learning design with technology use in order to enable motivating learning for the students. This
example shows the necessity of developing a common understanding and sense of how learning design and
technology are two sides of the same coin; they are two parts of the same practice that cannot be separated.
They also are deeply individual, needing to be innovated upon over time (Weitze & Ørngreen 2014; Dourish
2004; Orlikowski 2010).
Experiments and findings: S) (Figure 3: S ‐ the Starting point). In the first workshop, the teachers began
clarifying the problem area and brainstorming on what kind of competences they wanted to develop. The
teachers thus created visions for the educational organization from the outset with their own relevant
professional context. The teachers used an online collaborative post‐it tool for the brainstorm “taking their
own medicine” by training in the use of interactive tools in the innovative processes. The brainstorm was
inspired by discussion of learning designs (Selander, 2008) as well as by the problems and advantages of
teaching in GC. The questions and ideas from this brainstorm was made into a list and documented in the
teachers’ Learning Management System (LMS). In the new team (May 2014), the issues were stored in an
interactive agile project development tool (www.trello.com) that enabled them to prioritize and keep track of
the goals and milestones they had for the different areas of their competence development.
Recommendations: By brainstorming (S – in figure 3), developing, setting milestones (figure 3: G & M) and
continuously evaluating the problem areas and competence goals, the team should become initiators and
developers of their own visions and innovative teaching practices. The model shows four main development
areas within which the teachers are developing competence: 1) themes from the GC, 2) innovative learning
design, 3) innovative use of educational technology, and 4) professional theoretical literature within the
pedagogy and other relevant subject matters (e.g., edu‐blogs, videos, etc.). These divisions are rather artificial
because the themes are intertwined; however, it can be beneficial to regard them as different entry points to
the issues.
5.2 A) Input/presentation of the chosen problem area by the team leader of the day (10 minutes)
Problem area: Initially, the teachers had problems finding time and being explicit about the problem areas of
working in GC. They also felt “victimized” by management because they believed they faced large demands,
lack of support and few possibilities for relevant competence development, though they had participated in
various edu‐technological courses arranged by the management. The teachers dealt with their issues
individually, but lacked an established practice that enabled them to discuss, experiment, and gain knowledge
and competence in cooperation with colleagues.
Experiments and findings: In the workshops, the teachers began by prioritizing their issues. Following this
approach, the teachers took turns being team leader of the day. The team leader researched the problem area,
made a presentation, unfolded and thematised the problem, added new knowledge and ended with a call for
debate and conceptualization. By taking turns, the teachers could pick the subjects that they found most
pressing and relevant. They found it fulfilling to bring their individual issues up for debate. Examples of themes
were: reflection and pedagogical innovation in teams, knowledge sharing, activation of the students at home,
discussion of online interactive tools and use of learning games in GC.
Recommendations: The research showed that, though the teachers initially resisted being the “team leader”
and leading the innovative process, they became positive and empowered by developing and conceptualizing
their own relevant issues. The theme could be chosen by one of the teachers, by the whole team or by the
management; it is also possible to have an expert as team leader for one or more days to achieve new
competencies. To keep pace when moving through the ITP4T model, the teachers found it important that the
team leader acted as a facilitating timekeeper.
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Charlotte Lærke Weitze
5.3 B) Reflection/innovation/discussion: The team is working (one hour) (Figure 3: B)
This process involved development of new learning design concepts, C3 reflection on general pedagogical and
theoretical issues, conceptualisation and experiments with new innovative learning designs, experiments
involving new educational IT and discussing new organisational regulations and needs.
Problem area: The first evaluations (Weitze & Ørngreen 2014) showed that the teachers could benefit from
theoretical knowledge about innovative pedagogical and reflective processes, management of innovative
teams, knowledge development and knowledge sharing in teams. It would also be advantageous for them to
gain experience in explicit discussions of their own learning design.
Experiments: With Darsø’s (2011) Innovation Diamond (Figure 2) and Dale’s (1998) C3 third level of
pedagogical professionalism as frameworks, or technologies of thought, the teachers worked on innovating
and conceptualising their theme of the day.
Recommendations and findings: Within the chosen framework and beginning with well‐planned presentations,
the teachers conducted highly innovative and qualified discussions and were able to move quickly into new
directions. Darsø (2011) recommends letting the team members be responsible for the different areas in the
innovation model (knowing, non‐knowing, conceptualising and relations). The findings indicated that, though
the framework was a good technology of thought, the team members felt uncomfortable identifying
themselves with one specific area, but acknowledged the areas as relevant for moving forward in the
innovative process. Another finding was that the teachers emphasized the importance of taking responsibility
for keeping the discussions at the C3 level of competence in order to enable the development of professional
and qualified concepts; in this way they avoided going into functional discussions about other practical matters.
They also emphasised the advantage of using the ID as a conceptual framework, guarding positive relations
but also asking provoking questions going beyond the team members’ established experiences and teaching
norms.
5.4 C) Evaluation: Lessons learned, considering the short and long‐term goals (10 minutes)
Experiments and recommendations: (Figure 3: C) In the evaluation of new concepts, the teachers made
formative and summative evaluations of the competence goals for 1) the current day, 2) the long term and 3)
future aims and goals. The goals could be for the individual teacher, the team or the organization. The
teachers found the evaluation important because it constituted their new concepts into a common language
and supported the team in prioritizing and developing their future goals for competence development.
5.5 D) Anchoring/documentation/dissemination: (15 minutes) (Figure 3: D)
Problem area: Knowledge sharing is a difficult art in an educational institution, and the teachers expressed
that they seldom had opportunities for it in their daily working lives. Elements, methods, processes and
practices in new educational projects also can be regarded as new organizational knowledge. Research shows
that it is difficult to anchor projects when the project period has passed (Henriksen 2011). Therefore, it is
important that the teachers have possibilities to exchange knowledge among their colleagues in order to
enable development and anchoring of the new project.
Experiments: For the benefit of memorization and common conceptualization of the issues and their solutions,
knowledge sharing took place in a structured way on an LMS‐platform that was available to all GC teachers
and the organization. The LMS provided an opportunity for all teachers to participate in creating and using the
new knowledge. Furthermore, an official website was created to inspire the teachers with new learning
designs and technologies. The form of the knowledge sharing was discussed heavily, both in terms of
oral/written documentation and dissemination: the group discussed how much to write, in which genre and
accessibility. The teachers also suggested and discussed verbal dissemination at pedagogical meetings.
Recommendations: When the two new GC teams started, they first asked if there was any written advice on
positive experiences from GC learning designs. This anecdote shows the importance of disseminating the
innovative knowledge within the organization. However, the shape of the documentation and the structure of
the dissemination remain research areas worth investigating, for both written and verbal modes. The teachers
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Charlotte Lærke Weitze
became accustomed to documenting their work from the ITP4T model and emphasized that it was an
important practice at the end of the workshops.
5.6 E) “I dare you”: The challenge (15 minutes) (Figure 3)
Problem area: The teachers could not find time to develop and experiment with new learning designs for the
GC environment and expressed that they lacked the appropriate knowledge.
Experiments and recommendations: The meaning and purpose of the term “I dare you” is to focus on this
point while keeping a light atmosphere: can we challenge each other in a way that takes us beyond our
comfort zone while remaining fun and motivating? The team leader of the following week agreed with the
team on a fixed assignment for the next week’s meeting as preparation for the next theme. The assignment of
the week could be: reading new theoretical literature, conducting relevant and motivating experiments with
the class, finding new interactive collaborative technologies or conducting an online discussion about the
subject for next week. Sometimes, this assignment was an experiment with the students and would then be
experimented on, discussed and elaborated on for more than a week. For the teachers, an important aspect of
this assignment was the requirement to create a product for the next team meeting rather than just
considering an issue; teachers noted that this product was a crucial point for moving forward. The teachers
emphasized that it made a big difference for them. The ITP4T model then started all over again the following
week, enabling continuous competence development for and by the teachers. (Figure 3: A‐E)
6. Discussion
In the discussion following the teacher’s exam in the ITP4T model, the teachers emphasized the importance of
the management’s willingness to engage in and support this way of working in innovative pedagogical teams.
The local manager participated for approximately 15 minutes in most workshops, which enabled knowledge
sharing and motivated the teachers to focus on teamwork during the week. The management’s role should be
discussed in the educational institution, and if the institution is to benefit from the teachers’ new concepts and
visions, it might call for a new distribution of leadership and initiatives between the management and the
teachers in certain areas.
The model consists of a “list of rules”, but to function, it is important to decide and actually do the new team
practice, collaborating in the team and personalizing how to work in the model on a weekly basis. The teachers
were examined in the ITP4T model by making a new workshop with 4 teachers while demonstrating that the
learning goals were reached (Appendix). The exam experience clearly contributed to a new kind of
professional identity for them. Teaching new teachers will also be an authentic way to disseminate the model
to the rest of the organization, since the teachers disseminate their own version of the team model like
“ripples in the water”. The ITP4T model resembles other models in terms of teamwork, and it has been
inspired by the action research and problem‐based approaches. The contribution of the ITP4T‐model is its
ability to provide an ongoing practice and a structure with an emphasized focus on pedagogical innovation and
reflection, with a foundation in the teachers’ and organizations’ relevant professional issues and problems,
enabling change and structured anchoring of the new innovative concepts—a visionary contribution to the
educational institution. The new team practice allows the teachers to have an identity not only as teachers but
also as (self‐regulated) learners. The findings indicated that the teachers had a more positive perspective on
their own ability to create changes after the workshops. In addition, they valued the professional support they
gave each other in the team when developing new learning concepts. As one of the teachers in the workshops
put it, “If VUC Storstrøm wants to be one of the best adult education centers in the country, this is perhaps
one of the ways to do it. But the management must want it." In the eight workshops, we followed specific
learning goals encompassing pedagogical innovation, reflection and learning designs (see Appendix). These
learning goals served as guiding points when choosing the content and shape for these first workshops, and
therefore, should be seen as a contribution to the current version of the ITP4T model. Though the teachers
approved the ITP4T model, it was only developed and used by a small group. It also should be mentioned that
these teachers had a positive attitude about participating in this experiment. However, the pace at which the
teachers moved through the issues and came up with new pedagogical innovations indicates the great
potential of the model in other new educational environments involving technology.
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Charlotte Lærke Weitze
7. Conclusion
The ITP4T‐model has proved as a sustainable continuous competence development practice, consisting of
elements of pedagogical innovative and reflective thinking and acting technologies and with practices and
processes enabling change and anchoring of the new conceptualizations developed by the teachers. The
teachers became empowered initiators and developers of their own innovative pedagogical concepts
concerning development of new learning designs and implementation of new technology in GC. For the
success of this practice it is important that the management supports and engages in the practice with
resources, by participating and by being open towards a possible change in the distribution of leadership and
initiatives between the management and the teachers. At the moment an ITP4T‐guidebook is produced for
future teams.
Appendix 1
Learning goals for the eight workshops
After the course, the team members will be able to do the following:
Describe own learning design and identify and formulate possible problem areas in the current
educational context.
Select and plan the use of and create a process of collective reflection about relevant literature in relation
to the team's experience of current issues.
Develop and carry out a process leading to individual goals for innovation, both in the short and long term.
Master innovative tools that can be used in the innovation process in a pedagogical team.
Be innovative concerning their own teaching, involving both technology as well as new/innovative
learning designs.
Organize and lead an innovative team process.
Choose a strategy and method for knowledge development, knowledge sharing and anchoring in the team.
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588
Meeting the Online Needs of Part Time Postgraduate Engineering
Students
Stephen Wilkinson and Duncan Folley
Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK
s.wilkinson@leedsmet.ac.uk
d.folley@leedsmet.ac.uk
Abstract: This research paper investigates how online resources and blended learning can meet the needs of part time
adult learners studying or a post graduate qualification in Engineering. There are many reasons why students in industry
undertake a postgraduate qualification in part time mode, namely:‐They need the work to support themselves through
further study Their company wants them to undertake continual and professional development They wish to become a
Chartered Engineer ie a member of a professional body These reasons are very commendable and these student set off
with a view to completion with an air of optimism and excitement. However, a combination of work /life demands and the
rigors of academia can quickly take the shine off the optimism. As full time employed adult learners, there are many
obstacles that will interfere with their academic life, for example employer demands ie having to go overseas to work or an
urgent need to be at work, family demands ie a new baby or caring for a family member, other demands include jury
service. Therefore one of the main design criteria for these type of Post graduate courses was to improve the flexibility of
delivery and to generate as many different types of support for these students as possible. An adult learner will more likely
seize the opportunity to learn, even in the face of adversity. Self‐regulation means that they will seek help if they lack
understanding, they also believe more in their own capabilities and are probably more organised, (Boekaerts, Pintrich, &
Zeidner, 2000; Schunk & Zimmerman, 1998). This is contradictory to Prensky (2001) who developed the title “Digital
Immigrants” for adult learners as opposed to “Digital Natives” for the younger learner. Many other papers show that what
the adult learner lacks in online skills he makes up in terms of resilience, experience and organisation.Therefore, this paper
examines how online resource, tools and delivery methods were part of the course design in order to overcome some of
the difficulties that these adult learners encountered.
Keywords: adult learners, Web 2.0 tools, online learning, resilience, support
1. Adult learners studying engineering at Leeds Met
The roller coaster ride of economic activity, changing global markets and th political colour of the government
in power has meant that the demand for Engineering University courses has ben extremely dynamic in the last
15 years. At its peak at the turn of the millennium, we had over 600 full time students and 60 part time
students on our Engineering courses. A survey was conducted at this point to find out where the students
came from. The findings were as follows:
They had travelled from within a one hundred mile radius fro day release
The industries varied from oil platform manager to pharmaceutical manufacturing
They were mostly mature students
The benefits of having these adult learners studying alongside the full time school leavers was enormous, for
example:
lecture discipline, they sat at the front, asked great questions and told the full timers to shut up if they
started chatting
they produce some of the best work, and so raised the standard of work
However, as adult learners, they had a different set of problems to the full time student, for example:
Deputy manager of the Scott platform 90 miles off the Norwegian coast, 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off
Setting up production lines in Argentina and Mexico, then flying off to Hong Kong and China
The company is closing down and shipping all work to East Europe, Asia and South Africa. Aerospace,
Electronics, Electric drill manufacture. Have to educate new overseas staff to replace their work
Getting married and buying a house.
Family problems ie wife having a baby. Wife ill, baby ill etc
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Difficult to give time to work on large projects ie dissertations
Missing the educational benefits of socialising and learning with others all th time as th full time students
had.
The other side of the coin is that whilst the students may have the motivation to learn, they make lack
confidence in returning to learning and being part of the “student centred” learning environment, being more
used to smaller classes and didactic teaching methods. For example, many academics have long voiced an
opinion that teaching and learning in HE needs a major overhaul, to move away from the didactic approach
where a lecturer is the "sage on the stage " where students take notes and the lecturer is the font of all
knowledge , Pallof and Pratt (1999) . This approach is defined as student centred and to become active
learners, this educator then becomes the "guide on the side", Pallof and Pratt (1999).
Piagets Constructivism is one of the recognised approaches behind teaching today Duffy T and Cunningham D
(2008). This is where students construct their learning from previous knowledge and not passively absorbed
from text books. However, the work of pioneering educationalist Vygotsky gave the theory of Social
Constructivism which recognised that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive
development, Duffy T and Cunningham D (2008). This is in contrast to Piaget in which he believed
development precedes learning. The theory of Vygotsky is supported by Wenger E (1998) and has the idea of
"community of practice”, where social interaction is very important to learning. Collis B (2004) this form of
learning is much more important in the knowledge based era, where rapid change is the norm ie students
must carry on learning long after they have graduated, This is supported by Siemans G(2004) who states the
“half life of knowledge is now only 18 months” ie then becomes obsolete and that “our ability to learn what
we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today” , the benefits of “Connectivism” via the
web are also expressed . Students participating in a community of practice may become a co‐creator of
learning materials, a selector of learning material, involved in self and peer evaluation and someone who can
design and build a product for use outside of the course, Collis B(2004). Its general knowledge that students
learn much from their peers and collaboration between peers occurs naturally, for example Hamer J,(2005)
shows how students working in teams can co create fewer high quality learning materials, rather than working
as individual producing many low quality materials.
2. What are the solutions?
There has been much written about the different online techniques available to support adult learners. For
example:
Availability of leaning material on a VLE or Web 2.0 tools
Support, socialising and other interaction via Asynchronous and Synchronous communication methods
2.1 Virtual learning environments (VLE)
This is one of the more formal systems that most Universities use, Shaw A (2009). They are defined as online
Learning Management Systems (LMSs) and can manage the tens of thousands of students that are tied to each
of the modules they study. Work can be submitted and feedback given individually online , the whole process
is managed in this formal way. Popular products include Blackboard, WebCT and Moodle, for example
Siff(2008) states that the University of Cincinnati Blackboard system has 70,000 students enrolled and has
many services including mobile messaging, Moodle is an open source system based on social constructionist
pedagogy,ie students constructing their own knowledge by actively searching (tinkering), the verb to moodle
means to tinker. This system has fewer features of the former and can be run on a variety of platforms, Chavan
A et al (2008). The authors own University uses Vista WebCT and features include structured content delivery,
media libraries, discussion boards, notices and links to podcast tools such as Wimba and other add ons such as
Campus Fusion pack which is this companies own version of a Wiki (see next section on Web 2.0 tools for an
explanation). Other add‐ ons to these formal systems are FirstClass and Elluminate, they can also be used as
stand alone systems. Both of these systems are have features which include synchronous communication via
video and audio conferencing.
The advent of Web 2.0 technology in recent years has seen a dramatic change in the way education now
operates, Web2.0 tools, such as blogs, wikis, social networking software, media sharing and others has been
responsible for shifting the web to a collaborative work space where we can all meet to read and write, West
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J,(2009). This view is supported by Secker J (2007) who describes how previous research has described Web
2.0 as an attitude rather than a technology and that as well as developing social networks with content created
by the user rather than an organisation it also includes user profiles and the use of tagging ( folksonomies) to
aid the retrieval of items. Anderson (2007) concluded that Web 2.0 was about user generated content and that
it harnessed the power of the crowd. The global use of Web 2.0 meant that content was on an epic scale
through an architecture of participation through the effect of a network. The author said there was much
informal openness via Web 2.0. An overview of supporting case studies is given below.:
2.2 Blogs
Blog messages are posted by an individual, with a linear construction, displayed chronologically with no
opportunity for other users to edit previous posts. Threaded discussions can be posted from multiple
contributors and can be used for sharing ideas, providing feedback and producing topical conversation , West
J, (2009). Examples of popular Blog tools are Wordpress and Blogger by Google, Hart J (2008). At the University
of Plymouth, language students studying German are able to participate in Blogs and have many opportunities
for self‐reflection and interactive learning, Dippold D (2009). Opportunities for using peer feedback to
supplement tutor feedback and potential to develop students understanding of standards, and to engage the
student in the process of learning and assessment is also discussed. Hall H and Davidson B (2007) used
Blogging to enable their students to reflect on their learning for that week in the area of Library and
Information systems. They found that while it while it gave the students discipline in writing a weekly entry,
some students found it chore and “acted the part” ie doing the entry to gain marks. However many students
agreed that it was an authentic experience in that weekly reports would be required in the world of work.
2.3 Microblogging
Is similar to texting and can include comments such as “what am I doing right now “ .The top two most popular
sites include Twitter, Tumblr and even Facebook has a feature called status update, Hart J (2008). Ullrich C
(2008) showed how Microblogging was used to increase active participation in oral English language classes at
a Chinese University by setting up a Twitter account and inviting the class to become his Twitter friend as well
as to each other. The students had to post and read their fellow students messages. This reduced pressure and
increased participation as students had time before responding, commenting and consulting a dictionary. They
continued outside of the classroom, talking about their everyday life.
2.4 Wikis
Wikis are organised more dynamically than Blogs, with the grouping of information determined by new
entries, hyper linking and collective structures, West J (2009). A Wiki's ownership is distributed and shared
amongst members who contribute, West J,( 2009). The first Wiki is was called the Portland Pattern Repository
in order to collect computer programming design patterns Cunningham W, et al (2001) .Chen Y, (2007)
demonstrated how Wiki Scratchpad could be used to enhance students' project‐based learning (PBL) for
Multimedia design and production. This allowed students to design and display their projects online through
group work and sharing their project ideas. They were also able to access other groups' work and instructors
could make comments and monitor the discussions. Notari M (2006) showed how Wikis could be used at the
University of Bern when co‐creating learning material. The students have to comment on and correct the work
of other members of the learning community.
2.5 Social networking
Social networking can be defined as social spaces designed to facilitate communication and collaboration and
content sharing across a network of contacts, Hart J (2008). Social networking services (SNS) are much in
demand, Ofcom (2008) found that the UK scores the highest in Europe for SNS usage ie 39% of all UK Internet
users, ComScore ( 2007) found that UK Internet users make 23 visits and 5.3 hours on social networking sites
each month and 24.9 million visitors. Liccardi I( 2008) states that many Web 2.0 tools can aid with grouping
and collaboration which can improve performance and showed how social networks had a role to play in
computer science education at Southampton University.
Hart J ( 2008), found that Facebook and LinkedIn were the most popular public SNS and the top for education
include Elgg and Ning . Elgg is open source and can be configured to run on the users own server while Ning is
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advertising supported cloud application. Both sites can have closed memberships with restricted content
viewable only by members, however Facebook and Myspace is publicly viewable and available to all. Hart
J(2008) also identified SNS as being useful for education because e‐communication tools and widgets allow
users to develop customized environments for blogging, discussions, file/content sharing, and messaging as
well as sub‐groupings. Examples of these include Elgg, which has Eduspaces and has over 19,000 members and
Ning has Classroom 2.0 with over 17,000 members. Many Universities including the OU have been using Elgg
and the PROWE project funded by JISC is using Elgg to support tutors at a distance.
2.6 Media sharing
There are many applications where all types of media can be shared, viewed, graded and comments made, for
example Flickr which is a photo sharing website and YouTube which is a video sharing website are the two
most popular, Sekcer J (2007). Tagging makes the resources retrievable by others interested in similar subjects.
3. The role of technology to support collaboration in education
The previous section examine how students become deeper learners through the use of collaboration and how
there are many tools available to facilitate this online. The issues surrounding the role of technology in
facilitating this are now examined. Pallof and Pratt(1999) state "that in a virtual learning environment,
students play a much more active role in their learning; and collaboration between teacher‐student and peer
student‐student are essential to succeed". They show how educators need to make a deliberate attempt to
build an online community as a means of encouraging collaborative learning. The need for such a system to be
simple, not depend on one type of technology and using best practice is also shown.
However research has shown that tutors cannot force students to participate in a particular community, they
much prefer to form their own, for example (Goodyear & Jones, 2003, p69) states that “successful
online/networked learning communities emerge and shape themselves” and that all you can do is set up an
environment that is conducive to the emergence of a community. The benefits of a learning community are
supported by Smyth, (2007) who advocates putting the emphasis on peers learning together. There are many
challenges to creating collaborative communities, for example Whitton N(2009) reports on the induction of
first year students via the use of an online game (ARGOSI), forming social networks via a NING as well as
discovering more about the campus, collaborative challenges, making friends and socialising. However only
13% of students were actively engaged, this raised many questions ie “how can you engage more students
without it becoming compulsory “ ?. They concluded that the initial game launch through face to face meeting
was important for continued online engagement and the design of the online collaborative challenges requires
reviewing.
Mcfarlane A et al (2002) research on Key stage 2 pupils showed that less than half of the participants reported
that working as a team was improved by playing a online collaborative game. Less than 19% of boys and 31%
of girls believe that the online collaborative game helped them with their school subjects and general
knowledge. English R (2008) study of formal University VLE’s shows that even though students can be
members of many discussion groups, unless there is formal assessment then there is very little activity. If
successful this activity soon tails off after initial interest. This begs the questions why are formal University
VLE’s so poor at social collaboration and why are informal on‐line communities such as Facebook so
successful? This research indicates that Facebook is much more personable and discussions are much more
informal with effective communication, group reinforcement, encouragement and support. This research
suggests that the sense of community was very strong. Sas C et al (2009), suggest that Facebook experiences
are all about positive emotions, in particular those on connectedness and entertainment.
Challenges to discussion areas include the feeling of isolation, if being unable to participate or deal with this
type of dialogue for example coming in late on a discussion and missing out on contributing. Mann, 2005, p45,
states that “there is a pedagogical focus on establishing social interactions to reduce alienation “. Wenger,
(2002), regards the multi direction communication among students and teachers as mimicking the closeness of
normal contact during on‐line communication in order to avoid isolation. Cowen et al (2009),indicates the
importance of a good first experience is necessary in order to lower computer anxiety. This research on second
year psychology students, demonstrated that a negative relationship exists between how anxious users are
about wikis and how they rate their satisfaction with the wiki system.
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The advantages of synchronous communication are that everyone can participate and is the nearest substitute
to face‐to‐face communication. If an on‐line discussion is tutor lead, then any student lurking and not
contributing can be encouraged to participate “By failing to address various factors associated with forming
community in online learning, many educators are contributing to feelings of isolation among online students”,
(Berge & Muilenburg, 2001). Klopfer E et al (2009), summarises the care and consideration needs to be taken
when designing and using online collaboration ie students posting sarcastic comments and the poor design of
activities. Barriers to online collaboration can be overcome by examining school culture, teacher beliefs and
methods, the innovation ie technology and project and how the students operate, Klopfer E et al (2009).
3.1 Can working adult learners be supported in this way?
This section analyses how most of the above tools are common knowledge to the younger generation but
what about the older generation studying part time? Oblinger D (2005) states that young millenials are digital
literate and Prensky (2001) has named them “Digital Natives” ie they have grown up with the web and like
the speed of access to information and often multitask when things slow down. They like instant feedback,
delivery, learn by experience and are impatient with passive activity; they enjoy exploring new tools, especially
with peers. They are social and are constant communicators and are more at ease when meeting new people,
both in person and online, they are also more open about themselves.
However (Kennedy,2008,p10),concludes that Digital Natives whilst having access to a multitude of
technologies don’t always use it in an educational context, for example “few students have high levels of
competence across a wide range of applications” and that “familiarity with the use of email does not imply
expertise in rigorous online debate and discussion”. This assumption is supported by (JISC,2008, p24) who
suggested that digital literacies and information literacies do not go hand in hand when considering the
“Google Generation”. Prensky,(2001), also states that adult learners are “Digital Immigrants” and do not have
the millennial advantages. However Knowles M, (1984) states that mature working adults are often attracted
to online courses because of convenience and an opportunity to integrate study into their busy lives. They are
more goal oriented, self directed, more independent and prefer more control over their own learning and
don't get involved in activities that are irrelevant ie “off task”. Other benefits include having more prior work
and education experience.
These generalisations are criticised by Dede (2004) during a study of a mixed age group of students. He states
that “many adult learners exhibit “Millennial” learning styles and categorising these generalisations into
groups, are a poor foundation for decision‐making about the learning needs of individuals, especially when
applied to the, cross‐age mixtures of people found in many college and university courses. He found that the
difference was in users of technology ie people of all ages now buy music or groceries online. When surveyed
this research showed that students preferred ie face to face teaching to either video conferencing or online
learning but voted “distributed learning” (Blended Learning) which uses a mixture of face to face and mediated
synchronous and asynchronous communication as being very popular. Asynchronous communication was also
popular as it gave time for reflection before posting at any time of the day. The use of Virtual Environments
was not very popular with students stating shyness and reluctance to participate in these multiuser
environments. This is supported by ECAR (2004) who showed that today’s students can become “wired and
tired” through the overuse of technology. Dede (2004) concludes that the “differences among individuals of
any age are greater than dissimilarities between age groups “ ie there will always be a mixture of learning
styles and while online technologies have proved to be useful, they should be regarded as emerging rather
than mature.
4. What do the students think?
4.1 Open interview
We interviewed 18 adult learners on two part time courses at Leeds Metropolitan University, what they
though about various aspects of online learning and support, their responses are given below:‐
What they though of the University VLE?
Discussion areas very clunky, not many participate, much prefer Web 2.0 type tools
Campus Pack Wiki, Ok but can only be used on Campus and takes a while to log in and find where you are.
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Uploading assignments can be very problematic, especially on a busy Friday, as it does not have the
capacity for large files.
Appreciate that a formal University system is needed to manage, monitor and provide structure for large
numbers of students
Social Networks
TUMBLR ~ really good for collaboration online, can upload and share any type of document, can use RSS
feed to Twitter and the other direction by feeding the students Youtube and Vimeo updates to the
TUMBLR site.
Ning ~ Social Network was used in the past by students, however they have switched to TUMBLR as Ning
now charge customers to use this service.
Facebook groups are ok for communication
Blogs and Wikis
Twitter~ not ideal, much prefer MSN messenger as the conversation is recorded and date stamped
WordPress ~ Very formal, great being date stamped, some media limitations ie audio
Google Wave ~ extremely useful in the same way that conversations can be recorded and any edits to
shared text is highlighted, however this is being discontinued by google.
Sharing Content
FLIKR ~ used extensively for static images.
Dropbox ~used extensively for sharing files. The more people you recommend, the more file storage you
accrue, currently 5Gb or more of cloud data storage
Youtube ~ ideal for storing video and receiving comments from peers
Vimeo ~ ideal for storing high definition video and receiving comments from peers
ITunes~ Audio and podcasts
Synchronous communication
Skype ~ used extensively, especially when screen casting ie showing other students how to do something
in a particular piece of software
Mobile phone ~ especially if they are favoured friends on the same network
4.2 Online survey results
The survey was carried out online using survey monkey, the result are shown in the following figures:
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5. Discussion of results
It is clear that students appreciate the need for a formal VLE that can manage large files and numbers of
students. However the use of other Web 2.0 tools such as WordPress, Skype and Facebook are invaluable
social interaction tools. This is supported by English (2008) who states that Facebook has much more interest
than a formal VLE, as discussed earlier.
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5.1 VLE
Before the University purchased WebCT and later Blackboard we wrote our own HTML and hosted this on one
of our servers. This was called the learning resource web (LRW). This was mostly limited to text and he
structure and hierarchy of all the pages had to be determined for each course. The most successful one was
the BEng in Manufacturing Systems Engineering. This was mainly just a read only system that displayed
module handbooks, assignment information; hand in dates and some reaching material converted to HTML.
The best example of its use was the deputy manager n the Scott platform in the North Sea who could only
attend every 3 weeks. This gave him enough access to guidance material, especially his dissertation for him o
complete his honours degree. More recently with the latest Blackboard, there are many tools that was
unavailable before, for example discussion boards for social interaction. We designed a “Green Room” for this.
In fact we found that students peers would help others on the same course when they requested help in this
informal way.
5.2 Web 2.0 tools
Some experimentation using a Ning (custom social network) and embedding Podcasts using PodBeans proved
more successful for the Fulltime learners rather than the adult learners. It was easier to stick to the formal VLE,
especially as through time, some of the features such as being able to socialise or post material became
available on the VLE.
5.3 Blogging
The use of Blogs for example WordPress to create their own artefacts and to receive online comment from
peers has proved extremely useful. This has worked especially for the Engineering students who had to se up a
scenario fo themselves using the Factory 2.0 philosophy. The idea is that anyone can become an individual
designer and manufacturer of their own products by using Web 2.0 tools and the online engineering
community. This was part of the Eco Engineering module where the emphasis was the return of manufacturing
back to British shores. This would reduce transport, hence the reduction of Green House Gases. This was later
used as an e‐portfolio for other work, such as Engineering Systems Control. The ability to embed images and
video to show control systems working was invaluable.
5.4 Synchronous communication
The two main tools we used for online discussion and guidance were SKYPE and Adobe Connect. This proved
extremely invaluable, especially when students were under extreme pressure from work and need to
communicate remotely. The ability to guide students through the difficult parts of their dissertation, even on a
Sunday evening proved vey successful. The ability to mediate a conversation ie taking it in turns to speak gave
thinking time to the participants and sharing diagrams and text online gave further discussion and guidance.
5.5 Other techniques to help the working adult learner
We found the following very useful in helping our students in industry:
Open source software, can use on their own laptops or company machines. Including 3 month trials of
licenses, timed to cover the semester. We had the full versions at University.
Make everything wrap around their work, for example; taught element assignments using their work as
case study
Make the Dissertation, like a mini consultancy. In many cases this impressed their line managers and
would help their career prospects. The saying a consultant will use your watch to tell you the time is very
true. Better a person who has worked in the industry given time to solve problems via an educational
piece of properly researched work.
Weekend away delivery using a work simulation, based on teams acting as companies, making electric
irons, then electric drills. We acted as customers and suppliers. The winning team would be he most
solvent at the end. This has mainly been paper based. However, we have plans to put his online.
Facebook groups seem to work much better for full time learners, adult learners seem to favour more
formal methods, for example he University VLE and our “Green Room” discussion board
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6. In conclusion
This review of the literature and the real life examples have shown that working adult learners would welcome
a Blended learning experience as it would fit in with their busy working lives and enable the delivery of content
over the summer months.
This review has examined the different types of Web 2.0 systems available and how the popularity of social
networks has grown exponentially. The other advantage of this type of system is that they are designed to
facilitate communication and collaboration and content sharing across a network of contacts ie participants
can co‐create material and collaborate online. Further literature shows the benefits of both Synchronous and
Asynchronous communications and the problems that learners might encounter within each. This approach is
reinforced by the fact that we are a knowledge based society and that through being an active learner, a co‐
creator and a selector of learning material, life long learning skills are also enhanced. Further research will
determine the best way to encourage adult learners into using both formal VLE and informal SNS in a
collaborative way and how learning activities can be designed in order to take advantage of learning
communities.
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Analysis of e‐Learning Outcomes at Higher Education: A Case Study
Ibrahim Zincir1, Tohid Ahmed Rana2, Samsun Basarici2 and Sabah Balta3
1
Computer Engineering Department, Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey
2
Computer Technologies Department, Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey
3
Department of Science Culture, Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey
ibrahim.zincir@yasar.edu.tr
ahmed.rana@yasar.edu.tr
samsun.basarici@yasar.edu.tr
sabah.balta@yasar.edu.tr
Abstract: As explained in our paper “A Novel Approach To E‐Learning: Yasar University E‐Learning System (YES)” (Zincir et
al. 2013), since 2009, every student who attends Yasar University (Izmir, Turkey), regardless of their department, has to
take part in seven courses defined as University Foundation Courses (UFND). These courses are part of the university’s
effort to graduate students who are not only hard‐working and respectable, but also who are responsible and beneficent
to society and the environment that they are living in. Since approximately 4000 students attend these courses every term,
in academic year 2012‐2013, an E‐learning system called Yasar University E‐Learning System (YES) was introduced to take
these courses online. It was a novel approach that encourages the students to get involved in the courses much more
actively, since it grades them according to their learning behaviors. Basically, YES monitors all the activities of the students
all the time once they are connected to the system. These activities include how and when they access the information,
supplied materials, forums and chat rooms. This paper discusses the outcomes & the outputs of YES by presenting a brief
insight into the behavior of the students inside an e‐learning environment and by analyzing the correlation between the
success of the students and the way they interact with YES.
Keywords: e‐learning, higher education, collaborative learning, linear learning
1. Introduction
With growing student numbers and decreasing resources, educational institutions in general are being forced
to find new ways to keep the balance between the lack of resources and qualitative education. Specifically, at
the universities the traditional offline approach is now becoming a bigger burden. The problem is not only the
lack of resources but also the newer approaches in learning such as lifelong learning. Philosophically it is one of
the main goals of a university to work for the benefit of the society, knowledge and achievements of science
that should be accessible to the whole range of individuals living inside the same society. It is not wrong to say
that we are living in the information age. The prosperity and wealth of societies depend on how their members
gain information and how they deal with this information. A good approach to deal with the above mentioned
problems of education is found in e‐learning facilities. It is a well‐known fact that information technologies
help to improve the students’ learning strength and preferences. Researches presented that e‐learning
influence education in three different ways: multiple perspective, situated learning and transfer. This in return
enables the system to reach a wider range of students who can access and assimilate much more substantial
information and skills compared to the conventional learning schemas (Dede 2009). In addition e‐learning is
widely seen as a much more effective and efficient way to deliver concepts and models to the end users and
help them to increase their confidence (Dede et al. 2004, Dede 2009, Zincir et al. 2013). Hence, today many
institutions and organizations around the world implement e‐learning as a major component into their
learning systems. As discussed in (Zincir et al. 2013), Yasar University has chosen the way of e‐learning to teach
its students the so called University Foundation Courses (UFND) which is compulsory for all enrolled students.
The students have to take part in seven courses. Especially for these courses the university designed and
implemented a novel e‐learning system called Yasar University E‐learning System (YES). In YES each course
includes several different modules like videos, chat, course documents, pdf files, and forums. The evaluation of
the students covers all these activities. The whole system is explained in (Zincir et al. 2013). This paper covers
the analysis of YES. In section 2 we will introduce a brief overview of YES and then in section 3, we evaluate
and analyze its results and outcomes. Finally, the last section of this paper will be dedicated to the conclusion.
2. Yasar University e‐learning system (YES)
In 2009, Yasar University adopted a novel approach and enforces that every student who attends the
university, regardless of their department, has to take part in seven compulsory courses (Human Sciences,
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Research Culture, Design Culture, Aesthetic Culture, Ethic Culture, Project Culture, and a Social Responsibilities
Project) defined as University Foundation Courses (UFND), as can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1: Yasar University foundation courses (UFND)
Human Sciences
UFND 010‐A Behavioral Sciences
UFND 010‐B Semantic and Semiotic
1 UFND 010
UFND 010‐C Philosophy and History of Science
UFND 010‐D Technology and Society
UFND 010‐E Philosophy ‐ Logic
2 UFND 020 Research Culture
3 UFND 030 Design Culture
4 UFND 040 Aesthetic Culture
5 UFND 050 Ethic Culture
6 UFND 060 Project Design
7 UFND 070 Social Responsibilities Project
The main aim of the University for having these courses is to graduate students who are responsible and
beneficent to the environment that they are leaving in. Approximately 3800 students attended these courses
at the start. By time, this number surpassed 4500 and this brought a very serious problem; the shortage of
lecturers and classrooms as well as the complexity and difficulty of scheduling classes and classrooms for each
student (Zincir et al. 2013).
As a result, in January 2012, the Board of Trustees of Yasar University decided that, as the growing number of
students triggered the problems of having not enough venues and the lack of staff to conduct these courses, it
was necessary to provide an efficient and alternative system to overcome these challenges described above. A
novel e‐learning system (YES) was proposed for these seven courses and then implemented for the 2012‐2013
academic year. Existing e‐learning systems let the students to access documents, multimedia files etc. at
anytime and anywhere via the Internet, and monitor them continuously, but none of these programs actually
actively includes how the student interacts with the system (Bandeira 2009, Simpson 2013, Smart et al. 2006,
Yasar).
The most important part of YES is, it encourages students to actively participate in discussions with the
lecturers and other students, to fulfill the specific time requirements and enables them not to depend solely
on the exam results. Basically YES boosts students’ interest to the course by implementing many unique
features (i.e. the two tests only represent 20% of the final grade while forum participation at the right time
and at the right place represents 40%). As explained before at (Zincir et al. 2013), the 14 weeks long term is
divided into two stages, 7 weeks each. The first stage forms 40% of the final grade, and the second stage forms
60% of the final grade. Each of these two parts consists of 5 different evaluation modules; chat, forum, reading
material, multimedia, and test. For each module chat, forum, reading material, multimedia and test provide
10%, 40%, 10%, 20% and 20% of the total grade respectively. As it can be easily understand, only attending the
exams will not be enough for a student to pass. He/she has to actively participate in discussions, chat and
forums as well as has to download or to access all the necessary materials and to watch all the videos within
given time frame throughout the term. For example, at the third week of the term the student has to read a
th th
chapter about Italian art at and 15 and 16 century, to watch a video about Leonardo Da Vinci and to open a
discussion about the famous Italian artists at this specific time period. Without achieving all of these phases, a
student will not be able to get the full mark from that week. It should be noted here that, although the system
is time dependent, students can still arrange their study hours within that specific time frame. This approach,
in the end, enables the student to be the driving force behind his/her own grade accordingly.
3. Evaluation of YES
As it is mentioned before, YES started in the academic year 2012‐2013 in spring term. Before the official start
of YES some pilot tests and test runs were also performed. The information and experiences gained from these
tests gave a slight impression of what would be expected from YES. The main expectation was that the success
of the students using YES will improve with time up to a certain level and then will stay more or less constant.
In the first term there were 3715 students enrolled in all of the courses. This number increased within time, in
the 2013‐2014 fall term we had 3800 students and finally in the 2013‐2014 spring term, we had 4599 students
enrolled in all of the UFDN courses (Table 2).
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Table 2: Student numbers per term
Student Numbers
Term Number
2012‐2013 Spring 3715
2013‐2014 Fall 3800
2013‐2014 Spring 4599
Average: 4038
It was expected that YES would have some initial difficulties which mainly could have cause from the classic
approach of learning attitudes of the students. Yasar University students had been used to orthodox face‐to‐
face education. In the first term of YES, which was 2012‐2013 Spring term, the success measured in final
grades of the students was not very high as it can be seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Grades 2012‐2013 Spring
Although this was an expected result, it was of course academically unacceptable. The main reason of this was
the students did not comprehend how interactive the system was. It was understood that, majority of the
students who failed from these courses thought that, passing midterm and final exams with more than 60%
would be enough (while in reality, this was not the case and they represent only a fraction of the total grade as
explained in the previous section). Hence, at the beginning of 2013‐2014 Fall term, several information
sessions and briefings for the students were held. In return, with the increasing amount of approval of the
system by the students, at the end of the 2013‐2014 Fall and 2013‐2014 Spring terms, the grades changed
radically (Figure 2 and Figure 3).
Figure 2: Grades 2013‐2014 Fall
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Figure 3: Grades 2013‐2014 Spring
Comparing these figures represents that one of the main key factors in YES is its adaptation, its
implementation and also its successful acceptance by the students. In addition, analyzing the improvement of
the grades amongst these three terms, once the system and its grading schema were thoroughly understood
by the students, indicates a strong increase in the higher grades and a strong decrease in the lower grades
(Table 3 and Figure 4).
