Constructing knowledge: an experience of active and collaborative learning in an ICT classroom

This paper reports on the impact of the implementation of active and collaborative practices in ICT (information and communication technologies) classrooms. Both of these approaches convey a lot of responsibility from the teacher to the students and the hoping, as backed up by the literature, is to promote deeper learning and reasoning skills at a higher level. The question is: how do you do all that? This research describes a specific environment that makes use of collaborative tools, like wikis and forums within an e-learning platform and of specific CRM (customer relationship management) software. In order to analyze how this learning environment gets learners actively involved in learning and working together in productive ways, students were surveyed by responding to questionnaires. Several cause-effect relations underlying the teaching-learning methodology and the students’ performance are discussed

Building capacity in climate change policy analysis and negotiation: methods and technologies

Capacity building is often cited as the reason “we cannot just pour money into developing countries” and why so many development projects fail because their design does not address local conditions. It is therefore a key technical and political concept in international development. Some of the poorest countries in the world are also some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Their vulnerability is in part due to a lack of capacity to plan and anticipate the effects of climate change on crops, water resources, urban electricity demand etc. What capacities do these countries lack to deal with climate change? How will they cope? What steps can they take to reduce their vulnerability? This innovative and high-profile research project was part of a larger project (called C3D) and conducted with non-governmental organisations in Senegal, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The research involved several participatory workshops and a questionnaire to all three research centres

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)

Expanding Access to Learning

Universities by tradition are established to teach, conduct research, and provide services to communities. With the computer and modem, the classrooms and ivy-covered walls of today\u27s colleges are becoming artifacts of education as it used to be. What we call non-traditional today because they are delivered through various distance learning technologies (computer, videotape, correspondence etc.) will become the preferred delivery system for education in the 21st century. Especially in developing countries, open universities are playing a more important role than tradition ones to make higher education available to more people--especially adults--principally through a system of open access and distance education. Launched in 1981, the Self-Taught Higher Education Examinations Program (SHEE) is a component of the higher education system of china. SHEE, run by the National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA), provides an alternative way to obtain diplomas for people who cannot access the general universities and colleges. It is a form of higher education combining independent study, social assistance, and state examinations. It has been claimed as the world\u27s largest self-study higher education system with 56 of every 10,000 people in the country having attended self-study examinations for the equivalent of a college diploma. All the citizens of the People\u27s Republic of China (PRC), regardless of sex, age, ethnic group, race, or level of education, can take the examinations. Basically, SHEE is not only an examination system but also a type of open university of distance education system. One of its apparent weaknesses is that there is not a campus with the education. The examinees or the students lack enough guidance in their learning process. It is hard for them either to find partners to communicate or facilities such as libraries and labs to utilize. Under these circumstances, the promotion of learning assistance has become the focus of the system. The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) is the Global membership organization of educational institutions, national and regional associations, corporations, educational, authorities and agencies in the fields of open learning, distance education, and flexible, life-long learning. Founded in 1938, the mission of the ICDE is to help provide education for students and children living far away from schools. The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) has become over the years the global membership organization in the field and is now (in 2002) present in 142 countries. The majority of its membership is composed of educational institutions at all levels (schools, colleges, universities), but it also includes national and regional associations, corporations, educational authorities and agencies, active in open, virtual and distance learning. Universitata Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) (Catalonia, Spain) is a virtual university with a global and pioneering focus. UOC offers use of information and communications technologies (ICT). This enables it to overcome barriers imposed by time and space and to offer model of education based on personalized attention for each student. At the UOC, students, professors, and administrators interact and cooperate on the Virtual Campus, making a university community which uses the Internet to create, structure, share, and disseminate knowledge. Since 2001, ICDE, UOC, and NEEA have worked on a project entitled Developing EU-China e-learning Model and Capacities, which has been financially aided by the Council of Europe. The purpose of the project is to promote the e-learning in China by introducing the leading technology and experience in distance education and e-learning of European countries. The project consists of three phases: (1) a study comparing and contrasting the distance education systems and current situations in China and EU, (2) development of a model for virtual education in China, where three questions regarding three aspects are answered: content, teaching methodology, and delivery technology, (3) the development and testing of a platform. The current paper will track and summarize the research activities conducted during the project and explore the education theory and models involved in the project. The advantages and disadvantages, feasibilities and difficulties of e-learning will be discussed as well

The Use of Modern Digital Technologies in the Design and Technology VET in Ukraine

The objective of this paper is to substantiate the system of vocational education and training (VET) of fashion designers and technologists to perform computer modeling and design of the clothes. The use of the developed system of training specialists in fashion design, which provides for the use of CAD systems, contributes to the formation of readiness of future fashion designers to use specialized software in their professional activities. To increase the efficiency of VET, we used the following types of educational projects: development of creative collage, development of artistic sketches of clothes, design of templates for different sizes, use of programs for the 3D design of the clothes. A feature of this study is the selection of the software used in the design of the clothes, namely GraziaCAD and JULIVI CAD. The effectiveness of these types of tasks is confirmed by an experiment, in which 80 students from Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design took part (CG 44 students, EG 36 students). Comparing the results of incoming and outgoing control of the level of students’ readiness, a decrease in the number of students with a low level of readiness for the use of ICT in the professional activities was noted: from 22.7 % to 11.4 % in CG and from 22.2 % to 5.6 % in EG. At the same time, the percentage of students with a high level of readiness increased in both groups: from 29.5 % to 38.6 % in CG and from 25.0 % to 66.7 % in EG. Also, it should be noted that the biggest changes in the number of students with a high level of knowledge took place in EG. According to Pearson’s criterion, the compliance of CG and EG with the level of significance 0.05 was determined, and after the experiment, the difference between CG and EG with 95 % reliability was stated. The results of the study confirm the effectiveness of the generally accepted international practice of using digital design in VET in the field of fashion design and technologies

The Effectiveness of Integrating CALL Into Iranian EFL Contexts Challenges and Opportunities

Computer and its software-programs are educational instruments that succor and facilitate instructors, teachers, and students to perform conveniently and achieve their predetermined EFL/ESL teaching and learning goals and tasks in contrast to traditional methods.  This study attempts to investigate impacts of integrating CALL in Iranian EFL contexts. Researcher to collect qualitative and quantitative data, has employed mixed method strategy, and also descriptive style. As Creswell states, mixed method is the best way for research fulfillment. Total participants are 87 Iranian high school students that were dived into two separate groups. Control group (35) students that have been traditionally taught or teacher-based strategy, and experimental group (52) students that have been educated just via CALL. Subsequently, observations and findings predict and reveal that computer is useful for teacher and leaner groups to teach and learn receptive and productive L2 skills like listening, speaking, reading, and writing