Towards an ontology of networked learning

Networked learning, conceived of as networks of people, informational resources and technologies, constitutes what has been termed a ‘highly interwined’ technology. In this paper we develop our earlier argument that sociotechnical networks can form the basis for a non-determinist theory of learning technology. Firstly, we argue that Kling et al’s sociotechnical interaction network (STIN) is compatible with a realist ontology, drawing on Fleetwood’s ‘ontology of the real’ and Lawson’s proposition of the social nature of the artefact in networks of ‘positioned practices’. This, we suggest, gives a more secure basis for the STIN concept, and provides a clear alternative to actor network theory (ANT)-based views of sociotechnical networks which do not distinguish between the influence of human and material agents. This also, we argue, provides an alternative way of anchoring concepts from the social informatics literature, often influenced by Giddens’ structuration theory, in ways that can help networked learning research. Secondly, we explore some potential implications of such an approach for theories of networked learning and learning more widely. In particular, we suggest a possible ontology of elements of learning technology. The use of the word ‘learning’ here is somewhat problematic, as it is routinely used rather loosely to describe changes at multiple levels but which are likely to have rather different underlying mechanisms. A more thorough ontology of learning technology would allow us to distinguish between these uses and identify potentially distinct mechanisms at play in different forms and levels of learning. Thirdly, we use this approach to explore how viewing learning technologies as sociotechnical networks helps to clarify our thinking about identities in social networking for personal, learning and professional purposes

Investigating conditions for higher order thinking in telematics environments

Telematics, or audiographic conferencing, enables synchronous communication via telecommunications. A telephone link and computer communications allow students in distributed classrooms to participate in an extended, or virtual classroom. Telematics is widely used as an instructional medium for the delivery of curricula to students in rural and remote parts of Western Australia. Previous studies of learning meditated by this technology have shown limitations on the forms of interactivity, tasks and learner engagement. Students typically have been found to assume a passive role, often listening to a distant and invisible teacher, but not engaging in cognitively demanding tasks. The tendency for teachers to display didactic forms of teaching has been noted in a number of studies

Integrating Web-Based Training into Communication Scholarship of Computer-Mediated Communication

As interest and use of the Internet through the World Wide Web increases, it becomes necessary for the Communication Discipline to reexamine its approach to studying computer-mediated communication. A meta-analysis of the discipline\u27s research in this area provides insight into the scholarly history of this subject. Included in this analysis is an examination of the discipline\u27s research in computer-based instruction, placed as a subcategory under computer-mediated communication. This study reveals a gaping hole in the communication scholarship of computer-mediated communication and offers suggestions as to how research of Web-based training might fill this gap. Additional discussion also reveals how research of Web-based training might provide a means for expanding the boundaries of the discipline\u27s current approach to studying computer-mediated communication

The Importance of Employing YouTube Videos as a Learning Tool in Education

YouTube is a website for sharing videos, making it simple for students to create, distribute, and watch educational videos. The purpose of this article was to investigate the experience of teachers in employing YouTube videos within the classrooms, kinds of YouTube videos, advantages of employ YouTube in education and challenging of using YouTube videos in classrooms. This review showed that incorporating YouTube in education has great impacts and benefits on students and teachers. YouTube videos impact learning content creation and assessment, students\u27 attitudes and behaviours, and student educational performance. This study showed that employing YouTube videos in education makes the best use of modern media to spread knowledge and information. It also helps to foster the attitude of productive dialogue among students. There are some challenges facing students and teachers related to incorporating YouTube videos in education including technological problems, lecture preference, awareness, and time

Podcast Implementation in an Entry-Level Doctor of Physical Therapy First-Semester Course: Student Perceptions and Impact on Academic Performance

Podcasts have increased in popularity in the last decade, but description of their use in academic settings is lacking. The purposes of this study were to (1) investigate the difference in student performance on course examinations based on podcast usage and satisfaction and (2) examine the perceptions of educational benefits, usage preferences, and accessibility of podcasts in a clinical examination course in a hybrid Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) curriculum. This was a mixed-methods study that utilized a retrospective non-experimental correlational design, and data were collected and analyzed via self-report survey. Participants adopted five podcasts into learning and studying activities. An ANOVA indicated that there was a statistically significant (p = .01) difference in examination performance for podcast usage in the fourth episode, with those who listened more performing better. Level of agreement in podcast satisfaction had little impact on academic performance on examinations. A total of six themes emerged from qualitative analysis: podcasts provided listeners a supplementary study tool, connected the learner to the real world, and allowed convenient listening and multitasking. Listeners noted the experience could be enhanced by an improved streaming platform, preferred shorter-duration podcasts, and recommended podcasts to future cohorts. In a sample of 27 first-year hybrid DPT participants, 100% reported overall satisfaction with podcast content and would recommend them to future cohorts

A brief history of re-performance

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2010.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-97).Discussions of music reproduction technology have generally focused on what Jonathan Sterne calls "tympanic" reproduction: the recording and playback of sounds through microphones and speakers. While tympanic reproduction has been very successful, its success has limited the ways in which music reproduction is popularly imagined and discussed. This thesis explores the history of "re-performance," an alternative mode of reproduction epitomized by the early twentieth-century player piano. It begins with a discussion of nineteenth-century piano recorders and the historical role of material representation in the production of music. It continues with the advent of player pianos in the early twentieth century that allowed users to "interpret" prerecorded material, blurring the line between performance and reproduction and inspiring popular reflection on the role of the mechanical in music. It concludes with the founding of the American Piano Company laboratory in 1924 and the establishment of a mechanically founded rhetoric of fidelity. Bookending this history is an account of a performance and recording session organized by Zenph Studios, a company that processes historical tympanic recordings to produce high-resolution data files for modern player pianos. Zenph's project appears futuristic from the perspective of tympanic reproduction, but is more readily understood in terms of the history of re-performance, suggesting a need for renewing critical attention on re-performative technologies. Contemporary developments in music reproduction such as music video games and sampling may make new sense considered in the context of re-performance. This alternative history aims to provide a ground on which such analysis could be built.by Nicholas Patrick Seaver.S.M