Table 3: Changes of grades (2012‐2013 Spring is 100%)
2013‐2014 Fall ‐ 2012‐2013 Spring 2013‐2014 Spring ‐ 2012‐2013 Spring 2013‐2014 Spring ‐ 2013‐2014 Fall
Grad Change in Change in Grad Change in Change in Grad Change in Change in
e numbers % e numbers % e numbers %
A 33 320% A 143 1053% A 110 329%
A‐ 130 288% A‐ 298 532% A‐ 168 184%
B+ 562 397% B+ 687 463% B+ 125 117%
B 570 325% B 709 380% B 139 117%
B‐ 374 248% B‐ 468 285% B‐ 94 115%
C+ 137 177% C+ 173 197% C+ 36 111%
C 23 112% C 28 115% C 5 102%
F ‐1744 32% F ‐1622 37% F 122 115%
As can be seen from Table 3, a comparison of grades between the first three terms (2013 spring, 2014 fall and
2014 spring) shows that the students understood how the system works and how much work has to be done
at what time of the term and followed the time restrictions and scales accordingly. Although the novel e‐
learning system may look as though it requires too many tasks to be completed, in reality it obliges one to
routinely study for a limited time. Hence, once the logic of the system is comprehended by its users, it
encourages the students to plan and to study in order, and by changing the weekly tasks routinely also
reassures to adopt themselves to the rapidly changing environments. This will then in return help them to deal
with the hard realities of the professional life once they are graduated.
Figure 4, presents the difference between the grades of the three terms with respect to each other. As it can
be observed, for example grade A raised by 320% whereas grade F decreased by approximately 70% from
2012‐13 spring to 2013‐14 fall. The same tendency holds also for the terms 2012‐13 spring to 2013‐14 spring,
e.g. grade A raised by 1053% whereas grade F decreased by 70%. From here one can again state that once the
system is established and appreciated by the clients then the success rate will improve and the previously
mentioned lifelong learning approach becomes much more feasible.
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Figure 4: Changes of grades (2012‐2013 Spring is 100%)
4. Conclusion and future work
This paper discusses the implementation of a novel e‐learning system; Yasar University E‐Learning System
(YES) and analyses the results obtained. YES was implemented at the start of the 2012‐2013 academic year for
the Yasar University Foundation Courses. The outcomes present a unique insight into the e‐learning systems at
higher education since it is now introduced to more than 4500 university students on each academic term. The
core of the e‐learning system is adapted from Sakai CLE, but in order to create and implement time restricted
activities, as well as to implement the unique features described above required to be inherited by the e‐
learning system, programmers from the IT department at Yasar University developed new modules and then
integrated them with the Sakai system. The result was a novel approach to e‐learning system which actively
requires and anticipates the student’s participation within the system.
After the implementation of the system initially it was not well understood by the students, as transition and
adaptation span from face to face learning to online learning brought its own confusions, complexities and
difficulties. At the beginning, the academic supervisors and the lecturers thoroughly informed the students
about the time restricted activities as well as how the final grade was going to be calculated for each course. In
addition, many warning messages were forwarded to the students by the system to inform them about these
time restricted activities. Still, a very high percentage of the students never really noticed that the exams in
total only affects 20% of the final grade and they will not get any marks for any activity unless it is completed
within the given time frame. That is the reason we were not able to get good results as expected in the first
term but it was gradually improved in later terms. The result of this approach presents an obvious positive
learning attitude as efficient and effective as face to face learning, and in fact, in some cases even that is much
more successful.
As it is a well‐known but mostly not appreciated fact also with YES, it has been seen that the main factor in an
e‐learning system is the student. Focusing only on the technical aspects of an e‐learning system doesn’t bring
the expected success. The introduction of YES was followed from the very beginning by an excessive
information and guidance process. We have seen that the resistance which resulted from the transition of face
to face to e‐learning approach diminished and disappeared with this guidance process and the students
accepted and appreciated the benefits of YES. They also took more responsibility for their own learning. The
results show that the grades increased very fast parallel to the acceptance of YES and reach a level where we
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expect that they will stay constant. To conclude briefly, we can say that every e‐learning system should not
only introduced in a technical manner but also should be promoted and explained very well to the users.
On a final note, it should be noted here that, future research will be held in order to understand the
correlation between how the end user interacts with the system; i.e. what time of the day the student uses the
system and its frequency, as well as how many times does the specific link/document/file is clicked and again
at what time of the day these actions are taken. The results of this analysis will also be published in 2015. We
believe this will gives us a unique insight into the novel e‐learning environment which will further help us to
implement a novel machine learning architecture into YES, so that the system may react and warn the
students and also challenge them whenever it is necessary, autonomously.
References
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Dede C. (2009), "Immersive Interfaces for Engagement and Learning", Science Magazine, 2 January 2009, Volume 323,
Number 5910, pp. 66‐69.
Dede, C., Brown‐L'Bahy T., Ketelhut D. and Whitehouse P. (2004), "Distance Learning (Virtual Learning)", The Internet
Encyclopedia, Wiley, pp. 549–560.
Moore M. and Kearsley G. (2013), "Distance Education: A Systems View of Online Learning", Wadsworth Publishing,
Belmont.
Sakai CLE, http://sakaiproject.org/ (accessed 18/06/2014)
Simpson O. (2013), "Supporting Students for Success in Online and Distance Education: Open and Flexible Learning",
Routledge, New York.
Smart K. L. and Cappel J. J. (2006), "Perception of Online Learning: A Comparative Study", Journal of Information
Technology Education, Volume 5, pp. 201‐219.
Yasar E‐Learning System: http://e.yasar.edu.tr/ (accessed 18/06/2014)
Zincir, I., Zeytinoglu, M., Rana, T.A. and Basarici, S.M. (2013), "A Novel Approach to E‐Learning: Yasar University E‐Learning
System (YES)", 12th European Conference on e‐Learning ECEL 2013, Nice, France, pp. 546‐552.
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PhD
Research
Papers
605
606
Quality of Women's Learning Experiences in the Digital age in
Higher Education in Saudi Arabia
Nourah Alshaghdali1, Sue Greener1 and Avril Loveless2
1
University of Brighton, Brighton Business School, (Moulsecoomb) Brighton, UK
2
University of Brighton, Education Research Centre, (Falmer) Brighton, UK
N.Alshaghdali1@uni.brighton.ac.uk
S.L.Greener@brighton.ac.uk
A.M.Loveless@brighton.ac.uk
Abstract: This paper reports on the on-going work of a PhD study, which aims at analysing the quality of Saudi
female learning experience, and the learning tools and technologies in higher education (HE). This paper aims
to: 1) provide an overview of the ways in which the Saudi female student learning experience in HE has been
and is conceptualised; 2) provide an overview of how Saudi universities have used technologies (such as
distance learning, e-learning, and live podcasting lectures, CCTV lecturers) in line with Saudi culture, religion
and beliefs; and 3) discuss the methodological approach adopted to the on-going investigation into the Saudi
female student learning experience. The paper presents broad and general discussion of female learning
experience in Saudi universities including: learning environments, assessment and teaching, and curriculum.
The project identified limited scientific studies using questionnaire methods, and elsewhere most of the
reported information relating to Saudi females was based on commentary attempts. The paper concludes with
a discussion of the uniqueness of this PhD study, and explanation of the stage this PhD study has reached.
Keywords: student learning experience; Saudi higher education; CCTV lectures; undergraduate learning, Saudi
female students
During the last decade, both policy makers and academics in the field of development have given increasing
attention to the relationship between education and development (Tjomsland, 2009), as the quality of a
country’s higher education (HE) sector and its assessment is not only key to its social and economic well-being
but is also a defining element affecting the status of that higher education system at the worldwide level
(UNESCO, 2005). Moreover, most of major policy proposals in this field highlight the importance of female
education. In addition, this issue has attracted an increasing number of academics wishing to focus on
development and education in their work (Kabeer, 2005; Stromquist, 2001), which means that the education
of females is currently one of the most important subjects in the international development dialogue.
In Saudi Arabia, higher education faces many issues, such as low-test marks of students; as students in the 8th
grade in Saudi Arabia were ranked 43rd in Mathematics and 39th in Science out of 50 countries, according to a
report by McKinsey & Company (2007).
In addition, the major challenge for Saudi higher education is the growing domestic qualification and
encouraging cooperation between higher education programmes and the community (Alshayea, 2012). In
addition, the quality of learning in Saudi higher education may have been affected by the ranking of Saudi
universities on a global scale. In fact, none of the Saudi universities are listed within the 392 leading
educational institutions in the World, according to a report by Mine Paristech (2011); King Saud University,
however, ranks 199th in Webometrics, and King Fahad University of Petroleum & Minerals ranks 404th.
Similarly, in the Times Higher Education-Quacquarelli Symonds survey (THE-QS), King Saud University ranks
247th and King Fahad University of Petroleum & Minerals ranks 266th. This performance level is very low
compared with other countries of the developing world (Abouammoh, 2010).
According to a report by The World Bank (2008), Saudi Arabia has exceeded average scores for education and
for the number of reforms required by developing countries, but has scored unsatisfactorily on public
accountability (Figure 1).
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Nourah Alshaghdali, Sue Greener and Avril Loveless
Figure 1: The low performance (outcomes) from Saudi Higher education compared to other Arab countries.
(The World Bank, 2008)
Therefore, Saudi Arabia has started to reform its general education and higher education (HE) (AlMunajjed,
2009). At the higher education level, the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment
(NCAAA), a programme aimed to assess the quality of Saudi HE, announced in their website that only eight
universities - out of 26 - in Saudi had its approval recognition (6 private, and only 2 public universities) (NCAAA,
2012). Yet no published approvals have been found recently. As a result, the Saudi Ministry of Higher
education, started a reform project for all of its learning institutions in 2009, but this project is still in its initial
stages of planning and exploration (AlMunajjed, 2009). Currently, the Ministry of Higher Education has
established: Saudi Centres Of Research Excellence (SCORE) to encourage and to develop the research level in
Saudi universities, the National Center for E-Learning and Distance Learning Project, and Scholarships for Study
Abroad at all levels: undergraduate and graduate studies in all majors aiming to recruit these students (after
finishing their courses and coming back to Saudi) into different governmental jobs including universities
(Ministry of Higher Education, 2010). However, The HE reforming project is still progressing and supervised by
a high level committee, consisting of academics, experts (local and expats) and members of the Government
Council (Shoura) (Altamimi, 2011). These reforms may takes a few years before their impact becomes evident.
Yet, the voice of students (especialy women students) and their opinions are still hidden; therefore, this PhD
study will be focusing on female undergraduate students’ point of view on the learning experience and discuss
their learning issues and obstacles (if they exist), and could propose points and issues that may influence and
help with the improving process of female education, in specific fields, and throughout higher education in
general.
This paper reports on the on-going work of a PhD study, which aims to analyse the quality of Saudi female
learning experience and the learning tools and technologies in higher education (HE). It starts by highlighting
the background, followed by defining the study’s aims and questions, then outlines the current female learning
experience in Saudi Arabia, and finishes with the current research process and the stage reached.
The importance of studying and understanding students’ learning experiences has been highlighted in research
debate, finding that in order to assess quality in higher education, student learning and experience must be
taken into account. However, student learning is difficult to determine (Pring, 1992). Therefore, many efforts
have been developed to assess quality in higher education based on evaluations delivered by students
themselves (Ertl et al., 2008). Moreover, much research has justified the use of student evaluation and their
own learning experiences; that students are the primary recipients of higher education experience, and they
spend substantial time and energy for attending universities, being in contact with their tutors for a
considerable time. Therefore several authors stressed the importance of the use of student learning
experience to assess the level of their university in term of teaching, universities learning resources and
environments (March and Overal, 1980).
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Yet, the research community are arguing on underlying definitions and conceptualisations of student learning
experience; as they claim that a clear understanding of how the student learning experience can be measured
and evaluated still has not being determined (Ertl et al., 2008). However, Neumann (1990) was the first
researcher to introduce ‘quality of learning experience’ (QLE) as a term; and he defined it as follows
(Charkhabi, Abarghuei and Hayati, 2013):
“It is student’s perceptions of the direct and indirect inputs that they receive from their college. Direct
inputs mean, college investments in the educational program in terms of content, resources and
flexibility, whereas indirect inputs consist of the processes by which colleges attempt to enhance
learning, for example, student-faculty contact and intrinsic involvement in academic
programs.”(Neumann, 1990)
Therefore, research into student learning experience has a broad base of subjects; as Marton and his students
(during the 1970s and early 80s) and Perry (during the mid 80s and early 1990s) have studied ‘approaches to
learning’ adopting qualitative methodology; other researchers have studied the factors influencing learning,
which lie behind the teacher and student interaction, and this includes studies on the formal and informal
academic, institutional and ‘cultures’, and how they shape students learning experiences within higher
education (Ertl et al., 2008). Moreover, other researchers have proposed a relationship between students’
academic goals and motivations, (low, moderate and high goals) with the quality of learning procedures, such
as Wolters (2004) and Valle et al. (2009). As a result, studying student learning experience seems rather
complex and has many elements and indicators that need to be covered to address such an experience.
The present research will be of great value to those who relate to the field of higher education. It concentrates
on the female learning experience from their own point of view to discover their learning obstacles, issues,
and what can be done to help improve their learning journey. The researcher will try to identify these areas
and therefore suggest solutions to the problems that might affect the teaching and learning process. Her final
results might help to revise the policies and might help to increase the level of Saudi Higher education, as the
researcher is hoping that her study may influence the decision-makers at the higher level of the Saudi Higher
Education Ministry.
Moreover, this study will not only be applicable to Saudi Arabia, it will help many decision-makers around the
world at higher education level to understand the educational background of overseas female students who
come from such restricted, religious and traditional countries as Saudi Arabia. This research will help to
recognize the required skills and courses that these females students should attain before enrolling in
universities in developed countries, be they European, British or American universities.
Analyse the quality of Saudi female learning experience and the learning tools.
Examine the women’s goals in higher education and discover how their goals could affect their learning
process.
Describe the personal learning environment in two higher education institutions in Saudi and explore their
interactive tools.
Contribute to the knowledge gap about the role of women in relation to higher education and
development in the academic field.
Review teaching policy and pedagogy within this domain (the higher education sector).
5. Research questions
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Nourah Alshaghdali, Sue Greener and Avril Loveless
Q4. How do women reflect on the quality of their learning experience in Saudi higher
education?
Q5. What would Saudi female students suggest to improve their learning experience?
A major priority of the Saudi government has been directed towards guaranteeing the right to education for all
male and female citizens. However, female learning experiences have not yet been studied or researched in
depth. They have been discussed through complementary reports and articles. Yet, studying students’ learning
experience can tackle many issues related to higher education, as it is considered a vital asset in learning
development (Ertl and Wright, 2008). However, limited efforts have been made to report Saudi women’s
learning experience in higher education, as follows:
Most of the articles publish relating to this subject were commentary documents on, for example, the drop-
out rate of female students from universities, transition from school to university, and preparedness.
These exploratory studies highlight the need for staff and tutors to be more aware of the attitude that
students bring with them to university.
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Education, Independent-learning and Health Awareness (AlMunajjed, 2009). However, girls will be accepted to
specialise at university only if they successfully pass this one-year programme with high average grades.
These studies omitted any investigation of the process of induction, Student expectations and preparedness
for higher education, and did not reveal the skills required for universities other than English, and their impact
on students’ learning outcomes.
It has been reported that the curriculum and programmes offered to students do not meet the students’ socio-
economic needs or their expectations, and were criticized by members of the Shoura (consultative) Council to
the Minister of Education, questioning the educational performance of the Ministry over past years (Al Hayat
newspaper, 2008). However, after reforming the education system in Saudi Arabia over the past two years,
new reports and scientific investigations are needed to confirm with the students the validity of the new
curricular and to assess student satisfaction. Moreover, according to the “Trends in International Mathematics
and Science Study” (TIMSS) (2007) undertaken by the International Association for the Evaluation of
Educational Achievement, and based on an international evaluation of 50 countries, the educational system in
Saudi Arabia was falling behind European, Asian, American and other Arab countries in Mathematics and the
Sciences. It took 46th place out of 49 in Mathematics and 44th place out of 49 in the Sciences. Saudi students
got an average of 329 points, which was well below the world average of 500 points (UNDP, 2008).
However, the girls’ curriculum lacks fieldwork, teamwork, and innovative research based on evaluation and
brainstorming. In addition, methods for teaching girls still tend to focus at all educational levels on the
traditional way of learning, based on repetition and memorization instead of analytical research methodology,
creative thinking, personality development, and the development of skills (AlMunajjed, 2009). In addition,
girls’ education suffers from a shortage of well-qualified teachers; as Saudi academics have expressed their
criticism to the Ministry of Education about the performance of teachers and the need to formulate new
programmes for teaching (Al Hayat newspaper, 2008).
Teaching methods
The traditional methods of teaching might still be practiced, and that might be because of the education
system which is not providing teachers with adequate teaching and training programmes. This lack of training
is reflected in the inability to communicate and interact with students, to encourage teamwork, and to
develop the personality of students, promoting the value of understanding and open-mindedness (Hamdan,
2005). Moreover, this issue is also reflected in a general inability to use information and communication
technology (ICT), and to integrate it into the teaching and learning process (AlMunajjed, 2009). High academic
qualifications are not part of the requirements and the concept of lifelong learning - which is essential to
update knowledge and skills - is broadly missing.
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Nourah Alshaghdali, Sue Greener and Avril Loveless
Problem-based learning is the learning strategy that has been studied the most, and it has been only
researched in Medical and Health Education in Saudi Arabia: one study at King Saud University in Riyadh
(Al-Farsi et al., 2008), and another at Qassim University (Shamsan and Syed, 2009). The third one was at
King Abdulaziz University (Ibrahim et al., 2014). These studies evaluated students’ satisfaction as benefits
from such a strategy (male and female) and all were positive, but whether knowledge gained was not
clear. It is noteworthy that Al-Farsi et al.’s (2008) sample size was small compared to the other two studies
(33 students) and their instrument’s validity and reliability was not tested.
One article compared the impact of various approaches to learning (traditional, blended and e-learning)
on the students experience and their effectiveness (Al-Qahtani and Higginst, 2013). This study was
conducted at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia and found that there was a statistically significant
difference between the three approaches in term of students’ achievement, preferring the blended
learning method. Nevertheless, the results might differ, if the instructor of these methods was not one of
the authors.
Reports related to women’s learning environments are limited, however, the existing knowledge about female
undergraduate students’ learning environment can be grouped under three main subjects: segregated
campuses, technologies supporting learning process, and female transportation.
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Nourah Alshaghdali, Sue Greener and Avril Loveless
Figure 3 shows that a male student can park his car inside the campus, whether on the parking area or infront
of his faculty. However, on the women’s campus the situation is different; as females have to go through three
zones to enter the campus (Fig.4). Zone A is the pick up/drop off area; as Saudi females are driven to university
by their own male drivers (husbands, brothers, fathers, or a driver authorized by her guardian) or by the
university’s buses, since Saudi females are banned from driving cars by Saudi Law. In Zone A there are male
security services checking on the drivers’ identification and making sure that females are arriving or leaving
with a driver approved by their guardians. In addition, Zone A count as an outside area, therefore females have
to wear their ‘Abaya’ (the long black veil) to cover their bodies from the male strangers.
Zone C is the campus where all female faculties are located with other female only buildings, such as the
university’s female administration, female student services, female coffee shops, university’s library, and the
health centre for females. In this zone (Zone C) females can enjoy freedom and can take off their ‘Abaya’ and
even walking between buildings.
However, huge walls, isolating them from the outside world, surround all three zones.
Inside the faculties: there are lecture theatres and classes for students, laboratories and computer rooms. In
addition, female students are attending different types of lectures in Saudi universities, for example: face-to-
face lectures, and CCTV lectures (Al Lily, 2012). CCTV lectures (live broadcasting lectures) exist because of the
shortages of qualified female lecturers in many fields, therefore, Saudi universities had to employ male
lecturers to teach and lecture female students; but because of the law in Saudi not permitting male academics
to enter the female campus to teach women face-to-face, many methods of teaching have been implemented
in Saudi universities such as CCTV lectures.
The principle of CCTV lectures is to enable male academics to be technologically connected to the female
campus while being physically outside it, where female students are sitting in another room inside the female
campus, observing the male lecturer and the whiteboard through TV monitors (see Figure 5, for the type of
female lectures).
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Nourah Alshaghdali, Sue Greener and Avril Loveless
These studies illustrated a common methodology that had been implemented in their research process;
quantitative surveys were conducted with students to test variables, which are part of the learning
environments. In some cases, this method was combined with individual or group interviews and observation
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Nourah Alshaghdali, Sue Greener and Avril Loveless
of the facilities available. However, only a few studies were found to use a qualitative approach to find results.
Moreover, most of these studies were about testing new technology and then reporting on the students’
attitudes. Thus, it might be useful to investigate students’ perceptions about new methods and discover which
type of tools would really benefit their learning and help them to gain more knowledge and better outcomes.
Furthermore, it is to be noted that most of these Saudi Arabian studies have used asynchronous interaction.
This might be due to the limitation in the network and/or connection problems within Saudi Arabia (Alebaikan
and Troudi, 2010).
In general, there is limited research related to the learning environment; and it would lead to far better
understanding if there was further study about the students’ personal learning environment, the relationship
between the student and the staff of the university, the atmosphere in which learning and teaching are taking
place, and the extent of student networking.Transportation (Al Ameen Project)
The Ministry of Education launched this transportation project on October 2008 for female students
transportation (free of charge for students), and it has been implemented in Mecca, Al Medina, Qassim, the
Eastern region, Riyadh, and the Northern Frontiers, with about 500,000 female students transported on 3,823
buses and 2,678 vehicles (Saudi Gazette report, 2008). Before this project (even after), when female students
have to rely on their male guardians to drive them wherever they want to go; as there is no public transport
suitable for women in Saudi Arabia. However, some female students could not arrange for male relatives to
drive them, and had to employ a male driver.
There is a limited amount of research in the field of cultural influences and how student background may
reflect on their learning experience. However, Eid and Nuhu’s (2011) found that knowledge sharing between
the male students of King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) is a culture of learning and
that the use of information technology (IT) has helped encourage this knowledge sharing. Moreover, Khashan
(1984) found that Saudi students believed that friendship is a manifestation of loyalty; therefore they would
not hesitate to transfer information to a friend during examinations.
It is, therefore, recommended that this is extended to consider several universities in order to study Saudi
students’ culture of learning. Furthermore, including female respondents in the analysis would further
enhance understanding of this issue.
7. Conclusion
It is clear that the Saudi Government is serious about improving the quality of girls' education; the opening of
Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University for women (the largest centre of higher education for Saudi
women) is one example. However, unlike males, even with the new university, females still cannot enter the
Engineering or Petroleum and Minerals fields of study. The progression of educational reform has already
started and is supervised by a high level committee, consisting of academics, experts and members of the
Government Council (Shoura). It may take a few years before the impact of these reforms becomes evident.
The learning experience of female students (undergraduates) at public universities has mostly been reported
through newspapers and commentary articles. However, the voice of students and their opinions are still
hidden; therefore this PhD study will be focusing on the female students’ point of view on the learning
experience and will discuss their learning issues and obstacles - if they exist – and will propose points and
suggestions made by the students themselves. This might help to improve the process of reform within female
education in particular, and may help to improve the quality of learning experience for all students in Saudi
Arabia.
Moreover, the social position of Saudi females will be considered and respected in conducting this study.
However, this study will conduct a qualitative approach to contribute to the knowledge gap, therefore, two
case studies will be conducted (each at different universities located in different cities within Saudi Arabia) to
answer the research questions. It will include semi-structured interview with female students and their tutors
(male and females), with observation techniques to record students’ personal environments and the cultural
influences.
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Nourah Alshaghdali, Sue Greener and Avril Loveless
The ethical approval for this PhD study has already been granted and approved. Currently this study has
concluded the first case study and is at the stage of analysing the collected research data.
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Micro Notes Application for Education: A Proposed Mobile Micro
Note‐Taking Architecture
Maram Al Zaidi, Mike Joy and Jane Sinclair
Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
m.s.alzaidi@warwick.ac.uk
M.S.Joy@warwick.ac.uk
J.E.Sinclair@warwick.ac.uk
Abstract: Given the massive uptake in the domain of information and communication technology, there is great potential
for integrating social media technologies with learning processes at universities. Social Network Sites (SNS), e.g. Twitter
and Facebook, have been used in various educational activities. However, the use of such sites in educational activities is
still generic often confining itself to aspects related to creating module notebooks. Hence, this study aims to employ SNS,
and more specifically the features of Twitter, in the educational process so as to make it more effective than has been the
case hitherto. Mobile technologies have also formed the basis for innovative note‐taking solutions to be used by students
in the classroom to cover the shortcomings of traditional notes. Based on mobile technologies and SNS features, this study
proposes an architecture that provides undergraduate students with a new innovative note‐taking tool. The architecture
has been proposed to fit the students’ needs at higher education level as regards their note‐taking practice. The proposed
architecture was built based on a MVC three tier model that is used for interaction application. This issue has not been
investigated in the literature and thus its usefulness to the learning process is still unexplored.
Keywords: note‐taking, Twitter in education, micro note‐taking, mobile technology, architecture
1. Introduction
Social Network Sites (SNS) have been used recently as a new trend in learning and teaching in higher education.
Most current students have grown up in the digital age where this technology is present in all areas of their
lives including their learning and teaching activities. In fact, Twitter is one of the most popular platforms that
have been recently employed in teaching and learning. For example, Dhir et al. (2013) show that a significant
growth in the popularity of Twitter is in the educational sector. Similarly, mobile technology has increasingly
been used in learning and teaching in higher education. According to Traxler (2007) using wireless, mobile and
handheld devices has gradually increased and been disseminated across educational sectors. Personal mobile
devices are ubiquitous amongst student populations in universities ( Herrington et al 2008). Keeping these
advanced technologies mentioned above in mind, there would seem to be a clear need to investigate how
these can be used to serve the note‐taking practice in education.
Numerous studies have reflected an increased interest in using technologies for note‐taking practice in
education (Abowd et al., 1998; Aitken and Hatt, 2012; Truong, 1999; Zhang and He, 2004; Singh et al., 2004;
Kam et al 2005; Berque 2006; Reilly and Shen, 2009; and Marrandino et al., 2011). However, none of these
studies have focused on social network sites (SNS) or even the short text messages for note‐taking practice in
education and also have not used the three tier architecture (MVC) Model‐View‐Control pattern design
architecture. Hence, this paper is suggesting an architecture for note‐taking practice in education that focuses
on providing the two main functions of note‐taking e.g. the encoding function and the recalling function using
mobile technology and Social Network Sites features for current age students. The proposed architecture has
been drawn based on two resources: the first resource was used in the light of the rich history of the literature
review of research on mobile technology, Social Network Sites features and the note‐taking activity. The
second was the result of an exploratory study that was conducted at an early stage.
The most surprising result of the exploratory research was that traditional pen and paper was observed to be
still the most favored tool used by undergraduate students for note‐taking practice (Al‐zaidi et al., 2013).
Therefore, our innovative architecture developed here is based on critically analyzing the literature reviews in
order to solve the problem of the untidy pen and paper medium and the lack of gaining the benefits of online
learning. The literature reviews that have been used to help us in framing the idea of the proposed
architecture will be discussed in the paper further. This paper introduces the proposed architecture in detail,
followed by its evaluation technique, and finally the conclusions of the study.
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Maram Al Zaidi, Mike Joy and Jane Sinclair
2. Literature review
2.1 Mobile technology
In recent years, the quick growth of mobile technologies is promising a new revolution that might be
comparable with that of the web (Trifonova and Ronchetti, 2003). Mobile technologies in education can help
in supporting teaching and learning such as personal organization without explicitly being part of the learning
activity themselves (Naismith et al 2004). M‐learning can be considered as a learning tool for accessing content,
which can be locally stored on the device or can be reached through interconnection (Trifonova and Ronchetti,
2003). The most obvious use of mobile devices for educational purposes is in fact a direct application of e‐
learning techniques on smaller devices instead of those on a desktop PC (Trifonova and Ronchetti, 2003).
2.2 Mobile learning
Recently, rapid advances in mobile learning have been viewed as a major trend in higher education. Georgive
et al. (2004) pointed out that m‐learning offers a new way of learning and teaching, which redresses the
deficiencies of traditional education. Indeed, Georgive et al. (2004) highlighted that m‐ learning is becoming a
new form of learning worldwide that is based on mobile devices such as the PDA, cell phone and Tablet PC.
According to (Herrington et al., 2008) and Sharples (2006) the use of mobile phones has already grown
amongst students as well as across all educational areas. (Sharples et al., 2002) argued that handheld
computers and mobile communication are technologies that can be used in supporting individuals to learn
anytime, anywhere. Similarly, (Naismith et al., 2004) identified that mobile phones and personal digital
assistants are the most prevalent technologies for mobile learning. Moreover, (Traxler, 2007) emphasizes that
mobile learning has been growing obviously and significantly in higher education.
(Alexander 2004) stated that students learn more effectively with mobile devices than they do with desktop
computers. According to Evans (2008), using m‐learning as a teaching and learning strategy for college
students appears to be an effective tool in higher education. Another study by (Fozdar and Kumar, 2007)
indicated that using m‐learning could help in improving students retention by enhancing the delivery of
education. (Traxler, 2005) highlighted that m‐learning is a new educational format. Hence, this strongly
suggests that m‐learning is an innovative educational tool, since many researchers attempted to investigate
how the mobile technologies can be employed for educational activities.
2.3 Mobile device
Personal mobile devices are ubiquitous amongst student populations in universities (Herrington et al., 2008).
Mobile devices perform many of the functions of desktop computers with the advantages of simplicity in that
they are ‘easy to carry’ and give improved access everywhere, anytime (Houser et al., 2002). Widespread
ownership of mobile phones and the availability of other portable and wireless devices have been the
landscape of technology‐supported learning (Kukulska‐Hulme, 2009). These technologies turn out to be well
aligned with strategic educational goals such as improving students retention (Kukulska‐hulme, 2007).
Personal digital assistants and mobile phones are the most commonly used technologies for mobile learning
(Naismith et al., 2004). Individuality is one of mobile devices’ properties such as personal digital assistance
(PDA) that generates unique educational affordances (Klopfer et al., 2002).
2.4 Note‐taking
Note‐taking is one of the most important activities used in learning processes and has proven its positive
impact on students’ achievement (Kiewra, 1987; Piolat et al., 2005). Note‐taking is one of the most commonly
used techniques by students during lectures (Hartley and Davies, 1978). Traditionally, this course of action is
usually conducted manually (i.e. pen and paper). In recent years, Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis,
and social networking sites have been used to transform teaching and learning in higher education given that
such technologies offer software developers and end‐users the ability to create and modify content online.
Web 2.0 technologies have actually been used in a number of educational activities (e.g. communications,
discussions, and note‐taking) that are carried out by students in classroom settings. These activities appear to
be more interesting and appealing to students when they are enabled by Web 2.0 technologies and thus we
assume that such technologies have the potential to enhance their learning skills.
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Maram Al Zaidi, Mike Joy and Jane Sinclair
2.5 Twitter in education
Twitter has been deployed in a number of ways in higher education (Leaver, 2012). To give just a few examples,
it was found that one of the advantages of using Twitter in a classroom setting is that it offers students an
additional channel for communication (Tyma, 2011, ). Scornavacca et al. (2009) also found that for handling
questions in a large classroom, text messages can be used as a more practical and efficient way than the
traditional raising‐hand method. However, a survey of faculty members, guests, and students on a pharmacy
management course that was conducted by Fox et al. (2011) showed that although 80% of the sample found
that Twitter facilitates class participation, 71% and 69% of the sample, however, indicated that Twitter was
distracting, and actually prevented note‐taking, respectively. Hence, using Twitter during lectures to get
involved in classroom activities seems to be annoying for instructors leading classes (Hartman and
McCambridge., 2011). In line with this, Cherney (2008) argued that students who use Twitter will lose the
space for thinking in depth compared to traditional teaching in classrooms.
On the other hand, some studies argue that the use of Twitter in classroom settings is advantageous. For
example, Junco et al. (2010) argued that using Twitter changes the way traditional activities take place in
classrooms and leads to keeping students engaged. Accordingly, the literature shows inconsistent results
regarding the appropriateness of using Twitter in classroom settings and for educational purposes. A plausible
explanation is that Twitter and similar social networking sites are not specifically designed as an educational
tool that supports the learning process.
Microblogging is a form of communication that allows people to generate content by posting short posts
limited to 140 characters. One of the most popular microblog tools is Twitter, with more than 6 billion users
as of Jan, 2014 according to Statistic Brain. A survey conducted by Cheng et al. (2009) showed that 65% of
Twitter users are under the age of 25. Junco et al. (2011) found that Twitter has been used in teaching and
learning amongst the students. Most studies of using Twitter in classrooms have focused on Twitter as a
feedback tool between teachers and students (Kassens‐Noor, 2012). Another study by Chamberlin et al. (2011)
suggested that Twitter is a simple tool allowing students to post short text messages of just 140 characters or
less in educational fields. According to Faculty Focus Statistics (2010) Twitter has become a very popular
learning tool in the educational setting among both teachers and students. Recent evidence showed that
Twitter has a significant impact on students’ engagement in learning processes (Junco et al., 2010). However,
another study by Fox et al. (2011) indicated that using Twitter in the classroom environment is distracting and
by far the major percentage of participants said it prevented note‐taking.
2.6 Micro note‐taking
Katayama and Crooks (2003) have highlighted that online educators have had to reconsider the popularity of
the alternative mode of learning with technology, as a consequence of the widespread emergence of
electronic notes and text. Therefore, Micro Note‐taking has been defined earlier in this research by (Al‐Zaidi et
al., 2013) as a small‐sized class of remarks that serve as an initial reservoir of presented information for future
uses. This paper attempts to describe the proposed Micro Note‐taking application as follows: learners are not
using modern tools efficiently for note‐taking activity during lectures and using pen and paper is outmoded
and although not necessarily bad is far from being a good tool. The development of online Micro Note‐taking
Application is based on facts that are gleaned from the literature reviews regarding the benefits of online
learning using mobile technology in learning. Also, it attempts to address the major shortcoming that has
been revealed from the learners’ perspective with regard to the note‐taking activity. A simple solution will be
developed for the leaners which is based on a short text message of Twitter taken by individual learners on
their mobile devices from the presented information during lectures such as: PowerPoint slides, writing on the
board and material resources. The micro notes are short, managed and grouped into module notebooks using
keywords so that they will be easy to recall later. To recall the information that was noted manually by using
pen‐and‐paper would be a time consuming task as well as an untidy job for the learners. A Micro Note‐taking
Application will be deployed in the classroom environment on the learners’ mobile devices via Internet
connection as a modern tool for note‐taking activity instead of using a traditional one.
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Maram Al Zaidi, Mike Joy and Jane Sinclair
3. Proposed application architecture
3.1 Physical architecture
The proposed architecture was suggested to abstract the operation of the proposed application. The
architecture for the proposed application basically was built upon two main resources: our vision in the light of
the literature reviews and the outcome of the investigation’s exploratory study that was carried out. Our
application was built based on client server approach. A three‐tier architecture was adopted to describe clearly
the operations of the proposed application (as shown in figure 1).
According to the kind of mobile application type, Micro Note‐taking application can be categorized as a mobile
application based on web services that are accessible through web services protocol (programmatic interface)
(Ghatol and Patel, 2012). These web services are as follow: adding module notebook, encoding the notes,
recalling the notes, adding keywords and searching for the notes. The database was used as a main storage for
the data application (Vicknair et al., 2010). MySQL was used to develop the database the most common used
open source (Converse et al., 2013). PHP stands for Hypertext Processor is an open source, server side and
HTML embedded web‐scripting language (Converse et al., 2013). To ensure the connection between the
database and mobile web application, PHP 5 will be used because it offers much‐enhanced object
programming functionality (Converse et al., 2013). Apache was used as a web server, as it is the most
common used with PHP and MySQL (Converse et al., 2013).
Figure 1: Micro note‐taking application architecture
4. Suggested application evaluation
The proposed architecture will be used to implement the initial prototype of the application for note‐taking
practice in education. The research method techniques will be applied here in order to improve the next
version of the application. To achieve the research aim along with its objectives, this research follows the
Design‐Science Research (DSR) paradigm. This paradigm is deemed appropriate when a research aims to
produce artefacts (i.e. utilities) that address the so‐called wicked problems (Hevner et al., 2004). In principle,
the design‐science research attempts to successfully design, develop, and evaluate technology‐oriented design
artefacts characterized as novel, innovative, and purposeful. Design‐science research, in general, aims to solve
unstructured but relevant organizational or social problems through the development of novel and useful
artefacts. As the current research aims to help in solving students’ note‐taking problems by developing a
purposeful micro note‐taking application, the design‐science research paradigm is deemed fitting. First, this
study will employ an experimental study design, involving a convenience sample of students to determine the
impact of the micro note‐taking experience. Then, a qualitative research method will be used for measuring
different students’ perspectives on the initial prototype. Patton (1990) pointed out that a qualitative research
method can be used basically to gain two aspects: new opinions/ perspectives on things about which little is
already known, or to gain more in‐depth information that may be difficult to convey quantitatively. Therefore,
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Maram Al Zaidi, Mike Joy and Jane Sinclair
a semi‐structured interview and focus groups will be applied where the interviewer has the flexibility to
explore and probe with this predefined list of questions and themes. The application will be implemented and
then tested using a qualitative research method as mentioned above.
5. Conclusion
This paper presents a new architecture for note‐taking practice in education based on Social Network Sites
(SNS) and Mobile technology. The architecture will be used to formulate a stand‐alone web‐based mobile
application. The application relies on mobile technology and use of one of the Social Network Sites features;
specifically the use of just 140 characters to post the generated content for note‐taking practice. Model‐View‐
Control (MVC) pattern design is the most widely used for interactive web based systems and was utilized to
build the architecture. For the next version of the prototype application, users’ feedback and views will be
taken into consideration to improve it in relation to the students’ needs. The final prototype will go through
the evaluation stage with students at the University of Warwick to investigate and collect their views and
perceptions about using this tool for note‐taking practice.
As mentioned above, the proposed architecture stemmed from the literature review on note‐taking practice
as well as new technologies employed in education and the exploratory results were carried out to investigate
the current note‐taking practice for students to contribute knowledge helping to fill the gap of this research.
The prime research evaluation technique for this application will be interviews to collect different views about
a new application for note‐taking practice. As discussed above, the system is still in the early stage of this
research but it suggests an innovative approach for note‐taking practice by integrating the social network sites
features with mobile technology.
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Reading on Tablets: Students’ Awareness and use of Foreign
Language Reading Strategies
Natalia Auer
Institute of Learning Innovation, University of Leicester, UK
nca4@le.ac.uk
Abstract: Students bring into the classroom their own mobile devices, but do not take advantage of the various features
that the technology offers for supporting learning. This paper addresses two themes of this conference: e‐books and
mobile learning. Approaches to learning which prompt metacognitive thinking in reading have been shown to enhance
reading comprehension. To date, these approaches have relied on teachers’ help to model metacognitive strategies: for
example, in activating background knowledge, inferring meaning and monitoring. However, technology can help the
learner by modelling such strategies. The case study and the findings to be presented at the PhD Research Colloquium are
part of my PhD research project. The objectives of the project were to determine the extent to which students employ
foreign language (FL) reading strategies when using tablets, and which of the tablet’s functions support reading
comprehension. The paper describes the methods, procedures, and results of the project at a Danish Secondary School. It
also discusses how the iBooks Author application has been used during the research project. The participants were seven
Danish high school students. Data was collected via students’ logs (records of their use of reading strategies with the iPads
over three weeks) and semi‐structured interviews. Qualitative data was analysed using NVivo software. Results show that
students used a variety of metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies when they used tablets for reading a foreign
language. Students engaged in cognitive and metacognitive processes using the embedded reading strategies and some of
the features of the tablet.
Keywords: mobile learning, digital literacy, FL reading, reading strategies tablets, iPads, e‐books
1. Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to understanding of the intersection of two fields: mobile
technology and FL reading through studying how students use FL reading strategies with iPads and how tablet
technology, in particular the iPad, can mediate FL reading strategies. Using the potential of this technology
may encourage students to reflect while they are reading FL digital texts (Auer, in press).
“Self‐regulated second language (L2) learning strategies are defined as deliberate, goal‐directed attempts to
manage and control efforts to learn the L2” (Oxford, 2011, p.12). These strategies can be applied to four skills:
reading, writing, speaking and listening. This paper focuses in reading strategies. Most research on FL reading
strategies has been conducted with conventional print texts and in formal instruction, that is, in the classroom.
With the advent of technology in the classroom, students are confronted with both textbooks and digital
reading materials. There is controversy surrounding whether print is more valuable for learning than digital
media (Baron 2013, Szalavitz 2012, Wolf 2010). Mangen, Bente, and Brønnick (2013) concluded that reading
digital texts on a computer screen is detrimental to reading comprehension. However, it could be argued that
because the researchers used scanned pdf files for their study, the medium’s potential was not fully exploited.
For example, there was no possibility of embedding, within the text, an interactive table of contents, video or
audio, highlighting or note taking.
More and more students are using a greater number of mobile devices as learning tools. According to Levinsen
and Sørensen (2008), learning takes place everywhere; students use these devices for informal learning too,
outside the classroom. Students increasingly read digital content for learning, but research shows that the
time they spend online does not necessarily aid them in developing their reading skills (Cull, 2011).
Students’ success in learning depends on their ability to understand and use the information in these digital
texts. They need to learn how to extract information from these texts which have the potential to enhance
reading comprehension. However, the advantages that this medium offers are perhaps not yet fully exploited.
Traditionally, teaching and learning reading strategies has taken place in the classroom. Teachers have
introduced them, and then teach students how to apply them to a text: Teachers have modelled these
strategies for their students by reading texts and then thinking aloud while reading. Technology can assist
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students by modelling such strategies just as a teacher would do in the think‐aloud approach. Technology can
replace the teacher as a mediator in this context.
There is a lack of studies around the types of FL reading strategies that students use with iPads. Also, there is
very little research around which specific functions on the iPad may enhance the use of FL reading strategies.
This study addresses these gaps by investigating students’ use of FL reading strategies with this technology.
2. Theoretical background
This study investigates students’ use of reading strategies regarding digital texts accessed on iPads within the
Strategic Self‐Regulation (S²R) Model of language learning (Oxford, 2011).
Within the S²R model of language learning it is assumed that learning strategies are learnt through mediation.
