Annotation Studio: Multimedia Annotation for Students

Annotation Studio is a web-based annotation application that integrates a powerful set of textual interpretation tools behind an interface that makes using those tools intuitive for undergraduates. Building on students’ new media literacies, this Open-source application develops traditional humanistic skills including close reading, textual analysis, persuasive writing, and critical thinking. Initial features of the Annotation Studio prototype, supported by an NEH Start-Up Grant, include aligned multi-media annotation of written texts, user-defined sharing of annotations, and grouping of annotation by self-defined tags to support interpretation and argument development. The fully developed application will support annotation of image, video and audio documents; annotation visualization; export of texts with annotations; and a media repository. We will also identify best practices among faculty using Annotation Studio in a broad range of humanities classes across the country

Building a virtual classroom : an education environment for the internet generation

This thesis examines the provision of learning environments that enable people to participate in high-quality learning experiences without physically travelling to classrooms and classes. New technologies enable the asynchronous web currently based on text, images, and video, to be extended to facilitate multi-channel synchronous communications. There is significant potential to enhance learning using the 3D worlds used for interactive gaming, populated by avatars representing the participants, and chat systems using text and audio channels. The purpose of this study was to investigate the development and use of 3D web-based learning environments. Staff and students from an Information Technology degree programme at one New Zealand Polytechnic participated in the study. The design and use of 3D web-based learning environments were integrated into one paper over six years. Data were collected from the teachers of this paper and the programme in which it was embedded.A survey instrument was used to collect data, along with artefacts from the software design and development plus the web-based environments created. Computer logs, and records of chat sessions were collected to enable analysis of the activities that took place in the new learning environments. Follow-up interviews were conducted with a sample of students after the completion of their study. Analysis of these data included collations of statistically significant relationships between environmental factors and the design features of the 3D web-based environments created. Results indicate that the 3D web-based environments were well received by the students and show significant potential for the future provision of learning environments. The technology has no negative impact on students’ perception of their learning environment; however, it did not have the expected positive impact on their communications with peers or teaching staff. This research suggests directions for the future development and application of 3D webbased technologies to fully enable their potential to be achieved in educational learning environments

An autoethnographic exploration of creative design practice: towards pedagogic implications.

Doctoral degree, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban.I have lectured Jewellery Design at a University of Technology in South Africa for nearly 30 years now. My teaching practice has gradually adjusted over the years to suit the changing needs of the industry, the university and the students. I have become aware of the need to make deliberate adjustments, because the changes happening around me are more complex than I realized, and I feel out of touch with my students. To gain a better understanding of my own creative practice and the intersection with my pedagogic practice, I have undertaken an autoethnographic exploration of my identity as creative artist and designer, and as university educator. I produce numerous objects during the creative design process and my office/studio is filled with these artefacts. It occurred to me that there might be meanings contained within these objects that could influence my creative and pedagogic practice. So I set out to analyse the things that line my office walls. The research questions that guided my research were: a) Which are my significant creative outputs/artefacts, and why do I consider them to be important? b) How does my self manifest in these significant creative outputs/artefacts? and c) What are the pedagogic implications of an enhanced awareness of self in creative practice? As an artist and creative designer, I often stage and participate in exhibitions. So I decided to analyse the objects that I produced for these exhibitions to see what I could find. I developed an autoethnographic self-interview method using denotative prompts and connotative responses, which enabled me to reveal an underlying network of connections that culminated and intersected within the objects. On analysing the significances, I was able to recognise aspects of my creative process and arrive at an understanding of creativity that allowed me to engage fruitfully with factors that could influence the development of creative ability. The elements I identified within my own creative practice, using the self-interview, related to the meandering nature of creativity, the role serendipity plays, and the extent to which I draw on personal experience as a source of inspiration. The primary original contribution of this thesis lies in the development, refinement and use of the autoethnographic self-interview. When I considered these insights in terms of my pedagogic practice I realised that I could pay more attention to the diversity of my students, to the heterogeneity that manifested in the classroom . I recognised that this approach could help me acknowledge the emergent nature of v creativity, particularly if I wanted to encourage my students to use their own personal experiences as a foundation for creative design. By inviting this personalised approach I would, of necessity, have to make them aware of the nature of serendipity, of the ‘happy accidents’ in daily life (and creative design), and the usefulness of this phenomenon when aiming for innovation, or in a better word, creativity.Only available in English

The professional learning of academics in higher education: a sociomaterial perspective

Introduction For academics in UK Higher Education (HE), professional learning (PL) is a complex endeavour involving a multitude of (in)formal learning encounters. However, these PL encounters are at risk as academics prioritised conflicting knowledge domains and negotiate various social and material engagements that can enable or encumber these encounters. This thesis reports on research that attempts to illuminate these sociomaterial entanglements using Actor-Network Theory and Non-Representational Theory as a theoretical framework. Methods A transformative mixed method case study of a single UK university using content analysis, questionnaire, interview and photovoice methods were undertaken. Twelve academic staff, with module leader responsibilities, were selected from the academic staff questionnaire (n:182) to be interviewed and photograph their PL experiences. Unique to sociomaterial investigation was the photovoice method, enabling the participants to become empowered as co-researchers. Results The analysis of the data suggests that academics tend to be strategic in prioritising conflicting knowledge domains. In the case of knowledge not related to their subject discipline, academics will often fast-track information from a "knowledgeable other". Furthermore, academics will construct "surrogate" or "transient" spaces in which to seek refuge from the various disruptions and interruptions generated by their institution. Academics will use these spaces for uninterrupted learning or work and as a means for promoting self-care. Discussion The study identified four interrelated spatial properties (transient, affective, controlled and immersive), which provides an explanation why some spaces were more conducive to PL than other spaces. Furthermore, space is composed of multiple and interconnected spatial configurations that coalesce into a single spatial configuration, which I call coalescent space. The study also proposes a number of future research directions involving the PL of early career academics and academics on sessional contract

Learning design thinking online : studying students' learning experience in shared virtual reality

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Developing a Framework and Pedagogies for the Delivery of Remote Accessible Laboratory Systems in Science and Engineering

The teaching and learning methods applied to the in-person classroom are not entirely capable of addressing the requirements for an online laboratory environment. The aim of the study is to create the pedagogies for remote laboratories. Therefore, a test environment was developed and user observations were captured over four years. This research proposed an educational framework for online science and engineering laboratory and summarized the most significant aspects to be included in the laboratory design