The Effectiveness of Web-Based Learning Environment: A Case Study of Public Universities in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirui, Paul A.; Mutai, Sheila J.

2010-01-01

Web mining is emerging in many aspects of e-learning, aiming at improving online learning and teaching processes and making them more transparent and effective. Researchers using Web mining tools and techniques are challenged to learn more about the online students' reshaping online courses and educational websites, and create tools for…

The Effects of Online Homework on First Year Pre-Service Science Teachers' Learning Achievements of Introductory Organic Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ratniyom, Jadsada; Boonphadung, Suttipong; Unnanantn, Thassanant

2016-01-01

This study examined the effects of the introductory organic chemistry online homework on first year pre-service science teachers' learning achievements. The online homework was created using a web-based Google form in order to enhance the pre-service science teachers' learning achievements. The steps for constructing online homework were…

Create Online Learning for Where It's Going To Be, Not Where It's Been: An Online Pedagogy for 2006.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brinsmead, Anne-Marie; Lang, Gregory M.; McTavish, Lee

This paper presents an online pedagogy for 2006 and highlights the learning environment of the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto's Web Forum (i.e., an online education management system that combines teaching and learning systems with management and administration systems). The following components of the Web Forum are…

Discovering online learning barriers: survey of health educational stakeholders in dentistry.

PubMed

Schönwetter, D; Reynolds, P

2013-02-01

Given the exponential explosion of online learning tools and the challenge to harness their influence in dental education, there is a need to determine the current status of online learning tools being adopted at dental schools, the barriers that thwart the potential of adopting these and to capture this information from each of the various stakeholders involved in dental online learning (administrators, instructors, students and software/hardware technicians). The aims of this exploratory study are threefold: first, to understand which online learning tools are currently being adopted at dental schools; second, to determine the barriers in adopting online learning in dental education; and third, to identify a way of better preparing stakeholders in their quest to encourage others at their institutions to adopt online learning tools. Seventy-two participants representing eight countries and 13 stakeholder groups in dentistry were invited to complete the online Survey of Barriers in Online Learning Education in Health Professional Schools. The survey was created for this study but generic to all healthcare education domains. Twenty participants completed the survey. demonstrated that many online learning tools are being successfully adopted at dental schools, but computer-based assessment tools are the least successful. Added to this are challenges of support and resources for online learning tools. Participants offered suggestions of creating a blended (online and face-to-face) tutorial aimed at assisting stakeholders to help their dental schools in adopting online learning tools The information from this study is essential in helping us to better prepare the next generation of dental providers in terms of adopting online learning tools. This paper will not only provide strategies of how best to proceed, but also inspire participants with the necessary tools to move forward as they assist their clients with adopting and sustaining online learning tools and models. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Innovation in Open & Distance Learning: Successful Development of Online and Web-Based Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lockwood, Fred, Ed.; Gooley, Anne, Ed.

This book contains 19 papers examining innovation in open and distance learning through development of online and World Wide Web-based learning. The following papers are included: "Innovation in Distributed Learning: Creating the Environment" (Fred Lockwood); "Innovation in Open and Distance Learning: Some Lessons from Experience…

High School Online: Pedagogy, Preferences, and Practices of Three Online Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerr, Shantia

2011-01-01

This multiple case study explores how three online, high school teachers used technological tools to create meaningful learning activities for their students. Findings reveal that teachers use a wide variety of tools and approaches to online learning. Tools are categorized as content, communication, and management tools. Approaches include…

Review of "Overcoming the Governance Challenge in K-12 Online Learning"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barbour, Michael

2012-01-01

This fifth and final paper in the Fordham Institute's series examining digital learning policy is "Overcoming the Governance Challenge in K-12 Online Learning". The purpose of this report is to outline the steps required to move the governance of K-12 online learning from the local district level to the less restrictive state level and to create a…

An Online Learning Community for Beginning In-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taranto, Gregory A.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of incorporating an online learning community as part of a comprehensive new teacher induction program. First, the researcher created an online learning community model based on the results of a comprehensive review of literature and from the previous year's…

Targeted Food Marketing to Youth: Engaging Professionals in an Online Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katras, Mary Jo; Kunkel, Kelly; Croymans, Sara R.; Routh, Brianna; Schroeder, Mary; Olson, Carrie Ann

2014-01-01

The use of technology provides unique ways to create an engaged online community of learning for professionals that can be integrated into existing and future Extension programming. The Targeted Food Marketing to Youth online professional development course uses strategies and tools to create and support an engaged online community.

Utilizing Twitter and #Hashtags toward Enhancing Student Learning in an Online Course Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bledsoe, T. Scott; Harmeyer, Dave; Wu, Shuang Frances

2014-01-01

The authors offer an answer to the research question, To what extent and in what ways is Twitter helpful to student learning when group hashtags are created and used in collaborative educational environments? Sixty-two students in a spring 2012 graduate online Research Methodology course worked individually and in groups to create discussions on…

Increase Online Student Retention with Universal Design for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tobin, Thomas J.

2014-01-01

Adopting Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in order to create online course content allows higher education faculty members to reach out, not only to learners with disabilities, but also to learners who are increasingly using mobile devices to connect to campus and to each other. This article outlines 5 key strategies for creating and…

Virtual Representations in 3D Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shonfeld, Miri; Kritz, Miki

2013-01-01

This research explores the extent to which virtual worlds can serve as online collaborative learning environments for students by increasing social presence and engagement. 3D environments enable learning, which simulates face-to-face encounters while retaining the advantages of online learning. Students in Education departments created avatars…

One University Making a Difference in Graduate Education: Caring in the Online Learning Environment.

PubMed

Brown, Cynthia J; Wilson, Carol B

2016-12-01

As online education gains momentum, strategies to promote student engagement, develop social presence, and create a virtual community are essential for students' successful learning. A university with a philosophy grounded in caring developed two strategies for the graduate online education setting. These two strategies intentionally promote caring for self and others as a means to foster engagement, social presence, and a vibrant online community. One strategy was online Caring Groups, that is, small groups of four to five nursing students created each semester in one of the students' required courses in the online setting. The second strategy was the creation of two Caring Connections online sites, one for master of science in nursing students and one for doctorate in education nursing students. The sites were developed external to required courses to provide support for the online students throughout the graduate programs. Each site provides an ongoing space for students and faculty to post and discuss inspirational quotes, self-care tips, music, and photographs. The online Caring Groups and Caring Connections sites will be described, including how they were created, how they are used by students, how faculty support students, lessons learned, and how Caring Groups are integrated into the curriculum. © The Author(s) 2016.

Play to Learn, Learn to Play: Language Learning through Gaming Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryu, Dongwan

2013-01-01

Many researchers have investigated learning through playing games. However, after playing games, players often go online to establish and participate in the online community where they enrich their game experiences, discuss game-related issues, and create fan-fictions, screenshots, or scenarios. Although these emerging activities are an essential…

Socio-Emotional Connections: Identity, Belonging and Learning in Online Interactions--A Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delahunty, Janine; Verenikina, Irina; Jones, Pauline

2014-01-01

This review focuses on three interconnected socio-emotional aspects of online learning: interaction, sense of community and identity formation. In the intangible social space of the virtual classroom, students come together to learn through dialogic, often asynchronous, exchanges. This creates distinctive learning environments where learning…

The Use of MOOC as a Means of Creating a Collaborative Learning Environment in a Blended CLIL Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Titova, Svetlana

2017-01-01

The objective of this action research is to work out the possible ways of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) integration in a blended Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) course to create an authentic online collaborative community. The theoretical framework of the intervention is based on current MOOC theories, connectivism, and the…

Culturally Responsive Teaching Knowledge and Practices of Online Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heitner, Keri L.; Jennings, Miranda

2016-01-01

Cultural differences between faculty and their students can create important challenges that affect the quality and efficacy of online teaching and learning. The objectives of this study were to: (a) create and pilot test an assessment for online faculty to measure culturally responsive teaching knowledge (CRT) and culturally responsive…

Object Oriented Learning Objects in Online Education: A Framework and Example.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rincon, Lilian; Parker, Drew

Online learning is coming of age in both postsecondary education and industry. The courses now offered online range from kinesiology to mathematics to complete M.B.A. programs. The growing popularity of online education has created a need to reduce costs without diminishing the value of the edification. In response to this need, an instructional…

Best practices for creating social presence and caring behaviors online.

PubMed

Plante, Kathleen; Asselin, Marilyn E

2014-01-01

To identify best practices and evidence-based strategies for creating an online learning environment that encompasses caring behaviors and promotes social presence. Faculty who teach online classes are challenged to create a sense of social presence and caring behaviors in a virtual world in which students feel connected and part of the learning environment. To extrapolate evidence to support best practices, a review of literature was conducted focused on social presence and caring online. Faculty messages that are respectful, positive, encouraging, timely, and frequent foster social presence and caring behaviors while also allowing for caring interactions, mutual respect, and finding meaning in relationships. A variety of measures to emulate caring online intertwine with social presence to promote a sense of caring and belonging. More research is needed to support the evidence for these strategies.

Elective Self-Care Course Emphasizing Critical Reasoning Principles

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Objectives. To create, implement, and assess a self-directed online course based on 3 critical reasoning principles to develop pharmacy students’ skills in literature appraisal, content, metacognition, and assessment. Design. Students completed 3 assignments for the course: compile a literature appraisal on a healthcare topic; plan learning objectives and meta-cognitive skills for a learning module; and create a case-based online lesson with multi-structured feedback. Assessment. An online exit survey evaluated students’ perceptions regarding development of ACE (agency, collaboration, expertise) principles and preparation for competency. Students reported acquisition of ACE principles and noted improvements in their learning approaches, sense of responsibility for individual and community learning, skills, and confidence. Conclusions. An online elective course in self-care addressed practice standards for patient safety, maintenance of competency, and interprofessional education by emphasizing critical reasoning skills. PMID:22171110

Role and Constructivist Competencies of an Online Instructor: Elements of an Online Learning Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Marsha L.

2014-01-01

Distance learning programs in higher education are evolving into the preferred model for how we educate learners in the 21st century. The traditional role of an instructor was focused on creating an effective learning environment based in a physical classroom setting. In this decade, institutions are educating and training online instructors to a…

Collaborative Learning in Online Courses: Exploring Students' Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faja, Silvana

2013-01-01

Virtual collaborative activities have the potential to keep students engaged, create a sense of community in online courses and allow them to experience and practice virtual teamwork skills. This study presents an attempt to explore students' perceptions of online collaborative learning involving both process and product oriented activities. The…

Learning System Design Consideration in Creating an Online Learning Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaffer, Scott

This paper describes the design of a Web-based learning environment for leadership facilitators in a United States military organization. The overall aim of this project was to design a prototype of an online learning environment that supports leadership facilitators' knowledge development in the content area of motivation. The learning…

Online interprofessional health sciences education: From theory to practice.

PubMed

Luke, Robert; Solomon, Patty; Baptiste, Sue; Hall, Pippa; Orchard, Carole; Rukholm, Ellen; Carter, Lorraine

2009-01-01

Online learning (e-learning) has a nascent but established history. Its application to interprofessional education (IPE), however, is relatively new. Over the past 2 decades the Internet has been used increasingly to mediate education. We have come past the point of "should we use the Internet for education" to "how should we use the Internet for education." Research has begun on the optimal development of online learning environments to support IPE. Developing online IPE should follow best practices in e-learning generally, though there are some special considerations for acknowledging the interprofessional context and clinical environments that online IPE is designed to support. The design, development, and deployment of effective online IPE must therefore pay special attention to the particular constraints of the health care worker educational matrix, both pre- and postlicensure. In this article we outline the design of online, interprofessional health sciences education. Our work has involved 4 educational and 4 clinical service institutions. We establish the context in which we situate our development activities that created learning modules designed to support IPE and its transfer into new interprofessional health care practices. We illustrate some best practices for the design of effective online IPE, and show how this design can create effective learning for IPE. Challenges exist regarding the full implementation of interprofessional clinical practice that are beginning to be met by coordinated efforts of multiple health care education silos.

Developing Dialogic Learning Space: The Case of Online Undergraduate Research Journals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walkington, Helen

2012-01-01

This paper explores the learning spaces associated with two geography undergraduate research journals. Wikis provide dedicated spaces for postgraduate reviewers to collaboratively develop constructive feedback to authors creating a supportive online learning environment. In becoming published authors, undergraduates reported that they gained not…

Triangulating Assessment of Online Collaborative Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lock, Jennifer; Johnson, Carol

2015-01-01

Collaboration plays an integral role in the construction of knowledge in online learning environments. A supportive foundation for learning can be created through the intentional design of formative and summative assessments that embrace self-, peer-, and instructor assessment practices. The purpose of this article is to: (1) examine current…

Designing Effective Classroom Assignments: Intellectual Work Worth Sharing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutchings, Pat; Jankowski, Natasha A.; Schultz, Kathryn E.

2016-01-01

The National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment's (NILOA's) online library of faculty-created assignments that both produce and demonstrate learning makes pedagogical work visible and available for colleagues to learn from, build on, and reward. This online library allows faculty to collaborate in sharing, critiquing, and improving…

Designing Multimedia for Meaningful Online Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terry, Krista P.; Doolittle, Peter E.; Scheer, Stephanie B.; McNeill, Andrea

2004-01-01

The development of distance and distributed learning environments on college campuses has created a need to reconsider traditional approaches to teaching and learning by integrating research and theories in human learning, pedagogy, and instructional technology. Creating effective and efficient multimedia for Web-based instruction requires a…

Technology Transience and Learner Data: Shifting Notions of Privacy in Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dennen, Vanessa P.

2015-01-01

The technologies that support online learning are continuously evolving, providing instructors and students with a continuous stream of new tools, features, and functionalities for existing tools. During an online course, instructors and students generate and share a tremendous amount of data using these tools. These data are often created in…

Introducing Online Training in an Early Childhood Professional Development System: Lessons Learned in One State

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone-MacDonald, Angi; Douglass, Anne

2015-01-01

Online educational opportunities provide improved access to high quality professional development for the early education and care workforce. Online and technology mediated learning can create sustainable education and development opportunities for states when face-to-face training is financially prohibitive. This study examined one state's…

From Assumptions to Practice: Creating and Supporting Robust Online Collaborative Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lock, Jennifer; Johnson, Carol

2017-01-01

Collaboration is more than an activity. In the contemporary online learning environment, collaboration needs to be conceived as an overarching way of learning that fosters continued knowledge building. For this to occur, design of a learning task goes beyond students working together. There are integral nuances that give rise to: how the task is…

The value of online learning and MRI: finding a niche for expensive technologies.

PubMed

Cook, David A

2014-11-01

The benefits of online learning come at a price. How can we optimize the overall value? Critically appraise the value of online learning. Narrative review. Several prevalent myths overinflate the value of online learning. These include that online learning is cheap and easy (it is usually more expensive), that it is more efficient (efficiency depends on the instructional design, not the modality), that it will transform education (fundamental learning principles have not changed), and that the Net Generation expects it (there is no evidence of pent-up demand). However, online learning does add real value by enhancing flexibility, control and analytics. Costs may also go down if disruptive innovations (e.g. low-cost, low-tech, but instructionally sound "good enough" online learning) supplant technically superior but more expensive online learning products. Cost-lowering strategies include focusing on core principles of learning rather than technologies, using easy-to-learn authoring tools, repurposing content (organizing and sequencing existing resources rather than creating new content) and using course templates. Online learning represents just one tool in an educator's toolbox, as does the MRI for clinicians. We need to use the right tool(s) for the right learner at the right dose, time and route.

Grappling with Grammar on a Virtual Learning Platform: The Case of First Year French Students at the University of Wollongong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bissoonauth-Bedford, A.; Stace, Ray

2012-01-01

This paper reports on an online discussion forum that was created on the University of Wollongong's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to aid and support the learning of French grammar at beginner/false beginner level. The aim was to provide a blended learning situation which combines face to face teaching with online learning using multimedia…

Mind the Gap: Enabling Online Faculty and Instructional Designers in Mapping New Models for Quality Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scoppio, Grazia; Luyt, Ilka

2017-01-01

Distance education has provided the foundation for new generations of learning, including courses delivered through various web-based educational technologies, also referred to as online learning. Many post-secondary institutions face the challenge of creating processes and systems to support instructors who are required to design, deliver, and…

Leveraging CRT Awareness in Creating Web-Based Projects through Use of Online Collaborative Learning for Pre-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chuang, Hsueh-Hua

2016-01-01

This paper explores the roles played by cloud computing technologies and social media in facilitating a learning community for online group collaborative learning, and particularly explores opportunities and challenges in leveraging culturally responsive teaching (CRT) awareness in educational technology. It describes implementation of a…

Utilizing Online Learning Communities in Student Affairs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calhoun, Daniel W.; Green, Lucy Santos

2015-01-01

In this chapter, the authors will expand upon the definition of learning communities, discussing the ways in which this concept has changed and adapted through the incorporation/infusion of web-based technologies. In addition, strategies on how to create and use online learning communities both with students and for professional practice will be…

A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study of Graduate Students' Perceptions of Learning Effectiveness in Face-to-Face and Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Nicole Stayton

2013-01-01

The measurement of student perceptions of learning effectiveness is often used as a tool at universities to enhance the quality of course offerings. The recent growth in online course offerings creates new challenges in evaluating learning effectiveness. This study used three principles of adult learning theory, foundation, self-concept, and…

Building Reflection with Word Clouds for Online RN to BSN Students.

PubMed

Volkert, Delene R

Reflection allows students to integrate learning with their personal context, developing deeper knowledge and promoting critical thinking. Word clouds help students develop themes/concepts beyond traditional methods, introducing visual aspects to an online learning environment. Students created word clouds and captions, then responded to those created by peers for a weekly discussion assignment. Students indicated overwhelming support for the use of word clouds to develop deeper understanding of the subject matter. This reflection assignment could be utilized in asynchronous, online undergraduate nursing courses for creative methods of building reflection and developing knowledge for the undergraduate RN to BSN student.

Student experiences of creating and sharing material in online learning.

PubMed

Potts, Henry W W

2011-01-01

User-generated content in an online environment has significant implications in both education and health. Instead of a model of knowledge being something transferred from the expert to the student or to the patient, Web 2.0 technologies offer the hope of making learning, and healthcare delivery, a more collaborative and participative process. However, some evidence suggests that this supposed democratisation of production is not entirely democratic and, in an educational context, many students are uncomfortable about sharing material they create with their peers. To understand students' affective and other experiences of generating content to be shared online with peers (e.g. in online discussions). Online interviews, face-to-face focus groups and further methods with two student groups in medical education, one undergraduate and one postgraduate. Students were broadly positive about creating and sharing material online, but were also quite anxious about doing so. Many practical issues, including around course design, student workload and assessment pressures, were barriers to students creating and sharing material. Group size is also important, with self-sustaining activity less likely in small groups. Successfully introducing user-generated content into medical education requires attention to practical details and an awareness of the student anxiety that can arise.

An Online Education Sourcebook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, Victor; Locatis, Craig; Reid, John C.; Ullmer, Eldon; Weisberg, Michael

This resource provides basic information on five selected topics related to creating and implementing online educational programs. "Adult Learning" (John C. Reid) provides an overview of general learning theories and discusses the characteristics of adult learners, strategies for taking advantage of adults' traits and motivations in…

Designing Web 2.0 Based Constructivist-Oriented E-Learning Units

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chai, Ching Sing; Woo, Huay Lit; Wang, Qiyun

2010-01-01

Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to present how meaningful e-learning units can be created by using an online tool called Meaningful E-learning Units (MeLU). The paper also aims to describe how created e-learning units can be shared by teachers and students. Design/methodology/approach: This tool can help to produce e-learning units that…

Application of Instructional Design Principles in Developing an Online Information Literacy Curriculum.

PubMed

Mi, Misa

2016-01-01

An online information literacy curriculum was developed as an intervention to engage students in independent study and self-assessment of their learning needs and learning outcomes, develop proficiency in information skills, and foster lifelong learning. This column demonstrates how instructional design principles were applied to create the learning experiences integrated into various courses of the medical curriculum to promote active learning of information skills and maximize self-directed learning outcomes for lifelong learning.

Using Collaborative Filtering to Support College Students' Use of Online Forum for English Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Pei-Yu; Yang, Hui-Chun

2012-01-01

This study examined the impact of collaborative filtering (the so-called recommender) on college students' use of an online forum for English learning. The forum was created with an open-source software, Drupal, and its extended recommender module. This study was guided by three main questions: 1) Is there any difference in online behaviors…

The Robust Learning Model (RLM): A Comprehensive Approach to a New Online University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neumann, Yoram; Neumann, Edith F.

2010-01-01

This paper outlines the components of the Robust Learning Model (RLM) as a conceptual framework for creating a new online university offering numerous degree programs at all degree levels. The RLM is a multi-factorial model based on the basic belief that successful learning outcomes depend on multiple factors employed together in a holistic…

Creating and Sustaining Online Professional Learning Communities. Technology, Education--Connections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falk, Joni K., Ed.; Drayton, Brian, Ed.

2009-01-01

This volume presents the work of trailblazing researchers and developers of electronic communities for professional learning. It illuminates the essential work behind the scenes in building successful online communities and scaffolding site interactions, including content selection, creation and management, administrative structures, tools and…

Credit Recovery Hits the Mainstream

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, Sarah

2014-01-01

In communities including New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Chicago, educators are creating alternative schools for struggling students that employ online credit-recovery programs as a core portion, or all, of their curriculum. The growth in online learning generally, including blended learning, has fueled the proliferation of computer-based credit…

Creating Asynchronous Online Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerr, Crystal

2009-01-01

This research project examined how to develop and sustain online, asynchronous learning communities in continuous intake, distance education environments for learners in grades 7 through 10. The study is an action research project that is based upon in-depth, qualitative data. Interviews were conducted with distance education teachers,…

An Online Authoring Tool for Creating Activity-Based Learning Objects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahn, Jeong Yong; Mun, Gil Seong; Han, Kyung Soo; Choi, Sook Hee

2017-01-01

As higher education increasingly relies on e-learning, the need for tools that will allow teachers themselves to develop effective e-learning objects as simply and quickly as possible has also been increasingly recognized. This article discusses the design and development of a novel tool, Enook (Evolutionary note book), for creating activity-based…

Knowledge Contribution in a Non-Formal Virtual Setting through a Social Constructionist Approach: A Case Study of an Online Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moses, Myra Gail

2012-01-01

This study explored an online learning community in a non-formal educational setting and the process participants used in order to share, create, and construct knowledge through their interactions in the online community. Participants in the study were college interns who were part of a grant that focused on providing professional development for…

Creating Online Content with Real World Application by Designing and Implementing Online Practicums for Virtual and Physical Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrett, Bob

2012-01-01

Universities need to assess student learning in order to determine if they are reaching the needs of the students, linking learning to course objectives, and determining if their courses have academic rigor. While many courses focus on the immediate course learning objectives, the use of final program projects and program assessments are becoming…

Nursing Librarians Cultivating Evidence-Based Practice Through an Asynchronous Online Course.

PubMed

Mears, Kim; Blake, Lindsay

2017-09-01

In response to a request from the Nursing Shared Governance Evidence-Based Practice Council, librarians created an online evidence-based practice (EBP) continuing education course for clinical nurses. The curriculum was adapted from a previously created face-to-face course and was offered online through a learning management system. Although many nurses registered for the course, only a small sample was able to complete all modules. Feedback revealed that nurses appreciated the ease of online use, but they experienced technical barriers. Overall, nurses completing the course agreed that all learning objectives were met. An online asynchronous course for nurses is a viable option for teaching EBP, but hospital computer limitations must be taken into account to allow for participants' full immersion into the material. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2017;48(9):420-424. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

A Model for Social Presence in Online Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Chun-Wang; Chen, Nian-Shing; Kinshuk,

2012-01-01

It is now possible to create flexible learning environments without time and distance barriers on the internet. However, research has shown that learners typically experience isolation and alienation in online learning environments. These negative experiences can be reduced by enhancing social presence. In order to better facilitate the perceived…

Creating an Online Learning Community: Is It Possible?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murdock, Jennifer L.; Williams, Amy M.

2011-01-01

As institutions are moving towards offering more online and distance education courses, scholars have reported that instructors may have difficulty developing learning communities among students enrolled in these courses (DiRamio and Wolverton 2006). The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in students' perceptions of a learning…

Cloning, Creating, or Merely Mutating? Translating Traditional Instructional Materials for Use in Electronic Learning Spaces.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fulkerth, Robert

This paper discusses the processes and outcomes of translating a traditionally-taught business writing course into the online format, using bulletin board software. The paper covers creating, teaching, and managing the online business writing course at Golden Gate University (San Francisco, California). Pedagogical objectives are to emulate group…

A pilot study of RN-BSN completion students' preferred instructor online classroom caring behaviors.

PubMed

Mann, Judith C

2014-01-01

Definitions of caring include the global concept of showing concern and empathy of others. This may be especially true in the online classroom in the absence of face to face interactions. This quantitative study focused on RN-BSN completion students' preferred online instructor caring behaviors. Online RN-BSN students (N = 100) were invited to participate in the study. The research question was: What are historically black colleges universities nursing students' preferred instructor caring behaviors in the online classroom? All of the respondents (N = 48) agreed that an instructor can create a caring online learning environment, while the vast majority agreed that the presence of a caring environment influenced their success in the course. As ranked by the respondents the three most important items in creating a caring online learning environment were instructors': 1) attention to detail in organization and clarity, 2) prompt and detailed feedback to assignments, and 3) prompt response to students' questions.

Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villar, Luis M.; Alegre, Olga M.

2006-01-01

The rapid growth of online learning has led to the development of faculty inservice evaluation models focused on quality improvement of degree programs. Based on current "best practices" of student online assessment, the Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS), created at the Canary Islands, was designed to serve the…

Emotion Management in Online Groupwork Reported by Chinese Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Jianzhong; Du, Jianxia; Fan, Xitao

2014-01-01

Emotion and emotion regulation are increasingly viewed as critical issues in online learning environments. Online collaborative environments in particular create novel challenges for emotion regulation. Few studies, however, have focused on a range of factors that may influence students' efforts to manage their emotion in online collaborative…

The Interplay between Attention, Experience and Skills in Online Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shi, Lijing; Stickler, Ursula; Lloyd, Mair E.

2017-01-01

The demand for online teaching is growing as is the recognition that online teachers require highly sophisticated skills to manage classrooms and create an environment conducive to learning. However, there is little rigorous empirical research investigating teachers' thoughts and actions during online tutorials. Taking a sociocultural perspective,…

Creating Dynamic Learning Communities in Synchronous Online Courses: One Approach from the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDaniels, Melissa; Pfund, Christine; Barnicle, Katherine

2016-01-01

The ability to convert face-to-face curricula into rigorous and equally rich online experiences is a topic of much investigation. In this paper, we report on the conversion of a face-to-face research mentor training curriculum into a synchronous, online course. Graduate students and postdoc participants from the Center for the Integration of…

Study of the Index System for Assessing Learner-Centered Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Mei

2015-01-01

With the development of e-learning, the quality of web-based courses attracts extensive interest. This paper draws upon the results conducted amongst students enrolled in an online language course at a northern Chinese university. The design of the course aims to create the learner-centered environment: personalized learning environment,…

Investigating Factors Affecting Group Processes in Virtual Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazari, Sunil; Thompson, Sandra

2015-01-01

With the widespread popularity of distance learning, there is a need to investigate elements of online courses that continue to pose significant challenges for educators. One of the challenges relates to creating and managing group projects. This study investigated business students' perceptions of group work in online classes. The constructs of…

Students' Reaction to WebCT: Implications for Designing On-Line Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osman, Mohamed Eltahir

2005-01-01

There is a growing number of web-based and web-assisted course development tools and products that can be used to create on-line learning environment. The utility of these products, however, varies greatly depending on their feasibility, prerequisite infrastructure, technical features, interface, and course development and management tools. WebCT…

Assessment Approaches in Massive Open Online Courses: Possibilities, Challenges and Future Directions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xiong, Yao; Suen, Hoi K.

2018-01-01

The development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has launched an era of large-scale interactive participation in education. While massive open enrolment and the advances of learning technology are creating exciting potentials for lifelong learning in formal and informal ways, the implementation of efficient and effective assessment is still…

Enhancing Learning through an Online Secondary School Educational Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaufman, David; Sauve, Louise; Renaud, Lise

2011-01-01

This article consists of four sections: (1) the problems associated with asthma in the province of Quebec and across Canada; (2) the theoretical framework for the learning enhanced by our online educational game entitled "Asthme: 1,2,3 ... Respirez! (Asthma: 1,2,3 ... Breath!)", created by adapting the popular board game…

Creating Meaning through Multimodality: Multiliteracies Assessment and Photo Projects for Online Portfolios

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmerbeck, Nicola; Lucht, Felecia

2017-01-01

Actively engaged in online media, learners today are surrounded by texts overtly and covertly transmitted by visual images, sound effects, and voices as well as the written word. Language learning portfolios can engage students in the literacy-oriented learning processes of interpretation, collaboration, and problem solving as outlined by Kern…

Using a Synchronous Online Learning Environment to Promote and Enhance Transactional Engagement beyond the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wdowik, Steven

2014-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to create a synchronous online learning community through the use of "Blackboard Collaborate!" to promote and enhance transactional engagement outside the classroom. Design/methodology/approach: This paper employs a quantitative and qualitative approach where data were sourced from a third year…

Creating an Online Library To Support a Virtual Learning Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandelands, Eric

1998-01-01

International Management Centres (IMC), an independent business school, and Anbar Electronic Intelligence (AEI), a database publisher, have created a virtual library for IMC's virtual business school. Topics discussed include action learning; IMC's partnership with AEI; the virtual university model; designing virtual library resources; and…

A grounded theory of faculty's use of humanization to create online course climate.

PubMed

Cox-Davenport, Rebecca A

2014-03-01

The purpose of this research was to study the way faculty establish course social presence in an online course. The community of inquiry model by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer distinguished the area of social presence as an important component of online learning, and this study sought to understand how faculty perceive and create social presence in their online classroom. By employing a grounded theory approach, a substantive theory was developed to explain the way in which faculty create and maintain an online course climate. The sample consisted of 10 nursing faculty teaching various master's in nursing courses. Through a rigorous qualitative process using nursing faculty interviews and online course analysis, humanization was found to be the core category in setting online course climate. Faculty's efforts to humanize the climate lead each member of the community to view the other members as real, thereby enabling the establishment of online social presence.

Animal Agriculture in a Changing Climate Online Course: An Effective Tool for Creating Extension Competency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitefield, Elizabeth; Schmidt, David; Witt-Swanson, Lindsay; Smith, David; Pronto, Jennifer; Knox, Pam; Powers, Crystal

2016-01-01

There is a need to create competency among Extension professionals on the topic of climate change adaptation and mitigation in animal agriculture. The Animal Agriculture in a Changing Climate online course provides an easily accessible, user-friendly, free, and interactive experience for learning science-based information on a national and…

Building Community in Online Doctoral Classrooms: Instructor Practices That Support Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berry, Sharla

2017-01-01

Instructors play a role in helping online students develop a sense of community in virtual classrooms, but little is known about instructors' roles in online graduate programs. To explore the ways in which online instructors helped students create a learning community, defined as a space of connection, closeness and interactivity, the researcher…

College Online Developmental Reading Instruction: Creating a Path to Independent and Active Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, E. Janet

2010-01-01

Online courses require students to be independent readers and efficient learners. College students who need developmental reading lack these qualities; consequently, faculty do not generally view developmental reading courses as appropriate for an online format. However, an effectively designed online course based on best practices can engage less…

Creating Effective Web-Based Learning Environments: Relevant Research and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wijekumar, Kay

2005-01-01

Web-based learning environments are a great asset only if they are designed well and used as intended. The urgency to create courses in response to the growing demand for online learning has resulted in a hurried push to drop PowerPoint notes into Web-based course management systems (WBCMSs), devise an electronic quiz, put together a few…

Learning from Student Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pruitt, Kobie

2016-01-01

Just as adults' personal lives and data are increasingly inhabiting online spaces, so are students. While this shift brings many benefits and the possibility of learning tailored to individual students' needs, it is also brings new challenges. Students create an electronic trail of information that creates an obvious concern: How can they enjoy…

Learning Reading Strategies with Online Discussion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, I-Fang; Ko, Hwa-Wei; Wu, Sheng-Yi

2014-01-01

Teachers experience difficulty demonstrating prediction strategies and leading discussions in traditional classrooms. It is also unclear whether online discussion can contribute to reading comprehension. The purpose of this study is to create an online reading system to investigate whether learners can acquire reading strategies and enhance their…

Creating a Community of Inquiry in Online Library Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rapchak, Marcia E.

2017-01-01

According to the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000), an enriching educational experience online in a collaborative learning environment requires three interdependent elements: social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence. Social presence provides interaction in the online environment that allows…

The DiaCog: A Prototype Tool for Visualizing Online Dialog Games' Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yengin, Ilker; Lazarevic, Bojan

2014-01-01

This paper proposes and explains the design of a prototype learning tool named the DiaCog. The DiaCog visualizes dialog interactions within an online dialog game by using dynamically created cognitive maps. As a purposefully designed tool for enhancing learning effectiveness the DiaCog might be applicable to dialogs at discussion boards within a…

Disrupting the Discussion: The Story of Disruptive Students in the Online Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowden, Belle Doyle

2011-01-01

Many online classrooms today are designed based on learner-centered principles. Implicit with this design perspective is the goal to create and facilitate a virtual learning community in which students learn from and share with each other through discussion-based computer conferencing. In the current literature, little has been shared on what…

Pilot Study on the Feasibility and Indicator Effects of Collaborative Online Projects on Science Learning for English Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terrazas-Arellanes, Fatima E.; Knox, Carolyn; Walden, Emily

2015-01-01

The 2006 National Science Board called for new strategies and instructional materials for teachers to better serve English Learners' (EL) needs. Bilingual Collaborative Online Projects in science were created to assist ELs' construction of science knowledge, facilitate academic English acquisition, and improve science learning. Two bilingual…

Assessing Faculty Experiences with and Perceptions of an Internal Quality Assurance Process for Undergraduate Distributed Learning Courses: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rucker, Ryan; Edwards, Karen; Frass, Lydia R.

2015-01-01

To ensure that online courses match traditional classes' quality, some institutions are implementing internal standards for online course design and quality review. The University of South Carolina created the Distributed Learning Quality Review program, based on "Quality Matters'" standards. It was designed to be faculty-guided, as…

Using Voicethread to Create Community in Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delmas, Peggy M.

2017-01-01

A sense of belonging to a learning community has been identified as one of the factors contributing to greater student satisfaction and persistence in online education programs. Using the community of inquiry framework as a theoretical guide, the purpose of this study was to explore the role of VoiceThread, a web-based platform that facilitates…

Impact of Interactive Video Communication Versus Text-Based Feedback on Teaching, Social, and Cognitive Presence in Online Learning Communities.

PubMed

Seckman, Charlotte

A key element to online learning is the ability to create a sense of presence to improve learning outcomes. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the impact of interactive video communication versus text-based feedback and found a significant difference between the 2 groups related to teaching, social, and cognitive presence. Recommendations to enhance presence should focus on providing timely feedback, interactive learning experiences, and opportunities for students to establish relationships with peers and faculty.

Feedback control by online learning an inverse model.

PubMed

Waegeman, Tim; Wyffels, Francis; Schrauwen, Francis

2012-10-01

A model, predictor, or error estimator is often used by a feedback controller to control a plant. Creating such a model is difficult when the plant exhibits nonlinear behavior. In this paper, a novel online learning control framework is proposed that does not require explicit knowledge about the plant. This framework uses two learning modules, one for creating an inverse model, and the other for actually controlling the plant. Except for their inputs, they are identical. The inverse model learns by the exploration performed by the not yet fully trained controller, while the actual controller is based on the currently learned model. The proposed framework allows fast online learning of an accurate controller. The controller can be applied on a broad range of tasks with different dynamic characteristics. We validate this claim by applying our control framework on several control tasks: 1) the heating tank problem (slow nonlinear dynamics); 2) flight pitch control (slow linear dynamics); and 3) the balancing problem of a double inverted pendulum (fast linear and nonlinear dynamics). The results of these experiments show that fast learning and accurate control can be achieved. Furthermore, a comparison is made with some classical control approaches, and observations concerning convergence and stability are made.

Is Your Tutorial Pretty or Pretty Useless? Creating Effective Tutorials with the Principles of Multimedia Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rapchak, Marcia E.

2017-01-01

With the proliferation of free and easy-to-use tools to make online tutorials, many libraries have been creating online tutorials for their users. These cover everything from showing users how to navigate the databases to covering issues like copyright and evaluation. While the tutorials range from entertaining to rather dry, many of them,…

Leveraging Technology to Create a Student-Focused Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thor, Linda M.; Moreau, Joseph

2016-01-01

This chapter uses Rio Salado College and the Online Education Initiative in the California Community Colleges to illustrate how community colleges can enhance system efficiency and student success in online learning and program completion.

Information Literacy: An Online Course for Student Library Assistants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lincoln, Margaret

2009-01-01

As technology advances continue to impact K-12 schools, online education options offer alternative choices for both teaching and learning. Library media specialists, long committed to providing physical and intellectual access to instructional materials, have responded to changing needs in this online world. They had previously created a virtual…

An Online Image Analysis Tool for Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raeside, L.; Busschots, B.; Waddington, S.; Keating, J. G.

2008-01-01

This paper describes an online image analysis tool developed as part of an iterative, user-centered development of an online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called the Education through Virtual Experience (EVE) Portal. The VLE provides a Web portal through which schoolchildren and their teachers create scientific proposals, retrieve images and…

Assessing Online Readiness of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doe, Raymond; Castillo, Matthew S.; Musyoka, Millicent M.

2017-01-01

The rise of distance education has created a need to understand students' readiness for online learning and to predict their success. Several survey instruments have been developed to assess this construct of online readiness. However, a review of the extant literature shows that these instruments have varying limitations in capturing all of the…

Improving the K-12 Online Course Design Review Process: Experts Weigh in on iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adelstein, David; Barbour, Michael K.

2017-01-01

Within the K-12 online learning environment there are a variety of standards that designers can utilize when creating online courses. To date, the only research-based standards available are proprietary in manner. As such, many jurisdictions have begun adopting online course design standards from the leading advocacy organization, which that have…

Course Management Systems and Blended Learning: An Innovative Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chou, Amy Y.; Chou, David C.

2011-01-01

This article utilizes Rogers' innovation-decision process model (2003) and Beckman and Berry's innovation process model (2007) to create an innovative learning map that illustrates three learning methods (i.e., face-to-face learning, online learning, and blended learning) in two types of innovation (i.e., incremental innovation and radical…

Designing LibGuides as Instructional Tools for Critical Thinking and Effective Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Ruth L.

