Archive for the 'News and Articles' Category
February 15th, 2008 by Jorge Goncalves
ICT Results: Attention please! Next-generation e-learning is here. ‘Take an e-learning platform, mix in a large dose of social networking, sprinkle liberally with intelligent software agents to stimulate users and, according to a team of European researchers, you have a recipe to keep students’ attention even during the most testing training courses.
Recent trials of two new software platforms based on this new approach show substantial promise in overcoming one of the biggest problems that has dogged e-learning: how to keep students motivated and attentive. The platforms, developed in the AtGentive project, are designed to aid students in the classroom and to help them continue learning and collaborating long after classroom sessions have ended.
“The first generation of e-learning platforms focused on replicating online the classroom model of teaching, but this approach has not been all that successful,” explains Thierry Nabeth, the coordinator of AtGentive at INSEAD’s Centre for Advanced Learning Technologies in France. “The biggest problem is that students often lack motivation both inside and outside of the classroom, and fail to dedicate their attention to the learning programme.”
In an effort to overcome that problem, the AtGentive researchers incorporated artificial agents and social networking into their approach toward e-learning, employing, in the case of one of the platforms, similar techniques to those that have made websites, such as Facebook, so popular as a means of staying in touch with friends, relatives and colleagues.’
AtGentive: Attentive Agents for Collaborative Learners. ‘ The objective of the AtGentive project is to investigate the use of artificial agents for supporting the management of the attention of young or adult learners in the context of individual and collaborative learning environments.
Practically, this project consists in the design of artificial agents that are able to coach the learners in reaching higher level of performance in managing their attention in the learning process. These agents, which appear as embedded characters, are able to profile the state of the attention of the learners (short or long term) by observing their actions, to assess, to analyse and to reason on these states of attention, and to provide some proactive coaching (assessment, guidance, stimulation, etc.).’
ICT Results. ‘ICT Results is an editorial service created for the European Commission to showcase EU-funded ICT research and activities.’
January 4th, 2008 by Jorge Goncalves
Collecting, Organizing, and Managing Resources for Teaching Educational Games the Wiki Way, Shelley Henson Johnson, Brett Shelton, and David Wiley, Innovate, Vol. 4, December 2007/January 2008. Synopsis: Recognizing the pedagogical value of gaming, academics along with game designers and educational content developers have begun producing resources to improve educational game design and make instructional games more accessible to teachers wanting to incorporate them into their classes. However, the rapid growth of such resources has made it difficult for educators and other interested parties to find what they need. As a first step towards addressing this problem, Shelley Henson Johnson, Brett Shelton, and David Wiley discuss the creation and proposed expansion of the Teaching Educational Games Resources wiki. They first created the wiki as part of a session at the Games, Learning and Society 2006 conference. Panelists and participants contributed to the wiki before, during, and after the conference session, creating an online space that incorporates syllabi and readings for educational game design, lists hundreds of online resources, and includes links to conferences and multimedia resources. After outlining the creation of the wiki, the authors suggest that its incorporation into an online self-organizing social system could facilitate its growth and the emergence of an online community of game designers, researchers, and educators interested in educational gaming.
Teaching Educational Games Resources Wiki. Current topics: Readings, Multi-media Materials, Technical Resources, Classroom Help, Additional Teaching Resources, Career Resources and Gaming and Libraries. Very good!
November 9th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Campus Technology: Tips for Using Chat as an Instructional Tool by Ruth Reynard. ‘Chat software (text or media-based) provides an excellent tool in supporting academic dialog (exchange), critical thinking, and knowledge building. The immediacy of the technology provides students with a direct connection with the instructor as well as other students. While chat software is usually used for “chatting,” and, therefore, it has a relaxed and colloquial protocol, with a little thought and planning, it can also be used well to support instruction.
Many classroom instructors and online instructors use chat software to provide virtual office hours and for easy question and answer sessions. More, however, can be achieved in the instructional process using the tool to create real-time collaboration and discussion that leads to in-depth academic processing of course material.’
October 28th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Promoting Academic Integrity in Online Distance Learning Courses, Robert T. Kitahara and Frederick Westfall, Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT), Vol. 3, No. 3, September 2007. Abstract: In committing to provide a quality education using online Distance Learning (DL) as the delivery mechanism, a university must face new challenges to ensuring academic integrity in the behavior of its students. In addition to the predictable challenges associated with the online format of DL courses there are additional challenges stimulated by the attitudes of the current student population and the increasing permissiveness of our society. This paper introduces issues relevant to promoting academic integrity with an example of a university’s published Standards of Conduct, exemplifies the nature of the problem with recent cases of academic dishonesty, reviews the current literature highlighting the extent of the problem, and assesses a technology-based approach to its solution.
October 15th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
New JISC publication explores the learner’s perspective on e-learning. ‘A new publication from the JISC e-Learning Programme, In Their Own Words, has been launched at ALT-C in Nottingham. Synthesising outputs from Phase 1 of the Learners’ Experiences of e-Learning theme, it gives striking insights into learners’ motivations, beliefs and intentions about using technology in learning.
