Learning Management System Development with Application of Asynchronous Learning Method in STMIK IBBI Medan

This article will explain asynchronous learn- ing system using attractive discussion forums and video teaching materials features for user so that the devel- opment of both features will increase e-learning system USAge by students and lecturers which can eventually im- prove the students' absorption on the provided teaching materials, increase the active participation of students, improve self-learning ability, and to improve the quality of learning materials. The method used in this study by distributing questionnaires in online form to stakeholders users consisting of lecturers and students with the num- ber of respondents is 225 people and author use model ADDIE which focuses on Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation as development design. Results of this study is an application of web-based asynchronous learning which can be used by students and lecturers with the results of the application evaluation is based on a survey to students and lecturers. From this study, can be concluded that to support online learning with asynchronous method using the video learning feature in online lecture needs to be developed in order to support the science transformation process from lecturers to students. Attractive video teaching materials model for students has characteristics such as screen shots and presentation models

An online collaborative learning system : designing for evaluation of students' learning

This paper will discuss work-in-progress in the development and evaluation of an online collaborative learning system. The context is a study of a course in an on-campus weekend part-time program attended by students who share similar professional engineering backgrounds but living far apart from each other with no opportunities to meet for discussions between weekends. The course requires students to tackle problems based on real life scenarios within small online groups after having attended lectures over the weekend. The research will look at ways in which group work can be conducted, and the contribution of the instructor. The approach to be taken will be an interpretive case study using questionnaire survey, text analysis and interviews. The main findings from the study will be reported, with focus on the strengths of, and difficulties in, using the research methods

Online vs. face-to-face discussions in a web-based research methods course for postgraduate nursing students : A quasi-experimental study

Background: Web-based technologies are increasingly being used to create modes of online learning for nurses but their effect has not been assessed in nurse education. Objectives: Assess whether participation in face-to-face discussion seminars or online asynchronous discussion groups had different effects on educational attainment in a webbased course. Design: Non-randomised or quasi-experimental design with two groups – students choosing to have face-to-face discussion seminars and students choosing to have online discussions. Setting: The Core Methods module of a postgraduate research methods course. Participants: All 114 students participating in the first 2 years during which the course teaching material was delivered online. Outcome: Assignment mark for Core Methods course module. Methods: Background details of the students, their choices of modules and assignment marks were collected as part of the routine course administration. Students’ online activities were identified using the student tracking facility within WebCT. Regression models were fitted to explore the association between available explanatory variables and assignment mark. Results: Students choosing online discussions had a higher Core Methods assignment mark (mean 60.8/100) than students choosing face-to-face discussions (54.4); the difference was statistically significant (t = 3.13, df = 102, p = 0.002), although this ignores confounding variables. Among online discussion students, assignment mark was significantly correlated with the numbers of discussion messages read (Kendall’s taub = 0.22, p = 0.050) and posted (Kendall’s taub = 0.27, p = 0.017); among face-to-face discussion students, it was significantly associated with the number of non-discussion hits in WebCT (Kendall’s taub = 0.19, p = 0.036). In regression analysis, choice of discussion method, whether an MPhil/PhD student, number of non-discussion hits in WebCT, number of online discussion messages read and number posted were associated with assignment mark at the 5% level of significance when taken singly; in combination, only whether an MPhil/PhD student (p = 0.024) and number of non-discussion hits (p = 0.045) retained significance. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a research methods course can be delivered to postgraduate healthcare students at least as successfully by an entirely online method in which students participate in online discussion as by a blended method in which students accessing web-based teaching material attend face-to-face seminar discussions. Increased online activity was associated with higher assignment marks. The study highlights new opportunities for educational research that arise from the use of virtual learning environments that routinely record the activities of learners and tutors

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes—measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation—was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K–12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education)

Chapter 1 : Learning Online

The OTiS (Online Teaching in Scotland) programme, run by the now defunct Scotcit programme, ran an International e-Workshop on Developing Online Tutoring Skills which was held between 8–12 May 2000. It was organised by Heriot–Watt University, Edinburgh and The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. Out of this workshop came the seminal Online Tutoring E-Book, a generic primer on e-learning pedagogy and methodology, full of practical implementation guidelines. Although the Scotcit programme ended some years ago, the E-Book has been copied to the SONET site as a series of PDF files, which are now available via the ALT Open Access Repository. The editor, Carol Higgison, is currently working in e-learning at the University of Bradford (see her staff profile) and is the Chair of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT)

Communicating, learning and the in-between: a study of the impact of open-access, informal online learning environments

1. The broad aim of this project has been to contribute understandings of the uses of computer-mediated communication in 'informal' (not leading to certification) yet institutionally-hosted online spaces. The project consisted of an investigation into engagement with communication and discussion tools provided by OpenLearn, the Open University's Open Content Initiative (http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn). 2. The research focused on a selection of examples of asynchronous and synchronous communication situations within OpenLearn, including a selection of forums from the LearningSpace (http://openlearn.open.ac.uk) and various instances of synchronous communication using FM (FlashMeeting) that took place within the context of two pilot studies organised by the researcher in coordination with discipline-based colleagues. 3. Whilst the research was based on an action research orientation, the approach was predominantly exploratory and ethnographic methods (observation and participant observation) were used, complemented with semi-structured interviews, as appropriate. Thematic analysis was used within a grounded theory approach. 4. The study suggests 5 themes as core elements of engagement in CMC within an OER context: 'validation�; 'privacy�; 'trust�; 'purposefulness�; 'leadership'. The themes are mutually-dependent and each warrants more detailed investigation, and relevant topics are discussed. 5. In short, the study provides a contribution to enquiries on the impact of OERs in that it brings to light, from within a sample of learning situations across the 'informal�/�formal' space, a number of boundary issues concerning curriculum and, in particular, pedagogy. It suggests that a major aspect of the impact of OERs is that their availability is not only creating new challenges but also uncovering previously veiled tensions and questions regarding identity and boundaries. 6. A number of outputs have been generated, including two new projects that capitalise on understandings facilitated during the pilots carried out within the remit of this study

Creating interaction in online learning: a case study

This paper uses the case‐study method to examine detailed data related to student and tutor usage of an asynchronous discussion board as an interactive communication forum during a first‐semester associate degree course in applied psychology at the City University of Hong Kong. The paper identifies ‘what works’ in relation to discussion board use, demonstrating how students might gradually create an online community of their own, but only if prompted in a timely and appropriate way by the course structure. It also identifies three distinct phases in online interaction and suggests these might, to some extent, be mediated by assessment tasks