Piano Rolls and Contemporary Player Pianos: The Catalogues, Technologies, Archiving and Accessibility

Reproducing piano rolls have been of great interest to me for nearly 40 years, yet despite their significant potential in a number of research areas, they remain largely untapped. In my thesis I seek to discover why this vast historical library of music and interpretations is not more widely acknowledged and utilised. Reproducing piano rolls provide a valuable evidence of nineteenth-century performing practices, as well as offering unique pathways to other forms of research. The substantive catalogues of art music alone prove the musical worth of these rolls. Numerous commentators have chosen either to ignore or to consciously dismiss reproducing piano roll recordings as a valid representation of the art of the pianist. Clearly, in the majority of cases, their opinions have been formed through hearing rolls replayed on poorly adjusted instruments; the piano rolls themselves are not the problem. To dispel the myths that have taken hold as a result, I examine how three major piano roll companies made their recordings, and test the common criticism that these recordings were subjected to invasive editorial change. Accessing faithful piano roll recordings is an acknowledged problem. My viewpoint is that if piano roll recordings are made as accessible as early sound recordings, many rich research opportunities will present themselves. Archiving piano rolls remains an area desperately in need of further research. In this thesis I present the philosophy underpinning my methodology for developing the means to record piano rolls as raw MIDI files. Making the raw files compatible with contemporary MIDI instruments provides the sought-after accessibility, a topic that has so far attracted minimal academic interest

The application of computer technology in South African distance education.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, 1996.The advent of on-line Computer-Assisted Instruction and Computer Mediated Communication may improve instruction and communication in distance education in South African universities. On-line Computer-Assisted Instruction in distance education makes the reinforcement of knowledge both systematic and immediate. With instructional media such printed text, audio-cassettes, radio and television broadcasts the student at a distance is an isolated and passive recipient of knowledge. On-line Computer-Assisted Instruction supported by Computer Mediated Communication for interaction and feedback could close the gaps in time and distance between the teacher and the student in distance education. The current network capabilities of the computer makes it possible for such a student to interact with peers and lecturers before, during and after instructional episodes. Computer Mediated Communication can facilitate the use of electronic messaging such as Electronic Mail, Internet Relay Chat, List Servers, Multi-User Domains and Bulletin Board Services for interactions and feedback. This thesis investigates whether instruction and communication in South African universities with a distance education option can be improved using on-line Computer-Assisted Instruction and Computer Mediated Communication respectively. The thesis also makes proposals for their implementation in South Africa by analysing the applications of computer technology in degree awarding distance education institutions in some developed and developing countries that use on-line Computer-Assisted Instruction and Computer Mediated Communication

Online Language Teacher Skills and Roles in an Audio-Graphic Conferencing Classroom

Many institutions and individual teachers are moving from traditional face-to-face classrooms to online teaching. Traditional classroom language teachers need to understand why online teaching is different from classroom teaching before they acquire new skills and explore new pedagogies for online teaching. This study aims to identify the differences between teaching online and in face-to-face classrooms, and explore what new skills and roles beginner online language teachers need to develop in order to become successful language teachers in online classrooms. Audio-graphic conferencing classrooms are usually a basic form of online teaching and the starting point for many face-to-face teachers to move to online teaching. This study collects data from an OU-Live EAP tutorial in the Open University UK. Four critical incidents were selected from an online tutorial and analysed through multimodal discourse analysis based on the Model of Instructor Roles by Berge (2005) and the Skills Pyramid by Hampel and Stickler (2005). A video-stimulated recall interview was conducted to elicit the online tutor’s rationale for his actions in the four critical incidents. The major findings of the study include: (a) three major differences between teaching online and in face-to-face classrooms, including technical differences, lack of non-verbal cues, and multimodality in online learning environments; (b) two suggestions for the Skills Pyramid on ‘dealing with the possibilities and constraints of the system’ and ‘online socialization skill’ (Hampel and Stickler, 2005); and (c) two suggestions for the Model of Instructor Roles the on pedagogical role and the technical role of online language teachers (Berge, 1995). Recommendations for online teacher training and future research topics are presented in the end

Web conferencing-based tutorials : student perceptions thereof and the effect on academic performance in accounting education

This study explores undergraduate accounting students’ perceptions of web conferencing-based tutorials, in a developing country, South Africa. In addition, this study explores the effect of these tutorials on academic performance. Understanding the perceptions of students regarding the effectiveness of using web conferencing is both influential and critical to the success or failure of the integration of web conferencing in accounting education. In general, attendance of web conference-based tutorials was found to positively and statistically significantly impact the students’ academic performance, and the majority of the respondents agreed that regularly attending the web conferences and connecting with instructors improve their academic performance. These findings offer support for the continued use of web conferencing as a beneficial teaching and learning intervention. While this study is limited to a single site, the positive results of this study may encourage other instructors to explore web conferencing tutorials and enable subsequent multiple site investigations.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/raed202019-06-18hj2018Accountin