2014-01-01

Did you ever wish for an easy-to-maintain tool to create course-level or assignment-level instruction for online or distance students? LibGuides can provide the solution! LibGuides provide a versatile and easy-to-maintain platform for delivering step-by-step, scaffolded tutorials that enhance learning outcomes through chunking, reduced strain on…

Creating Thoughtful Salespeople: Experiential Learning to Improve Critical Thinking Skills in Traditional and Online Sales Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alvarez, Cecilia M. O.; Taylor, Kimberly A.; Rauseo, Nancy A.

2015-01-01

Most undergraduate marketing majors will spend at least some time in a sales role, and employers are requiring greater professionalism and more varied skill sets from their sales hires. In addition, there is an increasing demand for online and higher order learning in sales education. In response, this article proposes that sales courses using…

The Effect of Device When Using Smartphones and Computers to Answer Multiple-Choice and Open-Response Questions in Distance Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Thomas Royce

2017-01-01

Traditionally in higher education, online courses have been designed for computer users. However, the advent of mobile learning (m-learning) and the proliferation of smartphones have created two challenges for online students and instructional designers. First, instruction designed for a larger computer screen often loses its effectiveness when…

Book Study Blogs: Creating Self-Sustaining Online Learning Communities for Graduate Students of Educational Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stonehouse, Pauline P.; Splichal, Susan

2015-01-01

Collaborative online learning has been adopted at all levels of education, in PK-12 public schools and universities, yet studies find student responses to the experience somewhat unpredictable. In this study, the authors draw on the practice of incorporating book study blogs at the University of North Dakota to engage doctoral students in a…

Facilitating interpersonal interaction and learning online: linking theory and practice.

PubMed

Sargeant, Joan; Curran, Vernon; Allen, Michael; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra; Ho, Kendall

2006-01-01

An earlier study of physicians' perceptions of interactive online learning showed that these were shaped both by program design and quality and the quality and quantity of interpersonal interaction. We explore instructor roles in enhancing online learning through interpersonal interaction and the learning theories that inform these. This was a qualitative study using focus groups and interviews. Using purposive sampling, 50 physicians were recruited based on their experience with interactive online CME and face-to-face CME. Qualitative thematic and interpretive analysis was used. Two facilitation roles appeared key: creating a comfortable learning environment and enhancing the educational value of electronic discussions. Comfort developed gradually, and specific interventions like facilitating introductions and sharing experiences in a friendly, informative manner were helpful. As in facilitating effective small-group learning, instructors' thoughtful use of techniques that facilitated constructive interaction based on learner's needs and practice demands contributed to the educational value of interpersonal interactions. Facilitators require enhanced skills to engage learners in meaningful interaction and to overcome the transactional distance of online learning. The use of learning theories, including behavioral, cognitive, social, humanistic, and constructivist, can strengthen the educational design and facilitation of online programs. Preparation for online facilitation should include instruction in the roles and techniques required and the theories that inform them.

The Integration of Personal Learning Environments & Open Network Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tu, Chih-Hsiung; Sujo-Montes, Laura; Yen, Cherng-Jyh; Chan, Junn-Yih; Blocher, Michael

2012-01-01

Learning management systems traditionally provide structures to guide online learners to achieve their learning goals. Web 2.0 technology empowers learners to create, share, and organize their personal learning environments in open network environments; and allows learners to engage in social networking and collaborating activities. Advanced…

Developing Interactive E-Learning Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watkins, Ryan

2005-01-01

Although e-learning can offer interactive and engaging learning experiences, the creative ideas that are necessary to create such environments are not always easy to come up with when designing, developing, or teaching e-learning courses. E-learning activities use online technologies such as chat rooms, discussion boards, or email to facilitate…

Learning, Teaching and Ambiguity in Virtual Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carr, Diane; Oliver, Martin; Burn, Andrew

What might online communities and informal learning practices teach us about virtual world pedagogy? In this chapter we describe a research project in which learning practices in online worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second LifeTM (SL) were investigated. Working within an action research framework, we employed a range of methods to investigate how members of online communities define the worlds they encounter, negotiate the terms of participation, and manage the incremental complexity of game worlds. The implications of such practices for online pedagogy were then explored through teaching in SL. SL eludes simple definitions. Users, or "residents", of SL partake of a range of pleasures and activities - socialising, building, creating and exhibiting art, playing games, exploring, shopping, or running a business, for instance. We argue that the variable nature of SL gives rise to degrees of ambiguity. This ambiguity impacts on inworld social practices, and has significant implications for online teaching and learning.

An online app platform enhances collaborative medical student group learning and classroom management.

PubMed

Peacock, Justin G; Grande, Joseph P

2016-01-01

The authors presented their results in effectively using a free and widely-accessible online app platform to manage and teach a first-year pathology course at Mayo Medical School. The authors utilized the Google "Blogger", "Forms", "Flubaroo", "Sheets", "Docs", and "Slides" apps to effectively build a collaborative classroom teaching and management system. Students were surveyed on the use of the app platform in the classroom, and 44 (94%) students responded. Thirty-two (73%) of the students reported that "Blogger" was an effective place for online discussion of pathology topics and questions. 43 (98%) of the students reported that the "Forms/Flubaroo" grade-reporting system was helpful. 40 (91%) of the students used the remote, collaborative features of "Slides" to create team-based learning presentations, and 39 (89%) of the students found those collaborative features helpful. "Docs" helped teaching assistants to collaboratively create study guides or grading rubrics. Overall, 41 (93%) of the students found that the app platform was helpful in establishing a collaborative, online classroom environment. The online app platform allowed faculty to build an efficient and effective classroom teaching and management system. The ease of accessibility and opportunity for collaboration allowed for collaborative learning, grading, and teaching.

Using Online Lectures to Make Time for Active Learning

PubMed Central

Prunuske, Amy J.; Batzli, Janet; Howell, Evelyn; Miller, Sarah

2012-01-01

To make time in class for group activities devoted to critical thinking, we integrated a series of short online lectures into the homework assignments of a large, introductory biology course at a research university. The majority of students viewed the online lectures before coming to class and reported that the online lectures helped them to complete the in-class activity and did not increase the amount of time they devoted to the course. In addition, students who viewed the online lecture performed better on clicker questions designed to test lower-order cognitive skills. The in-class activities then gave the students practice analyzing the information in groups and provided the instructor with feedback about the students’ understanding of the material. On the basis of the results of this study, we support creating hybrid course models that allow students to learn the fundamental information outside of class time, thereby creating time during the class period to be dedicated toward the conceptual understanding of the material. PMID:22714412

Human Machine Learning Symbiosis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walsh, Kenneth R.; Hoque, Md Tamjidul; Williams, Kim H.

2017-01-01

Human Machine Learning Symbiosis is a cooperative system where both the human learner and the machine learner learn from each other to create an effective and efficient learning environment adapted to the needs of the human learner. Such a system can be used in online learning modules so that the modules adapt to each learner's learning state both…

Building Better Courses: Examining the Content Validity of the iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adelstein, David; Barbour, Michael

2016-01-01

In 2011, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning released the second iteration of the "National Standards for Quality Online Courses." These standards have been used by numerous institutions and states around the country to help design and create K-12 online courses. However, there has been no reported research on the…

Creating a Community of Inquiry in Large-Enrollment Online Courses: An Exploratory Study on the Effect of Protocols within Online Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Baiyun; deNoyelles, Aimee; Patton, Kerry; Zydney, Janet

2017-01-01

It can be difficult to foster focused and effective communication in online discussions within large classes. Implementing protocols is a strategy that may help students communicate more effectively, facilitate their learning process, and improve the quality of their work within online discussions. In this exploratory research study, a protocol…

The use of online word of mouth opinion in online learning: a questionnaire survey.

PubMed

Sandars, John; Walsh, Kieran

2009-04-01

There is increasing use of online word of mouth opinion (user feedback) systems for general services but its use in online learning has not been previously investigated. To understand why users of BMJ Learning provide and read word of mouth feedback, and whether this feedback influences uptake of modules by prospective users. Online questionnaire of users of BMJ Learning who had completed online user feedback. 109 questionnaires were completed (response rate 25%). The main motivation to contribute was to influence the authors of the module (66%), and 43% stated that they wanted to help other users to make an informed choice. 16% stated that they wanted to develop an online community of learners. The main motivation to read the user feedback was to see if they agreed with the comments (56%). Online word of mouth opinion (user feedback) appears to be useful for online learners. There are also system design considerations since the attempt to create an online community of learners that is desired by some users will not be appreciated by others. Further research with a larger number of users is recommended to confirm the findings.

Time Spent, Workload, and Student and Faculty Perceptions in a Blended Learning Environment

PubMed Central

Schumacher, Christie; Arif, Sally

2016-01-01

Objective. To evaluate student perception and time spent on asynchronous online lectures in a blended learning environment (BLE) and to assess faculty workload and perception. Methods. Students (n=427) time spent viewing online lectures was measured in three courses. Students and faculty members completed a survey to assess perceptions of a BLE. Faculty members recorded time spent creating BLEs. Results. Total time spent in the BLE was less than the allocated time for two of the three courses by 3-15%. Students preferred online lectures for their flexibility, students’ ability to apply information learned, and congruence with their learning styles. Faculty members reported the BLE facilitated higher levels of learning during class sessions but noted an increase in workload. Conclusion. A BLE increased faculty workload but was well received by students. Time spent viewing online lectures was less than what was allocated in two of the three courses. PMID:27667839

Applying Theories of Adult Learning in Developing Online Programs in Gerontology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Christy S.; Solberg, Lauren B.; Solberg, Laurence M.

2017-01-01

The Department of Aging and Geriatric Research at the University of Florida College of Medicine has established online education programs to provide healthcare professionals with advanced training in the field of gerontology to establish proficiency in providing quality care to older individuals. A major barrier to creating our online education…

Interactive Maps for Community in Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavanaugh, Terence W.; Cavanaugh, Cathy

2008-01-01

The online courses studied here used the visual medium of the interactive geographic map as a form of dialogue to reduce students' sense of transactional distance during the course, build their skills with Web 2.0 media, and increase their motivation. Using the dynamic map and the related online spreadsheet, the course participants created digital…

On-Line Course Development: Engaging and Retaining Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruster, Benita G.

2015-01-01

As the number of on-line classes and the demand for on-line education continues to sky-rocket, it is critical that course developers and university faculty have the skills to effectively design curricula, to develop engaging learning opportunities, and to create responsive courses that meet individual student needs. This paper details three…

Moving Online Physical Education from Oxymoron to Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kooiman, Brian J.; Sheehan, Dwayne P.; Wesolek, Michael; Retegui, Eliseo

2017-01-01

The use of the Internet within education has created an urgent need for research into online learning models, delivery methods and curriculum content modifications especially in online physical education (OLPE). Most secondary OLPE courses focus on the cognitive pieces of the curriculum, and to a lesser degree, fitness for life due to a lack of…

On Social e-Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Won; Jeong, Ok-Ran

Social Web sites include social networking sites and social media sites. They make it possible for people to share user-created contents online and to interact and stay connected with their online people networks. The social features of social Web sites, appropriately adapted, can help turn e-learning into social e-learning and make e-learning significantly more effective. In this paper, we develop requirements for social e-learning systems. They include incorporating the many of the social features of social Web sites, accounting for all key stakeholders and learning subjects, and curbing various types of misuses by people. We also examine the capabilities of representative social e-learning Web sites that are available today.

Developing a blended course on dying, loss, and grief.

PubMed

Kavanaugh, Karen; Andreoni, V Ann; Wilkie, Diana J; Burgener, Sandra; Buschmann, Mary Beth Tank; Henderson, Gloria; Hsiung, Yi-Fang Yvonne; Zhao, Zhongsheng

2009-01-01

An important component of end-of-life education is to provide health professionals with content related to dying, loss, and grief. The authors describe the strategies used to develop and offer a blended course (integration of classroom face-to-face learning with online learning) that addressed the sensitive and often emotional content associated with grieving and bereavement. Using Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory, a set of 4 online learning modules, with engaging, interactive elements, was created. Course evaluations demonstrated the success of the blended course in comparison to the traditional, exclusive face-to-face approach.

A Pedagogy of Abundance or a Pedagogy to Support Human Beings? Participant Support on Massive Open Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kop, Rita; Fournier, Helene; Mak, John Sui Fai

2011-01-01

This paper examines how emergent technologies could influence the design of learning environments. It will pay particular attention to the roles of educators and learners in creating networked learning experiences on massive open online courses (MOOCs). The research shows that it is possible to move from a pedagogy of abundance to a pedagogy that…

Creating a Virtual Community with PT3: College of Education Students' Beliefs, Expectations and Attitudes toward Online Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kurubacak, Gulsun; Baptiste, H. Prentice

Through the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) project, online distance courses in College of Education at New Mexico State University (NMSU) have become an essential component of the Teacher Education Program. Pre-service teachers have been engaged in the process of learning with and about technology. The main purpose of this…

Building a Student-Centred Learning Framework Using Social Software in the Middle Years Classroom: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casey, Gail

2013-01-01

This article discusses the development of the online spaces that were used to create a learning framework: a student-centred framework that combined face-to-face teaching with online social and participatory media. The author, as part of her Doctoral research study, used action research as a mechanism for continual improvement as she redesigned…

Virtual Doors to Brick and Mortar Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, M. S.; Gay, P. L.; Meyer, D. T.; Zamfirescu, J. D.; Smith, J. E.; MIT Educational Studies Program Team

2005-12-01

The MIT Educational Studies Program (ESP) has spent the past year developing an online gateway for outreach programs. The website has a five-fold purpose: to introduce the organization to potential students, teachers, volunteers and collaborators; to allow teachers to create, design and interact with classes and to allow students to register for and dialogue with these classes; to provide an online forum for continuing dialogue; and to provide organizers a wiki for documenting program administration. What makes our site unique is the free and flexible nature of our easily edited and expanded code. In its standard installation, teachers setup classes, and administrators can approve/edit classes and make classes visible in an online catalogues. Student registration is completely customizable - students can register for self-selected classes, or they can register for a program and later get placed into teacher-selected classes. Free wiki software allows users to interactively create and edit documentation and knowledgebases. This allows administrators to track online what has been done while at the same time creating instant documentation for future programs. The online forum is a place where students can go after our programs end to learn more, interact with their classmates, and continue dialogues started in our classrooms. We also use the forum to get feedback on past and future programs. The ease with which the software handles program creation, registration, communications and more allows programs for roughly 3000 students per year to be handled by about 20 volunteering undergraduates. By combining all these elements - promotion, class creation, program registration, an organizational wiki, and student forums - we create a one-stop virtual entryway into face-to-face learning that allows students to continue their experience after they leave the classroom. The code for this site is available for free upon request to other organizations.

Introducing students to patient safety through an online interprofessional course.

PubMed

Blue, Amy V; Charles, Laurine; Howell, David; Koutalos, Yiannis; Mitcham, Maralynne; Nappi, Jean; Zoller, James

2010-01-01

Interprofessional education (IPE) is increasingly called upon to improve health care systems and patient safety. Our institution is engaged in a campus-wide IPE initiative. As a component of this initiative, a required online interprofessional patient-safety-focused course for a large group (300) of first-year medical, dental, and nursing students was developed and implemented. We describe our efforts with developing the course, including the use of constructivist and adult learning theories and IPE competencies to structure students' learning in a meaningful fashion. The course was conducted online to address obstacles of academic calendars and provide flexibility for faculty participation. Students worked in small groups online with a faculty facilitator. Thematic modules were created with associated objectives, online learning materials, and assignments. Students posted completed assignments online and responded to group members' assignments for purposes of group discussion. Students worked in interprofessional groups on a project requiring them to complete a root cause analysis and develop recommendations based on a fictional sentinel event case. Through project work, students applied concepts learned in the course related to improving patient safety and demonstrated interprofessional collaboration skills. Projects were presented during a final in-class session. Student course evaluation results suggest that learning objectives and content goals were achieved. Faculty course evaluation results indicate that the course was perceived to be a worthwhile learning experience for students. We offer the following recommendations to others interested in developing an in-depth interprofessional learning experience for a large group of learners: 1) consider a hybrid format (inclusion of some face-to-face sessions), 2) address IPE and broader curricular needs, 3) create interactive opportunities for shared learning and working together, 4) provide support to faculty facilitators, and 5) recognize your learners' educational level. The course has expanded to include students from additional programs for the current academic year.

Introducing students to patient safety through an online interprofessional course

PubMed Central

Blue, Amy V; Charles, Laurine; Howell, David; Koutalos, Yiannis; Mitcham, Maralynne; Nappi, Jean; Zoller, James

2010-01-01

Interprofessional education (IPE) is increasingly called upon to improve health care systems and patient safety. Our institution is engaged in a campus-wide IPE initiative. As a component of this initiative, a required online interprofessional patient-safety-focused course for a large group (300) of first-year medical, dental, and nursing students was developed and implemented. We describe our efforts with developing the course, including the use of constructivist and adult learning theories and IPE competencies to structure students’ learning in a meaningful fashion. The course was conducted online to address obstacles of academic calendars and provide flexibility for faculty participation. Students worked in small groups online with a faculty facilitator. Thematic modules were created with associated objectives, online learning materials, and assignments. Students posted completed assignments online and responded to group members’ assignments for purposes of group discussion. Students worked in interprofessional groups on a project requiring them to complete a root cause analysis and develop recommendations based on a fictional sentinel event case. Through project work, students applied concepts learned in the course related to improving patient safety and demonstrated interprofessional collaboration skills. Projects were presented during a final in-class session. Student course evaluation results suggest that learning objectives and content goals were achieved. Faculty course evaluation results indicate that the course was perceived to be a worthwhile learning experience for students. We offer the following recommendations to others interested in developing an in-depth interprofessional learning experience for a large group of learners: 1) consider a hybrid format (inclusion of some face-to-face sessions), 2) address IPE and broader curricular needs, 3) create interactive opportunities for shared learning and working together, 4) provide support to faculty facilitators, and 5) recognize your learners’ educational level. The course has expanded to include students from additional programs for the current academic year. PMID:23745069

Integrated Authoring Tool for Mobile Augmented Reality-Based E-Learning Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lobo, Marcos Fermin; Álvarez García, Víctor Manuel; del Puerto Paule Ruiz, María

2013-01-01

Learning management systems are increasingly being used to complement classroom teaching and learning and in some instances even replace traditional classroom settings with online educational tools. Mobile augmented reality is an innovative trend in e-learning that is creating new opportunities for teaching and learning. This article proposes a…

Classifying K-12 Blended Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Staker, Heather; Horn, Michael B.

2012-01-01

The growth of online learning in the K-12 sector is occurring both remotely through virtual schools and on campuses through blended learning. In emerging fields, definitions are important because they create a shared language that enables people to talk about the new phenomena. The blended-learning taxonomy and definitions presented in this paper…

A Cognitive Multimedia Environment and Its Importance: A Conceptual Model for Effective E-Learning and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phan, Huy P.

2011-01-01

Multimedia learning is innovative and has revolutionised the way we learn online. It is important to create a multimedia learning environment that stimulates active participation and effective learning. The significance of multimedia learning extends to include the cultivation of professional and personal experiences that reflect the reality of a…

The Effectiveness of Creating a Sense of Community in Online Learning with Social Awareness Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mariano, Darren G.

2012-01-01

Online social interactions differ from face to face interactions and lack the non-verbal cues leading a learner to procrastinate, decreased motivation, feelings of isolation and high drop out rates. Existing research illustrates a need for social awareness information in online education, and this research studied the impact of the visual presence…

Cyber-Bullying in the Online Classroom: Instructor Perceptions of Aggressive Student Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eskey, Michael T.; Taylor, Cathy L.; Eskey, Michael T., Jr.

2014-01-01

The advent of online learning has created the medium for cyber-bullying in the virtual classroom and also by e-mail. Bullying is usually expected in the workplace and between students in the classroom. Most recently, however, faculty members have become surprising targets of online bullying. For many, there are no established policies nor is…

Designing and Implementing an Online GIS Tool for Schools: The Finnish Case of the PaikkaOppi Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riihelä, Juha; Mäki, Sanna

2015-01-01

This article describes initiatives implemented in Finland to create an online learning environment for studying geographic information systems (GIS). A development project produced an online GIS tool called PaikkaOppi, aimed at promoting GIS studies and spatial thinking skills in upper secondary schools. The project is reviewed through analysis of…

Teaching Dance with Online Course Management Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colombi, Erika; Knosp, Suzanne

2017-01-01

As a result of easier access to and functionality of the Internet, online course management systems (CMSs) began to be developed in the mid-1990s. These technological tools were created to fill a need in the growing field of teaching through online courses.Most notable of these course tools are Blackboard (2015) and Desire2Learn (1999). Both of…

The Role of Faculty in the Effectiveness of Fully Online Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Salman, Sami M.

2013-01-01

The enormous growth of online learning creates the need to develop a set of standards and guidelines for fully online programs. While many guidelines do exist, web-based programs still fall short in the recognition, adoption, or the implementation of these standards. One consequence is the high attrition rates associated with web-based distance…

Promoting Continuing Computer Science Education through a Massively Open Online Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliver, Kevin

2016-01-01

This paper presents the results of a comparison study between graduate students taking a software security course at an American university and international working professionals taking a version of the same course online through a free massive open online course (MOOC) created in the Google CourseBuilder learning environment. A goal of the study…

Creating Online Community: A Response to the Needs of 21st Century Faculty Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohn, Jenae; Stewart, Mary K.; Theisen, Cara Harwood; Comins, Dan

2016-01-01

Centers for teaching and learning (CTL) have traditionally relied upon on-campus programming to support faculty professional development, but as increasing numbers of faculty access resources and collaborate online, CTLs could do more to build online community. To meet this challenge, our team developed a website, EdTech Commons, which features…

Course Design and Student Responses to an Online PBL Course in 3D Modelling for Mining Engineers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAlpine, Iain; Stothard, Phillip

2005-01-01

To enhance a course in 3D Virtual Reality (3D VR) modelling for mining engineers, and to create the potential for off campus students to fully engage with the course, a problem based learning (PBL) approach was applied to the course design and all materials and learning activities were provided online. This paper outlines some of the theoretical…

Intermediate Greek EFL Learners' Attitudes to On-Line Teaching Practices: A Blended Task-Based English Language Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liontou, Trisevgeni

2015-01-01

This paper reports on a one-year longitudinal study that adopted a blended teaching approach based on designing and implementing an online EFL course to be used by Greek students aged 13-14 years old along their more traditional face-to-face lessons. The reason for creating a more dynamic learning environment aligned with the rest of the…

Creating an Instructor Presence in an Online Course at the Expense of Your TA's Life (A Small Price to Pay)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Scott; Redman, S.

2009-01-01

Swan and Shih (2005) reported that the perceived presence of an instructor in an online course is influential in determining the satisfaction, if not the performance, of students in the course. To address this issue, we developed a series of 19 videos which not only demonstrate various astronomy concepts, but also provide the students with a voice, face and personality associated with the instructor and teaching assistant. To keep the students' attention throughout the videos, we also included humorous elements which involve the assistant (S. Redman) being injured in every video. These videos were first used during the Spring 2008 semester, when we taught an online course in introductory astronomy to almost 400 non-science majors at Penn State University. In order to assess the educational value of these videos, we presented identical questions to students of both the online course and a traditional face-to-face course which included Active-Collaborative Learning (ACL) taught by one of us (S. Miller), and received feedback from the online students via questionnaires. Students ranked our videos as moderately effective at explaining astronomical concepts as well as creating an instructor presence within the course. Compared to the ACL students, the online students performed equally well on questions related to topics covered in the videos. We also found a positive correlation between the effectiveness of the videos in creating an instructor presence and student attitudes towards the course. We discuss our approach to creating these videos, how they were used within an online course, students’ perception of the effectiveness of the videos, and their impact on student learning. You can find them by Googling "Astronomy 001" at video.google.com. We thank Digital Commons of Penn State for their assistance in producing the videos.

Goals, Motivation for, and Outcomes of Personal Learning through Networks: Results of a Tweetstorm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sie, Rory L. L.; Pataraia, Nino; Boursinou, Eleni; Rajagopal, Kamakshi; Margaryan, Anoush; Falconer, Isobel; Bitter-Rijpkema, Marlies; Littlejohn, Allison; Sloep, Peter B.

2013-01-01

Recent developments in the use of social media for learning have posed serious challenges for learners. The information overload that these online social tools create has changed the way learners learn and from whom they learn. An investigation of learners' goals, motivations and expected outcomes when using a personal learning network is…

Effective Blended Learning Practices: Evidence-Based Perspectives in ICT-Facilitated Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stacey, Elizabeth, Ed.; Gerbic, Philippa, Ed.

2009-01-01

New innovations of online learning within blended environments create a need within academia for research on best practices in teaching. This book provides insight into the practice of blended learning in higher education. This unique book collects new international research into many aspects of blended learning from the perspectives of learners,…

A Methodology to Obtain Learning Effective Laboratories with Learning Management System Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruano, Ildefonso; Gamez, Javier; Dormido, Sebastian; Gomez, Juan

2016-01-01

Online laboratories are useful and valuable resources in high education, especially in engineering studies. This work presents a methodology to create effective laboratories for learning that interact with a Learning Management System (LMS) to achieve advanced integration. It is based on pedagogical aspects and considers not only the laboratory…

Designing, implementing and evaluating an online problem-based learning (PBL) environment--a pilot study.

PubMed

Ng, Manwa L; Bridges, Susan; Law, Sam Po; Whitehill, Tara

2014-01-01

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been shown to be effective for promoting student competencies in self-directed and collaborative learning, critical thinking, self-reflection and tackling novel situations. However, the need for face-to-face interactions at the same place and time severely limits the potential of traditional PBL. The requirements of space and for meeting at a specific location at the same time create timetabling difficulties. Such limitations need to be tackled before all potentials of PBL learning can be realized. The present study aimed at designing and implementing an online PBL environment for undergraduate speech/language pathology students, and assessing the associated pedagogical effectiveness. A group of eight PBL students were randomly selected to participate in the study. They underwent 4 weeks of online PBL using Adobe Connect. Upon completion of the experiment, they were assessed via a self-reported questionnaire and quantitative comparison with traditional PBL students based on the same written assignment. The questionnaire revealed that all participating students enjoyed online PBL, without any perceived negative effects on learning. Online PBL unanimously saved the students travel time to and from school. Statistical analysis indicated no significant difference in assignment grades between the online and traditional PBL groups, indicating that online PBL learning appears to be similarly effective as traditional face-to-face PBL learning.

Developing a Blended Course on Dying, Loss, and Grief

PubMed Central

Kavanaugh, Karen; Andreoni, V. Ann; Wilkie, Diana J.; Burgener, Sandra; Buschmann, MaryBeth Tank; Henderson, Gloria; Hsiung, Yi-Fang Yvonne; Zhao, Zhongsheng

2010-01-01

An important component of end-of-life education is to provide health professionals with content related to dying, loss, and grief. The authors describe the strategies used to develop and offer a blended course (integration of classroom face-to-face learning with online learning) that addressed the sensitive and often emotional content associated with grieving and bereavement. Using Kolb’s experiential learning theory, a set of 4 online learning modules, with engaging, interactive elements, was created. Course evaluations demonstrated the success of the blended course in comparison to the traditional, exclusive face-to-face approach. PMID:19412055

RELM: developing a serious game to teach evidence-based medicine in an academic health sciences setting.

PubMed

Gleason, Ann Whitney

2015-01-01

Gaming as a means of delivering online education continues to gain in popularity. Online games provide an engaging and enjoyable way of learning. Gaming is especially appropriate for case-based teaching, and provides a conducive environment for adult independent learning. With funding from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region (NN/LM PNR), the University of Washington (UW) Health Sciences Library, and the UW School of Medicine are collaborating to create an interactive, self-paced online game that teaches players to employ the steps in practicing evidence-based medicine. The game encourages life-long learning and literacy skills and could be used for providing continuing medical education.

Play It, Learn It, Make It Last: Developing an Online Game to Create Self-Sufficient Library Information Users.

PubMed

Boyce, Lindsay M

2016-01-01

Library orientation at an academic health sciences library consisted of a five-minute overview within new student orientation. Past experience indicated this brief presentation was insufficient for students to learn about library resources. In 2014, an effort was made to supplement orientation by developing an online game aimed at enabling students to become self-sufficient through hands-on learning. A gaming model was chosen with expectations that competition and rewards would motivate students. Although the pilots suffered from low participation rates, the experience merits further research into the potential of a broader model of online library instruction in the health sciences environment.

Creating and Testing a Model for Tutors and Participants to Support the Collaborative Construction of Knowledge Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seddon, Kathy; Postlethwaite, Keith

2007-01-01

This paper describes the construction and testing of a model designed to inform contributors to online collaborative dialogues about the nature of their contribution, and to guide the input from tutors who facilitate these dialogues. In particular, the model was designed to assist reflection on learning behaviours in online dialogues by…

He Asked Me What!?--Using Shared Online Accounts as Training Tools for Distance Learning Librarians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Kelly; Casey, Anne Marie; Citro, Kathleen

2017-01-01

This study explores the idea of creating a knowledge base from shared online accounts to use in training librarians who perform distance reference services. Through a survey, follow-up interviews and a case study, the investigators explored current and potential use of shared online accounts as training tools. This study revealed that the…

Taking Science Online: Evaluating Presence and Immersion through a Laboratory Experience in a Virtual Learning Environment for Entomology Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Annetta, Leonard; Klesath, Marta; Meyer, John

2009-01-01

A 3-D virtual field trip was integrated into an online college entomology course and developed as a trial for the possible incorporation of future virtual environments to supplement online higher education laboratories. This article provides an explanation of the rationale behind creating the virtual experience, the Bug Farm; the method and…

Automatically Producing Accessible Learning Objects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Di Iorio, Angelo; Feliziani, Antonio Angelo; Mirri, Silvia; Salomoni, Paola; Vitali, Fabio

2006-01-01

The "Anywhere, Anytime, Anyway" slogan is frequently associated to e-learning with the aim to emphasize the wide access offered by on-line education. Otherwise, learning materials are currently created to be used with a specific technology or configuration, leaving out from the virtual classroom students who have limited access capabilities and,…

Designing a Responsive E-Learning Infrastructure: Systemic Change in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chow, Anthony S.; Croxton, Rebecca A.

2017-01-01

As university administrators respond to increasing demands of the educational market to offer greater opportunities for online learning, their capacity to create an economically stable, sustainable, yet rich teaching and learning environment deserves immediate and continued attention. A university-wide study involving 130 participants examined the…

A Learning Management System Enhanced with Internet of Things Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mershad, Khaleel; Wakim, Pilar

2018-01-01

A breakthrough in the development of online learning occurred with the utilization of Learning Management Systems (LMS) as a tool for creating, distributing, tracking, and managing various types of educational and training material. Since the appearance of the first LMS, major technological enhancements transformed this tool into a powerful…

Practicing Nonverbal Awareness in the Asynchronous Online Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Stephanie; Claus, Christopher J.

2015-01-01

In this unit activity, students understand that social presence-one's ability to project a personality through computer-mediated communication-is critical for creating an effective online learning environment (Christen, Kelly, Fall, & Snyder, in press; Jorgensen, 2002; Kehrwald, 2010; O'Sullivan, Hunt, & Lippert, 2004). Without…

Online Reading Informs Classroom Instruction and Promotes Collaborative Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, L. Kate; Zyto, Sacha; Karger, David R.; Newman, Dina L.

2013-01-01

Web-based collaborative annotation tools can facilitate communication among students and their instructors through online reading and communication. Collaborative reading fosters peer interaction and is an innovative way to facilitate discussion and participation in larger enrollment courses. It can be especially powerful as it creates an…

Leveraging Random Number Generation for Mastery of Learning in Teaching Quantitative Research Courses via an E-Learning Method

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boonsathorn, Wasita; Charoen, Danuvasin; Dryver, Arthur L.

2014-01-01

E-Learning brings access to a powerful but often overlooked teaching tool: random number generation. Using random number generation, a practically infinite number of quantitative problem-solution sets can be created. In addition, within the e-learning context, in the spirit of the mastery of learning, it is possible to assign online quantitative…

The Soft-Skills Learning Triangle: A Learning Model for Supporting Online Management & Leadership Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Jean

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present the Soft-skills Learning Triangle (SLT)--a model created to help coaches, mentors, and educators understand how web-technologies can be used to support management learning and soft-skills development. SLT emerged as part of a larger action-learning research project--the NewMindsets Management Education…

Online EEG-Based Workload Adaptation of an Arithmetic Learning Environment.

PubMed

Walter, Carina; Rosenstiel, Wolfgang; Bogdan, Martin; Gerjets, Peter; Spüler, Martin

2017-01-01

In this paper, we demonstrate a closed-loop EEG-based learning environment, that adapts instructional learning material online, to improve learning success in students during arithmetic learning. The amount of cognitive workload during learning is crucial for successful learning and should be held in the optimal range for each learner. Based on EEG data from 10 subjects, we created a prediction model that estimates the learner's workload to obtain an unobtrusive workload measure. Furthermore, we developed an interactive learning environment that uses the prediction model to estimate the learner's workload online based on the EEG data and adapt the difficulty of the learning material to keep the learner's workload in an optimal range. The EEG-based learning environment was used by 13 subjects to learn arithmetic addition in the octal number system, leading to a significant learning effect. The results suggest that it is feasible to use EEG as an unobtrusive measure of cognitive workload to adapt the learning content. Further it demonstrates that a promptly workload prediction is possible using a generalized prediction model without the need for a user-specific calibration.

A State for Excellence: New Jersey Boosts Learning Power with Online Video Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duff, Victoria; Sauer, Wendy; Gleason, Sonia Caus

2011-01-01

The New Jersey Department of Education supports all districts with a tool kit of valuable resources for planning and creating collaborative learning structures that focus on getting results for all students. This tool kit was the basis for the creation of Learning Forward's "Becoming a Learning School" (2009). The tool kit helps…

Learner Self-Regulation and Web 2.0 Tools Management in Personal Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yen, Cherng-Jyh; Tu, Chih-Hsiung; Sujo-Montes, Laura E.; Armfield, Shadow W. J.; Chan, Junn-Yih

2013-01-01

Web 2.0 technology integration requires a higher level of self-regulated learning skills to create a Personal Learning Environment (PLE). This study examined each of the four aspects of learner self-regulation in online learning (i.e., environment structuring, goal setting, time management, & task strategies) as the predictor for level of…

Online Experiential Learning: Effective Applications for Geoscience Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matias, A.; Eriksson, S. C.

2015-12-01

Students today are rarely satisfied with a one-size-fits-all educational experience. The rapid changing landscape of the web and other technologies are breaking down communicationand geographic barries. More students are increasingly turning to the web for quality education that fits into their lives. As a result, higher education institutions are expanding their offerings through online courses. Nonetheless, online learning brings challenges as well as a fresh opportunityfor exploring practices not present in traditional higher education programs, particularly in the sciences. We are in a unique position to empower students to make strategic academic and professional decisions in global terms. Online learning, supportedwith hands-on and minds-on activities, actively engages student with critical thinking skills and higher level learning. This presentation will showcase examples from a series of geoscience and environmental science courses currently offered fully online at SUNY Empire State College (ESC). Taking advantage of the proliferation of tools currently available for online learning management systems, we will explore how we approach course developent to create an interactive learning environment. Students learn through case studies, group projects and understanding real-world issues while learning concepts. Particular focus will be given to an international collaboration with the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Chihuahua Campus. This collaboration took place during the Spring of 2015 with students from the fully-online, lower-level Geology and the Environment course at ESC and the upper-level, face-to-face Mobile Programming course in Mexico. Ultimately, the goal of this presentation is to show faculty members and afministrators the pedagogical principles and approach used with the expectation that it could help support development of online learning opportunities at their institutions.

Assessing Elementary Prospective Teachers' Mathematical Explanations after Engagement in Online Mentoring Modules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wall, Jennifer; Selmer, Sarah; Bingham Brown, Amy

2016-01-01

Prospective elementary teachers at three universities engaged in online modules called the Virtual Field Experience, created by the Math Forum. The prospective teachers learned about problem solving and mentoring elementary students in composing solutions and explanations to nonroutine challenge problems. Finally, through an asynchronous online…

Online Education Today

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayadas, A. Frank; Bourne, John; Bacsich, Paul

2009-01-01

Online education is established, growing, and here to stay. It is creating new opportunities for students and also for faculty, regulators of education, and the educational institutions themselves. Much of what is being learned by the practitioners will flow into the large numbers of blended courses that will be developed and delivered on most…

Five Principles for MOOC Design: With a Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drake, John R.; O'Hara, Margaret; Seeman, Elaine

2015-01-01

New web technologies have enabled online education to take on a massive scale, prompting many universities to create massively open online courses (MOOCs) that take advantage of these technologies in a seemingly effortless manner. Designing a MOOC, however, is anything but trivial. It involves developing content, learning activities, and…

Case Study in Modeling Accessibility for Online Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conway, Thomas Hayes

2017-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore how accessibility standards are adapted to create online learning environments that are accessible to people who use assistive technology, or have navigational challenges due to physical or intellectual disabilities. Rogers diffusion of innovation was used as the contextual…

Making Marketing Principles Tangible: Online Auctions as Living Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Charles M.; Suter, Tracy A.

2004-01-01

This article presents an effective course supplement for Principles of Marketing classes. An experiential project involving online auctions is offered to instructors seeking to create a more participatory student environment and an interactive teaching style. A number of learning points are illustrated that allow instructors to use an auction…

The Perception on Fundamentals of Online Courses: A Case on Prospective Instructional Designers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Genç, Zülfü; Tinmaz, Hasan

2016-01-01

This study focuses on prospective instructional designers' perception toward creating online courses including which elements are essential for developing such platforms. The study is significant for revealing what the prospective instructional designers focus on while they design certain learning opportunities. The participants of the study were…

Recognition of Cross-Cultural Meaning When Developing Online Web Displays.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Ian; Hedberg, John

The perceptions and practical experiences are important influences when creating and developing online learning experiences in cross cultural contexts. In this study, 15 educational designers studying for their Master's Degree were asked to contribute their interpretations to an ongoing study of what meaning and interpretations were generated from…

Can Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming Environments Support Team Training?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Connor, Debra L.; Menaker, Ellen S.

2008-01-01

Instructional games are created when training is deliberately added to a gaming environment or when gaming aspects are deliberately incorporated into training. One type of game that is currently attracting the attention of the education and training field is the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG). Because evidence about learning outcomes…

The Best of Both Worlds: A Proposal for Hybrid Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vininsky, Hayley; Saxe, Amanda

2016-01-01

Recent advances in technology have created a surge in online educational opportunities, increasing accessibility to education. However, online learning suffers from criticism that these courses are substandard in comparison to traditional classes, despite research that suggests otherwise. We discuss our personal experiences with traditional and…

Use of an automated learning management system to validate nursing competencies.