Designed as a flexible package to assist others in understanding the learner’s perspective on e-learning, In Their Own Words also provides a range of resources for internal institutional use. These include two pull-out information sheets on the social software and personal tools and technologies used by the learners participating in the studies, and a CD-ROM containing the original reports from the studies, five video case studies and a series of short guides summarising key messages for different sectors and roles.
In Their Own Words will primarily be of interest to managers, academic practitioners and technical staff in further and higher education, but is also of relevance to researchers and systems and tools developers.’
Learner Experiences of e-Learning: Phase 1 and Phase 2.
September 24th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
C|Net News: Google Presentations gets the green light. ‘Google announced the launch on Monday night of its long-awaited, Web-based competitor to PowerPoint. Google Presentations, which is free, is part of the company’s online office suite, Google Docs.
Right off the bat, you will notice that Presentations has some of the same basic functionality as Microsoft’s PowerPoint. It does enable you to create some really basic presentations, with themes, but the lack of features and slide show polish are real turn-offs for me.
Yes, there are nice collaboration features, just like the other Google Docs applications, but if the final product isn’t on par with what PowerPoint produces, those features are almost irrelevant. The omission of basic animations and transitions really take away from it.’
Official Google Blog Announcement: Our feature presentation. ‘In April we announced that we were working to bring presentations to Google Docs. (Astute readers may recall learning about this even earlier, which caused a bit of excitement around here.) And today (9/17/2007) we’re unveiling the new Google Docs presentations feature and invite you to try it at documents.google.com. Maybe more than any other type of document, presentations are created to be shared. But assembling slide decks by emailing them around is as frustrating as it is time-consuming. The new presentations feature of Google Docs helps you to easily organize, share, present, and collaborate on presentations, using only a web browser.’
Google Docs Tour
Update (following Wolf comment below): ZDNet: Nice try Google, you should have bought SlideRocket
August 16th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Taking One-to-One Computing to the Next Level - Laptop Learning Lightens Up Simple Storage Solutions. ‘One-to-one computing holds out the exciting promise of engaging students and empowering educators. Convertible notebook PCs, in particular, can be powerful tools to stimulate inspiration and interaction. This eBook contains suggestions on incorporating some of these new technologies into a 1:1 learning program. A true 1:1 computing solution is more than the computer, however; read this eBook for ideas on bolstering your program with industry expertise, effective software and responsive support.’ (free registration needed)
Related: Tips to Manage a 1:1 Learning Initiative by Todd Bryant, TechLearning, June 2006. Introduction: Schools all across the country are flocking to the concept of 1:1 learning, which is the concept of one laptop for every student and teacher in the school. While the benefits and success stories of a 1:1 learning initiative have been well published, there has been little information published about the implementation strategies used by technical coordinators in these initiatives. However, there are several key areas for a successful implementation of a 1:1 learning initiative, including having a solid network infrastructure, properly configuring and managing the laptops, tracking laptop inventory, and having an excellent laptop Help Desk.
Thoughts Aside: An ebook covering all of the major aspects of the Microsoft certifications 70-547 is easily downloadable from the internet. Also the 70-548 certification exam is considered to be the industry standard in terms of measuring the technical expertise. Adding more such certifications as Microsoft 70-620 certification to one’s portfolio makes one’s career path even more diverse. A highly reputable certification such as yet another Microsoft certification 74-134 can give one a good indication of one’s standing of the knowledge and practical skills.
August 7th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Top-Ten Teaching and Learning Issues, 2007 by John P. Campbell, Diana G. Oblinger and Colleagues, Educause Quarterly, vol. 30 (3), 2007. ‘Creating a culture of evidence tops the list of important issues as the academic technology profession moves to an “Instruction 2.0″ world.
The EDUCAUSE Advisory Committee for Teaching and Learning (ACTL) has identified the key technology-related teaching and learning issues in higher education for 2007. This is a particularly important time for the academic technology/instructional design profession, which is moving beyond the formative stages. In surveying themes and issues this year, ACTL believes that we are moving toward “Instruction 2.0.” Just as emerging Web 2.0 technologies are clearly reshaping the Web and online media, innovations in instructional practice and academic technology are now clearly moving higher education in new directions.’
EDUCAUSE Advisory Committee on Teaching and Learning . ‘This committee is designed to bring leading-edge, visionary thinking about higher education teaching and learning issues into the EDUCAUSE program by (1) providing insight into scalable, sustainable, enterprise-wide approaches to the implementation of new learning environments, and (2) suggesting and, where possible, developing activities to carry this goal forward. These activities might include but are not limited to identifying model processes, building communities of practitioners, and contributing to structures for communicating related issues.’
