Challenges of E-Learning Management Within the Croatian Higher Education System

For the past few years, e-learning has become synonymous with different learning and teaching techniques based on information and communication technologies. Generally speaking, elearning has been increasingly present in the Croatian higher education system, gradually changing its traditional character. However, this modern learning and teaching concept has not been equally accepted throughout student population. There are numerous reasons for this state of affairs, one of the most important ones being disproportion, i.e. unequal pace of its introduction at different university and vocational studies in Croatia. These discrepancies cannot be eliminated without active support by all the actors participating in the education process. The greatest responsibility, nevertheless, lies with the people directly in charge of the e-learning process. To fulfil its task more efficiently, e-learning management requires relevant information on different aspects of its usage, as well as its acceptance among students. With this aim in mind, we conducted a survey of student attitudes at Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. This paper presents the results of this research, which are based on application of various statistical methods, primarily cluster analysis.e-learning management, attitudes of students, relevant information, cluster analysis

Design and Assessment for Hybrid Courses: Insights and Overviews

Technology is influencing education, providing new delivery and assessment models. A combination between online and traditional course, the hybrid (blended) course, may present a solution with many benefits as it provides a gradual transition towards technology enabled education. This research work provides a set of definitions for several course delivery approaches, and evaluates five years of data from a course that has been converted from traditional face-to-face delivery, to hybrid delivery. The collected experimental data proves that the revised course, in the hybrid delivery mode, is at least as good, if not better, than it previously was and it provides some benefits in terms of student retention

What\u27s in a Name?”: The Use of Instructional Design in Overcoming Terminology Barriers Associated with Dark Patterns

Many users experience a phenomena when they are shopping on-line where they feel they are being pressured to either spend more money than they had intended, or to share more personal data than they wanted. In academic circles we use the term “Dark Patterns” to describe these deceptive practices, and categorize them as being within the discipline of User Experience (Narayanan, 2020). As academics it is important to name phenomena, and to categorize them, so that we can discuss and analyze these issues. However, this particular topic is one that all users should be made aware of when interacting online, and therefore these ideas should be explained in a manner to ensure that the terminology does not prove to be a barrier to understanding these concepts (Gordon, et al., 2014). To overcome the terminological barriers, this research proposes the use of a model of instructional design called Elaboration Theory, developed by Charles Reigeluth (1999). Crucially this model proposes that when explaining a new concept, the last thing the instructor should do is to mention the name of the concept, they should first explain the concept, and at the very end of an instructional session, say “And by the way, this concept is called…”. This model also contends that the instructor should explain the concept in simple terms first, and then continue to elaborate on that explanation throughout the teaching process (adhering to the notion of a Spiral Curriculum). It also suggests that the content should be summarized at each level of explanation, and analogies should be used to help clarify concepts. Therefore, this research proposes the redevelopment of existing teaching content about Dark Patterns, where these patterns are retitled as “Online Shopping Tricks”, and the teaching content is redesigned to begin with a simple explanation of Dark Patterns and to elaborate with more complexity at a number of levels of explanation, and including summarizers and analogies at the end of each stage. This content will be subsequently piloted on a number of non-academic participants to determine whether or not this redesign process has been effective

Ecological Approach in the Substantiation of the Contexts of Distance Education Environment

The development of a human being takes place in the interaction with his/her life environment. Educational environment, including distance education environment, is particularly important for the facilitation of the sustainability of all society and the development of each individual. Ecological paradigm becomes more and more topical in modern education. The authors of the article base their research on the ecological approach, where an educational institution as the distance education environment is a multicomponent/multicontextual system. The results of theoretical research enabled the authors to identify several contexts of distance education environment: informative environment, technological environment and e-environment that complementary supplement each other. There have been analyzed and compared several concepts related to distance education, identifying in them the common and different features. Ecological approach enabled to reveal the essence of distance education and to describe distance education environment from different aspects

TUTORIA NA EAD: TRANSFORMANDO A INFORMAÇÃO EM COMPETÊNCIA

O sucesso e a sobrevivência de uma organização dependem do desempenho de seus colaboradores. Em meio a esse contexto, tem-se um grande desenvolvimento da Educação a Distância (EaD), que contribui, dentre outros aspectos para a atualização constante e capacitação continuada dos colaboradores que trabalham em organizações que têm a intenção de se manterem competitivas, sejam elas públicas ou privadas. Esse estudo classificado como exploratório, descritivo, estudo de caso, bibliográfico e numa abordagem qualitativa contemplou a Gestão do Conhecimento (GC) no processo de aprendizagem do projeto e-Nova, com objetivo de identificar como a tutoria contribui para a transformação de informação em competência para o aluno. O projeto busca a disseminação do empreendedorismo inovador e a geração de produtos e processos inovadores com sucesso técnico e mercadológico. Como resultados e conclusões identifica-se que o conhecimento existente e criado no sistema de tutoria traz benefícios para a organização e para os tutores que por sua vez contribuem para a modelagem do conhecimento, ou seja, para a transformação da informação em conhecimento também para o aluno

Развитие профессиональной информационной и коммуникационной компетенции методом проектов в электронной среде

