Open educational resources - new directions for technology-enhanced distance learning in the third millennium

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are an innovation giving new opportunities for learning and distance education. OERs are typically provided as courses but also include smaller units of learning and their components of audio, text or image files made available on the internet free of charge; usually under a Creative Commons License (Creative Commons, 2007). This license takes the approach of 'some rights reserved' for the materials replacing the 'all rights reserved' attitude of standard copyright (Lessig, 2004). Distance education based in OERs removes limits and offers the possibility of widening participation in education. This can include hard-to-reach groups which have little or no access to education or, for example small businesses and individuals who feel they could benefit from professional development and access to current knowledge about a topic of interest. The release of OERs can be a 'public good' for educational inclusion purposes, but they also could mark the first steps towards a revolution on the way people learn. So far, access to knowledge as taught at university level has been restricted to academic institutions. These institutions not only 'create the knowledge' but also have regulated the ways in which it can be accessed. A pattern is in place of establishing course registration procedures, charging fees, conferring grants, assessing performance and awarding degrees, These mechanisms form part of a traditional system of education that can be found all over the world

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

The Power of Giving Feedback and Receiving Feedback in Peer Assessment

Despite well-documented promises of peer assessment, it is still unclear how peer as-sessment works and what contributes to students\u2019 learning gains. In order to identify cognitive processes that lead to learning enhancement, this study examined 41 stu-dents\u2019 responses to online surveys and also their online written interactions when they participated in a peer assessment activity. Data analysis revealed that students were en-gaged in various learning processes in the phases of giving and receiving feedback. While students acknowledged that both phases contributed to their learning, a greater number of students indicated that they perceived more learning benefits from giving feedback rather than receiving feedback. Interpretations and implications were dis-cussed

Individual Appropriation of Learning Management Systems—Antecedents and Consequences

IT support in the learning process constitutes a key factor for the success of innovative teaching/learning scenarios. To ensure learning success in innovative teaching/learning scenarios, learners need to faithfully apply learning management systems (LMS). However, we lack theoretical insights into which factors affect whether they do so. To help solve this issue, we first used adaptive structuration theory to identify antecedents and consequences regarding faithful LMS appropriation and embed them into a theoretical model. Second, we conducted a survey study with 173 participants to evaluate the model. The results show that the perceived IT support, interactivity, and the task-technology fit significantly affect the degree to which learners faithfully apply a LMS. Moreover, the results indicate that faithful appropriation is a significant indicator of the learning process satisfaction as well as perceived learning success. The present paper thus theoretically contributes to the scientific discussion concerning technology-mediated learning processes while also making a practical contribution by deriving implications for LMS application

Multimedia technologies and online task-based foreign language teaching-learning

Teaching and learning a foreign language at a distance implies many challenges, namely regarding oral skills. At Universidade Aberta (the Portuguese Open University), and taking into account its virtual pedagogical model (Pereira, 2007) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Alves, 2001), we suggest curricular paths which include online communicative practices, both oral and written, within the present pedagogical offer, following a student- centred, task-oriented approach. Thus, in this text, we share some examples of training activities in German, French and English, focusing on oral practice, and based on digital resources. These digital resources comprise multimedia materials, either produced by the teachers or the students, as well as other materials available on the web 2.0. Our teaching and research practice within the field of foreign languages and in e-learning, in particular, leads us to conclude that the multimedia resources used are suitable for the online teaching and learning of foreign languages (see third question of questionnaire), especially for professionally engaged adults, as is the case with Universidade Aberta’s students, providing them with real-life situations that foster the teaching-learning of languages in the virtual environment. We include responses to a questionnaire survey filled out by a group of students.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Implementation of training programs in self-regulated learning strategies in Moodle format: results of a experience in higher education

This paper tests the effi cacy of an intervention program in virtual format intended to train studying and self-regulation strategies in university students. The aim of this intervention is to promote a series of strategies which allow students to manage their learning processes in a more profi cient and autonomous way. The program has been developed in Moodle format and hosted by the Virtual Campus of the University of Oviedo. The present study had a semi-experimental design, included an experimental group (n=167) and a control one (n=206), and used pretest and posttest measures (selfregulated learning strategies’ declarative knowledge, self-regulated learning macro-strategy planningexecution- assessment, self-regulated learning strategies on text, surface and deep learning approaches, and academic achievement). Data suggest that the students enrolled in the training program, comparing with students in the control group, showed a signifi cant improvement in their declarative knowledge, general and on text use of learning strategies, increased their deep approach to learning, decreased their use of a surface approach and, in what concerns to academic achievement, statistically signifi cant differences have been found in favour of the experimental group.Implementación de programas de entrenamiento en estrategias de autorregulación del aprendizaje en formato Moodle: resultados de una experiencia en enseñanza superior. En este trabajo se contrasta la efi cacia de un programa de intervención en soporte virtual para el entrenamiento de estrategias de estudio y autorregulación en estudiantes universitarios. El objetivo de la intervención es dotar a los alumnos de un conjunto de estrategias que les permitan abordar sus procesos de aprendizaje de una forma más competente y autónoma. El programa se implementó en formato Moodle a través del Campus Virtual de la Universidad de Oviedo. El diseño utilizado fue cuasi-experimental, con grupo experimental (n= 167) y grupo control (n= 206), y medidas pre y postest (conocimiento declarativo de estrategias de autorregulación del aprendizaje, uso de la macroestrategia de aprendizaje autorregulado planifi cación-ejecución-evaluación, uso de estrategias de aprendizaje autorregulado a través de textos, enfoques de aprendizaje superfi cial y profundo y rendimiento académico). Los datos obtenidos muestran que los alumnos que participan en el programa de entrenamiento, en relación a sus compañeros del grupo control, mejoran signifi cativamente en cuanto al dominio de conocimiento declarativo, uso general y a través de textos de las estrategias de aprendizaje, se incrementa el uso de un enfoque de estudio profundo, disminuye el uso de un enfoque superfi cial y se obtienen mejoras estadísticamente signifi cativas en el rendimiento académico

English as foreign language student teachers' perceptions of the use of moodle in a foundations of education course

In order to design an effective e-learning environment, the present study investigated English as Foreign Language (EFL)students’ perceptions of the use of Moodle as a course management system in a Foundations of Education (FOE) course at the College of Education. The study also aimed at exploring statistically significant differences between student teachers’ perceptions that can be attributed to gender, residence, year in the program, computer skills, and GPA variables. Data were collected from a sample of 60 students using a questionnaire. Findings showed that using Moodle increases students’ participation in learning, exchanging ideas and knowledge (μ = 4.37). Over half the total number of students preferred to use chat rooms and forums in computer labs to formal lecture rooms. Findings also showed that there are statistically significant differences between student responses related to year in the program in favor of students in their third and fourth year.With regard to obstacles facing students, the fi ndings showed that most of these obstacles revolve around technical issues and frequent computer errors. Based on these findings, several recommendations were made