Application of a Virtual Collaborative Environment in a Teaching Case.

This paper demonstrates the use of technology in enabling and facilitating collaborative teaching in an IS project management teaching case in the virtual environment. The motivation and objectives of the Synergizer case (IS project management case), the adopted methodology for the case development and the underlying theory for the teaching process are presented. Based on lessons from the case, this paper provides teaching suggestions and discusses a possible delivery mode of interactive learning in IS field in the virtual environment. Furthermore, the paper presents the implementation of the teaching case in a collaborative environment as demonstration of an emergent re-calibration of a curriculum delivery to meet changing demands of the education landscape. The virtual collaborative teaching approach adopted for delivering the course/case should be suitable for teaching other IS courses – including project management, change management and other related courses

Desenvolvimento De Objeto De Aprendizagem Para O Ensino De Anatomia Em Enfermagem

To describe the development of the learning object called "Disciplinary Complement of Anatomy" for the teaching and learning of Anatomy subject. Methods: this is a methodological study on the construction of the learning object to complement the studies in the subject, using the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation model in the instructional design. Results: as a virtual class, the learning object was developed according to the steps of Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation and it was implemented in Prezi@ as a virtual environment. Conclusion: the virtual class was set up in an innovative strategy that allowed autonomy in learning and managing technologies in the educational process, articulating ethics in the study of Anatomy.17686687

Training of PDCA cycle using a catapult in a virtual learning environment

The sustainable teaching of quality methods in the sense of Lean Management and Six Sigma through assistance systems, such as virtual reality goggles, represents a new and growing aspect of continuing education programs. The development and usage of virtual learning environments offers the chance to deepen the theoretical prior knowledge through interactive learning possibilities. In this way, existing learning concepts are supplemented with virtual teaching content. Complex or difficult to present learning settings can be mapped virtually without high material consumption or costs. This paper presents the state of the art with respect to teaching quality methods with VR. An integrationin the created Assisted Reality Implementation Model is made. Subsequently, the requirements for a virtual learning environment based on a real business game are determined. The approach and implementation are explained using the example of the PDCA quality method. First results of the exploration tests from the questionnaires are presented. Based on this, improvements are derived and the next steps are defined

THE CNC VIRTUAL AS TEACHING AND TRAINING AID OF CNC PROGRAMMING

CNC machine tools is the most important practical means of teaching and training of CNC Programming in Vocational High School. Its relatively-high price causes the incapabibilty of the school for getting it, so the teaching of CNC programming in Vocational High School mostly doesn’t use CNC machine. The effect is many students can’t reach the standard competence of applied CNC programming. The unavailability of CNC machine tools in teaching of CNC programming in Vocational High School is treated by using CNC Simulator. The CNC Simulator consist Virtual CNC, and CNC Machine Simulator. It’is a media to simulate of NC Part Program execution..The simulation of NC Part Program execution are displayed tool path a machining process at monitor. NC Part Program has been simulated can be sent to unit control of CNC Machine Simulator. Implementation of CNC Simulator in teaching and training of CNC programming begins from building CNC Virtual. The CNC Virtual is a software which provides a visual effect of environment of CNC machine in the monitor. The building uses Research and Development (R&D) method. Implementation of CNC Simulator in teaching of CNC programming shows; (1) the students are very interested and excited to use the virtual CNC which provides a visual effect of environment of CNC machine in the monitor, actively trying the simulation of numpad virtual in the monitor, inputting data on the panel virtual, and making simulation or execution of the CNC program at CNC Machine Simulator, (2) the students practice to make and execute the CNC programming individually in the classroom or outdoor class. (3) CNC Virtual can be used as teaching and training media classically (in classroom), individually learning, even e-learning

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FOR BUSINESS ORIENTED FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

