Designing an e-tutoring system for large classes: mixed-method research

This study aimed at assessing the perceptions of 167 teachers about the tutoring system adopted in an online training course involving teachers from 20 Schools of Sesimbra, Setúbal and Palmela counties. The course, called “Distributed Knowledge with Web 2.0”, was officially certified as a blended learning modality, with the duration of 50 hours, 41 of which occurred online in two editions, the first in February and the second in July of 2012, each one of them involving respectively 82 and 85 teachers, divided in four classes with about 20 trainees each. This blended learning course was designed at producing educational materials in digital format, and included autonomous and group activities, knowledge sharing and reflection. A learning environment, supported by the Ning platform, was set up. At the end of the course, the trainees answered to a pencil and paper survey, in order to evaluate the adopted online tutoring strategy. Additionally the trainees’ final reports contained evidence of how the trainees assessed the tutoring model component of the course; both the survey and the reports were the basis for this research. The results show that the teachers who attended the two course editions disclosed very positive perceptions about online learning, a modality they consider adequate to their current professional status and conditions. The trainees also showed their intention of, in the future, opting for blended training arrangements. Future developments of this study involve a content analysis of the tutor’s posts, in order to understand more accurately the tutor’s messages characteristics, in their social and cognitive dimensions

Benefits, Limitations and Best Practices of Online Coursework…Should Accounting Programs Jump on Board?

The evolution of online teaching has evolved as quickly and vivaciously as the adoption of the World Wide Web. While there were and are skeptics, research shows that not only is online learning more convenient and makes educational available anytime and anywhere, it has the potential, in some cases, to be an improved tool for educating. To ensure maximized learning outcomes, and to experience the blessing and not the curse of online coursework, it is critical that universities embrace it wholeheartedly and follow online pedagogical best practices in developing and executing online courses. In addition, there are some courses where special forethought should be made to ensure online learning is effective. Courses that are more computational necessitate this consideration. This document serves to provide strategies and best practices on how to obtain excellence and maximized outcomes from online education. It examines research to date and outlines: the benefits and challenges of online learning, strategies and best practices for online educating, and considerations for online accounting coursework

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

Transforming pre-service teacher curriculum: observation through a TPACK lens

This paper will discuss an international online collaborative learning experience through the lens of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The teacher knowledge required to effectively provide transformative learning experiences for 21st century learners in a digital world is complex, situated and changing. The discussion looks beyond the opportunity for knowledge development of content, pedagogy and technology as components of TPACK towards the interaction between those three components. Implications for practice are also discussed. In today’s technology infused classrooms it is within the realms of teacher educators, practising teaching and pre-service teachers explore and address effective practices using technology to enhance learning

Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort

The provision of distance education within the HE sector - some areas for concern

This paper presents a summary of the findings of a recent survey of the way in which UK higher education institutions (HEIs) are offering distance education (DE) courses, the types of courses being offered, and their modes of delivery. From analysis of the findings of this survey, it is apparent that the emphasis of HEIs is very much on the exploitation of available teaching technology in the delivery of DE courses. However, teaching at a distance is quite different from face-toface teaching, and the evidence suggests that many HEIs fail to implement any meaningful academic staff training for the new role of DE tutor. The authors consider the difficulties this presents to academic staff who are required to move from face-to-face teaching to online facilitating. The paper concludes with an examination of the current provision of staff development and training within UK HEIs and suggests the type of academic staff training required if DE courses are to become truly core activities

Chapter 1 : Learning Online

The OTiS (Online Teaching in Scotland) programme, run by the now defunct Scotcit programme, ran an International e-Workshop on Developing Online Tutoring Skills which was held between 8–12 May 2000. It was organised by Heriot–Watt University, Edinburgh and The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. Out of this workshop came the seminal Online Tutoring E-Book, a generic primer on e-learning pedagogy and methodology, full of practical implementation guidelines. Although the Scotcit programme ended some years ago, the E-Book has been copied to the SONET site as a series of PDF files, which are now available via the ALT Open Access Repository. The editor, Carol Higgison, is currently working in e-learning at the University of Bradford (see her staff profile) and is the Chair of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT)

Mental tactility: the ascendance of writing in online management education

A qualitative study of online management education and the role of writing as an indicative measure of thinking and learning. Established educational models, such as Dale\u27s Cone of Experience, are expanded and redeveloped to illustrate the central role of writing as a critical thinking process which appears to be increasing, rather than decreasing, with the advent of online multimedia technology. In an environment of increasing reliance on audiovisual stimulus in online education, the authors contend that tertiary educators may witness an ascendance or re-emergence of writing as central to the academic experience. This may be both supply and demand driven. Drawing on a study of two undergraduate units in the Bachelor of Commerce and applying hermeneutics to develop challenging insights, the authors present a case for educators to remain conversant with the art of teaching writing, and to promote writing to improve educational outcomes. <br /

Language Learning Strategies in Distance English Learning: A Study of Learners at Shantou Radio and Television University, China

Distance language learners require new kinds of skills, motivation and commitment to work effectively in a learning setting that is largely new and unfamiliar to them, and which is likely to have a direct impact on their development and use of learning strategies (Oxford & Burry Stock, 1995; White, 2004). This paper is based on a study of a group of Chinese students learning English at a distance at Shantou Radio and Television University, China, and investigates their use of language learning strategies. The study found that distance English learners in China are gradually shifting from dependence on teachers to a more autonomous approach to learning. In many cases they are beginning to deploy a variety of strategies to facilitate their learning, and at the same time taking more responsibility for their studies. This appears to challenge the traditional stereotype of the dependent, 'spoon-fed' Chinese language learner as portrayed in previous studies. The paper concludes that learner training should be integrated into the instructional design of the materials in order to enhance strategy awareness and emphasize the facilitative role of learning strategies in language study

The impact of professional learning on the teaching identities of higher education lecturers

Higher Education is currently undergoing some of the most profound changes in its history. Against a backdrop of increasing marketization, rising levels of student debt and far greater fully online offerings, the higher education lecturer is grappling with new ways of working and high expectations of teaching quality. This 3 year qualitative study based in The Open University UK investigates the ways in which HE distance learning lecturers are approaching professional development and learning, identifying what type of learning may be most effective in creating and sustaining an online teaching identity. The study also examines ways in which resistance discourse is shaping these identities and practices revealing emerging re- conceptualisations of what it means to be an effective and well-motivated distance learning lecturer. The investigation uses a framework for identity analysis which analyses professional identity via the expression of hegemonies, phenomenological, narrative articulations of identity, and a post-modern, constructivist view of identity which is shaped by social interactions and communities of practice. It highlights the importance of personal agency in identity formation. The results revealed a number of insights into the ways in which a combination of resistance discourse, professional learning and reflections from student interactions are shaping new understandings of professional knowledge in this context