The objective of the study is to show advantages of the method of e-projects. According to the authors of the publication, e-project based approach is a promising form of blended learning in universities. Methods. The authors pesent the technology of professional competencies formation of future teachers during the teaching process of the discipline «English language» on the basis of the analysis and generalisation of existing sources on blended learning and the free Web application Moodle that allows organising e-training. The Expert Group Appraisal method was used to define levels and components of the competencies. Scientific novelty. Introducing e-project as a part of students’ self-study in English for Special Purposes (ESP) curriculum is especially beneficial if the following objectives are stated: strengthening cross-curriculum knowledge that implies deepening and acquiring new knowledge both in English and in disciplines that are important for future profession; and developing professional information and communication (ICT) competency. Results. This paper presents the experience of executing one of the e-projects in the educational process practice, allowing students not only to acquire professional English competency but also to learn how to create e-courses in Moodle by their own and strengthen their knowledge in modern information and communication space. The article describes the implementation of e-project based approach for teaching English for future teachers (bachelor students) in Kalashnikov Izhevsk Technical University. This paper presents the experience of executing one of the e-projects that was made by one of the students. Practical significance. The research outcomes and recommendations can be used for effective implementation of e-project based approach for teaching English in higher vocational institutions Цель статьи – показать преимущества метода электронных проектов, который, по мнению авторов публикации, является одним из самых перспективных при смешанной форме обучения в вузе. Методы. На основе анализа и обобщения существующих источников о смешанном виде получения высшего образования и на базе свободного вебприложения Moodle, позволяющего организовать электронное обучение, предложена авторская технология формирования профессиональных компетенций у будущих педагогов в процессе преподавания дисциплины «Английский язык. Профессиональный перевод». Для определения структуры и уровней развития данных компетенций использовался метод групповых экспертных оценок. Научная новизна. Показаны возможности применения электронного проектирования при организации самостоятельной работы студентов. Демонстрируется, как данный метод способствует укреплению межпредметных связей – получению и усвоению новых знаний по различным дисциплинам учебного цикла, важным для будущей профессиональной деятельности; а также развитию информационно-коммуникационной компетенции. Результаты. Разработана система электронных проектов для студентов педагогических специальностей, нацеленная на развитие важных для их специальности компетенций: умений работать с иноязычными текстами профессиональной направленности, знаний основ проектирования вэлектронной среде Moodle, способности осуществлять профессиональные обязанности в современном информационно-коммуникационном пространстве. Описан опыт использования метода электронных проектов в процессе изучения студентами бакалавриата Ижевского государственного технического университета им. М. Т. Калашникова предмета «Английский язык. Профессиональный перевод». В качестве примера подробно разбирается реализация одного из реальных электронных проектов, выполненного студентом этого вуза. Практическая значимость. Даны рекомендации по внедрению метода электронного проектирования в практику учебного процесса при преподавании английского языка в высшей профессиональной школе

TRANSLATION INCONSISTENCIES OF EDUCATIONAL TERMS

The article by means of extended literature review draws attention to the most common translation inconsistencies that arise in the rendering of word combinations with the concepts education and learning from English into Latvian and vice versa. The novelty and topicality of the article is related to the need to highlight the transformation of the understanding of concepts in connection with the modernization and changes in the field of education. The study was implemented as an interdisciplinary research analysing Latvia’s education policy documents, dissertations, monographs, encyclopaedias, dictionaries and glossaries using induction, deduction and comparison methods. The research findings allow to emphasize the following major translation inconsistencies: superficiality in distinguishing the substantive meaning of the concepts “education” and “learning”, incorporation of the substantive meaning of two terms into one term, direct adoption of Anglicisms into Latvian, lack of equivalents in Latvian language, use of several similar concepts to render one English term into Latvian that embarrasses the perception of the terms’ meaning.

Development and Evaluation of Non-Formal Education Programme "Programming" in the Environment of Distance Education Secondary Schooludy

One of the main aims for the modern education is to facilitate the sustainability of information society, therefore an important feature that highlights differences in the education of the 20th and 21st century is the variety of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the expansion of their application in the education. The development of information and communication technologies caused far-reaching consequences in human life and activities and also seriously influenced education, providing wide perspective for the development of distance education environment. This article represent the results of theoretical and empirical research in the sphere of IT education and computer science. The aim of the research: to substantiate theoretically, develop and evaluate the non-formal education programme “Programming” in the environment of distance education secondary school on the basis of personal experience regarding distance education and pedagogy, the programmer’s professional competence and research results

Being There: An Empirical Look at Learning Outcomes in 3D Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are a relatively new source of technology-mediated learning. Little is known about the results of learning in virtual worlds, and our knowledge is limited about how virtual worlds may lead to key learning outcomes (i.e., satisfaction and effectiveness). In this research we argue that because users of virtual worlds may perceive themselves as being in the world with others and have a pleasurable experience doing so, they are more likely to experience positive learning outcomes. In a study comprised of 53 participants, we studied learning satisfaction and effectiveness. Presence and flow increased learning satisfaction. We were surprised to find that in our study, flow actually decreased learning effectiveness. Additionally, we compared virtual world learning to face-to-face learning. We did not find significant differences in learning satisfaction or effectiveness