A research team from two universities and two IT companies took the challenge of developing a business foreign languages program implemented in a web environment, aiming the effectiveness of the communication in a working multicultural environment, using foreign languages. The online educational portal for applied foreign languages teaching and learning addressing the cross-cultural dimension represents the core of the Romanian academic research project (eMulticult), financed under the national Romanian research scheme (National Council for Project Management - Partnership Program). The present contribution summarizes the concepts and the methodology of the project, aiming at increasing professionals’ adaptability to a specific corporate cultural environment in order to create conditions for openness, tolerance, harmony and cooperation in the working and social environment. The studies will end up in creating a knowledge portal for the development of adequate cultural attitudes and skills specific to a foreign language professional environment. The project develops a holistic approach for the design of a conceptual framework based on a web educational model for foreign language acquisition and the internalization of its cultural values and the implementation of the model in a virtual environment using an adequate pedagogical approach and complex training tools. The foreign language educational model makes reference to the Anderson’s and Krathwohl’s taxonomy, articulating it with the dimensions of the specific corporate culture. The web based paradigm and tools of the educational model will facilitate for the beneficiaries the online learning process. The originality of this approach consists in the synergy among various views and models such as person oriented education, multicultural approach, use of the virtual environment for providing educational services. The portal integrates educational packages for individual beneficiaries, virtual classes, formal or informal educational networks, and the tools for e-content developing. The educational platform offers the premise for building the empathic attitude, through a deep understanding of the own cultural matrix and a greater permeability to the behavior and values of another cultural & organizational environment, increasing the degree of communication and integration at European level.Foreign language teaching, cross-cultural approach, educational model, training engineering

Responding to the vision of the information society: first steps towards a national virtual university.

Executive Summary 1. There is confusion, both in academic circles and the public more generally, about the definition of a virtual university. Hence in considering such an option, it is worth looking more fundamentally at the contexts for higher education, and the functions of a National Virtual University equipped to meet the needs of the 21st Century. 2. The increase in the use of ICT has caused a radical increase in demand for higher education globally, and increased access to higher education via the use of ICT. New suppliers in the form of private and corporate universities, now compete with universities in their home countries, and increasingly, overseas. 3. Although demands for higher education are growing rapidly, analysis of the new and changing demands on universities at local, national and international levels, within an increasingly global knowledge market, indicates that the role of a National Virtual University will be much broader than that of an existing university. Moreover, a NVU will need to successfully compete in an environment which is growing in competitiveness and complexity as corporate universities start to operate, but will have to do so with greater efficiency and lower funding. 4. The socio-economic environment in Finland is characterised by an internationally high (and growing) involvement with information and communication technologies in all spheres of life. Within this fast developing Information Society, there is a high need for increasing skills levels and retraining, especially with respect to ICT. However, like elsewhere in Europe, the use of technology for collaborative teaching in Universities and for promoting joint research with industry, is comparatively underexploited, although the existing higher education platform, provides a useful structure which could adapt to, and benefit from, the establishment of a National Virtual University. 5. The rationale for incorporating the use of new technologies in higher education by building a National Virtual University is well-established. Such a development would require a quantum leap in the design and development of a new learning method. However, in addition to educational benefits, the NVU would aid the creation of a knowledge based economy, the promotion of social cohesion, the protection of the existing Finnish university system, and the preservation of national language and culture. 6. The experience of previous virtual university ventures in the USA demonstrates that collaborative ventures, based on existing providers and reliant on reengineering of existing teaching and learning practices, are unlikely to be successful, even where they are well financed. A National Virtual University can be constructed with varying degrees of functionality, but where it covers all ranges of university activities (teaching, research and technology transfer), and is well-linked to the local community, the cost of development will be high but the returns on expenditure will be greatest. 7. A project of this size, complexity, cost and importance will only succeed in maximising its potential as a collaborative venture, if it involves all stakeholder groups in discussing its form, as consensus on the form of the NVU will be critical in ensuring the success of its implementation

Migrating from Physical to Virtual Administrative Work Environment: A Case Study of a Sub Saharan African Higher Education Institution

The purpose of this study is to understand how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) can migrate from physical to virtual administrative work environment. Information systems (IS) research on virtualness in HEIs has focused more on teaching and learning and less on administrative work. Therefore, a knowledge gap exists on virtual work environment and how it emerges. This study focuses on the experience of an HEI in using an off-shore consulting agent to virtualise its administrative work environment. The study uses an interpretive case study approach as the methodology and activity theory as the theoretical lens to trace the HEI’s attempt to virtualise the administrative work environment. The findings show how AT can explain IS development and implementation process through principal-agent relationship. This paper contributes to research and practice by offering critical insight into how HEIs in SSA can migrate from physical to virtual administrative work environment

