Online Lecturing: Suitable for all Courses?

Universities worldwide are rapidly embracing online technologies to make their courses more convenient for today’s tech savvy students. Consequently, academics are suddenly met with increased workload and the need to learn new technologies. Thus, to ensure the success and continual use of this new technology, it is important to gauge academics’ acceptance of online lecturing. However, the suitability of online lecturing may not be suitable for all courses. Building on Davis’s (1989) TAM model and Daft and Lengel’s (1986) media richness theory, this study provides empirical evidence for the effects of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived media richness on the academics’ choice to adopt online video lecturing in differing courses

Attitude of Teachers' of Higher Education towards e-Learning

E-learning is an extremely adaptable technology that can be used to cover different delivery modes-self-paced, interactive or live learning can match the varied training needs. E-learning makes new knowledge and skills available immediately and reduces the learning time required to master even the most complicated topics. E-learning is the changing trend of education. The modern technologies particularly the Internet, made education no longer limited to the four walls of the classroom. Measuring attitude and efforts to improve attitude towards technology is very much essential to effect any change through technology. This study focuses on the attitude of teachers of higher education towards e learning. The findings of this study reveal that the teachers have a favourable attitude towards e learning as well teachers who are familiar about computer and information and communication technology differ in their attitude towards elearning when compared to the teachers who are not familiar with technology. Attitude plays a vital role in using technology as a strong tool for a positive change. There must be programmes at higher educational institutions which could focus on developing a positive attitude among teachers towards e-learning and information and communication technolog

Attitudes towards, and utilisation of, virtual learning environments among postgraduate university teaching staff

Skill retention within a virtual learning environment (VLE) is dependent upon the complexity inherent in skill use (Cahillane, MacLean, & Smy, 2015) and the frequency of skill use (Arthur, Bennett, Stanush, & McNally, 1998). A questionnaire was used to capture demographics and perceptions/attitudes concerning VLE usefulness, VLE ease of use and self-reported VLE use among postgraduate level teachers. Results indicate that self-reported teaching workloads were negatively associated with attitudinal positivity. Further results indicated that the attitudinal concept of Perceived usefulness explained a significant amount of unique variance in VLE Use. However, perceptions concerning the Ease of VLE use did not

Development of a petroleum knowledge tutorial system for university and corporate training

The increasingly rapid development of the disciplines of petroleum engineering and petroleum geology has led to new methodologies and interpretation techniques forming new knowledge that should be offered quickly and efficiently to modern engineers and geologists. This need is equally important for students as well as for young professionals. Access and training to all scientific information is necessary to ensure success in their future careers. Today, e-learning has become a common medium for the management and distribution of on-line educational content. Learning Management Systems (LMSs) were not only developed to handle a large variety of multimedia content that provides an organized knowledge repository used to accelerate access to information and skill acquisition; but, LMSs can also keep detailed statistics on the use of the available material offering a powerful training and educational tool. In this document, the Petroleum Knowledge Tutorial System, an LMS platform offering a variety of online educational and training options to petroleum engineers and geologists, is presented. It was created using Moodle, open-source software that can be used to create on-line courses. The platform covers fundamental educational concepts in a structured way. It follows an optimized "workflow" that can be applied not only to solve a specific exercise but also any similar problem encountered over the course of one's career. The platform was designed to offer a repository of learning material in various forms and to favor user-platform interactions. It can be used for training and evaluation purposes through exercises and problem solving that the user can perform online by using browsing software along with internet access. Special tools were created and implemented on the platform to assist the user in completing a variety of tasks including performing exercises involving calculations with given data and plots of points or lines on graphs without leaving the learning environment. Furthermore, videos with detailed explanations follow each learning module and provide the full solution to every exercise. The LMS automatically keeps a large statistical database including the users' access to activities on the platform that can be exported and further processed to improve the platform functionality and evaluate the users' performance

Can Deep Learning Approach Be Virtually Cultivated Via Social Learning Network

With the development of information technology especially kinds of social interaction techniques, social learning networks as a new platform have changed students’ learning behaviors and improve their learning performance. However, how this change happens especially how social learning networks change students’ learning approaches were not very clear. To address this gap, in this research, we try to investigate the impacts of social learning network on students’ learning approaches by conducting an experiment. In the experiment, students were randomly divided into two groups: control group and experimental group. We try to investigate the differences of students’ leaning behavior in terms of learning approaches in the two groups. We also present the theoretical, practical implications and future research

