A Web-Based Collaborative e-Learning Environment Based on a Model of Social Cognitive Development Theories

Putting all powerful Web technologies like Cloud Computing and Web 2.0 technologies together in an e-learning environment maximizes the opportunity for learners to acquire knowledge and skills in an interactive, collaborative and social manner and decreases technical efforts and financial burdens on educational institutions. This research proposes a collaborative e-learning model that consists of six levels and six tasks based on four social cognitive development theories which are: Connectivism, Social Cognitive Development, Social Interdependence and Cognitive Elaboration Perspectives. The proposed collaborative e-learning model levels are: Networking, Contribution, Cognitive Disequilibrium, Origination of Social Interaction, Knowledge Evolving, and Cognitive Equilibrium. The tasks of the proposed collaborative e-learning model are: Knowledge Feeding, Knowledge Self-Reflection, Knowledge Negotiation, Knowledge Elaboration, Knowledge Accommodation and Knowledge Shifting. A rich Web-based collaborative e-learning environment called ShareSpace is developed as a realization of the proposed collaborative e-learning model. ShareSpace is evaluated based on the proposed collaborative e-learning model, on a framework for evaluating computer supported collaborative learning and on an adaptable usability heuristic checklist for online courses. ShareSpace is an interactive and flexible social collaborative e-learning environment which can be utilized by educational institutes and contributes to the overall goal of learning process which is maximizing the learning outcome

Adobe Youth Voices Literature Review

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) received a grant from Adobe to conduct an evaluation of the Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) program. As part of the evaluation, EDC conducted a review of relevant literature to situate AYV in a broader context, provide stakeholders with a framework for understanding goals and outcomes, and frame and inform the evaluation questions. EDC reviewed scholarly articles, program reports and evaluations, and research studies that addressed youth media programs, youth development, teacher professional development, and other areas related to AYV's goals.Among the findings, the literature review includes 6 key points that speak to the AYV program:1. The goals of youth media programs most commonly cited can be grouped into several categories: Youth voice -- the capacity for self-expression Youth development -- the process of developing the skills and personal attributes that enable young people to become successful adults Media literacy -- the ability to analyze, evaluate and produce information in a variety of media forms Skill development -- such as communication, critical thinking, technology, and media production skills Social action or civic engagement 2. Outcomes and impacts on participants of youth media programs commonly found in the literature include: Improved skills Improved community perception of youth Positive youth development Increased social action and civic engagement 3. Outcomes and impacts on participants of youth development programs frequently cited include:Improved communication, critical thinking, and related skills Increased self-esteem More positive attitudes towards school and their futures 4. There is broad agreement that traditional educational approaches do not adequately address 21st century skills. Education must adapt to be more compatible with the ways in which young people think and learn, as well as the tools and media that are part of their environment.5. Student engagement in education has been associated with positive youth development and 21st century skills. Engaging instruction often includes inquiry- or project-based, multidisciplinary, and authentic learning activities.6. Educator professional development is believed to be a key step toward improving student outcomes. While there is little research that can demonstrate this connection, there is new focus on evaluating the effectiveness of professional development activities. Elements of effective professional development include learning communities and collaboration, ongoing support and assistance, and active or applied learning

Informacinių komunikacinių technologijų ir nuotolinių studijų metodų diegimas tradicinėse studijose

Intensive ICT implementation is one of the most important factors determining substantial changes in the field of university study environment over the last decade. This was influenced by computerization tendencies of all branches and modernization needs of universitiy study environment.Obviously, implementation of new expensive technologies requires to prepare new methods of studies and environment. Mostly these problems are analyzed under online studies context, where various technologies play the main role in organization of studies. The teacher is playing a supporting role to solve problems, which could not be solved by technological tools. Analyzing ICT implementation in traditional face-to-face studies, first of all the role of the teacher must be taken into account, who is the main knowledge resource and study organizer. Technologies are just supporting tools.The paper describes cost effectiveness and organizational problems of using ICT in face-to-face studies. A lot of resources were used to implement these technologies and online study methods in Lithuanian universities, but attention to cost effectiveness of these technologies isn’t sufficient. Therefore the main properties, advantages and disadvantages of different study models using ICT are discussed. Based on the experience of authors´ analysis of different support needs in studies are presented and means how to meet these needs are recommended. Another important problem discussed here is additional costs for supporting self studies and means for compensation of these costs.Gamtos mokslų daktarasVytauto Didžiojo universitetoTaikomosios informatikos katedraVileikos g. 8, LT-44404 KaunasEl. paštas: [email protected].: +370 37 32 79 00Docentas, informatikos mokslų daktarasVytauto Didžiojo universitetoTaikomosios informatikos katedraVileikos g. 8, LT-44404 KaunasEl. paštas: [email protected]. +370 37 32 79 00Straipsnyje aptariami IKT taikančių studijų aplinkų efektyvumo įvertinimo ir didinimo klausimai. Konstatuojama, kad Lietuvos aukštosiose mokyklose skiriama daug dėmesio IKT diegimui studijų procese, tačiau nepakankamai analizuojamas jų efektyvumas. Pateikiami dažniausiai naudojamų IKT diegimo studijose modelių savybių aprašymai ir aptariami jų pranašumai, trūkumai, realizavimo galimybės, savarankiškų studijų skatinimo priemonės. Remiantis autorių patirtimi, atlikta studentų laiko sąnaudų įvairiems studijų poreikiams analizė, nagrinėjamos savarankiškų studijų skatinimo priemonių naudojimo galimybės ir reikalavimai tokių studijų palaikymo metodinėms priemonėms. Pabrėžiama, kad diegiant studijose IKT, keičiasi studijoms palaikyti reikalingų sąnaudų struktūra ir į tai reikia atsižvelgti planuojant šias sąnaudas bei dėstytojų pedagoginį krūvį

