674 research outputs found
Effective online interaction: mapping course design to bridge from research to practice
Quantitative and qualitative research of a case study course confirmed that the course achieved a highly interactive learning experience, associated with more effective student support and high student retention. Computer conferencing achieved high participation from the beginning and evidence of dialogue and argumentation within online tutor groups. This was achieved not by active tutor moderation but by a sequence of structured tasks. Compendium mind mapping software has been used to represent the design of this sequence of tasks and this has refined interpretation of the research findings. The positive outcomes identified relate not purely to computer conferencing but to an integration of individual and group tasks feeding forward into a well-designed assignment. The usability of case study data relates to the ability of practitioners to compare their own context with that of the case. The visual representation of the design of the task sequence is providing a better bridge from the research to the practice context than the use of general description of findings alone. This is particularly important in an area which has generated a range of sometimes conflicting findings, with weak links to the challenges of course design
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Analysing online discussions in educational and work based settings
Networked learning is becoming more and more about connectivity of learners or professionals and connectivity to resources available online and sometimes freely. Researchers are making use of these by designing online environments where this notion of connectivity and vast resources available to learners can be exploited. Many online discussion tools are available for use in educational settings. This paper discusses means of comparing the quality of interaction in these tools. We focus on the use of an online discussion tool called InterLoc (http://www.interloc.org.uk/). InterLoc is based on research by McAlister (2004) who designed a tool for online peer discussion that guides students' dialogue towards more academic interactions and facilitates extended argument. A significant feature of the design of the tool is managed synchronous dialogue e.g. the use of sentence openers, and the facility to reply to earlier contributions. The design features of InterLoc ensure that it provides a collaborative argumentation environment for learners in higher education. We also demonstrate that it is possible to structure argumentation using InterLoc in different settings, both academic and work-place. One of our case studies was carried out with postgraduate distance learning students studying science communication and the participants were asked to consider the idea that everyone's DNA should be kept on a data base to help fight crime. The second case study was in a health and social care setting and the participants were family-support workers of a London based charity, supporting families and individuals offering practical, emotional and financial help. They were asked to consider the case of a severely obese child whom social services are considering taking into care as the parents are unable to control his eating. The participants discussed what would be the best for the child. We used two methods of comparing the quality of interaction in these sessions: We analysed the transcripts of discussion sessions using content analysis and frequency of sentence openers and compared these analyses with those using Toulmin's Argumentation Pattern (TAP). By comparing the results of these two analyses, we explored the possibility of using these measures as an indicator of the quality of the discussion taking place. Our findings have confirmed the potential of the InterLoc sentence opener analyses for future work
Computer-supported collaborative learning through argumentation
In recent years educators have become increasingly interested in using Internet and webbased
applications for educational purposes. Such applications do not only offer
advantages with regards to independency of time and place, but also of flexibility of
information exchange. Information can be stored, presented and accessed in multiple
formats (text, graphics, pictures, tables and figures, animations, simulations, interactive
video, virtual reality etc.). In addition, communication between students and tutors can be
facilitated by the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems. CMC systems
are network-based computer systems offering opportunities for group communication.
Examples are Internet relay chat, newsgroups, e-mail conferencing systems and virtual
classrooms. CMC systems can support synchronous communication (same time, different
place) as well as asynchronous communication (different time, different place). Currently,
most CMC systems offer users text-based modes for communication only, due to the
limitations in bandwidth1. Advanced technology will enhance access to applications that
combine synchronous and asynchronous communication, digitalised text, video, sounds,
graphics etc. on one platform (Collis, 1996).