STUDENTS' ENGAGEMENT IN A BLENDED LEARNING INSTRUCTION IN AN EFL CLASSROOM

Penggunaan teknologi di semua bidang kehidupan telah mendukung kehadirannya berkembang di lingkungan pendidikan. Teknologi telah membawa perubahan signifikan terhadap cara mahasiswa belajar serta bagaimana mereka terlibat dalam proses belajar. Keterlibatan diyakini sebagai faktor penting dalam proses belajar sementara teknologi dapat memfasilitasi keterlibatan dalam kelas bahasa Inggris. Oleh karena itu, integrasi teknologi dalam pembelajaran bahasa menjadi penting untuk meningkatkan keterlibatan mahasiswa. Para dosen diharapkan menemukan pilihan alat teknologi yang tepat untuk diintegrasikan dalam pengajaran mereka. Blended learning sekarang banyak digunakan untuk fleksibilitas dan interaktivitas antara dosen dan mahasiswa. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk jenis keterlibatan mahasiswa yang muncul ketika blended learning diimplementasikan dalam proses pembelajaran. Penelitian ini juga ingin mengetahui bagaimana para mahasiswa terlibat di pembelajaran blended learning dalam mata kuliah Integrated English. Penelitian ini merupakan studi kasus. Subjek dari penelitian ini adalah mahasiswa semester empat yang mengambil mata kuliah Integrated English di sebuah universitas di Surakarta. Data dikumpulkan melalui interview semi terstruktur, observasi, dan dokumentasi. Kemudian data dianalisis menggunakan analisis data kualitatif Creswell meliputi pengorganisasian dan persiapan pengumpulan data, pembacaan, pengkodean dan lalu penafsiran data secara menyeluruh. Hasil temuan menunjukkan bahwa mahasiswa terlibat secara perilaku, emosi, dan kognitif dalam pembelajaran blended learning. Berhubungan dengan penggunaan blended learning ditemukan bahwa blended learning mendorong keterlibatan mahasiswa menjadi lebih baik. Namun, keterlibatan mahasiswa lebih ditentukan oleh instruksi yang jelas daripada apakah instruksi tersebut online atau offline. Dari penelitian ini ditemukan bahwa blended learning menciptakan lingkungan pembelajaran yang dibutuhkan mahasiswa untuk meningkatkan keterlibatan mereka. Ada lima karakteristik keterlibatan mahasiswa yang muncul selama observasi di kelas tatap muka meliputi bahasa tubuh yang positif, fokus yang konsisten, partisipasi verbal, kepercayaan diri mahasiswa, kesenangan dan antusias mahasiswa, sementara karakteristik keterlibatan dalam pembelajaran online ditunjukkan dari investasi waktu dan energi mahasiswa dalam berpartisipasi dalam kelas online. Kata Kunci: Keterlibatan Mahasiswa, Blended Learning, Kelas bahasa Inggris -------- The use of technology in all areas of life has led to its growing presence in educational settings. It has brought a significant change in the way students learn as well as how they are engaged in their learning process. Engagement is believed as an essential factor in learning process while technology can facilitate engagement in English classroom. Hence, the integration of technology in the language learning becomes prominent to enhance students’ engagement. The teachers are expected to find a suitable choice of technological tools to be integrated in their teaching. Blended learning is now widely used for its flexibility and interactivity among teachers and students. Therefore, this study aimed to find out kinds of engagement occurred when blended learning instruction was implemented in the learning process. It also wanted to find how students were engaged in blended learning instruction in Integrated English course. This study employed a case study. The subjects of this study were fourth semester students who took Integrated English course in a university in Surakarta. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and documents. Then, the data were analyzed by using Creswell’s qualitative data analysis including organizing and preparing data collection, reading, coding and then interpreting data comprehensively. The findings revealed that students were engaged behaviorally, emotionally and cognitively in a blended learning instruction. Dealing with the use of blended learning instruction, it was found that blended learning instruction fostered greater students’ engagement. However, student engagement was determined more by the clear instructions than whether the instructions were online or offline. From this study, it was found that blended learning created a learning environment needed by students to increase their engagement. There were five characteristics of students’ engagement that appeared during observations in face-to-face classroom including positive body language, consistent focus, verbal participation, students’ confidence, fun and excitement while the characteristics of engagement in online learning were demonstrated from students’ investment of time and energy to participate in online class. Keywords: Student Engagement, Blended Learning, EFL Classroo