PubMed

Dumpe, Michelle L; Kanyok, Nancy; Hill, Kristin

2007-01-01

Maintaining nurse competencies in a dynamic environment is not an easy task and requires the use of resources already strained. An online learning management system was created, and 24 annual competencies were redesigned for online validation. As a result of this initiative, competencies have been standardized across many disciplines and are completed in a more timely manner, nurses and managers are more satisfied with this method of annual assessments, and cost savings have been realized.

MBTI Personality Type and Other Factors that Relate to Preference for Online versus Face-to-Face Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrington, Rick; Loffredo, Donald A.

2010-01-01

Online college classes are being offered at a rate that far exceeds the growth of overall higher education classes. However, much can still be learned about how to create a better online classroom environment by determining why a large percentage of students continue to prefer face-to-face classes. One factor among many that may have an influence…

E-Learning and Development: Lessons from Multi-Disciplinary Capacity Strengthening

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babu, Suresh Chandra

2014-01-01

This paper documents the experience and lessons from implementing an e-learning program aimed at creating multidisciplinary research capacity. It presents a case study of bringing together a multidisciplinary group of professionals on-line to learn the skills needed to be a successful researcher in the context of HIV/AIDS and food security…

Preservice Teachers' Acceptance of Learning Management Software: An Application of the UTAUT2 Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raman, Arumugam; Don, Yahya

2013-01-01

"Moodle" also known as Learning Management System is freely available to educators. Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) encourages students and instructors to utilize the teaching and learning process. Moodle enables lecturer to create sequences and facilitate activities for their students, auto-marked online quizzes and exams, navigation…

Instructional Designers' Media Selection Practices for Distributed Problem-Based Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fells, Stephanie

2012-01-01

The design of online or distributed problem-based learning (dPBL) is a nascent, complex design problem. Instructional designers are challenged to effectively unite the constructivist principles of problem-based learning (PBL) with appropriate media in order to create quality dPBL environments. While computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools and…

Promoting Positive Academic Dispositions Using a Web-Based PBL Environment: The GlobalEd 2 Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Scott W.; Lawless, Kimberly A.; Boyer, Mark A.

2013-01-01

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional design approach for promoting student learning, understanding and knowledge development in context rich settings. Previous PBL research has primarily focused on face-to-face learning environments, but current technologies afford PBL designers the opportunities to create online, virtual, PBL…

Learning through Multimedia: Speech Recognition Enhancing Accessibility and Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wald, Mike

2008-01-01

Lectures can present barriers to learning for many students and although online multimedia materials have become technically easier to create and offer many benefits for learning and teaching, they can be difficult to access, manage, and exploit. This article considers how research on interacting with multimedia can inform developments in using…

Exploring Self-Regulated Learning Choices in a Customisable Learning Pathway MOOC

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crosslin, Matt

2018-01-01

Open online courses provide a unique opportunity to examine learner preferences in an environment that removes several pressures associated with traditional learning. This mixed methods study sought to examine the pathways that learners will create for themselves when given the choice between an instructor-directed modality and learner-directed…

Observation of "YouTube" Language Learning Videos ("YouTube" LLVS)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alhamami, Munassir

2013-01-01

This paper navigates into the "YouTube" website as one of the most usable online tools to learn languages these days. The paper focuses on two issues in creating "YouTube" language learning videos: pedagogy and technology. After observing the existing "YouTube" LLVs, the study presents a novel rubric that is directed…

Creating an Online Learning Community in a Flipped Classroom to Enhance EFL Learners' Oral Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Wen-Chi Vivian; Hsieh, Jun Scott Chen; Yang, Jie Chi

2017-01-01

Since the advent of new technology for learning, innovative language instructors have been constantly seeking new pedagogy to match the potential of technology-enhanced instruction. While previous studies have supported the adoption of technologies to facilitate language teaching and learning, research into enhancing English as a foreign language…

A Case of a Laptop Learning Campus: How Do Technology Choices Affect Perceptions?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Percival, Jennifer; Percival, Nathan

2009-01-01

Laptop learning programs have been developed to create ubiquitous online learning environments. Given the infancy of many programs, there is little understanding of aspects of the program are perceived to provide value to faculty and students. This paper focuses on the value proposition (with respect to perceived benefits versus capital…

Active Learning with Interactive Videos: Creating Student-Guided Learning Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Ariana

2016-01-01

Distance learning programs across the country continue to grow and evolve. In order to support these programs, librarians are often expected to convert face-to-face classes and reference sessions to the online environment. Due to the necessity of explaining information literacy concepts and demonstrating the access and use of library resources,…

How 'blended' is blended learning?: students' perceptions of issues around the integration of online and face-to-face learning in a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) health care context.

PubMed

Glogowska, Margaret; Young, Pat; Lockyer, Lesley; Moule, Pam

2011-11-01

This paper explores students' perceptions of blended learning modules delivered in a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) health care context in the UK. 'Blended learning' is the term used to describe a hybrid model of learning where traditional face-to-face teaching approaches and newer electronic learning activities and resources are utilised together. A new model of CPD for health care practitioners based on a blended learning approach was developed at a university in the south west of England. As part of the evaluation of the new modules, a qualitative study was conducted, in which 17 students who had experienced the modules were interviewed by telephone. Three main themes emerged from the interviews relating to the 'blended' nature of the blended learning modules. These were i) issues around the opportunities for discussion of online materials face-to-face; ii) issues of what material should be online versus face-to-face and iii) balancing online and face-to-face components. Teaching staff engaged in the development of blended learning courses need to pay particular attention to the ways in which they develop and integrate online and face-to-face materials. More attention needs to be paid to allowing opportunity for students to come together to create a 'community of inquiry'. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distributed Administration of Online Learning Accounts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gamrat, Betsy

2004-01-01

Distance learning is a vital part of today's educational environment. Using complex technology, schools are able to connect instructors and students across geographic, physical, and temporal boundaries. Sophisticated software and world-wide connectivity create virtual classrooms that span the globe. These large, accessible, asynchronous,…

Video diaries on social media: Creating online communities for geoscience research and education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tong, V.

2013-12-01

Making video clips is an engaging way to learn and teach geoscience. As smartphones become increasingly common, it is relatively straightforward for students to produce ';video diaries' by recording their research and learning experience over the course of a science module. Instead of keeping the video diaries for themselves, students may use the social media such as Facebook for sharing their experience and thoughts. There are some potential benefits to link video diaries and social media in pedagogical contexts. For example, online comments on video clips offer useful feedback and learning materials to the students. Students also have the opportunity to engage in geoscience outreach by producing authentic scientific contents at the same time. A video diary project was conducted to test the pedagogical potential of using video diaries on social media in the context of geoscience outreach, undergraduate research and teaching. This project formed part of a problem-based learning module in field geophysics at an archaeological site in the UK. The project involved i) the students posting video clips about their research and problem-based learning in the field on a daily basis; and ii) the lecturer building an online outreach community with partner institutions. In this contribution, I will discuss the implementation of the project and critically evaluate the pedagogical potential of video diaries on social media. My discussion will focus on the following: 1) Effectiveness of video diaries on social media; 2) Student-centered approach of producing geoscience video diaries as part of their research and problem-based learning; 3) Learning, teaching and assessment based on video clips and related commentaries posted on Facebook; and 4) Challenges in creating and promoting online communities for geoscience outreach through the use of video diaries. I will compare the outcomes from this study with those from other pedagogical projects with video clips on geoscience, and evaluate the concept of ';networked public engagement' based on online video diaries.

Online to offline teaching model in optics education: resource sharing course and flipped class

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiaotong; Cen, Zhaofeng; Liu, Xiangdong; Zheng, Zhenrong

2016-09-01

Since the platform "Coursera" is created by the professors of Stanford University Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, more and more universities have joined in it. From the very beginning, online education is not only about education itself, but also connected with social equality. This is especially significant for the economic transformation in China. In this paper the research and practice on informatization of optical education are described. Online to offline (O2O) education activities, such as online learning and offline meeting, online homework and online to offline discussion, online tests and online to offline evaluation, are combined into our teaching model in the course of Applied Optics. These various O2O strategies were implemented respectively in the autumn-winter small class and the spring-summer middle class according to the constructivism and the idea of open education. We have developed optical education resources such as videos of lectures, light transmission or ray trace animations, online tests, etc. We also divide the learning procedure into 4 steps: First, instead of being given a course offline, students will learn the course online; Second, once a week or two weeks, students will have a discussion in their study groups; Third, students will submit their homework and study reports; Fourth, they will do online and offline tests. The online optical education resources have been shared in some universities in China, together with new challenges to teachers and students when facing the revolution in the e-learning future.

From the Perspective of Community of Inquiry Framework: An Examination of Facebook Uses by Pre-Service Teachers as a Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kucuk, Sirin; Sahin, Ismail

2013-01-01

Online and blended learning, developed with advances in technology, have gained relative importance in modern communities. In recent years, the concept of creating learning communities has been coined to increase effectiveness of these learning environments. Based on this concept, Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) developed the Community of…

New Media Vision for IYA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gay, P. L.; Koppelman, M.

2008-11-01

The International Year of Astronomy New Media Committee seeks to provide and promote online astronomy experiences in the places that people work, play and learn; create content that will expose people to astronomy, provide them regular content, and create special opportunities for learning; distribute content for active (pull) and passive (push) channels and through guerilla marketing technique; use a diverse suite of technologies to reach people on multiple platforms and in diverse online settings. To make these goals a reality we have brought together a diverse group of astronomy new media practitioners to both mentor grass roots efforts and spearhead national initiatives. You are invited to partner you programs with the New Media Task Group. In this paper we lay out are goals and define our vision.

A Framework for Culturally Relevant Online Learning: Lessons from Alaska's Tribal Health Workers.

PubMed

Cueva, Katie; Cueva, Melany; Revels, Laura; Lanier, Anne P; Dignan, Mark; Viswanath, K; Fung, Teresa T; Geller, Alan C

2018-03-22

Culturally relevant health promotion is an opportunity to reduce health inequities in diseases with modifiable risks, such as cancer. Alaska Native people bear a disproportionate cancer burden, and Alaska's rural tribal health workers consequently requested cancer education accessible online. In response, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium cancer education team sought to create a framework for culturally relevant online learning to inform the creation of distance-delivered cancer education. Guided by the principles of community-based participatory action research and grounded in empowerment theory, the project team conducted a focus group with 10 Alaska Native education experts, 12 culturally diverse key informant interviews, a key stakeholder survey of 62 Alaska Native tribal health workers and their instructors/supervisors, and a literature review on distance-delivered education with Alaska Native or American Indian people. Qualitative findings were analyzed in Atlas.ti, with common themes presented in this article as a framework for culturally relevant online education. This proposed framework includes four principles: collaborative development, interactive content delivery, contextualizing learning, and creating connection. As an Alaskan tribal health worker shared "we're all in this together. All about conversations, relationships. Always learn from you/with you, together what we know and understand from the center of our experience, our ways of knowing, being, caring." The proposed framework has been applied to support cancer education and promote cancer control with Alaska Native people and has motivated health behavior change to reduce cancer risk. This framework may be adaptable to other populations to guide effective and culturally relevant online interventions.

Connectivism: 21st Century's New Learning Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kropf, Dorothy C.

2013-01-01

Transformed into a large collaborative learning environment, the Internet is comprised of information reservoirs namely, (a) online classrooms, (b) social networks, and (c) virtual reality or simulated communities, to expeditiously create, reproduce, share, and deliver information into the hands of educators and students. Most importantly, the…

Research and Policy: Can Online Learning Communities Foster Professional Development?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beach, Richard

2012-01-01

This column posits enhancing professional development through uses of digital tools to create professional learning communities (PLCs) designed to support collective inquiry and action research leading to schoolwide improvement. These digital tools include a social networking/discussion forum for teacher collaboration; teachers' individual…

A Case Study of Using Online Communities and Virtual Environment in Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) as a Learning and Teaching Tool for Second Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kongmee, Isara; Strachan, Rebecca; Pickard, Alison; Montgomery, Catherine

2012-01-01

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) create large virtual communities. Online gaming shows potential not just for entertaining, but also in education. This research investigates the use of commercial MMORPGs to support second language teaching. MMORPGs offer virtual safe spaces in which students can communicate by using their…

Designing an eMap to Teach Multimedia Applications Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruffini, Michael F.

2004-01-01

Teachers and students use multimedia software to create interactive presentations and content projects. Popular multimedia programs include: Microsoft's PowerPoint[R], Knowledge Adventure's HyperStudio[R], and Macromedia's Director MX 2004[R]. Creating multimedia projects engage students in active learning and thinking as they complete projects…

Aging and the Arts Online: Lessons Learned From Course Development and Implementation.

PubMed

Eaton, Jacqueline

2016-01-01

With the recent move toward competency-based gerontology education, incorporating humanities and arts will be necessary for accreditation. This article describes the pedagogical approaches and lessons learned during 5 years of development and implementation of an asynchronous online course in Aging and the Arts. Fifty graduate and undergraduate students participated in the course over five semesters. Discipline diversity increased subsequent to designation as a fine arts general education course. Students expressed appreciation for multimedia resources, an initial fear of creating a wiki, and online redundancy was reduced through increased community engagement that also augmented application in real-world settings. The visual nature of arts and aging lends itself to a compelling and interactive online course experience that can be adapted to synchronous, hybrid, and face-to-face formats. Opportunities for community engaged learning will increase as art programs for older adults become more prevalent.

Towards a Framework for Creative Online Collaboration: A Research on Challenges and Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stockleben, Björn; Thayne, Martyn; Jäminki, Seija; Haukijärvi, Ilkka; Mavengere, Nicholas Blessing; Demirbilek, Muhammet; Ruohonen, Mikko

2017-01-01

The OnCreate project was initiated by ten universities with expertise in collaborative work in online-based learning environments and explores the specific challenges of implementing university courses in creative disciplines in such an environment. The first research phase comprises a literature search on creativity and its contextual factors in…

Accessing Abilities: Creating Innovative Accessible Online Learning Environments and Putting Quality into Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moorefield-Lang, Heather; Copeland, Clayton A.; Haynes, Aisha

2016-01-01

This conceptual paper will discuss how faculty from The School of Library and Information Science at The University of South Carolina partnered with their university's Center for Teaching Excellence. This partnership resulted in the facilitation of professional development workshops and online tools for peer educators to better serve distance…

Badging a Conference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fontichiaro, Kristin; Ginsberg, Sharona; Lungu, Victoria; Masura, Shauna; Roslund, Samantha

2013-01-01

This article describes digital badging, which turns the traditional cloth badges into digital data with badges earned and stored online. It notes how digital badging systems help people issue and achieve learning challenges in a sequence such as this: (1) A badge issuer creates a challenge using an online badging tool such as P2PU.org,…

Comparing Learner Community Behavior in Multiple Presentations of a Massive Open Online Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallagher, Silvia Elena; Savage, Timothy

2015-01-01

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) can create large scale communities of learners who collaborate, interact and discuss learning materials and activities. MOOCs are often delivered multiple times with similar content to different cohorts of learners. However, research into the differences of learner communication, behavior and expectation between…

Comparing Learner Community Behavior in Multiple Presentations of a Massive Open Online Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallagher, Silvia Elena; Savage, Timothy

2016-01-01

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) can create large scale communities of learners who collaborate, interact and discuss learning materials and activities. MOOCs are often delivered multiple times with similar content to different cohorts of learners. However, research into the differences of learner communication, behavior and expectation between…

Innovations in Education and Entertainment Settings: A Quest for Convergence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fanning, Elizabeth; Bunch, John; Brighton, Catherine

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the production processes and approaches for user engagement of virtual environments created for learning or commercial and entertainment purposes, specifically through online games and 3-D online spaces. This study used a qualitative, multiple case study approach based on interviews with developers of…

Improving Decision Making Skill Using an Online Volcanic Crisis Simulation: Impact of Data Presentation Format

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barclay, Elizabeth J.; Renshaw, Carl E.; Taylor, Holly A.; Bilge, A. Reyan

2011-01-01

Creating effective computer-based learning exercises requires an understanding of optimal user interface designs for improving higher order cognitive skills. Using an online volcanic crisis simulation previously shown to improve decision making skill, we find that a user interface using a graphical presentation of the volcano monitoring data…

Key Factors in Online Collaboration and Their Relationship to Teamwork Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tseng, Hungwei; Ku, Heng-Yu; Wang, Chien-Hsin; Sun, Ling

2009-01-01

Online instructors today search for ways to engage students in authentic activities in their courses to create real-world learning experiences. Collaborative grouping is 1 way that instructors promote students' creativity and productivity during the teamwork process. The present study is an attempt to enhance our understanding of students'…

Course Design, Quality Matters Training, and Student Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollowell, Gail P.; Brooks, Racheal M.; Anderson, Yolanda B.

2017-01-01

North Carolina Central University (NCCU) recognized the need to address the increasing rates of Ds, Fs, and Withdrawal by students matriculating in online courses. Led by two science faculty, a faculty learning community in partnership with the NCCU Division of Extended Studies was created to assess online science course offerings and instruction.…

Exploring Curation as a Core Competency in Digital and Media Literacy Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mihailidis, Paul; Cohen, James N.

2013-01-01

In today's hypermedia landscape, youth and young adults are increasingly using social media platforms, online aggregators and mobile applications for daily information use. Communication educators, armed with a host of free, easy-to-use online tools, have the ability to create dynamic approaches to teaching and learning about information and…

Using Videoconferencing to Create Authentic Online Learning for Volunteers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lobley, Jennifer; Ouellette, Kristy L.

2017-01-01

Face-to-face training for Extension volunteers is no longer the only viable delivery mode. In times of rapid technological advances, we are faced with a plethora of options for offering volunteers the training and support they need. Zoom, an online videoconferencing platform, can easily be used to engage volunteers in professional development.…

Web Usage Mining: Application to an Online Educational Digital Library Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Bart C.

2012-01-01

This dissertation was situated in the crossroads of educational data mining (EDM), educational digital libraries (such as the National Science Digital Library; http://nsdl.org), and examination of teacher behaviors while creating online learning resources in an end-user authoring system, the Instructional Architect (IA; http://ia.usu.edu). The…

A Spanish-Finnish Telecollaboration: Extending Intercultural Competence via Videoconferencing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Puranen, Pasi; Vurdien, Ruby

2016-01-01

In language learning today, students from different geographical locations are able to interact online in a more authentic environment, share their views with their partners, create profiles as well as build online communities enjoying common interests. With this in mind, this paper examines and reports on a study about how students from two…

The Culture of Distance Education: Implementing an Online Graduate Level Course in Audience Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duin, Ann Hill

1998-01-01

Details the experience of designing, implementing, and evaluating an online course in audience analysis at the graduate level. Describes how the educational culture of the Land Grant Mission flowed into efforts to create a quality learning experience. Discusses how the Web modules and asynchronous (listserv) and synchronous (MOO) conversations…

Creating a Novel Online Digital Badge-Awarding Program in Patient Navigation to Address Healthcare Access.

PubMed

Rohan, Annie J; Fullerton, Judith; Escallier, Lori A; Pati, Susmita

A novel, sustainable digital badge-awarding online course was developed to prepare learners with familiarity of patient navigation. Learners offered favorable endorsement of essentially all elements of the program, especially the utility of the Blackboard learning management software program. Quality Matters standards provided a rigorous framework for the challenges of designing, implementing, and evaluating online curricula. Online education is an effective method for meeting the professional development needs of those seeking careers in care coordination/patient navigation.

Creating a blended learning module in an online master study programme in oncology.

PubMed

Mayer, Benjamin; Ring, Christina; Muche, Rainer; Rothenbacher, Dietrich; Schmidt-Strassburger, Uta

2015-01-01

The medical faculty of Ulm University has launched the postgraduate master online study programme Advanced Oncology (AO) in 2010. We describe the challenges in developing an e-learning module using the example of a medical biometry course, focusing the implementation of the course material and our single-loop learning experience after the first students have finished and evaluated the lecture. Programme participants are qualified medical doctors and researchers in biomedical areas related to the field of oncology. The study programme provides the majority of lectures online via didactic videos accompanied by one-week attendance seminars. Supplementary learning materials include review articles, supportive reading material, multiple choice questions, and exercises for each unit. Lecture evaluations based on specific questions concerning learning environment and information learned, each measured on a five-point Likert scale. Lecture videos were implemented following the classical triad of the didactic process, using oncological examples from practice to teach. The online tutorial support offered to students was hardly used, thus we enhanced faculty presence during the face-to-face seminars. Lecture evaluations improved after revising the learning material on the basis of the first AO student cohort's comments. Developing and implementing an online study programme is challenging with respect of maximizing the information students learn due to limited opportunities for personal contact between lecturers and students. A more direct interaction of lecturers and students in a blended learning setting outperforms a mere web-based contact in terms of learning advantage and students' satisfaction, especially for complex methodological content.

Social Media as Avenue for Personal Learning for Educators: Personal Learning Networks Encourage Application of Knowledge and Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eller, Linda S.

2012-01-01

Social media sites furnish an online space for a community of practice to create relationships and trust, collaboration and connections, and a personal learning environment. Social networking sites, both public and private, have common elements: member profiles, groups, discussions, and forums. A community of practice brings participants together…

Integrating Global Learning into a Psychology Course Using an Online Platform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forden, Carie L.; Carrillo, Amy M.

2014-01-01

There is a demand for the integration of global learning/diversity across the curriculum. A series of cross-cultural assignments was created to facilitate global learning in two social psychology classes, one in Egypt, and one in the USA. In these assignments, students collected data and applied course concepts to real-life problems, then…

An Evaluation of the Learning of Undergraduates Using E-Learning in a Tertiary Institution in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, James N. K.; Cheng, Xiangqian

2008-01-01

In recent years, tertiary institutions in developed countries have made extensive use of Course Management Systems (CMSs), software packages designed to help educators create online learning communities. To date, however, such packages have been little used in higher education institutions (HEIs) in China. In this article, we describe the…

Dialogic e-Learning2learn: Creating Global Digital Networks and Educational Knowledge Building Architectures across Diversity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sorensen, Elsebeth Korsgaard

2007-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the challenge and potential of online higher and continuing education, of fostering and promoting, in a global perspective across time and space, democratic values working for a better world. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents a generalized dialogic learning architecture of networked…

Uncertainty Management and Sensemaking as Precursors to Transformative Learning in an International Immersion Service-Learning Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, Jan M.; Fay, Martha

2016-01-01

This study is based on an international immersion service-learning/research experience in a remote village in Moldova that provided faculty and students an opportunity to teach journalism and help local students and community representatives create their own online news outlet. Students' existing conceptions were challenged, they experienced…

Lessons Learned, Innovative Practices, and Emerging Trends: Technology for Teacher Education and Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donohue, Chip; Fox, Selena

2012-01-01

Since 1999, the authors have written numerous articles and books, given hundreds of presentations, served on national eLearning groups, and created new international online programs, all while paying careful attention to the trends, issues, and best practices in the effective use of technology tools and distance learning methods. In this article,…

Creating Engaging Online Learning Material with the JSAV JavaScript Algorithm Visualization Library

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karavirta, Ville; Shaffer, Clifford A.

2016-01-01

Data Structures and Algorithms are a central part of Computer Science. Due to their abstract and dynamic nature, they are a difficult topic to learn for many students. To alleviate these learning difficulties, instructors have turned to algorithm visualizations (AV) and AV systems. Research has shown that especially engaging AVs can have an impact…

Community Building, Emergent Design and Expecting the Unexpected: Creating a Quality eLearning Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Terrie Lynn; MacDonald, Colla J.

2005-01-01

Given the extraordinary interest and growth in eLearning as a learning tool and as an industry, it is not surprising there is lively debate on quality. A research-based and tested eLearning model was used to design and evaluate an online M.Ed. course in order to study factors that influence the quality of an eLearning event. Several data…

Describing the on-line graduate science student: An examination of learning style, learning strategy, and motivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spevak, Arlene J.

Research in science education has presented investigations and findings related to the significance of particular learning variables. For example, the factors of learning style, learning strategy and motivational orientation have been shown to have considerable impact upon learning in a traditional classroom setting. Although these data have been somewhat generous for the face-to-face learning situation, this does not appear to be the case for distance education, particularly the Internet-based environment. The purpose of this study was to describe the on-line graduate science student, regarding the variables of learning style, learning strategy and motivational orientation. It was believed that by understanding the characteristics of adult science learners and by identifying their learning needs, Web course designers and science educators could create on-line learning programs that best utilized students' strengths in learning science. A case study method using a questionnaire, inventories, telephone interviews and documents was applied to nine graduate science students who participated for ten weeks in an asynchronous, exclusively Internet mediated graduate science course at a large, Northeastern university. Within-case and cross-case analysis indicated that these learners displayed several categories of learning styles as well as learning strategies. The students also demonstrated high levels of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and this, together with varying strategy use, may have compensated for any mismatch between their preferred learning styles and their learning environment. Recommendations include replicating this study in other online graduate science courses, administration of learning style and learning strategy inventories to perspective online graduate science students, incorporation of synchronous communication into on-line science courses, and implementation of appropriate technology that supports visual and kinesthetic learners. Although the study was limited to nine participants, the implications of the findings are clear. Most adult science students experience learning in an on-line environment. Those who are independent, highly motivated learners and utilize a variety of learning strategies can adapt their learning style to the situational aspects of the learning environment. This further indicates that Internet-based graduate science education institutions should become aware of different learning styles and strategies, and be prepared to address this variety when developing and delivering such programming.

Asynchronous learning: student utilization out of sync with their preference.

PubMed

Lew, Edward K; Nordquist, Erik K

2016-01-01

Asynchronous learning is gaining popularity. Data are limited regarding this learning method in medical students rotating in emergency medicine (EM). In EM, faculty time is limited to give in-person lectures. The authors sought to create an online curriculum that students could utilize as an additional learning modality. The goal was to evaluate effectiveness, participation, and preference for this mode of learning. We developed five online, narrated PowerPoint presentations. After orientation, access to the online curriculum was provided to the students, which they could review at their leisure. One hundred and seven fourth-year medical students participated. They reported the curriculum to be of high quality. Pretest scores were similar for those that viewed all lectures - compliant group (CG) (9.5 [CI 4.8-14.1]) and those that did not view any - non-compliant group (NCG) (9.6 [CI 5.9-13.4]). There was no statistical significant difference in posttest scores between the groups although there was improvement overall: CG 14.6 (CI 6.9-22.1); NCG 11.4 (CI 5.7-17.1). A majority (69.2%) favored inclusion of asynchronous learning, but less than a quarter (22.4%) reported viewing all five modules and more than a third (36.4%) viewed none. Despite student-expressed preference for an online curriculum, they used the online resource less than expected. This should give pause to educators looking to convert core EM topics to an online format. However, when high-quality online lectures are utilized as a learning tool, this study demonstrates that they had neither a positive nor a negative impact on test scores.

Creating the Sustainable City: Building a Seminar (and Curriculum) through Interdisciplinary Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryson, Michael A.; Zimring, Carl A.

2010-01-01

Using the wealth of sites available in the Chicago metropolitan area, online learning technologies, and classroom interactions, Roosevelt University's seminar "The Sustainable City" takes a multidisciplinary approach to urban ecology, waste management, green design, climate change, urban planning, parklands, water systems, environmental…

Digital Storytelling: Expanding Media Possibilities for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLellan, Hilary, Ed.

2008-01-01

Stories offer a powerful framework for engagement, reflection, and other important skills that young people need to learn. As digital media have expanded, so have the possibilities for creating stories. Here, several examples of those new possibilities are examined, examples that highlight student-produced online broadcasting initiatives,…

Material Matters for Learning in Virtual Networks: A Case Study of a Professional Learning Programme Hosted in a Google+ Online Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ackland, Aileen; Swinney, Ann

2015-01-01

In this paper, we draw on Actor-Network Theories (ANT) to explore how material components functioned to create gateways and barriers to a virtual learning network in the context of a professional development module in higher education. Students were practitioners engaged in family learning in different professional roles and contexts. The data…

How online learning modules can improve the representational fluency and conceptual understanding of university physics students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hill, M.; Sharma, M. D.; Johnston, H.

2015-07-01

The use of online learning resources as core components of university science courses is increasing. Learning resources range from summaries, videos, and simulations, to question banks. Our study set out to develop, implement, and evaluate research-based online learning resources in the form of pre-lecture online learning modules (OLMs). The aim of this paper is to share our experiences with those using, or considering implementing, online learning resources. Our first task was to identify student learning issues in physics to base the learning resources on. One issue with substantial research is conceptual understanding, the other with comparatively less research is scientific representations (graphs, words, equations, and diagrams). We developed learning resources on both these issues and measured their impact. We created weekly OLMs which were delivered to first year physics students at The University of Sydney prior to their first lecture of the week. Students were randomly allocated to either a concepts stream or a representations stream of online modules. The programme was first implemented in 2013 to trial module content, gain experience and process logistical matters and repeated in 2014 with approximately 400 students. Two validated surveys, the Force and Motion Concept Evaluation (FMCE) and the Representational Fluency Survey (RFS) were used as pre-tests and post-tests to measure learning gains while surveys and interviews provided further insights. While both streams of OLMs produced similar positive learning gains on the FMCE, the representations-focussed OLMs produced higher gains on the RFS. Conclusions were triangulated with student responses which indicated that they have recognized the benefit of the OLMs for their learning of physics. Our study shows that carefully designed online resources used as pre-instruction can make a difference in students’ conceptual understanding and representational fluency in physics, as well as make them more aware of their learning processes. In particular, the representations-focussed modules offer more advantages.

Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities. Oregon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2010

2010-01-01

America's K-12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges for U.S. schools. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a…

Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities. Minnesota

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2010

2010-01-01

America's K-12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges for U.S. schools. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a…

Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities. Idaho

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2010

2010-01-01

America's K-12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges for U.S. schools. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a…

Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities. New Mexico

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2010

2010-01-01

America's K-12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges for U.S. schools. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a…

Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities. New Hampshire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2010

2010-01-01

America's K-12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges for U.S. schools. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a…

Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities. Hawaii

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2010

2010-01-01

America's K-12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges for U.S. schools. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a…

Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities. Wisconsin

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2010

2010-01-01

America's K-12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges for U.S. schools. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a…

Going Green Robots

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Jacqueline M.

2011-01-01

In looking at the interesting shapes and sizes of old computer parts, creating robots quickly came to the author's mind. In this article, she describes how computer parts can be used creatively. Students will surely enjoy creating their very own robots while learning about the importance of recycling in the society. (Contains 1 online resource.)

Using multimedia and peer assessment to promote collaborative e-learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barra, Enrique; Aguirre Herrera, Sandra; Ygnacio Pastor Caño, Jose; Quemada Vives, Juan

2014-04-01

Collaborative e-learning is increasingly appealing as a pedagogical approach that can positively affect student learning. We propose a didactical model that integrates multimedia with collaborative tools and peer assessment to foster collaborative e-learning. In this paper, we explain it and present the results of its application to the "International Seminars on Materials Science" online course. The proposed didactical model consists of five educational activities. In the first three, students review the multimedia resources proposed by the teacher in collaboration with their classmates. Then, in the last two activities, they create their own multimedia resources and assess those created by their classmates. These activities foster communication and collaboration among students and their ability to use and create multimedia resources. Our purpose is to encourage the creativity, motivation, and dynamism of the learning process for both teachers and students.

The Virtual Classroom: A Catalyst for Institutional Transformation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Subramaniam, Nantha Kumar; Kandasamy, Maheswari

2011-01-01

This study explores the use of the virtual classroom which has been created in "myVLE", a learning management system used by the Open University Malaysia (OUM). The virtual classroom in "myVLE" is an asynchronous-based online learning environment that delivers course materials to learners and provides collaboration and…

Experiences with Reusable E-Learning Objects: From Theory to Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muzio, Jeanette A.; Heins, Tanya; Mundell, Roger

2002-01-01

Explains reusable electronic learning objects (ELOs) that are stored in a database and discusses the practical application of creating and reusing ELOs at Royal Roads University (Canada). Highlights include ELOs and the instructional design of online courses; and examples of using templates to develop interactive ELOs. (Author/LRW)

Lessons Learned: Creating an Online Business Degree from a Successful On-Campus Business Degree

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cordeiro, William P.; Muraoka, Dennis

2015-01-01

The horse has left the barn. Distance education is here to stay and the number of degree programs offered online is growing rapidly. California State University Channel Islands (CI) admitted its first students in 2002, and the undergraduate and graduate degrees in business were among its first program offerings. From its inception, the…

Online Role-Plays: Combining Situational and Interactional Authenticity in Foreign Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Correia Martins, Maria de Lurdes; Moreira, Gillian; Moreira, António

2013-01-01

Role-plays have been almost ubiquitous in foreign language classes and their potential has been widely recognised. In the last decade, the dissemination of Web 2.0 has created a wide range of possibilities for this type of activity, including conducting online role-plays between institutions, the opportunity to combine synchronous and asynchronous…

Research to Go: Taking an Information Literacy Credit Course Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Jessica; Burke, John J.; Tumbleson, Beth

2012-01-01

Adapting an existing face-to-face information literacy course that teaches undergraduates how to successfully conduct research and creating an online or hybrid version is a multi-step process. It begins with a desire to reach more students and help them achieve academic success. The primary learning outcomes for any information literacy course are…

An Exploratory Investigation of Online Forum Mediated Collaborative Learning of Speech Writing: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lata, Pushp; Luhach, Suman

2014-01-01

Learning Management Systems (LMS) are being integrated in the curriculum by many educational institutions to extend teaching and learning beyond classroom. This paper is based on a case study exploring the integration of LMS Nalanda created on Moodle in Effective Public Speaking (EPS) classroom to give students an additional platform to practice,…

A Blended-Learning Pedagogical Model for Teaching and Learning EFL Successfully through an Online Interactive Multimedia Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banados, Emerita

2006-01-01

Faced with the need to teach English to a large number of students, the "Universidad de Concepcion," Chile, has created an innovative Communicative English Program using ICT, which is made up of four modules covered in four academic terms. The English program aims to develop integrated linguistic skills with a focus on learning for…

Blended Learning and Curriculum Renewal across Three Medical Schools: The Rheumatology Module at the University of Otago

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stebbings, Simon; Bagheri, Nasser; Perrie, Kellie; Blyth, Phil; McDonald, Jenny

2012-01-01

In response to the challenges created by the implementation of a new medical school curriculum at the University of Otago in 2008, we aimed to develop a blended learning course for teaching rheumatology within the existing musculoskeletal course. We developed a multimedia online learning resource structured to support class based problem-based…

Creating a Framework of a Resource-Based E-Learning Environment for Science Learning in Primary Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

So, Winnie W. M.

2012-01-01

Advancements in information and communications technology and the rapid expansion of the Internet have changed the nature and the mode of the presentation and delivery of teaching and learning resources. This paper discusses the results of a study aimed at investigating how five teachers planned to integrate online resources in their teaching of…

Affinity Spaces: How Young People Live and Learn on Line and out of School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gee, James Paul

2018-01-01

In the digital age, young people's most powerful learning opportunities often occur online, in experiences and environments created by people working outside of the K-12 school system. In a sense, the internet has given new life to an older, less formal approach to education, in which individuals seek out and learn from others who share their…

Open Distance Learning for Development: Lessons from Strengthening Research Capacity on Gender, Crisis Prevention, and Recovery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babu, Suresh Chandra; Ferguson, Jenna; Parsai, Nilam; Almoguera, Rose

2013-01-01

This paper documents the experience and lessons from implementing an e-learning program aimed at creating research capacity for gender, crisis prevention, and recovery. It presents a case study of bringing together a multidisciplinary group of women professionals through both online and face-to-face interactions to learn the skills needed to be a…

A pilot project of an online cross-age tutoring program: crescent school virtual learning (vLearning).

PubMed

Chow, Ronald

2016-11-01

Traditional classroom teaching is the standard of education. However, there may be some students who feel uncomfortable approaching their teachers and may feel more at ease if they ask for assistance from their peers. There are two types of student-to-student tutoring methods that are supplements to classroom learning: peer tutoring between same-age students and cross-age tutoring between different-age children. Cross-age tutoring programs in which the tutor is 2-3 years older than the tutee have been reported to be more effective than those between same-age students in promoting student responsibility, empowerment and academic performance. A pilot online cross-age tutoring program was launched in September 2014 at Crescent School. A new website was designed, created and implemented with the permission and regular monitoring of the Student Services faculty for the online program - Crescent School Virtual Learning (vLearning). The program was well received and will undergo evaluation in the future.

Google classroom as a tool for active learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaharanee, Izwan Nizal Mohd; Jamil, Jastini Mohd; Rodzi, Sarah Syamimi Mohamad

2016-08-01

As the world is being developed with the new technologies, discovering and manipulating new ideas and concepts of online education are changing rapidly. In response to these changes, many states, institutions, and organizations have been working on strategic plans to implement online education. At the same time, misconceptions and myths related to the difficulty of teaching and learning online, technologies available to support online instruction, the support and compensation needed for high-quality instructors, and the needs of online students create challenges for such vision statements and planning documents. This paper provides analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of Google Classroom's active learning activities for data mining subject under the Decision Sciences program. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been employed to measure the effectiveness of the learning activities. A total of 100 valid unduplicated responses from students who enrolled data mining subject were used in this study. The results indicated that majority of the students satisfy with the Google Classroom's tool that were introduced in the class. Results of data analyzed showed that all ratios are above averages. In particular, comparative performance is good in the areas of ease of access, perceived usefulness, communication and interaction, instruction delivery and students' satisfaction towards the Google Classroom's active learning activities.

The Online Learning Imperative: A Solution to Three Looming Crises in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wise, Bob

2010-01-01

Currently, K-12 education in the United States is dealing with three major challenges: (1) global skill demands versus educational attainment; (2) the funding cliff; and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a more…

Teaching, Tweeting, and Teleworking: Experiential and Cross-Institutional Learning through Social Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madden, Stephanie; Briones Winkler, Rowena; Fraustino, Julia Daisy; Janoske, Melissa

2016-01-01

Today's college students increasingly need skills in social media and teleworking. To develop these skills, instructors at four institutions created and implemented a cross-institutional group project that required students to create and share online an instructional video about a social media topic. Students then discussed the videos and their…

Creating Micro-Videos to Demonstrate Technology Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frydenberg, Mark; Andone, Diana

2016-01-01

Short videos, also known as micro-videos, have emerged as a platform for sharing ideas, experiences, and life events on online social networks. This paper shares preliminary results of a study involving students from two universities who created six-second videos using the Vine mobile app to explain or illustrate technology concepts. An analysis…

Rotation as a course: lessons learned from developing a hybrid online/on-ground approach to general surgical resident education.

