Design Overview of an Adaptive Computer-based Assessment System

SPEBC, an adaptive computer-based assessment system, will provide initial, formative, and summative assessments. SPEBC will generate multiple-choice and open-ended questions adapted to the learners’ background knowledge and external representations. SPEBC will generate personalized assignments and will use voting devices to capture the learner’s answers in. Moreover, the personalization approach is based on the generation of personalized responses using for each set of answers a different kind of external representation. Previous studies about the use of adaptive systems and classroom communication systems in the classroom have shown to be effective.SPEBC, an adaptive computer-based assessment system, will provide initial, formative, and summative assessments. SPEBC will generate multiple-choice and open-ended questions adapted to the learners’ background knowledge and external representations. SPEBC will generate personalized assignments and will use voting devices to capture the learner’s answers in. Moreover, the personalization approach is based on the generation of personalized responses using for each set of answers a different kind of external representation. Previous studies about the use of adaptive systems and classroom communication systems in the classroom have shown to be effective

Design Overview of an Adaptive Computer-based Assessment System

SPEBC, an adaptive computer-based assessment system, will provide initial, formative, and summative assessments. SPEBC will generate multiple-choice and open-ended questions adapted to the learners’ background knowledge and external representations. SPEBC will generate personalized assignments and will use voting devices to capture the learner’s answers in. Moreover, the personalization approach is based on the generation of personalized responses using for each set of answers a different kind of external representation. Previous studies about the use of adaptive systems and classroom communication systems in the classroom have shown to be effective.SPEBC, an adaptive computer-based assessment system, will provide initial, formative, and summative assessments. SPEBC will generate multiple-choice and open-ended questions adapted to the learners’ background knowledge and external representations. SPEBC will generate personalized assignments and will use voting devices to capture the learner’s answers in. Moreover, the personalization approach is based on the generation of personalized responses using for each set of answers a different kind of external representation. Previous studies about the use of adaptive systems and classroom communication systems in the classroom have shown to be effective

Framework to Enhance Teaching and Learning in System Analysis and Unified Modelling Language

Cowling, MA ORCiD: 0000-0003-1444-1563; Munoz Carpio, JC ORCiD: 0000-0003-0251-5510Systems Analysis modelling is considered foundational for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) students, with introductory and advanced units included in nearly all ICT and computer science degrees. Yet despite this, novice systems analysts (learners) find modelling and systems thinking quite difficult to learn and master. This makes the process of teaching the fundamentals frustrating and time intensive. This paper will discuss the foundational problems that learners face when learning Systems Analysis modelling. Through a systematic literature review, a framework will be proposed based on the key problems that novice learners experience. In this proposed framework, a sequence of activities has been developed to facilitate understanding of the requirements, solutions and incremental modelling. An example is provided illustrating how the framework could be used to incorporate visualization and gaming elements into a Systems Analysis classroom; therefore, improving motivation and learning. Through this work, a greater understanding of the approach to teaching modelling within the computer science classroom will be provided, as well as a framework to guide future teaching activities

Wireless Handheld Computers in the Preclinical Undergraduate Curriculum

This report presents the results of a pilot project using wireless PDAs as teaching tools in an undergraduate medical curriculum. This technology was used to foster a transition from a passive to an interactive learning environment in the classroom and provided a solution for the implementation of computer-based exams for a large class. Wayne State Medical School recently provided model e570 Toshiba PocketPCs® (personal digital assistants or PDAs), network interface cards, and application software developed by CampusMobility® to 20 sophomore medical students. The pilot group of preclinical students used the PDAs to access web-based course content, for communication, scheduling, to participate in interactive teaching sessions, and to complete course evaluations. Another part of this pilot has been to utilize the PDAs for computer-based exams in a wireless environment. Server authentication that restricted access during the exams and a proctoring console to monitor and record the PDA screens will be described in this report. Results of a student satisfaction survey will be present

Anxiety In Presentational And Interpersonal Oral Tasks Face-To-Face And Online

Within computer mediated communication, there has been a large focus on synchronous and asynchronous text-based methods and how it can be used to help oral proficiency and lower anxiety but very few studies have looked at how audio computer mediated communicative tasks affect anxiety. This study sets out to seek whether using audio computer mediated communication helps lower anxiety for beginner Spanish language students. In order to do so, three research questions are suggested: (1) How do participants’ levels of FLA differ between presentational oral tasks completed in the classroom and presentational tasks completed in an online interface? (2) How do participants’ levels of FLA differ between interpersonal oral tasks completed in the classroom and interpersonal tasks completed in an online interface? (3) What factors are associated with different levels of FLA in oral tasks completed in the classroom and oral tasks completed in an online interface? To answer these questions, two first-semester first-year Spanish classes completed one presentational oral task in the classroom and online, one interpersonal oral task in the classroom and online and completed an anxiety survey as well as answered open-ended questions after each task in order to better understand their thought processes. The overall results showed that when looking at fear of negative evaluation and communication apprehension, the participants indicated lower anxiety when completing online tasks. However, when looking at general anxiety, participants reported higher levels of anxiety

