From participation to dropout

The academic e-learning practice has to deal with various participation patterns and types of online learners with different support needs. The online instructors are challenged to recognize these and react accordingly. Among the participation patterns, special attention is requested by dropouts, which can perturbate online collaboration. Therefore we are in search of a method of early identification of participation patterns and prediction of dropouts. To do this, we use a quantitative view of participation that takes into account only observable variables. On this background we identify in a field study the participation indicators that are relevant for the course completion, i.e. produce significant differences between the completion and dropout sub-groups. Further we identify through cluster analysis four participation patterns with different support needs. One of them is the dropout cluster that could be predicted with an accuracy of nearly 80%. As a practical consequence, this study recommends a simple, easy-to-implement prediction method for dropouts, which can improve online teaching. As a theoretical consequence, we underline the role of the course didactics for the definition of participation, and call for refining previous attrition models

Assessment of Generic Skills through an Organizational Learning Process Model

This contribution has been published in this repository with the permission of the publisher. This contribution was presented in WEBIST 2018 (http://www.webist.org/?y=2018) and has been published by SCITEPRESS in http://www.scitepress.org/PublicationsDetail.aspx?ID=y9Yt0eHt02o=&.The performance in generic skills is increasingly important for organizations to succeed in the current competitive environment. However, assessing the level of performance in generic skills of the members of an organization is a challenging task, subject to both subjectivity and scalability issues. Organizations usually lay their organizational learning processes on a Knowledge Management System (KMS). This work presents a process model to support managers of KMSs in the assessment of their individuals’ generic skills. The process model was deployed through an extended version of a learning management system. It was connected with different information system tools specifically developed to enrich its features. A case study with Computer Science final-year students working in a software system was conducted following an authentic learning approach, showing promising results.Visaigle Project (grant TIN2017-85797-R)

Design, implementation and validation of a Europe-wide pedagogical framework for e-learning

This work has been carried out within the project UNITE 026964: Unified e-Learning environment for the school, partially supported by the European Community under the Information Society Technologies (IST) priority of the 6th Framework Programme for R&D. The research has also been supported within the Project 177-0361994-1998 Usability and Adaptivity of Interfaces for Intelligent Authoring Shells funded by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports Technology of the Republic of Croatia.Within the context of a Europe-wide project UNITE, a number of European partners set out to design, implement and validate a pedagogical framework (PF) for e- and m-Learning in secondary schools. The process of formulating and testing the PF was an evolutionary one that reflected the experiences and skills of the various European partners and secondary schools involved in the project. The framework involved pedagogies which underpin the teaching of subject matter in a number of European secondary schools as well as the ways in which learning is delivered and assessed. The PF represents an essential part of the e-Learning system conceptualization and development and offers sound concepts for the development of learning scenarios in order to enhance the learning experience of students in secondary schools. A five-component framework which, by means of its constituents, drives and guides the creation of e-Learning scenarios was designed and tested. It is composed of the pedagogical framework context, pedagogical approaches, assessment techniques, teacher education and national specifics and current pedagogical practices implemented in national curricula. A series of learning scenarios were created to test the PF in classrooms. A detailed exemplar of a scenario in practice is offered. An evaluation of the scenarios based on [Reeves, T. C., 1994. Evaluating what really matters in computer-based education. In M. Wild, D. Kirkpatrick (Eds.), Computer education: new perspectives (pp. 219–246). Perth, Australia: MASTEC] pedagogical dimensions revealed that UNITE is based on constructivist and cognitive foundations. With increased experience of the system the teachers’ implementation of the pedagogical framework developed into increased mastery in the school context. Teachers from the second validation phase became more confident in their application of the framework principles and evaluated more positively the outcomes. This helped them to become more aware of the opportunities offered by the framework in their secondary school teaching. In order to bring this about the supports for change were put into place at the levels of pedagogical design, administrative support and the provision of the required resources and appropriate continuing professional development. The project has sought to create this support structure to ensure maximal benefits of the system for teaching and learning. Such a pedagogical support PF has offered scope for both collaborative and autonomous learning which have brought about value-added teaching and learning effects in the Europe-wide network of schools.peer-reviewe

Awareness support for learning designers in collaborative authoring for adaptive learning

