Blended learning in the wake of ICT infrastructure deficiencies: The case of a Zimbabwean University

In the wake of debates between actors in the Zimbabwean higher education sector about the effectiveness of e-learning models, it is important to investigate the effectiveness of using blended learning at a time when infrastructure challenges are disrupting ICT access. This paper aims to address this quest for a deeper understanding by investigating students\u27 perceptions of blended learning at a selected Zimbabwean university. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted with students from a Zimbabwean university that employs blended learning under an interpretivist paradigm. Vygotsky\u27s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) was used for conceptualising students\u27 cognitive development and Engestrom\u27s (2003) Third-generation Activity Theory(AT) as a framework for assessing the home and the university activity systems that characterise blended learning. Findings show that blended learning can be implemented in universities with poor ICT infrastructure since asynchronous blended learning using learning management systems such as Moodle allows content to be downloaded from connected areas for offline study. The study contributes to policies on the implementation of blended learning in institutions of higher learning by showing how it enables cognitive development in the ZPD

Lesson learned from studies blendend-learning in Higher Education Institutions

En este artículo revisamos una de las modalidades que más auge está teniendo últimamente en las instituciones universitarias: el blended-learning. Las aportaciones de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación al mundo educativo y las necesidades que se plantean en las universidades europeas en la construcción del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior parecen ser un escenario adecuado para el desarrollo de experiencias formativas de blended-learning. En este artículo recorreremos algunos conceptos importantes para la comprensión del blended-learning como modalidad formativa y repasaremos algunas de las investigaciones que se han realizado en torno al tema para estudiar de una manera más completa y profunda las repercusiones de la utilización de estos modelos en las instituciones de Educación Superior.In this paper, we review one of the most spreading learning modalities at the moment: blended-learning. The contribution of Information and Communication Technologies to the educational world and the needs in the European Higher Education Area seem to introduce the best scenario for the developing of blended learning experiences. In this paper, we go through some important concepts for the understanding of blended-learning as formative modality. After that, we review some researches carried out around this topic in order to study in a wider and deeper way the effect of using these models in Higher Education institutions

Education, Society, and the K-12 Learner

An exploration of selected components of the education profession: purpose of education. American education system, education and the legal system, child and adolescent development, and diversity. Part 1: Educational History and Policy Part 2: Educational Psychologyhttps://egrove.olemiss.edu/open/1001/thumbnail.jp

Experiences of students in using blended learning to learn educational technology modules : a case study.

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Blended Learning Model: A Feasible Option for Romanian Undergraduate Education System

The accelerating development of new technologies has created a new educational context to which all the education system, including the Romanian one, should try to adapt. Blended learning has become one of the key concepts in the new educational environment. Thus, this paper aims to provide a clearer image of what blended learning means and what are its models, besides what advantages and disadvantages it can bring to the education system. Moreover, this study will focus on whether each model of blended learning can be implemented for each of the stages of the education system. Finally, the study will attempt to establish if any of the blended learning model is suitable for the Romanian undergraduate education system and, moreover, to which stage it should be more appropriate. Overall, this paper contributes to the literature firstly by placing the concept of blended learning in the context of the undergraduate education system and secondly by analyzing the possibility to implement a blended learning system in the Romanian education

First-year college student beliefs about writing embedded in online discourse: An analysis and its implications for literacy learning

