Massive Open Online Courses as affinity spaces for connected learning: Exploring effective learning interactions in one massive online community

This paper describes a participatory online culture – Connected Learning Massive Open Online Collaboration (CLMOOC) – and asks how its ethos of reciprocity and creative playfulness occurs. By analysing Twitter interactions over a four-week period, we conclude that this is due to the supportive nature of participants, who describe themselves as belonging to, or connected with, the community. We suggest that Gee’s concept of an affinity space is an appropriate model for CLMOOC and ask how this might be replicated in a higher education setting

Diversity, identity and belonging in e-learning communities: some theories and paradoxes Teaching in Higher Education

It is often assumed that online collaborative learning is inclusive of diversity. In this exploratory paper I challenge this notion by developing a theory which proposes that inclusion occurs through congruence between learners’ social identities and the identities implicitly supported through the interactions in a particular community. To build identity congruence, e-learning communities need spaces for both commonality and diversity and I present three paradoxes which underlie the aims of online learners and teachers to embrace diversity online. I illustrate these with some examples from online learning and teaching. The ability to ‘listen’ to each other online offers a way forward and the paper ends with some future possibilities about how we can ensure that e-learning communities benefit from diversity

Debranding in Fantasy Realms: Perceived Marketing Opportunities within the Virtual World

This paper discusses the application of the concept of debranding within immersive virtual environments. In particular the issue of the media richness and vividness of experience is considered in these experience realms that may not be conducive to traditional branding invasive strategies. Brand equity is generally seen to be the desired outcome of branding strategies and the authors suggest that unless the virtual domains are considered as sacred spaces then brand equity may be compromised. The application of the above concepts is applied to the differing social spaces that operate within the different experience realms. The ideas of resonance, presence and interactivity are considered here. They lead to the development of a constructed positioning by the participants. Through the process of debranding, marketers may be able to enter these sacred spaces without negative impact to the brand. Perception of these virtual spaces was found to be partially congruent with this approach to branding. It thus presents a number of challenges for the owners of such virtual spaces and also virtual worlds in increasing the commercial utilization of investment in these environments

On the domain-specificity of mindsets: The relationship between aptitude beliefs and programming practice

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.Deliberate practice is important in many areas of learning, including that of learning to program computers. However, beliefs about the nature of personal traits, known as mindsets, can have a profound impact on such practice. Previous research has shown that those with a fixed mindset believe their traits cannot change; they tend to reduce their level of practice when they encounter difficulty. In contrast, those with the growth mindset believe their traits are flexible; they tend to maintain regular practice despite the level of difficulty. However, focusing on mindset as a single construct focused on intelligence may not be appropriate in the field of computer programming. Exploring this notion, a self-belief survey was distributed to undergraduate software engineering students. It revealed that beliefs about intelligence and programming aptitude formed two distinct constructs. Furthermore, the mindset for programming aptitude had greater utility in predicting software development practice, and a follow-up survey showed that it became more fixed throughout instruction. Thus, educators should consider the role of programming-specific beliefs in the design and evaluation of introductory courses in software engineering. In particular, they need to situate and contextualize the growth messages that motivate students who experience early setbacks

Collaborative learning: a connected community approach

Collaborative Learning in group settings currently occurs across a substantial portion of the UK Higher Education curriculum. This style of learning has many roots including: Enterprise in Higher Education, Action Learning and Action Research, Problem Based Learning, and Practice Based Learning. As such our focus on Collaborative Learning development can be viewed as an evolutionary. This collaborative and active group learning provides the foundation for what can be collectively called connectivist ‘Learning Communities’. In this setting a primary feature of a ‘Learning Community’ is one that carries a responsibility to promote one another’s learning. This paper will outline a developmental collaborative learning approach and describe a supporting software environment, known as the Salford Personal Development Environment (SPDE), that has been developed and implemented to assist in delivering collaborative learning for post graduate and other provision. This is done against a background of much research evidence that group based activity can enhance learning. These findings cover many approaches to group based learning and over a significant period of time. This paper reports on work-in-progress and the features of the environment that are designed to help promote individual and group or community learning that have been influenced by the broad base of research findings in this area