August 5th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Some Historical Thoughts on the ee-Learning Renaissance by Jack M. Nilles, Innovate 3 (6), 2007. Synopsis: Jack Nilles surveys the evolution of ee-learning at the University of Southern California, together with the first formal telecommuting demonstration program, from its beginnings in the early 1970s to the relevant trends in 2006. Although the basic technologies of telecommuting and ee-learning were in evidence in the 1970s, subsequent technological changes have expanded the scope of opportunities for both. Nilles argues that societal trends in this century will increase the future importance of ee-learning, making it imperative for higher education institutions both to become involved and to adapt their curricula to this new learning environment.
Excerpt: The core concept of ee-learning is that the real world becomes the learning environment; in this environment, the purpose of the instructor is to help the distant and/or time-shifted student assimilate and evaluate his or her real world experiences, share them with others, and relate them to the disciplines of the academy. ee-Learning is similar to e-learning in that they both involve technological substitutes for collocation of student and instructor. They differ in focus: e-learning substitutes for the traditional, campus-oriented learning process; the focus of ee-learning is the student’s non-campus environment. One of the dilemmas in structuring e-learning or ee-learning environments lies in deciding how closely they should resemble the traditional undergraduate on-campus experience. This predicament is particularly relevant when the learners are not traditional undergraduate students, as is likely to be the case in the future. In order to provide some perspective on the transition issues, I would like to review some relatively ancient history and relate it to criteria for successful ee-learning today. What lessons from the past can help shape the future?
The August/September issue of Innovate explores the theoretical and practical implications of a distinctive mode of instruction known as “ee-learning” — a combination of the information technologies associated with electronic learning and the pedagogical principles associated with experiential learning. As the articles in this issue suggest, this approach to instruction holds much promise for revitalizing many sectors of education, from K-12 to higher education, governmental, and corporate settings.
Thoughts Aside: If you are interested and have got some level of acquaintance with some basics of ee learning (000-078) you may take any of the related certifications directly (000-190). These certification exams are pre-scheduled (000-222) and mostly multiple choice exams consisting of 35-100 questions (000-228) and show you the result of the exam right after the completion of the test.
July 19th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
It’s Time to Drop E-Learning. ‘For some, e-learning is only now coming into its own. For others, the word smacks of an obsession with technology. Donald H Taylor argues that it’s time to drop the ‘e’ and start concentrating on the ‘learning’.
It’s time to drop e-learning. Let’s be specific. It’s time to drop the ‘e’ in e-learning. It’s time to recognise that the ‘e’ carries the stigma of past hyperbole, puts some potential learners and managers off and smacks of a love of technology that has everything to do with content delivery, rather than individual learning.
If the ‘e’ was ever useful, it has outlived that use now. That’s why ELIG – formerly the E-Learning Industry Group – is now ELIG, the European Learning Industry Group (although if you examine their site you’ll find the word e-learning scattered liberally all over it).’
July 17th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Article: Questioning the Student Use of and Desire for Lecture Podcasts, Laura A. Guertin, Matthew J. Bodek, Sarah E. Zappe, Heeyoung Kim, MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 3, No. 2, June 2007. Abstract: The use of audio files, specifically podcasts, has become more visible and accessible to students in higher education. Despite a lack of pedagogical research on the benefits of podcasting, several universities have adopted the technology of using audio for instruction outside of class and sharing of information. Although institutions and instructors have embraced the technology, have the students? A professor in an introductory geoscience course for nonscience majors recorded the audio from classroom lectures and made these audio files available through the university’s online course management system. Student accesses of the audio files were tracked. The students were surveyed about their knowledge on how to utilize the audio files and if they believed the audio to be of some use. Although percentages were not high in terms of student accesses to individual lectures, and a little over half the students were aware of how to access and utilize the files, all of the students reported a perceived value to having lecture podcasts available.
MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT). ‘MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty and students of higher education. The MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT) is a peer-reviewed, online publication addressing the scholarly use of multimedia resources in education. JOLT is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December.’
July 5th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Pedagogical affordances of syndication, aggregation, and mash-up of content on the Web, by Barbara Dieu and Vance Stevens, TESL-EJ, Vol. 11.1 (2007). Excerpt: As Internet and online learning become more and more incorporated into our courses, syllabi, and teaching materials, it becomes increasingly important that the impact the Web is having on changing perceptions of literacy carries over to the way we practice teaching and learning. Here we will focus on which collaborative online tools can most appropriately be applied in online and blended courses to foster reading and writing. Specifically, we will discuss some of the freely available social networking platforms and tools, their common features, and how these can help language learners find, aggregate and harvest learning objects while connecting to other people on the Web at large. We will also introduce two web publishing projects, Dekita.org and Writingmatrix, and explain how they function to facilitate this process and encourage connections.
TESL-EJ: Teaching English as a Second or or Foreign Language - Electronic Journal. ‘TESL-EJ began as the brainchild of a group of scholars who saw the need for a freely-distributed electronic academic journal. It has grown to become an internationally- recognized source of ESL and EFL information for people in scores of countries. TESL-EJ is fully refereed - each article undergoes a review by at least two knowledgeable scholars.’