PubMed

Maddaus, Michael A; Chipman, Jeffrey G; Whitson, Bryan A; Groth, Shawn S; Schmitz, Connie C

2008-01-01

To improve the consistency and the quality of resident education on clinical rotations, 5 surgical rotations (thoracic, bariatrics, surgical oncology, pediatrics, and critical care) were restructured "as courses" with learning objectives, educational activities (online and on-ground), pretests, posttests, and oral examinations. University surgical training program in a large metropolitan area, which serves approximately 65 residents per year. The online course management system, WebCT/VISTA (Blackboard Inc., Washington, DC), was used to build 5 online course sites. To engage and garner support from faculty, several organizational change tactics and resources were employed, such as Grand Rounds presentations, a faculty retreat, consultation and support from professional staff, and the use of residents as reviewers and codevelopers. To support resident use of the online sites, a designated education coordinator provided individual and group orientation sessions and employed weekly tracking and reminder systems; completion of pretests and posttests was mandated. Between 6 and 8 learning modules were created per rotation, with over 50 reading assignments (collectively) and 45 online presentations. Since July 2006, 53 residents have completed a total of 106 rotations on these services. Preliminary results from a longitudinal study suggest that the hybrid approach is well received and effective when fully executed, but that online course materials are used by residents only if they feel that the faculty members are truly engaged and actively promoting the site. Changing the culture of learning on rotation to include learning objectives, assessment, and integrated online/on-ground activities takes significant leadership, resident input, professional staff support, faculty engagement, and time.

The quality of on-line communication in a national learning programme for newly qualified nurses, midwives and allied health professionals.

PubMed

Lauder, W; Roxburgh, M; Atkinson, John; Banks, Pauline; Kane, Helen

2011-05-01

Asynchronous communication has become the dominant mode of on-line instruction and has been incorporated into Flying Start NHS, an on-line programme for newly qualified NMAHPs in the transition phase from student to registered practitioner. On-line programmes have a number of objectives including the delivery of educational materials and the development of on-line communities. This study sought to provide a direct and objective understanding of the quality of the on-line community within Flying Start NHS and give an indication of areas of strength and weakness. The study used mixed methods including a Gricean analysis of on-line communication focusing on quantity, quality, relevance, and manner, and a thematic analysis of communication content. There was little evidence that students engaged in the type of interactive communication essential for creating on-line learning communities. The majority of postings related to progression through Flying Start. The small number of communications which did begin to engage with the learning materials were limited with little evidence of the development of critical debate. Analysis of the qualitative data indicates that the period of transition continues to be stressful with Flying Start NHS being undertaken concurrently with local CPD being seen as duplication of effort. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Touring Mars Online, Real-time, in 3D for Math and Science Educators and Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Greg; Kalinowski, Kevin

2007-01-01

This article discusses a project that placed over 97% of Mars' topography made available from NASA into an interactive 3D multi-user online learning environment beginning in 2003. In 2005 curriculum materials that were created to support middle school math and science education were developed. Research conducted at the University of North Texas…

Mentoring Student Teachers Into The Profession: Intentionally Creating a Culture of Inquiry in the Context of Media and Technology Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobsen, Michele; Friesen, Sharon; Clifford, Pat

2004-01-01

What is the nature of onsite and online mentoring which enables student teachers to design inquiry-based, technology rich learning experiences? In this case study, faculty and expert teachers worked with fifteen student teachers during an elementary school practicum. An online intelligent design environment supported the development of a community…

U.S.-Mexico Border Studies Online Collaboration: Transformative Learning across Power and Privilege

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barraclough, Laura; McMahon, Marci R.

2013-01-01

In response to the national conversation about the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration in recent years, we created an online partnership between students in concurrent border studies courses at our two campuses: a public Hispanic-serving institution in South Texas and a private, small liberal arts college in Michigan. We explored whether and how…

The Role of Research in Online Curriculum Development: The Case of "EarthLabs" Climate Change and Earth System Modules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeal, Karen S.; Libarkin, Julie C.; Ledley, Tamara Shapiro; Bardar, Erin; Haddad, Nick; Elins, Kathy; Dutta, Saranee

2014-01-01

This study reports on an effort to illustrate the coupling of educational research with ongoing curriculum development to promote effective and evidence-based online learning. The research findings have been used to inform the "EarthLabs" curriculum development team as they revise existing modules and create new modules, in order to…

A digital library of radiology images.

PubMed

Kahn, Charles E

2006-01-01

A web-based virtual library of peer-reviewed radiological images was created for use in education and clinical decision support. Images were obtained from open-access content of five online radiology journals and one e-learning web site. Figure captions were indexed by Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) codes, imaging modality, and patient age and sex. This digital library provides a new, valuable online resource.

The Effectiveness of Implementing an E-Book: Antigen and Antibody Reaction for Diagnosis of Diseases in Microbiology Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samrejrongroj, Phakakrong; Boonsiri, Tanit; Thunyaharn, Sudaluck; Sangarun, Preeyapan

2014-01-01

Currently very few Thai Immunology e-Books are available online. The authors created an online e-Book titled, "Antigen and Antibody Reaction for Diagnosis of Diseases" and used a quasi experimental research design to assess the effectiveness of its implementation in terms of knowledge gained, written exam scores and student satisfaction.…

The Effect of the Digital Classroom on Academic Success and Online Technologies Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozerbas, Mehmet Arif; Erdogan, Bilge Has

2016-01-01

This study aimed to observe whether the learning environment created by digital classroom technologies has any effect on the academic success and online technologies self-efficacy of 7th grade students. In this study, an experimental design with a pre-test/post-test control group was used. The research was conducted with 58 students in a secondary…

By Hook or by MOOC: Lessons Learned and the Road Ahead

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korsunsky, Boris; Li, Clara

2017-01-01

As online education has exploded in the past decade, the number of physics and physics-related massive open online courses (or MOOCs, to use the industry lingo) has grown substantially as well. Several such courses aim at high school students, especially those involved in the AP Physics program. One of us (BK) was involved in creating two such…

Learning Experience with Virtual Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Christian

2008-01-01

Virtual worlds create a new opportunity to enrich the educational experience through media-rich immersive learning. Virtual worlds have gained notoriety in games such as World of Warcraft (WoW), which has become the most successful online game ever, and in "general purpose" worlds, such as Second Life (SL), whose participation levels (more than 10…

Reducing Distance through Distance Learning: The Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Colorado State University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Timothy Gray; Quick, Don

2001-01-01

Reports that the Community College Leadership program at Colorado State University creates a community among its nontraditional doctoral students using a blend of different learning modalities, including face-to-face experiences and synchronous and asynchronous online discussions. Discusses three types of support necessary for distance learning…

Adding Value: Open Online Learning and the MBA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitzgerald, Rachel; Anderson, Maggie; Thompson, Ross

2015-01-01

Evidence suggests that MOOCs are being used as a strategic tool to explore alternative models of course delivery (Allen & Seaman, 2013) and this paper shares insight into an example of such innovation for Business School Education. Gateway MBA draws on examples of open learning worldwide to create a MOOC to extend the MBA distance learning…

Helping Preservice Teachers (PSTs) Understand the Realities of Poverty: Innovative Curriculum Modules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Moon-Heum; Convertino, Christina; Khourey-Bowers, Claudia

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop an innovative addition to the curriculum to help preservice teachers cultivate an understanding of poverty. Using technology, an interdisciplinary team created two online learning modules entitled Teacher as Learning Facilitator and Teacher as Anthropologist. Preservice teachers valued the newly developed…

Web-Based Interactive Video Vignettes Create a Personalized Active Learning Classroom for Introducing Big Ideas in Introductory Biology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, L. Kate; Newman, Dina L.; Cardinale, Jean A.; Teese, Robert

2016-01-01

The typical "flipped classroom" delivers lecture material in video format to students outside of class in order to make space for active learning in class. But why give students passive material at all? We are developing a set of high-quality online educational materials that promote active, hands-on science learning to aid in teaching…

Learning, Engagement, and Technology: Middle School Students' Three-Year Experience in Pervasive Technology Environments in South Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hur, Jung Won; Oh, Jaekyeon

2012-01-01

This study explored an initiative that created a pervasive learning environment in a middle school in South Korea and examined its impact on student academic achievement and learning engagement. Forty students received a laptop to use for class projects, online collaboration, and lesson reviews over a 3-year period. To measure the effect of laptop…

Enhancing RN-to-BSN students' information literacy skills through the use of instructional technology.

PubMed

Schutt, Michelle A; Hightower, Barbara

2009-02-01

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing advocates that professional nurses have the information literacy skills essential for evidence-based practice. As nursing schools embrace evidence-based models to prepare students for nursing careers, faculty can collaborate with librarians to create engaging learning activities focused on the development of information literacy skills. Instructional technology tools such as course management systems, virtual classrooms, and online tutorials provide opportunities to reach students outside the traditional campus classroom. This article discusses the collaborative process between faculty and a library instruction coordinator and strategies used to create literacy learning activities focused on the development of basic database search skills for a Computers in Nursing course. The activities and an online tutorial were included in a library database module incorporated into WebCT. In addition, synchronous classroom meeting software was used by the librarian to reach students in the distance learning environment. Recommendations for module modifications and faculty, librarian, and student evaluations are offered.

Data Mining Student Answers with Moodle to Investigate Learning Pathways in an Introductory Geohazards Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sit, S. M.; Brudzinski, M. R.; Colella, H. V.

2012-12-01

The recent growth of online learning in higher education is primarily motivated by a desire to (a) increase the availability of learning experiences for learners who cannot, or choose not, to attend traditional face-to-face offerings, (b) assemble and disseminate instructional content more cost-efficiently, or (c) enable instructors to handle more students while maintaining a learning outcome quality that is equivalent to that of comparable face-to-face instruction. However, a less recognized incentive is that online learning also provides an opportunity for data mining, or efficient discovery of non-obvious valuable patterns from a large collection of data, that can be used to investigate learning pathways as opposed to focusing solely on assessing student outcomes. Course management systems that enable online courses provide a means to collect a vast amount of information to analyze students' behavior and the learning process in general. One of the most commonly used is Moodle (modular object-oriented developmental learning environment), a free learning management system that enables creation of powerful, flexible, and engaging online courses and experiences. In order to examine student learning pathways, the online learning modules we are constructing take advantage of Moodle capabilities to provide immediate formative feedback, verifying answers as correct or incorrect and elaborating on knowledge components to guide students towards the correct answer. By permitting multiple attempts in which credit is diminished for each incorrect answer, we provide opportunities to use data mining strategies to assess thousands of students' actions for evidence of problem solving strategies and mastery of concepts. We will show preliminary results from application of this approach to a ~90 student introductory geohazard course that is migrating toward online instruction. We hope more continuous assessment of students' performances will help generate cognitive models that can inform instructional redesign, improve overall efficiency of student learning, and, potentially, be used to create an intelligent tutoring system.

Transitioning Communication Education to an Interactive Online Module Format.

PubMed

Williams, Kristine; Abd-Hamid, Nor Hashidah; Perkhounkova, Yelena

2017-07-01

The Changing Talk intervention improves nursing home staff communication by reducing elderspeak. To facilitate dissemination, interactive online modules were created, maintaining the original content. This article reports on the process of transitioning and the results of pilot testing the modules. Interactive online modules were developed, pilot tested, and the evaluated in comparison to outcomes from the classroom format training. Online participants (N = 9) demonstrated pre to posttest knowledge gain (scores improved from M = 82.4% to M = 91.2%). Rating of a staff-resident interaction showed improved recognition of elderspeak and person-centered communication after training. Online and original participants reported similar intentions to use learned skills and rated the program highly. Evidence-based interventions can be translated from traditional classroom to online format maintaining effects on increasing staff knowledge and intentions to use learned skills in practice. However, the modules should be tested in a larger and more representative sample. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2017;48(7):320-328. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

Analyses of Student Learning in Global Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takle, E. S.; Moser, H.; Sorensen, E. K.

2004-12-01

The Global Change course at Iowa State University is a senior undergraduate and graduate level course that has been delivered over the internet with online dialog and learning activities since 1995. Students may enroll in the course as a distance education course, but in doing so they engage in dialog with students in the conventional on-campus face-to-face course. Online delivery and student participation offer opportunities for promoting use of critical thinking skills and collaborative learning not available in face-to-face environments. Students are required to research, post, and defend with authoritative information their positions on a variety of global change issues and specifically identify how they have demonstrated use of critical thinking skills in their online postings. Threaded dialog is used for structuring interactions toward promoting collaborative learning. We analyze collaborative learning by use of a rubric based on the theory of language games. By random selection of 1,350 online dialog comments posted over the last 10 years we evaluated student response to requirements for demonstrating critical thinking skills and collaboration in learning. We found that, by itself, the requirement of demonstrating critical thinking skills in online dialog was insufficient in promoting collaborative learned as measured by the standards of language game theory. But we also found that if an online comment clearly defines a situation and makes a clear expectation of a response, the likelihood is high that a game will be created. And if a game is established, there is a high probability that it will be closed, thereby giving evidence that collaborative learning had occurred. We conclude that a key component in collaborative online learning lies in establishing a lead-off comment that provides sufficient background information to clearly define an engaging situation. It also must include a clear expectation that a response is expected that will provide dialog participants an opportunity to demonstrate critical thinking skills in their responding comments.

Creating Micro-Videos to Demonstrate Technology Learning and Digital Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frydenberg, Mark; Andone, Diana

2016-01-01

Purpose: Short videos, also known as micro-videos, have emerged as a platform for sharing ideas, experiences and life events via online social networks. This paper aims to share preliminary results of a study, involving students from two universities who created six-second videos using the Vine mobile app to explain or illustrate technological…

Going Green Online: Distance Learning Prepares Students for Success in Green-Collar Job Markets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Githens, Rod; Sauer, Timothy

2010-01-01

President Barack Obama has touted the development of a new green economy as a tool to rebuild the American economy while creating new jobs. This new economy requires entrepreneurs and innovators to create new businesses and invent new technologies. It also requires technicians with specialized skills to build wind farms, operate renewable fuels…

Efficient Authoring of SCORM Courseware Adapted to User Learning Style: The Case of ProPer SAT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazanidis, Ioannis; Satratzemi, Maya

Online courses are the most popular way to deliver knowledge for distance learning. New researches attempt to personalize the educational process with the use of the Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems. Moreover, due to the significant amount of time, money and effort devoted to creating online courses, developers strive to incorporate standards, such as SCORM, for the reusability, interoperability and durability of the educational content. However, it is a difficult task for teachers without programming knowledge to design and author adaptive courses. This work presents ProPer SAT, an authoring tool implemented for quick and easy SCORM courseware construction which can also be adapted to specific user learning styles.

Problem-based learning in an on-line biotechnology course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheaney, James Daniel

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical tool that uses a "real world" problem or situation as a context for learning. PBL encourages student development of critical thinking skills, a high professional competency, problem-solving ability, knowledge acquisition, the ability to work productively as a team member and make decisions in unfamiliar situations, and the acquisition of skills that support self-directed life-long learning, metacognition, and adaptation to change. However, little research has focused on the use of PBL in on-line "virtual" classes. We conducted two studies exploring the use of PBL in an on-line biotechnology course. In the first study, ethical, legal, social, and human issues were used as a motivation for learning about DNA testing technologies, applications, and bioethical issues. In the second study, we combined PBL pedagogy with a rich multimedia environment of streaming video interviews, physical artifacts, and extensive links to articles and databases to create a multidimensional immersive PBL environment called "Robert's World". In "Robert's World", a man is determining whether to undergo a pre-symptomatic DNA test for an untreatable, incurable, fatal genetic disease for which he has a family history. In both studies, design and implementation issues of the on-line PBL environment are discussed, as are differences between on-line PBL and face-to-face PBL. Both studies provide evidence to suggest that PBL stimulates higher-order learning in students. However, in both studies, student performance on an exam testing acquisition of lower-order factual learning was lower for PBL students than for students who learned the same material through a traditional lecture-based approach. Possible reasons for this lower level of performance are explored. Student feedback expressed engagement with the issues and material covered, with reservations about some aspects of the PBL format, such as the lack of flexibility provided in cooperative learning. We conclude that on-line PBL is a powerful tool in helping to develop higher-order learning in students. The reasons for the decrease in student understanding of factual information are unclear. However, there are certain circumstances unique to on-line classes to keep in mind when implementing on-line PBL. These are summarized in concluding recommendations.

Teaching evidence-based practice principles to prepare health professions students for an interprofessional learning experience.

PubMed

Aronoff, Nell; Stellrecht, Elizabeth; Lyons, Amy G; Zafron, Michelle L; Glogowski, Maryruth; Grabowski, Jeremiah; Ohtake, Patricia J

2017-10-01

The research assessed online learning modules designed to teach health professions students evidence-based practice (EBP) principles in an interprofessional context across two institutions. Students from nine health professions at two institutions were recruited to participate in this pilot project consisting of two online learning modules designed to prepare students for an in-person case-based interprofessional activity. Librarians and an instructional designer created two EBP modules. Students' competence in EBP was assessed before and after the modules as well as after the in-person activity. Students evaluated the online learning modules and their impact on the students' learning after the in-person session. A total of 39 students from 8 health professions programs participated in the project. Average quiz scores for online EBP module 1 and module 2 were 83% and 76%, respectively. Following completion of the learning modules, adapted Fresno test of competence in EBP scores increased ( p =0.001), indicating that the modules improved EBP skill competence. Student evaluations of the learning modules were positive. Students indicated that they acquired new information skills that contributed to their ability to develop a patient care plan and that they would use these information skills in their future clinical practice. Online EBP learning modules were effective in developing EBP knowledge and skills for health professions students. Using the same modules ensured that students from different health professions at different stages of their professional programs had consistent knowledge and enabled each student to fully engage in an interprofessional evidence-based activity. Student feedback indicated the modules were valued and beneficial.

Building online learning communities in a graduate dental hygiene program.

PubMed

Rogo, Ellen J; Portillo, Karen M

2014-08-01

The literature abounds with research related to building online communities in a single course; however, limited evidence is available on this phenomenon from a program perspective. The intent of this qualitative case study inquiry was to explore student experiences in a graduate dental hygiene program contributing or impeding the development and sustainability of online learning communities. Approval from the IRB was received. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants from a stratification of students and graduates. A total of 17 participants completed semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was completed through 2 rounds - 1 for coding responses and 1 to construct categories of experiences. The participants' collective definition of an online learning community was a complex synergistic network of interconnected people who create positive energy. The findings indicated the development of this network began during the program orientation and was beneficial for building a foundation for the community. Students felt socially connected and supported by the network. Course design was another important category for participation in weekly discussions and group activities. Instructors were viewed as active participants in the community, offering helpful feedback and being a facilitator in discussions. Experiences impeding the development of online learning communities related to the poor performance of peers and instructors. Specific categories of experiences supported and impeded the development of online learning communities related to the program itself, course design, students and faculty. These factors are important to consider in order to maximize student learning potential in this environment. Copyright © 2014 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

Use of SMART Learning Objectives to Introduce Continuing Professional Development Into the Pharmacy Curriculum

PubMed Central

Khandoobhai, Anand; Leadon, Kim

2012-01-01

Objective. To determine whether a 2-year continuing professional development (CPD) training program improved first-year (P1) and second-year (P2) pharmacy students’ ability to write SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed) learning objectives. Design. First-year students completed live or online CPD training, including creating portfolios and writing SMART objectives prior to their summer introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE). In year 2, P1 and P2 students were included. SMART learning objectives were graded and analyzed. Assessment. On several objectives, the 2011 P1 students (n = 130) scored higher than did the P2 cohort (n = 105). In 2011, P2 students outscored their own performance in 2010. In 2011, P1 students who had been trained in online modules performed the same as did live-session trainees with respect to SMART objectives. Conclusion. With focused online or live training, students are capable of incorporating principles of CPD by writing SMART learning objectives. PMID:22611277

Constructing Temporally Extended Actions through Incremental Community Detection

PubMed Central

Li, Ge

2018-01-01

Hierarchical reinforcement learning works on temporally extended actions or skills to facilitate learning. How to automatically form such abstraction is challenging, and many efforts tackle this issue in the options framework. While various approaches exist to construct options from different perspectives, few of them concentrate on options' adaptability during learning. This paper presents an algorithm to create options and enhance their quality online. Both aspects operate on detected communities of the learning environment's state transition graph. We first construct options from initial samples as the basis of online learning. Then a rule-based community revision algorithm is proposed to update graph partitions, based on which existing options can be continuously tuned. Experimental results in two problems indicate that options from initial samples may perform poorly in more complex environments, and our presented strategy can effectively improve options and get better results compared with flat reinforcement learning. PMID:29849543

The Process of Becoming an Embedded Curriculum Librarian in Multiple Health Sciences Programs.

PubMed

Wilson, Gwen

2015-01-01

Higher education is moving to offer more fully online programs, and the health science fields are no different. These programs are either hybrid or completely online. It is up to the health sciences librarian to adapt services offered by the academic library to these types of courses. This column discusses the multiple ways a librarian can be an embedded librarian in a course using a learning management system (LMS). The process of creating a customized embedded librarian program, results, and lessons learned from the different embedded librarian roles are also discussed.

Moving beyond Blackboard: Using a Social Network as a Learning Management System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thacker, Christopher

2012-01-01

Web 2.0 is a paradigm of a participatory Internet, which has implications for the delivery of online courses. Instructors and students can now develop, distribute, and aggregate content through the use of third-party web applications, particularly social networking platforms, which combine to form a user-created learning management system (LMS).…

The Analysis of the Blogs Created in a Blended Course through the Reflective Thinking Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dos, Bulent; Demir, Servet

2013-01-01

Blogs have evolved from simple online diaries to communication tools with the capacity to engage people in collaboration, knowledge sharing, reflection and debate. Blog archives can be a source of information about student learning, providing a basis for ongoing feedback and redesign of learning activities. Previous studies show that blogs can…

The Impact of PeerWise Approach on the Academic Performance of Medical Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kadir, Farkaad A.; Ansari, Reshma M.; AbManan, Norhafizah; Abdullah, Mohd Hafiz Ngoo; Nor, Hamdan Mohd

2014-01-01

PeerWise is a novel, freely available, online pedagogical tool that allows students to create and deposit questions for peer evaluation. A participatory learning approach through this web-based system was used to motivate and promote a deep approach in learning nervous system by 124 second year MBBS students at Cyberjaya University College of…

Using Virtual Worlds to Identify Multidimensional Student Engagement in High School Foreign Language Learning Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacob, Laura Beth

2012-01-01

Virtual world environments have evolved from object-oriented, text-based online games to complex three-dimensional immersive social spaces where the lines between reality and computer-generated begin to blur. Educators use virtual worlds to create engaging three-dimensional learning spaces for students, but the impact of virtual worlds in…

Emergency Management Students' Perceptions of the Use of WebEOC[R] to Support Authentic Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Thomas

2012-01-01

This study investigates the use of software technology that is used by emergency management professionals to create an authentic learning environment in emergency and disaster management courses in the classroom. Participants were 235 upper-level students enrolled in residential and online emergency and disaster management courses at a mid-sized…

Creating and Teaching a Web-Based, University-Level Introductory Chemistry Course that Incorporates Laboratory Exercises and Active Learning Pedagogies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phipps, Linda R.

2013-01-01

An introductory, nonscience-majors chemistry course was converted to a Web-based course. The differences in student populations, teaching strategies, laboratory methods, and learning outcomes are described. Practical information is also given on the use of software and other online technology to implement course conversion. (Contains 2 tables.)

Virtual Project Management: Examining the Roles and Functions of Online Instructors in Creating Learning Applications with Value

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrett, Bob

2012-01-01

While many students and instructors are transitioning from the brick-and-mortar classrooms to virtual classrooms, labs, and simulations, this requires a higher-level of expertise, control, and perseverance by the instructor. Traditional methods of teaching, leading, managing, and organizing learn activities has changed in terms of the virtual…

WebQuest on Conic Sections as a Learning Tool for Prospective Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kurtulus, Aytac; Ada, Tuba

2012-01-01

WebQuests incorporate technology with educational concepts through integrating online resources with student-centred and activity-based learning. In this study, we describe and evaluate a WebQuest based on conic sections, which we have used with a group of prospective mathematics teachers. The WebQuest entitled: "Creating a Carpet Design Using…

Doing It for Themselves: Students Creating a High Quality Peer-Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galloway, Kyle W.; Burns, Simon

2015-01-01

To support our students during their study and exam preparation we have developed a novel synoptic revision exercise using the online PeerWise system. Academic staff involvement was passive after introducing the assignment to the cohort via scaffolding activities, thus generating an entirely student-led peer-learning environment for the task.…

Beyond the Class Blog: Creative and Practical Uses of Blogger for the ESL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerich, David

2013-01-01

Using Blogger, a free Google-powered weblog-generating website, English as a second language (ESL) instructors can create motivating and empowering learning opportunities for students. Instructors can generate their own blogs, including not only a class blog that builds a community-learning setting online, but also a teacher's homepage to…

Blogs as a Learning Space: Creating Text of Talks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santos, Arnold Nicholas E.

2011-01-01

This paper explored the pedagogical preparations taken by the researcher in integrating blogs to the traditional classroom experience as well as its use in online classes as a tool for students to write about what they have learned in class and relate it to everyday life. The researcher utilized web blog, combined Facebook and Multiply blogsites,…

Challenges in Creating Online Exercises and Exams in Organic Chemistry.

PubMed

Jaun, Bernhard; Thilgen, Carlo

2018-02-01

e-Learning has become increasingly important in chemical education and online exams can be an attractive alternative to traditional exams written on paper, particularly in classes with a large number of students. Ten years ago, we began to set up an e-course complementing our lecture courses Organic Chemistry I and II within the open-source e-learning environment Moodle. In this article, we retrace a number of decisions we took over time, thereby illustrating the challenges one faces when creating online exercises and exams in (organic) chemistry. Special emphasis is put on the development of MOSFECCS (MOlecular Structural Formula Editor and Calculator of Canonical SMILES), our new editor for drawing structural formulae and converting them to alphanumeric SMILES codes that can be submitted as answers to e-problems. Convinced that the possibility for structure input is essential to set up sensible chemistry quizzes and exams, and realising that existing tools present major flaws in an educational context, we decided to embark on the implementation of MOSFECCS which takes into account a number of didactic aspects.

Instructor-Designed Tutorials--Meeting the Needs of Our Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brichta, J. P.; Bizheva, K.; Sanderson, J. H.; Holbrook, J.

2009-01-01

We have developed an easy-to-use online tutorial generator designed to allow instructors to make tutorials quickly and with a minimal learning curve. The motivation was to create a generator that would allow instructors to create tutorials as needed and possibly build up a bank of tutorials over a number of years. A key design feature of the…

Developing a fully online course for senior medical students

PubMed Central

Chapman, Chris; White, Casey B.; Engleberg, Cary; Fantone, Joseph C.; Cinti, Sandro K.

2011-01-01

In 2002 the University of Michigan Medical School created a one-month course in advanced medical therapeutics (AMT). All senior medical students were required to complete the course. To provide some flexibility for students who were interviewing for residency positions the AMT course was created using a distance-learning model, and in the 2008–2009 academic year it was offered in a fully online format. The components of the course are weekly case-based modules, a weekly online seminar, quizzes based on modules and seminars, and a research project based on a therapeutic question. The paper discusses the development and components of the AMT course, a survey of fourth-year medical students who participated in the course between 2007 and 2010, and how the course evolved over three years. PMID:21566733

Assessment approaches in massive open online courses: Possibilities, challenges and future directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Yao; Suen, Hoi K.

2018-03-01

The development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has launched an era of large-scale interactive participation in education. While massive open enrolment and the advances of learning technology are creating exciting potentials for lifelong learning in formal and informal ways, the implementation of efficient and effective assessment is still problematic. To ensure that genuine learning occurs, both assessments for learning (formative assessments), which evaluate students' current progress, and assessments of learning (summative assessments), which record students' cumulative progress, are needed. Providers' more recent shift towards the granting of certificates and digital badges for course accomplishments also indicates the need for proper, secure and accurate assessment results to ensure accountability. This article examines possible assessment approaches that fit open online education from formative and summative assessment perspectives. The authors discuss the importance of, and challenges to, implementing assessments of MOOC learners' progress for both purposes. Various formative and summative assessment approaches are then identified. The authors examine and analyse their respective advantages and disadvantages. They conclude that peer assessment is quite possibly the only universally applicable approach in massive open online education. They discuss the promises, practical and technical challenges, current developments in and recommendations for implementing peer assessment. They also suggest some possible future research directions.

Collaboration for Education with the Apple Learning Interchange

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Patrick A.; Zimmerman, T.; Knierman, K. A.

2006-12-01

We present a progressive effort to deliver online education and outreach resources in collaboration with the Apple Learning Interchange, a free community for educators. We have created a resource site with astronomy activities, video training for the activities, and the possibility of interactive training through video chat services. Also in development is an online textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in stellar evolution, featuring an updatable and annotated text with multimedia content, online lectures, podcasts, and a framework for interactive simulation activities. Both sites will be highly interactive, combining online discussions, the opportunity for live video interaction, and a growing library of student work samples. This effort promises to provide a compelling model for collaboration between science educators and corporations. As scientists, we provide content knowledge and a compelling reason to communicate, while Apple provides technical expertise, a deep knowledge of online education, and a way for us to reach a wide audience of higher education, community outreach, and K-12 educators.

Integrating Online GIS into the K-12 Curricula: Lessons from the Development of a Collaborative GIS in Michigan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henry, Paul; Semple, Hugh

2012-01-01

GIS has shown promise in Project Based Learning (PBL) environments, but many obstacles exist in its integration into school curriculums. This article discusses the development and utilization of an online GIS tool that was created to illustrate that the perceptual gap between relevance and ease of use of GIS software can be bridged at the K-12…

On-line capacity-building program on "analysis of data" for medical educators in the South Asia region: a qualitative exploration of our experience.

PubMed

Dongre, A R; Chacko, T V; Banu, S; Bhandary, S; Sahasrabudhe, R A; Philip, S; Deshmukh, P R

2010-11-01

In medical education, using the World Wide Web is a new approach for building the capacity of faculty. However, there is little information available on medical education researchers' needs and their collective learning outcomes in such on-line environments. Hence, the present study attempted: 1)to identify needs for capacity-building of fellows in a faculty development program on the topic of data analysis; and 2) to describe, analyze and understand the collective learning outcomes of the fellows during this need-based on-line session. The present research is based on quantitative (on-line survey for needs assessment) and qualitative (contents of e-mails exchanged in listserv discussion) data which were generated during the October 2009 Mentoring and Learning (M-L) Web discussion on the topic of data analysis. The data sources were shared e-mail responses during the process of planning and executing the M-L Web discussion. Content analysis was undertaken and the categories of discussion were presented as a simple non-hierarchical typology which represents the collective learning of the project fellows. We identified the types of learning needs on the topic 'Analysis of Data' to be addressed for faculty development in the field of education research. This need-based M-L Web discussion could then facilitate collective learning on such topics as 'basic concepts in statistics', tests of significance, Likert scale analysis, bivariate correlation, and simple regression analysis and content analysis of qualitative data. Steps like identifying the learning needs for an on-line M-L Web discussion, addressing the immediate needs of learners and creating a flexible reflective learning environment on the M-L Web facilitated the collective learning of the fellows on the topic of data analysis. Our outcomes can be useful in the design of on-line pedagogical strategies for supporting research in medical education.

Isolation and Distinctiveness in the Design of E-Learning Systems Influence User Preferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Samarraie, Hosam; Selim, Hassan; Teo, Timothy; Zaqout, Fahed

2017-01-01

When faced with excessive detail in an online environment, typical users have difficulty processing all the elements of representation. This in turn creates cognitive overload, which narrows the user's focus to a few select items. In the context of e-learning, we translated this aspect as the learner's demand for a system that facilitates the…

Building a Linked Learning Pathway: A Guide for Transforming High Schools for College and Career Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atterbury, Rob

2014-01-01

This guide provides an overview of a more robust online guide and toolkit available through ConnectEd Studios. It supplies a glimpse of the sequence of steps involved in creating a new Linked Learning pathway. This publication can help coaches, district leadership, and pathway teams gain an understanding of the overall process of designing and…

Ownership of Digital Course Artifacts: Who Can Access and Use Your Words, Images, Sounds, and Clicks?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dennen, Vanessa P.

2016-01-01

Digital learning environments are spaces in which data are shared, generated, and recorded. At the end of an online course, a rich collection of digital artifacts are left behind by the instructor and learners. Some artifacts are intentionally created learning materials and assignments, some are the products of class interaction in discussion…

Sensemaking during the Use of Learning Analytics in the Context of a Large College System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morse, Robert Kenneth

2017-01-01

This research took place as a cognitive exploration of sensemaking of learning analytics at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. For the courses with the largest online enrollment, quality standards in the course design are maintained by creating sections from a course design framework. This means all sections have the same starting content and…

Measuring the Outcome of At-Risk Students on Biology Standardized Tests When Using Different Instructional Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Dana Leigh

2017-01-01

Over the last two decades, online education has become a popular concept in universities as well as K-12 education. This generation of students has grown up using technology and has shown interest in incorporating technology into their learning. The idea of using technology in the classroom to enhance student learning and create higher achievement…

Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Teaching Large Classes: Development and Evaluation of a Novel e-Resource in Cancer Biology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hejmadi, Momna V.

2007-01-01

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a blended learning resource in the biosciences, created by combining online learning with formal face-face lectures and supported by formative assessments. In order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching large classes with mixed student cohorts, teaching was delivered through…

Designing and Improving a Blended Synchronous Learning Environment: An Educational Design Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Qiyun; Lang Quek, Choon; Hu, Xiaoyong

2017-01-01

In this study, a blended synchronous learning environment (BSLE) was created to support a group of graduate students when they were taking a course. Instruction was delivered to both face-to-face (F2F) and online students simultaneously. The purpose of this paper is to present how this BSLE was gradually designed, implemented, and improved by…

Making It Real: Project Managing Strategic e-Learning Development Processes in a Large, Campus-Based University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Mary-Helen; West, Sandra; Peat, Mary; Atkinson, Susan

2010-01-01

The University of Sydney is a large, research-intensive, campus-based Australian University. Since 2004 a strategic initiative of project-based eLearning support has been creating teams of non-academic and academic staff, who have worked together to develop online resources to meet identified needs. The University's aims in continuing to provide…

Teaching evidence-based practice principles to prepare health professions students for an interprofessional learning experience

PubMed Central

Aronoff, Nell; Stellrecht, Elizabeth; Lyons, Amy G.; Zafron, Michelle L.; Glogowski, Maryruth; Grabowski, Jeremiah; Ohtake, Patricia J.

2017-01-01

Objective: The research assessed online learning modules designed to teach health professions students evidence-based practice (EBP) principles in an interprofessional context across two institutions. Methods: Students from nine health professions at two institutions were recruited to participate in this pilot project consisting of two online learning modules designed to prepare students for an in-person case-based interprofessional activity. Librarians and an instructional designer created two EBP modules. Students’ competence in EBP was assessed before and after the modules as well as after the in-person activity. Students evaluated the online learning modules and their impact on the students’ learning after the in-person session. Results: A total of 39 students from 8 health professions programs participated in the project. Average quiz scores for online EBP module 1 and module 2 were 83% and 76%, respectively. Following completion of the learning modules, adapted Fresno test of competence in EBP scores increased (p=0.001), indicating that the modules improved EBP skill competence. Student evaluations of the learning modules were positive. Students indicated that they acquired new information skills that contributed to their ability to develop a patient care plan and that they would use these information skills in their future clinical practice. Conclusions: Online EBP learning modules were effective in developing EBP knowledge and skills for health professions students. Using the same modules ensured that students from different health professions at different stages of their professional programs had consistent knowledge and enabled each student to fully engage in an interprofessional evidence-based activity. Student feedback indicated the modules were valued and beneficial. PMID:28983201

Using distance technologies to facilitate a learning collaborative to implement stagewise treatment.

PubMed

Covell, Nancy H; Foster, Forrest P; Margolies, Paul J; Lopez, Luis O; Dixon, Lisa B

2015-06-01

This report describes experiences and outcomes of an online learning collaborative focused on implementation of stagewise treatment. Eleven participating programs convened online monthly for a year. Between meetings, program staff created an implementation plan and programs collected performance indicator data, including assessment of staff knowledge of integrated treatment for people with co-occurring disorders, whether a person's current stage of treatment was documented in his or her chart, and whether the treatments were appropriate for the stage of treatment. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize performance indicators and feedback. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank tests examined changes in performance indicators over time. Program staff generally demonstrated significant improvements in performance indicators over time and rated the distance learning collaborative favorably. Distance learning collaboratives can be structured to provide opportunities for program staff to interact and learn from one another and to implement and sustain changes.

Innovation Online Teaching Module Plus Digital Engineering Kit with Proteus Software through Hybrid Learning Method to Improve Student Skills

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kholis, Nur; Syariffuddien Zuhrie, Muhamad; Rahmadian, Reza

2018-04-01

Demands the competence (competence) needs of the industry today is a competent workforce to the field of work. However, during this lecture material Digital Engineering (Especially Digital Electronics Basics and Digital Circuit Basics) is limited to the delivery of verbal form of lectures (classical method) is dominated by the Lecturer (Teacher Centered). Though the subject of Digital Engineering requires learning tools and is required understanding of electronic circuits, digital electronics and high logic circuits so that learners can apply in the world of work. One effort to make it happen is by creating an online teaching module and educational aids (Kit) with the help of Proteus software that can improve the skills of learners. This study aims to innovate online teaching modules plus kits in Proteus-assisted digital engineering courses through hybrid learning approaches to improve the skills of learners. The process of innovation is done by considering the skills and mastery of the technology of students (students) Department of Electrical Engineering - Faculty of Engineering – Universitas Negeri Surabaya to produce quality graduates Use of online module plus Proteus software assisted kit through hybrid learning approach. In general, aims to obtain adequate results with affordable cost of investment, user friendly, attractive and interactive (easily adapted to the development of Information and Communication Technology). With the right design, implementation and operation, both in the form of software both in the form of Online Teaching Module, offline teaching module, Kit (Educational Viewer), and e-learning learning content (both online and off line), the use of the three tools of the expenditure will be able to adjust the standard needs of Information and Communication Technology world, both nationally and internationally.

When the globe is your classroom: teaching and learning about large-scale environmental change online

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howard, E. A.; Coleman, K. J.; Barford, C. L.; Kucharik, C.; Foley, J. A.

