Informal, desktop, audio-video communication

Audio-Video systems have been developed to support many aspects and modes of human communication, but there has been little support for the informal, ongoing nature of communication that occurs often in real life. Most existing systems implement a call metaphor. This presents a barrier to initiating conversation that has a consequent effect on the formality of the resulting conversation. By contrast, with informal communication the channel is never explicitly opened or closed. This paper examines the range of previous systems and seeks to build on these to develop plans for supporting informal communication, in a desktop environment

A Case for an Online Educational Administrator Practicum Experience

The principal and superintendent practicum experiences have traditionally been entirely face-to-face (f2f) between university professors, interns and site mentors – typically a campus or district administrator (Figure 1). Advancements in technology combined with the exponential growth of online graduate programs give rise to additional incorporation of technology into the practicum experience

Roles for trainers and trainees in computer-mediated courses

These days many people subscribe to the view that the teacher or teacher-trainer’s role should principally be that of facilitator, rather than “fountainhead of knowledge” Greater equality between trainers and trainees is regarded as beneficial to the learning process; it empowers trainees to select their own learning styles and question received wisdom, whilst it also permits trainers to step back from centre stage to a position where they can observe the learning process. Computer-mediated conferencing (cmc), apart from its value as a means of distance learning, offers opportunities for trainer-trainee equality that are unimaginable in the face-to-face classroom. Participants need not, and often, because of relative anonymity cannot, defer to those belonging to a more dominant age group, gender or race. Thus ideas and issues that might not be voiced in a conventional learning situation can find a forum. This article identifies and discusses the relevant design features of computer-mediated courses for pre-service and in-service teacher training, and discusses some of the strengths and weaknesses of a medium that offers participants a more equal voice

AVAILABILITY, ACCESSIBILITY AND FREQUENCY OF USE OF ICT TOOLS BY HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN ILORIN METROPOLIS

This research explores the availability, accessibility and the extent of ICT usage by health professionals in Ilorin metropolis. Data was collected using a sample size of 174 health service providers in 34 public and private hospitals by means of a structured questionnaire. Findings from this study indicate that the ICTs that were commonly available and used by the health professionals are the older ICTs. These include TV set, DSTV, photocopiers, fax machines, and convergent technologies like mobile phones and computers. Although, Internet driven facilities like video-conferencing, teleconferencing, web discussion forums and email among others, were not readily available to the health professionals, a comparative analysis reveals that there was superior availability and use of computers, projectors, e-mails and Internet by health professionals in private hospitals than those in public hospitals. This is as a result of the financial implications of procurement and installation of these facilities. Interestingly, the level of awareness of users on the numerous benefits of ICTs on their job and productivity is quite impressive. It is therefore, concluded that hospitals’ regulatory agencies should collaborate with International agencies such as World Health Organization (WHO),United Nations Organization (UNO) and the European Union, among others, to aid in the successful implementation and funding for the procurement of sophisticated ICTs to facilitate the dissemination of up to date health information to public and private hospitals

TOLD LIKE IT IS! AN EVALUATION OF AN INTEGRATED ORAL DEVELOPMENT PILOT PROJECT

Much established pedagogical and CALL (computer-assisted language learning) research advocates an integrated constructivist approach to the use of technology in language learning. This paper reports on a pilot project delivered to first year undergraduate French students. The project aim was to deliver a blend of collaborative and individual learning through a combination of CALL programs and online activities alongside traditional face-to-face conversation classes. Using quantitative analysis of a pre- and posttest and a variety of questionnaires, this project assessed student progress in developing oral skills across two groups, one (the treatment group) using technology and the other (the comparison group) being a traditional conversation class. Each group covered the same content and underwent the same assessment procedures. In addition, through qualitative analysis measures, the project evaluated the role played by additional variables in the learning process, as well as student and staff reactions to the two approaches. The study concludes by showing that while progress was made by both groups, the progress made by those not using technology was significantly greater than that made by students using technology over a short-term study. It also highlights the need for developing pedagogy to ensure that CALL-based teaching goes beyond rehearsal activity to achieve message-orientated communication

Designing Open and Distance Learning for Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: A toolkit for educators and planners

Everyone remembers a good teacher. Good teachers are the key to educational expansion and improvement. In many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is an urgent need to expand the number of primary and secondary teachers. In all African countries, there is an equally important need to improve the quality of teaching. To achieve this, it is clear that new approaches to teacher education are essential. Existing institutions of teacher education will continue to play an important role, but, alone, they will not meet the goals of Education for All (EFA) by 2015. It is fortunate that, just as the twin needs to improve the quantity and quality of teachers become imperative, so new forms of education and training are becoming available. The world is witnessing a revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs), which can offer training and support of a type and at a cost hitherto impossible to consider, and thus, must be fully explored given the scale and urgency of demand. In doing so, however, it will be necessary to build on existing and well-tested strategies, including the best models of open and distance learning. This toolkit is the third in a series of recent publications by the Africa Region Human Development Department of the World Bank to share knowledge and experience on how distance education and ICTs can support education in Sub-Saharan Africa. It emphasizes the rigorous process by which new forms of distance-education programs for teacher education can be planned and implemented. The best models of established programs are considered along with the potential for incorporating, as the means become available, new modes of communication. Most forms of teacher education, particularly those concerned with qualification upgrading and ongoing professional development, will have to be based in schools. The authors demonstrate how school-based programs, appropriately resourced and supported, have the potential not only to raise significantly the number and quality of teachers, but also to improve classroom practice and school organization, generally. The guidance and advice, which is drawn from many years of experience in design and implementation, and embraces a range of case studies from across the region, will be of considerable value to those preparing new policies and programs of teacher education and to those seeking to improve existing programs

Setting the climate in an authentic online community of learning

The growth of online learning and the demand for quality education has prompted universities to investigate innovative approaches for providing students with a more interactive, engaging and authentic learning experience. Frameworks such as Garrison, Anderson and Archer’s (2001) community of inquiry (CoI) model have been widely used in the design of learning tasks and communities of learning to address this challenge. In this paper, the key elements of the CoI model are explained—the cognitive, social and teaching aspects—together with a brief look at the intersecting areas of these elements. Of particular interest in this paper was the intersection of social and teaching presence, because of its capacity to contribute to setting climate in an online learning environment. A systematic analysis of recent studies focusing on key elements of the CoI model is reported, and characteristics for setting the climate in an online environment to assist the development of a community of inquiry are identified, together with guidelines to assist with the implementation. Finally, an authentic online professional development course for higher education professionals is described to illustrate the guidelines in practice

Working collaboratively on the digital global frontier

An international online collaborative learning experience was designed and implemented in preservice teacher education classes at the University of Calgary, Canada and the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. The project was designed to give preservice teachers an opportunity to live the experience of being online collaborators investigating real world teaching issues of diversity and inclusivity. Qualitative research was conducted to examine the complexity of the online collaborative experiences of participants. Redmond and Lock’s (2006) flexible online collaborative learning framework was used to explain the design and the implementation of the project. Henri’s (1992) content analysis model for computer-mediated communication was used for the online asynchronous postings and a constant comparative method of data analysis was used in the construction of themes. From the findings, the authors propose recommendations for designing and facilitating collaborative learning on the digital global frontier