That is, knowledge construction is assisted through dialogue between the teacher (or an individual who is
more knowledgeable) and the learner. Oxford points out that, in the classroom, the teacher can mediate
students’ strategic learning but when learning takes place outside the classroom, strategies are learnt with
mediation from cultural tools: language, books, technology (Oxford, 2011, p.27).
It could be argued that the S²R model can better explain the learning process with regards to new technologies
as one important characteristic of devices such as tablets is the possibility they offer of interaction and
collaboration.
The existing literature presents numerous definitions of learning strategies. This paper uses Oxford’s definition
(2011). In Oxford’s model, cognitive strategies facilitate both the learners’ FL knowledge construction and the
application of FL knowledge. Affective strategies support learners in coping with their feelings and attitudes so
they can remain motivated. Sociocultural interactive strategies help the learner to deal with communication,
sociocultural contexts and identity. These strategies are coordinated by metastrategies such as planning,
monitoring and evaluating. Thus, the model includes three types of metastrategies: Metacognitive strategies,
meta‐affective strategies and meta‐SI strategies.
The focus of this study, from the three dimensions for L2 learning in the S²R Model, will be cognitive
dimension. In this dimension, two types of learning strategies can be distinguished: the cognitive and
metacognitive strategies. Cognitive strategies support the learner in constructing and applying L2 knowledge.
The S²R Model includes six cognitive strategies (Oxford, 2011, p.46):
Using the senses to understand and remember
Activating knowledge
Reasoning
Conceptualising with details
Conceptualizing broadly
Going beyond the immediate data
(Oxford, 2011, p.46)
Metacognitive strategies are responsible for controlling cognitive processes in L2 learning and comprise the
following:
Paying attention to cognition
Planning for cognition
Obtaining and using resources for cognition
Organizing for cognition
Implementing plans for cognition
Orchestrating cognitive strategy use
Monitoring cognition
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Evaluating cognition
Oxford (2011, p.45)
The strategies of Oxford’s model can be applied to the different language skills (see Oxford, 2011 for a
comprehensive review of strategies applied to the four language skills). In reading, some examples of the
application of the cognitive strategy of conceptualizing with details are the use of preview questions, analysing
expressions in the new language and using linguistic knowledge. Identifying the requirements and the purpose
of the reading task before reading is an example of planning for cognition, a metacognitive strategy.
3. Context
Ørestad Gymnasium is an upper secondary school in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its curriculum focuses on media,
communications and culture. The school attaches great importance to the use of information and
communication technology (ICT) as learning tools and it provides laptops and/or iPads to the students for use
both in the classroom, and outside. Learning materials are digital in the first‐year. Several classes were using
iPads at the time of this study (Spring 2013). An A‐Level equivalent in Spanish is offered as a FL course.
Students sit the exam at the end of the third‐year (equivalent to Year 13 in the UK).
4. Research methodology
The main research question guiding this study was: How can technology mediate FL reading strategies? It was
approached through two subsidiary questions:
What type of reading strategies do Spanish learners use with iPads? Do they use cognitive and
metacognitive FL reading strategies with these tablets to assist comprehension?
Which functions in the iPad tablets facilitate the use of FL reading strategies?
4.1 Participants
I gained access to the school by email and phone contact with the Principal. Seven students were willing to
participate in the study, two from the third‐year and five from the second‐year. They had already completed
one and two years of learning Spanish respectively. I gave them a Participant Information document and an
Informed Consent Form to read and sign.
I met the students from the second‐year as a group, and the two students from the third‐year on a one‐to‐one
basis. None of them had had any experience of using an iPad to read digital texts in Spanish. Two students
dropped out of the study.
4.2 Hardware, software and learning materials
iBooks Author application
iBooks Author (see Figure 1) is a free Apple application, downloadable from the Mac App Store. The app is for
creating interactive books (or iBooks), either textbooks or any kind of text. It is a very intuitive app, and it is
easy to add text, graphics or movies by dragging and dropping a Microsoft Word document (for example) to
the Book panel (see Figure 1). In addition, it is possible to add photo galleries, animations and 3D objects to
encourage interaction (see Figure 1).
The iBook can be viewed on an iPad. When iBooks Author was first presented in 2012, it comprised exercises
such as quizzes and flash cards, which perhaps did not take full advantage of the potential of the application
for learning. iBooks Author is for creating books which students will read. Reading is a constructive process so
to make students’ reading more effective, the features of the application should be used to model
metacognitive thinking. In this study, the feature “Shapes” (see Figure 2) was used for embedding reading
strategies.
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Natalia Auer
Figure 1: iBooks author
Figure 2: An example of the iBook with the embedded reading strategies
Figure 2 shows how reading strategies are embedded (offering guided practice in Spanish) as well as an explicit
explanation of why that particular strategy should be used (in Danish).
For this study, a Mexican e‐learning researcher and two of her students wrote the three Spanish texts. The
themes focus on different aspects in the life of young Mexicans. Each text is about 500 words. The Spanish
texts were imported to the iBooks Author application. The feature “Shapes” was used to model reading
strategies. The iBook with the three Spanish texts was made available to the Danish students via Dropbox:
First the iBook file was uploaded to a Dropbox Public folder, and then the URL was copied and sent by email
for the students to download and open in the iBooks app on their iPads.
4.3 Research design
The epistemology guiding this inquiry is complexity theory, a paradigm that breaks from the positivist tradition
and is more complete than interpretivism (Kuhn, 2007). From the perspective of complexity theory, the
phenomenon under investigation should not be broken down in order to understand it; the researcher should
aim to understand its interrelated systems (Cohen, 2011). Like other holistic approaches to scientific inquiry,
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such as phenomenology, interpretivism and systems thinking, complexity theory investigates the phenomenon
in its entirety.
As this study investigates the use of FL reading strategies with technology, it accommodates the complexity
point of view. Kuhn (2007) argues that the complexity paradigm is consistent with technological innovation,
since we experience a wide and complex variety of phenomena.
The phenomena under investigation, FL reading strategies, are procedures which depend on a complex co‐
operation of different factors. The human cognitive, sociocultural and affective factors which interact with
technology in this study, render the systems more complex.
The aim of the study was to investigate Spanish learners’ reading behaviour, and specifically to describe the
strategies used to assist comprehension when using iPads. The rationale for selecting a qualitative
investigation of students’ experiences over a period of time and between locations was the fact that there is
little literature or experience to draw on and from which to generate hypotheses. A qualitative approach
allows the researcher to identify patterns and themes from the data (Mason, 2002).
From the qualitative methods, I chose the case study, using Stake’s definition (2000):
“A case may be simple or complex. It may be a child or a classroom of children or an event, a
happening, such as mobilization of professionals to study a childhood condition. It is one among
others. […] Coming to understand a case usually requires extensive examining of how things get
done, but the prime referent in case study is the case, not the methods by which the case
operates.” (p. 436)
A case study is in accordance with complexity theory because it shares the view of looking at phenomena as
interconnected elements (Thomas, 2011).
Once I had decided to use the qualitative inquiry paradigm, I chose NVivo software. This is not only because it
is a suitable option for data management, but because it also allows more freedom to experiment with ideas
(Walsh, 2003).
4.4 Data collection methods
Students’ logs, researcher’s notes and semi‐structured interviews were used. The logs were valuable in
obtaining information and in focussing the interview questions on emergent themes, as well as developing the
interview schedule with pick up questions (Radnor, 2002). The logs also served to demonstrate the
development of strategy use. Semi‐structured interviews were chosen because they offer two‐way
communication and make it possible to obtain not only the answers, but also the reasons behind the answers
(Mason, 2002).
The interviews aimed to provide supporting evidence about the strategies that students would be able to
recall having used.
From the students’ logs, it became clear that in order to explain various problems with the technology, the
written form was not sufficient to express participants’ views. They needed to show the different features of
the technology and how well they worked (or not) in order to make themselves understood.
Students’ logs: Students were asked to complete three logs, one for each chapter of the iBook. Students were
asked to read the three Spanish texts (one per week) and at the end of each text they had to complete a log.
They sent the three logs to me via email, the researcher. In the logs they recorded FL reading strategies and
features of the iPads they found helpful for FL reading comprehension.
Face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews: In addition to the student logs, each participant was invited to a face‐
to‐face, individual interview at the end of the reading period at the school. The interviews were not recorded
because there was no silent place at the school in which to conduct them. Normally, they took place in a noisy
environment. The researcher noted observations and quotations.
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Both students’ logs and the semi‐structured interviews were in Danish so a lack of proficiency in the foreign
language would not be an obstacle for students when it came to describing their use of reading strategies
(Chamot et al. 1987; Oxford, 1990).
Researcher’s log: Maxwell (1996) argues that a valuable technique in research, in addition to the researcher’s
ideas or reflections, is writing memos of the fieldwork. I made notes of students’ comments and questions
during the study.
All these methods were for the purpose of triangulating data. According to Thomas (2011, p. 68), triangulation
is achieved by the comparison of data obtained through different instruments.
4.5 Procedures
Once participants had signed the consent form, they were introduced to the technology. Each received for a
period of four weeks (on loan from the project) an iPad for the reading tasks. iPad 2 was the model chosen for
the study. All participants were already acquainted with Apple’s operating system and user interface since this
was what the school had chosen. Thus, the students only required a brief introduction to the iPad. They
configured the iPads quickly. Then, they were shown how the iBooks application functioned: they were shown
how they could look up words using a built‐in Spanish dictionary and, for example, highlight any word or
passage of text within the text, create a note and review their highlights and notes by pressing the table of
contents button. These functions helped to support important reading strategies: highlighting the text is a
strategy that helps the students to focus as they read, and helps them to recognize the main ideas in the text;
note‐taking supports reflection – students can reflect on what they have read and organize learning material.
Subsequently, students were instructed how to download e‐books and e‐material for iBooks. They were told
that they could use their tablets to download any other application and material they wished. Finally, they
were introduced to the iBook created for the study via the iBooks Author application.
5. Data analysis
Students’ logs and the notes of the interviews were imported to NVivo. Then they were coded and analysed
using the qualitative data analysis software, QSR‐NVivo 9. Data was analysed according to each of the two
variables: 1) Strategy use, and 2) Functions in the tablet. Research Question 1 (use of cognitive and
metacognitive strategies) was analysed from the open questions in students’ logs and the semi‐structured
interviews based on the existing literature. Thus, pre‐existing categories were applied to the data using the list
of learning strategies created by Oxford (2011). In this way the strategies revealed by students in the
interviews and logs were classified. For example, under the category “metacognitive strategy use”, there were
different subcategories which included planning, monitoring and evaluating. These categories were then
applied to the data. Table 1 shows a matrix that represents an example of the data on the category
“metacognitive strategy use”. All of the quotations have been translated from their original Danish version.
Table 1: An example of the data under the category “metacognitive strategy use”
Planning Monitoring Evaluating
Participant “I read the title and
1 have some
expectations about
what I am going to
read”
Participant “I read slowly and look up the
2 words I do not understand”
Participant “ Normally, I do not write a summary after
3 reading, but this time I have done it and it
helped to understand the text”
The data regarding Research Question 2 (features of the iPad that facilitate the use of FL reading strategies)
was analysed in different categories. Categories were listed by the technological features of the iPad (note
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function, built‐in search feature, etc) and the construct explicit in the research question (reading strategies).
Thus, the features of the iPad were related to the particular reading strategies revealed by students in the
interviews and logs. For example, the quote “The highlighting function helps you to find the main points and to
look back” is an example of data under the category “highlighting” (iPad feature) which is associated with the
cognitive strategy of conceptualizing broadly (finding the central information in the text). Table 2 shows the
metacognitive reading strategies used by students and matched to the technology features.
Table 2: Reading strategies used by students related to the technology features of the iPad.
Metacognitive strategies iPad features mentioned
Identifying and finding technological Built‐in search feature of the iBooks
resources for cognition app
Monitoring Turn pages with a flick
Implementing plans for cognition Note function
Evaluating: reviewing Note function
Awareness of reading strategies Shapes feature in iBooks Author app
6. Results
Results are presented by research question.
Question 1: What type of reading strategies do Spanish learners use with iPads? Do they use cognitive and
metacognitive FL reading strategies with these tablets to assist comprehension?
This question examined the reading strategies used by participants to understand the Spanish texts. The
analysis of semi‐structured interviews and logs of seven Spanish language learners revealed that they use
some metacognitive and cognitive strategies, as defined by Oxford (2011), when reading a foreign language on
the iPads (see Table 3). Some students felt that the reading strategies embedded in the iBook increased their
awareness of the strategies. One student stated:
“It makes you to pay attention … you understand better”
Another student commented that she preferred the clarity of e‐book to the scanned pdf files she had
encountered before:
“It is good that the text is not scanned”
As mentioned before, some research on reading digital texts has been conducted with pdf files (Mangen et al.,
2013). The point here is that it is different reading something in a pdf format where you do not have a table of
contents or other features to support comprehension.
Table 3: Students’ use of reading strategies when reading an iBook on an iPad
Metacognitive Strategies Student quotes
Planning for cognition “I read the title and have some expectations about what I am going to read”
“I read the speech bubbles with the reading strategies”
Obtaining resources for “I use Gyldendal dictionary”
cognition “I use Google translate”
Monitoring “I read slowly and look up the words I do not understand”
Evaluating “ Normally, I do not write a summary after reading, but this time I have done it
and it helped to understand the text”
Cognitive Strategies Student quotes
Using the senses to “I read aloud”
understand and remember
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Metacognitive Strategies Student quotes
Conceptualizing broadly “I skimmed the text in order to get the general meaning of the text”
Conceptualizing with details “I also use English [for guessing words], is a transparent language”
Activating knowledge “I used background knowledge to guess the meaning of unknown words”
Going beyond the immediate “I guess words from context”
data, inferring
The design of this study allowed me to observe the students’ performance of the reading task at different
points (one reading task per week for 3 weeks). It was possible to see the development of reading strategies.
One student pointed out in the interview that she read the three texts differently in the sense that she
incorporated the strategies learnt from the previous text to the ones which followed:
“…. each time you got more strategies”
Most students used the cognitive strategy of conceptualizing with details. Within this strategy, students found
different ways of guessing unknown words, including comparing languages, word morphemes, and context.
For example, when asked what they did when they encountered an unknown word, a student stated, “I
guessed words using the context. I also used English, it is a transparent language [a similar language to
Danish].” Another student used morphemes, “I used conjugation in order to see the tense”.
One participant used the strategy of extracting information from illustrations and photos. The information she
extracted was useful for comprehending the atmosphere of the text. She used this to check her
comprehension: “you get the atmosphere/ambiance of the text. It helps when you have understood.”
Identifying technological resources was the metacognitive strategy most used by the students. All students
made use of online dictionaries, Google translate and different apps.
Students were asked to write a summary of the texts in their log. This metacognitive strategy, evaluating
cognition, was used and valued. As one student expressed in the interview:
“Normally, I do not write a summary after reading, but this time I have done and it helped to
understand the text”
Question 2: Functions of the tablets which facilitate strategy use for FL reading comprehension
This question examined the features of the iPads that can enhance strategy use and thereby assist
comprehension of the Spanish texts. Reports from the interviews and logs reveal that students used the
following functions to assist comprehension: the built‐in search feature of the iBooks mobile application (you
can search any word or phrase using the Internet), the glossary and highlighting.
Students identified advantages using the built‐in search feature of the iBooks mobile application. They could
search any word or phrase using the Internet – when asked what she did when she encountered an unknown
word, one student answered: “I looked up the word, I used the search function”.
Some students found that the glossary entries were very efficient for supporting reading comprehension.
Students could tap a term and view its definition in an overlay, so they had the definition instantaneously. As
one student stated: “it worked really well, that they [glossaries] were there when you had to use them, and
not at the end of the document”.
The use of a glossary is an advantage when the text is too difficult (Jacobs, 1994). However, Jacobs (1994) also
warns learners to use glossaries with caution since it is possible they can prevent students from practising
other reading strategies, such as guessing from the context, rereading and paraphrasing, among others
strategies that they would need with texts that do not have a glossary.
This drawback was confirmed in one student’s log. She reports that “it [the glossary function] has advantages
and disadvantages since one can easily forget to think and rely on one's own knowledge”.
Highlighting facilitated an important reading strategy, namely, identifying central information in a text. In the
interviews one student stated: “The highlighting function helps you to find the main points and to look back”.
To summarise, the iBook with embedded strategies and the different features of the iPad assisted students to
use a range of reading strategies for reading comprehension.
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7. Conclusion
This paper illustrated several cognitive and metacognitive strategies that students use for FL learning when
they use iPads. These strategies are enhanced through the incorporation of FL reading strategies in the iBooks
Author application. This study contributes to theory in that the S²R model does not include how technology
can mediate student’s strategy learning. In this paper I have shown how this can be achieved.
The study aimed to investigate students’ use of FL reading strategies when reading digital texts on an iPad, in a
foreign language and to determine which functions on the tablets assist FL reading comprehension. Though
the sample of this study was small, the evidence suggests that these students used some metacognitive and
cognitive strategies to assist them with FL comprehension when reading foreign language texts on the iPads.
There was evidence of metacognitive strategies such as planning, monitoring and evaluating for cognition. Of
special interest was the metacognitive strategy of raising awareness of reading strategies. Research has found
a correlation between student’s awareness of reading strategies and reading comprehension. The ability to
reflect and think whilst reading is crucial for comprehension. One student reported that she felt that her
awareness of reading strategies increased due to the embedded strategies. Students also used the cognitive
strategies of conceptualizing broadly, activating background knowledge and using inference. The design of the
study allowed me to see the development of strategy use over time. There was evidence that students
incorporated the strategies learnt from the previous text to the ones which followed. The more the students
read texts with embedded strategies, the more aware they became of these strategies. Consequently,
evidence of using higher‐level thinking skills was the major finding of this study. The study also showed that
the different features of the iBook created for this study optimized the reading experience. Reading strategies
were enhanced through the use of various features of the iPad such as note function, built‐in search feature
and shape feature in the iBook Authors application. This last feature, where the reading strategies were
embedded, promoted students’ awareness of reading strategies.
From this it can be argued that students have engaged in cognitive and metacognitive processing and also that
it is important to embed reading strategies within the FL digital material to support these processes when
reading with iPads. Further research is needed to examine the full potential of FL digital materials, and other
mobile technology applications, drawing on foreign language acquisition research, to help learners model
effective reading strategies. The results of this study suggest a need for further research which investigates FL
learners’ use of reading strategies using iPads. Using other methodologies and recruiting more participants, it
would be fruitful to research the effect of this technology on students’ awareness of FL reading strategies.
Finally, future studies should aim to encourage students to reflect while they are reading FL digital texts so
that they become self‐directed language learners.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Professor Hawkridge and Dr Padilla for their helpful and insightful comments on drafts of
this paper. I am also grateful to the reviewer for their comments.
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Questions.aspx
633
Evaluation of the Pedagogical use of e‐learning Systems in
Institutions of Higher Learning: Case of Zimbabwe
Sibusisiwe Dube
University of Cape Town, South Africa
sibusisiwenkonkoni@gmail.com
Abstract: This interpretative research is on the pedagogical use of e‐learning systems. It has been compelled by the limited
literature on the pedagogical use of e‐learning systems, despite the increased implementation of e‐learning platforms in
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Activity and the actor network theories will be used as lens for understanding the
factors influencing the pedagogical use of e‐learning systems. It is based on a case study and a combined data collection
and analysis techniques. It has practical, theoretical and methodological contributions to fill the existing gap in knowledge
on e‐learning and pedagogy.
Keywords: pedagogy, e‐learning systems, e‐learning platforms, HEI, mobile phone
1. Introduction
Education is a key force for modernization and an investment that plays a crucial role for sustainable
development of any country (Mandina 2012), hence the need to orient the educational strategy towards
technological innovations. The increased student enrolment’s has compelled Higher education institutions
(HEI) to integrate Information Communication Technologies (ICT)s (Al‐Harbi, 2011) to ease the strain on
human resources and equip learners with skills to compete in this dynamic and information‐rich environment
(Agena, 2013; Tziafetas, 2013). Electronic learning (e‐learning) systems is an ICT strategy used in HEIs to
enhance an innovative learner centred learning (Mlitwa 2007). This research then questions the ‘pedagogical
use of e‐learning systems in HEIs.
1.1 Research question
The research seeks to answer the following main and supporting questions:
What factors influence a pedagogical use of e‐learning platforms in HEI’s blended learning?
How are e‐learning platforms’ configurability currently implementing the pedagogical principles in HEI?
How does an activity network influence the adoption of an e‐learning strategy in HEI?
What mediating effects emerge from the use of LMS tools in teaching and learning in HEIs
To what extent can the integration of mobile phones to e‐learning platforms achieve pedagogical benefits?
The research is timely, relevant and compelling because the pedagogical use of the e‐learning strategy is still in
its infancy in Zimbabwe. There is also little information on pedagogical use of e‐learning platforms despite the
increase in the adoption rate of LMSs among HEIs (Chen & Tseng, 2012; Ramakrisnan, Nor, & Hasrol, 2012;
Ekundayo, 2009). This is a gap in existing knowledge to be filled by this research. since much research on LMSs
has focused on user perceptions, adoption and the value of various tools of the technology.
2. Literature review
E‐learning is the use of telecommunication technology to deliver information for education through electronic
media, communicated either synchronous or asynchronous (Al‐Harbi, 2011; Monahan, Mcardle, & Bertolotto,
2008) and complements face‐to‐face strategy. It is facilitated by e‐learning platforms (Martín‐blas & Serrano‐
fernández, 2009. Its advantages include time and space independence, cost reduction, collaboration and
enhanced interaction, flexibility, reduced negative environmental impacts and provision of instant feedback
(Chen & Tseng, 2012;; Digolo & Author, 2011). Its shortcomings include resistance to change, high initial costs,
new pedagogical skill acquisition, learner management, security issues, discontinued use, learner isolation,
technological divide, high technological accessibility and connectivity issues, lack of technical support, lack of
instructor training and confidence etc (Carbonell, Dailey‐hebert, & Gijselaers, 2013).
Pedagogy is the art of teaching and its approaches and choices influence the provision of quality education.
Lee (2014, p. 41) posited that “collaboration, interaction, and the learning community are the driving forces to
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sustain learning motivation. Based on constructivism, the research aims at establishing if e‐learning systems
afford learners to actively engage in the construction of knowledge instead of being passive recipients.
3. Theoretical frameworks,
The research integrates the strengths of the Activity theory (AT) and Actor‐Network Theory (ANT) as the lens
for providing a rich understanding of the factors influencing the pedagogical use of e‐learning systems HEI.
Activity theory was initiated by Vygotsky, and has evolved through three generations from Cultural‐Historical
Activity Theory (CHAT). Activity system is its unit of analysis. It follows a triad model with tools mediating
between subject, object and the community of individuals in the activity system towards an outcome
(Yamagata‐Lynch, 2010; Hung et al, 2006; Jonassen & Ronrer‐murphy, 1999; Miettinen, 1999). Actor Network
theory (ANT) emerged as an attempt to understand the processes of innovation and knowledge creation in
science and technology, placing a semiotic emphasis on human and technical agents (Mlitwa 2007). It is
constructed based on the actors and networks and examines the motivations and actions of actors who form
associated elements of heterogeneous networks of aligned interests whose network relationships are
characterized by power and politics (Miettinen 1999).It is mainly concerned with stabilization, juxtaposition,
translation, durability, enrolment, role establishment, simplicity and indispensability, but translation being the
core concept resulting from continual negotiations. ANT’s translation moments are problematization,
interessement, enrolment and mobilisation, which determine the strength and durability of a network. Its
basic methodological principles are agnosticism, generalized symmetry and free association, which means
impartiality towards socio‐technical actors of the networks (Miettinen, 1999; Tatnall & Gilding, 1999).
3.1 Research implications of AT and ANT
The study proposes a complementary role of AT and ANT. AT’s individual activity systems can be developed
into an ANT’s network and used analyse the diffusion of e‐learning platforms since actors cannot act outside of
a network but have to be only be viewed in relation to other actors in a network. Therefore an e‐learning
system becomes a socio‐technical network consisting of a LMS as an activity system with actors assigned
specific roles for engaging in collaborated and supportive learning. The problems associated with ANT’s
.principle of generalized symmetry can be solved by AT’s separation of actors into humans and non humans
with varying roles working towards a collective activity. This is important for identifying success and failure
factors in the current use of an e‐learning in relation to pedagogy. The merged theories can be used as lens to
understand the users’ different meanings attached to goals and outcomes of LMS activity system socially
constructed based on the intentionality, history, culture and tool mediation used in the learning process. User
activity and behaviour can be analysed to determine if there are any motives for pedagogical learning.
Therefore the strengths of the two theories have a potential of making the research gain a rich understanding
of the factors that influence the pedagogical use of e‐learning and develop a research with rigour to inform
LMS developers, researchers and education practitioners.
4. Research design
This is an interpretative research as it assumes that factors influencing pedagogical use of e‐learning systems
are socially constructed by users as they interact with it (Orlikowski & Baroudi 1991) and is dependent on the
users’ shared, understanding of the e‐learning strategy. The paradigm provides flexibility and a deeper
understanding of the e‐learning systems usage within cultural and contextual situations of HEI in its natural
setting.
A case study method is used due to its capability to combine data collection and analysis techniques for
understanding the dynamics within HEIs real‐life context. Relevant data will be provided based on study of the
e‐learning phenomenon and a detailed contextual analysis of e‐learning events in relation to the pedagogic
learning phenomenon not yet understood will be established (Briony, 2006; Voss, Tsikriktsis, & Frohlich,
2002;Meredith, 1998). A scholarly inquiry and explanation of the pedagogical utilisation of e‐learning systems
will be produced, hence adding the body of knowledge.Random purposive sampling technique will be adopted
since there is a very large pool of potentially information‐rich HEI cases (Sandelowski 2000) with the sample
drawn from the three well established state universities in Zimbabwe.
Multiple data collection methods will be used as they afford triangulation and complementarily (Meredith,
1998; Sandelowski, 2000) for data collaboration, validation, clarification and explanation of the factors that
influence the pedagogical use of e‐learning systems, bringing richness and flexibility to the overall research
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process (Dube & Pare 2003)..Mixing approaches will produce more complete knowledge to fill the existing gap
since the strengths of an additional method can be used to overcome the weaknesses in another method
adding insights and understanding that might be missed when only a single method is used (Bryman, 2006;
Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004).The research instruments used are the observations, interviews, and
questionnaires.
Data Analysis This research is more qualitative although dependent on the quantitative results used for
participant profiling. Qualitative data analysis extracts and interprets data from the users’ meaning and
experiences with e‐learning platforms. Thematic networks will be used to convert raw data into coherent
research findings as they systematize the extraction of text, categories it into basic themes that are
encapsulated into global themes. The silent themes on the data will be unearthed affording a possibility to
extend AT and ANT theories. The clustered themes of text will provide meaning, richness and magnitude of the
subjective experience of participants with e‐leaning strategy and this will be coded using a computer package
known as ATLAS ti based on the results from a Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).
5. Potential contribution
The research has a practical implication on the teaching and learning practice as it provides a rich
understanding on the current use of e‐learning platforms and useful information to the researchers, LMS
software developers and education practitioners on the e‐learning platform’s current alignment with the
pedagogic principles (Rubens et al. 2005) the possibility of integrating mobile phones to e‐learning More
importantly, the knowledge gained from this study can further inform practice on the pedagogical use of e‐
learning platforms adding value to the existing body of knowledge where the “e” in e‐learning will not only be
interpreted as electronic but also as exacting, energetic, enthusiastic and educational (Digolo & Author 2011).
Its theoretical contribution is the amalgamation of the socially oriented AT and ANT as lens for the rich
understanding of the pedagogical use of e‐learning systems in HEI. Another noteworthy contribution is the
methodological contribution by using an interpretative paradigm instead of the common positivist approach to
e‐learning usage studies.
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Mlitwa, N.B.W. (2007). Technology for teaching and learning in higher education contexts : Activity theory and actor
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637
Study About Relational Coordination and Quality in Online
Education
Mª Del Carmen Gallego Sánchez1, Carmen De Pablos Heredero2 and Jose Amelio Medina
Merodio1
1
Universidad Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, España
2
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, España
mcarmen.gallego@edu.uah.es
carmen.depablos@urjc.es
josea.medina@uah.es
Abstract: Online education is an alternative methodology to traditional education, supplementing schedule problems and
providing flexibility among other features. Relational coordination is a validated tool for measuring, analyzing
communication networks and relationships considering functional organizational boundaries. The application of ICT in
higher education online systems produces higher degrees of coordination and integration of processes, improving the
competitiveness and research capacity of these institutions. Coordination can capture relational coordination among
teachers (relational coordination) and between students (relational coproduction) in the online education model or e‐
learning. The relational coordination model implies including some elements that enrich teamwork by means of shared
goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect, supporting frequent, timely, accurate and solving problems communication
Some organizations present a model more consolidated than others in terms of relational coordination. This situation can
be analyzed through the putting into practice of a series of questions based on questionnaires distributed and answered by
the participants (students and lecturers) of the organizations. The questionnaire is composed by the following important
blocks: coordination, general quality and methodology, technical quality on design and easy use, technical quality on
multimedia resources. All of them have different kinds of questions which are answered by different profiles taking part in
the online education system, students and lecturers. The distribution of questionnaires has been realized in three
universities, two Spanish Universities (Alcalá de Henares and Rey Juan Carlos University) and one American University
(Norwich University). For this analysis, SPSS statistical program has been used to apply descriptive and factorial analysis in a
sample of 194 agents. The goal is to study the relation between the relational coordination and the quality of learning at
University. The results show the relevance of relational coordination in the quality of online learning. When the university
shows higher levels of relational coordination, the quality of education turns better, as it is the case of the Norwich
University. The American university seems to pay attention to the variables that drive to best standards in terms of
relational coordination. In views of this research, if the education system presents good relational coordination, the
teaching‐learning process offers higher levels of quality. From the managerial perspective, it is important to pay attention
to the variables that may improve online learning from the organizational perspective. This kind of education plays an
important role in our society since many people need to study in a flexible timetable .
Keywords: online education, relational coordination, quality, higher education, study, questionnaires
1. Introduction
E‐learning programs are increasing in higher education. The online education is consolidated with a growth of
30% on average (Barber, 2011) as it is reflected in Euroinnova Report (available from:
http://www.euroinnova.edu.es/Blog/11‐4‐7/LA‐FORMACION‐ONLINE‐SE‐CONSOLIDA‐CON‐UN‐CRECIMIENTO‐
DEL‐30 [access 4 august 2013]). The application of ICT in higher education on line systems can produce higher
degrees of coordination and integration of the processes improving the competitiveness and research capacity
of these institutions. A good coordination of the processes immersed in the teaching and learning practices
reinforces the enabling role of the technology itself and allows the reaching of dynamic capabilities that can
position Universities in a best place in their competitive environments (De Pablos‐ Heredero et al., 2012).
At university level when implementing a suitable model of e‐learning, apart from the technology, three factors
should be taken into account: Education and educational models, the technology and technological models
and the organization and organizational models (De Pablos‐ Heredero et al., 2012).
The quality and efficiency of data management services is very important in the called 'knowledge society'.
Organizations have understood that information and communication technologies are tools that facilitate and
permit the efficient management of little resources, thus have extended their influence to practically all areas
of business and all kinds of relationships (De Pablos‐Heredero et al., 2014). Gittell (2002) developed a model of
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Mª Del Carmen Gallego Sánchez, Carmen De Pablos Heredero and Jose Amelio Medina Merodio
relational coordination that emphasizes the importance of coordinating the relationships and dynamics of
communication in organizations to achieve better results.
In addition, a number of critical success factors in the design and implementation of e‐learning methodology
must be considered such as: the participant's motivation, learning methodologies, instructional design, graphic
design and multimedia, tracking online courses, the e‐learning technology platform and content. E‐learning
standards can make the best of the ICT implementation per se.
Besides, relational coordination is defined as a process of mutual reinforcement of the interaction between
communication and relationships conducted with the purpose of integrating tasks (Gittell, 2009). It is the
coordination of work across functional and organizational boundaries, through relationships of shared goals,
shared knowledge and mutual respect, supporting frequent, timely and accurate and problem solving
communication.
The aim of this paper is to analyze whether relational coordination is relevant in online education quality.
Firstly, the questionnaire was designed. Secondly, it was completed by students and lecturers in online
learning. Finally, results were obtained with the analysis of the questionnaires. Taking into consideration the
arguments defended by different authors, it seems that efficient mechanisms of communication and
relationships may lead to higher levels of quality in upper education. Therefore, the main objective of this
work is to examine whether relational coordination explains higher levels of educational online quality.
2. On line education
E‐learning is presented as an alternative to traditional learning, (Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport,
available from http://www.mecd.gob.es/portada‐mecd/ [access 3 march 2013]) for those who wish to study,
geographic distance, the training for people who want to upgrade their profession in knowledge society,
constantly updating via ICT’s tools. It also implies, apart from evolution, saving money and time and it may be
useful for all subjects that can be taught in college.
The integration of ICT by the institutions in higher education makes us more competitive. The alignment of
strategic with technological possibilities can position educational Institutions in more competitive standards in
a global context.
E‐learning means the provision of educational programs and learning systems through electronic media. It
covers a broad suite of applications and processes such as web‐based learning, computer‐based training,
virtual classrooms and digital collaboration (Gonzalez et al., 2011).
Online learning is supported by e‐learning platforms. Some of them, which have free distribution, (virtual
campus free software) are: Moodle, Sakai, Claroline, Docebo, Dokeos, Ilias, LRN, Atutor, Lon‐CAPA.
Software is necessary in online learning. Some private software virtual campus for e‐learning practices are:
Ecollege, Edoceo, Desire2Learn, Blackboard, Skillfactory, Delphi LMS, Prometheus, Composica, WebCT.
At university level when a suitable model of e‐learning is implemented, three factors should be taken into
account (Salinas, 2004; De Pablos et al., 2012, 2013, 2014):
Education and educational models. One dimension that determines the quality of education and should
consequently be evaluated is the educational model which is developed in response to educational policy,
on the basis of social needs (Socarrás et al., 2008)
The technology and technological models. Morin and Seurat (1998) show that innovation is not only the
result of research, but also assimilation a technology developed, dominated and eventually applied in
other fields of activity, but whose implementation in their organizational, cultura
The organization and organizational models. Morgan (1986) Ludwing (1993), and Nonaka et al. (1996) are
organizational theorists that have shown how conflicts are more likely to occur in the presence of high
levels of interdependence or tasks and when there are high levels of diversity among participants.
In addition, a number of critical success factors take place in the design and implementation of e‐learning such
as: the participant's motivation, learning methodologies, instructional design, graphic design and multimedia,
tracking online courses, the e‐learning technology platform and content on e‐learning standards.
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Mª Del Carmen Gallego Sánchez, Carmen De Pablos Heredero and Jose Amelio Medina Merodio
3. Relational coordination and its importance in online education
Follett (1941) proposed the first theory about relational coordination with an initial model. Thompson (1967)
suggested that it is a mutual relationship process thar produces benefits to people.
Relational coordination provides quality performance and efficiency as well as customer’s and employee’s
satisfaction (Gittell, 2009).
Coordinating work takes place across functional and organizational boundaries, through relationships of
shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect, frequent, timely, accurate and troubleshooting
communication.
Figure 1 shows the two groups of elements that compose relational coordination: relationships and
communication
Relationships
Communication
Shared
Goals
Frequently
Shared
knowledge
Timely
Mutual respect Accurate
Troubleshooting
Figure 1: Elements in relational coordination (Gittell, 2009)
In general terms, the research attempts to demonstrate how relational coordination makes a difference in
online education at Universities. In other words, how an organization that shows high degrees of relational
coordination, offers better quality in education than one that lacks of it.
Relational coordination is a validated tool for measuring and analyzing communication networks and
relationships (Gittell, 2009) through which work is coordinated considering functional and organizational
boundaries. In this research it is shown that coordination can capture relational coordination among teachers
(relational coordination) and between students (relational coproduction) in the online education model of e‐
learning. The relational coordination model implies the putting into practice of some elements that enrich
teamwork by means of shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect, supporting communication with
frequent, timely, accurate and resolving problems.
4. Methodology of the research
The questionnaire is useful to collect research data. The design of the questionnaire was very laborious: it is
based on both quantitative and qualitative mixed methodology. It is designed according to relevant criteria for
online education. Questions on the following aspects are included: relational coordination, general quality and
teaching methodology, technical quality in terms of navigation, design and multimedia, including personal data
and professionals. These questionnaires were completely anonymous. The part about relational coordination
is based on Gitell’s (2009) original questionnaire. The empirical analysis has been realized in three universities,
two Spanish Universities, Alcalá de Henares (UAH) and Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) in Madrid and one
American University, Norwich.
The questionnaires were distributed to lecturers and students. They used a response likert scale from 1 to 5, 1
is never, 2 is rarely, 3 is occasionally, 4 is often and 5 is constantly. This scale has been considered the most
appropriated for this investigation.
Types of questions:
a) The questions about relational coordination (Gittel, 2009) are centered on the mechanisms of the practices
in the organization, selection of lecturers, rewards, conflict resolution, training, job design, job sharing, and
information sharing systems with other universities.
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Mª Del Carmen Gallego Sánchez, Carmen De Pablos Heredero and Jose Amelio Medina Merodio
b) The questions about quality in general: the attention to the process of teaching and learning on line is
provided, the quality of the course compensates for economic investment, divergent thinking is used,
discussion and debate, teachers motivate students, students are implicated in activities individually or in
groups, communication is appropriate, the course provide a comprehensive content for development with
introduction, objectives, schemes, development of themes, activities, summary, glossary, suggestions for work
and participation in forums, expanded content, the course presents accuracy and clarity in the course content,
it uses assessment tools, didactic quality, positive activities and evaluation of the university in the last 5 years.
c) The questions that refer to the technical quality, navigation and design are included: the organization of the
course, the easy use of navigation tools on the online platform, the structure and design of virtual links,
technical and quality tools in the platform for operation and programming.
d) The questions that refer to the technical quality and multimedia resources: the course has a variety of
integrated multimedia resources and combines different types of information, educational multimedia
adequacy, videoconference sessions and other utilities on line. Applications offer the students and lecturers
contents and experiences based on the real world.
5. Results
5.1 Relational coordination mechanisms in students questionnaires
Next figure shows the evaluation of relational coordination mechanisms established at the three Universities,
making use of the chi‐squared test with SPSS program. Two Spanish Universities: Alcalá de Henares
(engineering education) and Rey Juan Carlos (social and legal science education) and one American University,
Norwich (MBA education):
Figure 2: Mechanisms involved in relational coordination
Mechanisms: P1_1. Lecturer’s selection, P1_2. Measuring the performance of teachers, P1_3. Reward teaching
optimal performance, P1_4. Conflict Resolution proactively, P1_5. Teacher training, P1_6. Job design goal
oriented, P1_7. Exchange jobs, P1_8. Information sharing, P1_9. Sharing information with external agents.
These mechanisms have been measured using the percentages of the results obtained in the chi‐squared test.
The relational coordination varies greatly between organizations. It is an important point that some
organizations have a strong structure in terms of relational coordination, but others have a weak structure in
these terms. Norwich University shows the higher scores in all mechanisms, only it is exceeded in the
performance of lecturers (P1_2) by the Rey Juan Carlos University.
5.2 Factorial analysis
Having done a factorial analysis with the program SPSS 15.0, the empirical analysis is based on observation of
the different data.
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Mª Del Carmen Gallego Sánchez, Carmen De Pablos Heredero and Jose Amelio Medina Merodio
The students’ questionnaires:
The different factors that have been obtained are the following ones: 1.Teamwork, this factor explains 23,780
% of the variance, 2. Sharing goals, this factor explains 12,803% of the variance, 3. Information, this factor
explains 8,842% of the variance, 4. Motivation, this factor explains 7,145% of the variance 5. Self‐confidence,
this factor explains 5,794% of the variance, 6. Mutual respect, this factor explains 5,447% of the variance, 7.
Conflict resolution, this factor explains 4,932% of the variance, 8. Interrelation, this factor explains 4,471% of
the variance. Norwich University shows the highest levels in all of these factors.
The different factors about general quality are: 1. General quality (environment and methodology), this factor
explains 58,194% of the variance, 2. Technical quality: navigation, design and tools: this factor explain 9,610 %
of the variance, 3. Types of media assets (video, animations, simulations ...), this factor explain 6.932% of
variance. Norwich University shows the highest scores in all of these factors.
The professor’s questionnaires:
The different factors about relational coordination which are obtained: 1. Teamwork, this factor explains
41,442 % of the variance, 2. Teaching‐learning process, this factor explains 26,362 % of the variance, 3.
Objectives sharing, this factor explains 15,394 % of the variance. Some variables have to be eliminated for
getting a determinant different from zero. Norwich University stands in all of these factors but it is overcome
by Alcalá University in the teamwork factor.
The different factors about general quality are: 1. Technical quality, this factor explains the 58,418 % variance,
2. Quality and methodology, this factor explains 14,025 % of the variance, 3. Considering quality in front of the
cost of the course, this factor explains 9,643% of the variance. Norwich University stands in all of these factors.
6. Conclusions
The results of this investigation show that higher levels of relational coordination at the university are related
with higher levels of quality. The American university is the best positioned in all the factors, Norwich
University pays attention to the variables that reach the best standards in terms of relational coordination. In
views of this research, if the education system has a strong relational coordination, the teaching‐learning
process offers higher levels of quality. From the organizational perspective, it is important consider the
variables that improve online education because this kind of education plays an important role in our society
because some people need to study in a flexible timetable.
Relational coordination is important for reaching better performance and efficiency in a model of online
education or e‐learning. A good relational coordination improves the efficiency and quality at the university.
Some organizations have a more consolidated state in terms of relational coordination than others. This can be
seen in the empirical study with the obtained information.
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Comparing Implementation Patterns of e‐Learning for Higher
Education in Turkey and Estonia
Fatih Güllü1, Rein Kuusik1, Ugur Demiray2 and Mart Laanpere3
1
Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia
2
Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey
3
Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
fatihgullu27@hotmail.com
rein.kuusik.01@ttu.ee
udemiray@anadolu.edu.tr
mart.laanpere@tlu.ee
Abstract: Wide‐scale implementation of technology‐enhanced learning in schools and higher education has been
supported by national and institutional level strategies and policies. In this paper for the first time we compare and
contrast the strategic development of technology enhanced learning on the national and institutional levels in Estonia and
Turkey, relying on analysis of existing technical and pedagogical basics. Although these two countries are contrastingly
different from each other (Estonia is small and Northern and Turkey is large and Southern), there are many similarities in
the e‐learning ways in the higher education has been introduced on the national and institutional levels. The paper is the
first part of author’s PhD study, focused on finding ways to improve existing structure and approaches for e‐learning in
Turkey.
