State of the art Topic Working with ICT

The research work “State-of-the-art Topic Working with ICT” deals with the use of technology in two secondary schools in Leones, Córdoba, Argentina, where teachers utilize ICT to teach English as a foreign language. The study aims to know how ICT can benefit students as well as the disadvantages to learn English by means of the strategies and activities applied. The results of this research show that the use of ICT in the English classes in these two schools is not considered as a very important tool for the teaching-learning process because only one of the interviewed teachers shows he uses technology in most of his classes

Teachers' and learners' perceptions, from four ex-Model C primary schools in Cape Town, on how and why computers are used in the Grade 7 classroom

Bibliography: leaves 91-106.The proliferation of computers in education has been studied for many years (Kulik, 1983; Loveless 1996; Underwood & Underwood 1990) including therein a diversity of standpoints from the examination of the effects of the computer on learners to the influence of computers on learning, problem solving and achievement, as well as other aspects of schooling (as cited in Lauman 2000: 2). However, little attention has been afforded to address individuals' perceptions, namely those of teachers and learners, of the technology. Given the great investments by schools due to high expectations concerning the educational benefits of computers, it is important that such research be conducted. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' and learners' perceptions from four ex-Model C primary schools, on how and why computers are used in the Grade 7 classroom. The data was collected primarily by means of a questionnaire, which assessed the perceptions of teachers and learners re computer usage in Grade 7, with findings substantiated by observations and teacher interviews. The study found that: (1) most teachers were comfortable with using computers and expressed positive attitudes towards computer use; (2) teachers agreed that they integrate the computer into the classroom for student-centred learning, independent learning, as a research tool and as a communication tool; (3) teachers view the computer as optimally used for word processing, with importance placed on such skills; (4) teachers believe technology is an integral part of the process of educating their learners; and (5) teachers are of the opinion that their learners perceive the computer to be important, relevant, appealing, valuable, involving and needed. Analysis of the learner data revealed that: (1) learners express enjoyment with using the computer in Grade 7; (2) learners affirm the importance of computers as learning tools; (3) learners perceive that when undertaking tasks they enjoy on the computer they find the computer to be 'entertaining', while the worst thing about the computer is perceived to be 'computer malfunctions' and 'the age of the computer' (i.e. how old the computer was); (4) learners believe the computer has a positive impact on their school work; (5) learners perceive the use of the computer in Grade 7 to be important, interesting, exciting, meaningful and needed; and (6) they feel the computer is used to prepare them for their future. The findings of this study afford us a glimpse into how a sample group of South African teachers and learners in the ex-Model C primary school context, perceive computer use in the Grade 7 classroom. Further research with larger, more representative samples is recommended in this fairly untouched area of research, particularly in South Africa, as technology continues to take on a more significant role in South African schools

