School Web Sites within the Educational Marketplace: A Case Study Investigating the Parents as Engaged Consumer-Users

Schools -- like their corporate counterparts -- recognize the many advantages that the Internet affords. Today\u27s schools vie for students, and thus use the web to market their services and showcase their management team (administrators, teachers, staff) and academic accomplishments. In a sense, then, web sites are the public face of education; those that are well-designed and multi-featured can enhance a district\u27s public image and create the perception of excellence and competence. This case study explores how one suburban, K-8 school district approaches web site development, specifically, the process by which decisions about design, development, and maintenance are made (and by whom); the ways in which they engage those who explore them--with a particular focus on parents; and, how well the sites adhere to generally recognized design attributes. Data were gathered through interviews with school administrators, document review, web site analysis, parent surveys, and parent focus groups. Results offer information to policymakers, administrators, and site designers regarding principles of web design unique to parents as educational consumers. Principles emerging from the case study can lead to additional research not only in the field of education, but, also, in the fields of web design and marketing

An e-learning authoring tool for a didactic unit for Early Childhood Education students (5 year olds): Pets, farm and wild animals

This dissertation analyzes the general contribution of ICT and, in particular, of authoring tools to the pedagogical practice of teachers. The didactic unit “pets, farm and wild animals”, which is included in the second area of the curriculum of the 2nd Cycle of Early Childhood Education: “The physical, natural, social and cultural environment”, was developed with the authoring tool ARTICULATE Storyline 360. In the development of the modules, an attempt has been made to create animations in order to generate points of attention: put triggers (status or intersection of an object), buttons, add audios, videos and connections with web addresses, etc. Furthermore, different sorts of questions and activities have been created for students, to obtain an overview of student learning and performance during the course. Lastly, the teaching unit has been published in Articulate 360, HTML5, Flash, Word, CD, etc., to be used on computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc. This didactic unit is an attempt to use the authoring tool as a didactic mediation strategy elaborated to contribute to the strengthening of the pedagogical practice of the teachers and at the same time to the learning process of the students.Este proyecto fin de grado analiza la contribución general de las TIC y, en particular, de las herramientas de autor a la práctica pedagógica de los docentes. La unidad didáctica “Las mascotas, los animales de granja y los animales salvajes”, la cual está recogida en la segunda área del curriculum del 2º Ciclo de Educación Infantil: “El medio físico, natural, social y cultural”, se desarrolló con la herramienta de autor ARTICULATE Storyline 360. En el desarrollo de los módulos que comprenden la unidad, se ha intentado crear animaciones para generar puntos de atención: poner activadores (el estado de los dibujos o la intersección de un objeto), botones, añadir audios, videos, links con direcciones web, etc. Asimismo, se han creado diferentes tipos de preguntas y actividades, para obtener una visión general del aprendizaje y el rendimiento de los alumnos durante el curso. Finalmente, la unidad didáctica ha sido publicada en Articulate 360, HTML5, Flash, Word, CD, etc., para ser utilizada en ordenadores, tabletas, teléfonos móviles, etc. Esta unidad didáctica es un intento de utilizar la herramienta de autor como una estrategia de mediación didáctica elaborada para contribuir al fortalecimiento de la práctica pedagógica de los docentes y al mismo tiempo al aprendizaje de los discentes.Aquest projecte fi de grau analitza la contribució general de les TIC i, en particular, de les eines d'autor a la pràctica pedagògica dels docents. La unitat didàctica “Les mascotes, els animals de granja i els animals salvatges”, la qual està arreplegada en la segona àrea del currículum del 2n Cicle d'Educació Infantil: “El medi físic, natural, social i cultural”, es va desenvolupar amb l'eina d'autor ARTICULATE Storyline 360. En el desenvolupament dels mòduls que comprenen la unitat, s'ha intentat crear animacions per a generar punts d'atenció: posar activadors (l'estat dels dibuixos o la intersecció d'un objecte), botons, afegir àudios, vídeos, links amb adreces web, etc. Així mateix, s'han creat diferents tipus de preguntes i activitats, per a obtindre una visió general de l'aprenentatge i el rendiment dels alumnes durant el curs. Finalment, la unitat didàctica ha sigut publicada en Articulate 360, HTML5, Flash, Word, CD, etc., per a ser utilitzada en ordinadors, tauletes, telèfons mòbils, etc. Aquesta unitat didàctica és un intent d'utilitzar l'eina d'autor com una estratègia de mediació didàctica elaborada per a contribuir a l'enfortiment de la pràctica pedagògica dels docents i al mateix temps a l'aprenentatge dels discents.Educació

Wayang Authoring: A Web-based Authoring Tool for Visual Storytelling for Children

This research focuses on the development of the Wayang Authoring tool as it aims to assist children in creating and performing stories, developing an appreciation for cultural artifacts, and enhancing intercultural empathy while building a young storyteller community in a virtual world. This study seeks a framework of interaction design of an authoring media which is appropriate to support children s narrative development. The concept of the tool is based on the narrative element of the ancient Indonesian art form wayang, a traditional two dimensional shadow puppet theater. To understand the user s requirements and the cultural dimension, children and professional story performers who use wayang have been involved in the design process. In order to evaluate the tool, several workshops have been conducted with children from different cultural backgrounds as well as with their teachers. Wayang Authoring is composed of three elements: the imagination-building element, the creative acting element and the social interaction element. Children take existing materials as an inspiration tool, imagine what they themselves want to tell, create a story based on their own ideas, play with their creations, share their stories and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences at the end. This virtual creative production tool is expected to provide a space for young people to change their role from a simple user to a (co-)creator in the virtual and narrative worlds. The core contributions are in the field of web technology for storytelling. The uses of web-based authoring media enable children to put themselves into the process of developing stories. When they are connecting stories, they are connected and immersed with other children as well. They have to act and play by themselves or with others within the stories in order to experience the narratives. They train to have the skills to interact, to share their ideas and to collaborate constructively. This makes it possible for them to participate in today s media-driven culture. This research found that a better understanding of how stories are crafted and brought to life in a performance tradition offers a better design of interaction of an authoring media. The handling of cultural artifacts supports the ability to understand different cultural codes and to pursue the learning process surrounding the original culture behind these artifacts