Modelo de adaptación basado en preferencias en ambientes virtuales de aprendizaje para personas con necesidades especiales

In education, the integration of people withspecial needs have problems in a student group issometimes difficult because of problems with theuse of technological tools, as most of them donot consider features and needs. Also social andcommunication difficulties and limited interestin the students could be a result of the existenceany difficulty or disability. This paper presents anadaptive model that seeks to integrate adaptationfeatures of disability and educational factors in orderto introduce the student services (present topic,select learning objects more adjusted to your needsand learning style) that will facilitate their learningprocess, allowing the course to be designed is madeto measure. This adaptation model consists of thestudent profile (centered on your preferences), thedisability, the device, and pedagogical context, whichallow to adapt the deployment of information in avirtual learning environment for people with andwithout special needs. Finally, we present a casestudy that illustrates the use of this model in thecase of students with visual impairments.En el ámbito educativo, la integración de personascon necesidades especiales o con dificultades en ungrupo estudiantil, en ocasiones se dificulta debidoa problemas en la utilización de herramientastecnológicas, ya que la mayoría de éstas nocontemplan sus características y necesidadesparticulares. Además, las dificultades socialesy comunicativas e intereses limitados en losestudiantes podrían presentarse como consecuenciade la existencia de alguna dificultad o discapacidad.El presente artículo presenta un modelo deadaptación que busca integrar temas como laadaptación, las características de discapacidady ciertos factores del ámbito educativo con elfin de presentar al estudiante servicios, talescomo: presentar tema, seleccionar los objetos deaprendizaje más ajustados a sus necesidades yestilo de aprendizaje, que le permitan facilitar suproceso de aprendizaje, sintiendo que el curso quese ha diseñado, está hecho a su medida. Tal modelode adaptación, está conformado por el perfil delestudiante (centrado en sus preferencias), el de ladiscapacidad, el del dispositivo, el de contexto yel pedagógico, que permiten adaptar el desplieguede la información en un ambiente virtual deaprendizaje para personas con y sin necesidadesespeciales. Para finalizar, se presentará un caso deestudio que muestra la utilización de dicho modeloen el caso de estudiantes con discapacidad visual

Does the use of a learning platform support approaches to personalised learning in the classroom?

Much of the research literature relating to the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) to support teaching and learning focuses on their use in higher and further education. This thesis makes a contribution to the study of such environments in relation to secondary schools in the UK. A number of common themes were identified from the literature review that was part of my original critical analytical study and which is updated here. The themes included assessment, differentiation, collaboration and flexible learning practices. These were investigated in one school, over the course of one year, during the introduction of a local authority approved virtual learning environment. I had assumed that the use of the technology would have a transformational effect on teacher practice. In reality for most of the time the technology was used to reaffirm an existing classroom way of doing things. The conceptual framework that guides the investigation was based on action research, influenced by social constructionism and critical theory. It employs aspects of a second-generation model of activity theory to explore the tensions that may arise in a classroom when technology is introduced. A phased approach was adopted towards the collection of data, given the complexities of both classroom practice and the technology employed. This ranged from the use of questionnaires and technical data from the VLE when it was initially introduced, to interviews and classroom observations as teachers became more confident in its use, through to the design of an intervention that enabled a more in depth exploration of what was happening. This research revealed that where the use of the technology was most effective in supporting approaches to personalised learning, a number of key components were combined. I have proposed that where teachers have the technical skills to use a VLE, linked to an understanding of the theories and models associated with online learning and where they structure their teaching outside the confines of the traditional lesson format, then online technologies support personalised learning

IWA (Ideal Workspace Agent) : Soporte para la evolución colaborativa de configuraciones de trabajo

