RadioSource.NET: Case-study of a Collaborative Land-Grant Internet Audio Project

RadioSource.NET (http://radiosource.net) is a Web-portal news site for land-grant university radio programming. The project is a collaborative venture among university communication departments with the following goals: to share resources; increase online distribution; and promote access to agricultural and natural and life science research. This article is a case study of RadioSource.NET. The evolution of the RadioSource.NET project is examined with emphasis on the process of establishing and maintaining online collaborative partnerships within academia. The project’s development is described and discussed, and Wheeler, Valacich, Alavi, and Vogel’s (1995) framework for technology-mediated interinstitutional relationships for collaborative learning is used to help organize information and evaluate the project’s effectiveness. RadioSource.NET project is an example of successful university collaboration in new media. By utilizing a flexible system design, RadioSource.NET capitalizes on collaborative strengths such as increased innovation and efficiency, and it is anticipated that the project model can serve as a useful resource for other online collaborative endeavors utilizing emerging technologies

Effectiveness of technology to support work based learning: the stakeholders' perspective

Higher education provision typically requires learners to physically attend sessions on campus. The economic climate has changed significantly over the past few years in the UK and globally. Inevitably changes to student funding and the increased competitive nature of the job market have impacted on university teaching. The use of work based learning (WBL) is an alternative flexible form of learning that attempts to tackle these issues. It enables students to learn whilst they work, addressing the funding issues, and enhancing their employability through the acquisition of higher professional qualifications. Often such WBL programmes are designed, delivered and supported from the view of the student and academic staff with little consideration of other stakeholders such as employers, workplace mentors and professional bodies and the input they can bring to enrich the learning and teaching provision. This paper presents the findings from a survey conducted among stakeholders from all four pillars of WBL, namely the learner, the academic environment, the workplace and the external context. Online questionnaires and interviews were carried out with students, tutors, program leaders, employers and professional bodies from four postgraduate programmes at the university. The results show that while there is a reluctance to embrace technology among some academic staff, students are generally positive about using the technology. The survey also demonstrates that there is a lack of creativity and imagination in the use of technology, where often platforms such as virtual learning environments are used simply as repositories for presentation slides, handouts, etc. The results of the study conclude or rather remind all involving parties to pay more emphasis on quality of online programme delivery by embracing technology and use it in novel and imaginative ways to provide a learning and teaching provision fit for the twenty-first century

Computer-supported collaborative learning performance and satisfaction: A muiti-stage study

Research in computer-supported cooperative learning provides evidence that collaborative technology can enhance learning performance and increase affective experiences in the context of cooperative learning. Most studies, however, have examined the learning performance only during the middle and end of the process. It is not clear how information technology continuously facilitates and improves student performance and learning experience over time. By employing a multidisciplinary approach, the research presented in this article drew research findings in the fields of communication, information systems, and education to examine cooperative learning processes with a continuous, longitudinal study. Based on a descriptive model of computer-supported cooperative learning, this research examined the effect of a collaborative technology on the accumulation of learning performance and learning satisfaction on group members. Three sets of hypotheses regarding learning performance, perceived learning performance, and group member satisfaction are examined

Questions for the Adult Educator on a Virtual Odyssey: An Analysis of Internet and Web-based Learning

This paper examines the argument that lifelong learning should become increasingly dependent on education technology because this will alleviate many of the barriers to learning adults face. Lifelong learning is diverse, and so caution is needed when generalising from case specific research. The premise that new learning technologies promote social inclusion is still relatively untested

INNOVATIVE MODELS OF WEB‐SUPPORTED UNIVERSITY‐SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS

This study explored how the Internet bridges theory and practice. Teacher educators, teachers, and prospective teachers used collaborative technologies to design networked communities embedded in three distinct perspectives: the networked learning community, the networked community of practice, and the knowledge building community. Networked communities prompted the development of solutions for integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) at the elementary, secondary, and post‐secondary levels. These communities provide opportunities for sustained theory‐practice dialogue between teachers at different stages of their professional development and opportunities for ‘boundary spanning’ between courses, practica, pre‐ and in‐service education, graduate seminars, and collaborative research activities. Key words: teacher education, professional development, collaborative reflective practice, networked communitiesCette étude explore les possibilités d’Internet, entre autres, le Web et certains de ses outils pour soutenir des échanges propices à l’établissement de liens théorie‐pratique au sein de communautés en réseau. Trois modèles sont présentés, chacun ayant conduit à la mise à l’avant de solutions novatrices pour l’intégration réussie des technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) aux niveaux primaire, secondaire et postsecondaire. Les communautés en réseau ont fourni des occasions de réflexion et de mise en relation d’activités de cours et de stages, de formation initiale et continue ainsi que de recherches réalisées en collaboration. Mots clés: formation des enseignants, développement professionnel, pratique réflexive, communautés en réseau

New Tools in Social Practice: Learning, Medical Education and 3D Environments

Learning with different kinds of ICT-based tools is an important issue in today's society. In this article we focus on how design of technology rich environments based on state of the art learning principles can give us new insights about how learning occur, and how we can develop new types of learning environments. Medical education constitutes the subject domain. There has been a considerable effort to develop 3D technologies in this field, and the article provides a careful review of how these technologies are applied. There is, however, a substantial gap between these advances and the use of technologies in medical education. Related work proposes individualistic assumptions or metaphors that do not focus explicitly on learning and technology mediation. Based on theoretical analysis of previous literature in the field we argue that there is a need for a new unit of analysis that includes the relationship between individual and collective activity and the role of technology herein. The socio-cultural and especially activity theory is taken as the perspective which gives the possibility to develop the argumentation about the unit of analysis. The unit of analysis also has implications for design of 3D environments. The design principles are elaborated upon and examples are given in relation to an application called Matador (Medical Advanced Training in an Artificial Distributed Environment). Matador is aimed at developing a simulation environment for training in emergency medicine