2005-12-01

Understanding environmental problems that cross physical and disciplinary boundaries requires a more holistic view of the world - a "systems" approach. Yet it is a challenge for many learners to start thinking this way, particularly when the problems are large in scale and not easily visible. We will describe our online university course, "Humans and the Changing Biosphere," which takes a whole-systems perspective for teaching regional to global-scale environmental science concepts, including climate, hydrology, ecology, and human demographics. We will share our syllabus and learning objectives and summarize our efforts to incorporate "best" practices for online teaching. We will describe challenges we have faced, and our efforts to reach different learner types. Our goals for this presentation are: (1) to communicate how a systems approach ties together environmental sciences (including climate, hydrology, ecology, biogeochemistry, and demography) that are often taught as separate disciplines; (2) to generate discussion about challenges of teaching large-scale environmental processes; (3) to share our experiences in teaching these topics online; (4) to receive ideas and feedback on future teaching strategies. We will explain why we developed this course online, and share our experiences about benefits and challenges of teaching over the web - including some suggestions about how to use technology to supplement face-to-face learning experiences (and vice versa). We will summarize assessment data about what students learned during the course, and discuss key misconceptions and barriers to learning. We will highlight the role of an online discussion board in creating classroom community, identifying misconceptions, and engaging different types of learners.

Effective e-learning in surgical education: the core values underpinning effective e-learning environments and how these may be enhanced for future surgical education.

PubMed

Bamford, R; Coulston, J

2016-01-01

e-learning is a valuable tool that has a number of advantages for Surgical Oncology training and education. The rapidly evolving nature of, and limited clinical exposure to oncological practice creates challenges for surgical trainees to stay up to date and engaged. Online learning can be accessed anywhere at any time and allows trainees to develop, apply and be assessed on their learning. To be effective, it must be educationally sound and embrace technology to enhance learners' experience.

Best Practices for Use of Blended Learning

PubMed Central

Porter, Andrea L.; Pitterle, Michael E.

2017-01-01

Objective. To determine instructional best practice recommendations for use of blended learning from the students’ perspective. Methods. Three focus groups were created, one for each of the first three years at a school of pharmacy. The focus group discussions were audio recorded and transcribed for content analysis. Results. Ten instructional best practices were identified from the focus groups: setting the stage, consistency when team teaching, timeliness in posting materials, time on task, accountability for online activities, use of structured active learning, instructor use of feedback on student preparation, incorporation of student feedback into the course, short reviews of online material during class, and ensuring technologies are user friendly. Conclusion. Instructors using blended learning should consider incorporating these best practices into their course design and management. More evaluation is needed to see if implementation of these practices affects student performance. PMID:28496269

Best Practices for Use of Blended Learning.

PubMed

Margolis, Amanda R; Porter, Andrea L; Pitterle, Michael E

2017-04-01

Objective. To determine instructional best practice recommendations for use of blended learning from the students' perspective. Methods. Three focus groups were created, one for each of the first three years at a school of pharmacy. The focus group discussions were audio recorded and transcribed for content analysis. Results. Ten instructional best practices were identified from the focus groups: setting the stage, consistency when team teaching, timeliness in posting materials, time on task, accountability for online activities, use of structured active learning, instructor use of feedback on student preparation, incorporation of student feedback into the course, short reviews of online material during class, and ensuring technologies are user friendly. Conclusion. Instructors using blended learning should consider incorporating these best practices into their course design and management. More evaluation is needed to see if implementation of these practices affects student performance.

Adding Audio Supported Smartboard Lectures to an Introductory Astronomy Online Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lahaise, U. G. L.

2003-12-01

SMART Board(TM) and RealProducer(R) Plus technologies were used to develop a series of narrated pre-lab introductory online lectures. Smartboard slides were created by capturing images from internet pages and power point slides, then annotated and saved as web pages using smartboard technology. Short audio files were recorded using the RealProducer Plus software which were then linked to individual slides. WebCT was used to deliver the online laboratory. Students in an Introductory Astronomy of the Solar System Online laboratory used the lectures to prepare for laboratory exercises. The narrated pre-lab lectures were added to six out of eight suitable laboratory exercises. A survey was given to the students to research their online laboratory experience, in general, and the impact of the narrated smartboard lectures on their learning success, specifically. Data were collected for two accelerated sessions. Results show that students find the online laboratory equally hard or harder than a separate online lecture. The accelerated format created great time pressure which negatively affected their study habits. About half of the students used the narrated pre-lab lectures consistently. Preliminary findings show that lab scores in the accelerated sessions were brought up to the level of full semester courses.

Learning in depth with the bespoke rubric-supported online poster presentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lajevardipour, Alireza; Wood, Andrew

2017-08-01

In our course of Biomedical Imaging, we introduced a research project as an assignment that included an online poster presentation. To assess the assignment, an adjusted criteria sheet was created, where it facilitated providing students with an effective feedback linked to particular criteria. Students are expected to produce a scientific poster to present the result of their investigation and upload it to an online discussion board. In addition, they are required to read their colleagues' works and provide peer-feedback by asking quality questions about principles and results, also on-line. Subtle distribution of marks in the rubric balances focus between preparing poster and providing peer-feedbacks.

Using SecondLife Online Virtual World Technology to Introduce Educators to the Digital Culture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jamison, John

2008-01-01

The rapidly changing culture resulting from new technologies and digital gaming has created an increasing language gap between traditional educators and today's learners (Natkin, 2006; Seely-Brown, 2000). This study seeks to use the online virtual world of SecondLife.com as a tool to introduce educators to this new environment for learning. This study observes the activities and perceptions of a group of educators given unscripted access to this virtual environment. The results 'suggest that although serious technology limitations do currently exist, the potential of this virtual world environment as a learning experience for educators is strong.

A Cybernetic Design Methodology for 'Intelligent' Online Learning Support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinton, Stephen R.

The World Wide Web (WWW) provides learners and knowledge workers convenient access to vast stores of information, so much that present methods for refinement of a query or search result are inadequate - there is far too much potentially useful material. The problem often encountered is that users usually do not recognise what may be useful until they have progressed some way through the discovery, learning, and knowledge acquisition process. Additional support is needed to structure and identify potentially relevant information, and to provide constructive feedback. In short, support for learning is needed. The learning envisioned here is not simply the capacity to recall facts or to recognise objects. The focus is on learning that results in the construction of knowledge. Although most online learning platforms are efficient at delivering information, most do not provide tools that support learning as envisaged in this chapter. It is conceivable that Web-based learning environments can incorporate software systems that assist learners to form new associations between concepts and synthesise information to create new knowledge. This chapter details the rationale and theory behind a research study that aims to evolve Web-based learning environments into 'intelligent thinking' systems that respond to natural language human input. Rather than functioning simply as a means of delivering information, it is argued that online learning solutions will 1 day interact directly with students to support their conceptual thinking and cognitive development.

Multimedia Data Capture with Multicast Dissemination for Online Distance Learning

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-12-01

Juan Gril and Dr. Don Brutzman to wrap the multiple videos in a user- friendly environment. The web pages also contain the original PowerPoint...this CD, Juan Gril , a volunteer for the Siggraph 2001 Online Committee, created web pages that match the style and functionality desired by the...leader. The Committee for 2001 consisted of Don Brutzman, Stephen. Matsuba, Mike Collins, Allen Dutton, Juan Gril , Mike Hunsberger, Jerry Isdale

A Blended Learning Approach to Teaching Basic Pharmacokinetics and the Significance of Face-to-Face Interaction

PubMed Central

Holbrook, Jane

2010-01-01

Objective To assess pharmacy students' attitudes towards a blended-learning pharmacokinetics course. Design Narrated visual presentations and animations that illustrated kinetic processes and guided students through the use of software programs used for calculations were created. Other learning techniques used included online self-assessment quizzes, practice problem sets, and weekly face-to-face problem-solving tutorials. Assessment A precourse questionnaire to assess students' level of enthusiasm towards the blended-learning course and to solicit any concerns they had was administered at the beginning of the course. A postcourse questionnaire that included the same 4 Likert-scale items from the precourse questionnaire and follow-up open-ended questions was administered. Individual changes in level of enthusiasm were compared for individuals who completed both the precourse and postcourse questionnaire. Students' concerns about the blended method of learning had decreased postcourse while their enthusiasm for the benefits of blended learning had increased. Conclusion Students' initial concerns about the blended learning experience were focused on their ability to communicate with the instructor about the online components, but shifted to their own time management skills at the end of the course. Face-to-face interactions with each other and with the instructor were more highly rated than online interactions in this course. PMID:20798797

A blended learning approach to teaching basic pharmacokinetics and the significance of face-to-face interaction.

PubMed

Edginton, Andrea; Holbrook, Jane

2010-06-15

To assess pharmacy students' attitudes towards a blended-learning pharmacokinetics course. Narrated visual presentations and animations that illustrated kinetic processes and guided students through the use of software programs used for calculations were created. Other learning techniques used included online self-assessment quizzes, practice problem sets, and weekly face-to-face problem-solving tutorials. A precourse questionnaire to assess students' level of enthusiasm towards the blended-learning course and to solicit any concerns they had was administered at the beginning of the course. A postcourse questionnaire that included the same 4 Likert-scale items from the precourse questionnaire and follow-up open-ended questions was administered. Individual changes in level of enthusiasm were compared for individuals who completed both the precourse and postcourse questionnaire. Students' concerns about the blended method of learning had decreased postcourse while their enthusiasm for the benefits of blended learning had increased. Students' initial concerns about the blended learning experience were focused on their ability to communicate with the instructor about the online components, but shifted to their own time management skills at the end of the course. Face-to-face interactions with each other and with the instructor were more highly rated than online interactions in this course.

A longitudinal dataset of five years of public activity in the Scratch online community.

PubMed

Hill, Benjamin Mako; Monroy-Hernández, Andrés

2017-01-31

Scratch is a programming environment and an online community where young people can create, share, learn, and communicate. In collaboration with the Scratch Team at MIT, we created a longitudinal dataset of public activity in the Scratch online community during its first five years (2007-2012). The dataset comprises 32 tables with information on more than 1 million Scratch users, nearly 2 million Scratch projects, more than 10 million comments, more than 30 million visits to Scratch projects, and more. To help researchers understand this dataset, and to establish the validity of the data, we also include the source code of every version of the software that operated the website, as well as the software used to generate this dataset. We believe this is the largest and most comprehensive downloadable dataset of youth programming artifacts and communication.

The Primary Student Teachers' Views about a Blended Learning Application in a Basic Physics Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taskin Ekici, Fatma; Kara, Izzet; Ekici, Erhan

2012-01-01

In this study we present an overview of the undergraduate blended Physics course that has been supported by the Moodle platform. The course that has been applied is a basic physics course for primary student teachers. The aim of Moodle is to create an online learning environment which helps students to have a virtual space where they can share…

Tools, courses, and learning pathways offered by the National Interagency Fuels, Fire, and Vegetation Technology Transfer

Treesearch

Eva K. Strand; Kathy H. Schon; Jeff Jones

2010-01-01

Technological advances in the area of fuel and wildland fire management have created a need for effective decision support tools and technology training. The National Interagency Fuels Committee and LANDFIRE have chartered a team to develop science-based learning tools for assessment of fire and fuels and to provide online training and technology transfer to help...

[The inter-university learning website: a national university network for online teaching of pathology].

PubMed

Gauchotte, Guillaume; Ameisen, David; Boutonnat, Jean; Battistella, Maxime; Copie, Christiane; Garcia, Stéphane; Rigau, Valérie; Galateau-Sallé, Françoise; Terris, Benoit; Vergier, Béatrice; Wendum, Dominique; Bertheau, Philippe

2013-06-01

Building online teaching materials is a highly time and energy consuming task for teachers of a single university. With the help of the Collège des pathologistes, we initiated a French national university network for building mutualized online teaching pathology cases, tests and other pedagogic resources. Nineteen French universities are associated to this project, initially funded by UNF3S (http://www.unf3s.org/). One national e-learning Moodle platform (http://virtual-slides.univ-paris7.fr/moodle/) contains texts, medias and URL pointing toward decentralized virtual slides. The Moodle interface has been explained to the teachers since september 2011 using web-based conferences with screen-sharing. The following contents have been created: 20 clinical cases, several tests with multiple choices and short answer questions, and gross examination videos. A survey with 16 teachers and students showed a 94 % satisfaction rate, most of the 16 participants being favorable to the development of e-learning, in parallel with other courses in classroom. These tools will be further developed for the different study levels of pathology. In conclusion, these tools offer very interesting perspectives for pathology teaching. The organization of a national inter-university network is a useful way to create and share numerous and good-quality pedagogic resources. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Using Twitter for Teaching and Learning in an Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Course.

PubMed

Gonzalez, Shawneen M; Gadbury-Amyot, Cynthia C

2016-02-01

The aim of this study was to describe the implementation of one form of social media (Twitter) in an oral radiology course and evaluate dental students' use and perceptions of this technology for teaching and learning. An author-developed questionnaire was used to solicit second-year students' knowledge, use, and perceptions of Twitter for teaching and learning in an oral radiology course at one U.S. dental school. A combination of Likert scales, multiple allowable answers, and an open-ended comment question was employed. The questionnaire was piloted in spring 2010 followed by data collection in spring 2011. Out of 45 students, 40 (88.9%) completed the questionnaire. Of the respondents, 95% reported having not used Twitter prior to their second year of dental school; 55% of them created an account for the course. The top two reasons they gave for creating an account were viewing radiographic examples and staying informed about questions and answers that were posted. The top two reasons they gave for not creating an account were that the content was viewable online without an account and not wanting another online account. The students perceived the Twitter sessions as helpful and reported it improved accessibility to the instructor. The results of this study challenged the assumption that dental students are well versed in all forms of social media, but overall, these students agreed that the use of Twitter had enhanced the learning environment in the radiology course.

Supporting traditional PBL with online discussion forums: a study from Qassim Medical School.

PubMed

Alamro, Ahmad S; Schofield, Susie

2012-01-01

The Qassim Medical School first year curriculum includes a 5-week problem-based learning (PBL) block. Student evaluation has highlighted inadequate feedback and lack of student-student and student-tutor interactions. An online intervention may alleviate this. For each problem, a discussion forum (DF) was created with 14 threads (one for each group) in virtual PBL rooms. Students' and tutors' perceived satisfaction of the intervention was evaluated and types of posts were classified. By the end of the block, all academic staff involved and 123 students (95%) had participated in the DFs. There were around 2800 posts and 28,500 views. All 14 tutors and 102 (78%) students completed the online questionnaire. Of the students, 66 (76%) male and 36 (92%) female students responded. Overall, both students and tutors perceived the intervention positively. Posts included: reforming and finalizing learning objectives, posting the concept map constructed in the face-to-face session and questioning, encouraging and motivating each other. In addition, posts included tutors' feedback and redirection. Blending e-learning with conventional PBL may help overcome student-perceived shortcomings of conventional PBL and improve the learning experience, making learning more interactive and interesting.

A Multidisciplinary Self-Directed Learning Module Improves Knowledge of a Quality Improvement Instrument: The HEART Pathway.

PubMed

Hartman, Nicholas D; Harper, Erin N; Leppert, Lauren M; Browning, Brittany M; Askew, Kim; Manthey, David E; Mahler, Simon A

We created and tested an educational intervention to support implementation of an institution wide QI project (the HEART Pathway) designed to improve care for patients with acute chest pain. Although online learning modules have been shown effective in imparting knowledge regarding QI projects, it is unknown whether these modules are effective across specialties and healthcare professions. Participants, including nurses, advanced practice clinicians, house staff and attending physicians (N = 486), were enrolled into an online, self-directed learning course exploring the key concepts of the HEART Pathway. The module was completed by 97% of enrollees (469/486) and 90% passed on the first attempt (422/469). Out of 469 learners, 323 completed the pretest, learning module and posttest in the correct order. Mean test scores across learners improved significantly from 74% to 89% from the pretest to the posttest. Following the intervention, the HEART Pathway was used for 88% of patients presenting to our institution with acute chest pain. Our data demonstrate that this online, self-directed learning module can improve knowledge of the HEART Pathway across specialties-paving the way for more efficient and informed care for acute chest pain patients.

Adventure Learning: Theory and Implementation of Hybrid Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doering, A.

2008-12-01

Adventure Learning (AL), a hybrid distance education approach, provides students and teachers with the opportunity to learn about authentic curricular content areas while interacting with adventurers, students, and content experts at various locations throughout the world within an online learning environment (Doering, 2006). An AL curriculum and online environment provides collaborative community spaces where traditional hierarchical classroom roles are blurred and learning is transformed. AL has most recently become popular in K-12 classrooms nationally and internationally with millions of students participating online. However, in the literature, the term "adventure learning" many times gets confused with phrases such as "virtual fieldtrip" and activities where someone "exploring" is posting photos and text. This type of "adventure learning" is not "Adventure Learning" (AL), but merely a slideshow of their activities. The learning environment may not have any curricular and/or social goals, and if it does, the environment design many times does not support these objectives. AL, on the other hand, is designed so that both teachers and students understand that their online and curriculum activities are in synch and supportive of the curricular goals. In AL environments, there are no disparate activities as the design considers the educational, social, and technological affordances (Kirschner, Strijbos, Kreijns, & Beers, 2004); in other words, the artifacts of the learning environment encourage and support the instructional goals, social interactions, collaborative efforts, and ultimately learning. AL is grounded in two major theoretical approaches to learning - experiential and inquiry-based learning. As Kolb (1984) noted, in experiential learning, a learner creates meaning from direct experiences and reflections. Such is the goal of AL within the classroom. Additionally, AL affords learners a real-time authentic online learning experience concurrently as they study the AL curriculum. AL is also grounded in an inquiry- based approach to learning where learners are pursuing answers to questions they have posed rather than focusing on memorizing and regurgitating isolated, irrelevant facts. Both the curriculum and the online classroom are developed to foster students' abilities to inquire via "identifying and posing questions, designing and conducting investigations, analyzing data and evidence, using models and explanations, and communicating findings" (Keys and Bryan, 2001, p 121). The union of experiential and inquiry-based learning is the foundation of AL, guiding and supporting authentic learning endeavors. Based on these theoretical foundations, the design of the adventure learning experiences follows seven interdependent principles that further operationalize AL: researched curriculum grounded in inquiry; collaboration and interaction opportunities between students, experts, peers, and content; utilization of the Internet for curriculum and learning environment delivery; enhancement of curriculum with media and text from the field delivered in a timely manner; synched learning opportunities with the AL curriculum; pedagogical guidelines of the curriculum and the online learning environment; and adventure-based education. (Doering, 2006).

Perceived barriers to online education by radiologic science educators.

PubMed

Kowalczyk, Nina K

2014-01-01

Radiologic science programs continue to adopt the use of blended online education in their curricula, with an increase in the use of online courses since 2009. However, perceived barriers to the use of online education formats persist in the radiologic science education community. An electronic survey was conducted to explore the current status of online education in the radiologic sciences and to identify barriers to providing online courses. A random sample of 373 educators from radiography, radiation therapy, and nuclear medicine technology educational programs accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology and Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs in Nuclear Medicine Technology was chosen to participate in this study. A qualitative analysis of self-identified barriers to online teaching was conducted. Three common themes emerged: information technology (IT) training and support barriers, student-related barriers, and institutional barriers. Online education is not prevalent in the radiologic sciences, in part because of the need for the clinical application of radiologic science course content, but online course activity has increased substantially in radiologic science education, and blended or hybrid course designs can effectively provide opportunities for student-centered learning. Further development is needed to increase faculty IT self-efficacy and to educate faculty regarding pedagogical methods appropriate for online course delivery. To create an excellent online learning environment, educators must move beyond technology issues and focus on providing quality educational experiences for students.

Pretest online discussion groups to augment teaching and learning.

PubMed

Kuhn, Jonathan; Hasbargen, Barbara; Miziniak, Halina

2010-01-01

Tests and final examination scores of three semesters of control students in a nursing foundation course were compared with tests and final examination scores of three semesters of participating students. Participating students were offered access to an asynchronous pretest online discussion activity with a faculty e-moderator. While the simplified Bloom's revised taxonomy assisted in creating appropriate preparatory test and final examination questions for pretest online discussion, Salmon's five-stage online method provided direction to the e-moderator on how to encourage students to achieve Bloom's higher-order thinking skills during the pretest online discussions. Statistical analysis showed the pretest online discussion activity had a generally positive impact on tests and final examination scores, when controlling for a number of possible confounding variables, including instructor, cumulative grade point average, age, and credit hours.

Online Scholarly Conversations in General Education Astronomy Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Qijie; Wong, Ka-Wah

2018-01-01

In general education astronomy courses, many students are struggling with understanding the foundational concepts and theories in astronomy. One of the possible reasons is that, due the large class size, many of the courses are taught using a lecture mode, where human interactions and active learning are limited (Freeman et al., 2014). To address this challenge, we have applied the knowledge building framework (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006) to design an online collaborative learning component, called Scholarly Conversations, to be integrated into a general education astronomy course at a public, comprehensive university.During Scholarly Conversations, students are treated as scholars to advance knowledge frontiers (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006). The whole process involves the creation of new ideas and requires discourse and collective work for the advancement and creation of artifacts, such as theories and models (van Aalst, 2009). Based on the knowledge building principles (Scardamalia, 2002; Zhang, Scardamalia, Reeve, & Messina, 2009), several features have been built into Scholarly Conversations so that students are guided to deepen understanding of the astronomy concepts through three phases: knowledge sharing, knowledge construction and knowledge building, and reflections on learning growth (van Aalst, 2009; Cai, 2017). The online Scholarly Conversation is an extension of the lecture component of the general education astronomy course. It promotes student interactions and collaborative learning, and provides scaffolds for students to construct meanings of the essential concepts in astronomy through social learning and online technology. In this presentation, we will explain the specific design principles of the online Scholarly Conversation, and share the artifacts created to facilitate the online conversations in an general education astronomy course.Note: This project has been supported by the College of Education Research Grant Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Distance education and teaching online: my journey from mystery to mastery.

PubMed

Farber, Ruth S

2013-07-01

With the burgeoning of online programs in higher education, many occupational therapy faculty will need to expand their teaching repertoire to include distance education methods. This article describes the transition of one teacher, moving from face to face instruction to a blended distance education format, and the components of the process. These include providing a good technical infrastructure and training for both teachers and students. In addition, the process of creating and developing both synchronous (live) sessions and asynchronous (discussion boards) are described. Lastly the author reflects on ways to transcend the distance and strengthen the online learning experience.

A Renewed Vision for Higher Education in Public Health

PubMed Central

Hunter, David J.; Lapp, Ian

2015-01-01

We are transforming the educational strategy at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health guided by 5 principles: (1) development of T-shaped competencies (breadth across fields, depth in primary fields), (2) flexible and modular design accommodating different needs through the lifecycle, (3) greater experiential learning, (4) 3 levels of education (informative, formative, and transformative learning), and (5) integrated instructional design (online, in person, and in the field). We aim to create an arc of education resulting in continuous learning. We seek to bridge the research versus education dichotomy and create research–teaching congruence, adapting the values of peer review and quality assessment that we routinely accept for grant and article review to education. PMID:25706003

Effective e-learning in surgical education: the core values underpinning effective e-learning environments and how these may be enhanced for future surgical education

PubMed Central

Bamford, R; Coulston, J

2016-01-01

e-learning is a valuable tool that has a number of advantages for Surgical Oncology training and education. The rapidly evolving nature of, and limited clinical exposure to oncological practice creates challenges for surgical trainees to stay up to date and engaged. Online learning can be accessed anywhere at any time and allows trainees to develop, apply and be assessed on their learning. To be effective, it must be educationally sound and embrace technology to enhance learners’ experience. PMID:26913075

E-learning teaches attendings "how to" objectively assess pediatric urology trainees' surgery skills for orchiopexy.

PubMed

Fernandez, Nicolas; Maizels, Max; Farhat, Walid; Smith, Edwin; Liu, Dennis; Chua, Michael; Bhanji, Yasin

2018-04-01

Established methods to train pediatric urology surgery by residency training programs require updating in response to administrative changes such as new, reduced trainee duty hours. Therefore, new objective methods must be developed to teach trainees. We approached this need by creating e-learning to teach attendings objective assessment of trainee skills using the Zwisch scale, an established assessment tool. The aim of this study was to identify whether or not e-learning is an appropriate platform for effective teaching of this assessment tool, by assessing inter-rater correlation of assessments made by the attendings after participation in the e-learning. Pediatric orchiopexy was used as the index case. An e-learning tool was created to teach attending surgeons objective assessment of trainees' surgical skills. First, e-learning content was created which showed the assessment method videotape of resident surgery done in the operating room. Next, attendings were enrolled to e-learn this method. Finally, the ability of enrollees to assess resident surgery skill performance was tested. Namely, test video was made showing a trainee performing inguinal orchiopexy. All enrollees viewed the same online videos. Assessments of surgical skills (Zwisch scale) were entered into an online survey. Data were analyzed by intercorrelation coefficient kappa analysis (strong correlation was ICC ≥ 0.7). A total of 11 attendings were enrolled. All accessed the online learning and then made assessments of surgical skills trainees showed on videotapes. The e-learning comprised three modules: 1. "Core concepts," in which users learned the assessment tool methods; 2. "Learn to assess," in which users learned how to assess by watching video clips, explaining the assessment method; and 3. "Test," in which users tested their skill at making assessments by watching video clips and then actively inputting their ratings of surgical and global skills as viewed in the video clips (Figure). A total of 89 surgical skill ratings were performed with 56 (65%) exact matches between raters and 89 (100%) matched within one rank. Interclass correlation coefficient (ANOVA) showed statistically significant correlation. (r = 0.725, 95% CI 0.571-0.837, F = 3.976, p ≤ 0.00001). Kappa analysis of inter-rater reliability showed strong consensus between attendings for average measures with ICC = 0.71, 95% CI 0.46-0.95 (p = 0.03). We launched e-learning to teach pediatric urology attendings "how to" assess trainee surgical skills objectively (Zwisch scale). After e-learning, there was strong inter-rater correlation in assessments made. We plan to extend such e-learning to pediatric urology surgical training programs. Copyright © 2017 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using Interactive Digital Images of Products to Teach Pharmaceutics

PubMed Central

Pham, Khang H.; Dollar,, Michael

2007-01-01

Objective To implement interactive digital images of drug products and online quizzes in a pharmaceutics course to teach students where to look on product labels for information and how to evaluate ingredients of various dosage forms, and to reinforce pharmaceutical calculations with practical problems. Design Interactive digital images of drug products and a database of quiz questions pertaining to the products were created and an interactive online platform was designed. The interactive digital images were incorporated in pharmaceutics lectures as examples of dosage forms studied and calculations taught. The online quizzes were administered to first-professional year pharmacy students in fall 2004 and fall 2005. Assessment The competency outcome data illustrates that the product-based online quizzes aided students in meeting the desired learning objectives. Modifications to increase ease of use resulted in higher student success rates in the second year of implementation. Student and faculty evaluations of the application were largely positive. Conclusion The development of interactive digital images and product-based online quizzes successfully adapted a traditional learning aid into a viable electronic resource for pharmacy education. PMID:17619660

Measuring the Outcome of At-Risk Students on Biology Standardized Tests When Using Different Instructional Strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burns, Dana

Over the last two decades, online education has become a popular concept in universities as well as K-12 education. This generation of students has grown up using technology and has shown interest in incorporating technology into their learning. The idea of using technology in the classroom to enhance student learning and create higher achievement has become necessary for administrators, teachers, and policymakers. Although online education is a popular topic, there has been minimal research on the effectiveness of online and blended learning strategies compared to the student learning in a traditional K-12 classroom setting. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in standardized test scores from the Biology End of Course exam when at-risk students completed the course using three different educational models: online format, blended learning, and traditional face-to-face learning. Data was collected from over 1,000 students over a five year time period. Correlation analyzed data from standardized tests scores of eighth grade students was used to define students as "at-risk" for failing high school courses. The results indicated a high correlation between eighth grade standardized test scores and Biology End of Course exam scores. These students were deemed "at-risk" for failing high school courses. Standardized test scores were measured for the at-risk students when those students completed Biology in the different models of learning. Results indicated significant differences existed among the learning models. Students had the highest test scores when completing Biology in the traditional face-to-face model. Further evaluation of subgroup populations indicated statistical differences in learning models for African-American populations, female students, and for male students.

A Learner-Created Virtual Patient Curriculum for Surgical Residents: Successes and Failures.

PubMed

McKendy, Katherine M; Posel, Nancy; Fleiszer, David M; Vassiliou, Melina C

2016-01-01

To determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a learner-created virtual patient (VP) curriculum for postgraduate year 2 surgical residents. Using a social-constructivist model of learning, we designed a learner-created VP curriculum to help postgraduate year 2 residents prepare for their in-training surgical examination. Each resident was assigned to create a VP curriculum based on the learning objectives for this examination, and VP cases were then disseminated to all residents for completion. To measure the learning effects of the curriculum, participants completed 2 simulated in-training examinations, both at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Study participants also participated in a focus group and completed an online questionnaire about the perceived learning value of the curriculum. The study was conducted at the McGill University Health Centre, a tertiary care hospital in Montreal, Canada. In total, 24 residents from 7 surgical specialties completed both the pretest and posttest, as well as took part in the creation of a VP curriculum. Of those 24 residents, only 19 residents completed the cases created by their peers, with 7 completing greater than 50% of the cases and 12 completing less than 50%. In all 17 residents responded to the online questionnaire and 11 residents participated in the focus group. The VP curriculum failed to improve scores from pretest (59.6%, standard deviation = 8.1) to posttest (55.4%, standard deviation = 6.6; p = 0.01) on the simulated in-training examination. Nonetheless, survey results demonstrated that most residents felt that creating a VP case (89%) and completing cases created by their peers (71%) had educational value. Overall, 71% preferred active participation in a curriculum to traditional didactic teaching. The focus group identified time-related constraints, concern about the quality of the peer-created cases, and questioning of the relationship between the curriculum and the Surgical Foundations examination as barriers to the success of the curriculum. Despite the fact that a learner-created VP curriculum did not improve scores on a mock in training examination, residents viewed this intervention as a valuable educational experience. Although there were barriers to the implementation of a learner-created curriculum, it is nonetheless important to try and integrate pedagogical concepts into the instructional design of curricula for surgical residents. Copyright © 2016 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Climate Discovery Online Courses for Educators from NCAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henderson, S.; Ward, D. L.; Meymaris, K. K.; Johnson, R. M.; Gardiner, L.; Russell, R.

2008-12-01

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has responded to the pressing need for professional development in climate and global change sciences by creating the Climate Discovery online course series. This series was designed with the secondary geoscience educator in mind. The online courses are based on current and credible climate change science. Interactive learning techniques are built into the online course designs with assignments that encourage active participation. A key element of the online courses is the creation of a virtual community of geoscience educators who exchange ideas related to classroom implementation, student assessment, and lessons plans. Geoscience educators from around the country have participated in the online courses. The ongoing interest from geoscience educators strongly suggests that the NCAR Climate Discovery online courses are a timely and needed professional development opportunity. The intent of NCAR Climate Discovery is to positively impact teachers' professional development scientifically authentic information, (2) experiencing guided practice in conducting activities and using ancillary resources in workshop venues, (3) gaining access to standards-aligned lesson plans, kits that promote hands-on learning, and scientific content that are easily implemented in their classrooms, and (4) becoming a part of a community of educators with whom they may continue to discuss the challenges of pedagogy and content comprehension in teaching climate change in the Earth system context. Three courses make up the Climate Discovery series: Introduction to Climate Change; Earth System Science - A Climate Change Perspective; and Understanding Climate Change Today. Each course, instructed by science education specialists, combines geoscience content, information about current climate research, hands-on activities, and group discussion. The online courses use the web-based Moodle courseware system (open- source software similar to Blackboard and webCT), utilizing its features to promote dialogue as well as provide rich online content and media. A key element of the online courses is the development and support of an online learning community, an essential component in successful online courses. Interactive learning techniques are built into the course designs with assignments that encourage active participation. Educators (both formal and informal) use the courses as a venue to exchange ideas and teaching resources. A unique feature of the courses is the emphasis on hands-on activities, a hallmark of our professional development efforts. This presentation will focus on the lessons learned in the development of the three online courses and our successful recruitment and retention efforts.

Customized Videos on a YouTube Channel: A beyond the Classroom Teaching and Learning Platform for General Chemistry Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ranga, Jayashree S.

2017-01-01

Videos are an integral part of online courses. In this study, customized YouTube videos were explored as teaching and learning materials in place of face-to-face discussion sessions in General Chemistry courses. The videos were created using a budget-friendly and interactive app on an iPad. The customized YouTube videos were available to students…

Real World Connections Through Videoconferences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, Ruth; Lytle, John (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Learning Technologies Project (LTP) is a partner in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) educational technology program unit, an electronic community center that fosters interaction, collaboration, and sharing among educators, learners, and scientists. The goal of the NASA Glenn Research Center's Learning Technologies Project is to increase students' interest and proficiency in mathematics, science, and technology through the use of computing and communications technology and by using NASA's mission in aerospace technology as a theme. The primary components are: (1) Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics, including interactive simulation packages and teacher-created online activities. (2) NASA Virtual Visits, videoconferences (with online pre-post-conference activities) connecting students and teachers to NASA scientists and researchers.

On-line interactive virtual experiments on nanoscience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadar, Manuella; Ileana, Ioan; Hutanu, Constantin

2009-01-01

This paper is an overview on the next generation web which allows students to experience virtual experiments on nano science, physics devices, processes and processing equipment. Virtual reality is used to support a real university lab in which a student can experiment real lab sessions. The web material is presented in an intuitive and highly visual 3D form that is accessible to a diverse group of students. Such type of laboratory provides opportunities for professional and practical education for a wide range of users. The expensive equipment and apparatuses that build the experimental stage in a particular standard laboratory is used to create virtual educational research laboratories. Students learn how to prepare the apparatuses and facilities for the experiment. The online experiments metadata schema is the format for describing online experiments, much like the schema behind a library catalogue used to describe the books in a library. As an online experiment is a special kind of learning object, one specifies its schema as an extension to an established metadata schema for learning objects. The content of the courses, metainformation as well as readings and user data are saved on the server in a database as XML objects.

Effectiveness of objectivist online instruction on graduate learners' knowledge and competence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maryannakis, Artemios

Online courses currently offered by aeronautical institutions are unstructured conversions of traditional courses into Web-based courses that lack the learning theory and instructional design principles framework, thus lacking the efficiency and effectiveness in dealing with the academic demands required to prepare aviation/aerospace professionals for the challenges of the technologically driven twenty-first century. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two versions of an aeronautical online graduate course on research methods knowledge and competence: a comprehensive objectivist design and an unstructured design. Quantitative, causal comparative, quasi-experimental methodology was utilized. Using criteria derived from literature, criteria were established for the development and eventual online delivery of a comprehensive objectivist instructional design on graduate research methods learning. Results revealed that the comprehensive objectivist design was significantly more effective than its unstructured counterpart on graduate learners' competence in research methods, but found no significant difference in knowledge. It was recommended that aeronautical institutions (a) create programs with critical thinking and problem solving embedded in their curriculum for enhancing learner competence, and (b) thoroughly train every online instructor in the development and use of comprehensive online instruction.

Virtual Education: Guidelines for Using Games Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schofield, Damian

2014-01-01

Advanced three-dimensional virtual environment technology, similar to that used by the film and computer games industry, can allow educational developers to rapidly create realistic online virtual environments. This technology has been used to generate a range of interactive Virtual Reality (VR) learning environments across a spectrum of…

DIY.edu

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demski, Jennifer

2012-01-01

The publication of Anya Kamenetz's "DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education" (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010) caused quite a splash in the higher ed community. If, as she advocates, highly motivated students can access quality online coursework for free--if they can create their own learning paths based on…

Analysis of the Navy’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Program Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

mortar and wood supports. (1) U.S. Government Response Shortly after the earthquake the president of Pakistan, President Musharraf made a formal...complicating coordination efforts. 3. Lessons Learned The USN has created and recently updated an online system for use as a repository of after action...I guess the military could somehow post online a list of projects they are doing and also put up a list of projects they want groups to do. This way

Developing a constructivist learning environment in online postsecondary science courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hackworth, Sylvester N.

This Delphi study addressed the concerns of postsecondary educators regarding the quality of education received by postsecondary science students who receive their instruction online. This study was framed with the constructivist learning theory and Piaget's and Dewey's cognitive development theories. The overarching question addressed a gap in research literature surrounding the pedagogical practices that could be successfully applied to future postsecondary online science education. The panel consisted of 30 experts in the area of online postsecondary education. Qualitative data from the initial seed questions were used to create a Likert-type survey to seek consensus of the themes derived from participant responses. Participants reached agreement on six items: apply constructivism to science curricula, identify strengths and challenges of online collegiate students, explicate students' consequences due to lack of participation in discussion forums, ensure that online course content is relevant to students' lives, reinforce academic integrity, and identify qualities face-to-face collegiate science instructors need when transitioning to online science instructors. The majority of participants agreed that gender is not an important factor in determining the success of an online collegiate science student. There was no consensus on the efficacy of virtual labs in an online science classroom. This study contributes to positive social change by providing information to new and struggling postsecondary science teachers to help them successfully align their instruction with students' needs and, as a result, increase students' success.

Online information seeking practices of biology teachers and the perceived influences on instructional planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perrault, Anne Marie

The purpose of this study was to examine biology teachers' perceptions of how their online information seeking practices influence their instructional planning. When teachers engage in activities to locate, evaluate, and use online information and resources, a myriad of inter-related and often inseparable consequences follows. These influences may be any combination of direct/indirect, desirable/undesirable, or anticipated/unanticipated (Rogers, 2003). This exploratory study collected baseline data regarding teachers' online practices and its influence on their practice. There were two phases of data collection in this study. Phase I was an online survey of more than seventy New York State biology teachers. The survey was intended to capture (1) a snapshot of the biology teachers' online information seeking practices during the summer and fall 2004, and (2) their perceptions regarding how their online practices influenced their instructional planning. In Phase II, ten study participants were interviewed in order to explore in greater detail the consequences of their online information seeking practices on their instructional planning. Four themes reflecting the consequences of teachers' information seeking practices emerged from the data analysis: Currency of Information; Sparking of Ideas and Gaining Personal Knowledge; Resource Management and the Role of Time; and Webs of Sharing. Each theme encompassed both the purposeful and the indirect actions by teachers to access knowledge and resources to refine and improve their instructional planning. This study's findings show that teachers are using a greater number and wider range of current and multi-modal resources than pre-Internet and they perceive this as an advantage in creating authentic, inquiry-based learning experiences. A notable discovery was of the under-use by teachers of educational online resources specifically designed to support teaching and learning activities (e.g., digital libraries, online databases, and listservs). This study's findings point to a recursive process in which teachers are engaged in ongoing online information seeking practices; continually learning and fostering new knowledge; integrating the learning into their instructional planning practices; changing their teaching strategies; and going back online to search for information and resources and begin the cycle again.

Medical students' use of Facebook for educational purposes.