Accessibility of Thai university websites: Awareness, barriers and drivers for accessible practice

Governments and organizations have to respond to a range of legislative and policy initiatives intended to promote equal opportunity for all. The Thai government has passed a number of laws which aim to protect its citizens from discrimination and from breaches of their human rights by government departments and agencies. The Persons with Disabilities Education Act B.E. 2551 (2008) and the Thailand Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy Framework (2011-2020) required government agencies to delivery equal education and access to online information for all Thais. Most Thai universities receive government subsidies, and therefore have an obligation to contribute to national prosperity so that all Thais can benefit from their activities, or as the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and The National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (2011, p. 23) states “The creation of content, database, online content which promotes lifelong learning, the development of school websites and other digital content should follow the web accessibility standard”. Given the Thai government’s commitment to lifelong learning and the creation of accessible materials, this thesis sought to investigate to what level Thai universities were implementing web accessibility in their websites and e-learning materials. A mixed method approach was employed in order to explore the level of accessibility awareness, barriers to web accessibility implementation and possible drivers for accessibility uptake which might exist within Thai universities. Quantitative data derived from automated and manual web evaluations was gathered based on WCAG 2.0 guideline in order to determine the actual levels of accessible design apparent in Thai university websites. Fifty representative universities were selected from the top ranked Thai universities and a number webpages were tested from within each of the university websites. In addition, online surveys were conducted with three stakeholder groups within the Thai university sector, namely lecturers, web staff and senior managers. These surveys were design to set the context for quantitative website assessment findings and provide evidence as to these stakeholders understanding of web accessibility as a concept. Finally, follow-up interviews were conducted after the web assessments and surveys were analysed so as to reduce ambiguity and increase understanding, creating a very clear picture of the standing of web accessibility in Thailand’s universities. The findings of the data analysis indicate that Thai universities have low levels of web accessibility implementation in their websites and e-learning materials, even though web accessibility requirements had been embedded in Thai laws and policies for over a decade. In terms of web evaluation, the university webpages had accessibility problems across all aspects of WCAG 2.0’s POUR principles, with not a single tested webpage passing even the lowest level of WCAG 2.0 compliance. The survey and interview data revealed very low levels of awareness of web accessibility amongst Thai university staff members as well as lack of knowledge regarding students with disabilities and their specialised technology needs. Whilst Thai university staff were generally supportive of the concept of web accessibility and supporting students with special needs, this was accompanied by some less supportive views, including students with disabilities being taught only in specialised educational facilities or only where there were sufficient numbers of such students to make the investment in accessibility worthwhile. A number of universities in this study featured university admission requirements which could be classed as a discriminatory and not aligned with the requirements of the Thai government. In fact, this thesis revealed an almost total lack of awareness within the Thai university sector of Thai government policy regarding web accessibility and equality in education. This thesis proposed a Smart Thailand : Accessible Learning model and an associated implementation framework which together might lead to an environment in which Thai universities would be more willing and able to implement the tenets of web accessibility and provide an equitable learning experience for all Thai citizens, especially those with disabilities

Creating a student accessible online syllabus

This project addresses how to create an online syllabus that is accessible to students and parents, that empowers students to take responsibility for their own learning while enhancing school/home communication, and serves as a graphic representation of what students have accomplished. Web quests are used as the principle means of instructional delivery to engage middle school students in problem-based projects that address real life situations using rigorous and relevant curricula. Elements of an online syllabus and the content of the course it supports are examined. The role, an online syllabus plays in fulfilling the goals of techno-constructivism, the move from a top down, broadcast model toa decentralized, constructivism model of instructional delivery is addressed

Development of a Hypermedia Database for the Elementary Classroom

A hypermedia database including selected flora and fauna in Kittitas County, Washington, was developed using HyperCard software for researching information about 400+ species. students had the opportunity to use the database in school libraries and in the author\u27s fifth-grade classroom. The database cards accessed videodisc images where available. On the basis of limited study to date, it appears that when studying the environment, student learning was enhanced by the use of database material created by the author

IDR : a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary design in technology enhanced learning

One of the important themes that emerged from the CAL’07 conference was the failure of technology to bring about the expected disruptive effect to learning and teaching. We identify one of the causes as an inherent weakness in prevalent development methodologies. While the problem of designing technology for learning is irreducibly multi-dimensional, design processes often lack true interdisciplinarity. To address this problem we present IDR, a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary techno-pedagogical design, drawing on the design patterns tradition (Alexander, Silverstein & Ishikawa, 1977) and the design research paradigm (DiSessa & Cobb, 2004). We discuss the iterative development and use of our methodology by a pan-European project team of educational researchers, software developers and teachers. We reflect on our experiences of the participatory nature of pattern design and discuss how, as a distributed team, we developed a set of over 120 design patterns, created using our freely available open source web toolkit. Furthermore, we detail how our methodology is applicable to the wider community through a workshop model, which has been run and iteratively refined at five major international conferences, involving over 200 participants