Distance Learning—Predictions and Possibilities

Education systems, educational institutions and educational professions, including those of distance learning, can often be inward-looking, backward-looking and self-referential, meaning that they are often fixated on their own concerns, values and processes. In many respects, this is necessary and valuable but the topic of challenges and future trends in distance learning is an opportunity to explore the place of distance learning in a wider world where cultures and ideologies clash, where education and employment are no longer stable and secure, where universities and colleges are under unprecedented pressures, where the technologies and trends of educational technology represent a crowded and chaotic space and where a critical examination of distance learning is necessary to underpin its methods and its mission. This paper addresses in essence three questions, firstly, is the distance learning community clear about the definition and purpose of its work, secondly, what are global political, economic and technological pressures on the institutions of higher education delivering distance learning, and thirdly, what do typical innovations and trends in educational technology signify for distance learning? These are linked questions and the answers constitute challenging predictions and possibilities. The nature of these questions means there are no simple answers only a more complete understanding of a fluid, partial and complex environment within which education, including distance learning, cannot operate in ignorance or isolation

Findings from the Workshop on User-Centered Design of Language Archives

This white paper describes findings from the workshop on User-Centered Design of Language Archives organized in February 2016 by Christina Wasson (University of North Texas) and Gary Holton (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa). It reviews relevant aspects of language archiving and user-centered design to construct the rationale for the workshop, relates key insights produced during the workshop, and outlines next steps in the larger research trajectory initiated by this workshop. The purpose of this white paper is to make all of the findings from the workshop publicly available in a short time frame, and without the constraints of a journal article concerning length, audience, format, and so forth. Selections from this white paper will be used in subsequent journal articles. So much was learned during the workshop; we wanted to provide a thorough documentation to ensure that none of the key insights would be lost. We consider this document a white paper because it provides the foundational insights and initial conceptual frameworks that will guide us in our further research on the user-centered design of language archives. We hope this report will be useful to members of all stakeholder groups seeking to develop user-centered designs for language archives.U.S. National Science Foundation Documenting Endangered Languages Program grants BCS-1543763 and BCS-1543828

Preparing Teen Girls to Enter the Workforce through a Job-Readiness Training Program in the Dominican Republic

A recent shift has concentrated international community development efforts on women, many specifically aiming to work with adolescent women. This capstone explores the design, facilitation and potential developmental impact of work-readiness training for teen girls in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. Such training comes with many challenges and possibilities for positive outcome. Methodologies and frameworks introduced through SIT courses aid in the examination of these challenges, the solutions used to transform them and possible preventative approaches. Tools gleaned from the spring SIT TDEL course, to which this capstone is linked, inspire the creation of the training. These tools are also used to document my personal growth as a trainer. Recommendations of possible future use of this training at the Mariposa Foundation and other like organizations offer and application of learnings, exploring possibilities for further community development

Learning from the learners' experience: e-Learning@greenwich post-conference reflections

This publication comprises papers from presenters who, having made a conference presentation, were invited to author an academic paper about their work

How to design for persistence and retention in MOOCs?

Design of educational interventions is typically carried out following a design cycle involving phases of investigation, conceptualization, prototyping, implementation, execution and evaluation. This cycle can be applied at different levels of granularity e.g. learning activity, module, course or programme. In this paper we consider an aspect of learner behavior that can be critical to the success of many MOOCs i.e. their persistence to study, and the related theme of learner retention. We reflect on the impact that consideration of these can have on design decisions at different stages in the design cycle with the aim of en-hancing MOOC design in relation to learner persistence and retention, with particular attention to the European context

Teaching Students How to Make Their Dreams Come True: An Autoethnography of Developing and Teaching the Dream Research Methods Course

How to make students’ dreams come true is the central focus of this autoethnography that chronicles the story of the transformation of a traditional undergraduate communication research methods course into a new and creative dream research methods course. Pedagogical and institutional issues in teaching the traditional methods course join personal influences in my life story to birth the new dream research methods course. The content and format of the new course are described chronologically using personal stories, student perspectives, advice to teachers, and reflection questions. I encourage teachers, by experimenting with the ideas in the dream research methods course, to serve as midwives for helping bring their students’ dreams to birth