Impacto do ambiente SAKAI no apoio à aprendizagem no ensino superior

Este artigo centra-se na problemática da utilização dos ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem no ensino superior. Assim, no contexto de uma instituição de ensino superior público desenvolveu-se um estudo que teve, entre outro, o objetivo de avaliar o impacto que os professores e os alunos dessa instituição atribuem à utilização do ambiente Sakai, no apoio ao ensino e à aprendizagem relacionados com as unidades curriculares que integram os cursos ministrados na instituição. O estudo é de natureza qualitativa. Os dados foram obtidos por questionário, a partir de questões de resposta aberta. A análise das respostas dos sujeitos da amostra foi realizada a partir da definição de uma unidade de análise, de categorias e de unidades de registo que foram integradas nas categorias: impacto positivo geral, impacto positivo específico, impacto negativo geral, impacto negativo específico, impacto neutro e outros. Das categorias referidas as mais representativas, pela quantidade de opiniões que integram, quer dos alunos, quer dos professores foram o impacto positivo geral e o impacto positivo específico do ambiente Sakai no apoio às unidades curriculares. Dos resultados salienta-se que os professores consideram que a utilização do ambiente Sakai tem um impacto muito positivo, nomeadamente, na aproximação e na comunicação entre os professores e os alunos e na gestão das atividades curriculares. Os alunos também consideram que a utilização do ambiente Sakai tem um impacto positivo, salientando a sua utilidade, a facilidade de comunicação entre professores e alunos e o acesso a informação credível

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Education

International audienceAs Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) gradually permeate daily life, they are profoundly changing the way education is conceived and delivered. Teachers play a key role in this transformation process; their beliefs, pedagogical practices, and teaching skills are continuously challenged. ICT integration in the educational process can significantly enhance traditional courses and Internet-based education, i.e., e-learning, is becoming a serious alternative to traditional, face-to-face courses. To be used as a lever for pedagogical innovation and institutional transformation, teacher ICT competencies need to go beyond skills in ICT use per se, and enclose contextual knowledge about technology, pedagogy, and content. On the other hand, learners' engagement with ICT in education depends on their expectations and conceptions of learning and required assessment. A learner's experience with ICT in education is linked to his perception of systems' ease of use and usefulness in achieving learning goals. Adaptive learning systems open new potentialities for a personalized instruction which is tailored to the learner's characteristics. At the edge of a new era, schools, colleges, and higher education struggle to seize opportunities and overcome obstacles

Blended Learning Using Virtual Reality Environments

Immersive virtual reality isn’t just for gaming. It’s poised to have a big impact on education as well, giving students an opportunity to interact with content in three-dimensional learning environments. Blended learning, according to the Inn sight Institute is "a formal education program in which a student learns at least inpart through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student' control over time, place, path and/orpace". On the other hand, there are many disadvantage found in blended learning such as the learners with low motivation or bad study habits may fall behind, and many others. So, there is an essential need to improve and develop the theory of the blended learning by using virtual reality environments and get rid of these disadvantages to develop the faceto-face learning to add a lot of features such as excitement and make it more efficient. As well as affirms clarity of the scientific content of the lecture that the student may be miss them by absent or even mentally, so student can live atmosphere the lecture again and overcome the difficulties resulting from the using blended learning or traditional learning. Firstly, this approach is applied by building a specialized website application that allow using virtual reality feature in order to measure the effectiveness of this study on students, and then a questionnaires was designed and the information result of these questionnaires impact was gathered. It is found that, the most of students were excited, active and they understand the lecture in an easy way with a high Likert Scale (4.74), but they found difficulties in using VR tools which has a low Likert scale (2.66)