Keywords: e‐learning, educational systems, technology infrastructure, higher education, quality
1. Introduction
A century ago the educational development was inspired by new pedagogical ideas (e.g. by Rudolf Steiner,
Maria Montessori, Celestin Freinet), and 30 years ago by school effectiveness movement. Today, on the other
hand, the modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) seem to become the most influential
driver in educational innovation. While in 1970’s the computers were used in classrooms mainly to replace the
teachers, today’s paradigm of technology enhanced learning sees technology as an amplifier of creative and
collaborative learning and knowledge building processes, where the teacher’s role has changed. Today e‐
learning innovation has grown beyond experimentation of few enthusiastic teachers, as most of developed
countries and their educational institutions have short‐ and long‐term strategies for systemic educational
change involving the use of new technology. During the last decade, the exploitation of e‐learning systems has
been growing steadily in universities worldwide. These new digital tools have become a natural part of
teaching and learning environment in higher education. This change has been a result of combining bottom‐up
initiatives led by innovative teachers with systemic implementation of new infrastructure, requirements and
policies, both on institutional and national levels.
As an e‐learning is one of the key concepts of this paper, we should define it clearly, before proceeding to the
discussion on its patterns implementation. The term “e‐learning” was coined in 1998 by Jay Cross (Cross 2004).
Soon it was picked up by policymakers and researchers. Yet, even today a multitude of definitions of e‐learning
exists. Sangra et al. (2012) provide an overview of alternative definitions of e‐learning in four categories:
technology‐driven definitions: e‐learning as the use of various technological tools for learning
delivery system oriented definitions: e‐learning as a means of accessing knowledge (or learning resources)
communication‐oriented definitions: e‐learning as a set of methods of communication, interaction, and
collaboration through digital channels
educational paradigm oriented definitions: e‐learning as a radically changed way of learning or as an
improvement on existing teaching and learning methods.
Herewith, we define e‐learning or technology‐enhanced learning in line with European Commission (2001),
Alonso et al. (2005), Ehlers and Pawlowski (2006) as “the use of new multimedia technologies and internet to
improve the quality of learning by facilitating access to resources and services, as well as remote exchange and
collaboration”. This definition implies that systemic management of e‐learning innovation cannot focus merely
on upgrading and making available new digital tools, it should also involve introduction of new teaching
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Fatih Güllü et al.
methods, learning habits, assessment practices, cultural norms for internet behaviour, as well as legal
frameworks and business models for digital educational contents production and delivery.
Human factor plays an important role in successful implementation of e‐learning innovation, both on
administrators, students and lecturers side. Adopting an online learning environment is often not easy for
academic staff members, as it requires a lot of extra work and changes of habits. Having explicit policies and
support measures could make it easier to cope with changes. In this context many countries have initiated
successful national e‐learning strategies at the higher education level, where pedagogical innovation has been
combined with the technological one. This paper, as a first part of first author’s PhD study, focusing on finding
ways to improve existing structure and approaches for e‐learning in Turkey, compares the implementation of
e‐learning innovation in higher education of the countries, such as Estonia and Turkey. In one side we have
Estonia with total population of 1.3 million and 55.000 students enrolled in 6 public and few private
universities. On the other side we have some universities of Turkey, such as Anadolu University with almost 2
million enrolled students, being the second largest university in the world. Most of the barriers in
implementing of e‐learning come from the absence of the necessary computer program or programs, speed of
internet access, personal and corporate security concerns, the quality of materials used, qualifications of the
academic staff, which is required for e‐learning and inadequacy of equipment bearing. Along the technical
barriers in Turkey, we should need to apply first an e‐learning system to train the lecturers. Thus, the errors
and incorrect methods of visual and auditory materials can be corrected. Furthermore, the students would
have the opportunity to be able to bring in front of eye and making it practical, even in the most cramped
quarters can go in the direction of development. E‐learning content for all the institutions of the system and
the requirements for this system of universities measure the willingness and attitude that have not been any
studies reported in the literature. The lecturer level needs to be increased for practical use and situation of the
awareness rise has been targeted by analysis. This paper focuses on similarities and differences in e‐learning
implementation patterns on the higher educational level in Estonia and Turkey. Although, these two countries
are contrastingly different from each other (Estonia is small and Northern and Turkey is large and Southern),
many similarities in the ways of e‐learning in the higher education has been introduced on the national and
institutional levels.
The special attention is on implementation patterns of technology enhanced learning (TEL) in higher education
institutions in both countries, where both e‐learning methods and technological infrastructure play a key role
in survival and improvement of university education in the new economic situation. Our study demonstrates
that the core infrastructure and administration of technology enhanced learning on the national level is more
efficiently implemented in Estonia than in Turkey, thanks to tight cooperation between Estonian universities.
Most of the challenges related to implementation of TEL in Turkey come from the big cities, where the
population is too high and capacity of accepted students in big universities is large. In some universities of
Turkey, like Anadolu, Istanbul, Sakarya or Ankara, where the capacity of the students are around 1 million, the
e‐learning technology infrastructure have a lot of barriers, compared to the biggest universities of Estonia, like
Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn University or Tartu University. Most of the barriers come from the
absence of the necessary computer program or programs, speed of internet access, personal and corporate
security concerns, the quality of materials used, qualifications of the academic staff, which are required for
e‐learning and inadequacy of equipment bearing. In this paper, for the first time, we are focusing on
similarities and differences in e‐learning implementation patterns on the higher educational level in Estonia
and Turkey.
From the methodological perspective, our comparative analysis is driven by the Electronic Education System
model, EES (Cloete 2001). Tiered EES model contains four layers:
Physical layer: computer hardware and network setup (e.g. BYOD vs computer labs)
E‐paradigm layer: pedagogical beliefs and ideas (e.g. knowledge transfer vs “learning by doing”)
Educational middleware layer: e‐learning software tools and digital content available
Instructional layer: actual practice of teaching and learning in courses.
The strategic development of e‐learning can be carried out either on top‐down or bottom‐up manner, or as
combination of both.
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2. E‐learning system in higher education of Estonia
E‐learning innovation in higher education of Estonia has started in 1998, where only few enthusiasts in Tallinn
University of Technology, Tallinn Pedagogical University and Tartu University initiated some online courses on
the WebCT (Course Tools) platform. In four years the number of online courses grew rapidly and so did the
price for WebCT licenses. Optimisation of costs and to finding funds for expanding e‐learning innovation leaf to
cooperation between universities. The eight biggest universities of Estonia decided in 2003 to create Estonian
e‐university consortium to increase the quality of e‐learning system and to find a solution for national level
hosting and licensing of WebCT platform. For this reason the Estonian e‐University consortium was established
in 2003. Two years later the second consortium, Estonian e‐VET consortium (consortium of vocational
education organizations) was developed. The Estonian e‐VET consortium started to coordinate e‐learning
activities at the vocational education level. Based on these two consortia, the Estonian e‐learning
Development Centre was established in 2006 (E‐learning Development Centre 2007, Dremljuga‐Telk et al.
2011). In 2010 these consortia has grown into 10 universities. The main task was to coordinate and develop e‐
learning activities at the higher education level. Afterward, e‐learning system has grown rapidly in different
universities, which are shown clearly in Figures 1 and 2.
Nowadays, e‐learning system in higher education of Estonia has most of the barriers in pedagogical way, than
in technical way. Technical infrastructure in e‐learning system is on a high level, where some few problems
can’t influence to the quality of this system. In the process of e‐learning system, as pedagogical barriers, we
have identified some issues, which are listed as follows:
Some of the lecturers want to give lessons face to face and for this reason they can’t except to use e‐
learning system
Content to be transferred onto the internet in a monotonous way
Excessive or inadequate presentation of information
No transparency in results of examinations time
Appropriate and timely feedback cannot be given.
Figure 1: Usage of e‐learning system in Estonian Universities
Based on the sources mentioned above, the strategic implementation of e‐learning development was carried
out in a bottom‐up manner in Estonia during the first phase (1997 – 2005), but after the establishment of
Estonian IT Foundation and its E‐learning Development Centre, the centralised top‐down coordination started
to play more important role on the level of educational middleware layer in the EES model. Centrally funded
and hosted e‐learning services (LMS, repositories of learning objects) boosted the bottom‐up experimentation
with new instructional designs by growing number of university staff. This was supported by centralised staff
training opportunities provided by EITSA (Estonian IT Foundation), which had a top‐down impact on
disseminating the new e‐paradigm (collaborative blended learning), at the second layer of EES model.
Development of the physical layer was mostly left to single universities, which in most cases moved slowly
towards Bring Your Own Device model by encouraging students to use their own laptops both in classrooms
and for individual studies. Such interplay between top‐down and bottom‐up implementation models has
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proved to be successful in a small and dynamic country such as Estonia. Within the period of 2004 – 2012,
more than 4800 fully or partly online courses were created and taught in centralised Moodle LMS and
additional 4200 courses were made available through locally developed IVA LMS platform (Laanpere, 2013). In
the universities that belonged to Estonian E‐university consortium, more than 40% of all courses included e‐
learning component by 2013.
Figure 2: Number of users in Estonian Universities (Dremljuga‐Telk et al. 2011)
3. E‐learning system in higher education of Turkey
The development of world countries in e‐learning system has given a very good example for development of
the modern Turkey in e‐learning system starting from the year 1982. The good example was chosen from
British Open University, starting from 1974 in distance education. Afterward, Anadolu University was the first
university that provide distance education initially with printed material, television and radio, as well as audio‐
visual course materials and academic counselling services, which have enabled application to use internet in
the year 1990. Also in Sakarya and Middle East Technical University had been implemented distance
education, which was based on web application (Isman et al. 2008). After internet technology being
conveniently accessible in most of the universities, the e‐learning system has taken the first step and starting
to grow rapidly, starting from the year 1997. As we suspected, in general the e‐learning system aren’t widely
used and implemented in many universities in Turkey. Exceptionally, there are small universities, which have
established or successfully applied these systems in the past. Most of the problems in the e‐learning systems
came from the largest universities like Anadolu, Istanbul, Sakarya or Ankara (Nart and Altunisik 2013). Almost
in the Anadolu University, where capacity of students is around 2 million, we have seen that problems came
from technical and pedagogical barriers (Yamamoto et al. 2010, 2011). There are three important explanations
that can describe the e‐learning system in relation of technology infrastructure and their barriers, including
hardware and software, which are shown below:
Technological infrastructure is the foundation of e‐learning system that has to be taken firstly into
consideration. The accurate and purposeful e‐learning infrastructure planned facilities cannot be used
without technology innovation, content excellence, trainers and learners qualifications, intended to
achieve the goals
E‐learning necessary hardware for computers, servers (web server, email server, video server, voice
server, chat server, etc.), modems, network appliances, wireless devices, printers, scanners, cameras,
microphones, backup and storage devices consist of e‐learning software size, the word processor, e‐mail
packages, presentation programs, support software (plug‐ins), data bases, learning management systems
(LMS), learning content management systems (LCMS), authoring tools
E‐learning system in the design of bandwidth, connection speed, the quality of materials used, such as
multi‐media considerations appear to be advantages on the one hand, the wrong choice of technology or
technology barriers can arise as impossibilities. An e‐learning application speed internet connection, voice
and video communication will enable the necessary software and hardware with a learner for an
enjoyable e‐learning experience gives an impression of a slow, limited internet connectivity, with the
necessary technological hardware and software lacks another learning a serious emerges as a barrier.
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Fatih Güllü et al.
In Figures 3 and 4 is shown the evolution of e‐learning system in Turkish universities (Yamamoto et al. 2010).
Furthermore, in e‐learning system of the biggest universities of Turkey there are technical barriers, which can
be listed as follows (Yamamoto et al. 2011):
Absence or lack of technological infrastructure
Lack of or insufficient speed of internet access
Lack of the equipment required
The absence of a computer program or programs
Available computer program or programs not being up to date
Costs of the related software needed, authoring tools or systems
The software needed, authoring tools or nature and quality of systems
Personal and corporate security concerns
Unsafe technology infrastructure and inconsistencies in access to e‐learning environment
The quality of multimedia materials used, the suitability and design
Interface and visual design
Technical limitations
Technical infrastructure, authoring tools or systems, such as excessive expectations regarding the capacity
of the technological elements
Read program design and limitations on the use of multimedia material
Figure 3: Usage of e‐learning system in Turkish Universities (Yamamoto et al. 2010)
Figure 4: Number of the users in Turkish Universities (Yamamoto et al. 2010)
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Fatih Güllü et al.
In the process of e‐learning system, as pedagogical barriers, we have identified some issues, which are listed as
follows:
E‐learning content did not match the expectations of learners
Content to attract the attention of students
E‐learning programs and quality concerns related to the conformity of inconsistency of content, logical
errors, lack of clear improper design, improper content, wrong methods, techniques and strategy
selection
To appeal to different learning styles, one being flat and boring
Allowing applications to interact failure, ineffectiveness
Content to be transferred onto the internet in a monotonous way
Lack of instructional design
Excessive or inadequate presentation of information
Multimedia materials timely and appropriately used in improper system of educational content, authoring
tool or work placement programs
Appropriate and timely feedback cannot be given
The main Turkish universities, e.g. Anadolu, Ankara and Sakarya, independently have well designed systems for
e‐learning and distance education for high level education: (1) Anadolu University Open Education System, (2)
Ankara University’s Distance Education Centre (ANKUZEM), (3) Distance Learning Research and Development
Centre, respectively. During last decade this systems and programs of e‐learning already showed progress and
significant results (Latchem et al. 2006, Mutlu 2004). In 2007, more than 550.000 students logged in the portal
of Anadolu University Open Education System more than 11.7 million times and used the e‐learning services
(Anadolu University 2008). ANKUZEM currently serves 1,190 distance education students, 940 at
undergraduate level and 250 at certificate level. In 2009, in the Distance Learning Research and Development
Centre at Sakarya University were registered 50 students for the four‐year degree programs, 460 postgraduate
students, 41 in master’s program. At the same time, there is a lack of cooperation between these institutions.
Due to different approaches of the systems, users of different universities don’t have possibility to collaborate,
exchange knowledge and experience.
The data for the study were gathered through literature and web content analysis.
4. Comparisons of e‐learning systems in higher educations between Estonia and Turkey
In the area of higher education, e‐learning system is playing an important role in both countries, such as
Estonia and Turkey. Estonia is a small country, in comparison with Turkey. High level e‐learning systems were
implemented in Estonia. However, there are some problems due to pedagogical barriers. From other side we
have Turkey with large population, where the problems occurred from technical and pedagogical barriers.
There are different reasons to understand that e‐learning systems have these kinds of barriers, which are:
Consortium between universities of Turkey doesn’t exist in the biggest university, such as Anadolu,
Sakarya, Ankara and Middle East Technical University. In some universities we have important problems to
collaborate the faculties with each other’s
Consortium between universities of Estonia has worked very well, where 10 universities are collaborating
together for increasing the quality of e‐learning system
The budget in the biggest universities of Turkey weren’t enough for minimizing these important barriers
that we mentioned above
The probability is very low to participate and to get different projects from European Union (EU) because
the capacity of these biggest universities is too high
In the case of Estonia, the probability is too high for getting different projects from EU because the
capacity of the biggest universities is fifty times lower than Turkish universities and they have all the
facilities for implementation their projects successfully.
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The final aim of the project is to provide measures for progressive improvement of general principals of
Turkish e‐learning system in higher education, using successful experience, applied in Estonia in the field of e‐
learning.
5. Conclusions
In this research, for the first time, we have analysed the situation of e‐learning systems in higher education of
Estonia and Turkey. E‐learning system in Turkey has grown during the last decade, but in the biggest
universities they have still again some problems, which are focused on technical and pedagogical barriers. E‐
learning system in Estonia has grown rapidly and successfully with some few problems, which are coming from
pedagogical barriers. The process for improving the quality and minimizing these barriers in Turkey needs to
get consortiums between universities, like Estonian example. Results of this research will be used in further
investigations, aimed to solve problems in the field of e‐learning in a higher education in Turkey.
References
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Dremljuga‐Telk, M., Koitla, E., Kusnets, K. (2011) E‐learning Quality Assurance System for e‐Courses in Estonia, In
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Mutlu, M.E. (2004) E‐Learning Applications in the Open Education Faculty of Anadolu University, European Association for
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Yamamoto, G.T., Demiray, U. and Demirci, B.B. (2011) Türkiye’de E‐öğrenme: Gelişmeler ve Uygulamalar II, Istanbul.
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The Issue of Optimizing Foreign Language Teaching by Means of e‐
Learning
Radka Jurickova
Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Pedagogical Faculty,
University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Department of Languages, VSB‐Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
radka.jurickova@vsb.cz
Abstract: The paper deals with the issue of optimizing the process of teaching a foreign language by means of e‐learning
while trying to describe a possible approach for the development of language skills with regard to individual learning styles
and strategies while learning a foreign language. A student’s individual learning style plays an essential role in effective
foreign language acquisition, therefore recognizing their own learning style and using the right strategies to reinforce their
particular curriculum can lead to effective learning. Using various forms of e‐learning and viewing the process of learning a
second language as complex and using a comprehensive approach including motivation and self‐discipline, we intend to
verify, optimize and finally implement these new forms of education into the practice of teaching English for Specific
Purposes (ESP) mainly for technical fields. In the introduction, the issue is examined in the context of teaching foreign
language at tertiary education institutions, focusing on teaching ESP at technical universities in particular. In the theoretical
part, the paper gradually tries to define the basic terminology and describe the theoretical principles of teaching ESP at
technical universities. Furthermore, key variables and important factors that play an essential role in the learning process
itself are also a subject of investigation. The paper further describes the objective of providing an optimized adaptive e‐
learning environment with respect to preferred learning styles with a narrower focus on perceptual preferences:
visual/auditory/kinesthetic (VAK) of the particular curriculum and with regard to recommended learning strategies to be
used while learning. This e‐learning environment is being developed in accordance with the Common European Framework
of References for Languages and its key language competences divided into two main categories: receptive skills and
productive skills. This paper aims to present the core concept of future doctoral theses, together with the chosen methods
of work, including the practical part of the research. Experts in the field of e‐learning see implementation of ICT in teaching
foreign languages as a great challenge and possible way for further development. They agree that we cannot teach in the
spirit of "one size fits all”, and that e‐learning methods could be very beneficial in the process of the individualization,
adaptation and optimization of learning in accordance with a student’s learning needs. Our task in the research is to
determine whether optimized e‐learning courses lead to a more efficient development of linguistic competence in the
professional sphere or not and whether such training is an appropriate instrument for the improvement of the situation in
ESP teaching at universities or not. It will also try to define and implement the new concepts of these terms: e‐style and e‐
strategies.
Keywords: optimization, e‐learning, learning styles and strategies, perceptual preferences, e‐style, e‐strategies
1. Introduction
The popularity of learning a foreign language vie e‐learning methods and tools is rapidly increasing. The
extensive development of various courses, modules and packs of study materials is noticeable; however, very
little attention is being paid to specific areas such as foreign language acquisition in combination with ICT and
all the important factors that are entering the process of learning in the electronic environment which have
become the subject of our research. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce a new view on this complex issue.
Before any work on the chosen topic could begin, we had to define the basic terminology and key concepts
that are drawn from a wide area including terminology from the fields of pedagogy, psychology, computer
science and linguistics, as well as posing several questions to eventually answer.
Fundamental questions of our PhD research:
Who exactly is the target group of our research and how can the overall concept of e‐learning courses in
terms of content, language methodology, and language competencies as described in CEFR be organized?
How can English for Specific Purposes be taught more effectively? What can be done better?
Can we create a model for optimizing the learning process that expresses the relationship between
learning styles and changing variables entering the learning process in an electronic environment?
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Can such an optimized model support students in their professional language training? Under what
conditions?
Would optimized e‐learning courses taking into account learning styles and strategies lead to more
effective learning of ESP?
Can we define the new concepts: e‐style and e‐strategy?
In looking for all these answers, we had to consider the fact that the learner stands at the center of our
attention, and with all the possibilities of ICT we have to provide a learning environment suitable to the
student´s professional needs, individual learning style, perceptual preferences, learning strategies and the
ability to learn at their own pace, while at all times taking into account new trends in the field of ICT in
education. E‐learning has the potential to provide “student‐centered learning” and tends to be designed
based on the pedagogy of providing learning environments according to the students’ needs, abilities,
preferences and styles rather than providing uniform education without any consideration of individual needs
and differences (Nishino et al, 2010). E‐learning is the use of new multimedia technologies and the Internet to
improve the quality of learning by facilitating access to resources and services, as well as remote exchange and
collaboration” (Alonso et al., 2005) whereas blended learning environments combine traditional and face‐to‐
face instruction with computer mediated or online instruction (Lamb, 2001 in Howard, 2005). Cohen and
Weaver (2005) further describe and divide “language learning strategies” as conscious processes used to learn
a language while “language use strategies” are conscious processes selected to use the material that is learned
(however incompletely). Another approach in the form of an adaptive environment represented by a virtual
teacher adapted to the individual type of student has recently been introduced (Kostolanyová, Šarmanová and
Takács, 2011a). In further work they have even introduced a new methodology of creating and formulating
experts’ criteria to assign the learning style of a student to suitable teaching styles of the virtual teacher
(Kostolanyová, Šarmanová and Takács, 2011b).
In the following parts of this paper we will try to introduce the new concept of optimizing the process of
learning foreign language with the use of ICT at the Language Department, VSB‐Technical University of
Ostrava.
2. Tertiary education and English for specific purposes
To fulfill one of the most important criteria, the professional content of English for Specific Purposes, we
intensively cooperate with experts from each faculty of the VŠB‐Technical University of Ostrava, which consists
of seven faculties:
Faculty of Economics
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Faculty of Mining and Geology
Faculty of Safety Engineering
Faculty of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering
The topics to be prepared for an electronic environment in the form of e‐courses and e‐lessons are specified
by deans, vice‐deans, assistant professors or doctoral students to ensure a direct link to the major fields of
study or to the content of major subjects. These themes or specified topics from various foreign sources are
further presented to ELT experts (English Language Teaching), and the creators of the e‐lessons. Their task is to
create and form e‐lessons taking into account the fundamental methodology of e‐learning and blended
learning, as well as with respect to the Common European Framework of References for Languages and its key
language competencies. The theory of learning styles of a student while learning EFL/ESL (English as a Foreign
Language or English as a Second Language), the recommendation of language learning strategies and
assistance from Information and Communication technologies are also taken into consideration. If we desire
students of technical faculties to utilize their professional expertise in languages other than their native one,
the entire process of learning a foreign language in the professional sphere must be precisely optimized. Figure
1 shows our view on all the influencing factors from the perspective of our intended research.
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Radka Jurickova
RESULT
Foreign Language
knowledge for
professional expertise
Figure 1: Factors influencing the learning process in e‐learning
3. Common European framework of references for languages (Cefr)
Why is it important for students to know their current level of foreign language competency?
When trying to respect the Common European Framework of References for Languages and the development
of language competences described as skills, we came across some technical problems in terms of the LMS
environment and its possibilities. Throughout the work, we have to bear in mind the limitations of LMS
Systems including sometimes with the implementation of external software. Basically, we are limited by the
number of exercises and their variations, which make it difficult to fulfill all areas of language skills
development.
Language skills are divided into three main areas. They are categorized and described as skills and are the
subject of development by each student individually (Ivanová et al, 2006):
Table 1: Language skills by CEFR (simplified version)
Language area Language skill
Reading
Understanding
Listening
Interaction (dialog)
Speaking
Production (monolog)
General writing
Writing
Professional writing
We had to choose the types of activities and exercises that are feasible in an electronic environment with or
without the direct participation of a tutor and where an automatic evaluation with immediate feedback is
applied. It previously proved to be appropriate in the development of understanding skills (the understanding
of reading and listening) implemented in an electronic environment.
In the area of development of speaking skills (interaction and production) we try, at first, to cover speaking
production skills with the possibility of self‐ recording and comparing pronunciation with a native speaker
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Radka Jurickova
(even the storage of one´s own recordings and comparing them later to see if they have developed is possible).
We are now trying to cover the area of speaking interaction development as well. We are currently and
intensively working on the possibilities of implementation of other communication tools into the environment
of LMS Moodle, such as Skype (video/audio chat) or other social networks to be able to put synchronous
communication into action in real time, mainly for the purpose of the intended experiment. At this point
asynchronous communication among all participants including tutors is possible in the form of Chat, Moodle
Mobile, Forum, Blog, and Notes, Wiki or simply via e‐mail if necessary. We have also applied the form of
blended learning and have implemented these e‐courses into the curriculum of the subjects “English for
Engineering” and “English for Careers: Technology” taught in its present form to our full‐time students, where
a total of three tutorials during one semester are carried out and where face‐to‐face communication is
possible.
The area of writing is now covered in the form of gap fills, writing words or letters again, because of the
possibilities of the automatic evaluation of such an activity. Other communication tools involving writing
without automatic evaluation are also available. To develop real writing skills would involve the intensive
participation of a tutor skilled in this area of ELT and therefore we are preparing another e‐course aimed
especially at writing for academic/scientific purposes. In such a course, writing activities would play a primary
role and would provide our students with rules and tips on how to write a conference paper, for instance. The
target group for this would mainly be doctoral students at our university.
All the submitted study materials in the form of the e‐lessons for each unit are graded according to the
standards of CEFR Levels A1‐C2. However, a minimum level of A2/B1 is required to be able to understand the
core of a unit, to be partly familiar with the terminology of a presented topic, and to be successful in making
any progress. Due to the level of difficulty in the field of English for Specific Purposes, these e‐courses are not
suitable for beginners. Students are therefore recommended to diagnose their current/present level of foreign
language competency via a test available directly in the electronic environment (LMS) to be able to better
track their personal development. Table 2 explains the details according to CEFR and the Council of Europe and
table 3 shows recommended levels and the development expected during their study at the university.
Table 2: Common European framework for languages (levels)
CEF Level Level Description
C 2 Mastery Upper Advanced
C 1 Effective Proficiency Lower Advanced
B 2 Vantage Upper Intermediate
B 1 Threshold Lower Intermediate
A 2 Waystage Elementary
A 1 Breakthrough Basic
(no level) Beginner
Table 3: Expected development of foreign language knowledge
Study program Expected development
Bachelor A 2 B 1
Master B 1 B 2
Doctoral B 2 C 1
4. Learning styles, foreign language and electronic environment: The value
Why is it important for students to know their preferred learning style?
Can we take into account students learning styles in an electronic environment?
In designing and creating optimized e‐learning courses, individual differences and learning style preferences
are taken into account. In professional literature aimed at ELT, especially aimed at the EFL/ESL field, perceptual
preferences are researched and described as the most significant indicator. According to Oxford (2003),
learning styles are described as general approaches that students use in acquiring a new language (e.g. global
or analytic, visual‐auditory‐kinesthetic/VAK, etc.). While learning a new language, sensory preferences in
particular determine the general direction of learning approaches.
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Radka Jurickova
Cohen and Weaver (2005) describe the value of learning styles in their research and suggest that the greater
number of styles students can use the more successful they will be at learning a new language. Research also
shows that we all have learning style preferences and thus may tend to favor our preferred approaches in
learning.
Cohen and Weaver (2005) also suggest that when it comes to learning new vocabulary, students who learn
visually may benefit from seeing a still picture of video of an object or action which involves the new
vocabulary in some way; learners with auditory preferences may want to hear the words pronounced clearly
several times or to hear themselves pronouncing them, and would benefit from any audio parts in the process.
They also are more capable of using the words in real situations involving speaking. For kinesthetic learners it
may help to perform the action or do any movement, even moving lips, fingers or any other parts of body in
helping them to better remember new words. We are, therefore, working on the implementation of other ICT
tools into LMS Moodle to enhance this preferred way of acquiring new vocabulary and to increase the number
of possible activities for this type of student.
Other psychological and linguistic studies (Lojová and Vlčková, 2011); (Ehrman, Leaver and Oxford, 2003) also
lead to classification according to perceptual preferences, which substantially affect access to information, its
reception and recall. In the process of studying EFL/ESL internal images are connected with linguistic entities
and very often a combination of two or more styles is used. Despite this fact, for the vast majority of learners,
one learning style is more or less preferred.
Visual (ICT + eye): learning best through visual means‐ text based resources, spatial information such as
charts, diagrams, pictures, flashcards, pair cards, match type, graphs, schemes, videos, procedure process,
illustrated texts, word order and other verbal sources
Auditory (ICT + ear): preferring listening and speaking activities‐ audio activities, recordings, reading
aloud, read‐listen‐repeat/describe, dictations, dialogues, discussions, gap filling, drills
Kinesthetic (ICT + hands‐on): benefitting from any possible movement, using keyboard, mouse or touch
screen, moving objects/words/letters, doing projects, cooperating with others, also saying things
aloud/repeating and writing into the texts/maps, drawing schemes/maps/layouts
The following part of this paper will consider learning strategies as an important factor influencing the process
of learning foreign language.
5. Learning strategies, foreign language and electronic environment: The tool
Why is it important for students to know and use suitable learning strategies while learning foreign
language?
Can we adapt the electronic environment to provide optimal conditions for the use of learning strategies?
There are two key factors affecting the process of learning a language. The first is the preferred learning style;
in the field of learning a language perceptual preferences mainly dominate the process of approaching the
language. The second is the language learning strategies and tactics used to enhance the language learning.
These main factors influence the student’s ability to learn in a particular instructional framework and help to
determine how and how well students learn a second or foreign language.
Learning strategies are defined as specific actions, behaviors, steps, or techniques (e.g. seeking out
conversation partners) used by students to enhance their own learning (Oxford, 2003).
Mareš (1998) describes learning strategies as one part of a large‐scale process where students make a
particular plan in a distinctive way for solving a given task when they try to achieve something and to avoid
something else resulting in learning, as shown in Figure 2.
Personality
Motivation Learning Learning Learning Learning
Stage of Styles Strategies Tactics Results
development
Figure 2: The relation model of individual differences and learning process (Schmeck in Mareš, 1998)
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Radka Jurickova
When the learner consciously chooses strategies that best suit their learning style (mainly VAK in languages),
these strategies become a useful and powerful tool for an active, conscious and self‐regulated process of
learning the language.
According to Oxford (2003) and Cohen and Weaver (2005), learning strategies while learning a second
language can be classified by function:
Cognitive strategies enable the learner to manipulate the language material in direct ways, e.g. through
reasoning, analysis, note‐taking, summarizing, synthesizing, outlining, reorganizing information to develop
stronger schemes (knowledge structures), practicing in natural settings, and practicing structures and
sound formally.
Metacognitive strategies (e.g. identifying student’s own learning style preferences and needs, planning
for foreign language task, gathering and organizing materials, arranging a study space and schedule,
monitoring mistakes, and evaluating task success) are employed for managing the learning process
overall. Metacognitive strategies have an executive function over cognitive strategy used.
Memory‐related strategies help the learner link one second language item or concept with another but
do not necessarily involve deep understanding. Various memory‐related strategies enable learners to
learn and retrieve information in an orderly string (e.g. via acronyms, sounds, images, a combination of
sounds and images, body movement, mechanical means or location).
Compensatory strategies help the learner make up for missing knowledge (e.g. guessing the meaning
from context of listening and reading, using synonyms or gestures.
Affective strategies help students regulate their emotions, motivation, and attitudes and are often used
to reduce anxiety and provide self‐encouragement. Research shows that learner’s self‐motivation capacity
is a major factor contributing to success.
Social strategies involve learners’ choice to interact with other learners and native speakers, such as
asking questions to clarify social roles and relationships, asking for an explanation or verification, and
cooperating with others in order to complete tasks.
Language learning strategies can also be classified by language skill area, which includes the receptive skills of
reading and listening and the productive skills of writing and speaking; skills needed for using second language
successfully in any professional area. Figure 3 shows the relationship between language skills and the
recommended direction of movement from one language area to another. In a simplified way, from receptive
to productive skills, from reading to writing and from listening to speaking. When suggesting possible learning
strategies feasible in an electronic environment we will try to take into account the following scheme.
Reading Writing
Listening Speaking
Figure 3: The relationship of language skill areas
Table 4 illustrates an example of our concept of adapting the environment to language areas and skills to be
developed (also known as language competencies). These strategies will be further applied with regard to the
well‐known language methodology PPP: Presentation‐Practice‐Production defined by Harmer (2001), where he
points out that while phases of learning do not exist in isolation but are interconnected, following their
sequence or respecting their order is considered an appropriate methodology.
From a pedagogical perspective, the fact that language learning strategies are flexible, learnable and when
compared with learning styles can be easily changed or developed is important. Strategies used are influenced
by many variables (i.e. age, gender, language level, preferred learning style, motivation, experience of
strategies, etc.) and because we are working with adults at the university level of education, certain strategies
will be practiced or recommended throughout our experimental e‐learning course. From the previous
research, we have discovered that most of our students are not sure or aware of the existence of theories of
learning styles and learning strategies but have been using them either unintentionally or accidentally. In this
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paper we introduce a new design and model of an optimized adaptive e‐learning environment by adding new
features and functions, mainly by shifting towards language learning strategies where we aim to make the
process of learning more effective and user‐friendly.
Table 4: Illustration of strategies and tactics feasible in an electronic environment
Skill area and recommended strategies in an electronic environment (examples)
Receptive skills Productive skills
Reading Writing
Read as much as possible about the topic of Practice writing new words
your study/interest Keep a glossary
Predict the content from the title Record important collocations, prepositions,
Do the pre‐reading activity first synonyms
Skim the text first for the main idea Take notes in the language
Scan the text to find the specific piece of Make a plan for your writing
information Use patterns of writing
Read for detail Use a dictionary
Use dictionary Use revision tools
Read for pleasure Try to get feedback
… …
Listening Speaking
Read the instructions carefully Practice saying new expressions
Picture the situation Record and compare your pronunciation with
Predict the content native speaker
Do the pre‐listening activity first Use tools for conversation in the electronic
Listen to audio materials (with/without environment
script) Ask questions
Watch video materials (with/without Answer any questions
subtitles) Encourage others to correct you
Listen again Try to express your idea
Visit other related websites/sources Use synonyms if you can’t think of the proper
Listen for pleasure word
… …
6. Discussion: Basic proposal of an optimized e‐course
In our optimized e‐courses we intend to help our students to discover their individual learning preferences
with a narrower focus on discovering their perceptual preferences while learning a second language and to
expand or widen their learning approaches and to recommend suitable learning strategies. Knowing their own
learning preferences should help them to study EFL/ESL successfully. When using ICT while teaching or
learning EFL/ESL, sensory receptors dominate the process, which is why these dimensions occupy the center of
our interest.
When enrolling onto an e‐course, a valid diagnostic questionnaire will be applied (Cohen and Weaver, 2005),
followed by a description of the information acquired and further recommendations on how to work within
the e‐course. According to our earlier research, there is usually a combination of preferences in learning, but
one preference always dominates the process of acquiring a new language and therefore we will recommend
the optimal way throughout a unit.
The adapted e‐course will provide three different versions of study material both for presentation and
practice. In the practice part in particular, participants will be able to learn the language the way they
perceptually prefer and will be instructed about the strategies they should use to further develop the language
area. In the review test, they will find a combination of the presented material that they will come across in
their field. Figure 4 shows the proposed (basic) scheme of the optimized e‐course, knowing the student’s
learning styles and taking into account recommended strategies.
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Radka Jurickova
Figure 4: Flow chart of optimized e‐course (basic proposal)
In the process of preparing the intended optimized e‐courses and their subsequent implementation we are
already considering a future evaluation and expecting an update of both forms and topics. We also intend to
further align the selected topics with individual fields of study to their professional needs where we are
already discussing the possibility of a direct link to topics and themes for the degree examination, at least
within a common basis for all disciplines.
At the forefront of our interest is also the language development and training of young doctoral students, new
academic staff and the development of their “Academic Skills”. If we can prove that this approach (a
combination all the above mentioned key factors ‐ ESL/EFL, student´s learning styles, CEFR, ESP, ICT and e‐
learning methods) leads to a greater efficiency and the improvement of EFL/ESL teaching, this method can be
applied to other languages taught at the Language Department of the VSB‐Technical University of Ostrava,
such as German, Russian, French, Spanish or Czech for Foreigners. Even the Chinese language is now available
at the department in the form of full‐time course in response to the current needs in the globalized economy.
Achieving this aim could lead to a recommendation for application of the model to other teaching institutions
as well.
The outcome of this research should either prove or disprove the hypothesis that optimized e‐learning
methods and forms of studying foreign language in accordance with individual learning styles while learning
foreign language has a positive and significant impact on the development of language competencies.
7. Conclusion
To achieve the desired results we suggest taking into account the learning methods, materials, tools and
environment which suit a student’s learning style, and their preferences at least in the presentation and
practice areas of language acquisition in order to develop their language skills effectively. Feasible language
learning strategies were also introduced in the form of recommendations. All possible activities need to be
done frequently or as often as possible. Therefore we stress that self‐motivation and self‐discipline are
essential for achieving any possible success in learning a second language. Recognizing the preferred learning
style, using recommended strategies and the student’s personal input should lead the student towards the
desired accomplishment.
In this paper the issue of ESP and EFL/ESL at the Language Department of the VSB‐Technical University of
Ostrava where our research will take place was introduced. English today is viewed and accepted as a lingua
franca in today’s globalized world and is used with overwhelming dominance as a tool for communication. For
our graduates entering their professional careers, the improvement of language skills is an absolutely
necessity. This fact has led to the expansion of ICT into all subjects taught, English included, and these tools are
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Radka Jurickova
playing and will play a significant role in the learning process. LMS Moodle is an open‐source tool and its
development will continue. In other words, we can look forward to new possibilities and challenges to face in
the near future and possibly defining new concept of terms e‐style and e‐strategy based on data and results
gathered in our research which are currently under evaluation before any definition can be state.
References
Alonso, F. et al. (2005). An instructional model for web‐based e‐learning education with a blended learning process
approach. British Journal of Educational Technology, vol.36, no.2, pp.217‐235.
Cohen, A.D. and Weaver, S.J. (2005). Styles and Strategies‐Based Instruction: A Teachers´ Guide. University of Minnesota:
CARLA, Minneapolis.
Ehrman, M. E., Leaver, B. L. and Oxford, R. L. (2003). A brief history of individual differences in second language learning.
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Harmer, J. (2001). The practice of English language teaching. 3 ed. Longman, London.
Howard, C. (2005) Encyclopedia of distance learning. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Reference.
Ivanová, J. et al. (2006). Společný evropský referenční rámec pro jazyky. UP, Olomouc.
Kostolanyová, K., Šarmanová, J. and Takácz, O. (2011a). “Classification of Learning Styles for Adaptive Education”, New
Educational Review, vol.23, no.1, pp.199‐212.
Kostolanyová, K., Šarmanová, J. and Takácz, O. (2011b). “Structure of Study Supports for Adaptable Instruction”, New
Educational Review, vol.25, no.3, pp.235‐247.
Lojová, G. and Vlčková, K. (2011). Styly a strategie učení ve výuce cizích jazyků, Portál, Praha.
Mareš, J. (1998). Styly učení žáků a studentů, Portál, Praha.
Nishino, K. et al. (2010). “Predicting e‐Learning Course Adaptability and Changes in Learning Preferences after Taking e‐
Learning Courses” 6277 LNAI (PART 2), pp. 143‐152.
Oxford, R. L (2003) Language Learning Styles and Strategies: an Overview. Gala, Oxford.
659
Open Source Learning Streams in Online Discussions in e‐Learning
Thomas Kjærgaard and Elsebeth Korsgaard Sorensen
Institute of Philosophy and Learning, Aalborg University, Denmark
Tmk@learning.aau.dk
Elsebeth@learning.aau.dk
Abstract: The wish for a more engaging e‐learning design and better utilization of the technology at hand has led to the
pedagogic design in this study. We wanted to make a strong alternative to face‐to‐face teaching that was just as likely to
facilitate learning as face to face teacher presentations and class discussions. The study investigates how online
discussions in connection with teacher produced video presentations can generate an ‘open source learning stream’ in an
e‐learning course for teachers. We look at how an ‘open source learning stream’ can encourage students to give and
receive peer feedback. We propose the idea that if learning in an online community is set up to follow the lines of identity
building in social media (Larsen 2007) then we might get a natural momentum in the ‘open source learning stream’. We try
to identify demographic factors that could influence the success of the ‘open source learning stream’. We found that some
students in the demographic group that used computers in their childhood experience that they can learn more form video
clips and online discussion than from traditional teacher presentations and face to face discussions. We also found that the
demographic group that didn’t use computers in their childhood believes that they learn more for traditional face‐to‐face
teaching. This divergence in belief calls for a better defined demographic categorization of the students before dividing
them into groups in e‐learning. The categorization might assist the diffusion of innovation in the persuasion stage (Rogers
2010) of the implementation of the new pedagogic design so that peers would persuade each other that they can adopt
the new learning practices and participate in the ‘open source learning stream’. We propose the idea that significant
demographic knowledge of the students in combination with learning analytics can generate a strong e‐learning design.
Furthermore we investigate inclusion/exclusion mechanisms in the pedagogic design and we found that a more rapid and
multimodal type of reply would help some students. The study presents a critical realist analysis of the pedagogic design in
question and tries to abduct a categorization of student demographics’ influence on learning progression and on the
utilization of web‐tools at hand in the students’ learning process.
Keywords: ‘open source learning stream’, online discussions, teacher produced video, deep learning, technological literacy
1. Introduction:
The notion of the 'open source learning stream' (OSLS) (Kjærgaard, Sorensen 2014) tries to bring new ideas to
the field of e‐learning. Not in terms of technology application but in terms of creating consciousness of the
students learning process in a shared learning stream. The study investigates the possibilities of co‐creation of
learning processes and which circumstances might catalyze deep learning (Entwistle, Waterston 1988) in an
OSLS. The individual learning process is normally supported by teachers who organize learning activities and
materials. But in an OSLS the learners needs the competence to seek out and select a part of the learning
activities and materials themselves. It seems that the fruitfulness of the OSLS depends on the participants’
ability and willingness to embrace the other participants’ academic problems, challenges and lack of digital
study skills. This raises questions such as; what does it take to create a fruitful OSLS? Which demographic
group of students is more likely to benefit from this pedagogic design? Could the pedagogic design be
adaptive in relation to leaner needs without it being resource consuming and complicated for both teacher
and student?