Online discourse has become a common mode of communication for the Twenty- First Century. Many businesses now use electronic networking sites such as Facebook to communicate with customers through online posts and electronic updates through Twitter. With these recent trends in electronic communication, some educators have begun implementing electronic discourse into the classroom through online discussion boards. Discussion boards available through course technology such as WebCT and eLearning offer educators opportunities to channel this heightened interest in online communication. By building electronic course sites, educators can further classroom discussions on online discussion boards, which allow students to discuss course material with each other through electronic conversations over the Internet. As language is multifaceted, ambiguous, and rich with our metaphors and symbols, this dissertation suggests that discourse analysis of an online discussion board offers a useful mode for uncovering and understanding the beliefs that first-year college students have about writing. This study used qualitative inquiry to analyze the online discourse that occurred over the period of one semester in a first-year writing course. The study sought to uncover the beliefs about writing that first-year college students bring with them to a first-year college writing course. Additionally, the study looked at how the beliefs shifted during the course of one semester. It concluded that curriculum including an online discussion board may provide college and high school educators another lens for understanding the disconnect that exists between high school and college curriculum. Additionally, the study found that the resulting discussion of the discourse analysis on a course discussion board may facilitate an understanding of the transition for first-year students from high school to college. Major findings of the study were: (1) When students engage in online discourse within a learning community, they begin to understand how others think and feel. This leads to an appreciation for diversity and for a greater understanding of self. (2) An online discussion board facilitates the formation of self, as students look at their identity within a learning community and rethink their own individual beliefs and values. (3) Online discussion boards may facilitate positive social interactions in a first-year writing course and lead to smoother and more positive transitions from high school learning to college learning. (4) Online discussion boards in a first-year writing course may facilitate the formation of a recursive literacy process that finds value in feedback. (5) Online discussion boards might be a valuable resource to help instructors understand how students are processing literacy curriculum and how it is contributing to the formation of self and knowledge. (6) Online discussion boards offer an authentic assessment resource for informing educational decision making in the classroom

Toward a Unified Theory of Cognition: A Kantian Analysis

The goal of this paper is to provide classroom teachers a more unified theory of cognition. The current cognitive theories of information processing, schema theory, and constructivism exhibit limitations and a lack of cohesion that make their implications for teachers unclear. This paper will be presented in five sections. 1) The first describes problems with current cognitive theories and the need for a unified theory of cognition 2) The second provides a review of the literature of current cognitive theories. 3) The third section consists of research in the history of cognitive theory both in philosophy and psychology. 4) The fourth describes how a fresh look at the philosophy of Immanuel Kant can provide a more unified cognitive theory to educational psychology. 5) Finally, the paper offers specific implications for instruction under these headings: Teachers should describe the concept to be taught as a rule. Teachers should introduce the concept rule by experience or by example. Teachers should use the concept rule as a framework for effective questioning. Teachers should describe the rule with abstract language only after students have understood the rule

A blended learning model in higher education: a comparative study of blended learning in UK and Malaysia

Blended learning, involves the combination of two fields of concern: technology and education; or two groups of people: technologists and educationists. However, current literature shows less consideration on the potential disciplinary gap in the blended learning experience, as a result there is a paucity of evidence from cross-country/institutional/disciplinary investigations. This study aimed to explore, analyse and compare the blended learning experience in higher education. The research is reflected in 3 questions: (1) What are the current blended learning experiences in the selected higher educational institutions? (2) How such experience varies in different disciplines? (3) What are the reflections on the comparative experiences in (1) and (2)? The qualitative case study with comparative methods was used to obtain in-depth findings for these research questions. I visited 4 universities in two countries and sampled 51 research participants’ voices from contrasting disciplines. With these voices, I thoroughly discussed individual case studies, followed by a cross-case and cross-discipline comparison. These findings enabled insights to be drawn on a major argument: blended learning did enable and enhance learning experiences in all case studies but disciplinary differences remain a major challenge. The analysis shows that academics from science-based disciplines have an advantage at the instrumental level of technological usage without transforming learning experience; social science-based academics, due to their disciplinary nature, have embedded technology in wider trans-technical aspects that would enhance and transform learning and teaching. In the context of blended learning, I would argue that learning has not been enhanced (1) if the technology is the sole focus; (2) if the research effort of “technology enhanced learning” does not gain ground in educational theories and (3) does not recognise the disciplinary differences. Arising out of these findings, I proposed a blended learning model that indicates the boundary of the current literature and research findings, and a blended learning definition - an educational-focused process to enhance and transform f2f learning with the blend of technology in a symbiotic relationship. It is necessary for educationists and technologists to establish such a symbiotic relationship and the inter-disciplinary integration and discourse, that may impact on the individuals’ practice beyond their own disciplinary territory