Sustainable international experience: A collaborative teaching project

Within engineering education, there is an increasing need for providing our students with international experiences. This is most often done by exchange studies abroad. However, a majority of the students on engineering programs do not engage in any international exchange. This paper presents insights from a collaborative cross-disciplinary international project to give students international experience without having to travel. From both a sustainability perspective and a situation where e.g. a global virus outbreak stop students from travelling, solutions that give engineering students experience of working in an international setting are becoming increasingly important. Initial challenges, for the teachers involved in the project, that were addressed before the project started, included the assessment of students, the use of online collaborative tools, assessment of students and the dependence between the two courses. The learnings from the first and second iteration of the collaborative project were mainly focused around transparency, introduction of students to each other, communication, real-time issues and deadlines. By gradually remove these peripheral challenges for the students, resulting in making the students focus on the actual challenges surrounding the actual collaborative project. Even though this project is ongoing, the initial results clearly show that by integrating courses between different countries and disciplines, it is possible to create an environment that strengthens the students’ ability in teamwork, communication and addresses the cultural and professional aspects of working as an engineer in an international context

Learning Styles of Generation Z Latinos: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study of Two Cohorts of Business University Students

The Latino population is projected to double by 2060 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017), while current bachelor degree attainment for Hispanics continues to hover around a stubborn low 12% (NCES, 2017). Additionally, research on Generation Z Latino learning preferences is sparse. At the same time, studies have shown that knowing about learning styles and culture can have positive impacts on learners’ academic performance and teachers’ classroom management ability (Nieto, 2004; Reese, Jensen, & Ramirez, 2014). Therefore, studying learning styles and culture can help prepare educators better to fulfill this generation’s needs by enabling them to integrate cultural accommodations into their teaching. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to study the learning styles of two cohorts of Generation Z Latino students, one at a south Texas university and one at a Bolivian university, and explore the role of cultural factors on their learning styles. This mixed methodology study combined Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov’s Values Survey Module and Felder and Silverman’s Learning Styles Inventory, in addition to demographic questions. The two cohorts studied were comprised of Latino university students who were majoring in business or related majors and were born on 1996 or later. Survey data from the 264 participants who completed the survey were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive analytics, t-tests, and a two by two factorial ANOVA test. Additionally, 25 interviews were conducted with Latina female students. Similar to the survey participants, interview participants were also majoring in business or related majors and were born on 1996 or later. The 1.5-hour interview was conducted individually and included an arts-based activity. The recorded interviews were then transcribed. The study used grounded theory to analyze the qualitative data. Regarding cultural dimensions, the south Texas and the Bolivian cohorts ranked on the low range in masculinity, low range in long-term orientation, and low range in individualism. Both groups ranked mid-range in indulgence versus restraint. However, the Bolivian cohort ranked extremely low in power distance. The U.S. cohort ranked mid-range on the power distance dimension. Furthermore, analysis of the data revealed both groups preferred the visual, sensing, sequential, and global learning styles. Additionally, t-tests revealed there was a significant difference in the sequential-global scales at the south Texas university (M = 12.74, SD = 3.810) and the Bolivian university (M = 14.38, SD = 3.994); t(263) = 2.77, p = .0006. An interaction between culture and gender was found to be significant, F(1,261) = 7.377, p = .007 on the sensing-intuitive dimension. The qualitative analysis revealed family cohesiveness nature as a way to interact with the world, food and celebration as a way to strengthen community, and values as foundational cultural themes. Regarding generational factors, the following matter to Generation Z participants: price, quality, comfort, looks, and friendliness. Generation Z’s relationship with technology was found to be intimate. However, participants recognized the excessive use of mobile devices principally could be problematic since it could interfere with maintaining relationships with others. Participants’ beliefs about learning were categorized on the following categories: beliefs about their life journey, beliefs about self, beliefs about individuals in the classroom, and beliefs about learning preferences. Learning beliefs were found to link back to cultural and generational themes and reflected the cultural dimension and learning styles scores. The theory generated proposed that culture and generation served to form the basis of a foundational paradigm. Family, nature, food, and values generated a certain set of core beliefs that the participants held. The participants’ beliefs about learning could all be connected back their core beliefs. Learners’ learning beliefs were critical because they constituted a set of expectations, motivations, and ultimately behaviors. As a result of understanding learners’ preferences and beliefs, recruiters, instructional designers, educators, and researchers could make potential modifications and cultural accommodations for Latino learners. One of the limitations of this study was the sample size. Additionally, the study was limited to two universities and one field of study. Also, participants were successful students and were from the first wave of Generation Z students. Future research may expand on this topic by focusing on specific sets of beliefs, focusing on male Generation Z students, and conducting similar studies in other Latino countries