PubMed

Ali, Anam

2016-06-01

Medical students use Facebook to interact with one another both socially and educationally. This study investigates how medical students in a UK medical school use Facebook to support their learning. In particular, it identifies the nature of their educational activities, and details their experiences of using an educational Facebook group. Twenty-four medical students who self-identified as being Facebook users were invited to focus groups to attain a general overview of Facebook use within an educational context. A textual analysis was then conducted on a small group of intercalating medical students who used a self-created Facebook group to supplement their learning. Five of these students participated in semi-structured interviews. Six common themes were generated. These included 'collaborative learning', 'strategic uses for the preparation for assessment', 'sharing experiences and providing support', 'creating and maintaining connections', 'personal planning and practical organization' and 'sharing and evaluating educational resources'. Evidence from this study shows that medical students are using Facebook informally to enhance their learning and undergraduate lives. Facebook has enabled students to create a supportive learning community amongst their peers. Medical educators wishing to capitalize on Facebook, as a platform for formal educational initiatives, should remain cautious of intruding on this peer online learning community.

Twelve tips for using Twitter as a learning tool in medical education.

PubMed

Forgie, Sarah Edith; Duff, Jon P; Ross, Shelley

2013-01-01

Twitter is an online social networking service, accessible from any Internet-capable device. While other social networking sites are online confessionals or portfolios of personal current events, Twitter is designed and used as a vehicle to converse and share ideas. For this reason, we believe that Twitter may be the most likely candidate for integrating social networking with medical education. Using current research in medical education, motivation and the use of social media in higher education, we aim to show the ways Twitter may be used as a learning tool in medical education. A literature search of several databases, online sources and blogs was carried out examining the use of Twitter in higher education. We created 12 tips for using Twitter as a learning tool and organized them into: the mechanics of using Twitter, suggestions and evidence for incorporating Twitter into many medical education contexts, and promoting research into the use of Twitter in medical education. Twitter is a relatively new social medium, and its use in higher education is in its infancy. With further research and thoughtful application of media literacy, Twitter is likely to become a useful adjunct for more personalized teaching and learning in medical education.

Online and in-person networking among women in the Earth Sciences Women's Network at www.ESWNonline.org

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kontak, R.; Adams, A. S.; De Boer, A. M.; Hastings, M. G.; Holloway, T.; Marin-Spiotta, E.; Steiner, A. L.; Wiedinmyer, C.

2012-12-01

The Earth Science Women's Network is an international peer-mentoring network of women in the Earth Sciences, many of whom are in the early stages of their careers. Membership is free and has grown through "word of mouth," and includes upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, professionals in a range of environmental fields, scientists working in public and private institutions. Our mission is to promote career development, build community, provide informal mentoring and support, and facilitate professional collaborations. Since 2002 we have accomplished this trough online networking, including over email and a listserv, on facebook, in-person networking events, and professional development workshops. Now in our 10th year, ESWN is debuting a new web-center that creates an online space exclusively for women in any discipline of the Earth (including planetary) sciences. ESWN members can connect and create an online community of support and encouragement for themselves as women in a demanding career. Many women in Earth Science fields feel isolated and are often the only woman in their department or work environments. ESWN is a place to meet others, discuss issues faced in creating work-life balance and professional success and share best practices through peer mentoring. Now on ESWN's new web-center, members can create and personalize their profiles and search for others in their field, nearby, or with similar interests. Online discussions in the members-only area can also be searched. Members can create groups for discussion or collaboration, with document sharing and password protection. Publicly, we can share gained knowledge with a broader audience, like lessons learned at our professional development workshops and collected recommendations from members. The new web center allows for more connectivity among other online platforms used by our members, including linked-in, facebook, and twitter. Built in Wordpress with a Buddpress members-only section, the new ESWN website is supported by AGU and a NSF ADVANCE grant.;

Creating a Pilot Educational Psychiatry Website: Opportunities, Barriers, and Next Steps.

PubMed

Torous, John; O'Connor, Ryan; Franzen, Jamie; Snow, Caitlin; Boland, Robert; Kitts, Robert

2015-11-05

While medical students and residents may be utilizing websites as online learning resources, medical trainees and educators now have the opportunity to create such educational websites and digital tools on their own. However, the process and theory of building educational websites for medical education have not yet been fully explored. To understand the opportunities, barriers, and process of creating a novel medical educational website. We created a pilot psychiatric educational website to better understand the options, opportunities, challenges, and processes involved in the creation of a psychiatric educational website. We sought to integrate visual and interactive Web design elements to underscore the potential of such Web technology. A pilot website (PsychOnCall) was created to demonstrate the potential of Web technology in medical and psychiatric education. Creating an educational website is now technically easier than ever before, and the primary challenge no longer is technology but rather the creation, validation, and maintenance of information for such websites as well as translating text-based didactics into visual and interactive tools. Medical educators can influence the design and implementation of online educational resources through creating their own websites and engaging medical students and residents in the process.

Creating a Pilot Educational Psychiatry Website: Opportunities, Barriers, and Next Steps

PubMed Central

O'Connor, Ryan; Franzen, Jamie; Snow, Caitlin; Boland, Robert; Kitts, Robert

2015-01-01

Background While medical students and residents may be utilizing websites as online learning resources, medical trainees and educators now have the opportunity to create such educational websites and digital tools on their own. However, the process and theory of building educational websites for medical education have not yet been fully explored. Objective To understand the opportunities, barriers, and process of creating a novel medical educational website. Methods We created a pilot psychiatric educational website to better understand the options, opportunities, challenges, and processes involved in the creation of a psychiatric educational website. We sought to integrate visual and interactive Web design elements to underscore the potential of such Web technology. Results A pilot website (PsychOnCall) was created to demonstrate the potential of Web technology in medical and psychiatric education. Conclusions Creating an educational website is now technically easier than ever before, and the primary challenge no longer is technology but rather the creation, validation, and maintenance of information for such websites as well as translating text-based didactics into visual and interactive tools. Medical educators can influence the design and implementation of online educational resources through creating their own websites and engaging medical students and residents in the process. PMID:27731837

Transforming clinical imaging and 3D data for virtual reality learning objects: HTML5 and mobile devices implementation.

PubMed

Trelease, Robert B; Nieder, Gary L

2013-01-01

Web deployable anatomical simulations or "virtual reality learning objects" can easily be produced with QuickTime VR software, but their use for online and mobile learning is being limited by the declining support for web browser plug-ins for personal computers and unavailability on popular mobile devices like Apple iPad and Android tablets. This article describes complementary methods for creating comparable, multiplatform VR learning objects in the new HTML5 standard format, circumventing platform-specific limitations imposed by the QuickTime VR multimedia file format. Multiple types or "dimensions" of anatomical information can be embedded in such learning objects, supporting different kinds of online learning applications, including interactive atlases, examination questions, and complex, multi-structure presentations. Such HTML5 VR learning objects are usable on new mobile devices that do not support QuickTime VR, as well as on personal computers. Furthermore, HTML5 VR learning objects can be embedded in "ebook" document files, supporting the development of new types of electronic textbooks on mobile devices that are increasingly popular and self-adopted for mobile learning. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.

Anatomy education for the YouTube generation.

PubMed

Barry, Denis S; Marzouk, Fadi; Chulak-Oglu, Kyrylo; Bennett, Deirdre; Tierney, Paul; O'Keeffe, Gerard W

2016-01-01

Anatomy remains a cornerstone of medical education despite challenges that have seen a significant reduction in contact hours over recent decades; however, the rise of the "YouTube Generation" or "Generation Connected" (Gen C), offers new possibilities for anatomy education. Gen C, which consists of 80% Millennials, actively interact with social media and integrate it into their education experience. Most are willing to merge their online presence with their degree programs by engaging with course materials and sharing their knowledge freely using these platforms. This integration of social media into undergraduate learning, and the attitudes and mindset of Gen C, who routinely creates and publishes blogs, podcasts, and videos online, has changed traditional learning approaches and the student/teacher relationship. To gauge this, second year undergraduate medical and radiation therapy students (n = 73) were surveyed regarding their use of online social media in relation to anatomy learning. The vast majority of students had employed web-based platforms to source information with 78% using YouTube as their primary source of anatomy-related video clips. These findings suggest that the academic anatomy community may find value in the integration of social media into blended learning approaches in anatomy programs. This will ensure continued connection with the YouTube generation of students while also allowing for academic and ethical oversight regarding the use of online video clips whose provenance may not otherwise be known. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.

Collaborating with Your Clients Using Social Media & Mobile Communications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Typhina, Eli; Bardon, Robert E.; Gharis, Laurie W.

2015-01-01

Many Extension educators are still learning how to effectively integrate social media into their programs. By using the right social media platforms and mobile applications to create engaged, online communities, Extension educators can collaborate with clients to produce and to share information expanding and enhancing their social media and…

The Luddite Revolt Continues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baggaley, Jon

2010-01-01

The bicentenary in 2011 of the Luddite Revolt prompts us to ask "what would Ned Ludd think of today's automated styles of distance education?" He would no doubt echo the common criticism that educational technologies create an impersonal style of teaching and learning, and devalue the teacher. He would probably agree that online methods…

Wind Energy Technology: Training a Sustainable Workforce

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krull, Kimberly W.; Graham, Bruce; Underbakke, Richard

2009-01-01

Through innovative teaching and technology, industry and educational institution partnerships, Cloud County Community College is preparing a qualified workforce for the emerging wind industry estimated to create 80,000 jobs by 2020. The curriculum blends on-campus, on-line and distance learning, land-lab, and field training opportunities for…

Online Graduate Study of Health Care Learners' Perceptions of Instructional Immediacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melrose, Sherri; Bergeron, Kim

2006-01-01

Instructional immediacy is an established communication strategy that teachers can implement to create engaging learning environments. Yet, little is known about experiences distance education learners in graduate study programs have had with immediacy. This article presents findings from a qualitative research project designed to explore…

Assessing the Accessibility of Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Badge, Joanne L.; Dawson, Emma; Cann, Alan J.; Scott, Jon

2008-01-01

A wide range of tools is now available to enable teaching practitioners to create web-based educational materials from PowerPoint presentations, adding a variety of different digital media, such as audio and animation. The pilot study described in this paper compared three different systems for producing multimedia presentations from existing…

A Virtual Education: Guidelines for Using Games Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schofield, Damian

2014-01-01

Advanced three-dimensional virtual environment technology, similar to that used by the film and computer games industry, can allow educational developers to rapidly create realistic online vir-tual environments. This technology has been used to generate a range of interactive Virtual Real-ity (VR) learning environments across a spectrum of…

Eagle Racing: Addressing Corporate Collaboration Challenges through an Online Simulation Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Angehrn, Albert A.; Maxwell, Katrina

2009-01-01

Effective collaboration is necessary for corporation-wide learning, knowledge exchange, and innovation. However, it is difficult to create a corporate culture that encourages collaboration; the complexity of such collaboration is increased substantially by the diverse and distributed nature of knowledge sources and decision makers in the global…

Creating Social Presence in Online Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aragon, Steven R.

2003-01-01

During the last decade, the Internet has significantly changed the way learning is delivered and facilitated in both educational and noneducational settings. Advocates of Internet-based instruction are largely positive and optimistic about its potential. Before it can be fully accepted by the mainstream public and educational community, however,…

Assuring Quality in E-Learning Course Design: The Roadmap

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vlachopoulos, Dimitrios

2016-01-01

Quality Assurance (QA) concepts and applications in Higher Education (HE) emerge from evolving meanings related to HE's dynamic relationship with social, economic, cultural, and technological developments. The latter has been redefined by the growth spurred by the forms distance and online education acquired during the last decades. Creating a…

E-Tailing on Zazzle.Com

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashley, Christy

2013-01-01

An innovative project was designed for a retail management course to enhance critical thinking skills and provide hands-on learning about marketing strategy in an electronic retail context. Students created, promoted, and managed online stores using Zazzle.com, which retails user-generated designs, and analyzed the results of their efforts.…

Using Eportfolios to Aid Reflection in Introductory Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siporin, Sheldon

2013-01-01

Electronic portfolios (EP) are an academic version of online social media (e.g., Facebook) that archive student work and support integrated learning. Despite limited theory, advocates believe EP enhances the reflective process. Thirty-six students in introductory psychology at Pace University were invited to create EP and complete optional EP…

Dog Bite Reflections--Socratic Questioning Revisited

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toledo, Cheri A.

2015-01-01

In the online environment, the asynchronous discussion is an important tool for creating community, developing critical thinking skills, and checking for understanding. As students learn how to use Socratic questions for effective interactions, the discussion boards can become the most exciting part of the course. This sequel to the article…

Using Computer-Mediated Communication to Establish Social and Supportive Environments in Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnold, Nike; Ducate, Lara; Lomicka, Lara; Lord, Gillian

2005-01-01

This article examines social presence in virtual asynchronous learning communities among foreign language teachers. We present the findings of two studies investigating cross-institutional asynchronous forums created to engage participants in online dialogues regarding their foreign language teacher preparation experiences in and out of the…

Online citizen science games: Opportunities for the biological sciences.

PubMed

Curtis, Vickie

2014-12-01

Recent developments in digital technologies and the rise of the Internet have created new opportunities for citizen science. One of these has been the development of online citizen science games where complex research problems have been re-imagined as online multiplayer computer games. Some of the most successful examples of these can be found within the biological sciences, for example, Foldit, Phylo and EteRNA. These games offer scientists the opportunity to crowdsource research problems, and to engage with those outside the research community. Games also enable those without a background in science to make a valid contribution to research, and may also offer opportunities for informal science learning.

Radiography Faculty Engaged in Online Education: Perceptions of Effectiveness, Satisfaction, and Technological Self-efficacy.

PubMed

Cherry, Shirley J; Flora, Bethany H

2017-01-01

To assess radiography faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of online courses. An original survey instrument was created by selecting items from 3 instruments used in prior research and adding unique questions designed to elicit demographic data from faculty. The sample included a national dataset of radiography faculty members employed in Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology-accredited programs in the United States. Findings showed that faculty perceptions of online course effectiveness are not affected significantly by faculty position, type of institution, faculty age, or years of teaching experience. Positive perceptions of the effectiveness of online courses moderately increased with years of teaching online courses, number of online courses taught in the past 5 years, and perceived competence with the use of technology. Faculty satisfaction with interaction in online courses moderately increased as the years of teaching online courses increased. However, the number of years of teaching online courses was not related to faculty satisfaction with teaching online courses or faculty satisfaction with institutional support. Online technology acceptance had a moderately positive relationship with perceived ease of use and a strong positive relationship with perceived usefulness of online technology. In addition, the use of technology-enhanced learning methods had a strong positive relationship with technological self-efficacy. Radiography faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of online courses improved with experience in teaching online courses and competence with use of technology. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of online technology were related directly to online technology acceptance. Furthermore, faculty members with technological self-efficacy were more likely to use technology-enhanced learning methods in the online environment.

Design of a web portal for interdisciplinary image retrieval from multiple online image resources.

PubMed

Kammerer, F J; Frankewitsch, T; Prokosch, H-U

2009-01-01

Images play an important role in medicine. Finding the desired images within the multitude of online image databases is a time-consuming and frustrating process. Existing websites do not meet all the requirements for an ideal learning environment for medical students. This work intends to establish a new web portal providing a centralized access point to a selected number of online image databases. A back-end system locates images on given websites and extracts relevant metadata. The images are indexed using UMLS and the MetaMap system provided by the US National Library of Medicine. Specially developed functions allow to create individual navigation structures. The front-end system suits the specific needs of medical students. A navigation structure consisting of several medical fields, university curricula and the ICD-10 was created. The images may be accessed via the given navigation structure or using different search functions. Cross-references are provided by the semantic relations of the UMLS. Over 25,000 images were identified and indexed. A pilot evaluation among medical students showed good first results concerning the acceptance of the developed navigation structures and search features. The integration of the images from different sources into the UMLS semantic network offers a quick and an easy-to-use learning environment.

Development and evaluation of online video teaching resources to enhance student knowledge of livestock handling.

PubMed

Klupiec, C; Pope, S; Taylor, R; Carroll, D; Ward, M H; Celi, P

2014-07-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of online audiovisual materials to support the acquisition of animal handling skills by students of veterinary and animal science. A series of video clips (Livestock Handling modules) demonstrating livestock handling procedures was created and delivered online to students enrolled in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney. The effectiveness of these modules for supporting student learning was evaluated via an online survey. The survey also sought feedback on how students could be better prepared for handling livestock. The survey indicated that students found the videos a useful part of their learning experience, particularly by familiarising them with correct handling procedures and emphasising the importance of safety when handling livestock. Students also highlighted that online delivery supported flexible learning. Suggested improvements of the Livestock Handling modules centred around broadening the content of the videos and improving the user-friendliness of online access. Student feedback regarding how the Faculty could better prepare them for livestock handling was dominated by requests for more opportunities to practise animal handling using live animals. The Livestock Handling audiovisual tool is a valuable supplementary resource for developing students' proficiency in safe and effective handling of livestock. However, the results also clearly reveal a perception by students that more hands-on experience is required for acquisition of animal handling skills. These findings will inform future development of the Faculty's animal handling program. © 2014 Australian Veterinary Association.

Effective collaborative learning in biomedical education using a web-based infrastructure.

PubMed

Wu, Yunfeng; Zheng, Fang; Cai, Suxian; Xiang, Ning; Zhong, Zhangting; He, Jia; Xu, Fang

2012-01-01

This paper presents a feature-rich web-based system used for biomedical education at the undergraduate level. With the powerful groupware features provided by the wiki system, the instructors are able to establish a community-centered mentoring environment that capitalizes on local expertise to create a sense of online collaborative learning among students. The web-based infrastructure can help the instructors effectively organize and coordinate student research projects, and the groupware features may support the interactive activities, such as interpersonal communications and data sharing. The groupware features also provide the web-based system with a wide range of additional ways of organizing collaboratively developed materials, which makes it become an effective tool for online active learning. Students are able to learn the ability to work effectively in teams, with an improvement of project management, design collaboration, and technical writing skills. With the fruitful outcomes in recent years, it is positively thought that the web-based collaborative learning environment can perform an excellent shift away from the conventional instructor-centered teaching to community- centered collaborative learning in the undergraduate education.

Emergency department knowledge management in the age of Web 2.0: evaluation of a new concept.

PubMed

Dinh, Michael; Tan, Timothy; Bein, Kendall; Hayman, Jon; Wong, Yuk Kuen; Dinh, David

2011-02-01

The objective of the present study was to describe the implementation of an organizational learning model and evaluate the effectiveness and usability of an application used to facilitate it in an ED setting. This was an implementation case study and technology evaluation. The organizational learning model was implemented using an online Web 2.0 collaborative learning application developed by the investigating team. Online use was tracked over a 9-month period. At the end of the study period, a usability assessment was conducted as well as a semistructured interview of participants to assess perceptions of usefulness and effect on learning capacity in the ED. Over a period of 9 months, a total of 54 individual sites from 74 eligible staff members were created within a specific web domain. There were 251 registered users including users outside the ED, who accessed learning materials within these sites 7494 times. The majority of staff members interviewed agreed or strongly agreed that the collaborative learning application had improved learning capacity within this ED (88%, 95% CI 74-94%). We demonstrate the implementation of an organizational learning model based on independent online sites networking together within an organization. This appears to be both usable and acceptable to staff members working in a large ED as a means of knowledge management. © 2011 The Authors. EMA © 2011 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

Increasing Student Success Using Online Quizzing in Introductory (Majors) Biology

PubMed Central

Orr, Rebecca; Foster, Shellene

2013-01-01

Students often complain about their perceived disconnect between the time and effort spent studying and their subsequent performance on exams. Robert Bjork's research asserts that retrieval of stored information acts as a memory modifier, and that using tests as learning events creates “desirable difficulties that enhance learning.” To determine the effect of utilizing testing as a learning event in the introductory (majors) biology classroom, we used an online homework platform to give required quizzes throughout the course. Analysis of exam grades earned by those taking 100% of pre-exam quizzes indicates that not only does this group have a significantly higher exam average than the group of students who took 0% of the pre-exam quizzes, but they also have a significantly higher exam average than the class average. Through detailed, statistical analysis, the benefit of quizzing is demonstrated to be significant for students of diverse academic abilities. Pre-exam quizzing using an online homework platform is an effective way to increase student performance on exams and allows class time to be utilized for teaching activities. PMID:24006398

Designing health care risk management on-line:meeting regulators' concerns for fixed-hour curriculum.

PubMed

Hyer, Kathryn; Taylor, Heidi H; Nanni, Kennith

2004-01-01

This paper describes the experience of creating a continuing professional education on-line risk management program that is designed to meet Florida's educational requirements for licensure as a risk manager in health-care settings and details the challenges faced when the in-class didactic program of 15 eight-hour sessions is reformatted as an on-line program. Structuring instructor/learner interactivity remains a challenge, especially if the program allows learner control and is a key feature in marketing the program. The article presents the dilemmas for state regulators as they work to determine if the on-line program meets legislative intent and statutory requirements because the learning platform does not have a clock function that accumulates time for each learner. While some details reflect the uniqueness of the 120-hour educational requirements for risk managers in Florida, the experience of the authors provides insight into the development of continuing professional education distance learning programs that are multidisciplinary and move primarily from a time-based format into a curriculum that uses time as only one dimension of the evaluation of learning.

Developing and providing an online (web-based) clinical research design course in Japan: lessons learned.

PubMed

Clark, Glenn T; Mulligan, Roseann; Baba, Kazuyoshi

2011-04-01

This article reports on the lessons learned while teaching an 8-week-long online course about the principles of clinical research design in Japan. Student activity data and how it relates to performance in the course are presented. As prolog, this article focuses on the barriers and solutions to creating and delivering a web-based course and it lists and discusses the most common concerns that educators often have about this process, namely, cost of the system and time requirement of the faculty. Options that must be considered when selecting the support software and hardware needed to conduct live streaming lecture, online video-based conference course are presented. The ancillary role of e-mail based distribution lists as an essential instruction tool within an interactive, instructor-supervised online course is discussed. This article then discusses the inclusion of active learning elements within an online course as well as the pros and cons regarding open-book versus closed book, proctored testing. Lastly, copyright issues the online instructor should know about are discussed. The student tracking data show that as the course progresses, students will reduce the number for page viewings. We speculate that this reduction is due to a combination of conflicting priorities plus increasing efficiency of the students at extracting the critical information. The article also concludes that software and hardware costs to deliver an online course are relatively minor but the faculty's time requirement is initially substantially higher than teaching in a conventional face-to-face course. Copyright © 2011 Japan Prosthodontic Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Non-traditional approaches to teaching GPS online

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matias, A.; Wolf, D. F., II

2009-12-01

Students are increasingly turning to the web for quality education that fits into their lives. Nonetheless, online learning brings challenges as well as a fresh opportunity for exploring pedagogical practices not present on traditional higher education programs, particularly in the sciences. A team of two dozen Empire State College-State University of New York instructional designers, faculty, and other staff are working on making science relevant to non-majors who may initially have anxiety about general education science courses. One of these courses, GPS and the New Geography, focuses on how Global Positioning System (GPS) technology provides a base for inquiry and scientific discovery from a range of environmental issues with local, regional, and global scope. GPS and the New Geography is an introductory level course developed under a grant supported by the Charitable Leadership Foundation. Taking advantage of the proliferation of tools currently available for online learning management systems, we explore current trends in Web 2.0 applications to aggregate and leverage data to create a nontraditional, interactive learning environment. Using our best practices to promote on-line discussion and interaction, these tools help engage students and foster deep learning. During the 15-week term students learn through case studies, problem-based exercises, and the use of scientific data; thus, expanding their spatial literacy and gain experience using real spatial technology tools to enhance their understanding of real-world issues. In particular, we present how the use of Mapblogs an in-house developed blogging platform that uses GIS interplaying with GPS units, interactive data presentations, intuitive visual working environments, harnessing RSS feeds, and other nontraditional Web 2.0 technology has successfully promoted active learning in the virtual learning environment.

Facilitating interaction, communication and collaboration in online courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNeil, Sara G.; Robin, Bernard R.; Miller, Robert M.

2000-07-01

As the Internet evolves into a truly world wide communications medium, the roles of faculty and students at institutions of higher learning are changing. Traditional face-to-face classes are being converted to an online setting, where materials from syllabi to lectures to assignments are available at the click of a mouse. New technological options are challenging and changing the very nature of teaching as faculty migrate from being deliverers of information to facilitators and mentors. Students are also undergoing a transformation from passive recipients to participants in an active learning environment. Interactions are at the heart of this revolution as students and faculty create new methodologies for the online classroom. New types of interactions are emerging between faculty and students, between students and other students and between students and the educational resources they are exploring. As the online teaching and learning environment expands and matures, new social and instructional interactions are replacing the traditional occurrences in face-to-face classrooms. New communication options are also evolving as a critical component of the online classroom. The shift from a synchronous to an asynchronous communication structure has also had a significant impact on the way students and faculty interact. The use of e-mail, listservs and web-based conferencing has given teachers and learners new flexibility and has fostered a climate where learning takes place wherever and whenever it is convenient. HyperGroups, a communication tool that was developed at the University of Houston, allows students and faculty to seamlessly participate in course-related discussions and easily share multimedia resources. This article explores the many issues associated with facilitating interaction, communication and collaboration in online courses.

SOAR Online Course Increases Capacity for Assisting Individuals with Disabilities in the US.

PubMed

Lupfer, Kristin; Elder, Jen

2016-01-01

For adults with disabilities who are experiencing homelessness, chances of being approved for social security disability benefits are very low, without assistance. Assisting with the Supplemental Security Income (SSI)/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application process can be challenging for case managers who lack capacity and expertise. Training caseworkers to document disability and submit complete, high-quality applications using the SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery (SOAR) model improves efficiency and outcomes. Nationally, 65% of applications using the SOAR model are approved, with decisions received in an average of 81 days in 2015. The SOAR Online Course was created to expand training opportunities for individuals to learn how to effectively assist with SSI/SSDI applications for individuals experiencing or at risk for homelessness. From October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015, 1049 individuals from 49 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico successfully completed the SOAR Online Course. The course is a unique public health training model; in that, it incorporates a realistic and multimodal practice SSI/SSDI application with comprehensive feedback provided by experts. Local SOAR leaders around the county are trained to facilitate and guide groups through the course. This study evaluated data on online course usage, user experience, and the translation from learning to practice for online course trainees. We found that successful course completions were most concentrated in areas that had local SOAR leaders, trainees through the online course had higher data entry rates about case outcomes in the SOAR Online Application Tracking system, and that trainees reported a high satisfaction rate with the course and comprehensive feedback. The evaluation found that key success factors for online training models include the integration of a practice case component (or other generative learning activity), support from local facilitators, and feedback and technical assistance for trainees.

Disaster Preparedness Medical School Elective: Bridging the Gap Between Volunteer Eagerness and Readiness.

PubMed

Patel, Vishnu M; Dahl-Grove, Deanna

2016-07-23

Eager medical students may not be prepared for unanticipated complexities of disaster response. This study aimed to answer 2 questions: does an online disaster preparedness curriculum create a convenient method to educate medical students and motivate them to be better prepared to volunteer? An online disaster preparedness elective was created for medical students. Four modules were created using Softchalk and hosted on the Blackboard Learning Management System. Students completed embedded pre-elective, post-lesson, and post-elective surveys. Fifty-five students completed the elective. When posed with the statement, "I feel prepared for an emergency at the University or the immediate area," 70% stated that they disagreed or strongly disagreed before the elective. Subsequently, only 11% claimed to disagree after the elective. At the conclusion of the elective, 13% of students had prepared a personal emergency kit and 28% had prepared a family communication plan for reunification. Students were surveyed on the statement "I would like to be involved in a community disaster response while continuing my medical training." Ninety-four percent claimed to agree or strongly agree before the elective, and 93% stated the same after elective completion. This disaster preparedness elective was envisioned to be a resource for students. Advantages of online availability are ease of student access and minimal demand on faculty resources. A voluntary, self-paced online elective in disaster preparedness has shown to create a stronger interest in disaster participation in medical students. Student readiness to volunteer improved; however, willingness remained stagnant.

Astronomy for Astronomical Numbers - Education and Public Outreach with Massive Open Online Classes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Impey, C.; Buxner, S.; Wenger, M.; Formanek, M.

2015-12-01

Massive Open Online Classes (MOOCs) represent a powerful new mode of education and public outreach. While early hype has often given way to disappointment over the typically low completion rates, retaining the interest of free-choice learners is always a challenge, and the worldwide reach and low cost of of these online classes is a democratizing influence in higher education. We have used providers Udemy and Coursera to reach over 60,000 adults with an astronomy course that covers the recent research results across the subject from comets to cosmology. In addition to measures of participation, completion, and performance, we have administered surveys of the learners that measure science literacy, attitudes towards science and technology, and sources of information about science. Beyond the usual core of video lectures and quizzes, we have used peer reviewed writing assignments, observing project, and citizen science to create a richer learning environment. Research on MOOCs is still in its early stages, but we hope to learn what factors contribute most to student engagement and completion in these online settings.

Teaching Using a Blended Approach--What Does the Literature Tell Us?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerbic, Philippa

2011-01-01

Teaching using a blended approach is a complex undertaking, where teachers have to address varied discipline and professional learning outcomes, different student capabilities and institutional conditions as well as creating an effective pedagogy by using the strengths of face-to-face and online settings in an integrated fashion. There is now a…

Protest: Critical Lessons of Using Digital Media for Social Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaRiviere, Kristin; Snider, Jeanette; Stromberg, Alison; O'Meara, KerryAnn

2012-01-01

In this article, the authors consider the strengths and weaknesses of digital media in the organization of student activism, and how educators can better assist and advise student activists using digital media to create improved learning opportunities. To gain a perspective on the relative strengths and challenges of online media in regard to…

How Massive Multiplayer Online Games Incorporate Principles of Economics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnett, Joshua H.; Archambault, Leanna

2010-01-01

Games have always been a part of the human experience. Even the earliest of civilizations created games for enjoyment and entertainment. However, the educational value of those games is a relatively recent consideration. Over the previous fifty years, scholars have questioned the potential positive lessons learned from games such as Monopoly[R],…

The Effect of Using E-Learning Tools in Online and Campus-Based Classrooms on Student Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galy, Edith; Downey, Clara; Johnson, Jennie

2011-01-01

Creating an integrative research framework that extends a model frequently used in the Information Systems field, the Technology Acceptance Model, together with variables used in the Education field, this empirical study investigates the factors influencing student performance as reflected by their final course grade. The Technology Acceptance…

Digital Texts and the New Literacies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webb, Allen

2007-01-01

When the literature anthologies did not arrive, Allen Webb turned to the Internet, where he found a wealth of classic and contemporary e-texts. Using these online resources opened up possibilities for new ways of teaching and learning traditional skills of close reading and critical analysis. Students created blogs of poems and commentary,…

Preparing Undergraduate Students for the Major Field Test in Business

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bisalski, Heather Cooper; Helms, Marilyn M.; Whitesell, Melissa

2017-01-01

Many business programs address the learning of undergraduate students with an exit exam. A reference librarian and the business school faculty created an online test preparation study guide (or LibGuide) which included no-cost resources that were readily available yet academically authoritative to aid students in studying for the Educational…

Adapting for Scalability: Automating the Video Assessment of Instructional Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts , Amy M.; LoCasale-Crouch, Jennifer; Hamre, Bridget K.; Buckrop, Jordan M.

2017-01-01

Although scalable programs, such as online courses, have the potential to reach broad audiences, they may pose challenges to evaluating learners' knowledge and skills. Automated scoring offers a possible solution. In the current paper, we describe the process of creating and testing an automated means of scoring a validated measure of teachers'…

Online Wiki Collaboration by Teachers of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilham, Chris

2009-01-01

A shared understanding of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a coordinated approach to teaching diagnosed students is essential because of the complex learning needs of this cohort. This research examines the ways in which special educators used wiki technology to create a working document and to share and develop their perspectives about…

Layering Literacies and Contemporary Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrams, Sandra Schamroth; Russo, Michael P.

2015-01-01

This article explores how adolescents layer literacies in and outside school. Findings from a longitudinal study of gaming in a public library, as well as data related to the use of Portal 2 in a New York City middle school classroom, reveal how the students created, showcased, analyzed, and experimented with online and offline artifacts and…

Development of digital instructional modules for transportation engineers overviewing the fundamentals of how to obtain soil properties in practice.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-12-01

The work completed in this project created a series of online lab modules that : transportation professionals could use as a reference to learn how to conduct, how to : interpret, and the applications of geotechnical lab tests used in practice to det...

Are We There Yet? eLearning in Library and Information Science Courses in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Combes, Barbara; Carroll, Mary

2012-01-01

Tertiary education in Australia has long been associated with the integration of developing technologies as a vehicle for distance education. As personal access to the Web has become more affordable, tertiary institutions have implemented wholly online courses to create flexible elearning spaces for students. While there are tangible benefits…

Shaping Networked Theatre: Experience Architectures, Behaviours and Creative Pedagogies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutton, Paul

2012-01-01

Since 2006 the UK based applied theatre company C&T has been using its experience and expertise in mixing drama, learning and digital media to create a new online utility for shaping collaborative educational drama experiences. C&T describes this practice as "Networked Theatre". This article describes both the motivations for…

Performance-Based Funding & Online Learning: Maximizing Resources for Student Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patrick, Susan; Myers, John; Silverstein, Justin; Brown, Amanda; Watson, John

2015-01-01

There is a new conversation taking place in public education on creating systemic incentives through school finance to encourage schools to innovate and be rewarded for positive student outcomes and performance. What if education funding was not based on seat-time, but on rewarding student performance? Performance-based funding is a term that…

Assessing Online Collaboration among Language Teachers: A Cross-Institutional Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnold, Nike; Ducate, Lara; Lomicka, Lara; Lord, Gillian

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) among foreign language (FL) graduate students from three universities, who worked together to create a wiki. In order to investigate the nature of CSCL among participants, this qualitative case study used the Curtis and Lawson framework (2001) to conduct a content analysis of…

Engaging All Students in Internet Research and Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dwyer, Bernadette

2016-01-01

Almost 43% of the world's population is online. Research suggests that the prowess attributed to young people as a tech-savvy homogeneous population is misguided. Many of our students are laboring to utilize the Internet and other digital technologies as tools for literacy and learning. Furthermore, many teachers are struggling to create the…

Online teaching of inflammatory skin pathology by a French-speaking International University Network

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Introduction Developments in technology, web-based teaching and whole slide imaging have broadened the teaching horizon in anatomic pathology. Creating online learning material including many types of media such as radiologic images, whole slides, videos, clinical and macroscopic photographs, is now accessible to most universities. Unfortunately, a major limiting factor to maintain and update the learning material is the amount of resources needed. In this perspective, a French-national university network was initiated in 2011 to build joint online teaching modules consisting of clinical cases and tests. The network has since expanded internationally to Québec, Switzerland and Ivory Coast. Method One of the first steps of the project was to build a learning module on inflammatory skin pathology for interns and residents in pathology and dermatology. A pathology resident from Québec spent 6 weeks in France and Switzerland to develop the contents and build the module on an e-learning Moodle platform under the supervision of two dermatopathologists. The learning module contains text, interactive clinical cases, tests with feedback, virtual slides, images and clinical photographs. For that module, the virtual slides are decentralized in 2 universities (Bordeaux and Paris 7). Each university is responsible of its own slide scanning, image storage and online display with virtual slide viewers. Results The module on inflammatory skin pathology includes more than 50 web pages with French original content, tests and clinical cases, links to over 45 virtual images and more than 50 microscopic and clinical photographs. The whole learning module is being revised by four dermatopathologists and two senior pathologists. It will be accessible to interns and residents in the spring of 2014. The experience and knowledge gained from that work will be transferred to the next international resident whose work will be aimed at creating lung and breast pathology learning modules. Conclusion The challenges of sustaining a project of this scope are numerous. The technical aspect of whole-slide imaging and storage needs to be developed by each university or group. The content needs to be regularly updated and its accuracy reviewed by experts in each individual domain. The learning modules also need to be promoted within the academic community to ensure maximal benefit for trainees. A collateral benefit of the project was the establishment of international partnerships between French-speaking universities and pathologists with the common goal of promoting pathology education through the use of multi-media technology including whole slide imaging. PMID:25564778

Online teaching of inflammatory skin pathology by a French-speaking International University Network.

PubMed

Perron, Emilie; Battistella, Maxime; Vergier, Béatrice; Fiche, Maryse; Bertheau, Philippe; Têtu, Bernard

2014-01-01

Developments in technology, web-based teaching and whole slide imaging have broadened the teaching horizon in anatomic pathology. Creating online learning material including many types of media such as radiologic images, whole slides, videos, clinical and macroscopic photographs, is now accessible to most universities. Unfortunately, a major limiting factor to maintain and update the learning material is the amount of resources needed. In this perspective, a French-national university network was initiated in 2011 to build joint online teaching modules consisting of clinical cases and tests. The network has since expanded internationally to Québec, Switzerland and Ivory Coast. One of the first steps of the project was to build a learning module on inflammatory skin pathology for interns and residents in pathology and dermatology. A pathology resident from Québec spent 6 weeks in France and Switzerland to develop the contents and build the module on an e-learning Moodle platform under the supervision of two dermatopathologists. The learning module contains text, interactive clinical cases, tests with feedback, virtual slides, images and clinical photographs. For that module, the virtual slides are decentralized in 2 universities (Bordeaux and Paris 7). Each university is responsible of its own slide scanning, image storage and online display with virtual slide viewers. The module on inflammatory skin pathology includes more than 50 web pages with French original content, tests and clinical cases, links to over 45 virtual images and more than 50 microscopic and clinical photographs. The whole learning module is being revised by four dermatopathologists and two senior pathologists. It will be accessible to interns and residents in the spring of 2014. The experience and knowledge gained from that work will be transferred to the next international resident whose work will be aimed at creating lung and breast pathology learning modules. The challenges of sustaining a project of this scope are numerous. The technical aspect of whole-slide imaging and storage needs to be developed by each university or group. The content needs to be regularly updated and its accuracy reviewed by experts in each individual domain. The learning modules also need to be promoted within the academic community to ensure maximal benefit for trainees. A collateral benefit of the project was the establishment of international partnerships between French-speaking universities and pathologists with the common goal of promoting pathology education through the use of multi-media technology including whole slide imaging.

Utilization and acceptance of virtual patients in veterinary basic sciences - the vetVIP-project.