Factors Influencing girls\u27 choice of Information Technology careers

Many western nations have experienced declining numbers of women in the information technology (IT) workforce (Trauth, Nielsen, & von Hellens, 2003). Between 1996 and 2002, women in the U.S. IT workforce declined from 41% to 34.9% (ITAA, 2003). This can hamper diversity and reduce the talent pool that can address needs of diverse end-users (Florida & Gates, 2002). Why do women choose IT careers or reject them? Multidisciplinary research on career genderization reveals gender imbalance (Trauth, Nielsen, & von Hellens, 2003). Career decisions against math, science, and technology (MST) are often made as early as age 11 without understanding long-term implications (AAUW, 2000). We examine influences on girls’ choice of IT careers, modeling social, structural, and personal variables that affect IT career choice. Using Ahuja’s (2002) classification of social and structural influences on women’s IT careers, Beise, Myers, VanBrackle, and Chevli-Saroq’s (2003) model of women’s career decisions, and individual differences suggested by Trauth (2002), we extend literature to children and adolescents’ career choices. Social influences bias internal and external gender perceptions and stereotyping, role models, peers, media, and family. Institutional support such as teachers and counselors, access to technology, and same-sex versus coeducational schools are structural influences. While both can influence career decisions, social factors have the most influence on children’s early perceptions. Both factors can introduce gender-stereotyping effects on career choices. Gender stereotyping explains how girls perceive their role in society based on subtle societal cues. It can limit opportunities for both sexes. We also examine personality traits and external influences that make children unique. Their individual differences draw them to activities and content areas such as problem solving and interaction with people. Finally, ethnic culture can exert an influence on social and structural variables. Figure 1 from Adya and Kaiser (2005) presents our career choice model that is discussed in the next section

Identity and belonging in social learning groups : the importance of distinguishing social, operational and knowledge-related identity congruence

Collaborative learning has much to offer but not all learners participate fully and peer groups can be exclusive. The paper examines how belonging or 'congruence' in learning groups is related to identities of gender, age, ethnicity and socio-economic status. A study of student experiences of collaborative learning on three different blended learning courses illustrated how learners negotiate identity congruence with peer groups to belong and engage. An analytical framework that distinguishes social, operational and knowledge-related identity congruence has emerged. Contrary to received wisdom, the social aspect appears least important for learner engagement while knowledge-related identity congruence is fundamental. Some of the consequences of identity incongruence, particularly concerning gender and maturity, are discussed and the paper points towards the pedagogies which might enable identities of group members to shift so that collaborative learning can flourish

Factors that Influence Persistence of Biology Majors at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

To promote diversity within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, we must identify factors that influence or hinder historically underrepresented minority (URM) students’ persistence to degrees in STEM. We documented potential factors that influence students’ persistence in an undergraduate biology program and created a 14-item, Likert-scale instrument. We recruited 137 undergraduate biology majors at a Hispanic-serving institution in Texas to report which factors they found influential in their decision to remain enrolled in their degree programs. We used a modified social cognitive career theory model of career choice to guide interpretation of the reported influences and identify patterns in responses. We documented three highly influential factors for all students: personal motivation, potential learning experiences, and job opportunities with the job opportunities showing a significant difference (P=0.036) between White and URM student groups. We also found a trend (P=0.056) indicating White students were more influenced by role models and mentors than URM students. Our findings suggest that personal motivation and potential job opportunities are the most influential factors driving students to seek educational opportunities that could lead to STEM careers. However, access to a diverse pool of role models also has the potential to provide positive impacts on student persistence in STEM

Instagram Use and Its Effect on Well-Being and Self-Esteem

Over the last ten years, social media has become an integral facet of modern society. In particular, image-based social networking sites such as Instagram have become increasingly popular among adolescents and young adults. However, despite this proliferation of use, the literature remains divided regarding the potential impacts of social media, particularly in regards to image-based platforms. The present study sought to analyze the relationship between social media usage patterns and its subsequent effects on user self-esteem and well-being. However, the study’s results show that, despite the existing literature, intensity of Instagram use serves as a mediating variable in this relationship. The study’s results show that it is intensity of use, not usage patterns, that determine user outcomes. Finally, the results show that users who engage with Instagram more intensely exhibit higher levels of self-esteem and well-being than users who do not use the application intensely

Transparent authentication methodology in electronic education

In the context of on-line assessment in e-learning, a problem arises when a student taking an exam may wish to cheat by handing over personal credentials to someone else to take their place in an exam, Another problem is that there is no method for signing digital content as it is being produced in a computerized environment. Our proposed solution is to digitally sign the participant’s work by embedding voice samples in the transcript paper at regular intervals. In this investigation, we have demonstrated that a transparent stenographic methodology will provide an innovative and practical solution for achieving continuous authentication in an online educational environment by successful insertion and extraction of audio digital signatures