EDUWEB - Um ambiente de colaboração para instituições educacionais

Orientador: Heloisa Vieira da RochaDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ComputaçãoResumo: O crescimento explosivo da Internet tem trazido novas possibilidades para utilização do computador no ambiente escolar. Com a Internet, os computadores passaram a ser encarados nas instituições educacionais como ferramentas poderosas de auxílio ao aprendizado. Apesar do enorme potencial da Internet como ferramenta educacional, seu uso ainda á bastante incipiente nas escolas brasileiras. As escolas em geral não utilizam a Internet, ou quando a utilizam, o fazem apenas para divulgar informações institucionais. Muitas vezes, os alunos que possuem Internet em casa acabam por si próprios utilizando a Internet para pesquisa, troca de informações e comunicação. Contudo, esta utilização é feita de uma maneira isolada por parte dos alunos e sem uma fundamentação realmente pedagógica. Visando auxiliar o desenvolvimento cada vez maior da educação no Brasil utilizando o potencial que a Internet possui como canal de comunicação e compartilhamento de idéias, decidiu-se focar este trabalho de mestrado na concepção de um ambiente de colaboração via Internet para escolas e instituições educacionais em geral. O objetivo deste ambiente é estender o espaço da educação presencial em sala de aula utilizando a Internet para prover um meio de integração e realização de atividades colaborativas entre alunos, professores, funcionários, pais e outras pessoas ligadas à escola, propiciando que o aprendizado aconteça em qualquer hora e em qualquer lugar. A maior parte do desenvolvimento consistiu na integração de diversas funcionalidades de comunicação e pesquisa existentes na Internet (como e-mail, listas de discussão, calendário, bate-papo, publicação de documentos, mecanismos de busca, bancos de dados etc.) em uma interface única e de fácil utilização por parte de pessoas desprovidas de conhecimentos avançados em informática, como é o caso do público alvo deste trabalhoAbstract: The Internet skyrocketing growth has brought into scene new ways of using computers in an educational environment, as they became powerful tools to help improve learning. In despite of the huge potential of the Internet as an educational tool, its use is still a budding resemblance of what it can be. Schools in general simply do not have access to Internet, or in cases they do, it is only to share institutional information. Many times students end up surfing the Internet for researching, exchanging information and communication on their own. However, this sort of use is uncoordinated and carried out without any pedagogical basis. Aiming at helping develop education in Brazil making use of the Internet potential as a communication channel to share knowledge, this master thesis is focused on designing a collaborative environment to be used trough the Internet by schools and educational institutions in genera!. This environment targets on extending the traditional educational space, using the Internet to provide students, teachers, staff, parents and everyone connected to the school, with means to integrate in a group and perform collaborative tasks. In such way, learning can happen anywhere and anytime. The major part of development was devoted to integrate various communication and research tools available for the Internet, such as e-mail, discussion lists, calendar, chat, document publication, search engines, databases etc, in a single, easy-to-use user interface focused on people with minimum computer skillsMestradoMestre em Ciência da Computaçã

Chinese learners and computer assisted language learning: a study of learning styles, learner attitudes and the effectiveness of CALL in Chinese higher education

E-leaming has become a staple diet in many learners’ academic lives in higher education institutions all around the world. This study did not follow the techno- centric standpoint and the comparative research design tradition in this field; instead, it focused on how learners’ learning styles and attitudes interact with the effectiveness of E-leaming implementation in the field of foreign language learning. The research was set in the author’s home institution—a comprehensive university in mainland China, where the first- and second-year undergraduate students who were studying a compulsory English course were surveyed from 2003 to 2004. For this course, the College of Foreign Languages developed an online computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environment—NCE Online which was the basis of this investigation. The author’s former colleagues helped organise the distribution and collection of 4 questionnaires and 9 groups of student interviews over one academic year. A total of 5258 participants completed the first questionnaire in 2003 while the numbers of participants who completed the other questions varied from around 200 to 700. To understand data from the learners in more depth, the language teachers and NCE Online developers were also surveyed with a questionnaire and individual interviews. The results showed that the learners had very positive attitudes towards the use of computer technologies in their study, and that there was an evident tendency to expect an increasing proportion of CALL elements as the students progressed in their English study. Despite these positive attitudes, what was equally clear was that there were still more students who preferred to have traditional classroom learning as their main learning mode, and they did not think of the E- leaming materials available as more effective than the traditional ones. Meanwhile, their teachers’ attitudes and the University’s policies also played an important role in influencing learners’ attitudes and actual behaviour toward the CALL system. In addition, the research revealed that Chinese learners have learning styles distinct from their peers in the west, which suggests that a CALL environment for Chinese learners should not follow blindly the much-advocated constructivist design model in the west. Reconsideration of both the ideals of foreign language teaching methodologies and E-leaming pedagogies, which originated mainly in Europe and Northern America, needs to take place before the design of a CALL system for Chinese learners. The implications of this research were therefore discussed to begin just such a rethinking of CALL implementations in Chinese higher education