2. Context of the research
The course is a three semester e‐learning course for kindergarten teachers. Each semester is constituted by a
two‐day presence, introductory seminar and a three month e‐learning course followed by an exam. The course
is attended by 10 (of which 9 took exams) students. The general pedagogic idea is to use video in connection
with collaborative LMS functions to generate an open source learning stream. An open source learning stream
(OSLS) is described as a synchronous, collaborative, learning process, where all learners contribute to the
shared learning goal (Kjaergaard & Sorensen 2014). The study investigates whether personalized video
presentations and online discussions can make it out for classroom teaching and discussions. The course is
designed on the basis of e‐tivities (Salmon 2013). The course is also designed to catalyze deep learning
(Entwistle, Waterston 1988) by making the learning goals and the processes very visible, relevant and
obtainable (Hattie 2013) (Biggs, Tang 2011). The assumption is that the phatic value of the video presentation
would enhance the students’ learning (Ebner, Lienhardt et al. 2010). The course is designed as e‐learning
because the subject of the course is rather narrow scoped, hence not attracting enough students in the local
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area of Aalborg. It is also designed as e‐learning because the students are already working as teachers, which
means that they don’t have time to attend classes during the day.
2.1 Philosophy of science
The approach to knowledge and reasoning in this study is critical realist (Bhaskar 2008). This implies that we
work under the assumption that there is an interaction between ontology and epistemology. Critical realism is
a philosophical movement that is probably most used in social science (Sayer 1992, Danermark 2002) but in
recent studies it seems to become more and more used in education research (Scott 2005, Clegg* 2005,
Kontos, Poland 2009, Archer, Bhaskar et al. 2013, Scott 2013). It is a useful approach in research on innovative
development. The learning process is seen as an emergence constituted by causal mechanisms. In the type of
educational research we conduct in this study the object is made up of representation of causal mechanisms
which could be seen as a specific student behavior, a better grade, stronger cooperation, indicators of learning
etc. There are two general approaches to reasoning in this study; one where we abduct a pedagogical design
on the basis of our practical experience and theoretical knowledge (abduction) and one where we
retrospectively investigate why the pedagogical design work or don’t work (retroduction) (Chiasson 2005).
These two approaches to reasoning stem from the philosophy of pragmatism (Peirce 1998). In Peirce’s ‘Theory
of Truth’ he claims that ‘truth’ is what an ideal collegium of researchers will agree on over time, which is very
pragmatic. That pragmatic ‘truth’ resembles Foucault’s ‘regime of truth’ (Cummins 2003) in the sense that
what knowledge and policy makers agree on is claimed to be ‘true’. The ‘pragmatic truth’ is more closely
related to the actual context, where the ‘regime of truth’ is more likely to reveal itself as a power structure. In
this study we claim that both these ‘truths’ (the pragmatic truth and the regime om truth) are in a constant
fluctuating interaction with technology and related, applied techniques and that the pragmatic ‘truths’ are not
always in line with rationales of the context. ‘The regime of truth’ is an exterior enforcement mechanism
(Foucault 2008) that has an imposing influence on the individual whereas the ‘pragmatic truth’ can be seen as
an internal enforcement mechanism that the individual has power to influence. In other words there is a
conflict between global understanding of a phenomenon and local practice with the noumenon in a Kantian
way. In this case the pedagogic ‘regime of truth’ embodies the notion that we need to be together physically
for the ‘best’ teaching to take place, however, the ‘pragmatic truth’ of our experience implies that efficient
learning can happen in many other pedagogical contexts. This ‘regime of truth’ insisting on physical presence
does not only seem to be dominating amongst fellow teachers, it also dominates the students preconception
of which circumstances they need to learn. Learner needs can be divided into ‘natural needs’ and ‘socially
constructed needs’ (Ayers 2011). So, what the learner (and teacher) believes to be an absolute need in the
learning process might be a socially constructed need that can be changed by exposing the learner to other
types of practices. In this study we have tried to abduct a pedagogical design that contains very little of what
the learners think they need in order to learn and a lot of new practices. The retroductive analysis will show
what made the learners change their mind on what they thought they needed in order to learn.
The activities leading to learning are partly constructed through the way we describe them and partly through
the limits and possibilities of the technology. That means that the object of research exists outside of our
consciousness but we can influence it through language and action. In critical realism stratification is one of
the methods to understand the research object. According to critical realism (Archer, Bhaskar et al. 2013) the
world consists of a transitive level and an intransitive level. Knowledge is a social object in the transitive level
and it exists independent of whether we know of it or not, and knowledge will interact with the world in its
own social causality (Bhaskar 2009). We have knowledge of something but knowledge cannot be reduced to
what it is about because knowledge it in itself is a causal mechanism. In this context this means that the
learning process and the conversation in the online discussion exists without the predicative of it being an
OSLS, but the OSLS predicative is also influencing the way the discussion is conducted because OSLS defines a
specific online communication genre. So there is an interaction between the object and knowledge of the
object. So by the means of abduction we design the genre OSLS and then we implement the notion of the OSLS
in a practical learning context. After that we look at the OSLS retroductively using a variety of approaches to
reasoning to extract the interesting causal mechanisms. When we extract and isolate the causal mechanisms
we can interpret why the causal mechanisms had the effect they had and how the context influenced these
causal mechanisms.
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3. Methodology
The methodological approach to this study is, to some extent, design based research. The provisos being that
the study is not iterative (yet), nor is it carried out in longevity (yet). It is however an attempt to bring theory
and practice together in a new pedagogical design that aims to overcome real‐live challenges and make real
changes to the field of study (Herrington, McKenney et al. 2007).Furthermore we, as researchers, are deeply
involved in the design process but not in the teaching which makes our methodology differ from action
research.
The first step was to design the course. The design process was primarily done by us, the researchers, but with
interaction from the teachers that should teach the course. After the design process we held a series of
workshops where the teachers teaching the course got familiarized with the theoretical and practical parts of
the design. They experimented with making their own educational videos and with online discussion. These
first videos should be used for the first etivities in the introductory seminar. This meant that the teacher were
very motivated to learn how to make the videos and that the content and aesthetics of the videos should be
authentic and of good quality. The teachers saw the workshops as a preliminary part of their preparation for
course.
The second step was to establish and implement a new ‘pragmatic truth’ of learning amongst the students. We
planned a two‐day, physical presence, introductory seminar where we presented the pedagogical design. This
was done through reel, curricular exercises, so that the students could focus on the subject and their learning
process and not be alienated by new techniques and technology. We helped and supervised a lot on the
techniques and technology during the introduction course which made the students feel confident that they
could manage the technical part of the learning process on their own when the actual course started.
The third step was to observe and analyze the discussions in the online forum and to retrieve data through
qualitative and quantitative questions in a questionnaire.
4. Data analysis
During the introductory seminar we observed the students as they engaged in pilot‐etivities. The focal points
of the observation were to assess how much time they spend learning the techniques compared to how much
time they spend learning the subject matter. This initial observation showed us that even the slightest
technical problem could jeopardize the whole learning process. We thought that the design was simple, but
we had to make it even simpler and we had to incorporate redundant solutions (to have both links to video
and embedded video etc.). While observing the students we saw that they didn’t consult one another on
technical matters and they didn’t try to solve the problems themselves instead they waited for help from the
teachers. This observation made us a bit anxious as to whether the students would be able to learn from the
pedagogical design or if they would get tied up in technical matters. We discussed if we should make a
technical help forum where the students could get help on technical issues. This solution is known to help in
other cases (Salmon 2012), however, we decided not to create one such in this case because the students
were unfamiliar with online discussions in general and they were not used to expressing their problems in
written form, furthermore it would be difficult for some to describe their problems. In addition to that an
online discussion forum does not necessarily give the instant reply that a student in acute need needs. So, one
of the things that the initial observations showed was that the pedagogic design lacked a support function.
Data was also generated through surveys. These surveys contained both closed and open ended questions.
The closed ended questions gave us quantitative answers that seemed appropriate for generalization but the
population of the survey was way too little to make any generalizations. We could, however, make conclusions
within the context of the study because 7 out of 10 replied and 1 student didn’t complete the course (or the
survey) which makes the response rate 78%. A response rate of 78% seems to be an indication of validity but
only seen in correlation with other sources of empiric data and only as an internal expression in the given case
and context. The empiric data is strong enough to conclude something about learning and teaching within the
study, though.
While analyzing the data it became evident that it might be interesting to cross‐tabulate a question from the
survey on whether the student used computers growing up with the rest of the questions. This cross‐
tabulation became one of the focal points of the data analysis. We also made a cross‐tabulation between age
and the rest of the questions. There was a quite obvious convergence between age and usage of computers
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while growing up but the two cross tabulation reports were not entirely alike so we chose to maintain the two
groups separately because they show different co‐relations.
4.1 Findings
While analyzing the data we found that the students who didn’t use computers in their childhood (33% of
population) were more likely to prefer traditional, face‐to‐face teacher presentations and class discussion as
opposed to video presentations and online discussions. In the survey one student from the demographic group
who didn’t use computer in their childhood put it this way: ‘There is no one to talk to in the learning process’,
another student from the same demographic said: ‘I need someone to talk to, to discuss with; discussion is
important for me to learn new’. The students from this demographic watch each video clip more than three
times average (6 times max) and they respond that the possibility of watching video clip multiple times is very
important. They also respond that it is very important that the video presentations are specific for the course
and not generic video presentations. This indicates that they are not used to learning for YouTube or other
video sites. The survey also showed that it is less important if the voice/face in the presentation is familiar.
The fact that they value the possibility to immerse themselves into the subject matter at their own pace
(watching video clips 3‐6 times) could be interpreted as an indicator for deep learning processes in this
demographic group. This group also addresses the importance of note taking as an important interaction
between watching the videos and learning from the videos.
The other group of students who did used computers in the childhood (66% of population) responds that they
also learn from relevant non‐course specific YouTube video clips but they learn more from the specific teacher
produced video clips, though. They only watch the course specific video presentations twice (average). This
could be interpreted as an indicator for surface learning processes in this demographic group. This group is
younger than the other group and they have fewer indicators for deep learning. We deliberately chose to
look for other factors than age because we didn’t assume that it would be of significance (Rogers 2010).
Furthermore age doesn’t seem to affect the learners’ ability to utilize the techniques needed for participating
in the pedagogic design; however, the age of the student might affect the level of deep learning. It might also
affect the study techniques that they apply.
Most importantly 40% of the whole population responds that they learn more for the teacher produced video
presentations and etivities then from traditional face‐to‐face teaching.
Initially we thought that recognizable voice and face in the video clips would be regarded as important but
only 40% regard that factor as important. So, it is really vital that the video clips are specific and entirely
relevant to the learning goals but the phatic function in the video clips is not that important. If that is valid on a
larger scale it indicates that you can make course specific video clips and share them amongst teachers
without alienating the students. However, we are still going to focus on personally produced video clips
because then the teachers will become experienced and confident in producing own video material and they
will not be depending on others to produce video clips in other contexts which in turn will make it easier to
develop and implement new etivities.
In the forum discussions we found that although 60% are very positive towards discussing in the online forum
only 20% feel that they have learned a lot from other students replies to their posts. We still claim it is an OSLS
because 100% (50% very often, 50% often) say that they learn from reading other students replies to main
topic. The students also say that they learned a lot (40% very often, 60% often) from writing own replies to
main topic. In the open ended question they reply (translated from Danish):
Student 1: “I often need to think carefully about things and that is possible here (online forum)”
Student2: “I’m getting a more clear sense of the subject matter, more words to explain”
Student 3: “Written replies are often more well considered and in depth that a spoken answer”
The students highlight that you can watch videos as many times as you need and the fact that you have time to
formulate your reply as positive elements in this pedagogic design. This indicates that the pedagogic design
caters for deep learning (Offir, Lev et al. 2008) rather than surface learning. In an open ended question a
student writes (translated from Danish):
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”The fact that I can watch the video multiple times and don’t need to take notes (first‐up) but can
have full attention on the video. It is important, though, to have a print of the synopsis so that
you can take notes. In traditional teaching you have to take notes and listen at the same time
and then I forget what the teacher said” (Student)
This indicates that this particular student is very aware of her learning process. She has a robust strategy for
learning that prompts her to ad personal study skills to the learning materials provided by the teacher. She
belongs to the demographic group that didn’t use computers while growing up. The question is then; how can
more students adapt her approach to learning? In this case crossing age with the other questions might be
interesting because that would open the possibility to gain information on which type of school (Danish
system) the student attended in their childhood; reform (post 1975) or traditional (pre 1975). The younger
demographic (44 years and younger) watch the video clips twice whereas the older demographic (44 years and
older) watch the video clips up to 6 times. The older demographic group is properly more used to expressing
themselves through written language than the younger demographic group. Furthermore they posted fewer
but longer posts than the younger demographic group. The question of the students age and school history,
might be interesting to investigate in a study on adaptive e‐learning and learning analytics but in this study we
just saw indications that it might be interesting to study further.
4.2 Discussion of findings
When is the constitution of the OSLS successful? Is it when the students feel that they gain something from
each other’s posts in the online discussion? Or when a discussion thread evolves into something else? Or when
a discussion thread generates a learning spiral that elevates the students’ level of knowledge in a shared
process? Our initial hope was for the latter.
Analysis of the online discussions show that students wait for the teacher to comment or moderate before
they start quoting each other. In the example below the students post 5 replies to the teachers question
before the teacher comments. The teacher, phatically, says: “I’m really impressed. Your reflections are on a
really high level in regards to crossing between theory and practice. And you really get wiser reading your
input…do continue.” Right after the teachers encouraging comment, the students gain confidence to comment
each other’s posts. It tells us that the phatic function in the utterances is really important (Gerbic 2010) for the
OSLS to come into existence.
Teacher
Student
Figure 1: Excerpt from online discussion
In the first couple of discussions the visibility of the teacher seems very important as does the phatic character
of the teacher’s comments. Our study doesn’t show whether it is the mere visibility of the teacher or it is the
phatic character of her comment that triggers the other comments. In later discussions the students comment
each other more freely and the OSLS takes shape:
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Thomas Kjærgaard and Elsebeth Korsgaard Sorensen
Figure 2: Excerpt from discussion
One student quotes another student, who is quoted by a third student. The second student (highlighted) says:
“It just strikes me when I read your post that…”. The third student replies: “You are completely right, ‘name of
student’, I properly don’t separate the two methods…”. In this case the teacher is not visible in the discussion,
the students are doing the 4th etivity in the course and they know how to use the online discussion and they
have gained a sense of academic terminology, which means that they can start to participate and reify in the
OSLS. There is an element of serendipity in the students’ individual problem solving. This means that the
students get unexpected input to solutions to their learning obstacles. The technology, the terminology, the
teacher produced video clips and the online discussions have become part of their shared repertoire (Wenger
1998). During the first and second etivity the students were building the shared repertoire and they really
needed the teacher’s guidance for that.
On the basis of our empiric data and the analysis of that data we can identify a set of circumstances that
appears to be important for the OSLS to be successful in this specific context.
The students seem to need:
Something of interest to participate with within the field of the subject matter.
Foundation for formulating open, relevant questions within the field of the subject matter.
Knowledge of terminology within the field of the subject matter.
An understanding of the importance of; posting questions, posting clarifying questions and posting
answers.
An understanding of the phatic function of language in the discussion.
The teachers seem to need:
A strong strategy for keeping the discussion alive (visibility, phatic comments).
An understanding of the importance of the phatic function in both video clips and in comments to the
online discussions.
An understanding of the importance of the technological simplicity and robustness of the technologies
applied to the pedagogical design.
An understanding of the students’ progressive development of skills while learning in an unfamiliar setup.
An understanding of the importance of gradually increasing the complexity of the utilization of the
technologies.
Our study show that technical problems were the most shared and severe hindrance for learning. We suggest
that some sort of tech‐steward‐role (Wenger, White et al. 2009) is implemented in the OSLS.
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Thomas Kjærgaard and Elsebeth Korsgaard Sorensen
5. Conclusion
We were interested in studying co‐creation of knowledge through a shared learning process that we called an
OSLS. The shared learning process consisted of a body of individual learning processes that fed each other with
questions and answers about the content of the teacher produced video clips and the appointed literature. We
found that if the video clips are relevant and have a phatic twist then some students believe that they learn
more from this pedagogic design than they would have from more traditional teaching. Those students appear
to engage in deep learning processes (Offir, Lev et al. 2008). The interesting question to ask might then be;
which circumstances will catalyze deep learning in an OSLS. Offir , Lev and Bezale utilize a model (Entwistle,
Waterston 1988) that stratifies learning into ’deep’ and ‘surface’ learning. The model states that deep learning
happens when the student:
Creates new information from information that was collected, using hypotheses and quotes
Proposes one or more solutions in terms of judgment
Assumes advantages and disadvantages for a situation or solution
(Entwistle, Waterston 1988, Offir, Lev et al. 2008).
We found all of the above in the online discussions but it would demand more empiric data to conclude
whether the deep learning characteristics predominantly apply to the older demographic group.
We also found that the phatic function was important in discussion and not so much in the video clips.
So, we conclude that the combination of relevant, course specific video clips in conjunction with online
discussions is a good pedagogic design. The teacher needs to focus on phatic language in his/her comments to
motivate the OSLS. It looks as if the OSLS is also depending on the teachers’ questions to be open and
inclusive. If the teacher asks questions that can be answered by quoting names and numbers then the
discussion will properly not live long but if the teacher asks questions like; ‘How could this theory be used in
your practice?’. Then it would be open to all students to answer.
We suggest more focus on setting framework for replying on other students in order for the student to
student discussion to become more fruitful.
Last, we also discussed whether the course should be adaptive to student demographics in the sense that the
initial background survey would determine which video clips (differing in longevity) and which activities the
students should participate in but we need more data to conclude on that.
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Fuzzy Expert System as a Personalized Guide Through Educational
Exhibition
Lukas Najbrt
University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
lukas.najbrt@osu.cz
Abstract: The development of information and communication technologies in recent decades has been very stormy. One
of the current trends is the field of personalization, that is adaptation to a specific user. This trend goes hand in hand with
the growth of the performance and miniaturization of devices which allows for the development of education fields such as
mobile learning (m‐learning). One example of using m‐learning is a personalized guide through an educational exhibition. A
museum, art gallery, zoological or botanical garden or even a technological park, all these can be perceived as educational
exhibitions. When we desire to tour such an exhibition in the most educationally beneficial way, we can ask a guide to
prepare a tailored tour according to our needs, such as depth of our interests, our knowledge, purpose for our tour or
other provided information. Modern mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) are ideal tools to use as virtual guides through
educational exhibitions. They allow a personalized approach to the visitors (each visitor controls his/her own device), they
can present not only text, but also sound and moving images and using wireless technology, they can communicate with a
control server and can navigate through the exhibition. The paper describes the model of such a virtual guide using a fuzzy
expert system. It's purpose is to replace the physical exhibition guide. Based on an initial analysis of a visitor, the virtual
guide proposes a tour through the exhibition so that it brings the visitor the maximal educational benefit while at the same
time offers information about the displayed exhibits in such a way that is most comprehensible. A fuzzy expert system is
used for reasons of better and simpler communication with the visitor. Fuzzy logic allows handling of conceptual vagueness
in the visitor's responses to the system's queries and also allows the use of fuzzy borders between different categories of
visitors. The output is a tour route proposal adapted to practically any visitor. The aim of the virtual guide is to function in
an environment of a real (physical) exhibition. First, however, to ensure better system diagnostics, the whole system
should be tested in an environment of a virtual museum on the Internet. The testing involves not only the system's
functionality, but also the educational benefits of such a guide.
Keywords: information and communication technology (ICT), museum, virtual museum (VM), virtual guide,
personalization, visitor, exhibit, m‐learning, fuzzy expert system
1. Introduction
Nowadays we live in the era of education. This era is characterized by two facts. First, education is no longer
the exclusive domain of the school and second, education does not have to be completed during one's youth.
Moreover, the development of society requires (and allows) education throughout one's lifetime and gives
more room to institutions outside the official education system. This interest in formal and informal forms of
education and learning is also reflected in the broader understanding of museum functions.
According to Alexander "A museum is an institution that cares for (conserves) a collection of artifacts and
other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public
viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary" (Alexander 2008). This definition is already
insufficient since the educational function of a museum is at least as important as its other functions. After all,
this view is also supported in the definition of a museum by ICOM (International Council of Museum,
established 1946, resides in Paris, it is an international professional organization with a status of UNESCO
consultant): “Museum is a non‐profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development,
open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and
intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment”.
Museum provides services in the areas of formal, non‐formal and informal learning. While formal education is
in traditional educational institutions under the supervision of a qualified teacher and museum here can
participate in most informal education takes place outside component of the educational system under the
supervision of a professional instructor, teacher or trained leader and the museum there may be significantly
involved. This is a different one‐off courses, workshops, lectures and discussions. This includes but less
traditional activities such as guided tours, animation programs for the public, suburban camps organized in
collaboration with the museum or school activities at the museum. Informal learning is in contrast to formal
and non‐formal education unorganized, generally systematic and institutionally coordinated.
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If we consider the area of informal learning, that is, the area where a museum provides the majority of its
educational services, we find that in order to maximize the educational benefit of these services, the
information provided needs to be in a form which is comprehensible, acceptable and, not least, interesting to
the visitor. Probably the most competent body in the museum, which best mediates learning is a trained
specialist, who is able to communicate with different groups and types of visitors of the exhibition. He should
be able to suitably interpret and didactically communicate the contents of the exhibits. Not all the exhibits in
the exhibition are in fact trivial and easy to understand. However, for personal or even financial reasons, this
method of direct facilitation is usually not possible. It is therefore necessary to proceed to indirect facilitation,
which provides a scope for modern devices of information and communication technologies.
While previously the indirect facilitation was firmly incorporated in the design of the exhibition (that is, the
selection of a suitable topic from the exhibition, its conception, its organization, the accompanying elements in
the form of models, information panels, study corners or printed guides), with the advent of modern
information and communication technologies there are emerging new devices such as audio guides,
information kiosks, electronic pocket guides, mobile applications or robotic guides. These devices allow for a
more flexible response to the wishes and needs of the visitors and can serve a wider range of visitor
categories. The presented personalized guide through a museum exhibition, called the Virtual Guide, is a
modern means of indirect facilitation. Using a smart mobile device, such as a tablet or smartphone, the Virtual
Guide allows the visitor to tour the exhibition in a way that corresponds with his individual needs concerning
the presented exhibits and the level of presented information and moreover brings educational benefit. After
this application is downloaded into the visitor's mobile device, it determines the type of visitor based on an
initial questionnaire and then offers a suitable tour route with appropriate information about the exhibits in a
way that is the most comprehensible, acceptable and interesting for the visitor.
The control system of the Virtual Guide is based on a fuzzy expert system. Fuzzy logic was chosen in order to
better facilitate the evaluation of the communication with the visitor, since fuzzy logic works with conceptual
vagueness in the visitor's answers to the system's queries and it also accepts fuzzy borders in the categories of
visitors. The project we want to test the functionality of a Virtual Guide in a virtual museum on the Internet.
After creating and testing the virtual guide in a virtual museum, the software will be transferred into a real
museum with the aim of finding answers to the following questions:
Question 1: Does guided tour have more educational benefits to the visitor than an unguided tour?
Question 2: Will a model created and tested in a virtual environment run properly in a real museum?
2. Resources
In his book “Visiting with a 'personal' touch” (Fantoni 2002) Fantoni provides a comparison of several means
of indirect facilitation used in museum exhibitions.
Table Error! No sequence specified.: Adaptability of aids for visitors
Adaptive Audio Tours Touch screen Books
Tape Tours Museum Layout
guides Random/access kiosk Brochures
Location Mobile Mobile Mobile Fixed Mobile Fixed
Interactivity Push and Pull Pull only Push only Push only Not interactive Not interactive
Choice‐based Choice‐based
Customisability Adaptivity No No No
personalization personalization
Multiple tours Multiple tours Multiple tours
Flexibility with the same with the same No with the same No No
equipment equipment equipment
Content Flexible Flexible Fixed Flexible Fixed Fixed
One language One language
Multilinguality Yes Yes Yes No
at the time at the time
Expensive;
Different
Localization Need to enter Isolated, Must be
tapes; Forced
Constraints systems: GPS, codes; Localization programmed Cheap Expensive
pacing; Small
IR sensors, systems separately.
info storage
etc.
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In museum practice, printed brochures and audio guides are the most common. As table 1 shows, these are
adaptable, but cannot be flexible and are not very appealing to the visitors. Other frequently used aids in
expositions are touch screen kiosks. They can serve as a complement to the exhibit or even represent it. The
main disadvantages of kiosks are their isolation from other devices (each one requires individual
programming) and impossibility to automatically adapt to a visitor.
The most customized device for the visitor seems to be a virtual guide (adaptive guide). For that reason we
focused our attention on a virtual guide when developing a personalized system. A similar system was studied
in 2006 by Bartneck and his team (Bartneck 2007). Their system worked on palm devices (handheld
computers, forerunners of today’s smartphone). Even in its time, this system was effective and it can be
concluded that with the use of modern technology it will be even more.
We drew some inspiration from projects dealing with e‐learning personalization based on the learning styles of
students (Kostolányová et al. 2012). The work deals with the most appropriate form of provided learning
material based on user characteristics.
Figure Error! No sequence specified.: Model of adaptive learning environment (Kostolányová et al. 2012)
(DMA, DMU, DMS = data mining from author, teacher, student)
In order to create a useful and effective museum exhibition, all its creators, designers and curators have to be
well acquainted with the target group. Without understanding the target audience the exhibition cannot
succeed because it will not be able to communicate with and foster the interest of visitors. The spectrum of
museum visitors is very diverse and there is no general and universal classification. Visitors, however, have
some common features upon which we can build our categorization:
socio‐demographic characteristics: age, sex, occupation, education, the type of community the resident is
from, local or non‐local residents;
museological characteristics: motivation for the visit (professional, informational), knowledge of the topic,
potential of the tour to engage;
range characteristics: individual visitor, (various types of) groups of museum visitors, frequency of visits,
timescale of museum visit;
psychological or physiological characteristics: reception, intelligential, memory, imaginative, visual,
auditive, motoric.
The following table shows different approaches to visitor categorization based on various criteria.
Table2: Examples of visitor categories listed by given criteria
Visitors’ differences Examples
Imaginative = learn by listening and sharing and prefer interpretation that
encourages social interaction
Learning styles (McCarthy)
Analytical = prefer interpretation that provides facts and sequential ideas
(McCarthy 2006)
Common Sense = like to try out theories and discover things for themselves
Experiential = learn by imaginative trial and error
Learning styles (Gardner) Linguistic = written material
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Visitors’ differences Examples
(Gardner 1999) Logical‐mathematical = diagrams, schemes
Spacial = maps
Musical = audio, music
Bodily = manipulation
Interpersonal = social context
Intrapersonal = alone
Ant = interest in all objects following the curator’s path
Visiting styles (Veron and
Fish = holistic view
Levasseur)
Butterfly = interest in all objects without following a specific path
(Veron and Levasseur 1991)
Grasshopper = interest only in specific objects
Experts
Students
Level of expertise
Tourists
Children
Historical
Artistic
Type of interest Technical
Scientific
Aesthetic, etc
Individual Visitor
Group of students/children
Social Context Family
Couple (adults)
Couple (adult‐child)
Local
European
Origin
American
Asian
In the proposed system of the Virtual Guide the entire range of group or family visitors can be omitted
because the Virtual Guide is a personalized system running on the devices of individuals, therefore this greatly
simplifies categorization. Among other characteristics the most interesting for our purposes are socio‐
demographic and museological. It certainly would be interesting to also incorporate psychological and
physiological characteristics, such as learning styles. Nevertheless, after careful consideration these
characteristics were omitted due to excessive requirements for their implementation. However, the idea that
each exhibit features accompanying information respecting different learning styles is appealing and may be
implemented in the long run.
When creating categories of visitors another question emerges: How strict are the borders between
categories? Take for example the category of age. If you divide the visitors into two categories 6‐12 years and
12‐18 years, does that mean that if one visitor is 11.5 years old and another 12.2 years old while all their other
characteristics match, they should be offered a different tour route of the exhibition? Is it not more logical to
expect blending of different categories? Therefore, it is better to use a system for creating the Virtual Guide
that allows such blending. One option is a system based on fuzzy logic. The theory of fuzzy logic systems is
inspired by the remarkable human capacity to reason with perception‐based information. Rule based fuzzy
logic provides a formal methodology for linguistic rules resulting from reasoning and decision making with
uncertain and imprecise information. In the fuzzy logic control inputs are processed in three steps
(Fuzzification, Inference and Defuzzification).
Figure 2: Fuzzy logic control steps
In the fuzzification block one defines for example fuzzy set A in a universe of discourse X defined by its
membership function µA(x) for each x representing the degree of membership of x in X. In fuzzy logic control,
membership functions assigned with linguistic variables are used to fuzzify physical quantities. Next, in the
inference block, fuzzified inputs are inferred to a fuzzy rules base. This rules base is used to characterize the
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relationship between fuzzy inputs and fuzzy outputs. For example, a simple fuzzy control rule relating input v
to output u might be expressed in the condition‐action form as follows,
IF v is W then u is Y
where W and Y are fuzzy values defined on the universes of v and u, respectively. The response of each fuzzy
rule is weighted according to the degree of membership of its input conditions. The inference engine provides
a set of control actions according to fuzzified inputs. Since the control actions are in fuzzy sense. Hence, a
deffuzification method is required to transform fuzzy control actions into a crisp value of the fuzzy logic
controller. A survey was performed in order to find an already existing fuzzy logic solution for a virtual guide,
but there does not seem to be any. In museums fuzzy logic is used in artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as
a system for automatic classification of exhibits (Kamal, 2012) or image information retrieval (Brown, 2013).
Another interesting area of application of fuzzy logic in museums which could be related to the topic of the
Virtual Guide is a robotic guide through exhibition. Nevertheless, fuzzy logic in this case is used to control
movement and orientation in the exhibition space (Batista, 2013), (Abdessmed, 2013).
So far we have only dealt with visitors to a museum, but what would a museum be without exhibits? That, of
course, leads to another question: How to approach the implementation of exhibits into the Virtual Guide
system? According to the recognized Czech museologist Josef Beneš (Beneš, 1981) an exhibit is “an element of
a system (exhibition)”. It is characterized by form and by content. Form is a physical type (expression) of the
exhibit and content is information about the exhibit in the context of the exhibition. There are various exhibits
in the exhibition. Exhibits, as well as visitors, posses certain characteristics. For the proposed system an
extended and amended categorization based on the original categorization by Beneš was used:
original 3D object,
3D model,
2D model (graph, diagram),
still image (photograph, print/replica, graphics),
moving image (film, video),
audio (music, sound, recording),
text (texts, symbols, tables, formulas),
multimedia,
game (Beneš, 1981).
The result is that the museum exhibition is treated as a linear tour of exhibits (the sequence of the exhibits is
designated by the curator or the organizer of the exhibition). Based on an analysis of the visitor, the system
will choose an exhibit and display it on the visitor's mobile device and will also recommend another suitable
exhibit.
3. Methods
Virtual Guide should function as a tool for informal learning. Let's look at the characteristics of such learning by
S. E. Eaton:
1. Informal learning is never organized.
2. Informal learners are often highly motivated to learn.
3. Informal learning is often spontaneous.
4. There is no formal curriculum.
5. The “teacher” is someone who cares – and who has more experience than the learner.
6. The world is your classroom
7. Informal learning is difficult to quantify.
8. Often dismissed by academics and skeptics as being worthless.
9. Essential to a child’s early development.
10. Essential to an adult’s lifelong learning. (Eaton, 2012)
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From these characteristics suggests design of "virtual guide". It is a personal assistant on a tour of a museum
exhibition. It does not serve as a guide only to help mediate a visitor contact with exposure. It is up to the
visitor, if s/he will follow the proposals of "virtual guide". Its aim is to attract visitors, inform them and educate
in informal way also. It is important to provide a personalized service to the user, that need to be personalized.
Based on the visitor's characteristics it will recommend a suitable tour route through the exhibition and will
deliver the appropriate information about the currently viewed exhibit.
Figure 3: The concept of the virtual guide
Step 1: The visitor coming into the exhibition space downloads the Virtual Guide application. It is assumed that
a visitor who does not want to or is not able to install the application on his device will be able to borrow a
smart portable device directly at the museum.
Step 2: The visitor fills out the form on the device screen.
Step 3: Based on the results obtained from the form, the expert system determines the type of visitor and
offers a suitable tour route.
Step 4: The visitor views the exhibits and the system delivers the necessary information (content) on a level
suitable for his understanding, and thus efficient for him. The system only recommends the tour route, it is up
to the visitor to accept its recommendation. In the same way, the visitor can also change the level of the
provided information.
Step 5: After the exhibition tour the visitor can leave comments and evaluation of the exhibition. The visitor
can terminate the exhibition tour anytime.
Step 6: The system collects information about the actual tour route for further evaluation.
Visitor
Categories of visitors have to be created for the proposed system. These categories are based on socio‐
demographic, museological and range characteristics of the visitors. The data required for the categorization
will be obtained from a questionnaire filled out by the visitor prior to the exhibition tour. We are interested in
these categories: age of the visitor, expertise (how deep is his knowledge about the exhibition topic) and the
purpose of the visit (how serious is his interest in the exhibition, how long does he plan to stay). The
advantage of the fuzzy system is that it can work with vague answers from the visitors. The system is able to
work with answers containing the words like almost, a little more than or likely. This allows the visitor to
communicate better with the system (Does the visitor regard himself an expert or a layman? Is he something
in between? Or is he almost an expert?).
Exhibit
The exhibits in the exhibition are categorized based on their physical form into these categories – original 3D
objects, 3D models, 2D models (graphs, diagrams), still images (photograph, print/replica, graphics), moving
images (film, video), audio (music, sound, sound recording), text (texts, symbols, tables, formulas),
multimedia and games. Each exhibit is assigned content (information layer) in three levels of intelligibility.
Different content (information) is needed by a child and different by an expert. This way every visitor should
get adequate information about the viewed exhibit.
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Tour route
The tour route is given in advance. It is a linear tour route which is set when creating the exhibition and thus
respects the logic of the exhibition tour. The expert system only suggests to the visitor which exhibits are less
important to him and therefore can be left out.
Figure 4: Tour route
There is one more type of exhibit regarded as significant. A significant exhibit will always be included in the
tour route by the system as important, regardless of its type. These exhibits are fundamental to the visited
exhibition and it is therefore necessary for the visitor to view them.
The control fuzzy expert system
The inputs to the control fuzzy expert system (FES) are categories of visitors. The outputs are then the level of
content (information layer) and the weights for individual types of exhibits. Therefore, the system based on
the categorization of the visitor determines the most suitable exhibits in the tour and sets the appropriate
level of content for him.
VYK
WOO
VEK WPM
WG
FUN
FM WSO
WV
WA
ZAM WT
WMM
WH
Figure 5: Inputs and outputs of the FES
In Figure 5 on the left you can see the inputs (antecedents) – VEK, FUN, ZAM of the fuzzy module (FM) of the
expert system. On the right there are the outputs (consequents) – level of content (VYK) and weights for
individual types of exhibits (WOO, WPM, …, WH).
The age of the visitor is represented by a linguistic variable VEK with values – low (NIZ), medium (STR) and high
(VYS). The expertise of the visitor is represented by a linguistic variable FUN with values – low (NIZ), medium
(STR) and deep (HLU). The purpose of the visit is represented by a linguistic variable ZAM with values – fast
tour (RP), basic tour (ZP) and detailed tour (PP).
The output linguistic variables and their values:
Commentary (VYK) simple (JED) – medium (STN) – sophisticated (NAR)
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Weight of 3D object (WOO) minimal (Z1) – low (Z2) – higher (Z3) – high (Z4)
Weight of 3D model (WPM) minimal (Z1) – low (Z2) – higher (Z3) – high (Z4)
Weight of 2D model (WG) minimal (Z1) – low (Z2) – higher (Z3) – high (Z4)
Weight of still image (WSO) minimal (Z1) – low (Z2) – higher (Z3) – high (Z4)
Weight of moving image (WV) minimal (Z1) – low (Z2) – higher (Z3) – high (Z4)
Weight of audio recording (WA) minimal (Z1) – low (Z2) – higher (Z3) – high (Z4)
Weight of text (WT) minimal (Z1) – low (Z2) – higher (Z3) – high (Z4)
Weight of multimedia (WMM) minimal (Z1) – low (Z2) – higher (Z3) – high (Z4)
Weight of game (WH) minimal (Z1) – low (Z2) – higher (Z3) – high (Z4)
The FES has 27 rules for the inference phase. These rules describe which exhibits are suitable for what visitor
and what is the appropriate level of the exhibit content for that given visitor. Below is an example of one of
the rules:
1. If (VEK is NIZ) and (FUN is NIZ) and (ZAM is RP1) then (VYK is JED)(WOO is Z2)(WPM is Z2)(WG is Z1)(WSO is
Z2)(WV is Z2)(WA is Z2)(WT is Z1)(WMM is Z3)(WH is Z4).
After defuzzification of the inference phase results we receive a recommendation of one of the three levels of
the exhibit content (information layers) and the value of the weights for each types of exhibits. The higher the
exhibit weight, the more important is that exhibit to the visitor.
Verification of the educational benefit
It is crucial for the entire Virtual Guide to focus on education. Therefore, we need to verify that the whole
system works as intended and that the rules controlling the system are correct. The question is how to prove
the educational benefits of informal learning tool.
We decided to verify the system on the Internet. This environment provides a simple way to collect and
analyze data during the exposure visit. In order to do that we have created a virtual museum of media and will
carry out the validation phase of the system development in this museum. There are two versions of the
virtual exhibition tour. First, the guided tour, where the visitor is navigated by the Virtual Guide. Second, the
unguided tour, where the guide does not offer any tour suggestions and the visitor moves through the
exhibition on his own. These versions will be used for testing homogeneous groups (preferably elementary
students, high school students, university students or students of a university of the 3rd age).
The test group will first fill out a pretest on the toured exhibition topic. Then, there will be time for the actual
virtual exhibition tour. Half of the group will have the guided tour, while the other half the unguided tour. The
selection of the visitors will be random. After the assigned amount of time for the tour expires, the visitors will
fill out a posttest. By comparing the results of both groups we will verify the educational benefit of the system.
Figure 6: Diagram of the guided tour
4. Results
Currently/Nowadays, the "virtual guide" system is designed and incorporated into the virtual museum. Testing
of the system functionality was done and minor problems were augmented. Variants of exposure to test the
educational effect was created. Unfortunately, at the time of preparation of this paper the actual testing on
visitors has not yet started, so we do not have data to validate or refute hypotheses Q1. At the same time we
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are working on the inclusion of "virtual guide" to the real museum exhibition. Design of application for smart
devices is ready, and we are dealing with a potential client about installing virtual guide to his exposure.
5. Conclusion
One of the museum missions is to educate its visitors. The main area where museum education is applicable is
informal learning. In order to ensure the maximal effect on the visitor, it is necessary to make the exhibition
tour comprehensible, inspiring and entertaining for the visitor. However, there is a wide range of museum
visitors and therefore the exhibition tour should somehow be facilitated. The ideal, but feasible only on a
small‐scale, is direct facilitation by a museum specialist trained to communicate with various groups and types
of exhibition visitors. Nevertheless, for either personal or financial reasons this way of direct facilitation is
usually not possible. It is therefore necessary to proceed to indirect facilitation which provides a scope for
modern devices of information and communication technologies. The presented personalized guide through
museum exhibition called Virtual Guide is a modern means of indirect facilitation. Using a smart mobile device
the Virtual Guide allows the visitor to tour the exhibition in a way that corresponds with his individual needs
concerning the presented exhibits and the level of presented information and moreover brings educational
benefit. The control system of the Virtual Guide is based on a fuzzy expert system in order to better facilitate
the evaluation of the communication with the visitor.
Completing the system consists of creating categories of visitors, categorization of the types of museum
exhibits and creation of the three levels of content (information layers) for each exhibit. The control fuzzy
expert system works with 27 rules. Based on these rules the system recommends to the visitor the most
suitable exhibits in the exhibition tour and sets an appropriate level of content for the individual exhibits. he
entire system will be first tested in a virtual museum where it will be debugged. After verification of its
educational functionality, it will be deployed in an environment of a real museum where it will operate as an
application for a smart phone. This project differs from other similar projects mainly because it is primarily
designed to educate the visitors of the exhibition. Therefore, one major question arises: Will the system of
Virtual Guide really have an educational benefit for the visitor?
This question is addressed in the testing phase of the whole system in an environment of a virtual museum.
There will be two tested groups. The first group will browse the pages of the virtual museum on their own. The
second group will be guided by the Virtual Guide. Based on the compared results of the pretest and posttest
and other data acquired from the records of individual visitor tour routes, the educational benefit of the
Virtual Guide will be evaluated. We assume that the experiment will be successful. The system should not only
shorten the total time spent viewing the exhibition, but also, by selecting the appropriate information layer,
present the visitor with adequate information (comprehensible and detailed enough for the individual visitor).
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Masters
Research
paper
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Evaluation of Students’ Satisfaction and Attitudes Toward Blended
Learning in Medical Education: A Survey in Randomized Controlled
Trial Course
Qian Liu, Rong Hu, Xingxin Zhan and Weirong Yan
Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
liuqian.epi@gmail.com
cherryaries@163.com
xingxinzhan@gmail.com
weirongy@gmai.com
Abstract: Background: E‐learning has been widely carried out in higher education, but it also has some drawbacks, such as
requirements of self‐learning initiative and computer skills, and sense of isolation. In previous years, many researchers put
forward blended learning, the mixture of e‐learning and face‐to‐face learning, taking advantages of both learning modes.