Reshaping Academic Practice and Relationships within the Department Of Plant Sciences

At the University of Cambridge, a research and development project concerned with teaching and learning in small-group tutorials has been initiated in Department of Plant Sciences. Known as the Plant Sciences Pedagogy Project, it is part of the Teaching for Learning Network (TfLN), which includes members of the Centre for Applied Research into Educational Technologies (CARET), the Department of Engineering and the Faculty of Classics. Provision of small-group tutorials plays a key role in teaching support for students at the University of Cambridge. However, variation in student experience of tutorial quality was raised as a point of concern in a recent student survey (Cambridge University Students’ Union, 2004). Our research therefore focussed on analysis of the tutorial environment with the aim of finding out how best to support our teaching staff and to influence changes in teaching and learning practices within the Department. The Plant Sciences Pedagogy Project used a number of qualitative and quantitative educational research methods in order to identify key plant sciences specific teaching and learning issues. These methods included practice-value questionnaires, self-efficacy questionnaires, supervision video analysis, student focus groups and supervisor interviews, which were implemented over the course of two academic years. The research findings were used to inform the development of a number of new learning resources which were provided for students within a virtual learning environment (VLE), or in collaborative workshops. The impact of the implementation of these new resources was assessed in order to inform research and development for the next academic year. In this paper, we describe the development of the research conducted in the Department of Plant Sciences and also chart the involvement of embedded researchers in the formation of the TfLN. The research structure is initially described in association with action research methodology but it is argued that the format has developed throughout the formation of TfLN so that it is best aligned with theories of social network analysis (Granovetter, 1973). This paper uses the theoretical perspective of brokerage between communities of practice (Burt, 2005; Wenger, 1998) to describe the role that plant science researchers have played in conducting research concerned with initiating changes in teaching and learning practices and also the subsequent coconfiguration of the TfLN research community. Burt’s (2005) four levels of brokerage are used to structure the discussion of these research processes, and the boundary crossing objects that have been used to support brokerage activities are described

e-Learning quality assessment in higher education: A mapping study

Quality assessment is today a success factor and a guarantee in the implementation and development of countless initiatives, programs and strategies in a very wide variety of fields. For this reason, in an educational field in a constant transformation, the evaluation of the quality of each process, phase and tool must be understood as an essential and basic part in teaching, betting on the implementation of quality evaluation processes in the virtual environment and also trying to adapt reality to new learning environments. In the present moment, in a society in which everything has to be evaluated, the establishment of evaluation standards for new instruments and the standardization of accepted and validated processes will also make virtual teaching-learning environments more reliable and effective. This research proposes a mapping study with the aim to find out the situation in which the research on quality evaluation in e-Learning in higher education finds itself. The criteria used for the selection of publications are concise and the complete process carried out is reflected in each of its phases. The results allow us to describe the current reality in a temporal perspective and the state of the art, in order to address the potential future lines of research in the field of quality assessment in virtual environments

Using an evidence informed approach to create online learning resources

The Plant Sciences Pedagogy Project began in the autumn of 2005 sponsored by the Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI). The project objectives within the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge were twofold: to conduct research into undergraduate teaching and learning within the Department; and to develop online resources to support student learning. The research focused on the second year ‘Part IB Plant & Microbial Sciences’ (IB PMS) Course. A combination of focus groups, dual-scale questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to gauge both student and staff opinions on, attitudes towards, and expectations of, teaching on the IB PMS course. This resulted in a solid evidence base, with several key themes emerging that were confirmed by multiple approaches. This evidence base was then used to inform and shape the construction of the students’ course site and the new resources to be housed within it. The site was developed in the Universities’ adaptation of the Sakai Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) platform, known as CamTools, for which technical support was provided by Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies (CARET). There can be a strong temptation to use all the options offered by available information technology for their own sake and CamTools is rich in pre-programmed software ‘tools’. Therefore the evidence informed approach was adopted to identify appropriate tools for implementation. The CamTools/Sakai online environment proved to be extremely versatile and allowed the development of bespoke online learning resources for students; this resulted in an online learning environment which best matched the needs of the course and its students