This research is aimed at academic students in social sciences who have to deal with
complex, often ambiguous, ill-defined and not easily accessible knowledge, as well as with
open-ended problems. To obtain insight and understanding in complex concepts or to solve
open-ended problems, collaborative learning situations can be organised in which students
are able to articulate and negotiate information, not only in relationship to fixed facts and
figures but also to personal beliefs and values
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Impact on the knowledge construction process of multimedia online interactions in audio-graphic conferencing systems: the case of adult distance learners of French
Online researchers suggest that synchronous audio-graphic corm encing systems provide different mediational tools that create different mediated educa nal interactions that support the collaborative process of meaning construction, However, the existing literature does not indicate whether the quality of multimodal online interactions as well as the affordances of the use of the synchronous medium can effectively enh ce this process. This thesis brings together two lines of research. The thesis develops a methodological framework for the presentation and analysis of multimodal online interactions that draws on socio-constructivist understanding that the process of meaning construction is social and individual. The second is concerned with the analysis of online multimodal discussions; it examines the interrelationship between the different tools of communication and the different affordances of their simultaneous and single use that may hinder or promote the collaborative process of meaning construction. The design of this research focuses on interaction patterns and examines the extent which online discussions, mediated by the different tools of communication, reach high levels of collaborative meaning construction.This study assumes the knowledge construction process to be empirically observable through analysing online interactions and students' perceptions of the learning experiences. It examines, through interviews, questionnaires and video recordings of online tutorials, the quality of online learning experiences of two different UK Open University tutorial groups learning French. Results show that: participants make different multimodal choices which lead to the creation of different patterns of multi modal interactions and on line exchanges that affect differently participants' engagement in the collaborative meaning construction process; the single and the simultaneous use of the different tools of communication create different affordances for participants to perform different interactive and communicative roles; the multi modal competencies of students and tutors, the tutors' styles and task design play an important role in supporting the collaborative meaning construction process
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From design to narrative: the development of inquiry-based learning models
The University of Nottingham and the Open University are partners in a ca. £1.2m project to help school students learn the skills of modern science. The three-year project, Personal Inquiry (PI) (funded by the UK ESRC and EPSRC research councils), is developing a new approach of 'scripted inquiry learning', where children investigate a science topic with classmates by carrying out explorations between their classroom, homes and discovery centres, guided by a personal computer. This paper describes our progress to date on the development of four models for inquiry-based learning, as part of the PI project. These are being used as the basis for the development of educational scenarios and associated scripts to explore the use of mobile technologies in supporting an inquiry-based approach to teaching Scientific thinking across formal and informal learning
Collaborative trails in e-learning environments
This deliverable focuses on collaboration within groups of learners, and hence collaborative trails. We begin by reviewing the theoretical background to collaborative learning and looking at the kinds of support that computers can give to groups of learners working collaboratively, and then look more deeply at some of the issues in designing environments to support collaborative learning trails and at tools and techniques, including collaborative filtering, that can be used for analysing collaborative trails. We then review the state-of-the-art in supporting collaborative learning in three different areas – experimental academic systems, systems using mobile technology (which are also generally academic), and commercially available systems. The final part of the deliverable presents three scenarios that show where technology that supports groups working collaboratively and producing collaborative trails may be heading in the near future
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Communication aspects of virtual learning environments: perspectives of early adopters
Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are increasingly used in higher education to support communication and collaboration among students. However, there is little research into the effectiveness of VLE communication tools, and how they might be improved. This paper reports findings from interviews with teaching staff at UK universities who were early adopters of VLEs. The interviews revealed how these staff used VLE communication tools, what benefits and problems they experienced, and how VLEs might be improved to provide better support for collaborative learning
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Supporting undergraduate students’ acquisition of academic argumentation strategies through computer conferencing
Executive Summary
Background
This research grows out of work on the importance of argumentation in developingstudents’ critical abilities. It focuses attention on how students argue in computer mediated conferences as opposed to traditionalwritten assignments, investigating the way in which argumentation is realised within the relatively new context of
computer conferencing which allows extended written discussions to take place overa period of weeks. Such text-based asynchronous conferencing is typically
characterised by features of both spoken and written modes.
Aims
The main aims of the project were:
• to investigate the argumentation strategies used in asynchronous text-based computer conferences;
• to compare the argumentation strategies developed through conferencing with those used in the writing of academic assignments;
• to examine the strategies used by tutors to encourage and facilitate argumentation in text-based computer conferences.
Methods
Data was collected over two years for the distance undergraduate course ‘Perspectives on Complementary and Alternative Medicine’ at the Open University.Qualitative data was obtained through interviews with the course chair, tutors and students, and through a student questionnaire. Assignments and computer-mediated
tutorials were collected for textual analysis, although the timing of the assignments meant that analysis has only just begun on the essay data. To analyse the argumentation in the computer conferences and assignments a method of
categorising, coding and tracking argumentative discourse was developed building on earlier work by the authors. In addition, computational searches were carried out to compare linguistic features across conference and assignment data.