Now blended learning has grown rapidly in education, but it is at the preliminary stage of exploration, and there is a lack of
studies that have examined the satisfaction with blended learning. Objective: To evaluate medical students’ satisfaction
and attitudes toward blended learning compared with previous traditional learning in medical education. Methods: The
randomized controlled trial course lasted two weeks and included three parts: 1) slides, videos, further reading and
discussion forum on Moodle interactive platform for e‐learning; 2) contact session with local tutors, including questions
answering and works on protocol; 3) face‐to‐face lectures and comments on protocol from a professor. A total of 27
medical students from Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology voluntarily took full
participation in the course. After the course, questionnaire survey on satisfaction and attitudes was conducted via e‐mail.
Results: The response rate was 96.3% (26/27). Of all the respondents, 92.3% (24/26) were satisfied with the blended
learning mode. Compared with previous traditional learning experience, 100% of the respondents believed that blended
learning is more helpful and that they had better access to the learning materials and greater independence in study,
84.6% (22/26) thought their motivation was improved, 92.3% (24/26) believed their involvement with the course was
increased, 73.1% (19/26) felt more in control of their learning, 88.5% (23/26) thought learning was more efficient.
Moreover, 65.4% (17/26) were happy with the current mixture of e‐learning and face‐to‐face contact time. Conclusions:
Our results suggest that most of the medical students are satisfied with blended learning and that blended learning is
better and more helpful than both traditional face‐to‐face learning and e‐learning. Blended learning is promising and
worthwhile for further application in medical education in China.
Keywords: blended learning; students; satisfaction; attitudes; medical education
1. Introduction
Nowadays, with the progress of information and communication technologies (ICT), healthcare and laboratory
medicine has been influenced greatly, at the same time the computer and Internet is increasingly used in
medical education (Choules, 2007, Ellaway and Masters, 2008). E‐learning is emerging as the new paradigm of
medical education (Bediang et al., 2013, Sun et al., 2008), as it can not only help us transcend geographical
boundaries and time zones (Choules, 2007), but also keep pace with updated information (Yu and Yang, 2006,
Peng et al., 2014). Massachusetts Institute of Technology is trying to offer all its courses online, which has
implied the strategic importance of integrating e‐learning into education(Wu et al., 2006). However, it also
suffers from some drawbacks such as high initial costs for preparing multimedia content materials, substantial
costs for system maintenance and students’ feelings of isolation in virtual environment (Wu et al., 2010, Hara,
2000). In addition, student satisfaction and effectiveness for e‐learning has also been questioned (Piccoli et al.,
2001, Santhanam, 2008).
In recent years, blended learning, the mixture of e‐learning and face‐to‐face learning, has been presented as a
promising alternative learning approach to relieve the aforementioned problems, since it is characterized as
maximizing the advantages of traditional learning and e‐learning(Wu et al., 2010). It is claimed that blended
learning has grown rapidly and is predicted to become the ‘new traditional model’ in education and training
(Graham, 2013). However, blended learning is at the preliminary stage of exploration. There is a lack of
studies that have examined the satisfaction with blended learning(Wu et al., 2010).
Generally, learning outcomes can be measured in two domains‐‐‐cognitive domain and affective domain.
Learning outcomes in cognitive domain refers to academic performance measuring learners’ ability to
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remember and apply knowledge, the affective domain involves learners’ attitudes, appreciations, values, and
emotions. And satisfaction is an important measure of learning in the affective domain. Additionally,
satisfaction has been a critical indicator of evaluation in corporate training and higher education (So, 2009). In
addition, it was argued in previous study that learner satisfaction should be the first level of evaluation to
determine the effectiveness and future improvement of training programs(Kirkpatrick, 1975).
With the opportunity to carry out Asian Regional Capacity Development for Research on Social Determinants
of Health (ARCADE‐RSDH) project funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Program, we
designed an E‐learning platform (http://elearning.tjmu.edu.cn/moodle/) in order to effectively distribute some
course materials and to explore satisfactory teaching mode. We conducted Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)
course in blended learning in order to explore students’ satisfaction and attitudes towards blended learning
and to promote the implementation of blended learning in medical education.
2. Methods
2.1 E‐learning platform for RCT course
We established the E‐learning platform in 2012 based on Moodle (Modular Object‐oriented Dynamic Learning
Environment). The web address of the platform is http://elearning.tjmu.edu.cn/moodle/. With providing the
information of name, age, gender, country, city, educational background and e‐mail address, a user can
register and log in the platform by himself/herself. Appropriate navigation keys are given on the homepage for
easy access, and the language on the platform is bilingual (English and Chinese) and freely selectable. The
contents on the platform are sorted out under several functional modules, such as the setting module and
course module. The setting module allows students to modify profiles and change password. The course
module includes self‐study course module and blended course module. Self‐study course is for self‐study
online, but blended course is a mixture of online course and face‐to‐face learning. Hence, self‐study courses
are open to all registered users, but if the user wants to gain access to a blended course, he/she must be
approved by the instructor. Additionally, the platform has several user‐friendly functions, such as bulletin
board system, calendar, and friendly links.
2.2 Course materials
RCT course, one of essential courses in public health education, is offered in blended course module. The RCT
e‐learning materials are presented in English at the e‐learning platform and cover eight topics: Topic1‐ RCT
overview, Topic 2‐ Research question, the intervention and the population, Topic 3‐ Randomization, Topic 4‐
Sample size, Topic 5‐ Biostats analysis, Topic 6‐ Bias in RCTs, Topic 7‐ Ethics and Topic 8‐ Management of RCTs.
Each topic will take approximately one hour. Each topic is comprised of three sections: slides, videos and
further reading. All the course materials are created and provided by the presenter, a senior expert in RCT
from Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with Stellenbosch University in South Africa. The slides are in PDF
format and available for download. In addition, several relevant articles in network links are listed in further
reading in order that students can get a better understanding of each topic. After the eight topics, there are
two practical tools for download. One is protocol tool which helps students to write protocols, and the other
one is management tool which will provide guidance for students to carry out their RCTs in practice.
2.3 Course arrangement
The course lasted two weeks (from 3rd March to 14th March, 2014) and included three parts as follows. Firstly,
students registered on the e‐learning platform as RCT course users, and logged in to access to slides, videos,
further reading and discussion forum of each topic. They learned the e‐learning materials by themselves and
everyone wrote a protocol on a RCT designed by himself/herself. Then in the contact session, the students
were divided into three groups, and each group was guided by a local tutor from Tongji Medical College.
Tutors answered questions from students and gave advice on their protocols. Finally, the professor gave
face‐to‐face lectures and questions answering. Two or three students of each group gave presentations of
their protocols and got comments and suggestions from the professor.
2.4 Study design and course evaluation
We recruited a total of 27 medical students from Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science &
Technology through posters on the campus, and they voluntarily took full participation in RCT course. After the
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course, a questionnaire survey on satisfaction and attitudes towards blended learning was conducted via
e‐mail. A self‐administrated questionnaire, developed by reviewing literature and evaluation questionnaires of
some international courses, was used to collect data. The questionnaire consisted of four parts. Part 1
provided demographic information (age, gender, major, nationality and educational background). Part 2
provided the participants’ experience with blended learning. Part 3 provided students’ attitudes towards
blended learning. Part 4 allowed students to give any recommendations as to how the blended learning mode
in RCT course could be further improved
2.5 Data analysis
The data was digitalized through the program EpiData Entry 3.1 and analyzed with the Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences, Version 11.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL). The statistical methods used included frequency, valid
percentage, mean and standard deviation (S.D.) for descriptive analysis.
2.6 Ethical considerations
All subjects participated in this survey were based upon voluntary participation. The survey was approved by
the ethics committee of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
3. Results
3.1 Response rate
We sent electronic questionnaire to 27 students through e‐mail, and 26 questionnaires were completed and
sent back. The response rate was 96.3% (26/27), and all the collected questionnaires were eligible for analysis
3.2 Demographic information
Table 1: Demographic information of students
N (%)
Gender
Male 12(46.2)
Female 14(53.8)
Age
22~ 11(42.3)
25~ 7(26.9)
28~ 3(11.5)
31~ 2(7.6)
34~ 1(3.8)
37~40 2(7.6)
Nationality
China 23(88.5)
Countries in Africa 3(11.5)
Educational background
Doctor 9(34.6)
Master 14(53.8)
Undergraduate 3(11.5)
Major
Public health 20(76.9)
Clinical medicine 6(23.1)
Of all the 26 students, 12 (46.2%) students were male; 23 students (88.5%) were from China and the others
from countries in Africa. The mean age of the students was 26.88 (S.D. =4.676). Of all respondents, 9 students
(34.6%) were doctors, 14(53.8%) were masters and 3 (11.5%) were undergraduates; 20 students (76.9%)
majored in public health and the others majored in clinical medicine. Details are in Table 1.
3.3 Experience with blended learning
As shown in Table 2, of the 26 students, 21(80.8%) agreed that ‘Overall I am satisfied with the RCT course’ and
25(96.2%) agreed that ‘I would recommend this course to others’; 15 (57.7%) thought the e‐learning platform
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had helped them to learn; 23 (88.5%) believed the platform was easy to use. When it comes to the session
useful to your learning, 16 (61.6%) respondents agreed that e‐learning was useful, 20 (77.0%) thought contact
session with local tutor was useful; 21 (80.8%) deemed lecture from the professor was useful.
Table 2: Experience with blended learning
Questions Disagree n(%) Neutral n(%) Agree n(%)
Overall I am satisfied with the RCT course. 0 5(19.2) 21(80.8)
I would recommend this course to others. 0 1(3.8) 25(96.2)
The e‐learning platform has helped me to learn. 0 11(42.3) 15(57.7)
I found the e‐learning platform easy to use. 0 3(11.5) 23(88.5)
The following session is very useful to your learning
E‐learning 0 10(38.5) 16(61.6)
Contact session with local tutor 2(7.7) 4(15.3) 20(77.0)
Lecture from the professor 0 5(19.2) 21(80.8)
The following study media is useful to learning.
Videos 1(3.8) 11(42.3) 14(53.9)
Slides 1(3.8) 5(19.2) 20(77.0)
Further reading 2(7.7) 11(42.3) 13(50.0)
Practical tools 1(3.8) 4(15.3) 21(80.8)
Describe your experience compared with traditional learning
I had better access to the learning materials. 0 0 26(100.0)
I had greater independence in study 0 4(15.4) 22(84.6)
E‐learning platform was time saving 1(3.8) 9(34.6) 16(61.6)
My motivation was improved 0 10(38.4) 16(61.6)
My involvement with the course was increased 1(3.8) 10(38.4) 15(57.8)
The e‐learning platform made me feel more isolated. 10(38.4) 9(34.6) 7(26.9)
I felt more in control of my learning. 3(11.5) 10(38.4) 13(50.0)
My learning was more efficient 1(3.8) 10(38.4) 15(57.8)
I didn’t be interfered by irrelevant internet information. 4(15.4) 8(30.7) 14(53.8)
The e‐learning platform made learning inconvenient. 18(69.2) 5(19.2) 3(11.5)
Of the respondents, 14(53.9%) students agreed that slides are useful, 11(42.3%) were unsure and 1(3.8%)
disagreed; 20(77.0%) thought videos were useful; 13(50.0%) considered further reading to be useful, 11(42.3%)
not sure and 2(7.7%) disagreed; 21(80.8%) believed discussion forum was useful.
Compared with traditional learning, all the students deemed that they had better access to the learning
materials; 22(84.6%) students agreed they had greater independence in study; 16(61.6%) believed that
e‐learning platform was time saving; 16(61.6%) thought their motivation was improved; 15(57.8%) approved
their involvement with the course was increased; 7(26.9%) considered the e‐learning platform made them feel
more isolated, 9(34.6%) were not sure and 10(38.4%) disagreed; 13(50.0%) deemed they felt more in control
of learning, 10(38.4%) stood in the middle and 3(11.5%) disagreed; 15(57.8%) thought the learning was more
efficient; 14(53.8%) they were not interfered by irrelevant internet information; 3(11.5%) agreed the
e‐learning platform made learning inconvenient, 5(19.2%) were not sure and 18(69.2%) disagreed.
Table 3 showed that all the respondents thought blended learning was more helpful than traditional learning
and e‐learning, and that 17(65.4%) students were happy with the current mixture of online and face‐to‐face
contact time.
Table 3: Attitudes toward blended learning
Questions N (%)
Which is the most helpful learning mode?
E‐learning 0
Traditional learning 0
Blended learning 26(100.0)
In blended learning, would you like to see further development of and
delivery through online self‐study, with less face‐to‐face contact time?
Yes, I would like to spend more time for online self‐study. 5(19.2)
No, I would prefer to go back to more face‐to‐face teaching 4(15.4)
I am happy with the current mixture of online and face‐to‐face contact time. 17(65.4)
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When it comes to “Do you have any recommendations as to how the blended learning mode in the RCT course
could be further improved?”, three students suggested that subtitles should be added into the videos. As they
stated,
“The sound of the videos is not clearly, and it would be better to be with subtitles.”
“I hope subtitles can be provided in the videos.”
“If the videos could be with subtitles, I will get a better understanding.”
4. Discussions
In the present research, we investigated students’ satisfaction to their experience of the blended learning, and
the results showed that about large percentages of the students were satisfied with it and they would
recommend this course to others. This study demonstrated that blended learning was generally satisfactory to
the medical students in RCT course.
In line with the findings of some previous studies (Pereira et al., 2007, McFarlin, 2008) , we found that most
medical students thought blended learning was better and more helpful than traditional learning and
e‐learning. In addition, most students were happy with the current mixture of online and face‐to‐face contact
time in RCT course. It also suggested that all the three sessions in RCT course‐‐‐ e‐learning, contact session
with local tutor and lecture from the professor ‐‐‐were very useful to students’ study. These may indicate that
the arrangement of RCT course is successful and can provide a good reference for the implementation of
blended learning course in future.
The present study revealed that, in comparison with traditional learning, blended learning has a number of
advantages: firstly, students have better access to the learning materials and greater independence in study;
secondly, it is convenient and time‐saving with e‐learning platform; additionally, students’ motivation is
improved and involvement with the course is increased; finally, students feel more in control of their learning
and the learning is more efficient. These merits were also found in a previous study (Hong et al., 2003).
Our results suggested that the e‐learning platform helped students to learn and that the platform was easy to
use. Furthermore, with respect to the study media in e‐learning platform, at least half of the students thought
each of the four media (videos, slides, further reading and practical tools) is useful in study. Those may be two
reasons for the general satisfaction ‐‐‐ perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, which have been found
in some other studies (Arbaugh, 2000, Arbaugh, 2002).
At the same time, it was showed in our study that the e‐learning platform made some students feel more
isolated than traditional face‐to‐face learning, which was corresponding to a previous study (Hara, 2000). It
prompts the instructors and organizers of blended learning to increase the interaction between students and
the interaction between students and instructors, which was found to be factors that affect students’
satisfaction in a previous study (Hong, 2002). Therefore, it is essential to add some modules in future
implementation of blended learning, such as discussion forum in each topic, to allow students have more
interaction with fellow students and instructors. In addition, videos would better be with subtitles in order that
students can get a better understanding of the course.
There are several limitations in our research. Firstly, it is the validity of the questionnaire. Our questionnaire
was designed and developed by reviewing literature, so it is a new questionnaire and has not been validated
by prior research. Besides, there is volunteer bias in our study, as all participants in RCT course were based
upon voluntary participation.
5. Conclusions
In conclusion, the present study suggested that most of the medical students were satisfied with blended
learning and that blended learning was better and more helpful than both traditional face‐to‐face learning and
e‐learning. Blended learning is promising and worthwhile for further application in medical education in China.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank all the students who kindly participated in the study. The study was financially supported by
a grant under the European Union Seventh Framework Program funded project ‘Asian Regional Capacity
Development Research on Social Determinants of Health’ (No.02‐18‐513008).
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Work
in
Progress
Papers
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Assessing Computer Application Technology Teachers’ e‐Skills and
Procedural Knowledge With Regard to Teaching With ICT
Infrastructure
Janet Adegbenro and Mishack Gumbo
Science & Technology Education Department, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South
Africa
Janetaji.adegbenro@gmail.com
gumbot@unisa.ac.za
Abstract: Despite access to Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures, teachers are not aware of the
potential uses that technology offers in pedagogy. This conceptual paper is based on the exploration of South African high
school teachers’ computer application technology (CAT) e‐skills and their procedural functional and pedagogical knowledge
about the use of ICT infrastructures in an ICT‐enhanced classroom environment. The need for this study was influenced by
various concerns expressed by educational stakeholders about the level of teachers’ competence with regard to the use of
ICT infrastructure as a pedagogical tool in an ICT‐based classroom. The study will survey 250 high school CAT teachers in
Gauteng, South Africa. The data collection instruments that will be used in this study, to assess teachers’ e‐skills and their
procedural functional pedagogical knowledge include a TPACK‐PrFPACK self‐report survey questionnaire, with 39 items in
13 subcategories, as well as interviews, observations and a researcher’s log book. The survey data collected will be
analysed, using multivariate exploratory factor analysis with the help of Matlab, to measure the teachers’ competence and
skills. The recorded interviews will be transcribed; using a log system, then it will be coded and imported into Atlas.ti. The
findings of this study will be of particular relevance to both high school teachers and the educational policymakers in South
Africa.
Keywords: computer application technology, ICT‐based classroom, e‐skills, procedural knowledge
1. Introduction
The demand for a highly skilled workforce that uses Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools for
innovation, creativity, improved performance and societal transformation is enormous. The ability to use ICT in
this manner is known as e‐skills. The European e‐skills forum defines e‐skills and its associated competencies
as the ability to develop and use ICTs within the context of a knowledge environment, which will enable the
individual to successfully participate in a world in which ICT is an essential requirement for advancement in
activities of government, civil society and business. (Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, Wesso 2012). Teachers today are
expected to develop lessons that not only teach students academic content knowledge, but also equip them
with 21st century skills that will enable them to be effective inventive thinkers, active problem‐solvers and
digitally literate citizens (Partnership for 21st Century Skills 2004; Solomon & Schrum 2007).
ICT, when used as a pedagogical tool, should include the use of ICT facilities in the teaching and learning
process, which involves the use of software applications to solve problems and provoke student capabilities as
well as to communicate and share their perspectives with each other (Jonassen, Howland, Marra & Crismond
2008). In the context of this study, the focus is on the ability of teachers to use this tool to create solutions to
the problems in the content, in order to motivate and stimulate students’ interest in the teaching and learning
process. A number of international studies have shown that secondary schools teachers lack competencies in
the use of ICT as a pedagogical tool in the teaching and learning process (Bingimlas 2009; Nihuka & Voogt
2011; Ndibalema 2014).
Following on the context presented above, the background to the study, from which the specific research
problem ensues, will be provided. This will be followed by a discussion about the technological pedagogical
content knowledge framework that will guide this study. We will then discuss the design of the study.
2. Background to the research problem
The purpose of this study is to empirically assess high school teachers’ computer application technology e‐
skills, procedural knowledge and technology competence with regard to the use of the ICT infrastructure such
as; overhead data projector, interactive teaching board, web technology in their ICT‐enhanced classrooms. In
order to help teachers to meet the challenges of effective teaching and learning, a number of high schools and
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Janet Adegbenro and Mishack Gumbo
further education and training (FET) colleges have been fully equipped with ICT infrastructure by different
organisations, including the South African telecommunications provider, Telkom, and Microsoft (SAIDE 2005).
Specifically, Microsoft has donated software and programmes and they have provided 188 000 refurbished
computers and 20 000 laptops. The Telkom Foundation and Telkom’s strategic partner, Thintana, has
committed over R200m to support education and training in South Africa. The Teacher Laptop Initiative (TLI),
launched in 2010, is part of the government’s efforts to improve teacher’s e‐learning in the overall educational
system in South Africa. The purpose was to help the 386 600 teachers in South African schools and further
education colleges to effectively integrate ICT into their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This effort
turned out to be a major investment of over R550 m per annum for the next five years, to provide permanent
teachers, in the nine South African provinces, with laptops (Ndlovu 2009). The primary concern for
government, when it makes such a huge investment in ICTs, is whether the investment will positively influence
the education system and performance of teachers, learners and individuals.
The South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE 2009) reported in their extensive investigation and
evaluation of the use of ICT infrastructure and emerging technologies for teaching and learning in schools and
FET colleges, that effective teaching and learning has not taken place. They discovered that, despite most
schools owning between 20 to 30 computers (with some having as many as a 100 computers in their computer
laboratory), many teachers lack adequate knowledge and e‐skills on the use of ICT infrastructures for teaching
and learning. Their findings further revealed that, although most of the teachers interviewed admitted that
they were aware of the potential benefits that learners could derive from using ICT, the majority still did not
use their ICT infrastructure effectively. The reason for this, according to the report, is that teachers were set in
their traditional ways of teaching and, for various reasons; they did not find it easy to change or adapt their
teaching methods (SAIDE 2009). Uwameiye and Adegbenro (2007) assert that important barriers to the use of
ICT in teaching and learning are teachers' computer skills and their confidence in using ICT. The crux of the
matter is that it is still unclear what kind of knowledge and ICT e‐skills the high school CAT teachers in South
Africa possess and how they transfer their knowledge and skills to ensure students’ comprehension of the
material. From this exploration of issues a statement of the problem can be determined.
3. Statement of the problem
The main problem that this study is focusing on is a lack of adequate knowledge and e‐skills in the use of ICT in
order to teach effectively in secondary schools in South Africa.
4. Significance of the study
This study is significant for CAT educators as the findings will, firstly, expand their technological knowledge and
e‐skills in the digital classroom environment. Secondly, the findings of the study are expected to create
awareness about the importance of ICT infrastructures as a pedagogical tool and improve teachers’
professional practices in the teaching and learning process. Finally, the findings will add new knowledge to the
existing literature in the field of technology and e‐learning in teacher education.
5. Theoretical context
The procedural, functional, pedagogical and content knowledge (PrFPACK) is a theoretical framework
proposed to holistically explore the technological knowledge and e‐skills of high school teachers in an ICT‐
enhanced classroom. According to Adegbenro, Olugbara and Mwakapenda (2012) this framework extended
the classical TPACK by replacing "technological knowledge" with "procedural functional knowledge" to give the
framework a precise clarity. That is, the “T” (technological) in TPACK is replaced by “PrF” (procedural
functional) to obtain an extended theoretical framework and, thus, the acronym TPACK‐PrFPACK. In 2005
Mishra and Koehler (2005) updated and built on Shulman’s idea of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK),
Shulman (1986). Mishra and Koehler proposed the necessity for the integration of technology with PCK and
named the resulting amalgam knowledge Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK). The
strength of TPACK is that it provides a framework to examine what knowledge teachers need in order to
integrate technology into teaching and learning. Authors such as Yilmaz‐Ozden, Mouza Karchmer‐Klein &
Glutting (2013) have confirmed the need to provide more clarity about the TPACK framework and to revisit
measurement inventories built directly around the framework. The TPACK‐PrFPACK inventory consists of a set
of 39 comprehensive measures that were organised into thirteen sub‐domains of knowledge. We defined a
measure as comprehensive if it is unambiguous and it directly measures what it intends to measure in clear
terms. The knowledge sub‐domains relate to specific theoretical constructs such as PK (pedagogical
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Janet Adegbenro and Mishack Gumbo
knowledge), CK (content knowledge), FK (functional knowledge), PrK (procedural knowledge), PCK
(pedagogical content knowledge), PrPK (procedural pedagogical knowledge), PrFK (procedural functional
knowledge), FCK (functional content knowledge), PrFCK (procedural functional content knowledge), PrFPK
(procedural functional pedagogical knowledge), PrPcK (procedural pedagogical content knowledge), FPCK
(functional pedagogical content knowledge) and PrFPCK (procedural functional pedagogical knowledge). Figure
1 shows the TPACK‐PrFPACK that was used in this study to explore factors that reflect the nature of the
technological knowledge and e‐skills of high school teachers’ in the use of ICT as pedagogical tools in ICT‐
enhanced classrooms.
Figure 1: The TPACK‐PrFPACK theoretical framework
6. Methodology
The study will be guided by the following research questions:
What are CAT teachers’ perception toward and knowledge with regard to the use of ICT infrastructures in
ICT‐enhanced classroom?
What factors predict teachers’ competence in the use of ICT infrastructure as a pedagogical tool in
teaching?
The study adopted the mixed‐method explanatory approach, thus, a survey will be conducted among grade 8‐
12 CAT teachers in Gauteng, South Africa. It will assess teachers’ perception and their technological knowledge
with regard to the use of ICT infrastructure as part of their pedagogical practices in the ICT‐enhanced
classroom. According to Creswell (2009), a mixed‐method approach is an approach to inquiry that combines or
associates both qualitative and quantitative forms of data collection. This approach will assist us to come up
with findings that are more comprehensive and holistic and which will integrate various aspects of the
problem investigated. Using an explanatory design, in which quantitative data collection and analysis will be
followed by a qualitative phase, will provide a deep and comprehensive understanding of high school CAT
teachers’ technological competence, e‐skills and perception towards the effective integration of technology in
an ICT‐enhanced classroom (ontological world). The qualitative portion of this study, which involves
interviews, will be used to explore relationships found in the survey for the proper understanding of the e‐
skills and technological competence of high school teachers.
6.1 Sample and the instruments
Fifty secondary schools were randomly selected for this study and 250 teachers from these schools, will be
sampled. Three data collection instruments will be used to assess teachers’ technological competence and
perception with regard to the use of ICT infrastructure in the ICT‐enhanced classroom. These instruments
include: the SDT of teachers’ e‐skills and their procedural, functional, pedagogical content knowledge; the
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TPACK‐PrFPACK survey data template (SDT); interviews and observation checklists. The extended framework
TPACK‐PrFPACK (SDT) will be used, consisting of a four‐point scale with the following identities: 1 – definitely
disagree, 2 – disagree, 3 – agree, 4 – definitely agree. The current discourse on technological knowledge is
primarily focused on the competent assessment of the ability to use newer digital technologies (Koehler &
Mishra 2008). The new technology provides several capabilities such as, the interactive teaching board (ITB),
video conferencing, on‐line discussion forums and window media (Beatty 2001). The TPACK‐PrFPACK
framework specified a set of common items, which is outcome‐based in scope, that measures specific
technological proficiency and expertise with the computer and data projector for pedagogical practices.
6.2 Validity and reliability of the instruments
The survey data template (SDT) was subjected to scrutiny by ICT experts and a statistician at the University of
South Africa, after it was designed, to ensure content validity. The reliability of the instrument will be
determined through the test‐retest method. The SDT will be administered on a sample of 20 CAT teachers, on
two different occasions, with an interval of two weeks between the first and the second administration. The
results will be correlated using the Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient.
6.3 Data analysis
The data will be analysed using exploratory factor analysis with the help of Matlab to measure CAT teachers’
technological competence and perception. The wellness of each element will be explained by the relationship
between variables of the mode. The interviews and observations will be transcribed, using a log system, coded
and imported into the Atlas ti program for in‐depth analysis.
7. Conclusion
The objective of this study is to empirically assess high school CAT teachers’ technological competence in and
perception about the use of ICT infrastructure in an ICT‐enhanced classroom. Currently, an emphasis on skills
development for the 21st century has increased expectations on teachers to take advantage of emerging
technologies to support student learning as well as their own pedagogical practices. In our view, it is still not
yet clear whether teachers are adequately equipped for the 21st century, that is, whether they have the
appropriate technological knowledge, e‐skills, expertise and support and have a positive attitude about
integrating ICT infrastructures into their pedagogical practices for productive teaching. This study will help to
provide an answer to that. We hope to present the findings at conferences in the near future, as soon as the
study has been completed.
References
Adegbenro, B.J., Olugbara, O.O, and Mwakapenda, W.W (2012) “Development and validation of an
Assessment instrument for office data processing teachers' technology knowledge in ICT‐based classroom context in South
African FET Colleges”. Paper read at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, Texas, USA.
Beatty, E. (2001) ICT and Pedagogy: A review of the research literature: DFES Project Report ICT in school research and
evaluation series, Becta, London.
Bingimlas, K. A. (2009) “Barriers to successful Integration of ICT in teaching and learning environments: A review of the
literature”, Eurasia Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 235‐245.
Cresswell, J.W. (2009) Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed‐methods approaches 3rd Edition, Sage
publications, Los Angeles.
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Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. and Crismond, D. (2008) Meaningful learning with technology 3 Edition, Pearson,
Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Koehler, M. and Mishra, P. (2008) “The components of the TPCK framework”, [online] www.TPCK.org.
Mitrovic, Z., Sharif, M., Taylor, W. and Wesso, H. (2012) “Systemic approach to e‐skilling in South Africa”, Issues in
Informing Science and Information Technology, Vol. 9, pp. 41‐63, [online]http://iisit.org/Vol9/IISITv9p041‐
061Mitrovic049.pdf.
Mishra, P. and Koehler, M. (2005). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for Integrating Technology
in teacher knowledge. Teachers’ college record, 108(6), 1017‐1054.
Ndibalema, P. (2014) “Teachers’ attitude towards the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) as a pedagogical
tool in secondary schools in Tanzania: The case of Kondoa District”, International Journal of Education and Research,
Vol. 2, No. 2, pp 1‐16.
Ndlovu, S. (2009) “Teachers to get allowance for laptops”, [online] http://www.int.iol.co.za/
Nihuka, K.A. and Voogt, J. (2011) “Instructors’ and students’ competences, perceptions and access to e‐learning
technologies: Implications for e‐learning implementation at the Open University of Tanzania”, International Journal
on E‐Learning, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp 63‐85, [online] http://www.editlib.org/p/32413.
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Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2004) “21st century learning environments: White Paper”, [online]
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/le_white_paper‐1.pdf.
SAIDE (2005) “Being a vocational educator. A guide for lecturers in FET colleges”, [online] info@side.org.za
SAIDE (2009) “An investigation into the usage and efficacy of the PLATO learning system in Selected FET colleges”, SAIDE
Newsletter, Vol.15, No. 5, [online]
http://www.saide.org.za/resources/newsletters/Vol_15_no.5_2009/Content/PLATO.htm.
Shulman, L.S. (1986). Knowledge and Teaching: Foundation of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1‐22.
Solomon, G. and Schrum, L. (2007) Web 2.0: New tools, new schools, International Society for Technology in Education,
Eugene.
Uwameiye, R. and Adegbenro, B.J. (2007) "Trainers' and Trainees' Assessment of the Implementation of ICT Program for
Secretaries at the Staff Training centers in Southwestern Nigeria", International Journal of Information and
Communication Technology Education, Vol.3, No. 1, pp 1‐9.
Yilmaz‐Ozden, S., Mouza, C., Karchmer‐Klein, R. and Glutting, J.J. (2003) “Examining domains of technological pedagogical
content knowledge using factor analysis”, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp 339‐360.
691
COLWRIT – Collaborative Online Writing in Google Docs: Presenting
a Research Design
Lars Birch Andreasen, Frederikke Winther, Thorkild Hanghøj and Birger Larsen
Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark
lba@learning.aau.dk
frederikke@hum.aau.dk
thorkild@hum.aau.dk
birger@hum.aau.dk
Abstract: Various online collaborative writing tools have emerged giving students new opportunities when co‐producing
texts. The aim of this work‐in‐progress paper is to present the preliminary hypotheses and findings of an on‐going research
project at Aalborg University, Denmark, which explores university students’ uses of collaborative writing tools like Google
Docs when doing collaborative project work. The research project has a special focus on the various effects on the
collaboration process of students’ various usage of the commenting functions of online writing tools.
Keywords: peer learning; response‐giving, academic writing, data logging, online collaborative writing, project work
1. Introduction
Online collaborative writing tools offer possibilities and pose challenges to students’ development of
information literacy and academic writing skills. The present paper reports from an on‐going research project
on these tools’ effects on students’ collaborative writing processes. The project combines data logging
methods with qualitative inquiry, and offers insight in an emerging field of study. The main research question
to be explored is: How is online writing in Google Docs organised and negotiated by students in higher
education in relation to collaborative project work?
2. Related work
Zhou et al. report from studying Google Docs in a collaborative writing activity among university students, that
Google Docs were considered a useful tool for group work, which altered the means of communication. When
collaborating through Google Docs, students became less dependent on Facebook and text messaging, but
continued using e‐mail as their primary communication method (Zhou et al. 2012). Zhou et al. recommend for
further research to monitor groups’ actual usage of Google Docs and evaluate the use of editing comments
during the activity, in order to explore the collaboration processes.
Knain (2009) explored students’ text development processes by analysing the editing history of co‐produced
online documents. He identified several approaches to text co‐production, and found students to be adding
text more than revising the texts. Previous studies, as well as students’ projects on the use of collaborative
writing tools (Kraglund et al. 2013), point out that giving and receiving response is crucial for improving the
quality of written work. This research project thus focuses on how the use of Google Docs’ tools for giving and
receiving response are negotiated and practiced among students. A number of hypotheses in relation to this
are being explored:
We assume that students’ negotiations on and use of the comment and discussion functions may
influence the quality of their academic writing.
We assume that students’ use of the comment and discussion functions may influence their identities as
students (how they are positioning themselves and how they are being positioned).
We assume that students with varying educational backgrounds might encounter different challenges
when learning to work and write collaboratively.
We assume that the affordances of producing text through online collaborative writing tools will affect the
phases of writing and students’ understanding of public or private status of unfinished pieces of text.
The research project will explore the use of Google Docs at various Master’s level programmes at Aalborg
University, Denmark. The project applies a mixed methods approach combining data logging of Google Docs
activities with observations and group interviews of students using Google Docs. For a specific student group
their use of an online collaborative writing tool is just one among many features of a complex working process.
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Taking this into account, students’ use of Facebook in relation to their work and collaboration processes will
also be captured and analysed.
3. Theoretical perspectives
The research design is guided by the following theoretical perspectives and assumptions on collaborative
online writing.
3.1 Collaborative writing and critical reflection
It is a common assumption that reflective thinking leads to deeper learning processes, and that critical
reflection engages students in evaluative thinking about their own ideas and processes (Higgins et al. 1992).
Furthermore, it is assumed that learning through collaboration stimulates critical reflection, because it
provides students with the opportunity to articulate their reasoning and perhaps become aware of
shortcomings and strategies they did not think of on their own (ibid., p. 53).
In this study, students’ collaboration can partly be observed through their use of commenting functions in
online writing tools. Thus, we assume that this technical feature may enable, or even encourage, students to
engage in collaborative learning processes by reflecting and responding upon the works of others. Tracks of
commenting in the collaborative documents will be perceived as virtual dialogues that reflect students’ meta‐
communication during the writing of academic texts. The activity of commenting or creating meta‐dialogues
can be examined by textual analysis as social and intellectual negotiation on different levels:
negotiation and development of inter/subjectivity: Formation of identities, roles and positions reflected
through the commenting’s implicit representation of selves and others.
negotiation of understandings of the collective task: Commenting on aims, focuses and dispositions of the
group work.
negotiation and development of knowledge: Critical thinking through reflecting upon and questioning
one’s own work as well as the work of others.
negotiation of final form and content of the project: Commenting on textual structures, style and phrases
throughout the writing process.
Analysis of the peer commenting and feedback within these four levels of negotiation will reveal insights into
stages and strategies in collective academic writing processes. The students’ writing strategies will be analysed
based on Lowry et al.’s (2004) taxonomy, and we will explore the degree to which students are engaged in
collaboration, i.e. learning through social and intellectual interaction, or cooperation, i.e. piecing together
individual contributions to a joint task without notable reflection or negotiation. Do the students discuss each
other’s perceptions and ideas? Do they merely accept others’ contributions without questioning? Or do they
mainly promote their own perspectives? Put in Gregory Clark’s words: Do they act like tourists, who never
leave their own mental territory, or do they interact like travellers by transcending the individual and the
familiar to explore new grounds together? (Clark 1998).
In the study of Kraglund et al., some students’ statements seem to suggest that online commenting actually
invites travelling together through collaborative critical thinking. They perceive the commenting function as
“suitable for questioning and responding critically on each other’s texts”, which make “both parts reconsider
their own thoughts” (Kraglund et al. 2013, Appendix 2, p. 23). The commenting feature can cause changes to
one’s collaborative strategy by for instance “continue the writing of some piece, where I otherwise wouldn’t
normally have interfered”, as a student described (ibid., p. 47).
The study will apply a critical approach to the collaborative impact of online commenting activities. According
to Higgins et al. (1992), critical reflection depends on whether the respondent takes a checklist approach or an
interactive approach when commenting on the work of others (ibid., p. 67). Responding through checking
facilitates simple awareness, whereas an interactive peer response will motivate critical thinking. We expect
that signs of critical reflection can be detected in connection to first comments (provider) as well as second
comments (receiver), depending on whether the intention of the comments is a matter of 1) understanding
the other’s perspective, 2) correcting the other’s understanding, or 3) travelling together through mutual
development of knowledge.
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3.2 Keeping face across boundaries
One of the key findings from the student project was reluctance among students toward presenting and
sharing their drafts with their group members. Several students described how they preferred not to perform
their actual writing in the shared Google document. Instead, they would first compose their text in Word
before pasting it into the shared document. As a student described this practice: “it’s a bit daunting to sit and
complete something in Google Docs, because people can monitor your drafts” (Kraglund et al. 2013, p. 52).
This reluctance toward sharing unfinished work and the feeling of being monitored can be understood through
Goffman’s notion of “face” and the related concepts of “front” and “back stage” (Goffman 1959). In this way,
Google Docs makes it possible for others to monitor and participate in the writing process, contrary to co‐
operative tools where drafts are private and hence backstage before shared. Based upon this preliminary
finding, we aim to further explore how, when and why students decide to (or not to) share their drafts and
other types of unfinished work.
4. Research design
The research design of the study will be based on a mixed methods approach, which combines quantitative
and qualitative research methods (Denzin 2010; Johnson and Onwuegbuzie 2004). We will follow students
from two master programmes, one within humanities and one within technical sciences. Selecting one class at
each programme, the data production will involve a survey of all students in the participating classes, focusing
on three aspects: 1) the students’ use and perception of technologies such as Google Docs and Facebook for
online writing, 2) the students’ experience with collaborative writing processes, and 3) the students’
educational backgrounds and experience with academic writing.
Based on findings from the survey, we aim to study the collaboration and negotiation processes of one to
three student groups within each of the two programmes. In order to map significant patterns in the groups’
collaboration, we aim to document their online and offline working processes. All involved participants will be
secured anonymity, and agreed consent will be obtained from all informants in relation to data logging and
observations.
Methods and approaches to producing online data includes data logging of writing activities in Google Docs,
which will be subjected to data analysis in relation to the revision history and the students’ use of the
comment function. As we are likely to collect a substantial amount of revision history, the analysis will be
based on summary and visualisation tools developed by Southavilay et al. (2013). Following this, we will
conduct content analysis of selected examples of the students’ writing and how these are related to the use of
the comment function. We also aim to log data on the students’ use of Facebook for organising their writing
activities through the ‘Digital Footprints’ facebook app.
Methods and approaches regarding offline data involve observations of the students’ collaborative writing
processes, primarily based on field notes and video recordings of project group meetings. Selected groups of
experienced university students will be involved as explorers who observe and interview the students. Focus of
the analysis will be on the social interaction and negotiation that take place during the collaborative writing
practices, which involve mutual positioning and choice of specific strategies for group work in relation to both
oral and written communication. Other types of data may be relevant in relation to the students’ group
meetings ‐ e.g. sound recordings of group discussions and photos of students’ handwritten notes or
whiteboard drawings.
5. Conclusion
We expect from this study to develop the understanding of groups’ collaboration and negotiation processes in
relation to creating and coordinating a shared text. We expect to shed light on how the commenting function
may affect the students’ approach to such negotiation processes, and to specify an understanding of how
different online and offline resources (e.g. Google Docs, whiteboards, handwritten notes, Facebook etc.)
interplay in relation to collaborative writing, and how various usage patterns and student roles develop. We
expect to find a significant variation in the students’ approaches to collaborative online writing. A further aim
of the study is to be able to develop pedagogical guidelines for the use of Google Docs in relation to project
work and collaborative online writing processes.
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References
Bang, J. and Dalsgaard, C. (2005) “Samarbejde – cooperation eller collaboration?”, Tidsskrift for universiteternes efter‐ og
videreuddannelse, Vol. 2, No. 5, pp 1‐12.
Bruffee, K.A. (1984) “Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind’”, College English, Vol. 46, No. 7, pp 635‐
652.
Clark, G. (1998) “Writing as Travel, or Rhetoric on the Road”, College Composition and Communication, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp 9‐
23.
Denzin, N.K. (2010) “Moments, mixed methods and paradigm dialogs”, Qualitative Inquiry, Vol. 16, pp 419‐427.
Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Doubleday, Garden City, N.Y.
Higgins, L., Flower, L. and Petraglia, J. (1992) “Planning Text Together. The Role of Critical Reflection in Student
Collaboration”, Written Communication, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp 48‐84.
Johnson, A.B. and Onwuegbuzie, A.J. (2004) “Mixed Methods Research: A Research Paradigm Whose Time Has Come”,
Educational Researcher, Vol. 33, No. 7, pp 14‐26.
Knain, E. (2009) “Et praksisbasert kategorisystem for vurdering av tekstutvikling i Wiki”, Digital Kompetanse, Vol. 4, No. 2,
pp 86‐103.
Kraglund, D., Mills, M.E., Sørensen, N. and Palm, T.F. (2013) Digital Tools in Project Groups. Unpublished project report, MA
programme in Human Centered Informatics, Aalborg University.
Lowry, P.B., Curtis, A. and Lowry, M. R. (2004) “Building a Taxonomy and Nomenclature of Collaborative Writing to Improve
Interdisciplinary Research and Practice”, Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp 66‐99.
Southavilay, V., Yacef, K., Reimann, P. and Calvo, R.A. (2013) “Analysis of Collaborative Writing Processes Using Revision
Maps and Probabilistic Topic Models”. In: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics
and Knowledge (LAK'13). New York: ACM, pp 38‐47.
Zhou, W., Simpson, E. and Domizi, D.P. (2012) “Google Docs in an Out‐of‐Class Collaborative Writing Activity”, International
Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp 359‐375.