PubMed

Kleinsorgen, Christin; Kankofer, Marta; Gradzki, Zbigniew; Mandoki, Mira; Bartha, Tibor; von Köckritz-Blickwede, Maren; Naim, Hassan Y; Beyerbach, Martin; Tipold, Andrea; Ehlers, Jan P

2017-01-01

Context: In medical and veterinary medical education the use of problem-based and cased-based learning has steadily increased over time. At veterinary faculties, this development has mainly been evident in the clinical phase of the veterinary education. Therefore, a consortium of teachers of biochemistry and physiology together with technical and didactical experts launched the EU-funded project "vetVIP", to create and implement veterinary virtual patients and problems for basic science instruction. In this study the implementation and utilization of virtual patients occurred at the veterinary faculties in Budapest, Hannover and Lublin. Methods: This report describes the investigation of the utilization and acceptance of students studying veterinary basic sciences using optional online learning material concurrently to regular biochemistry and physiology didactic instruction. The reaction of students towards this offer of clinical case-based learning in basic sciences was analysed using quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data were collected automatically within the chosen software-system CASUS as user-log-files. Responses regarding the quality of the virtual patients were obtained using an online questionnaire. Furthermore, subjective evaluation by authors was performed using a focus group discussion and an online questionnaire. Results: Implementation as well as usage and acceptance varied between the three participating locations. High approval was documented in Hannover and Lublin based upon the high proportion of voluntary students (>70%) using optional virtual patients. However, in Budapest the participation rate was below 1%. Due to utilization, students seem to prefer virtual patients and problems created in their native language and developed at their own university. In addition, the statement that assessment drives learning was supported by the observation that peak utilization was just prior to summative examinations. Conclusion: Veterinary virtual patients in basic sciences can be introduced and used for the presentation of integrative clinical case scenarios. Student post-course comments also supported the conclusion that overall the virtual cases increased their motivation for learning veterinary basic sciences.

Energy consumption analysis for various memristive networks under different learning strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Lei; Wang, Dong; Zhang, Ziyang; Tang, Pei; Li, Guoqi; Pei, Jing

2016-02-01

Recently, various memristive systems emerge to emulate the efficient computing paradigm of the brain cortex; whereas, how to make them energy efficient still remains unclear, especially from an overall perspective. Here, a systematical and bottom-up energy consumption analysis is demonstrated, including the memristor device level and the network learning level. We propose an energy estimating methodology when modulating the memristive synapses, which is simulated in three typical neural networks with different synaptic structures and learning strategies for both offline and online learning. These results provide an in-depth insight to create energy efficient brain-inspired neuromorphic devices in the future.

New pathways to physics instruction: Blending a MOOC and in-person discussion to train physics graduate students and postdocs in evidence-based teaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldberg, Bennett

A challenge facing physics education is how to encourage and support the adoption of evidence-based instructional practices that decades of physics education research has shown to be effective. Like many STEM departments, physics departments struggle to overcome the barriers of faculty knowledge, motivation and time; institutional cultures and reward systems; and disciplinary traditions. Research has demonstrated successful transformation of department-level approaches to instruction through local learning communities, in-house expertise, and department administrative support. In this talk, I will discuss how physics and other STEM departments can use a MOOC on evidence-based instruction together with in-person seminar discussions to create a learning community of graduate students and postdocs, and how such communities can affect departmental change in teaching and learning. Four university members of the 21-university network working to prepare future faculty to be both excellent researchers and excellent teachers collaborated on an NSF WIDER project to develop and deliver two massive open online courses (MOOCs) in evidence-based STEM instruction. A key innovation is a new blended mode of delivery where groups of participants engaged with the online content and then meet weekly in local learning communities to discuss content, communicate current experiences, and delve deeper into particular techniques of local interest. The MOOC team supported these so-called MOOC-Centered Learning Communities, or MCLCs, with detailed facilitator guides complete with synopses of online content, learning goals and suggested activities for in-person meetings, as well as virtual MCLC communities for sharing and feedback. In the initial run of the first MOOC, 40 MCLCs were created; in the second run this past fall, more than 80 MCLCs formed. Further, target audiences of STEM graduate students and postdocs completed at a 40-50% rate, indicating the value they place in building their knowledge in evidence-based instruction. We will present data on the impact of being in an MCLC on completion and learning outcomes, as well as data on departmental change in physics supported by MCLCs. Work supported by NSF DUE-1347605.

Online learning in a dermatology clerkship: piloting the new American Academy of Dermatology Medical Student Core Curriculum.

PubMed

Cipriano, Sarah D; Dybbro, Eric; Boscardin, Christy K; Shinkai, Kanade; Berger, Timothy G

2013-08-01

Multiple studies have shown that both current and future primary care providers have insufficient education and training in dermatology. To address the limitations and wide variability in medical student dermatology instruction, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) created a standardized, online curriculum for both dermatology learners and educators. We sought to determine the impact of the integration of the AAD online curriculum into a 2-week introductory dermatology clerkship for fourth-year medical students. In addition to their clinical duties, we assigned 18 online modules at a rate of 1 to 3 per day. We evaluated knowledge acquisition using a 50-item, multiple-choice pretest and posttest. Postmodule and end-of-course questionnaires contained both closed and open-ended items soliciting students' perceptions about usability and satisfaction. All 51 participants significantly improved in their dermatology knowledge (P < .001). The majority of students found the modules easy to navigate (95%) and worth their time (93%). All respondents supported the continuation of the modules as part of the dermatology clerkship. Without a control group who did not experience the online curriculum, we are unable to isolate the specific impact of the online modules on students' learning. This study demonstrates the successful integration of this educational resource into a 2-week, university-based dermatology clerkship. Students' perceptions regarding usability and satisfaction were overwhelmingly positive, suggesting that the online curriculum is highly acceptable to learners. Widespread use of this curriculum may be a significant advancement in standardized dermatology learning for medical students. Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Student Interactives--A new Tool for Exploring Science.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, C.

2005-05-01

Science NetLinks (SNL), a national program that provides online teacher resources created by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), has proven to be a leader among educational resource providers in bringing free, high-quality, grade-appropriate materials to the national teaching community in a format that facilitates classroom integration. Now in its ninth year on the Web, Science NetLinks is part of the MarcoPolo Consortium of Web sites and associated state-based training initiatives that help teachers integrate Internet content into the classroom. SNL is a national presence in the K-12 science education community serving over 700,000 teachers each year, who visit the site at least three times a month. SNL features: High-quality, innovative, original lesson plans aligned to Project 2061 Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Original Internet-based interactives and learning challenges, Reviewed Web resources and demonstrations, Award winning, 60-second audio news features (Science Updates). Science NetLinks has an expansive and growing library of this educational material, aligned and sortable by grade band or benchmark. The program currently offers over 500 lessons, covering 72% of the Benchmarks for Science Literacy content areas in grades K-12. Over the past several years, there has been a strong movement to create online resources that support earth and space science education. Funding for various online educational materials has been available from many sources and has produced a variety of useful products for the education community. Teachers, through the Internet, potentially have access to thousands of activities, lessons and multimedia interactive applications for use in the classroom. But, with so many resources available, it is increasingly more difficult for educators to locate quality resources that are aligned to standards and learning goals. To ensure that the education community utilizes the resources, the material must conform to a format that allows easy understanding, evaluation and integration. Science NetLinks' material has been proven to satisfy these criteria and serve thousands of teachers every year. All online interactive materials that are created by AAAS are aligned to AAAS Project 2061 Benchmarks, which mirror National Science Standards, and are developed based on a rigorous set of criteria. For the purpose of this forum we will provide an overview that explains the need for more of these materials in the earth and space education, a review of the criteria for creating these materials and show examples of online materials created by AAAS that support earth and space science.

Fast machine-learning online optimization of ultra-cold-atom experiments.

PubMed

Wigley, P B; Everitt, P J; van den Hengel, A; Bastian, J W; Sooriyabandara, M A; McDonald, G D; Hardman, K S; Quinlivan, C D; Manju, P; Kuhn, C C N; Petersen, I R; Luiten, A N; Hope, J J; Robins, N P; Hush, M R

2016-05-16

We apply an online optimization process based on machine learning to the production of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). BEC is typically created with an exponential evaporation ramp that is optimal for ergodic dynamics with two-body s-wave interactions and no other loss rates, but likely sub-optimal for real experiments. Through repeated machine-controlled scientific experimentation and observations our 'learner' discovers an optimal evaporation ramp for BEC production. In contrast to previous work, our learner uses a Gaussian process to develop a statistical model of the relationship between the parameters it controls and the quality of the BEC produced. We demonstrate that the Gaussian process machine learner is able to discover a ramp that produces high quality BECs in 10 times fewer iterations than a previously used online optimization technique. Furthermore, we show the internal model developed can be used to determine which parameters are essential in BEC creation and which are unimportant, providing insight into the optimization process of the system.

Fast machine-learning online optimization of ultra-cold-atom experiments

PubMed Central

Wigley, P. B.; Everitt, P. J.; van den Hengel, A.; Bastian, J. W.; Sooriyabandara, M. A.; McDonald, G. D.; Hardman, K. S.; Quinlivan, C. D.; Manju, P.; Kuhn, C. C. N.; Petersen, I. R.; Luiten, A. N.; Hope, J. J.; Robins, N. P.; Hush, M. R.

2016-01-01

We apply an online optimization process based on machine learning to the production of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). BEC is typically created with an exponential evaporation ramp that is optimal for ergodic dynamics with two-body s-wave interactions and no other loss rates, but likely sub-optimal for real experiments. Through repeated machine-controlled scientific experimentation and observations our ‘learner’ discovers an optimal evaporation ramp for BEC production. In contrast to previous work, our learner uses a Gaussian process to develop a statistical model of the relationship between the parameters it controls and the quality of the BEC produced. We demonstrate that the Gaussian process machine learner is able to discover a ramp that produces high quality BECs in 10 times fewer iterations than a previously used online optimization technique. Furthermore, we show the internal model developed can be used to determine which parameters are essential in BEC creation and which are unimportant, providing insight into the optimization process of the system. PMID:27180805

Online Interactive Video Vignettes (IVVs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laws, Priscilla

2016-03-01

Interest in on-line learning is increasing rapidly. A few years ago members of the LivePhoto Physics Group1 received collaborative NSF Grants2 to create short, single-topic, on-line activities that invite introductory physics students to make individual predictions about a phenomenon and test them though video observations or analysis. Each Vignette is designed for web delivery as: (1) an ungraded homework assignment or (2) an exercise to prepare for a class or tutorial session. Sample IVVs are available at the ComPadre website http://www.compadre.org/ivv/. Portions of Vignettes on mechanics topics including Projectile Motion, Circular Motion, the Bullet-Block phenomenon, and Newton's Third Law will be presented. Those attending this talk will be asked to guess what predictions students are likely to make about phenomena in various IVVs. These predictions can be compared to those made by students who completed Vignettes. Finally, research on the impact of Vignettes on student learning and attitudes will be discussed. Co-PI Robert Teese, Rochester Institute of Technology.

Dental nursing education and the introduction of technology-assisted learning.

PubMed

Sheridan, C; Gorman, T; Claffey, N

2008-11-01

The aim of this paper is to explore the profile of dental nursing students in the National Dental Nurse Training Programme of Ireland and their adjustment to a technology-assisted learning environment. Evaluation by students of the course and their reactions to the course were analysed. Dental nurses must possess the skills and knowledge to proficiently function in the modern day dental surgery. The implementation of a dental nurse programme that is heavily reliant on technology has started to create a group of dental nurses equipped with basic skills to access and retrieve information over a lifetime. However, the transition to a technology-assisted learning environment including online learning activities requires adaptation and expertise by educators and students alike. Careful evaluation and stakeholder feedback is imperative in the creation and maintaining of a quality programme. In conclusion, the students in this study responded well to the transition to a technology-based learning environment. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggest that the use of an online environment is an effective and stimulating learning environment for the students of a dental nurse programme; however, familiarity skills and knowledge of information technology is a prerequisite for success.

European Association of Urology (@Uroweb) recommendations on the appropriate use of social media.

PubMed

Rouprêt, Morgan; Morgan, Todd M; Bostrom, Peter J; Cooperberg, Matthew R; Kutikov, Alexander; Linton, Kate D; Palou, Joan; Martínez-Piñeiro, Luis; van der Poel, Henk; Wijburg, Carl; Winterbottom, Andrew; Woo, Henry H; Wirth, Manfred P; Catto, James W F

2014-10-01

Social media use is becoming common in medical practice. Although primarily used in this context to connect physicians, social media allows users share information, to create an online profile, to learn and keep knowledge up to date, to facilitate virtual attendance at medical conferences, and to measure impact within a field. However, shared content should be considered permanent and beyond the control of its author, and typical boundaries, such as the patient-physician interaction, become blurred, putting both parties at risk. The European Association of Urology brought together a committee of stakeholders to create guidance on the good practice and standards of use of social media. These encompass guidance about defining an online profile; managing accounts; protecting the reputations of yourself and your organization; protecting patient confidentiality; and creating honest, responsible content that reflects your standing as a physician and your membership within this profession. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

From Exam to Education: The Math Exam/Education Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruni, Carmen; Koch, Christina; Konrad, Bernhard; Lindstrom, Michael; Moyles, Iain; Thompson, Will

2016-01-01

The Math Exam/Education Resources (MER) is an open online learning resource hosted at The University of British Columbia (UBC), aimed at providing mathematics education resources for students and instructors at UBC. In this paper, there will be a discussion of the motivation for creating this resource on the MediaWiki platform, key features of the…

Teacher Professional Development in the Amazon Region: Strategies to Create Successful Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teles, Lucio; Coutinho, Laura Maria

2011-01-01

The Faculty of Education, University of Brasilia, implemented an online undergraduate degree program for classroom teachers (student-teacher) who have not yet completed their studies. There are 1800 classroom teachers in the Brazilian state of Acre, bordering Peru and Bolivia, who have completed only high school. However, a new directive from the…

Social Networking: Developing Intercultural Competence and Fostering Autonomous Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vurdien, Ruby

2014-01-01

With the emergence of Web 2.0, the incorporation of internet-based social networking tools is becoming increasingly popular in the foreign language classes of today. This form of social interaction provides students with the opportunity to express and share their views with their peers, and to create profiles as well as online communities of…

Cognitive Correlates of Performance in Algorithms in a Computer Science Course for High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Avancena, Aimee Theresa; Nishihara, Akinori

2014-01-01

Computer science for high school faces many challenging issues. One of these is whether the students possess the appropriate cognitive ability for learning the fundamentals of computer science. Online tests were created based on known cognitive factors and fundamental algorithms and were implemented among the second grade students in the…

Design Management, Learning and Innovation: Results from a Portuguese Online Questionnaire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monteiro Barata, José M.

2013-01-01

This paper is an output of a Portuguese public research project: "DeSid"--"design as a company's strategic resource: a study of the impacts of design" (FCT). The "DeSid" research project was created with the main purpose to make a diagnosis of the use of design inside the Portuguese manufacturing industry. This paper…

Research on the Learning Effects of Multimedia Assisted Instruction Using Information Technology Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Chen-Yuan

2012-01-01

As technology advances, whether from the previous multi-media teaching, online teaching, or now interactive whiteboard, the various changes in both hardware and software resources as well as information are very huge. The information is quickly circulating under the changes in the old and new technology, and the new knowledge has been created.…

Evaluating Educational Computer Games in Geography: What Is the Relationship to Curriculum Requirements?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brysch, Carmen P.; Huynh, Niem Tu; Scholz, Michael

2012-01-01

Computer games, whether accessed online or through commercial software, have learning potential in educational settings. However, alignment with national, state, or local curriculum requirements can create a barrier. The purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis of selected games that could be used in a sixth grade geography or…

Player Types, Play Styles, and Play Complexity: Updating the Entertainment Grid

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rademacher Mena, Ricardo Javier

2012-01-01

In a previous work the author created the Education and Entertainment Grid by combining various taxonomies from the fields of play and learning. In this paper, a section of this grid known as the Entertainment Grid will be extended by including previously unused elements of Richard Bartle's online player types and Robert Caillois' play complexity.…

Mashing up Multiple Web Feeds Using Yahoo! Pipes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fagan, Jody Condit

2007-01-01

Pipes is an interactive data aggregator and manipulator that lets you mashup your favorite online data sources. Pipes could be used to "combine many feeds into one, then sort, filter and translate to create your ultimate custom feed. In this article, the author describes how to use Yahoo! Pipes. The author shares what she has learned in…

Instructional Design, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Online Learning: What's Being Done?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pearson, Laurie A.

2014-01-01

It is now estimated that 1 in 88 children have autism. As children diagnosed with this disorder continues to increase, so does the demand for appropriate educational programs that meet the diverse needs of the students on the autism spectrum. Results of this basic qualitative study, which included 15 instructional designers who create online…

Faculty-Librarian Collaboration for Library Services in the Online Classroom: Student Evaluation Results and Recommended Practices for Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Figa, Elizabeth; Bone, Tonda; Macpherson, Janet R.

2009-01-01

Student success is influenced by their ability to access, evaluate, and use resources. Traditionally, academic librarianship has provided students with these information literacy skills. The increase in distance learning options has created the need for libraries to provide both reference services equitable to those available onsite and access to…

Technology for Musicianship: Using the Internet for Music Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kassner, Kirk

2001-01-01

Presents descriptions of using the Internet for music instruction by Laura Ferguson, James F. Daugherty, and Sandi MacLeod. Covers topics such as steps for creating and publishing movies on a Web site, a template for electronic learning called ChoirONLINE based on the creative use of interactive Web forms, and the Vermont MIDI Project. (CMK)

On-Line Learning Technologies: Networking in the Classroom. Rural, Small Schools Network Information Exchange No. 16, Summer 1994.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast & Islands, Andover, MA.

This packet includes reprints of articles and other information concerning the use of computer networks in small, rural schools. Computer networks can minimize isolation; develop stronger links to the community; access reference information from remote sources; and create professional and academic exchanges for teachers, administrators, and…

Learning in LAMS: Lesson from a Student Teacher Exploring Gene Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dennis, Carina

2012-01-01

Due to its complex and microscopic nature, genetics is a difficult subject for many learners to conceptually grasp. Graphics, animation and video material can be extremely helpful to their understanding. A wealth of educational online content about genetics has been created over the past decade in the wake of the human genome being sequenced.…

Boundaries and Student Self-Disclosure in Authentic, Integrated Learning Activities and Assignments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Booth, Melanie

2012-01-01

Faculty in higher education may find themselves reading student work or hearing students' voices in class or in online course discussion boards that reveal a lot of personal information, information that they think might be better kept private, information that may be concerning or even threatening. In their attempts to create richer learning…

Buying a Car: Using On-Line Tools. Technology Update.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCoy, Kimberly

This lesson plan was created to assist learners in adult basic and literacy education programs with the car-buying process. The goal for the lesson is to "effectively use the Internet to research necessary items before purchasing a car." These nine learning objectives are set: (1) determine what kind of car is needed; (2) determine how…

Rio De Janeiro to Claremont: Promoting Intercultural Competence through Student-Driven Online Intercultural Exchanges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aristizábal, Juanita C.; Welch, Patrick McDermott

2017-01-01

This article describes the process by which the authors created a Virtual Learning Community for cultural and linguistic exchange between college students of Portuguese in the United States and undergraduate and graduate students of English in Brazil. In addition to describing the way the so-called tandem model for telecollaboration was adapted to…

Can blended learning and the flipped classroom improve student learning and satisfaction in Saudi Arabia?

PubMed

Sajid, Muhammad R; Laheji, Abrar F; Abothenain, Fayha; Salam, Yezan; AlJayar, Dina; Obeidat, Akef

2016-09-04

To evaluate student academic performance and perception towards blended learning and flipped classrooms in comparison to traditional teaching. This study was conducted during the hematology block on year three students. Five lectures were delivered online only. Asynchronous discussion boards were created where students could interact with colleagues and instructors. A flipped classroom was introduced with application exercises. Summative assessment results were compared with previous year results as a historical control for statistical significance. Student feedback regarding their blended learning experience was collected. A total of 127 responses were obtained. Approximately 22.8% students felt all lectures should be delivered through didactic lecturing, while almost 35% felt that 20% of total lectures should be given online. Students expressed satisfaction with blended learning as a new and effective learning approach. The majority of students reported blended learning was helpful for exam preparation and concept clarification. However, a comparison of grades did not show a statistically significant increase in the academic performance of students taught via the blended learning method. Learning experiences can be enriched by adopting a blended method of instruction at various stages of undergraduate and postgraduate education. Our results suggest that blended learning, a relatively new concept in Saudi Arabia, shows promising results with higher student satisfaction. Flipped classrooms replace passive lecturing with active student-centered learning that enhances critical thinking and application, including information retention.

E-service learning: A pedagogic innovation for healthcare management education.

PubMed

Malvey, Donna M; Hamby, Eileen F; Fottler, Myron D

2006-01-01

This paper proposes an innovation in service learning that we identify as e-service learning. By adding the "e" to service learning, we create a service learning model that is dynamic, mediated by technology, and delivered online. This paper begins by examining service learning, which is a distinct learning concept. Service learning furnishes students with opportunities for applied learning through participation in projects and activities in community organizations. The authors then define and conceptualize e-service learning, including the anticipated outcomes of implementation such as enhanced access, quality, and cost effectiveness of healthcare management education. Because e-service learning is mediated by technology, we identify state of the art technologies that support e-service learning activities. In addition, possible e-service learning projects and activities that may be included in healthcare management courses such as finance, human resources, quality, service management/marketing and strategy are identified. Finally, opportunities for future research are suggested.

Improving Online Teaching by Using Established Best Classroom Teaching Practices.

PubMed

Price, Jill M; Whitlatch, Joy; Maier, Cecilia Jane; Burdi, Melissa; Peacock, James

2016-05-01

This pilot study explored the effectiveness of an online workshop provided to faculty teaching one course in a large online RN-to-baccalaureate nursing (BSN) program. This exploration helped to fill a gap in knowledge related to implementing best classroom teaching practices into distance education for online nursing students. Focus groups with purposeful sampling (three focus groups: two faculty focus groups with a total of 11 faculty and one student focus group with a total of six students) were used to assess the effectiveness of the workshop and faculty and student perceptions of the seven best classroom teaching practices. Themes derived from the faculty focus groups included reaffirmation, commitments from students, and opportunities for instructor improvement. Themes derived from the student focus group included engagement, availability, encouragement, and diverse learning. Online teaching recommendations, created from the emerged themes of the study, could be considered to improve teaching practices of online nurse educators. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2016;47(5):222-227. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Using Team-based Learning to teach a Large-enrollment Environmental Science Course Online

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harder, V.

2013-12-01

Student enrollment in many online courses is usually limited to small classes, ranging from 20-25 students. Over two summers Environmental Science 1301, with an enrollment of 50, has been piloted online using team-based learning (TBL) methods. Teams, consisting of 7 members, were assigned randomly using the group manager tool found in the learning management system. The course was organized around Learning Modules, which consisted of a quiz (individual) over the reading, a team assignment, which covered a topic from one of the chapters was completed for each learning module, and a class/group discussion. The discussion usually entailed a presentation of findings to the class by each team. This allowed teams to interact with one another and was also designed to encourage competition among the teams. Over the course of the class it was observed that as the students became comfortable with the course procedures they developed a commitment to the goals and welfare of their team. They found that as a team they could accomplish much more than an individual; they discovered strengths in their team mates that they, themselves, lacked, and they helped those team mates who struggled with the material. The teams tackled problems that would be overwhelming to an individual in the time allotted, such as running multiple scenarios with the simulations and tackling a large amount of data. Using TBL shifted the majority of responsibility of learning the material to the student with the instructor functioning as a facilitator instead of dispenser of knowledge. Dividing the class into teams made the course load manageable for the instructor while at the same time created a small-class environment for the students. In comparing this course to other, nonTBL-based online courses taught, the work load was very manageable. There were only 7-10 items to be graded per Learning Module and only 7-10 teams to monitor and provide guidance to instead of 50 individuals. Retention rates (86%) were much higher for this course than for nonTBL-based online courses taught by the same instructor and students didn't fall behind.

Learning from label proportions in brain-computer interfaces: Online unsupervised learning with guarantees.

PubMed

Hübner, David; Verhoeven, Thibault; Schmid, Konstantin; Müller, Klaus-Robert; Tangermann, Michael; Kindermans, Pieter-Jan

2017-01-01

Using traditional approaches, a brain-computer interface (BCI) requires the collection of calibration data for new subjects prior to online use. Calibration time can be reduced or eliminated e.g., by subject-to-subject transfer of a pre-trained classifier or unsupervised adaptive classification methods which learn from scratch and adapt over time. While such heuristics work well in practice, none of them can provide theoretical guarantees. Our objective is to modify an event-related potential (ERP) paradigm to work in unison with the machine learning decoder, and thus to achieve a reliable unsupervised calibrationless decoding with a guarantee to recover the true class means. We introduce learning from label proportions (LLP) to the BCI community as a new unsupervised, and easy-to-implement classification approach for ERP-based BCIs. The LLP estimates the mean target and non-target responses based on known proportions of these two classes in different groups of the data. We present a visual ERP speller to meet the requirements of LLP. For evaluation, we ran simulations on artificially created data sets and conducted an online BCI study with 13 subjects performing a copy-spelling task. Theoretical considerations show that LLP is guaranteed to minimize the loss function similar to a corresponding supervised classifier. LLP performed well in simulations and in the online application, where 84.5% of characters were spelled correctly on average without prior calibration. The continuously adapting LLP classifier is the first unsupervised decoder for ERP BCIs guaranteed to find the optimal decoder. This makes it an ideal solution to avoid tedious calibration sessions. Additionally, LLP works on complementary principles compared to existing unsupervised methods, opening the door for their further enhancement when combined with LLP.

Learning from label proportions in brain-computer interfaces: Online unsupervised learning with guarantees

PubMed Central

Verhoeven, Thibault; Schmid, Konstantin; Müller, Klaus-Robert; Tangermann, Michael; Kindermans, Pieter-Jan

2017-01-01

Objective Using traditional approaches, a brain-computer interface (BCI) requires the collection of calibration data for new subjects prior to online use. Calibration time can be reduced or eliminated e.g., by subject-to-subject transfer of a pre-trained classifier or unsupervised adaptive classification methods which learn from scratch and adapt over time. While such heuristics work well in practice, none of them can provide theoretical guarantees. Our objective is to modify an event-related potential (ERP) paradigm to work in unison with the machine learning decoder, and thus to achieve a reliable unsupervised calibrationless decoding with a guarantee to recover the true class means. Method We introduce learning from label proportions (LLP) to the BCI community as a new unsupervised, and easy-to-implement classification approach for ERP-based BCIs. The LLP estimates the mean target and non-target responses based on known proportions of these two classes in different groups of the data. We present a visual ERP speller to meet the requirements of LLP. For evaluation, we ran simulations on artificially created data sets and conducted an online BCI study with 13 subjects performing a copy-spelling task. Results Theoretical considerations show that LLP is guaranteed to minimize the loss function similar to a corresponding supervised classifier. LLP performed well in simulations and in the online application, where 84.5% of characters were spelled correctly on average without prior calibration. Significance The continuously adapting LLP classifier is the first unsupervised decoder for ERP BCIs guaranteed to find the optimal decoder. This makes it an ideal solution to avoid tedious calibration sessions. Additionally, LLP works on complementary principles compared to existing unsupervised methods, opening the door for their further enhancement when combined with LLP. PMID:28407016

Is Online Learning Suitable for All English Language Students?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuama, Settha; Intharaksa, Usa

2016-01-01

This study aimed to examine online language learning strategies (OLLS) used and affection in online learning of successful and unsuccessful online language students and investigate the relationships between OLLS use, affection in online learning and online English learning outcomes. The participants included 346 university students completing a…

How good are publicly available web services that predict bioactivity profiles for drug repurposing?

PubMed

Murtazalieva, K A; Druzhilovskiy, D S; Goel, R K; Sastry, G N; Poroikov, V V

2017-10-01

Drug repurposing provides a non-laborious and less expensive way for finding new human medicines. Computational assessment of bioactivity profiles shed light on the hidden pharmacological potential of the launched drugs. Currently, several freely available computational tools are available via the Internet, which predict multitarget profiles of drug-like compounds. They are based on chemical similarity assessment (ChemProt, SuperPred, SEA, SwissTargetPrediction and TargetHunter) or machine learning methods (ChemProt and PASS). To compare their performance, this study has created two evaluation sets, consisting of (1) 50 well-known repositioned drugs and (2) 12 drugs recently patented for new indications. In the first set, sensitivity values varied from 0.64 (TarPred) to 1.00 (PASS Online) for the initial indications and from 0.64 (TarPred) to 0.98 (PASS Online) for the repurposed indications. In the second set, sensitivity values varied from 0.08 (SuperPred) to 1.00 (PASS Online) for the initial indications and from 0.00 (SuperPred) to 1.00 (PASS Online) for the repurposed indications. Thus, this analysis demonstrated that the performance of machine learning methods surpassed those of chemical similarity assessments, particularly in the case of novel repurposed indications.

Interaction matters: Strategies to promote engaged learning in an online introductory nutrition course.

PubMed

Banna, Jinan; Grace Lin, Meng-Fen; Stewart, Maria; Fialkowski, Marie K

2015-06-01

Fostering interaction in the online classroom is an important consideration in ensuring that students actively create their own knowledge and reach a high level of achievement in science courses. This study focuses on fostering interaction in an online introductory nutrition course offered in a public institution of higher education in Hawai'i, USA. Interactive features included synchronous discussions and polls in scheduled sessions, and social media tools for sharing of information and resources. Qualitative student feedback was solicited regarding the new course features. Findings indicated that students who attended monthly synchronous sessions valued live interaction with peers and the instructor. Issues identified included technical difficulties during synchronous sessions, lack of participation on the part of fellow students in discussion and inability to attend synchronous sessions due to scheduling conflicts. In addition, few students made use of the opportunity to interact via social media. While students indicated that the interactive components of the course were valuable, several areas in which improvement may be made remain. Future studies may explore potential solutions to issues identified with new features to further promote interaction and foster learning in the course. Recommendations for instructors who are interested in offering online science courses in higher education are provided.

Student perceptions: Importance of and satisfaction with aspects of an online biology course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendry, Sheila R.

Research of student satisfaction with various facets of an online biology course, as well as the perceived importance of these aspects, was conducted during the summer and fall 2004 semesters within a course, History of Biology, at a university in the southeastern United States. This research is based on the theory of transactional distance, which involves dialogue between the teacher and student, the physical environments of both the student and teacher, and the emotional environments of each. Student ratings of importance and satisfaction regarding aspects of convenience, grade earned/knowledge learned, emotional health, communication, and student support were collected toward the end of each semester, via the online course, using the researcher-designed Student Perceptions Survey. Statistics with repeated measures ANOVA, using an alpha of 0.05, determined differences between importance and satisfaction ratings for each of these aspects. Students perceived grade earned/knowledge learned to be the most important aspect of learning online, although it is not an aspect unique to online courses. All of the aspects included in the study were found to be at least somewhat important. Convenience was the aspect with which students were most satisfied, with students at least somewhat satisfied with the other aspects. Although convenience is an inherent strength of the online course format, instructors should be aware of how important it is to design requirements of the online class to help students acquire knowledge while allowing them to do so at their own pace. Well-structured content, prompt feedback, encouragement of quality student-instructor communication, and student support are all parts of a positive online course experience. The Student Perceptions Survey, created specifically for this research, can have substantial value both in the creation of new online courses and in the evaluation of pre-existing courses. It can provide important information that can be used in developing or modifying an online course, to determine whether revisions have been effective, or to assess changes in student perceptions. In addition, as changes in technology occur, the survey can be further revised, with maintenance of core items, so that it will remain an effective evaluation tool for online courses.

Radiology Teacher: a free, Internet-based radiology teaching file server.

PubMed

Talanow, Roland

2009-12-01

Teaching files are an essential ingredient in residency education. The online program Radiology Teacher was developed to allow the creation of interactive and customized teaching files in real time. Online access makes it available anytime and anywhere, and it is free of charge, user tailored, and easy to use. No programming skills, additional plug-ins, or installations are needed, allowing its use even on protected intranets. Special effects for enhancing the learning experience as well as the linking and the source code are created automatically by the program. It may be used in different modes by individuals and institutions to share cases from multiple authors in a single database. Radiology Teacher is an easy-to-use automatic teaching file program that may enhance users' learning experiences by offering different modes of user-defined presentations.

Continual evolution: the experience over three semesters of a librarian embedded in an online evidence-based medicine course for physician assistant students.

PubMed

Kealey, Shannon

2011-01-01

This column examines the experience, over three years, of a librarian embedded in an online Epidemiology and Evidence-based Medicine course, which is a requirement for students pursuing a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Pace University. Student learning outcomes were determined, a video lecture was created, and student learning was assessed via a five-point Blackboard test during year one. For years two and three, the course instructor asked the librarian to be responsible for two weeks of course instruction and a total of 15 out of 100 possible points for the course. This gave the librarian flexibility to measure additional outcomes and gather more in-depth assessment data. The librarian then used the assessment data to target areas for improvement in the lessons and Blackboard tests. Revisions made by the librarian positively affected student achievement of learning outcomes, as measured by the assessment conducted the subsequent semester. Plans for further changes are also discussed.

Relationship between Online Learning Readiness and Structure and Interaction of Online Learning Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demir Kaymak, Zeliha; Horzum, Mehmet Baris

2013-01-01

Current study tried to determine whether a relationship exists between readiness levels of the online learning students for online learning and the perceived structure and interaction in online learning environments. In the study, cross sectional survey model was used. The study was conducted with 320 voluntary students studying online learning…

Educating speech-language pathologists for the 21st century: course design considerations for a distance education Master of Speech Pathology program.

PubMed

McCormack, Jane; Easton, Catherine; Morkel-Kingsbury, Lenni

2014-01-01

The landscape of tertiary education is changing. Developments in information and communications technology have created new ways of engaging with subject material and supporting students on their learning journeys. Therefore, it is timely to reconsider and re-imagine the education of speech-language pathology (SLP) students within this new learning space. In this paper, we outline the design of a new Master of Speech Pathology course being offered by distance education at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Australia. We discuss the catalyst for the course and the commitments of the SLP team at CSU, then describe the curriculum design process, focusing on the pedagogical approach and the learning and teaching strategies utilised in the course delivery. We explain how the learning and teaching strategies have been selected to support students' online learning experience and enable greater interaction between students and the subject material, with students and subject experts, and among student groups. Finally, we highlight some of the challenges in designing and delivering a distance education SLP program and identify future directions for educating students in an online world. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Creating a Community of Practice: Lessons Learned from the Center for Astronomy Education (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brissenden, G.

2009-12-01

The Center for Astronomy Education (CAE) is devoted to improving teaching and learning in Astro 101. To accomplish this, a vital part of CAE is our broader community of practice which includes over 1000 instructors, graduate and undergraduate students, and postdocs. It is this greater community of practice that supports each other, helps, and learns from each other beyond what would be possible without it. As our community of practice has grown, we at CAE have learned many lessons about how different facets of CAE can best be used to promote and support our community both as a whole and for individual members. We will discuss the various facets of CAE, such as our online discussion group Astrolrner@CAE (http://astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/discussion) and its Guest Moderator program, our CAE Regional Teaching Exchange Coordinator program, our CAE Workshop Presenter Apprenticeship Training program, our online This Month’s Teaching Strategy, monthly newsletters, and various types of socializing and networking sessions we hold at national meetings. But more importantly, we will discuss the lessons we’ve learned about what does and does not work in building community within each of these facets.

Online Learning: Experiences and Perceptions of Gifted Middle School Students, Their Parents, and Principals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buescher, Susan H.

2013-01-01

The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act's focus on raising standardized test scores for underachieving students has created a national education system where teacher time and resources are often not directed to students in the top percentiles and those identified as gifted and talented. As resources for gifted students continue to be limited,…

Creating an Intercultural Learning Opportunity: Zagreb, Croatia and Plattsburgh, New York

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mountcastle, Amy

2011-01-01

In the spring of 2009 I embarked on a teaching experiment in which I joined an online SUNY-Plattsburgh class taking my Anthropology of Human Rights course with a conventional class at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where I was a visiting professor teaching the same course. My motivations were several, but prominent among them was to test the…

Integration of Blackboard in the Online Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Masino, Monica

2015-01-01

Over the past 5 years there seems to have been an influx of university's across the nation moving their academic programs to the blended environment. While the purpose of distance education is to make education and training more available to persons that may not have time to attend a face-to-face course or training. In 2008, the UWI created the…

Shaping Youth Discourse about Technology: Technological Colonization, Manifest Destiny, and the Frontier Myth in Facebook's Public Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freishtat, Richard L.; Sandlin, Jennifer A.

2010-01-01

As youths spend more time engaged in social media and informal learning experiences online, they interact with the public pedagogy of technological spaces. The public pedagogy of technological spaces, specifically Facebook, functions to create a "habitus" for the way youths act and respond in digital discourses and digital culture. This article…

Sketches of Innovators in Education: A Collection of Articles on Teaching with Technology by Indiana State University Faculty and Staff. Third Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Indiana State Univ., Terre Haute.

This collection contains the following articles on teaching with technology by faculty and staff at Indiana State University: (1) "Confessions of a Low-Tech Social Scientist" (James Schellenberg); (2) "The New Learning Curve: Creating Online Courses" (Faye Bradshaw); (3) "Practicing What We Preach: The Transformation of a…

History in the Digital Age: A Study of the Impact of Interactive Resources on Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vess, Deborah

2004-01-01

Online courses and degree programs are increasingly common feature of higher education, such as those of The University of Phoenix, Western Governor's University, and the Open University in Great Britain. The University System of Georgia, the third largest university system in the United States, has recently created an electronic core curriculum,…

Using Online Resources to Improve Writing Skills and Attitudes about Writing and Plagiarism of Criminal Justice Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grohe, B.; Schroeder, J.; Davis, S. R. B.

2013-01-01

Cheating and plagiarism are significant problems in higher education because they occur often and interfere with learning. Plagiarism creates shortcuts that bypass the time and effort required to develop the writing and analytical skills necessary to produce evidence of progress in mastering course content. The purpose of a two-semester writing…

Teach Ourselves: Social Networks for CS Stem Education

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

with peers. Teach Ourselves includes features that were inspired by recent research on the engaging properties of computer games , including the chance...15 i 1.0 SUMMARY In an online learning community (“ Teach Ourselves...content shared and viewed on the Internet, including text, images, videos and even home-authored games . The ease with which content can now be created

Teaching about Inequality in a Distance Education Course Using "The Second Shift"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hauhart, Robert C.