Developing cross‐cultural communicative competence via computer‐assisted language learning: The case of pre‐service ESL/EFL teachers

Based on a qualitative research project, this article presents a view on the use of computer technology to develop a critical cross‐cultural communicative competence in English as a Second Language (ESL) / English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for pre‐service teachers. The article includes a brief critical theoretical framework, some classroom pedagogical implications, and a data‐based discussion of pre‐service teachers’ views. These views included: (1) critical views and an awareness of cultural power relations in computer‐assisted language learning (CALL), (2) uncritical views and a lack of awareness of cultural power relations in CALL, and (3) uses of metaphors in CALL. The powerful contribution of CALL can be found in its potential for providing ways to connect people and build communities, for offering opportunities for cross‐cultural communicative competence to be developed and used, and for improving processes of democratization via computer‐mediated communication. However, a socio‐cultural criticism revealed that this powerful tool, like any other media, is non‐neutral because it can serve to reinforce further the hegemonic aspects of education, that is, the dominant culture will be strengthened and protected via computer technology. Computer‐based technologies and software are increasingly incorporated into the curricula of ESLIEFL teacher education programmes. However, this integration is often done in ways that seem to leave unquestioned the potential cultural and hegemonic ramifications of such technology. Hence there is a need for a more critical technological competence

The multiple writing genres of online learning : students' experience of writing in the online classroom space

Based upon theories of computer mediated communication of Herring and Lemke and the work of genre scholars such as Askehave, Santini, and Devitt, this qualitative study explored how computer mediated communication shapes writing genres in an online classroom. Genre embodies the context and users' purpose for any textual communication. Through a case study of a graduate level online class, the study investigated students' experiences of the genres realized by their writing in the online classroom. The primary goal of the research study was to understand students' experiences of enacting the multiple writing genres in an online class. The research questions were: 1) What are the rhetorical situations for students' writing in an online classroom? 2) How do students acquire knowledge of the conventions of the multiple genres of online classroom writing? 3) What are students' experiences of enacting the multiple writing genres in an online classroom? Semi-structured transcribed interviews, field notes of online classroom observations, artifacts gathered from the online class, and questionnaire results were collected as data and interpreted by applying an inductive analysis. The online classroom is a multi-generic space where students are called upon to enact various writing genres, depending on the rhetorical situation of the learning activity, in order to perform the social practices of online education. Genre is a useful lens for exploring students' online writing practices because genres offer a means of accessing the ways language forms the experience of information and ideas. Since online classes immerse students in an environment of written text, online student writing illustrates evolving web genres in action. This changeable notion of genre suggests that opportunities exist within the online space for students to direct their own genre performances in ways that make sense for their computer mediated learning environment. The study revealed students' awareness of their own rhetorical choices through the enactment of particular writing genres online and how their writing was shaped by computer mediated communication. The online classroom has the potential to be an optimal space for students to engage in genre (re)formation shaped by the CMC medium of online learning. The results and analysis of the research may influence institutions to take a more informed approach to improving instructional practices online in general and writing practices online in particular

The Internet for Professional Communication: A Workshop Curriculum for Secondary Teachers

Educators and administrators have begun to place a high priority on connecting classrooms to the Internet. However, classroom computer use remains at least one step removed from teachers and is used to sustain existing curricula rather than serving as a catalyst for educational improvement. Professional communication is a major instrument for initiating and implementing educational reform; the Internet represents a primary computer-based forum for professional development. The purpose of the project was to develop a sample in-service curriculum focusing on the use of e-mail, newsgroups, and listservs as tools for professional development and communication among secondary educators

Network-Based Classrooms

Computer-mediated communication is an increasingly familiar part of the educational experiences of students from elementary school through graduate school. This is not surprising, because electronic mail, bulletin boards, gopher servers, and other forms of telecommunication offer conveniences and exciting new possibilities for learning. The rapid expansion of the Internet, the availability of low-cost modems and high-speed data lines, and a growing awareness of the educational possibilities are leading to major changes in classrooms. The many ways in which network-based classrooms are used highlights questions about the goals and means of education that are too often pushed aside. By affording new ways of communicating, these classrooms ask us to rethink questions such as: What role should the teacher have in the classroom? How can students support each other???s learning? What kinds of writing should students learn to do? How should we accommodate, or balance, student interests with other curricular concerns? What is needed to make a classroom become a true learning community? In addition to raising these questions, they provide us with new possibilities for answering them.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Evaluating the use of speech technologies in the classroom: The APEINTA Project

Proceeding of: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, ED-MEDIA 2010APEINTA (Spanish acronym for Proposal Aiming for an Inclusive Education based on Assistive Technology) is a Spanish educational project that aims for inclusive education for every student of all abilities in and outside the classroom. The APEINTA project is focused in two main inclusive proposals: One In the classroom and the other one Outside the classroom. This paper is focused on a subjective evaluation of the In the classroom proposal, where Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text to Speech (TTS) technologies have been used in order to avoid communication barriers among teacher and students. The project has been evaluated during different classes in 3rd course of Computer Science degree at the Carlos III University of Madrid, and during a talk in the ACAPPS (Federation of Families and Deaf People of Catalonia) Congress