695
Facilitating Collaborative Online Learning: Experiences From a
Finnish‐Scottish Project for Vocational Educators
Sarah Cornelius1 and Blair Stevenson2
1
School of Education, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
2
School of Vocational Teacher Education, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Oulu,
Finland
s.cornelius@abdn.ac.uk
blair.stevenson@oamk.fi
Abstract: This paper outlines work in progress to support an international project, titled Collaborative Online Learning in
Global Education (COLIGE), which aims to engage vocational educators in collaboration with international peers to enhance
their understanding of the nature of learners in different contexts and expand opportunities for developing global
education competences. A case study of a collaboration process co‐designed for participants of a Vocational Teacher
Education Programme in Finland and the Teaching Qualification for Further Education in Scotland is outlined and
facilitators’ reflections on designing and supporting online collaboration for a multi‐national group are detailed. The paper
draws on the concepts of task ownership, character and control (Kirschner et al. 2004) to explore facilitators’ experiences.
Findings suggest that facilitators play multiple roles, which include designing activities within programme constraints and
resources; allowing appropriate learner control and authentic engagement with meaningful tasks; encouraging task
ownership; and engaging in live online facilitation with sensitivity to learner needs and co‐facilitator approaches. Successful
design of international online collaboration also requires articulation of assumptions about approaches to teaching and
learning, and opportunities for meaningful socialisation and development of shared cultural understandings. The findings
have implications for vocational educators planning or developing international online collaboration and inform effective
methods for the development of intercultural activities for vocational educators.
Keywords: collaborative online learning, vocational education, global education, facilitation, online teaching
1. Introduction
The use of technology provides expanding opportunities for international collaboration between learners in
different contexts. Mobile and web technologies have been successfully employed to support virtual cultural
exchange and collaborative activity between learners enrolled in institutions from different countries, for
example in language learning (e.g. Lee and Markey 2014; Lazar 2014), and cross‐disciplinary collaboration
(Cochrane et al. 2011). However, a dearth of literature exists with respect to online collaboration in vocational
contexts. This paper outlines work in progress as part of the COLIGE (Collaborative Online Learning in Global
Education) project to support collaborative online learning for the participants of a Vocational Teacher
Education Programme in Finland and the Teaching Qualification for Further Education (TQFE) in Scotland. The
aims of the project are to engage vocational educators in collaboration with international peers to enhance
their understanding of the nature of learners in different contexts and expand opportunities for developing
global education competences. This paper outlines the collaboration process and details the facilitators’
reflections on designing and supporting online activities for this multi‐national group of vocational educators.
The process and facilitators’ experiences are explored in relation to the concepts of task ownership, character
and control (Kirschner et al. 2004).
2. The collaboration process
Working within the existing curricula of the two vocational education programmes in Scotland and Finland, a
collaboration project was initiated in 2014 to provide an opportunity for international collaboration for a
cohort of vocational teacher education students which:
aligned with existing course structures and timetables. The two courses ‐ ‘Global Education’ (Finland) and
‘Successful Learners in Further Education’ (Scotland) ‐ are underpinned by national standards for
practitioners, and have distinct objectives and structures. They adopt similar blended delivery models,
including face‐to‐face and online activities, independent study and facilitated collaboration.
used technologies with which learners were already familiar. Routinely used technologies, including email,
virtual learning environments (VLE) and web conferencing software were employed.
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involved meaningful and achievable tasks. The process required careful design of a common project to
ensure that collaboration was manageable within time constraints and had direct relevance to practice in
order to avoid overburdening participants.
The collaboration involved the participants of the two programmes undertaking an activity that included
several key tasks, supported by pre‐activity briefings and local support and discussion. A template (available as
a word document from www.slideshare.net/sarahcornelius) provided structure and instructions under the
following tasks:
Task 1: Scottish participants described details of their teaching practice class environment and context to
the Finnish students, focusing particularly on learner characteristics and needs;
Task 2: Finnish participants discussed Scottish class details during their course sessions and designed a
lesson plan relating to a global education theme that they deemed appropriate for the Scottish classroom
context with which they were paired;
Task 3: Scottish participants reviewed and commented on the lesson plans; and
Task 4: Participants met online in real time to discuss general issues and challenges associated with
globalising education.
Tasks 1, 2 and 3 were facilitated using email and VLEs, whilst Task 4 required the use of web conferencing
software available via the University of Aberdeen.
The activity was particularly meaningful in the context of the Finnish course, since it formed a major element
of course work. For the Scottish participants, the activity complemented course content on learners’
characteristics and needs, and offered an additional perspective that could be brought into an assignment
task. Overall the project design attempted to address the problem of how to provide global education in a
local context. This was tackled in meaningful stages which could be undertaken in an authentic environment
and with opportunities for cognitive feedback. This design approach aligns with recommendations for effective
task character for collaborative learning environments as outlined in Kirschner et al. (2004).
3. Research process
An action research approach was used for enquiry into the development of the collaborative process with data
collected to outline the students’ and facilitators’ perceptions of outcomes as well as support process
evaluation and inform planning for future collaboration. Data include in‐session evaluations, post‐session
questionnaires and recordings of reflective discussion between the facilitators. This paper focuses on the
facilitation role, and draws primarily on the transcript of semi‐structured discussion between the facilitators.
Content analysis was undertaken, focusing on the question ‘What was done to facilitate collaboration?’
Findings presented here reveal the importance of ‘behind the scenes’ facilitation, careful preparation to
develop an activity with a high level of task ownership and appropriate task character, and exploration of
assumptions by facilitators. The following sections highlight the complex role of the joint facilitation offered by
the tutors.
3.1 ‘Setting the scene’ for effective collaboration
The collaborative process was developed in response to the facilitators’ desire to capitalise on an opportunity
for international collaboration. A face‐to‐face meeting and online discussions revealed synergies between the
two programmes and a common wish to provide meaningful international learning experiences for
participants. Planning discussions revealed similar underpinning principles and curriculum structures so
development activities focused on finding practical ‘first steps’ that would engage current students in
collaboration while fitting in with existing studies.
A significant facilitator role during the early stages was to ensure ‘buy in’ and commitment to the collaborative
process. This was facilitated for the Finnish participants by building the activity into a substantive assignment
task in the course design. In addition, the Finnish group of learners were already ‘well versed’ in the
expectations for individual contributions in online environments as a result of previous engagement in online
collaborative activities. In the Scottish context, getting students to invest in the activity required a careful
‘build up’ during which ‘seeds were planted’ about the opportunity for collaboration and participants were
reassured about feasibility and the commitment required. Participants had to be convinced that the task was
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manageable, particularly in terms of the technologies being used, and that it would not be a significant
addition within the context of existing course tasks and schedules. In both cases, face‐to‐face discussions were
held to clarify the purpose of the collaboration and to motivate participants.
Due to the need to fit in with the previously scheduled timetables for both programmes, the initial
collaboration process was planned over a relatively short timeframe – with Tasks 1, 2, and 3 allocated 1 week
each. This short timeline was seen to restrict opportunities for personal introductions and the development of
deeper, shared understandings of the different international contexts. This factor is notable since Lee and
Markey (2014) emphasise the need to allocate sufficient time to online collaboration, and, although tasks were
completed effectively, participants in this activity also expressed a desire to have more time available.
During the early stages of the process, facilitators aimed for high levels of task ownership (Kirschner et al.
2004) by encouraging a sense of belonging and commitment to the international group through the
development of an activity that demanded individual accountability and a positive interdependence between
the multi‐national participants. To complete the activity participants relied on each other to adequately
complete the tasks assigned to them in order to complete their own work. Furthermore, they provided
interpretation and explanation of locally relevant information to support each other’s work, with facilitators
also contributing as appropriate.
3.2 Facilitating international real‐time collaboration
Limited time was available for synchronous communication, therefore the live online session was planned to
allow groups with similar professional interests to meet, pairing up those students who had worked with
similar contexts in the activity, and discussion of general issues of global education. The agenda was full, yet a
majority of participants reported that they enjoyed the session, found it useful, and appreciated the
opportunity to speak directly to international peers. Student feedback also indicated strong interest in an
expanded collaboration process and more real‐time discussion.
Active discussion during the synchronous online session was facilitated by the fact that the Finnish participants
had several months experience of live online interaction before taking part in the collaborative activity, and
understood that they should ‘join in and get active quickly’. For the Scottish participants live online
engagement was a relatively new experience. These students had used web conferencing software only twice
before meeting the Finnish students online, but no significant issues were faced by participants during the
session.
The experience of jointly facilitating the live online session revealed several assumptions that could have been
discussed more fully by facilitators to ensure an effective learning experience. Key issues concerned
approaches to task control (Kirschner et al. 2004), with both facilitators assuming that a learner‐centred
approach would be appropriate. In part this assumption may have been based on a common interest in
vocational education, where learner‐centred approaches and active learning predominate, but it is recognised
that co‐facilitation in intercultural contexts may require additional clarification of facilitators’ approaches to
teaching and learning and their expectations of task control.
Facilitators’ reflections also revealed the importance of adopting a similar approach during the live online
session. It was assumed that the facilitator whose web conferencing system was used would take the lead,
which led to some uncertainty about facilitator roles. Assumptions were also made about learners’ needs.
Additional discussion to ensure a shared understanding of these issues would have led to a more effective
learning environment for some individual participants.
4. Conclusions ‐ the role of the facilitator
The effectiveness of the collaborative process in this intercultural setting required facilitators to commit to
supporting each others’ course outcomes and learners. Findings suggest that in order to support effective
collaboration facilitators in similar settings should:
Find synergies between programmes;
Design opportunities for manageable and meaningful collaboration involving realistic tasks simplified into
non‐trivial parts (create appropriate task character);
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Motivate participants to ‘invest’ in the collaborative process (encourage task ownership);
Provide opportunities for socialisation;
Facilitate the development of shared cultural understandings;
Set appropriate expectations for participation and engagement;
Explore assumptions about teaching and learning approaches (ensure appropriate task control); and
Share information about facilitation preferences and learner needs.
These actions may support the brokering of dispersed ‘local communities of practice into an overarching
International Community of Practice’ (Cochrane et al. 2011) with further implications for effective
international online collaboration.
Whilst the collaboration process was deemed by participants as effective, a number of areas for further
development have been identified. These include the enhancement of opportunities for socialisation and
cultural exchange over a longer timeframe to support a shared understanding of contexts, and development of
stronger relationships to build the relevance of the activity and encourage implementation of lessons. At this
stage in the collaboration process, it is also notable that one Scottish participant taught the lesson designed by
Finnish peers. This extension of the collaboration beyond the scope of the activity suggests the possibility for
scaffolding within online environments as described by Hmelo‐Silver et al. (2007). Work is also underway to
expand research of the ‘proof of concept’ process within an action research framework to explore online
collaboration to provide intercultural learning experiences.
References
Cochrane, T., Bateman, R., Buchem, I., Camacho, M., Gordon, A., Keegan, H. and Rhodes, D. (2011) MLearning 2.0:
fostering international collaboration In Candel Torres, I., et al. (Eds.), ICERI2011: 4th International Conference of
Education, Research and Innovations (pp. 42‐51). Madrid, Spain: IATED.
Hmelo‐Silver, C.E., Duncan, R.G. and Chinn, C.A. (2007) Scaffolding and achievement in problem‐based and inquiry
learning: a response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006), Educational Psychologist, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 99‐107.
Kirschner, P., Strijbos, J., Kreijns, K. and Beers, P.J. (2004) Designing electronic collaborative learning environments,
Educational Technology Research and Development, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 47‐66.
Lazar, I. (2014) EFL learners’ intercultural competence development in an international web collaboration project. The
Language Learning Journal, DOI 10.1080/09571736.2013.869941.
Lee, L and Markey, A. (2014) A study of learners’ perceptions of online intercultural exchange through Web 2.0
technologies. ReCALL, DOI 10.1017/S0958344014000111.
699
Gauging the Quality of Online Learning by Measuring 21st Century
Engagement
Stephanie Edel‐Malizia1 and Kathleen Brautigam2
1
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
2
Brautigam Education Services, Milton, Pennsylvania, USA
sae12@psu.edu
kmbrautigam@verizon.net
Abstract: This research explores 21st Century engagement as an indicator of online instructional quality. How do you move
from having a policy of providing quality online learning to actually determining the magnitude, amount, or volume of
quality learning experiences provided in a particular course? Like many institutions providing online learning, we are
engaged in a process of exploring the most effective way of improving the quality of courses. Online learning is steeped in
the tradition of providing a typical type of experience for learners, with common elements that have become the status
quo for over the past 20 years and largely replicates industrial models where top‐down, passive methods of instruction are
the norm. High quality instruction contains specific elements that will improve the potential for teaching to engage
students through socio‐emotional, behavioral and cognitive means (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris, 2004). These
elements have been well researched primarily in the context of face‐to‐face primary and secondary education.
st
Csikszentmihalyi's Flow model (1990) (1996) can be applied to gage levels of engagement in relation to 21 Century Skills.
Indicators of Engaged Learning are provided by the 1995 work of the Council for Educational Research and Development,
and North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, “Plugging in: Choosing and using educational technology” (Jones,
Valdez, Nowakowski, & Rasmussen). The Indicators of Engaged Learning provide indicators and definitions of teaching and
learning approaches and are used to document the use of technology in the classroom as related to student engagement.
This study stems from the belief that these elements of face‐to‐face teaching are just as important to the quality of
teaching and learning in an online environment, including traditional higher education students as well as adult students.
As seen in numerous scholarly publications focusing on contemporary higher education, there are a growing number of
academics that are wondering if the quality of online instruction has kept up with its explosive growth. This research seeks
to create a process for evaluating online course design for the purposeful creation of instruction that will engage students
through socio/emotional engagement (interactions and reactions), cognitive investment (intellectual), and behavioral
engagement (participation) as measured by indicators of engaged learning and gaged through use of the Flow model to
determine the level at which students will be engaged and to use this quality measure to improve course design.
Keywords: engaged learning, 21st century, online learning, quality, instructional design, and indicators
1. Introduction
A transformative goal of instructional design would be to create an environment that supports and promotes
intrinsic motivation in order to create optimal learning experiences for contemporary students preparing for
careers in a global society during in the age of the knowledge worker. This research project is an opportunity
to revisit research‐based indicators of socio‐emotional, cognitive, and behavioural engagement, as seen in
online courses and assignments, in order to evaluate the potential level of student engagement in an online
course.
Like many institutions providing online learning, we are engaged in a process of exploring the most effective
way of improving the quality of courses. Online learning is steeped in the tradition of providing a typical type
of experience for learners, with common elements that have become the status quo for over the past 20 years.
As a pilot study, online courses will be reviewed for 21st Century engagement based on a rubric intended to
encourage and support an engaged learning environment. This rubric will be developed based largely on the
st
research by NCRE, shared in the publication titled enGauge 21 Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
(1998).
This research in progress will examine examples of online courses that illustrate varying degrees of engaged
learning as measured through quantitative and qualitative review of course syllabi with emphasis of analysis
being placed on student assignments and activities Csikszentmihalyi’s FLOW Model (1990) will then be used as
a gage to determine the level at which students will be engaged.
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Stephanie Edel‐Malizia and Kathleen Brautigam
2. Measuring quality through 21st century engagement
As seen in numerous scholarly publications focusing on contemporary higher education, there are a growing
number of academics who are wondering if the quality of online instruction has kept up with its explosive
growth. This research seeks to create a process for evaluating the potential of online course design for the
purposeful creation of instruction that will engage students through designing for socio/emotional
engagement (interactions and reactions), cognitive investment (intellectual), and behavioral engagement
(participation). Can engagement be measured through indicators of engaged learning and engaged through
use of the Flow model to determine the level at which instruction has been designed to engage the learner.
2.1 Indicators of engaged learning
In relation to use of technology in the classroom, “Indicators of Engaged Learning” are identified in the 1995
research Plugging in: Choosing and using educational technology, by the Council for Educational Research and
Development, and North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (Jones, B. F., Valdez, G., Nowakowski, J., &
Rasmussen, C.). These indicators have been repurposed as indicators of engaged learning in online courses,
and have been categorized as Instructional Approach, Teaching, and Learning (see Figure 1 Indicators of
Engaged Learning).
2.2 Types of engagement
Indicators of Engaged Learning are tied to three types of engagement, which include socio‐emotional,
cognitive and behavioural engagement. Cognitive engagement is described as being thoughtful with an
example being when instruction challenges students to draw upon basic skills to engage in higher level
thinking and requires students to interact with the curriculum in a deep and thoughtful manner. Socio‐
emotional engagement is described as being affective, including interactions and reactions with an example
being when students have strong ties to the community of learners. Behavioral engagement is described
having a high level of class participation and interactions beyond course requirements.
2.3 Level of engagement
Csikszentmihalyi's Flow model (1990) (1996) can be applied to the Indicators of Engaged Learning to show
levels of engagement in relation to 21st Century Skills.
Flow refers to the intrinsic motivation to learn where the learner experiences a “state of dynamic equilibrium”.
When in the Flow the learner’s perceptions of challenges to perform or to produce are aligned and in balance
with the learner’s capacity to succeed. The learner with skills lower than needed to succeed or who does not
feel challenged becomes apathetic. If skills are much lower than need to be successful, the learner becomes
anxious or becomes negative. Low challenges presented to highly skilled learners lead to complacency and
then boredom.
3. The need for research
More and more students are attracted to online learning as an option for higher education. According to
“Grade Change: Tracking Online Education in the United States, 2013” (Allen, I.E. & Seaman, J. 2014):
7.1 million of higher education students are taking at least one online course.
The percent of academic leaders rating the learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior
to those as in face‐to‐face instruction grew from 57% in 2003 to 74% in 2013.
The eleventh annual report on the state of online learning in U.S. higher education from the Babson Survey
Research Group, Pearson and the Sloan Consortium includes data responses from more than 2,800 colleges
and universities. Quality issues can become evident through observations of teaching effectiveness, faculty‐to‐
student ratios, attrition rates, student satisfaction, and institutional resources invested in online delivery. With
the world at their doorstep, there are so many options available to online students that institutions cannot
compete solely from technical innovation. Instead, we need to attract more learners by providing them with
better education quality than they can get from the competition. We need to create optimal learning
experiences for contemporary students preparing for careers in a global society, ready to become a part of the
knowledge worker economy.
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Stephanie Edel‐Malizia and Kathleen Brautigam
Figure 1: Indicators of engaged learning
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Stephanie Edel‐Malizia and Kathleen Brautigam
4. Research questions and scope
As a result of this research project, we will be able to:
Assess the quality of online courses using 21st Century indicators of engaged learning as aligned with
socio‐emotional, cognitive and behavioral elements.
Utilize a rubric that would encourage and support an engaged learning environment throughout course
design, development, and revision.
5. Discussion
Outcomes and achievements of this pilot will be shared in terms of anecdotal evidence and quantitative
examples of how engagement indicators can be used to improve the quality of online course. Successes and
failures will also be shared as a reflection that will generate next steps in the online course quality initiative.
Based on the findings, courses lacking 21st century engagement will be revised and re‐evaluate for quality
improvement. Courses found to have high levels of engagement will be identified as exemplars for use in
revisions of other courses and the design of new courses. Exemplars of specific components of high quality
online courses and/or the redesign of course elements will be shared with attendees, along with the
st
evaluation process used to determine the level of quality based on 21 century engagement indicators.
References
Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2014). Grade change: Tracking online education in the United States. Babson Survey Research
Group. Retrieved from: http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/gradechange.pdf
Bloom, B. S. (Ed.). (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Book 1, Cognitive domain. New York: Longman.
Bransford, J. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.
Csikszentmihaly, M. (1996). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Fredricks, J., Blumenfeld, P., and Paris, A. (2004). School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence.
Review of Educational Research. Vol. 74, No. 1, pp. 59
Johnson, D. & Johnson, R. (2004). The Three Cs of Promoting Social and Emotional Learning. Chapter 3 from the book by
Zins, et.al. (2004). Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning.
Jones, B. F., Valdez, G., Nowakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1995). Plugging in: Choosing and using educational technology.
Washington, DC: Council for Educational Research and Development, and North Central Regional Educational
Laboratory.
st st
Ledward, B.C. and D. Hirata. (2011). An overview of 21 century skills. Summary of 21 Century Skils for Students and
Teachers, by Pacific Policy Research Center. Honolulu: Kamehameha Schools – Research & Evaluation
st
Lombardi, Marilyn M. and Oblinger, Diana G. (2007). Authentic Learning for the 21 Century: An Overview. ELI Paper
1:2007
Moore, Janet. (2010). A Quality Scorecard for the Administration of Online Education. The Sloan Consortium. Rubrics:
Constantly Seeking Quality. http://sloanconsortium.org/node/18236
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory & the Metiri Group. (2003). enGuage 21st century skills: Literacy in the
digital age. Naperville, IL: Author
National Survey of Student Engagement. (2012). Promoting Student Learning and Institutional Improvement: Lessons from
NSSE at 13. Bloomington, IN:Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.
Newmann, F., Wehlage, G. G., & Lamborn, S. D. (1992). The significance and sources of student engagement. In F.
Newmann (Ed.), Student engagement and achievement in American secondary schools (pp. 11–39). New York:
Teachers College Press.
Shernoff, David J.; Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly; Shneider, Barbara; Shernoff, Elisa Steele: (2003). Student engagement in high
school classrooms from the perspective of flow theory. School Psychology Quarterly, Vol 18(2), 158‐176.
703
Educating for Competencies Development in Higher Education With
Technology
Maite Fernandez1, Georgeta Ion2 and Elena Cano1
1
Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
2
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
maite.fernandez@ub.edu
georgeta.ion@uab.cat
ecano@ub.edu
Abstract: This communication is part of the project "The impact of educational evaluation in the development of
competencies at the University. The perspective of the first graduates" (R + D project with reference EDU2012 ‐ 32766)
funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, in which seven Spanish universities participated: University of
Barcelona (UB), Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), University Rovira i Virgili (URV), Autonomous University of
Catalonia (UAB), University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), University of Granada (UGR) and the Open University of Catalonia
(UOC) in four different degrees: Primary Education, Industrial Electronic Engineering, Pharmacy and Computer Engineering.
The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of educational assessment in the development of competencies at the
University, starting from the perceptions of the first graduates trained in the new European Higher Education Area.
Furthermore, by gathering the opinions of the students and their evolution over the first years, the study makes use of
qualitative methodologies to explore the best practices carried out, thereby allowing the accreditation of both specific and
transversal competencies. In this communication, we will present the results of open questionnaires filled in by “old”
diploma holders’, comparing them to the results of first “new” European Higher Education Area graduates in order to
identify which kind of competencies they perceive to have acquired and to know what factors or processes students
attribute to the development of such competencies. We will focus, in particular, on the use of new technologies to foster
learning and improve the competence‐assessment process. The paper provides empirical data regarding the role of
competencies in the acquisition of specific and transversal student competencies. Our research provides evidence about
the perception of the new promotion of graduate students after the Bologna process implementation and could suggest
future improvements in university study plans in order to include ICT tools in competencies development. The results show
that despite the change of the paradigm in higher education, the learning and evaluation methods didn’t change
fundamentally, and the implementation of new requirements of the European Higher Education Area remains in hands of
the teachers and university leaders.
Keywords: competencies, higher education, technology, assessment, student perceptions
1. Introduction
The new European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has a fundamental role in the improvement of university
training around the role of the demands of the world of work, converting it in a challenge, the fact of knowing
and evaluating what is the educational role of the university, what it must incorporate and which
characteristics the new university degrees must have beyond the role of vocational training. In this new
educational context, university training must integrate in a harmonious way the basic competencies related to
vocational guidance, as well as, the tranversal competencies related to the all‐round training of the individuals,
(Bolívar, 2008; Rué, 2007; Zabalza, 2007; Jornet et al, 2011). For this reason, it is not difficult to affirm that it
would be necessary that the Spanish university system should improve its training in the competencies of its
graduates and consequently, the quality of the university (Vila, Dávila & Ginés Mora, 2010; Villa & Poblete,
2011; Blanco, 2009; Benito, 2005). What is more, knowing which indicators must be evaluated is not sufficient,
but it is also necessary to define the exact level of compliance that is demanded from the student in each
indicator (Valderrama, et al, 2009; Villardón, 2006; Quesada, Rodríguez & Ibarra, 2013; Prades, 2005).
In the Spanish Higher Education context, the final of the academic course 2012‐2013 has marked the end of
the first promotion of graduates in the framework of the Bologna Process. Hence, we consider that this is a key
moment to gather information regarding the perception of the students in the acquisition and development of
competencies and also about the opinion of the faculty and other staff members about what is the role of such
competencies. The information gathered will permit some orientation for the improvement of the university
system and provide some quality assurance systems for official university education.
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Maite Fernandez, Georgeta Ion and Elena Cano
2. Methodology
For this study, the methodology and the plan of work have been designed based on the objectives proposed
and the goals pursued. Therefore, a detailed bibliographical and documental analysis has been conducted by
all the members of the team, and although it has been more intensive in the first phase, it will be extended
through the whole life of the project. Secondly, a mixed study has been proposed, that starts with a qualitative
methodology based on the accounts, discussion groups and interviews and which contrasts the emerging data
with those gathered from the questionnaires (open and closed). Seven universities from the Spanish state
participated in the study: University of Barcelona (UB), Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), Rovira i
Virgili University (URV), Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), University of the Balearic Islands (UIB),
University of Granada (UGR) and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC); in four different degrees: Primary
Education, Industrial Electronic Engineering, Pharmacy and Computer Engineering.
In this communication, we will present the results of open questionnaires filled in by “old” diploma holders’ (a
total of 89), comparing them to the results of first “new” European Higher Education Area graduates (a total of
35).
The themes about which the opinion of the students was requested make reference to the process of the
acquisition of specific and transversal competencies. This opinion was contrasted with the opinion of degree
holders, namely those students that have finished their studies in their study plans before the creation of the
European Higher Education Area. Technological competence is one of the key transversal competencies for the
inclusion in today’s society based on knowledge. For this reason, question 11 of the questionnaire to graduates
asked them to respond to the following affirmation: “The use of technologies favour learning and improve the
processes for the evaluation of competencies”.
The questionnaire was administered online, by means of a form in Google Forms until the month of December.
For the analysis of the results, a process of identification of the emerging units of meaning has been carried
out and subsequently, these have been grouped in categories of higher order. From here, a descriptive analysis
of the results obtained has been conducted on each of the factors, themes and dimensions that have
responded to the scope of this study: the perception of “old” diploma holders’ first “new” European Higher
Education Area graduates regarding the acquisition and development of competencies.
3. Results
Firstly, we are interested in analysing the way those students who have completed their studies in the Bologna
system perceive the acquisition of vocational competencies. These opinions are compared with the perception
of the degree students. The data disaggregated in terms of competencies are shown in the following graph.
Figure 1: Competencies acquired and developed by students
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Maite Fernandez, Georgeta Ion and Elena Cano
The competence of “Spirit of enterprise, ability to take initiatives”, which in theory should appear more, as
indicated in the new European Higher Education Area, is a competence which the students assure they have
acquired and developed to a lesser extent in the “new” undergraduate degrees.
The “Ability to work in a team” is one of these cases, both from the perspective of the “old” diploma holders as
well as from those of “new” graduates, has been the competence which has been most worked on at the
university. On the other hand, the skill of “Capacity to learn and stay up‐to‐date with learning” which is one
the principles to be worked on in the “new” undergraduate degrees, appears only in 25% of the contributions
of the students and therefore, very few have assured that they have acquired and developed it.
The competencies where the greatest difference between the “old” and “new” undergraduate degrees has
been encountered are on the one hand, those of “Determination and perseverance in the tasks given and
responsibilities taken”, and on the other, the “Spirit of enterprise, ability to take initiatives”. In both cases, the
graduates of the “old” studies perceive to have developed more than the “new” graduates. This is possibly due
to the fact that when “new” graduates encountered a process of transition or in very initial phases of the study
plans of their degrees, they showed to be more critical with the functioning of their university institution given
they were witnesses to this process of change.
Finally, regarding the competence which we focus on in this communication, that of “Skills in the use of
information and communications technologies”, this has been evaluated quite positively; 40% of the students
have assured to have developed it, but at the same time, within this competence, the contributions of open
character of the students in responding to this question about which competencies they believed they
acquired at the university, has permitted us to confirm that within that label, the students integrate other
types of learning and areas of knowledge. Some of this learning was linked to the use of technology (for
example, programming themes or the use of the online platform,…) and to very specific applications, while
other students link it to the capacity of the critical analysis of the information available on the Net, this being a
complicated label to separate from other competencies like that of learning to learn or the capacity of critical
analysis and synthesis:
“Search of informative resources”.
“Search and evaluate all the updated and reliable information on new medication and other
products of healthcare interest”.
“Capacity to draw conclusions, synthesise and analyse texts”.
Finally, with regard to question 11 of the questionnaire to graduates about the statement “The use of
technologies favours learning and improves the processes of the evaluation of competencies”; 77% of the
students compared to only 20% have assured that the use of new technologies does not have to necessarily
favour the processes of the evaluation of competencies, and one of the students has not responded at all to
this question. The following statements emphasise some of the contributions of interest:
“If one knows how to use the technologies, then it is a “yes” and if not, then it is a “no”.
“Completely agree. If the new technologies are well used, this favours attention and motivation,
and therefore, learning”.
“I think that the use of technologies is necessary nowadays and it clearly favours the carrying out
of certain tasks (…)”.
Therefore, as can be confirmed thanks to the statements of the students, the graduates of the “new”
undergraduate degrees assure that the use of new technologies can always be positive to educate through
competencies in Higher Education, provided that, on the one hand, it is used adequately, and furthermore, it is
used as a complement and not as the principal tool without overlooking other learning methods including the
traditional ones.
4. Conclusions
This communication confirms the results of the PROFLEX study and in the context of our study on labour
insertion by the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia (AQU), in the way that some of
the competencies in which the university contributes most is the “Ability to work in a team” while the one that
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Maite Fernandez, Georgeta Ion and Elena Cano
is least worked on is the capacity to negotiate and detect needs, linked to the competence “Spirit of
enterprise, ability to take initiatives”.
With respect to the process of attribution of transversal competencies which is placing emphasis on the
reasons or the causes that have generated these competencies, the students whether they are from diploma
or degree study plans evaluate them very positively in contrast to other characteristics that these degrees
could have: the importance of continuous evaluation and activities related to case studies and the resolving of
problems as fundamental pillars for the acquisition and development of the competence, among them, “Skills
in the use of information and communications technologies”.
With respect to the technology competence, the majority of the students assure that the use of technologies
does indeed favour the development of competencies, basically if the use of this technology has been used
well, provided that it serves the learning objectives to be achieved and it is not just a substitute for certain
traditional technologies but rather complements them. Therefore, the students perceive that the technologies
should have an added‐value in university education but always taking into account that the figure of the
teacher is irreplaceable.
In the way of a future research on the one hand the evolution of the perceptions of the new diploma holders’
about their competencies’ acquisition should be analysed, searching for changes on the value and role of the
assessment. On the other hand, these perceptions of the students should be compared to the faculty staff and
academic leaders’ point of view to have a complete overview about the current topic: competencies
development in the new European Higher Education Area.
References
Benito, A. and Cruz, A. (2005) Nuevas claves para la docencia universitaria en el EEES, Narcea, Madrid.
Blanco, A. (2009) Desarrollo y Evaluación de competencias en Educación Superior, Narcea, Madrid.
Bolivar, A. (2008) El discurso de las competencias en España: educación básica y educación superior, Revista de Docencia
Universitaria, monographic number II “Formación centrada en competencias (II)”.
Hager, P.J. and Holland, S.S. (Ed.) (2006) Graduate Attributes, Learning and Employability, Springer, The Netherlands.
Jornet, J.M., González, J., Suárez, J.M. and Perales, Mª J. (2011) Diseño de procesos de evaluación de competencias:
consideraciones acerca de los estándares en el dominio de las competencias, Bordón, Vol 63, No. 1, pp 125–145.
Kuhn, C. and Zlatkin‐Troitschanskala, O. (2011) Assessment of competencies among university students and graduates —
Analyzing the state of research and perspectives, Arbeitspapiere Wirtschaftspadagogik, Johannes Gutenberg
University Mainz.
Lowden, K., Hall, S., Elliot, D. and Lewin, J. (2011) Employers’ perceptions of the employability skills of new graduates, Edge
Foundation, Glasgow.
Prades Nebot, A. (2005) Competències i EEES, aprenentatge de competències i avaluació de les competències, Universitat
de Barcelona, Barcelona.
Quesada, V., Rodríguez, G. and Ibarra, M.S. (2013) ActEval: Un instrumento para el análisis y reflexión sobre la actividad
evaluadora del profesorado Universitario. Revista de Educación, Vol 362.
Rué, J. (2007) Enseñar en la Universidad. El EEES como reto para la educación superior, Narcea, Barcelona.
Valderrama, E., Rullán, M., Sánchez, F., Pons, J., Cores, F. and Bisbal, J. (2009) La evaluación de competencias en los
Trabajos Fin de Estudios, in XV JENUI, Barcelona.
Vila, L. E., Dávila, C.D. and Ginés Mora, J. (2010) Competencias para la innovación en las universidades de América Latina:
un análisis empírico, Revista Iberoamericana de Educación Superior, Vol 1, pp 5–23.
Villa, A. and Poblete, M. (2011) Evaluación de competencias genéricas: principios, oportunidades y limitaciones, Bordón,
Vol 63 No. 1, pp. 147–170.
Villardón, L. (2006) Evaluación del aprendizaje para promover el desarrollo de competencias, Educatio siglo XXI, Vol 24, pp.
57–76.
Zabalza, M.A. (2007) “Simulación práctica de la guía para la planificación didáctica de la docencia universitaria”, [online]
http://www.uib.es/ice/cfp_univ/3.pdf
707
Digital Literacy Development Among Chinese International
Postgraduate Students in a UK University
Mengjie Jiang and Palitha Edirisingha
University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
mjj16@le.ac.uk
pe27@le.ac.uk
Abstract: Digital literacy is gaining recognition as an important research focus in technology‐enhanced learning, and
developing digital literacy has become a priority within higher education. However, developing digital literacy remains a
challenge in a context where students’ experience, skills and orientations of technological uses vary widely. With the large
influx of international students at UK universities, teaching postgraduate students’ digital literacy is demanding. Because
Chinese international postgraduates now constitute a significant proportion (about 25%) of UK postgraduates, UK
universities need to be sensitive to varying degrees of digital literacy among these students. This research investigates
digital literacy skills among Chinese international postgraduate students in a UK university. The study employs mixed
methods including a questionnaire survey, interviews and observations.
Keywords: digital literacy, internationalisation, technology‐enhanced learning
1. Introduction
With the rise of technology‐enhanced communications and digitally mediated content, the potential of
learning technologies and the significance of developing digital literacy have been well documented (JISC,
2011). Currently Chinese international students make up about a quarter of UK postgraduate students (Adams,
2014). This internationalisation within higher education is a key driver of research on digital literacy among
international students.
2. Research questions and methods
This study investigates how Chinese international postgraduate students at an English university experience
new technologies for coursework during Master’s programmes and how they develop their digital literacy skills.
The research questions are:
What digital literacy skills do Chinese international postgraduate students have when they start their
Master’s programmes?
What are the challenges in developing digital literacy among Chinese international postgraduate
students?
How can Chinese international higher education students be better supported in developing their digital
literacy?
The study is set in ‘pragmatism’ worldview. It employs mixed methods with sequential explanatory design.
Quantitative data are collected through online questionnaires to capture factual information (e.g., ownership,
access and usage). Photographic journaling (Gourlay & Oliver, 2012), with the ‘day experience’ elements
(Riddle & Arnold, 2007), will precede focus group meetings. Students will take photos of their
academic‐related activities that require digital literacy skills (photographic journaling) and take notes to
provide details of these activities (‘day experience’ method). Focus groups and individual interviews will be
arranged, followed by observations with access to artifacts to provide a comparatively realistic view of
participants’ Internet skills.
3. Research background
3.1 The digital divide
There has been much discussion of the digital divide (e.g., Warschauer, 2002). Between the UK and China, this
divide takes the form of access to the Internet at an affordable cost and permission to use online content. On
access, Graham et al. (2011) revealed that Internet penetration in China is between 41% and 50% whereas the
UK possesses above 60% Internet penetration. The divide not only manifests itself between developing and
developed countries, but also inside individual countries. China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC,
2013) reported roughly 60% Internet users in urban areas but only 23.7% in rural areas.
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Examining the digital divide in terms of ‘have’ and ‘have‐nots’ has been under critical scrutiny. Warschauer
(2002) argued that the digital divide not only encompasses the broad concept of physical access, but also the
accessibility of extra resources enabling people to use technology well. Given the digital divide between China
and the UK, and between areas within China, variations in digital literacy skills among Chinese international
students need to be studied.
3.2 Learner experience studies
Studies of learners’ experience of digital technologies are increasing because students are involved in learning
where digital technologies play important roles. The claim that ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001, p.1) have
considerable technological competence because of their early exposure to digital environments has been
critically examined. Dahlstrom (2012) provided evidence of digital natives’ ownership of digital devices. But
digital natives do not make up a homogenous group regarding their access to skills and experience of
technologies, and among them preferences vary in using technologies for academic purposes (Jones & Shao,
2011).
To date, studies on digital literacy and learners’ experience with technologies have focused on students in
Western contexts and seldom distinguished students’ nationalities (e.g., Jones & Lea, 2011). Wang et al. (2003),
in a survey of 92 students at China’s Northeast Normal University, showed that these students had low
awareness of digital resources and intellectual property rights, but research on Chinese students’ digital
literacy is rare.
4. Proposed conceptual framework for the research
Multiple terms (e.g., information literacy, media literacy, and digital literacy) saturate the discussion of
‘literacy’ today and cause confusion. The connotations of digital literacy overlap with those of other literacies,
though digital literacy is not an accumulation of separate skills that could fit all demands (JISC, 2011). This
paper adheres to the default term digital literacy. Labels in relation to the concepts matter less than the
concepts attached to practices (Bawden, 2001).
Digital literacy refers to strategies that information users employ to perform tasks in a digital environment. It
not only includes physical use of the hardware and software but also represents the ability to interpret
mediated content (Jones & Flannign, 2006).
The proposed conceptual framework (Figure 1) draws on literacies and other associated terms. According to
Bawden (2008), the concept of digital literary needs to be located among literacies and to incorporate
meanings from terms where literacy is absent like information technology fluency (IT fluency).
Developing digital literacy tends to involve interconnected fragments rather than a strict linear process
(Society of College, National and University Libraries, 2011). Calvani et al (2009, p. 161) envisaged four primary
interconnected aspects of digital literacy – ethical (interacting through ICT in a responsible way), cognitive
(access, selection and evaluation), technological (exploring new technological contexts in a flexible way) and
integration of these three aspects.
SCONUL (2011) proposed the notion of an information literacy landscape which is useful in developing a
framework of digital literacy. It considers one’s aptitude, background and experience with technologies – all of
which are grounded in the conception of learning (Shuell, 1986). Developing digital literacy may involve
learners reflecting on their experience and modifying existing skills. Indeed, Beetham et al. (2009, p. 11) stated
that learners’ interpretation of current experience is highly affected by previous learning and ‘digital literacies
cannot be bolted onto existing practices and prior conceptions’.
IT fluency, proposed by the US National Research Council (NRC, 1999, p. 2) is useful in discussing digital literacy,
which consists of three types of skills: ‘Contemporary skills’ (competency to use current technologies),
‘foundational skills’ (understanding of principles and concepts related to technologies) and ‘intellectual
capabilities’ (ability to apply technologies in creative ways to solve problems). IT fluency implies having
intellectual capacity to make best use of technology according to the context.
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Mengjie Jiang and Palitha Edirisingha
Martin and Grudziecki (2007, p. 258), in the DigEuLit project, proposed a processes framework of digital
literacy. The first level is digital competence, encapsulating understandings, knowledge, attitudes and skills.
The second level is the application of digital competence in professional contexts, and the third level is ‘digital
transformation’, attained when digital practices enable innovation and inspiration in a professional field.
Martin and Grudziecki’s digital literacy processes seem to be the application of SCONUL’s information literacy
in a digital environment.
Jenkins et al. (2006, p. 8) stressed that the core of literacy has been transformed towards ‘one of the individual
expression to community involvement’. Jenkins et al. (2006) emphasised participatory gap, transparency and
ethics challenges of new media, and the social and cultural aspects of literacy needed to interact in a large
community. They also mentioned cognitive skills needed to deal with large bodies of information and to
experiment with complex configurations of data.
The UK ‘Futurelab Innovation in Education’ report (Hague & Payton, 2010) suggested digital literacy,
containing ‘functional skills’, ‘creativity’, ‘critical thinking and evaluation’, ‘cultural and social understanding’,
‘collaboration’, ‘the ability to find and select information’, ‘effective communication’ and ‘e‐safety’.
Based on the above review of literature on key aspects of digital literacy skills, a conceptual framework for the
current study was developed (Fig. 1).
Problem
solving
Ethical
Identities
E-safety
Social
participation
Technological
skills
Individual digital literacy
Intercultural landscape
understanding
Distributed
technology
Critical
thinking
Functional
Creative concept
appropriation
Figure 1: The conceptual framework for the study
The foundation is students’ individual digital literacy landscapes including beliefs, orientations about
usefulness of technologies, attitudes and prior experience with technologies. Then there are
interconnected parallel digital literacy skills. This study will focus on problem solving, ethical issues and
critical thinking skills through investigating participants’ digital practices, and reading and writing activities
in digitally mediated content.
References
Adams, R. (2014) “Almost a quarter of postgrad students at English universities are Chinese”, The Guardian, 2 April.[Online].
Available at:
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Mengjie Jiang and Palitha Edirisingha
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/apr/02/quarter‐postgrad‐student‐english‐universities‐chinese
(Accessed: 07 May 2014).
Bawden, D. (2001) “Information and digital literacies: a review of concepts”, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp.
218–259.
Bawden, D. (2008) “Origins and Concepts of Digital Literacy”, in Lankshear, C and Knobel, M. (eds.) Digital literacies –
Concepts, Policies and Practices. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 18‐32.
st
Beetham, H., McGill, L. and Littlejohn, A. (2009) “Thriving in the 21 century: Learning literacies for the Digital Age (LLiDA
project).” [Online] Available at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/projects/llidareportjune2009.pdf (Accessed
15 Oct 2013).
Calvani, A. Fini, A. and Ranieri, M. (2009) “Assessing digital competence in secondary education – Issues, Models and
Instruments”, in Leaning, M. (ed.) Issues in information and Media Literacy: Education, Practice and Pedagogy. Santa
Rosa, California: Informing Science Press, pp. 153‐172.
CNNIC (January 2013) “Statistical Report on Internet Development in China”. [Online]. Available at:
http://www1.cnnic.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/201302/P020130312536825920279.pdf (Accessed: 09 May 2014).