Results
In tutorial conferences, student discussion tended to take the form of collaborative co-construction of an argument through exchanging information and experience to
substantiate a position. However, students were also prepared to challenge other viewpoints. In both cases, they frequently drew on personal and professional
experience to support argument claims. The use of these strategies suggests that text-based conferencing lends itself to the collective combining of diverse sources of
information, experiences and ideas.
Conference discussions were often personalised with fewer explicit logical links marking argument structure. They were also marked by complexity of argument strands, many of which reached no conclusion. Preliminary analysis of argumentation in assignments suggests that this did not, however, adversely affect students’ ability to create a more traditional, linear argument in their essays. Further analysis will be undertaken to compare argumentation strategies across the two sets of data. Tutors expressed concern about levels of participation in the tutorial conferences, which varied quite considerably. They also felt uncertain about their own knowledge of appropriate pedagogic strategies which would encourage students to participate in a collaborative yet critical way, and tended to rely on strategies from face-to-face teaching. Analysis of the conference discussion showed that tutors made fewer claims than students and were also less likely to provide information in support of their claims. There was, therefore, little modelling by tutors of the basic type of argumentation that would be expected in formal written assignments.Despite these concerns, student responses indicated that having a tutor and a group
of peers to interact with, or just to observe, was valued as a supportive feature of this form of distance learning. No clear picture arose of how to make conferencing more
interactive for more students, and this reinforces the sense gained from the tutor interviews of the difficulty of proposing a model of tutoring in computer conferences
that will necessarily engage all students or raise the level of discussion and debate.
Conclusions
Our study suggests that text-based conferencing has an important role to play in developing students’ argumentation strategies and understanding of academic
discourse and conventions. In view of its hybrid nature, somewhere between spontaneous speech and formal academic writing, course designers and tutors should aim to take advantage of both aspects – on the one hand, the informal
dialogic exchange of opinions and co-construction of knowledge, and on the other,the opportunity for consolidation, reflection and re-positioning.
Our findings reinforce the view that students’ willingness to exchange ideas freely and openly is partly a consequence of how personally engaged, at ease and
confident students feel with one another and their tutor. In particular, it seems that there is a role for the interpersonal and, to some extent, the chat and the frivolity, which in some other studies discussed in the literature review have been regarded as negative influences.
Recommendations
To facilitate students’ development of argumentation and learning more generally,tutors need greater awareness of the ways in which academic argumentation operates in computer conferencing as compared to written assignments. Since pedagogic strategies developed in other contexts may not transfer well to computer conferencing, there is a need for targeted professional development, focussing in
particular on:
• Choosing topics for discussion and designing effective task prompts;
• Supporting weaker students;
• Encouraging challenging of ideas;
• Finding the right tone to facilitate peer discussions.
Some specific suggestions are made within the report, but our recommendations at this stage remain tentative as we still have to complete the analysis of the assignment data and draw conclusions about the impact of the computer
conferencing on the quality of written argumentation within this more formal context
Blogging: Promoting Learner Autonomy and Intercultural Competence through Study Abroad
The current study explores closely how using a combined modalities of asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) via blogs and face-to-face (FTF) interaction through ethnographic interviews with native speakers (L1s) supports autonomous learning as the result of reflective and social processes. The study involves 16 American undergraduate students who participated in blogs to develop their intercultural competence over the course of one-semester study abroad. The results show that blogs afforded students the opportunity to work independently (e.g., content creation) and reflect upon cross-cultural issues. Critical reflection, however, relied on the teacher’s guidance and feedback, as most of the students were cognitively challenged by not being able to clearly articulate different points of view. It is likely that students were not accustomed to reflecting. The findings also indicate that task type fostered autonomy in different ways. While free topics gave students more control of their own learning, teacher-assigned topics required them to critically think about the readings. Lack of access to Internet at the host institution and family also contributed to a limited level of social interaction. The study concludes that well-designed tasks, effective metacognitive and cognitive skills, and the accessibility to Internet are essential to maximize the potentials of blogs for learner autonomy and intercultural communication
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