2007-01-01

This paper describes the use of a simple survey followed by discussion in an online sociology course to create a setting in which undergraduate students may learn about inequality from the study of everyday life. The method described in this paper relies on the common experience of a gendered household division of labor and on the use of…

Supporting traditional instructional methods with a constructivist approach to learning: Promoting conceputal change and understanding of stoichiometry using e-learning tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abayan, Kenneth Munoz

Stoichiometry is a fundamental topic in chemistry that measures a quantifiable relationship between atoms, molecules, etc. Stoichiometry is usually taught using expository teaching methods. Students are passively given information, in the hopes they will retain the transmission of information to be able to solve stoichiometry problems masterfully. Cognitive science research has shown that this kind of instructional teaching method is not very effecting in meaningful learning practice. Instead, students must take ownership of their learning. The students need to actively construct their own knowledge by receiving, interpreting, integrating and reorganizing that information into their own mental schemas. In the absence of active learning practices, tools must be created in such a way to be able to scaffold difficult problems by encoding opportunities necessary to make the construction of knowledge memorable, thereby creating a usable knowledge base. Using an online e-learning tool and its potential to create a dynamic and interactive learning environment may facilitate the learning of stoichiometry. The study entailed requests from volunteer students, IRB consent form, a baseline questionnaire, random assignment of treatment, pre- and post-test assessment, and post assessment survey. These activities were given online. A stoichiometry-based assessment was given in a proctored examination at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) campus. The volunteer students who took part in these studies were at least 18 of age and were enrolled in General Chemistry 1441, at the University of Texas at Arlington. Each participant gave their informed consent to use their data in the following study. Students were randomly assigned to one of 4 treatments groups based on teaching methodology, (Dimensional Analysis, Operational Method, Ratios and Proportions) and a control group who just received instruction through lecture only. In this study, an e-learning tool was created to demonstrate several methodologies, on how to solve stoichiometry, which are all supported by chemical education research. Comparisons of student performance based on pre- and post-test assessment, and a stoichiometry-based examination was done to determine if the information provided within the e-learning tool yielded greater learning outcomes compared to the students in the absence of scaffold learning material. The e-learning tool was created to help scaffold the problem solving process necessary to help students (N=394) solve stoichiometry problems. Therein the study investigated possible predictors for success on a stoichiometry based examination, students' conceptual understanding of solving stoichiometry problems, and their explanation of reasoning. It was found that the way the student answered a given stoichiometry question (i.e. whether the student used dimensional analysis, operational method or any other process) was not statistically relevant (p=0.05). More importantly, if the students were able to describe their thought process clearly, these students scored significantly higher on stoichiometry test (mean 84, p<0.05). This finding has major implications in teaching the topic, as lecturers tend to stress and focus on the method rather than the process on how to solve stoichiometry problems.

Teaching about the Earth Online: Faculty-Sourced Guidance from InTeGrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDaris, J. R.; Bralower, T. J.; Anbar, A. D.; Leinbach, A.

2017-12-01

Teaching online is growing in acceptance within the higher education community and its accessibility creates an opportunity to reach students from diverse backgrounds with geoscience content. There is a need to develop best practices for teaching about Earth online as new technologies, pedagogical approaches, and teaching materials that incorporate societal issues and data emerge. In response to this need, the InTeGrate: Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future project convened a workshop of interdisciplinary faculty who teach about the Earth online, in a variety of contexts, to develop consensus best-practices, collect online resources, and develop teaching materials to share with the rest of the community. Workshop participants generated five broad categories of guidance for faculty teaching online: develop communication and a sense of community among class participants, stimulate student engagement, develop activity frameworks that scale with class size, include information literacy in the curriculum explicitly, and employ effective management and assessment techniques. Many of the best practices highlighted by the group are not unique to teaching online, but teaching online rather than face-to-face affects how they are or can be implemented. The suite of webpages developed from this work showcase specific strategies in each area, underpinned by examples drawn from the experiences of the participants. This resource can provide a wealth of advice for faculty seeking help for teaching online. Faculty can also provide feedback on the strategies and add their own experiences to the collection. Participants also worked together in teams to develop new or revise existing teaching resources to make available via the InTeGrate website. In addition, they shared insights about online resources they use in their teaching and class management and developed plans for an online repository for next-generation, interactive educational materials and tools for creating them. All of the best practices guidance, teaching materials, and online resources from the workshop can be found via the InTeGrate website - http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/workshops/online_learning/index.html.

Evaluation of a web-based asynchronous pediatric emergency medicine learning tool for residents and medical students.

PubMed

Burnette, Kreg; Ramundo, Maria; Stevenson, Michelle; Beeson, Michael S

2009-12-01

To examine the effectiveness of an asynchronous learning tool consisting of web-based lectures for trainees covering major topics pertinent to pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) and to assess resident and student evaluation of this mode of education. PEM faculty and fellows created a 21-lecture, web-based curriculum. These 20-minute online lectures used Microsoft PowerPoint with the voice-over feature. A 75-question test was created to assess the effectiveness of the web-based learning model, administered online before and after the rotation in the pediatric emergency department (PED). All fourth-year medical students and residents (across all specialties) rotating through the PED were required to complete 10 of the 21 lectures during their 1-month rotation. The main outcome variable was difference in score between pre- and post-rotation tests of participants who viewed no lectures and those who viewed at least one lecture. Evaluation of the program was assessed by anonymous survey using 5-point discrete visual analog scales. Responses of 4 or 5 were considered positive for analysis. One hundred eleven residents and fourth-year medical students participated in the program. An initial 32 completed testing before implementation of the on-line lectures (March 2007-August 2007), and another five did not complete the on-line lectures after implementation (September 2007-February 2008). Seventy-one completed testing and on-line lectures, and all but three completed at least 10 on-line lectures during their rotation. Fourteen of 111 trainees did not complete the pre- or post-test (including two who viewed the lectures). The mean change in score was a 1% improvement from pre-test to post-test for trainees who viewed no lectures and a 6.2% improvement for those who viewed the lectures (mean difference = 5.2%, 95% confidence interval = 2.5% to 7.9%). In the linear regression model, the estimate of the coefficient was 0.43 (p < 0.001), meaning that, for each lecture viewed, post-test score rose by 0.43%. Sixty-nine of 75 test items (92%) had a point biserial correlation greater than 0.15. Thirty of the 72 trainees who completed the online lectures and testing (42%) returned surveys. All were comfortable using the Internet, and 87% (26/30) found the web-site easy to use. All felt that their educational goals were met, and 100% felt that the format would be useful in other areas of education. Although not a replacement for traditional bedside teaching, the use of web-based lectures as an asynchronous learning tool has a positive effect on medical knowledge test scores. Trainees were able to view online lectures on their own schedules, in the location of their choice. This is helpful in a field with shift work, in which trainees rarely work together, making it difficult to synchronously provide lectures to all trainees. (c) 2009 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

[Digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system].

PubMed

da Costa, Cecília Passos Vaz; Luz, Maria Helena Barros Araújo

2015-12-01

To describe the creation of a digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system at a public university of Piaui. A methodological study applied to technological production based on the pedagogical framework of problem-based learning. The methodology for creating the learning object observed the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation recommended for contextualized instructional design. The revised taxonomy of Bloom was used to list the educational goals. The four modules of the developed learning object were inserted into the educational platform Moodle. The theoretical assumptions allowed the design of an important online resource that promotes effective learning in the scope of nursing education. This study should add value to nursing teaching practices through the use of digital learning objects for teaching diagnostic reasoning applied to skin and skin appendages.

Teaching with Games: Online Resources and Examples for Entry Level Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teed, R.; Manduca, C.

2004-12-01

Using games to teach introductory geoscience can motivate students to enthusiastically learn material that they might otherwise condemn as "boring". A good educational game is one that immerses the players in the material and engages them for as long as it takes to master that material. There are some good geoscience games already available, but instructors can also create their own, suitable to their students and the content that they are teaching. Game-Based Learning is a module on the Starting Point website for faculty teaching entry level geosciences. It assists faculty in using games in their teaching by providing a description of the features of game-based learning, why you would use it, how to use games to teach geoscience, examples, and references. Other issues discussed include the development of video games for teaching, having your students create educational games, what makes a good game, handling competition in the classroom, and grading. The examples include descriptions of and rules for a GPS treasure hunt, a geology quiz show, and an earthquake game, as well as links to several online geological video games, and advice on how to design a paleontology board game. Starting Point is intended to help both experienced faculty and new instructors meet the challenge of teaching introductory geoscience classes, including environmental science and oceanography as well as more traditional geology classes. For many students, these classes are both the first and the last college-level science class that they will ever take. They need to learn enough about the Earth in that one class to sustain them for many decades as voters, consumers, and sometimes even as teachers. Starting Point is produced by a group of authors working with the Science Education Resource Center. It contains dozens of detailed examples categorized by geoscience topic with advice about using them and assessing learning. Each example is linked to one of many modules, such as Game-Based Learning, Interactive Lectures, or Using an Earth History Approach. These modules describe teaching tools and techniques, provide examples and advice about using them in an introductory geoscience class, and give instructors details on how to create their own exercises.

How People Learn in an Asynchronous Online Learning Environment: The Relationships between Graduate Students' Learning Strategies and Learning Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Beomkyu

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between learners' learning strategies and learning satisfaction in an asynchronous online learning environment. In an attempt to shed some light on how people learn in an online learning environment, one hundred and sixteen graduate students who were taking online learning courses…

Making projects, making friends: online community as catalyst for interactive media creation.

PubMed

Brennan, Karen; Monroy-Hernández, Andrés; Resnick, Mitchel

2010-01-01

To become full and active participants in today's technologically saturated society, young people need to become creators (and not just consumers) of interactive media. Developing the requisite abilities and capacities is not a wholly individual process; it is important for young people to have access to communities where they can collaborate and share ideas. This article uses the Scratch online community for exploring how different forms of participation and collaboration can support and shape the ways in which young people develop as creators of interactive media. We describe participation in this community in terms of a spectrum ranging from socializing to creating and present examples of three forms of collaboration within the community. We argue that the most exciting interactive media creation and valuable learning experiences are taking place in the middle space, where participants draw on the best of socializing and creating practices.

Negotiating Femininities Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Julia

2004-01-01

Much has been written about the potential for online learning (Fryer, 1997; www. ngfl.gov.uk/ngfl/index.html). However this literature typically emphasizes not online learning but online education. In this paper I focus on the potential for online learning, specifically learning about issues surrounding femininity in the presence of online peers,…

Challenges in Developing XML-Based Learning Repositories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Auksztol, Jerzy; Przechlewski, Tomasz

There is no doubt that modular design has many advantages, including the most important ones: reusability and cost-effectiveness. In an e-leaming community parlance the modules are determined as Learning Objects (LOs) [11]. An increasing amount of learning objects have been created and published online, several standards has been established and multiple repositories developed for them. For example Cisco Systems, Inc., "recognizes a need to move from creating and delivering large inflexible training courses, to database-driven objects that can be reused, searched, and modified independent of their delivery media" [6]. The learning object paradigm of education resources authoring is promoted mainly to reduce the cost of the content development and to increase its quality. A frequently used metaphor of Learning Objects paradigm compares them to Lego Logs or objects in Object-Oriented program design [25]. However a metaphor is only an abstract idea, which should be turned to something more concrete to be usable. The problem is that many papers on LOs end up solely in metaphors. In our opinion Lego or OO metaphors are gross oversimplificatation of the problem as there is much easier to develop Lego set or design objects in OO program than develop truly interoperable, context-free learning content1.

Astronomy4Kids: Extending STEM learning to the youngest student through an online educational outreach program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearson, Richard L.; Pearson, Sarah R.

2017-06-01

Astronomy4Kids is an online video series aimed at filling the void of effective and engaging education tools within early childhood learning. Much discussion and research has been conducted on the significance of early learning, with general trends showing significant benefits to early introductions to language, mathematics, and general science concepts. Ultimately, when ideas are introduced to a child at a young age, that child is better prepared for when the concept is re-introduced in its entirety later. National agencies—such as the AAS and NSF—have implemented Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) initiatives to expand learning in these areas. However, despite these many resources, the education outreach available to the youngest learners (under the age of 8 or those from pre-school to about 2nd-grade) is seriously lacking. Astronomy4Kids was created to bridge this gap and provide succinct, creative-learning videos following the principles of Fred Rogers, the founder of preschool education video. We present ways to incorporate the freely accessible YouTube videos within various classroom ages and discuss how to use simple activities to promote physics, astronomy, and math learning. Current development, video statistics, and future work will be discussed. The freely accessible videos can be found at www.astronomy4kids.net.

Can blended learning and the flipped classroom improve student learning and satisfaction in Saudi Arabia?

PubMed Central

Sajid, Muhammad R.; Abothenain, Fayha; Salam, Yezan; AlJayar, Dina; Obeidat, Akef

2016-01-01

Objectives To evaluate student academic performance and perception towards blended learning and flipped classrooms in comparison to traditional teaching. Methods This study was conducted during the hematology block on year three students. Five lectures were delivered online only. Asynchronous discussion boards were created where students could interact with colleagues and instructors. A flipped classroom was introduced with application exercises. Summative assessment results were compared with previous year results as a historical control for statistical significance. Student feedback regarding their blended learning experience was collected. Results A total of 127 responses were obtained. Approximately 22.8% students felt all lectures should be delivered through didactic lecturing, while almost 35% felt that 20% of total lectures should be given online. Students expressed satisfaction with blended learning as a new and effective learning approach. The majority of students reported blended learning was helpful for exam preparation and concept clarification. However, a comparison of grades did not show a statistically significant increase in the academic performance of students taught via the blended learning method. Conclusions Learning experiences can be enriched by adopting a blended method of instruction at various stages of undergraduate and postgraduate education. Our results suggest that blended learning, a relatively new concept in Saudi Arabia, shows promising results with higher student satisfaction. Flipped classrooms replace passive lecturing with active student-centered learning that enhances critical thinking and application, including information retention.  PMID:27591930

Co-Creating a Culturally Responsive Distance Education Cancer Course with, and for, Alaska's Community Health Workers: Motivations from a Survey of Key Stakeholders.

PubMed

Cueva, Katie; Revels, Laura; Kuhnley, Regina; Cueva, Melany; Lanier, Anne; Dignan, Mark

2017-09-01

To gain input on a proposed culturally responsive, distance-delivered cancer education course informed by empowerment theory and adult-learning principles, Alaska's Community Health Aides/Practitioners (CHA/Ps) and CHA/P leadership were invited to take an online survey in February 2015. The proposed course will be developed as part of the "Distance Education to Engage Alaskan Community Health Aides in Cancer Control" project. The results of the survey demonstrate that respondents are both interested in taking the proposed class and engaging in course development. The results also indicate that respondents have the technological comfort and capacity to be engaged in online learning and have primarily positive experiences and perceptions of distance education. This survey is the beginning of the interactive development of the online cancer education course and part of a continuing endeavor to promote wellness with, and for, Alaska's people by empowering Alaska's CHA/Ps and inspiring positive behavioral change to both prevent cancer and support those who feel its burdens.

Determinants of Student Satisfaction in Online Tutorial: A Study of A Distance Education Institution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harsasi, Meirani; Sutawijaya, Adrian

2018-01-01

Education system nowadays tends to utilize online learning, including in higher education. Online learning system becomes a major requirement in implementing learning process, including in Indonesia. Universitas Terbuka has implemented online learning system known as online tutorials to support the distance learning system. One interesting issue…

Using an evaluative tool to develop effective mathscasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galligan, Linda; Hobohm, Carola; Peake, Katherine

2017-09-01

This study is situated in a course designed for both on-campus and online pre-service and in-service teachers, where student-created mathscasts provide a way for university lecturers to assess students' quality of teaching, and understanding of mathematics. Teachers and pre-service teachers, in a university course with 90% online enrolment, were asked to create mathscasts to explain mathematics concepts at middle school level. This paper describes the process of developing and refining a tool for the creation and evaluation of quality student-produced mathscasts. The study then investigates the usefulness of the tool within the context of pedagogy and mathematical understanding. Despite an abundance of mathscasts already available on the web, there is merit in creating mathscasts, not only as a tool for teaching, but also as a means of learning by doing. The premise for creating student-produced mathscasts was to capture the creators' mathematical understanding and pedagogical approach to teaching a mathematical concept, which were then peer-assessed and graded. The analysis included surveys, practice mathscasts with peer- and self-reviews, and students' final assessed mathscasts. The results indicate that the use of the evaluative tool resulted in an improvement in quality of student-created mathscasts and critiques thereof. The paper concludes with a discussion on future directions of student-produced mathscasts.

An Examination through Conjoint Analysis of the Preferences of Students Concerning Online Learning Environments According to Their Learning Styles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daghan, Gökhan; Akkoyunlu, Buket

2012-01-01

This study examines learning styles of students receiving education via online learning environments, and their preferences concerning the online learning environment. Maggie McVay Lynch Learning Style Inventory was used to determine learning styles of the students. The preferences of students concerning online learning environments were detected…

Best practice recommendations for the development, implementation, and evaluation of online knowledge translation resources in rehabilitation.

PubMed

Levac, Danielle; Glegg, Stephanie M N; Camden, Chantal; Rivard, Lisa M; Missiuna, Cheryl

2015-04-01

The knowledge-to-practice gap in rehabilitation has spurred knowledge translation (KT) initiatives aimed at promoting clinician behavior change and improving patient care. Online KT resources for physical therapists and other rehabilitation clinicians are appealing because of their potential to reach large numbers of individuals through self-paced, self-directed learning. This article proposes best practice recommendations for developing online KT resources that are designed to translate evidence into practice. Four recommendations are proposed with specific steps in the development, implementation, and evaluation process: (1) develop evidence-based, user-centered content; (2) tailor content to online format; (3) evaluate impact; and (4) share results and disseminate knowledge. Based on KT evidence and instructional design principles, concrete examples are provided along with insights gained from experiences in creating and evaluating online KT resources for physical therapists. In proposing these recommendations, the next steps for research are suggested, and others are invited to contribute to the discussion. © 2015 American Physical Therapy Association.

Crowdsourced Curriculum Development for Online Medical Education.

PubMed

Shappell, Eric; Chan, Teresa M; Thoma, Brent; Trueger, N Seth; Stuntz, Bob; Cooney, Robert; Ahn, James

2017-12-08

In recent years online educational content, efforts at quality appraisal, and integration of online material into institutional teaching initiatives have increased. However, medical education has yet to develop large-scale online learning centers. Crowd-sourced curriculum development may expedite the realization of this potential while providing opportunities for innovation and scholarship. This article describes the current landscape, best practices, and future directions for crowdsourced curriculum development using Kern's framework for curriculum development and the example topic of core content in emergency medicine. A scoping review of online educational content was performed by a panel of subject area experts for each step in Kern's framework. Best practices and recommendations for future development for each step were established by the same panel using a modified nominal group consensus process. The most prevalent curriculum design steps were (1) educational content and (2) needs assessments. Identified areas of potential innovation within these steps included targeting gaps in specific content areas and developing underrepresented instructional methods. Steps in curriculum development without significant representation included (1) articulation of goals and objectives and (2) tools for curricular evaluation. By leveraging the power of the community, crowd-sourced curriculum development offers a mechanism to diffuse the burden associated with creating comprehensive online learning centers. There is fertile ground for innovation and scholarship in each step along the continuum of curriculum development. Realization of this paradigm's full potential will require individual developers to strongly consider how their contributions will align with the work of others.

Crowdsourced Curriculum Development for Online Medical Education

PubMed Central

Chan, Teresa M; Thoma, Brent; Trueger, N Seth; Stuntz, Bob; Cooney, Robert; Ahn, James

2017-01-01

In recent years online educational content, efforts at quality appraisal, and integration of online material into institutional teaching initiatives have increased. However, medical education has yet to develop large-scale online learning centers. Crowd-sourced curriculum development may expedite the realization of this potential while providing opportunities for innovation and scholarship. This article describes the current landscape, best practices, and future directions for crowdsourced curriculum development using Kern’s framework for curriculum development and the example topic of core content in emergency medicine. A scoping review of online educational content was performed by a panel of subject area experts for each step in Kern’s framework. Best practices and recommendations for future development for each step were established by the same panel using a modified nominal group consensus process. The most prevalent curriculum design steps were (1) educational content and (2) needs assessments. Identified areas of potential innovation within these steps included targeting gaps in specific content areas and developing underrepresented instructional methods. Steps in curriculum development without significant representation included (1) articulation of goals and objectives and (2) tools for curricular evaluation. By leveraging the power of the community, crowd-sourced curriculum development offers a mechanism to diffuse the burden associated with creating comprehensive online learning centers. There is fertile ground for innovation and scholarship in each step along the continuum of curriculum development. Realization of this paradigm’s full potential will require individual developers to strongly consider how their contributions will align with the work of others. PMID:29464134

The Benefits of a Real-Time Web-Based Response System for Enhancing Engaged Learning in Classrooms and Public Science Events.

PubMed

Sarvary, Mark A; Gifford, Kathleen M

2017-01-01

Large introduction to neuroscience classes and small science cafés have the same goal: bridging the gap between the presenter and the audience to convey the information while being engaging. Early classroom response systems became the cornerstone of flipped and engaged learning. These "clickers" helped turn lectures into dialogues, allowing the presenter to become a facilitator rather than a "sage on the stage." Rapid technological developments, especially the increase of computing power opened up new opportunities, moving these systems from a clicker device onto cellphones and laptops. This allowed students to use their own devices, and instructors to use new question types, such as clicking on a picture or ranking concepts. A variety of question types makes the learning environment more engaging, allows better examples for creative and critical thinking, and facilitates assessment. Online access makes these response systems scalable, bringing the strength of formative assessments and surveys to public science communication events, neuroscience journal clubs and distance learning. In addition to the new opportunities, online polling systems also create new challenges for the presenters. For example, allowing mobile devices in the classroom can be distracting. Here, a web-based, real-time response system called Poll Everywhere was compared to iClickers, highlighting the benefits and the pitfalls of both systems. In conclusion, the authors observe that the benefits of web-based response systems outweigh the challenges, and this form of digital pedagogy can help create a rich dialogue with the audience in large classrooms as well as in public science events.

Physics Matters, 1st Edition, with Student Access Card eGrade Plus 1 Term Set

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trefil, James

2004-04-01

Written by authors who have vast experience in communicating science to general audiences, Physics Matters conveys the principles of physics in a manner that is understandable to non-majors. In a prose style that is clear, engaging, and contemporary, it pays particular attention to the relevance of physics in comprehending our modern technological society and the issues created by those technologies. It offers a broad, relatively non-mathematical, and highly readable survey of all the standard topics in physics. Before you buy, make sure you are getting the best value and all the learning tools you'll need to succeed in your course. If your professor requires eGrade Plus, you can purchase it now at no additional cost! With this special eGrade Plus package you get the new text--no highlighting, no missing pages, no food stains--an activity book with class activities, self study and homework assignments, as well as a registration code to eGrade Plus, a suite of effective learning tools to help you get a better grade. eGrade Plus gives you: A complete online version of the textbook Video experiments Student web projects Self assessment tests Homework questions with links to the relevant section of the online book eGrade Plus is a powerful online tool that provides students with an integrated suite of teaching and learning resources and an online version of the text in one easy-to-use website.

PipelineDog: a simple and flexible graphic pipeline construction and maintenance tool.

PubMed

Zhou, Anbo; Zhang, Yeting; Sun, Yazhou; Xing, Jinchuan

2018-05-01

Analysis pipelines are an essential part of bioinformatics research, and ad hoc pipelines are frequently created by researchers for prototyping and proof-of-concept purposes. However, most existing pipeline management system or workflow engines are too complex for rapid prototyping or learning the pipeline concept. A lightweight, user-friendly and flexible solution is thus desirable. In this study, we developed a new pipeline construction and maintenance tool, PipelineDog. This is a web-based integrated development environment with a modern web graphical user interface. It offers cross-platform compatibility, project management capabilities, code formatting and error checking functions and an online repository. It uses an easy-to-read/write script system that encourages code reuse. With the online repository, it also encourages sharing of pipelines, which enhances analysis reproducibility and accountability. For most users, PipelineDog requires no software installation. Overall, this web application provides a way to rapidly create and easily manage pipelines. PipelineDog web app is freely available at http://web.pipeline.dog. The command line version is available at http://www.npmjs.com/package/pipelinedog and online repository at http://repo.pipeline.dog. ysun@kean.edu or xing@biology.rutgers.edu or ysun@diagnoa.com. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Longitudinal Study: Efficacy of Online Technology Tools for Instructional Use

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uenking, Michael D.

2011-01-01

Studies show that the student population (secondary and post secondary) is becoming increasingly more technologically savvy. Use of the internet, computers, MP3 players, and other technologies along with online gaming has increased tremendously amongst this population such that it is creating an apparent paradigm shift in the learning modalities of these students. Instructors and facilitators of learning can no longer rely solely on traditional lecture-based lesson formals. In order to achieve student academic success and satisfaction and to increase student retention, instructors must embrace various technology tools that are available and employ them in their lessons. A longitudinal study (January 2009-June 2010) has been performed that encompasses the use of several technology tools in an instructional setting. The study provides further evidence that students not only like the tools that are being used, but prefer that these tools be used to help supplement and enhance instruction.

Creating a Village: The Impact of the Opportunity to Participate in Synchronous Web Conferencing on Adult Learner Sense of Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gable, Karla

2012-01-01

Community is a place where people go to feel comfortable. It is important to develop strategies for enhancing a sense of community in the online learning environment designed for adult learners. The purpose of this study was to determine if adding a synchronous conferencing experience to an asynchronous course impacted overall sense of community,…

Developing "Design Minds" for the 21st Century through a Public Sector Initiated Online Design Education Platform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duell, Christian; Wright, Natalie; Roxburgh, Joanna

2014-01-01

Education in the 21st century demands a model for understanding a new culture of learning in the face of rapid change, open access data and geographical diversity. Teachers no longer need to provide the latest information because students themselves are taking an active role in peer collectives to help create it. This paper examines, through an…

A Capstone Wiki Knowledge Base: A Case Study of an Online Tool Designed to Promote Life-Long Learning through Engineering Literature Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarke, James B.; Coyle, James R.

2011-01-01

This article reports the results of a case study in which an experimental wiki knowledge base was designed, developed, and tested by the Brill Science Library at Miami University for an undergraduate engineering senior capstone project. The wiki knowledge base was created to determine if the science library could enhance the engineering literature…

Cutting the Distance in Distance Education: Reflections on the Use of E-Technologies in a New Zealand Social Work Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanley-Clarke, Nicky; English, Awhina; Yeung, Polly

2018-01-01

The development of new e-technologies and an increased focus on developing distance social work education programs has created the impetus for social work educators to consider the tools they can employ in delivering distance courses. This article reflects on an action learning research project involving the development of an online toolbox of…

Utilising a Collaborative Macro-Script to Enhance Student Engagement: A Mixed Method Study in a 3D Virtual Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouta, Hara; Retalis, Symeon; Paraskeva, Fotini

2012-01-01

This study examines the effect of using an online 3D virtual environment in teaching Mathematics in Primary Education. In particular, it explores the extent to which student engagement--behavioral, affective and cognitive--is fostered by such tools in order to enhance collaborative learning. For the study we used a purpose-created 3D virtual…

Applying Asynchronous Solutions to the Multi-Tasking Realities of a Teacher Education Faculty Unit: Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moffett, David W.; Claxton, Melba S.; Jordan, Skye L.; Mercer, Patricia P.; Reid, Barbara K.

2007-01-01

The case study describes the early stages of building and using a learning management system (LMS) to aid in the productivity of an education faculty unit. Little to no research exists regarding teacher education units using LMSs to create an online web group for work purposes. The literature review preceding the case study illuminated some of the…

17,000 Islands, One Goal: Indonesia Turns to Online Resources to Create a Network of School-Based Coaches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Mary

2010-01-01

Community has taken on a new meaning for several school-based coaches spread across Indonesia. For far too long in developing countries, educators have been forced to rely on one-shot centralized professional development for teachers and those who work with them. A shortage of money, locally trained staff, and access to learning materials has made…

Algebra? There's an App for That: Florida Goes Online with Math Support for Teachers and Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schackow, Joy Bronston; Cugini, Stephanie

2016-01-01

The transition to Common Core State Standards for Mathematics has created a need for high-quality professional learning on content and pedagogy. This is especially true for algebra 1 teachers in Florida, where students must pass a standards-based exam as a requirement to earning a high school diploma. Time, distance, and cost constraints can get…

Evaluation of Facebook© to Create an Online Learning Community in an Undergraduate Animal Science Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whittaker, Alexandra L.; Howarth, Gordon S.; Lymn, Kerry A.

2014-01-01

There has been widespread comment on the use and impact of Web 2.0 technologies in education. Given the use of such technologies, particularly social networking sites such as Facebook amongst the student body, it would be remiss of educators to not consider their use as part of a pedagogical strategy. This paper provides a preliminary…

Online Learning Self-Efficacy in Students with and without Online Learning Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zimmerman, Whitney Alicia; Kulikowich, Jonna M.

2016-01-01

A need was identified for an instrument to measure online learning self-efficacy, which encompassed the wide variety of tasks required of successful online students. The Online Learning Self-Efficacy Scale (OLSES) was designed to include tasks required of students enrolled in paced online courses at one university. In the present study, the…

Learning About the Lived Experiences of Women with Autism from an Online Community.

PubMed

Haney, Jolynn L; Cullen, Jennifer A

2017-01-01

The experience of being an adult female with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been understudied in social work literature. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of females with ASD, from their perspective, by examining content from an online autism community Web site. Using a phenomenological approach, data analysis on content obtained from the forum revealed several themes about the women's experiences concerning the diagnostic process, managing and understanding symptoms, and the impact of ASD on their personal and work relationships. Implications for social work practice, including creating more effective services for females with ASD, are discussed.

Developing blended online and classroom strategies to deliver an occupational health nursing overview course in a multi-state region in the United States.

PubMed

de Castro, A B; Shapleigh, Erin; Bruck, Annie; Salazar, Mary K

2015-03-01

This article describes how hybrid online and classroom learning approaches were used to design and offer an occupational health nursing review course throughout a multi-state region of the northwest United States. In response to demand from practicing occupational health nurses for board certification preparation, a series of asynchronous and synchronous continuing education modules was created covering a range of occupational health nursing topics. This review course illustrates how innovative educational delivery models can serve the needs of occupational health nurses challenged by geographic and time constraints. © 2015 The Author(s).

"Flipping" the introductory clerkship in radiology: impact on medical student performance and perceptions.

PubMed

Belfi, Lily M; Bartolotta, Roger J; Giambrone, Ashley E; Davi, Caryn; Min, Robert J

2015-06-01

Among methods of "blended learning" (ie, combining online modules with in-class instruction), the "flipped classroom" involves student preclass review of material while reserving class time for interactive knowledge application. We integrated blended learning methodology in a "flipped" introductory clerkship in radiology, and assessed the impact of this approach on the student educational experience (performance and perception). In preparation for the "flipped clerkship," radiology faculty and residents created e-learning modules that were uploaded to an open-source website. The clerkship's 101 rising third-year medical students were exposed to different teaching methods during the course, such as blended learning, traditional lecture learning, and independent learning. Students completed precourse and postcourse knowledge assessments and surveys. Student knowledge improved overall as a result of taking the course. Blended learning achieved greater pretest to post-test improvement of high statistical significance (P value, .0060) compared to lecture learning alone. Blended learning also achieved greater pretest to post-test improvement of borderline statistical significance (P value, .0855) in comparison to independent learning alone. The difference in effectiveness of independent learning versus lecture learning was not statistically significant (P value, .2730). Student perceptions of the online modules used in blended learning portions of the course were very positive. They specifically enjoyed the self-paced interactivity and the ability to return to the modules in the future. Blended learning can be successfully applied to the introductory clerkship in radiology. This teaching method offers educators an innovative and efficient approach to medical student education in radiology. Copyright © 2015 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning across Distance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowan, Kristina

2009-01-01

A 2008 report, "Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning," commissioned by North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) and others, defines online learning as "teacher-led education that takes place over the Internet, with the teacher and student separated geographically." The term "distance learning" includes online education, but is…

The Online Learning Definitions Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Association for K-12 Online Learning, 2011

2011-01-01

The mission of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) is to ensure all students have access to a world-class education and quality online learning opportunities that prepare them for a lifetime of success. "The Online Learning Definitions Project" is designed to provide states, districts, online programs, and…

Interaction matters: Strategies to promote engaged learning in an online introductory nutrition course

PubMed Central

Banna, Jinan; Grace Lin, Meng-Fen; Stewart, Maria; Fialkowski, Marie K.

2016-01-01

Fostering interaction in the online classroom is an important consideration in ensuring that students actively create their own knowledge and reach a high level of achievement in science courses. This study focuses on fostering interaction in an online introductory nutrition course offered in a public institution of higher education in Hawai‘i, USA. Interactive features included synchronous discussions and polls in scheduled sessions, and social media tools for sharing of information and resources. Qualitative student feedback was solicited regarding the new course features. Findings indicated that students who attended monthly synchronous sessions valued live interaction with peers and the instructor. Issues identified included technical difficulties during synchronous sessions, lack of participation on the part of fellow students in discussion and inability to attend synchronous sessions due to scheduling conflicts. In addition, few students made use of the opportunity to interact via social media. While students indicated that the interactive components of the course were valuable, several areas in which improvement may be made remain. Future studies may explore potential solutions to issues identified with new features to further promote interaction and foster learning in the course. Recommendations for instructors who are interested in offering online science courses in higher education are provided. PMID:27441032

Significant increase in factual knowledge with web-assisted problem-based learning as part of an undergraduate cardio-respiratory curriculum

PubMed Central

Münscher, C.; Pukrop, T.; Anders, S.; Harendza, S.

2009-01-01

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to web-based learning although the advantages of computer-aided instruction over traditional teaching formats still need to be confirmed. This study examined whether participation in an online module on the differential diagnosis of dyspnoea impacts on student performance in a multiple choice examination of factual knowledge in cardiology and pneumology. A virtual problem-based learning environment for medical students supervised by postgraduate teachers was created. Seventy-four out of 183 fourth-year medical students volunteered to use the online module while attending a 6-week cardio-respiratory curriculum in summer 2007. Of these, 40 were randomly selected to be included (intervention group); the remaining 34 served as an internal control group. Analysis of all written exams taken during the preceding term showed that both groups were comparable (86.4 ± 1.1 vs. 85.9 ± 1.1%; p = 0.751). Students in the intervention group scored significantly higher in the final course assessment than students allocated to the control group (84.8 ± 1.3 vs. 79.5 ± 1.4%; p = 0.006; effect size 0.67). Thus, additional problem-based learning with an online module as part of an undergraduate cardio-respiratory curriculum lead to higher students’ scores in an exam testing factual knowledge. Whether using this teaching format increases overall student motivation to engage in the learning process needs to be further investigated. PMID:19774475

Evaluation of an E-learning resource on approach to the first unprovoked seizure.

PubMed

Le Marne, Fleur A; McGinness, Hannah; Slade, Rob; Cardamone, Michael; Balbir Singh, Shirleen; Connolly, Anne M; Bye, Ann Me

2016-09-01

To develop and evaluate an online educational package instructing paediatricians and trainees in the diagnosis and management of a first unprovoked seizure in children. The E-learning content was created following a comprehensive literature review that referenced current international guidelines. Rigorous consultation with local paediatric neurologists, paediatricians and epilepsy nurses was undertaken. A series of learning modules was created and sequenced to reflect steps needed to achieve optimal diagnosis and management in a real-life situation of a child presenting with a paroxysmal event. Paediatric registrars and advanced trainees from the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network were assessed before and after using the E-learning Resource. Measures included general epilepsy knowledge, case-based scenario knowledge; self-rated measures of satisfaction with instruction and confidence regarding clinical approach to the child with first unprovoked seizure; and open ended questions evaluating the usefulness of the E-learning resource. Performance on measures of general epilepsy knowledge and on the seizure-related case scenarios improved significantly following completion of the E-learning as did self-rated satisfaction with instruction and confidence across all aspects of managing first seizure. The E-learning resource has been validated as a useful educational resource regarding the first afebrile unprovoked seizure for paediatricians. © 2016 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Teaching and Learning Communities through Online Annotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Pluijm, B.

2016-12-01

What do colleagues do with your assigned textbook? What they say or think about the material? Want students to be more engaged in their learning experience? If so, online materials that complement standard lecture format provide new opportunity through managed, online group annotation that leverages the ubiquity of internet access, while personalizing learning. The concept is illustrated with the new online textbook "Processes in Structural Geology and Tectonics", by Ben van der Pluijm and Stephen Marshak, which offers a platform for sharing of experiences, supplementary materials and approaches, including readings, mathematical applications, exercises, challenge questions, quizzes, alternative explanations, and more. The annotation framework used is Hypothes.is, which offers a free, open platform markup environment for annotation of websites and PDF postings. The annotations can be public, grouped or individualized, as desired, including export access and download of annotations. A teacher group, hosted by a moderator/owner, limits access to members of a user group of teachers, so that its members can use, copy or transcribe annotations for their own lesson material. Likewise, an instructor can host a student group that encourages sharing of observations, questions and answers among students and instructor. Also, the instructor can create one or more closed groups that offers study help and hints to students. Options galore, all of which aim to engage students and to promote greater responsibility for their learning experience. Beyond new capacity, the ability to analyze student annotation supports individual learners and their needs. For example, student notes can be analyzed for key phrases and concepts, and identify misunderstandings, omissions and problems. Also, example annotations can be shared to enhance notetaking skills and to help with studying. Lastly, online annotation allows active application to lecture posted slides, supporting real-time notetaking during lecture presentation. Sharing of experiences and practices of annotation could benefit teachers and learners alike, and does not require complicated software, coding skills or special hardware environments.

Learning from Lessons: studying the structure and construction of mathematics teacher knowledge in Australia, China and Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Man Ching Esther; Clarke, David J.; Clarke, Doug M.; Roche, Anne; Cao, Yiming; Peter-Koop, Andrea

2018-03-01

The major premise of this project is that teachers learn from the act of teaching a lesson. Rather than asking "What must a teacher already know in order to practice effectively?", this project asks "What might a teacher learn through their activities in the classroom and how might this learning be optimised?" In this project, controlled conditions are created utilising purposefully designed and trialled lesson plans to investigate the process of teacher knowledge construction, with teacher selective attention proposed as a key mediating variable. In order to investigate teacher learning through classroom practice, the project addresses the following questions: To what classroom objects, actions and events do teachers attend and with what consequence for their learning? Do teachers in different countries attend to different classroom events and consequently derive different learning benefits from teaching a lesson? This international project combines focused case studies with an online survey of mathematics teachers' selective attention and consequent learning in Australia, China and Germany. Data include the teacher's adaptation of a pre-designed lesson, the teacher's actions during the lesson, the teacher's reflective thoughts about the lesson and, most importantly, the consequences for the planning and delivery of a second lesson. The combination of fine-grained, culturally situated case studies and large-scale online survey provides mutually informing benefits from each research approach. The research design, so constituted, offers the means to a new and scalable vision of teacher learning and its promotion.

Optimal and Adaptive Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luo, Haipeng

2016-01-01

Online learning is one of the most important and well-established machine learning models. Generally speaking, the goal of online learning is to make a sequence of accurate predictions "on the fly," given some information of the correct answers to previous prediction tasks. Online learning has been extensively studied in recent years,…