Dahlstrom, E. (2012) “ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology 2012.” Louisville, CO:
EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. [Online]. Available at: http://www.educause.edu/ecar (Accessed: 10 May
2014).
Graham, M., Hale, S. A. and Stephens, M. (2011) “Geographies of the World's Knowledge.” London, Convoco! Edition.
[Online]. Available at: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news/?id=680 (Accessed: 1 May 2014).
Gourlay, L. and Oliver, M. (2012) “JISC: IOE Digital Literacies Baselining Report”. [Online]. Available at:
http://diglitpga.jiscinvolve.org/wp/files/2012/03/IOE‐DigLits‐Baselining‐Report‐1.0.pdf (Accessed: 29 April 2014).
Hague, C. and Payton, S. (2010) “Digital literacy across the curriculum: a Futurelab handbook.” [Online]. Available at:
http://archive.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf (Accessed: 6 May 2014).
Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J. and Weigel, M. (2006) Confronting the Challenges of participatory
st
culture: media education for the 21 century. Chicago: The MacArthur Foundation.
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Jones, B. R. and Flannigan, S. L. (2006) “Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21 Century”, No. 2, EDUCAUSE
QUARTERLY.
Jones, C. and Shao, B. H. (2011) “The Net Generation and Digital Natives: Implications for Higher Education”. A literature
review commissioned by the Higher Education Academy. [Online]. Available at
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/learningandtech/next‐generation‐and‐digital‐natives.pdf (Accessed:
25 April 2014).
Jones, S. and Lea, M, R. (2011) “Digital literacies in higher education: exploring textual and technological practice”, Studies
in Higher Education, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 377–393.
JISC (2011) Developing Digital Literacies: Briefing Paper in support of JISC Grant Funding 4/11, April 2011. [Online] Available
at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/funding/2011/04/Briefingpaper.pdf (Accessed 17 April 2014).
Martin, A. and Grudziecki, J. (2007) “DigEuLit: concepts and tools for digital literacy development,” Italics, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp.
249‐267.
NRC (1999) Being fluent with information technology. Committee on Information Technology Literacy, Computer Science
and Telecommunications Board, Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Applications, National Research
Council. Washington DC: National Academy Press.
Prensky, M. (2001) “Digital natives, digital immigrants: do they really think differently?” On the Horizon, Vol. 9, No. 6,
pp.1‐6.
Riddle, M., and Arnold, M. (2007) “The day experience method: A Resource Kit.” [Online]. Available at:
http://www.matthewriddle.com/papers/Day_Experience_Resource_Kit.pdf (Accessed: 28 April 2014).
SCONUL (2011) “The SCONUL seven pillars of information literacy: A research lens for higher education,” SCONUL working
group on information literacy, April 2011.” [Online]. Available at:
http://www.sconul.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/coremodel.pdf (Accessed 1 May 2014).
Shuell, T. J. (1986) “Cognitive Conceptions of Learning,” Review of Educational Research, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 411‐436.
Wang, Q., Lin, X., and Mao, R. (2003) “Survey on undergraduate and postgraduate students’ information literacy”, Journal
of Library Science in China, Vol. 6.
Warschauer, M. (2002) “Reconceptualising the digital divide”, First Monday, Vol. 7, No. 7.
711
The Comparison of Achievements‐System Benefits for Free and Paid
Online Learning Courses
David Kalenda
University of Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
d.kalenda@email.cz
Abstract: Achievements are modern tools enhancing the attractiveness of a game and increasing the rate of its
replayability in the eyes of video game players, the target customers of game developers. Achievements system is a sort of
a meta‐game, a game in a game, a superstructure which is not obligatory for full completion of the game itself. It is
represented in video game digital distribution systems or on community web portals by icons with texts describing what to
do or simply how to obtain the particular achievement. In addition, it is possible to acquire a special reward for completing
the achievement or set of achievements. It motivates players to submit superior performance involving motor skills, logic
or wit. Mainly because of these reasons is the involvement of achievements in education beneficial. The e‐learning systems
will contain a number of achievements for the courses and the enrolled students will be awarded for the accomplishment
of the achievements by a special course completion certificate, remarkable personal profile avatars, multimedia material
thematically related to the course instructor or the organizing institution etc. A motivation to meet not only the mandatory
requirements, but also to support the willingness to dig deeper into the issues of individual courses, aiming at human
playfulness, curiosity and desire to collect and assemble, is the main carrier of the Achievements‐system based education
support method. The aim of this work is to compare the benefits of the Achievements‐system usage by free and paid
online learning courses measured by the increase of students who successfully completed the course beside those who
attended it. The free e‐learning courses are suffering from a malady stemming from its very nature ‐ absolutely unlimited
accessibility for everyone. The number of the enrolled students is extremely high, it reaches tens of thousands among the
most popular courses, but because of the fact that there is no force which makes the students complete the course, except
their inner motives, the number of students who complete the course is only a fraction of the original quantity. There is an
opposite situation in the area of paid courses. There are much less enrolled students than in free courses, but the
percentage of successful course completion is much more positive among others due to the financial pressure. Increased
course completion motivation is assumed by the usage of the Achievements‐system in both free and paid courses, with
more significant increase in the free environment because of the more diversified structure of enrolled students and
therefor higher tendency to playfulness, increased interest in the issue or incentive to deeper study of the subject by non‐
conformist methods. These theoretical assumptions are to be confirmed or disproved by the results of a research after the
real deployment of the Achievements‐system in the online learning courses in practice.
Keywords: achievements, education, motivation, e‐learning
1. Introduction
Achievements are modern tools enhancing the attractiveness of a game and increasing the rate of its
replayability in the eyes of video game players, the target customers of game developers. Achievements want
to make an impress on a gamer, not for themselves only but especially for the mother‐game which they are an
integral part of.
Achievements system is a sort of a meta‐game, a game in a game, a superstructure which is not obligatory for
full completion of the game itself. The most popular achievement frameworks were developed by Microsoft
(Xbox 360) and Valve (Steam – PC). Based on the framework provided by Microsoft, the community has
developed intriguing gaming practices where the individual games become pieces of a larger whole (Jakobsson
2011).
It is represented in video game digital distribution systems or on community web portals by icons with texts
describing what to do or simply how to obtain the particular achievement (see Figure 1). In addition, it is
possible to acquire a special reward for completing the achievement or set of achievements. Achievements
stimulate gamers to better performances and motivate them to reach further, higher and faster than the
majority of members of gamers community. Achievements also motivate players to submit superior
performance involving motor skills, logic or wit.
There are also web sites which give to the achievements‐system a little twist. Stack Overflow, a question and
answer Web site, uses a reward system called badges to publicly reward users for their contributions to the
community. Badges are used to reward positive behavior by relating a user's site identity with their perceived
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David Kalenda
expertise and respect in the community. A greater number of badges associated with a user profile in some
way indicate a higher level of authority, leading to a natural incentive for users to attempt to achieve as many
badges as possible (Grant, Betts 2013).
Figure 1: Sample of an achievement from the History course with an image, title and text description (Source:
Own)
Gamification is growing increasingly prevalent as a means to incentivize user engagement of social media sites
that rely on user contributions. Badges, or equivalent rewards such as top‐contributor lists, clearly appear to
be valued by users who actively pursue and compete for them (Easley, Ghosh 2013).
2. The dark side of being successful
Achievements in video games are a recent phenomenon throughout all the conceivable platforms from the
console manufacturer representatives Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to the personal computers.
The success of the achievements in video games had a negative influence on the video games in general – all
the new video games launched on some of the platforms were persuaded to include achievements. According
to Jakobsson (2011), this has been done by a set of rules every retail game has to follow in order to reach the
standard. Because of this console manufacturers' pose there arose the situation of artificially added
achievements into all the video games. There was also an increase in the lack of creativity in the challenges the
achievements were bringing to gamers and the loss of the exclusivity and originality hallmark. The first big
bubble was blown but the popularity of achievements is still very high. The competition between commercial,
independent and freeware games and their achievements is fierce and so the designers are trying to develop
original approaches to the classic style of video game achievements.
3. Motivation in education
Mastery motivation is defined as a psychological force that stimulates an individual to attempt independently,
in a focused and persistent manner, to solve a problem or master a skill or task which is at least moderately
challenging for him or her (Morgan, Harmon, Maslin‐Cole 1990).
A motivation to meet not only the mandatory requirements, but also to support the willingness to dig deeper
into the issues of individual courses, aiming at human playfulness, curiosity and desire to collect and assemble,
is the main carrier of the Achievements‐system based education support method.
Achievement goal researchers and theorists have relied primarily on the distinction between performance
goals and mastery goals in differentiating competence‐based strivings (Elliot 1999). The Achievements‐system
has the power to unionize all the goal‐types in one place and furthermore adds the factor of entertainment to
them.
4. Achievements‐system in e‐learning courses
The e‐learning systems will contain a number of achievements for the courses. The quantity of achievements
will be determined by the characteristics of the concrete course, varying from one to hundreds. The enrolled
students will be awarded for the accomplishment of the achievements by a special course completion
certificate, remarkable personal profile avatars, multimedia material thematically related to the course
instructor or the organizing institution like behind‐the‐scene photos, videos, instructors' stories or other form
of entertaining and also interesting multimedia content. For each such an achievement will be monitored the
statistics of percentage successful completion by all the students who have attended the course since the
achievement has been introduced, which will add to the motivation a factor of exclusivity, too.
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David Kalenda
The guidelines for the achievement's fulfillment can be written down precisely or, in case of making the solving
more difficult, the hint can be represented only by achievement's graphical icon. Creativity in the designing of
an achievement is very important and more than welcome. The more demanding will be the solving of the
achievement, the more attractive reward will be offered for the accomplishment.
5. Free and paid e‐learning courses
The aim of this work is to compare the benefits of the Achievements‐system usage by free and paid online
learning courses measured by the increase of students who successfully completed the course beside those
who attended it. The free e‐learning courses are suffering from a malady stemming from its very nature ‐
absolutely unlimited accessibility for everyone. The number of the enrolled students is extremely high, it
reaches tens of thousands among the most popular courses, but because of the fact that there is no force
which makes the students complete the course, except their inner motives, the number of students who
complete the course is only a fraction of the original quantity.
There is an opposite situation in the area of paid courses. There are much less enrolled students than in free
courses, but the percentage of successful course completion is much more positive among others due to the
financial pressure. This is assumed after the enrollment for several courses offered by the education platform
Coursera, e. g. Online Games: Literature, New Media and Narrative, Organizational Analysis or Fantasy and
Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World.
6. E‐learning courses completion motivation
Sun, Tsai, Finger, Chen and Yeh describe thirteen critical factors in six dimensions influencing e‐learner
satisfaction. In the learner dimension those factors are learner attitude toward computers, learner computer
anxiety, and learner Internet self‐efficacy. The factors of instructor response timeliness and instructor attitude
toward e‐Learning were identified in the instructor dimension, and e‐Learning course flexibility, e‐Learning
course quality in the course dimension. The technology dimension factors were technology quality and
Internet quality. Finally, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were identified in design dimension
and diversity in assessment and learner perceived interaction with others in the environmental dimension (Sun,
Tsai, Finger, Chen, Yeh 2008). Increased course completion motivation is assumed by the usage of the
Achievements‐system in both free and paid courses, with more significant increase in the free environment
because of the more diversified structure of enrolled students and therefor higher tendency to playfulness,
increased interest in the issue or incentive to deeper study of the subject by non‐conformist methods. These
theoretical assumptions are to be confirmed or disproved by the results of a research after the real
deployment of the Achievements‐system in the online learning courses in practice.
7. Conclusion
It is very important to support human motivation to education by any means necessary. And is there a better
way to do it than the path of entertainment? This some kind of rhetorical question shows that there is no need
for such questions, because human race is a playful one and its whole‐life need for education is irresistible and
persistent.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the project No. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0327 Innovation and support of doctoral study
program (INDOP), financed from EU and Czech Republic funds.
References
Easley, D., Ghosh, A., (2013) Incentives, gamification, and game theory: an economic approach to badge design,
Proceedings of the fourteenth ACM conference on Electronic commerce, 359‐376.
Elliot, A. J., (1999) Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals, Educational psychologist, 34(3), 169‐189.
Grant, S., Betts, B., (2013) Encouraging user behaviour with achievements: an empirical study, Mining Software
Repositories (MSR), 10th IEEE Working Conference on, 65‐68.
Jakobsson, M., (2011) The achievement machine: Understanding Xbox 360 achievements in gaming practices, Game Studies,
11(1), 1‐22.
Morgan, G. A., Harmon, R. J. and Maslin‐Cole, C. A., (1990) Mastery motivation: Definition and measurement, Early
education and Development, 1(5), 318‐339.
Sun, P. C., Tsai, R. J., Finger, G., Chen, Y. Y., and Yeh, D., (2008) What drives a successful e‐Learning? An empirical
investigation of the critical factors influencing learner satisfaction, Computers & Education, 50(4), 1183‐1202.
714
Assignments in a Nutshell
Lisa Oakley and Orlagh McCabe
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
l.oakley@mmu.ac.uk
O.mccabe@:mmu.ac.uk
Abstract: This research project seeks to identify the advantages and disadvantages of using podcasts and other e‐learning
technologies to support students with assessments. Through a range of mediums students were asked about their
experiences of engaging with e‐learning strategies and their subsequent effect on assignment writing. This work in
progress outlines the context of this research and the feedback received to date.
Keywords: podcasts, Socrative, assignments, SurveyMonkey, peer‐mentoring
1. Introduction
Educational institutions globally are integrating new technologies into their learning systems to support and
enhance the student experience. It is increasingly necessary for HE practitioners to have a certain level of
understanding of new technologies and e‐learning systems and to be able to assess the impact of these
technologies on student learning performance (Blasco‐Arcas,2012).
Abuse studies is a single/combined undergraduate programme representing a unique provision only delivered
at Manchester Metropolitan University. Limited prior understanding of this academic area has led to increased
anxiety around assessments. Although a briefing is delivered for each assessment, students continue to feel
concerned about misunderstanding the assessment criteria.
Therefore, this academic year ‘Assignment in a Nutshell’ podcasts were introduced which provided a summary
of the requirements of the assignment and marking criteria for the final assignment in each core unit across
the undergraduate programme. This e‐learning approach was combined with verbal and written briefings.
These were posted on the unit VLE .
There are two aims to the current study. The first is to use a triangulation of emergent technologies (Podcasts,
SRS, E‐questionnaires) to evaluate the impact of student engagement with assessment podcasts. The second is
to evaluate the use of peer mentoring via student‐designed assignment podcasts, again using the triangulation
described above.
2. Theoretical background
Advances in technology are changing how students and tutors interact in the classroom and can promote
interactivity (Blasco‐Arcas, 2012). This is seen as pivotal to effective learning (Bannan‐Ritland, 2002). There is a
significant need for tutors to prepare future graduates for a digital global economy that is characteristic of the
21st century.
There are many advantages to using SRS with students. For example, increased participation (Draper and
Brown,2004), increased understanding (Edmonds and Edmonds,2008). SRS also offer students a dual form of
feedback providing an opportunity to reflect on comprehension of materials and identify areas that require
additional support (Chui,2013)
Tynan & Colburn (2006) suggest the use of podcasts is valuable and a large proportion of students use them.
However, research from Walls et al (2010) contradicts this and suggests many students do not like podcasts
and may not want to use them. Therefore it is important to understand how this particular cohort of students
will engage with e‐learning technologies in a peer learning context.
Peer learning incorporates a range of practices that promote reflection on feedback, making students more
likely to engage with the assessment process. (Blasco‐Arcas,2012) This can subsequently impact future work
and promote sustainable high quality learning which is already evidenced through good honours in this subject
area.
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Lisa Oakley and Orlagh McCabe
3. Research methodology
The mixed methods approach chosen for this research allowed the intentional collection of qualitative and
quantitative data to combine the strengths of each approach in addressing the research aims (Pasick et al,
2009). Quantitative research can produce generalisable information and qualitative research provides
information about meaning and context. Creswell et al (2010) argue that merging quantitative and qualitative
data allows a more complete understanding of a problem and validates results.
Obtaining good quality qualitative evaluative feedback from students is a complex process (Yao & Grady,
2006). Skewing of data or a propensity to positive or negative feedback have led researchers to call for
alternative methods of collecting student feedback from those traditionally used (Fenwick, 2001). The
researchers were mindful that obtaining rich student feedback is imperative for improving practice in higher
education (Yao & Grady, 2006). In order to conduct the evaluation students will be asked to provide key
feedback in two demonstrable ways. Firstly via an e‐survey on Survey Monkey disseminated via a web link on
the unit VLE. Secondly using the exit ticket on ‘Socrative’ (student response system) to determine their level
of understanding and their development needs.
To date an e‐survey has been designed and disseminated on SurveyMonkey, This survey is still open and the
researchers are still gathering data. Therefore, the results presented here are interim. The advantages of using
E‐questionnaires are ‘shorter performance cycles, shorter requires responding time and being a cheap
method’(Ritter, 2007)
The e‐survey was made available to all students from units which had incorporated the ‘assignment in a
nutshell’ podcasts. The survey met with BPS ethical guidelines and included an informed consent form prior to
commencement of the survey. The link to the survey was sent to each student by their university email
address and posted on Facebook. The informed consent form provided information about the study and
ensured students of their anonymity in the process as well as ensuring they understood that participation was
voluntary and they could withdraw at any point. Details of confidentiality, data protection and researcher
contact details are available on the consent form.
The quantitative data collected has been analysed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data has been
subject to a thematic analysis using Braun and Clark’s (2006) model.
28 students have completed the survey to date and they represent students from all levels of the programme
(Of total respondents 36% were first year, 41% second year and 23% final year). 91% of all respondents had
listened to at least one ‘assignment in a nutshell’ podcast. 9% of students in the current study did not access
or engage with the podcast overall. The percentage of respondents indicates that the majority of students
have engaged with the podcast.
4. Preliminary findings and discussion
Students were asked to detail their reasons for accessing the podcast.) the thematic analysis identified three
key themes, understanding, auditory learning & learner needs (comments in italics are quotes from the
survey).
The main recurrent theme identified was about understanding. Students repeatedly noted that they felt
listening to the podcast enhanced their understanding of the assignment “ I listened to it so that I got a better
understanding of the assignment I needed to do”. Belenger (2005) supports this idea noting the replaying of
podcasts facilitates students understanding.
The second theme was ‘auditory learning’ a number of students said they found listening rather than reading
an easier way to assimilate the information “find it easier to listen to things rather than reading stuff all the
time”. Auditory learners comprise 30% of the student population, these types of learners gain superior support
from listening to podcasts (Ralph & Olsen, 2007). The final theme was around learner needs. One student
noted that a verbal format was important due to her specific learning needs “Easier to understand the
assignment if someone is to talk me through it due to my learning needs, being dyslexic it helps me a lot”.
Students who did not access the podcast did not provide any feedback on why they had not.
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The majority of students suggested that the podcast impacted their approach to the assignment (see graph
below).
The respondents replied to the statement ‘the assignment in a nutshell podcast was useful , 53% said they
strongly agreed and 47% said they agreed, no students reported that it was not useful.
Students provided free text comments to explain why they had found the podcast useful. There were three
main themes. These were clarity, accessibility and succinctness. Most of the comments reflected that the
podcast aided clarity of understanding the assessment requirements and the marking criteria, “It helped to
clarify what the details of the assignment were”, “All information regarding the assignments could be found on
the podcast, including exactly what the assignment was on and the marking criteria”.
The second theme was accessibility, students commented on being able to access the podcast at any time and
the ability to listen to it repeatedly “I could refer to it anytime”, “the opportunity to take extra notes, pause if I
wanted to, and re‐listen”. Ribar & Chavez (2010) futher support this idea by suggesting one of the most
positive aspects of podcasting is that it is an ‘anytime, anywhere’ technology.
The final theme was succinctness, students reflected that the podcast provide a short but clear overview of the
main points of the assignment, which they found useful in preparing “It helped me plan and structure the
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assignment, as it was clear and to the point.” Simplicity, convenience and time saving have been noted as
elements of best practice around the use of podcasts (Hew, 2009) 88% of students stated that listening to the
assignment podcast changed how they approached the assessments.
The survey asked students to provide suggestions for improvements to the podcast. Many students said no
improvements were needed. The few who did make suggestions stated that they would like podcasts used for
all assignments and to ensure the sound quality, which was quiet in one podcast.
A final question on the survey asked students to identify their preferred briefing method. Students were able
to choose from verbal in‐class briefing, written briefing and assignment podcast, the results are shown on the
graph below.
Therefore, the majority of students chose all three methods. A combination of methods was favoured by
students to allow multiple opportunities to engage with briefing material in different formats. “ I do prefer
having the briefing via podcasts and especially verbally in class, as I feel tutors offer extra information when
discussing the assignments that they may not have included on written material; This supports Smith et al,
2009 research which states that podcasts are no replacement for a passionate instructor.
These preliminary findings have indicated that student engagement with podcasting positively impacts upon
their understanding, learning and preparation for assessments. This research now aims to further evaluate the
impact of podcasts in a peer learning environment to develop guidelines for best practice in the use of this
technology for assignment preparation.
Emergent technologies have greatly influenced pedagogic practice in the Higher Education sector globally. This
research begins to touch upon some of the bespoke ways in which these technologies can be used to enhance
learning, promote inclusion and support high quality learning. Further research in the social sciences now
needs to address the impact of the ‘individual’ learner when engaging with technologies such as student
response systems (Fies and Marshall, 2006) and the training and resources needed by educators to develop
sustainable programmes which foster such an approach.
References
Blasco‐Arcas, I. Buil, B. Hernández‐Ortega and Javier Sese, F. (2013).Using clickers in class. The role of interactivity, active
collaborative learning and engagement in learning performance," Computers & Education, 62, , 102‐110.
Berlanger, Y. (2005). Duke university iPod first year experience final evaluation. Retrieved from.
http://cit.duke.edu/pdf/reports/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3 (2). pp. 77‐101.
Creswell, J.W; Klassen , A.C; Plano Clark, V.L. Clegg Smith, K. (2010) Best Practices for Mixed Methods Research in the
Health Sciences. OBSSR
Draper, S.W. & Brown, M.I. (2004). Increasing interactivity in lectures using an electronic voting system. Journal of
Computer Assisted Learning, 20, 81–94.
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Fenwick, T. J. (2001). Using student outcomes to evaluate teaching. A cautious exploration. In C. Knapper & P. Cranton
(Eds.), Fresh approaches to the evaluation of teaching (New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 88) (pp. 63–
74). San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass.
Fies and Marshall (2006) Classroom response systems: A review of the literature. Journal of Science Education and
Technology. 15, 101‐109
Hew, K. F. (2009). Use of audio podcast in K‐12 and higher education: a review of research topics and methodologies.
Education Technology Research and Development, 57, 333–357
Pasick, R. J., Burke, N. J., Barker, J. C., Galen, J., Bird, J. A., Otero‐Sabogal, R., et al. (2009). Behavioral theory in a diverse
society: Like a compass on Mars. Health Education Behavior, 36(5), 11S–35S.
Ralph, J., & Olsen, S. (2007). Podcasting as an educational building block in academic libraries. Australian Academic &
Research Libraries, 38(4), 270–280.
Smith, S.D; Salaway, G; Caruso, J.B. (2009) The ECAR study of undergraduate students and information technology.
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ers0906/rs/ers0906w.pdf accesed 26/6/14.
Sue, V. M. & Ritter L.R. (2007) Conducting online Surveys, Barnes and Noble
Tynan, B. & Colbran, S. (2006). Podcasting, student learning and expectations. 23rd ASCILITE Conference.Sydney.
Vogt, M., Scaffner, B., Ribar, A., & Chavez, R. (2010). The impact of podcasting on the learning and satisfaction of
undergraduate nursing students. Nursing in Practice,10(1), 38–42.
Walls, S. M., Kucsera, J. V., Walker, J. D., Acee, T. W., McVaugh, N. K. & Robinson, D. H. (2010). Podcasting in education: are
students as ready and eager as we think they are? Computers and Education, 54, 2, 371–378.
Yao, Y & Grady, M.L. (2005) How do faculty make formative use of student evaluation feedback?: A multiple case study.
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719
Developing a Cohesive Mobile Learning Framework
Jenni Rikala
University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Mathematical Information Technology, Jyvaskyla,
Finland
jenni.p.rikala@jyu.fi
Abstract: This paper is a work in progress exploring the development of a cohesive mobile learning framework. The study
draws upon empirical evidence gathered in four case studies and literature review. The ongoing study is important as the
coherent framework could help planning, implementing and evaluating mobile learning as well as developing mobile
learning solutions. Despite the fact that research in the field of mobile learning has been done widely and the fact that it is
an ascending trend worldwide, one clear challenge is that the mobile learning solutions have not deeply rooted in the
educational contexts or practices. The unfortunate reality is that the majority of classrooms look the same way as they did
100 years ago and that the teachers mainly prefer conventional technologies to simply automate their traditional activities.
To tackle this challenge, this research argues that there is a need for a cohesive theoretical mobile learning framework
which can explain and help the process that at best can lead to pedagogically sensible and sustainable way to utilize mobile
technologies in the educational contexts. The study is divided into three separate parts. The first part includes qualitative
research and constructive work. The information found in the literature review about the core elements and characteristics
of mobile learning was used as a background in constructive work when developing a mobile learning evaluation
framework. This framework was then used in the second part of the research, which included four case studies. The case
studies were studied through the developed framework and they indicated that the medium level aspects of mobile
learning were realized comparatively well, but that there were also factors that should be added to the framework. The
third ongoing part of the study will include further development of the framework and tests in a selected educational
context.
Keywords: mobile learning, framework, mobile technology, pedagogical practices
1. Introduction
One globally increasing trend is mobile learning, which can be understood as learning with mobile devices in
various contexts (O’Malley et al. 2005). There is a consensus among the researchers that mobile technologies
have great potential to improve teaching and learning. However, the concept of mobile learning is still
developing rapidly and the coherent theoretical framework is missing (Traxler 2007). As a consequence, the
mobile learning pilots and trials have been characterized by short‐term, small‐scale studies driven by
enthusiastic teachers (Hýlen 2012) and mobile technologies still have not rooted to the educational contexts or
practices. Technologies are often employed to reproduce old pedagogies and textbooks still are the most
common and widespread resources (Ferrari, Cachia and Punie 2011).
The aim of this work in progress study is to bridge the gap between theory and practice by developing a
cohesive mobile learning framework. The study draws upon empirical evidence gathered in four case studies
and literature review.
2. Developing a mobile learning evaluation framework
In this study, the core aspects identified by Koole (2009) and Kearney et al. (2012) in their respective
frameworks provide an evaluation framework in which the case studies were analysed. Both of these
frameworks suggest that mobile learning has certain elementary characteristics that separate it from other
types of learning. Koole (2009) highlights aspects such as the device, learner and social aspect. Kearney et al.
(2012), in turn, highlight the characteristics such as personalization, authenticity, collaboration, and the spatial
and temporal aspects of the mobile learning environment.
Based on these two frameworks, an evaluation framework was developed (see Figure 1). The evaluation
framework consists of two levels, namely core level and medium level. Since the mobile technologies have
unique ability to support learning anywhere and anytime, the aspects such as context, time and space form
the core of the framework. The learner aspect, device aspect and social aspect, in turn, form the medium level
of the framework. An Individual learner's cognitive abilities, memory, emotions, motivation, attitudes, and
experiences are in a significant role in the learning process (Koole 2009). On the other hand, the device aspect
should not be forgotten either and social aspect’s importance as a part of the learning process cannot be
underestimated (Koole 2009). In a sense, the mobile learning process is continually reshaped by interaction
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between the learner, device and social relations (Koole 2009). In this study, these core level and medium level
aspects provided an evaluation framework in which the case studies were analysed.
Figure 1: Developing the mobile learning evaluation framework
3. The case studies
The second part of the study included four mobile learning case studies, which were conducted in the context
of Finnish basic education in the autumn of 2012. Each case was unique in terms of its mobile application and
participants, but the phenomenon under the examination was in all the cases the same; mobile learning. The
data were collected by multiple methods; teacher interviews, student questionnaires, and observations.
The case studies indicated that the medium level aspects were realized comparatively well. The mobile
learning activities were motivating and meaningful to students and in most cases the mobile application suited
well for students. No major technical problems occurred during the experiments and the students strongly
agreed that the use of mobile devices and applications was easy. The social aspect was slightly questionable as
the mobile technology was not directly used to mediate collaboration. Nevertheless, in all cases the mobile
application encouraged social interactions with the peers and with adults.
The core level aspects were more challenging. The context where the mobile devices were used was
interspersed with traditional classroom learning and unfortunately the implementations were not as authentic
and spontaneous situations as they at best could have been. One reason for this was that in all the cases the
activities needed to be relevant to the school curriculum.
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One very significant observation was that the pedagogical aspect is very important. A teacher's contribution is
significant as the teacher is planning the situations in which the mobile devices are used, the learning goals
and contents and how learners are going to use devices to achieve the learning goals.
In the teacher interviews there were also aspects that were emerging outside the frameworks. These are
teacher's competencies, ICT integration strategies and technological, social and cultural changes. It is obvious
that technological, social and cultural changes do and will influence teaching and learning. These changes were
mentioned in teacher interviews. Also, the teacher's competencies were mentioned several times during the
teacher interviews. One obvious challenge when implementing mobile learning according to the teachers is
the fact that whether the school provides necessary equipment. This is related to school's ICT integration
strategies.
4. Reconstructing the mobile learning framework
Based on the findings of the case studies and literature, the first version of an improved framework was
constructed (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: The improved mobile learning framework
The core characteristics of the mobile learning process are the learner (L), device (D) and social (S) aspects.
These aspects also intersect, which means that learners may move within different physical and virtual
locations and participate and interact with each other as well as with information and systems (Koole 2009).
The learner, device and social aspects are also highlighted in many earlier studies (see Figure 3) which have
been aiming to develop a mobile learning framework.
The pedagogical practices strongly influence on the learning activity, mobile learning process, as well as mobile
learning experience. The pedagogical practices are for instance, highlighted by Parsons et al. (2007). Social,
cultural and technological changes have an influence on the core curriculum, ICT integration strategies and
teacher's competencies which, in turn, have an influence on the pedagogical practices such as mobile learning
activity design and its implementation.
Finally, the mobile learning experience is seen as the result of the mobile learning activity and mobile learning
process. The characteristics that are incorporated into mobile learning experience include, among others,
spontaneity and personalisation. The decisions about the context, for instance, can affect the spontaneity.
In other words, the current framework (see Figure 2) highlights the aspects such as pedagogy, context, learner,
device and social interactions. Also Crompton (2013, p. 3‐4) has argued that these are the central constructs of
mobile learning.
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Figure 3: Aspects which are highlighted in nine earlier studies
5. Conclusions
The aim of this work in progress study is to bridge the gap between theory and practice by developing a
cohesive mobile learning framework. The development process of the mobile learning framework was
discussed. At best, the cohesive mobile learning framework could help development, implementation and
evaluation of mobile learning solutions, but work still remains to be done.
Acknowledgements
The case studies were part of the project Personal Mobile Space funded by Tekes (the Finnish Funding Agency
for Technology and Innovation) and led by Professor Pekka Neittaanmäki and Marja Kankaanranta from the
University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.
References
Crompton, H. (2013) 'A Historical Overview of M‐learning. Toward Learner‐Centered Education', in Berge, Z. and
Muilenburg, L. (eds.) Handbook of Mobile Learning, New York: Routledge, pp. 3–14.
Ferrari, A., Cachia, R. and Punie, Y. (2011) ‘Educational Change through Technology: A Challenge for Obligatory Schooling in
Europe’ in Kloos, C.D., Gillet, D., Crespo García, R.M., Wild, F. and Wolpers, M. (eds.) Towards Ubiquitous Learning:
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Proceedings of the 6 European Conference of Technology Enhanced Learning, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp. 97–
110.
Hýlen, J. (2012) Turning on mobile learning in Europe. Illustrative initiatives and policy implications, UNESCO working paper
series on mobile learning, De fontenoy, France: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Issa, G.F., Al‐Bahadili, H. and Abuhamdeh, M. (2011) A scalable framework to quantitatively evaluate success factors of
mobile learning systems, International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 54(5), pp. 299–316.
Kearney, M., Schuck, S., Burden, K. and Aubusson, P. (2012) Viewing mobile learning from a pedagogical perspective.
Research in Learning Technology, 20.
Koole, M.L. (2009) 'A Model for Framing Mobile Learning', in Mohamed, A. (ed.) Mobile Learning: Transforming the
Delivery of Education and Training. Edmonton, AB, CAN: Athabasca Univeristy Press, pp. 25–50.
Mostakhdemin‐Hosseini, A. and Tuimala, J. (2005) 'Mobile learning framework', in Isaias, P, Borg, C., Kommers, P. and
Bonnanon, P. (eds.) Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference on Mobile Learning.
O´Malley, C., Vavoula, G., Glew, J.P., Taylor, J., Sharples, M., Lefrere, P., Lonsdale, P., Naismith, L., Waycott, J. (2005)
Guidelines for learning/teaching/tutoring in a mobile environment. MOBIlearn WP 4 ‐ Pedagogical Methodologies
and Paradigms.
Ozdamli, F. and Cavus, N. (2011) Basic elements and characteristics of mobile learning. Procedia – Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 28, pp. 937–942.
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Parsons, D., Ryu, H. and Cranshaw, M. (2007) A Design Requirements Framework for Mobile Learning Environments,
Journal of Computers, 2(4), pp. 1–8.
Sharpies, M, Taylor, J, and Vavoula, G (2007) 'A theory of learning for the mobile age’, in R Andrews, and C
Haythornthwaite (eds), The sage handbook of e‐learning research, SAGE Publications Ltd, London, pp. 221–48.
Tan, Q, Zhang, X., Kinshuck and McGreal, R. (2001) The 5R Adaptation Framework for Location‐Based Mobile Learning
Systems. 10th World Conference ofn Mobile and Contextual Learning, Bejing, China: Bejing Normal University, pp. 87–
94.
Traxler, J. (2007) Defining, Discussing and Evaluating Mobile Learning: The moving finger writes and having writ . . . . The
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8(2).
Wei, Y. and So, H.‐J. (2012) 'A Three‐level Evaluation Framework For a Systematic Review of Contextual Mobile Learning', in
Specht, M., Sharples, M. and Multisilta, J. (eds.), CEUR‐WS.org, pp. 164–171.
724
Increasing Student Response Rates for Online Course Evaluation
Stefani Woods and Maryanne Fisher
Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
stefani.woods@smu.ca
mlfisher99@gmail.com
Abstract: The adoption of e‐learning techniques, tools and strategies by academic institutions creates a situation where
feedback from learners is particularly important for providing insight into the success of the implementation. However,
research indicates that student response rates for online course evaluation are low, and that the few students who do
comply are motivated due to greatly disliking or liking an aspect of the course. In this paper, we address the issues
surrounding low student response rates, and one potential method to increase these rates. After reviewing the importance
of student evaluation, some of the solutions that have been previously offered and the issue of instructor bias, we offer a
potential solution to increase response rates for online course evaluation. We performed a small‐scale study, whereby
online instructors either conducted “standard” practice, (i.e., a prescribed written message posted on the homepage of
each online course), personal e‐mail to students about the importance of feedback, or personal short video message, also
on the importance of feedback, that was then posted on the homepage of the course. At the time of writing, our institution
has just closed the window for course evaluations, and we are unable to report on the results of our intervention.
However, we predict the video condition will yield the largest increase in response rates, as the students directly see the
instructor who is soliciting feedback. The e‐mail condition should yield increased response rates, albeit lower than in the
video condition, but still in excess of the prescribed message from our institution. If so, we will conclude that instructors do
not need to provide extra course credit or withhold grades in order to solicit feedback. Instead, instructors must increase
the feeling of being a member of a learning community, with the importance of feedback clearly outlined.
Keywords: course evaluations, evaluations, student evaluations, instructor evaluations, online evaluations, response rates,
participation rates, course evaluation return rate
1. Introduction
At the end of each academic course, students volunteer to complete a course and instructor evaluation.
According to research, students taking online courses complete these evaluations at a much lower rate than
in‐class students. The hypothesis of this paper is to determine if the student completion rate for online course
evaluations improve with increased faculty presence and communication. After reviewing the literature to
highlight the importance of student evaluations and various strategies, we discuss a small‐scale empirical study
we performed. We asked faculty teaching online courses to explain, in a personalized way, the importance of
student evaluations for modifying the course for future learners, allowing for instructor improvement, and
helping the institution have better programs. Our goal is to show that it is not necessary to provide extra credit
or punitive measures to increase response rates, but instead building a community of learners who recognize
the importance of feedback.
2. Literature review
Students’ evaluations are often considered reliable measures of teaching performance and academic
accountability, as well as a tool for students to express their learning experience. For students, it is an
instrument to provide feedback about the course and instructor. Students want to know their voice is heard
and acted on (Johnson 2002). Faculty members regard it as a tool to assess teaching performance and learning
gaps in curriculum. These results are critical in determining if the faculty member is effective in teaching.
Accordingly, student evaluations are most often used for assessing teaching tenure and promotion. Still,
evaluations are often biased by personality traits, in that faculty, who are classified by students to have a
positive personality, may have higher student evaluations (Waters, Kemp, and Pucci 1988). This finding shows
students want to have a personal connection with their teachers whereas students, who evaluate teachers
poorly, may have a negative attitude (Waters, Kemp, and Pucci 1988). In an online environment, instructor
presence and the ability to project a positive connection with students are essential. Unlike traditional paper‐
pencil course evaluations completed in the classroom, online course evaluations are completed online at a
time convenient for students. The lack of a set time is relevant, as Bean (1978) found that the completion of
student evaluations are influenced by others surrounding them, which suggests that someone must be
present, either physically or virtually, to motivate students to complete the evaluations. This social presence is
key. Simply leaving it to the convenience of the student is a problematic (Dommeyer, Baum, & Hanna 2002). So
the question remains: how do we influence and motivate online students to complete the online course
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evaluations? Existing response rates at Saint Mary’s University for online courses tend to be between 5‐25%,
whereas traditional paper‐pencil formats tend to be between 60‐80%. Comparably, this has been documented
elsewhere and can be attributed to the idea students do not see a direct benefit to completing evaluations.
In Figure 1, the research framework shows that as instructor presence and frequent communication increases
so does student completion rates for online course evaluations.
Figure 1: Online course evaluations completion rates increase as instructor presence and communication
increase
Educators worldwide struggle with low student response rates in online course evaluations. As shown in Table
1, researchers have tried several different strategies to increase rates. The most effective are those with some
direct benefit to the student, like extra points or withholding grades.
Table 1: Strategies used to increase student response rates in online course evaluations and their effectiveness
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As seen in Table 1, higher response rates occur when students receive a direct benefit. However, most faculty
members do not wish to assign extra credit, and administrators do not want to withhold grades from students
(Higgins and Erffmeyer 2010). So there is a dilemma with trying to find a balance between increasing student
response rates and establishing a benefit for students to complete an online course evaluation. To address
this, we propose another solution, which is to increase the students’ awareness regarding the importance of
the online evaluations via an online learning community.
The issue of low response rates is particularly challenging at our institution, where there are two distinct
course delivery modes, classroom‐based and fully online, using the same Instructor Course Evaluation (ICE)
system. The evaluation statements are identical for both classroom and online evaluations. Evaluations are
managed by Senate, so faculty members do not have the freedom to conduct their own evaluations, despite
the fact that many ICE statements are not relevant to the online environment. Thus, we conducted a small
scale study to determine how to improve response rates while not providing extra credit or withholding
grades.
3. Methodology
We performed a small‐scale empirical study to test the hypotheses of whether frequent instructor presence
and communication contributes to higher student completion rate for online course evaluations. Eight online
course instructors were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In the first condition, which we call
“Senate announcement” (Appendix C), a prescribed written message is posted on the homepage of each
online course. This message is from Senate and outlines the importance of course feedback. In the second
condition, we asked five instructors to e‐mail students and, in their own words, tell students that evaluations
help the instructor modify the course for future learners, allows for improvement of the instructor, and helps
the institution have better programs. In a third condition, we asked five instructors to create a short video
message that was then posted on the front page of the course, outlining the same three points in their own
words. We also purposely invited instructors to participate if they had taught the course previously, so that we
can compare previous response rates generated via the “Senate announcement” to the email or video
intervention. Therefore, we intend to compare completed online student evaluation surveys between
instructors across the three conditions, but also at a within‐instructor level to document any differences.
4. Results and discussion
At the time of this submission, our institution closed the window for course evaluations, and therefore we
were unable to report on the results of our intervention. However, the data will be analyzed and presented at
the conference in October. We predict the pattern in Table 2.
Table 2: Strategies used to increase student response rates in online course evaluations and their effectiveness
Based on the work of Bean (1978) and Waters, Kemp, and Pucci (1988), instructor presence, instructor and
student interaction, and instructor’s positive personality traits should increase response rates. Therefore, we
expect that the video condition (Appendix A) will yield the largest increase in completion rates, as the students
directly see the instructor who is soliciting feedback. The e‐mail condition (Appendix B) should also yield
increased response rates, albeit lower than in the video condition, but still in excess of the prescribed message
from our institution. If this pattern is found, then we will be able to conclude that one does not need to
provide extra course credit or withhold grades in order to solicit feedback. Instead, one must increase the
feeling of being a member of a learning community, with the importance of feedback clearly outlined.
5. Summary
To summarize, this study highlighted the effectiveness of established strategies used to increase student
completion rates for online course evaluations. While the most effective strategies awarded online students
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with an incentive that directly benefited them, this study suggests that faculty presence, social interaction, and
frequent communication may increase student response rates for online course evaluations without the use of
an award system.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge and thank the following professors and staff for their participation in this study:
Dr. Jodi Asbell‐Clarke, Dr. Sandra Orser, Stewart Downing, Randolph Corney, Dr. Edna Keeble, Dr. Maryanne
Fisher, David Wilson, Dr. Veronica Stinson, and Barb Bell.
Appendix 1
This is a screen shot of online course homepage showing the embedded video message. It also shows a
notification announcing the availability of the course evaluation link.
Appendix 2
This is a copy of one personal e‐mail message sent from a faculty member to online students.
Appendix 3
This is a copy of the standard University Senate announcement sent to students enrolled in online courses.
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