Como resultado del estudio del comportamiento de los grupos de trabajo, surgió la idea de construir una herramienta colaborativa que permita a un grupo de personas que desarrollan las mismas tareas, configurar conjunta y evolutivamente sus entornos de trabajo. A esta herramienta la llamamos Ideal Workspace Agent (IWA). La idea es, por medio de la asociación de recursos a roles e identidades, obtener de manera colaborativa un ambiente de trabajo “ideal”, adaptable y configurado de acuerdo a las actividades que desempeña cada usuario dentro de un grupo; utilizando como medio principal la discusión o negociación. Detallando un poco mas la propuesta, lo que planteamos es que cada una de las personas tenga asociada la configuración del entorno de trabajo correspondiente a su identidad y a la del o los roles que esté desempeñando. A medida que estas progresan en sus tareas, les podría surgir la necesidad de utilizar nuevas y distintas herramientas. Ante estas situaciones, los usuarios que estén desempeñando un mismo rol, debatirían sobre la incorporación o no de la o las herramientas a la configuración de trabajo en cuestión. De esta forma, las configuraciones de trabajo evolucionarían de manera conjunta. Lo que resulta interesante es que la posibilidad de configurar el entorno de trabajo en base a los distintos roles o actividades que cada integrante desempeña, permite a cada uno compartir su configuración con el resto de los usuarios que estén desarrollando su misma actividad, logrando que las personas trabajen de una manera más integrada, intercambiando experiencias personales, aprendiendo unas de otras y optimizando los tiempos de aprendizajes de los usuarios más novatos. Al mismo tiempo, con la forma de interacción propuesta, negociación y discusión, se obtendría una comunicación que explotaría los aspectos de la colaboración, incrementando y mejorando notablemente las relaciones humanas que se han visto desfavorecidas con las formas de trabajo donde cada persona trabaja con su computadora de forma aislada e independiente.Facultad de Informátic

IWA (Ideal Workspace Agent) : Soporte para la evolución colaborativa de configuraciones de trabajo

Como resultado del estudio del comportamiento de los grupos de trabajo, surgió la idea de construir una herramienta colaborativa que permita a un grupo de personas que desarrollan las mismas tareas, configurar conjunta y evolutivamente sus entornos de trabajo. A esta herramienta la llamamos Ideal Workspace Agent (IWA). La idea es, por medio de la asociación de recursos a roles e identidades, obtener de manera colaborativa un ambiente de trabajo “ideal”, adaptable y configurado de acuerdo a las actividades que desempeña cada usuario dentro de un grupo; utilizando como medio principal la discusión o negociación. Detallando un poco mas la propuesta, lo que planteamos es que cada una de las personas tenga asociada la configuración del entorno de trabajo correspondiente a su identidad y a la del o los roles que esté desempeñando. A medida que estas progresan en sus tareas, les podría surgir la necesidad de utilizar nuevas y distintas herramientas. Ante estas situaciones, los usuarios que estén desempeñando un mismo rol, debatirían sobre la incorporación o no de la o las herramientas a la configuración de trabajo en cuestión. De esta forma, las configuraciones de trabajo evolucionarían de manera conjunta. Lo que resulta interesante es que la posibilidad de configurar el entorno de trabajo en base a los distintos roles o actividades que cada integrante desempeña, permite a cada uno compartir su configuración con el resto de los usuarios que estén desarrollando su misma actividad, logrando que las personas trabajen de una manera más integrada, intercambiando experiencias personales, aprendiendo unas de otras y optimizando los tiempos de aprendizajes de los usuarios más novatos. Al mismo tiempo, con la forma de interacción propuesta, negociación y discusión, se obtendría una comunicación que explotaría los aspectos de la colaboración, incrementando y mejorando notablemente las relaciones humanas que se han visto desfavorecidas con las formas de trabajo donde cada persona trabaja con su computadora de forma aislada e independiente.Facultad de Informátic

Information and communication technology (ICT) in the early years of education

Information and communication technology (ICT) has become an important factor in the education field, especially for pupils with special educational needs. The aim of this research is to understand how ICT is perceived to affect the learning capability of primary age pupils, including those with special educational needs. The specific objectives are to: (i) Investigate the literature about the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and pupils with special educational needs; (ii) Identify some of the factors that affect the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for assisting pupils’ learning (reading and writing) ability in three case studies school; (iii) Investigate the current use of ICT resources in three schools and the roles played by teachers and parents in these schools to help pupils learn in both classroom and home environments; (iv) Assess the perceived impact of ICT on pupils’ learning through observation and interviews in the case study schools; (v) Communicate examples of best practice, for both teachers and parents, on more effective way of using ICT to improve pupils’ learning. The research has been carried out in three schools one of which is a special school for pupils with special educational needs. Data have been collected in three ways. Firstly, direct observation has been carried out in the classroom; secondly, interviews have been carried out with teachers; and finally a survey of 175 parents was carried out by questionnaire. The key finding drawn from this research indicate that ICT is perceived to have a positive impact on pupils’ learning regardless of their educational needs. The study also identified that ICT is perceived to improve the quality of teaching and ICT use by primary age children. A second issue raised the shortage of teacher training for ICT, especially staff development, and finally, teachers and parents needed time to become skilled with the new technologies before attempting to teach with them. The study presents examples of best practice to distinguish between how teachers and parents might improve their support for pupils using ICT. These include the need for teachers to match learning needs, style and curricula and for parents to understand how their pupils learn and the nature of any learning problem.MSc by Researc