Adaptive learning systems offer students a range of appropriate learning options based on the learners’ characteristics. It is, therefore, necessary for such systems to maintain a hyperspace and knowledge space that consists of a large volume of domain and pedagogical knowledge, learner information, and adaptation rules. As a consequence, for a solitary teacher, developing learning resources would be time consuming and requires the teacher to be an expert of many topics. In this research, the problems of authoring adaptive learning resources are classified into issues concerning interoperability, efficiency, and collaboration.This research particularly addresses the question of how teachers can collaborate in authoring adaptive learning resources and be aware of what has happened in the authoring process. In order to experiment with collaboration, it was necessary to design a collaborative authoring environment for adaptive learning. This was achieved by extending an open sourced authoring tool of IMS Learning Design (IMS LD), ReCourse, to be a prototype of Collaborative ReCourse that includes the workspace awareness information features: Notes and History. It is designed as a tool for asynchronous collaboration for small groups of learning designers. IMS LD supports interoperability and adaptation. Two experiments were conducted. The first experiment was a workspace awareness study in which participants took part in an artificial collaborative scenario. They were divided into 2 groups; one group worked with ReCourse, the other with Collaborative ReCourse. The results provide evidence regarding the advantages of Notes and History for enhancing workspace awareness in collaborative authoring of learning designs.The second study tested the system more thoroughly as the participants had to work toward real goals over a much longer time frame. They were divided into four groups; two groups worked with ReCourse, while the others worked with Collaborative ReCourse. The experiment result showed that authoring of learning designs can be approached with a Process Structure method with implicit coordination and without role assignment. It also provides evidence that collaboration is possible for authoring IMS LD Level A for non-adapting and Level B for adapting materials. Notes and History assist in producing good quality output.This research has several contributions. From the literature study, it presents a comparison analysis of existing authoring tools, as well as learning standards. Furthermore, it presents a collaborative authoring approach for creating learning designs and describes the granularity level on which collaborative authoring for learning designs can be carried out. Finally, experiments using this approach show the advantages of having Notes and History for enhancing workspace awareness that and how they benefit the quality of learning designs

Web-based Courses to Support EFL Learning for Pre-service Teachers: A Thai Pilot Study

In a modern, information rich, economically driven society, Western universities as well as Thai Universities are turning towards the Web to disseminate and retrieve information. Integration of computers to support the learning environment in teaching language is still in its infancy in Thailand. Its implementation changes both the instructional strategy and also the teaching and learning environment. English has been taught as a foreign language for over a century, and plays an important role at all levels of the Thai education system. At higher education levels, English skills are essential components of every pre-service teacher‘s professional education. In order to maximise opportunities for future teachers to develop their English skills, the teaching and learning of these skills has blended with the utilisation of ICT in many developed and developing countries. This paper describes research that developed a computer-supported EFL course as a new learning model for EFL curricula and practice. The context for the study, was the development of a web based course to support pre-service teachers‘ professional knowledge and skills in English, set in a Rajabhat University in Thailand. Results from the multi-method approach used highlighted the possible contribution of ICT use in EFL classroom teaching and learning

Learning Style Preference, Sense of Classroom Community, Gender, Age, and Previous Experience within Computer-Mediated Instruction (CMI)

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences existed in sense of classroom community for computer-mediated instruction (CMI) students in terms of learning style (defined as a preference for independent/individualistic or social/cooperative learning). Differences in sense of social community were investigated, as well as differences in sense of learning community. Differences in sense of classroom community were also investigated in terms of gender, age group, and extent of previous successful CMI experience. In addition, the study sought to identify any differences that existed in learning style preference with respect to gender, age, and previous successful CMI experience. An online survey consisting of 52 questions was provided to a population of 616 students enrolled in 49 CMI courses offered by a rural community college in the southeastern United States. The survey embodied the Learning Preference Survey for Students (LPSS) to measure learning style preference, the Classroom Community Scale (CCS) to quantify perception of social and learning community, and several demographic questions. The 360 useable responses resulted in a 58.4% return rate. To provide a point of triangulation for the quantitative survey and to identify pertinent patterns and themes which might clarify or expand the quantitative data, telephone interviews were conducted with 20 of the survey respondents, ten representing extremely independent learners and ten representing highly social learners, as measured by the LPSS. Using scores from the two subscales of the LPSS, participants were separated into four learning style preference groups: (1) highly independent, low social learners (HILS), (2) highly social, low independent learners (HSLI), (3) learners who expressed strong preference for elements of both learning styles (HIHS), and (4) learners who expressed low preference for elements of both learning styles (LILS). Membership in one of these four learning style preference groups constituted the first independent variable in the study. Other independent variables were gender, age group, and experience with CMI. Dependent variables were sense of social community and sense of learning community from scores on the CCS subscales. Learning style preference scores on the two LPSS subscales also acted as dependent variables in determining their correlations and relationships with age, gender, and previous experience with CMI. The combined results of the quantitative and qualitative methods of this study suggested that not only was there a significant difference in the perception of social community in the CMI environment by learners possessing different learning preferences but, also that the perception was a self-fulfilling phenomenon. These CMI learners perceived the social community which they themselves created by their own actions - actions which developed out of their own personal learning preferences. Quantitative data also revealed no significant difference in perception of learning community among learning style preference groups. Qualitative themes also reinforced satisfaction with the learning taking place and overall satisfaction with CMI by the sample population. Other significant findings were the lack of any indication of gender difference in perception of social community in CMI, and the lack of a female proclivity for social learning. Females in this sample also displayed a significantly higher perception of learning community than their male counterparts. No differences in social or learning community were revealed based on ethnicity or previous experience with CMI, but non-traditional aged students (26+) displayed a significantly higher sense of learning community than traditional aged college students (18-25). However, no direct correlation between age and learning style preference was discovered. Neither was there an indication of any relationship between learning style preference and previous experience with CMI. Themes extracted from the telephone interviews suggested a strong preference for a high degree of structure in the CMI curriculum, copious and timely instructor feedback, and flexibility in assignment due dates