Online communication and information technology education

Blended Learning, a learning facilitation that incorporates different modes of delivery, models of teaching, and learning styles, introduces multiple media to the dialog between the learner and the facilitator. This paper examines online communication as the link between established theory of learning and literature on e-learning in order to better understand the appropriate use of blended learning in an actual Information Technology course. First, previously defined theoretical constructs that utilize communication as a facilitator for learning are considered. Then, using the Interpretivist standpoint, we examine data gathered from focus groups and interviews to gauge the experience of staff and students who were participants in a Blended Learning course. There are four previously defined theoretical constructs of greatest relevance to blended learning. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development highlights the importance of communication with capable peers who can provide stimuli and feedback to a learning individual. Wegner’s Communities of Practice are groups of individuals who share a common practice interest and rely on a dialogue to facilitate learning. Laurillard’s Conversational Framework includes a pragmatic 12- step model that teachers can use to structure their learning facilitation. Finally, Salmon’s EModeration considers five stages of online communication in terms of how the moderator might facilitate dialogue among learners. These four theoretical models form the basis for understanding the implementation of blended learning discussed here. The course studied was a part-time Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology (IT), delivered using Blended Learning. Students were required to attend one evening per week and make substantial use of Web based learning over a period of five years. Students were mature, some already working in the IT field. Forty students in a first cohort and eighteen students in a second cohort were studied during the first year of their course. While students in the first cohort who succeeded in the course often found the discussion boards to be of considerable value in discussing assignments and sharing learning, the boards also could discourage those with less technical backgrounds. There is data to suggest that a high rate of dropouts and failures among the first cohort after just one year may have been influenced by discouragement felt by those who could not keep up with the technical level of the discussion board posts. As a result of this data, for the second cohort, the number of online communications was reduced to one assessed online discussion that was closely monitored. As a result, discussions were more on-topic; however students reported significantly less sense of community. Again, a high dropout rate resulted. Our results suggest that communication is both a challenge and an enabler for facilitating a successful blended learning course. Blended learning is not simply a matter of the combination of face-to-face and online instruction, but it has to have elements of social interaction. It appears to be important to allow students to bond together and to socialize. Knowing each other eases the communication barriers and reduces the fear of posting messages into an open forum. At its best, online communication can provide study help, social interaction, and a sense of community. We have evidence that when students are required more frequently to cooperate online, they share a common problem and on some level create their own “problem solving” community. However, our data from the first cohort indicates that unguided communication of a Community of Practice can lead to undesirable effects. At the same time, our data from the second cohort indicates that a very structured approach is also undesirable. The ideal situation, it seems, is somewhere in the middle. However, the middle is not easily defined. Because the community depends on the individuals who are the main components of it, it is difficult to predict how the same environment would influence different individuals or different cohorts. Thus, the ultimate responsibility is on the lecturer to listen to the students and engage in continuous dialogue

Design and evaluation of two blended learning approaches: Lessons learned

In this paper, we share two blended learning approaches used at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. We have been using these two approaches in the last twelve years in many courses ranging from the diploma to graduate programs. For the first blended learning approach, we integrated one asynchronous communication tool with face to face tutorials, classroom discussions, and a reflection session. For the second blended learning approach, we integrated two asynchronous tools with face to face tutorials in a course. We discuss the theoretical foundation of the two blended learning approaches. In addition, we share insights from these two blended learning approaches, based on the students' data (online postings, questionnaires, reflection logs, and interviews), as well as our own reflections. Finally, we describe and discuss several important lessons learned that could inform the design of future instructional strategies in implementing blended learning in university teaching and learning settings.published_or_final_versio

Trainee Teachers’ e-Skills, Participation and Views of e-blended Lessons: The Case of a Master of Arts Teacher Education Course

This case study aimed to explore English Language Trainee teachers’ e-skills, participation and views to locally developed e-blended lessons of a postgraduate Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course in an Ethiopian University. To do this, the teacher-researcher made a pre-course observation of the thirteen participants’ e-skills, conducted two sessions of post-course focus group discussions with nine randomly selected participants and analyzed the digital log data of all the participants of the course. The data from participant observation and focus group discussions were analyzed qualitatively while the digital log data was analyzed using frequency count and mean.  Hence, the study revealed that despite the variations in the sub-skills observed ten of the participants had the required e-skills at the start and most of them favored the approach of learning. However, some of them were also discontented by their limed access to computers and internet connection when they were off-campus.  The result also showed that the students viewed and posted on all the 19 online activities of the course an average of 59.58. This shows their level of participation in the e-blended activities. Therefore, teacher trainers should consider using e-blended learning in their teacher education courses. Key terms: e-blended, participation, trainee-teachers, views DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-07-04 Publication date:March 31st 2021

Aiding Participation and Engagement in a Blended Learning Environment

This research was conducted as a field experiment that explored the potential benefits of anchoring in asynchronous online discussions for business statistics classes required for information systems majors. These classes are usually taught using traditional methods with emphasis on lecturing, knowledge reproduction, and treatment of students as dependent learners. Course activities are typically centered on the teacher as the source of all knowledge and understanding. Moreover, student interactions are often limited to face-to-face meetings in the classroom, where students have exerted little effort towards engaging themselves. Online discussions show promise for improving students’ learning in business statistics classes. We examined and compared the impact of anchored asynchronous online discussions (AAODs) and standard asynchronous online discussions (AODs) on students’ participation and engagement in a blended learning environment. The findings show that AAODs facilitated more and better quality participation and engagement for undergraduates. AAODs were more likely to be perceived as helping increase students’ efforts. The findings provide useful insights for improving student interaction and aiding learning

Online vs. face-to-face discussions in a web-based research methods course for postgraduate nursing students : A quasi-experimental study

Background: Web-based technologies are increasingly being used to create modes of online learning for nurses but their effect has not been assessed in nurse education. Objectives: Assess whether participation in face-to-face discussion seminars or online asynchronous discussion groups had different effects on educational attainment in a webbased course. Design: Non-randomised or quasi-experimental design with two groups – students choosing to have face-to-face discussion seminars and students choosing to have online discussions. Setting: The Core Methods module of a postgraduate research methods course. Participants: All 114 students participating in the first 2 years during which the course teaching material was delivered online. Outcome: Assignment mark for Core Methods course module. Methods: Background details of the students, their choices of modules and assignment marks were collected as part of the routine course administration. Students’ online activities were identified using the student tracking facility within WebCT. Regression models were fitted to explore the association between available explanatory variables and assignment mark. Results: Students choosing online discussions had a higher Core Methods assignment mark (mean 60.8/100) than students choosing face-to-face discussions (54.4); the difference was statistically significant (t = 3.13, df = 102, p = 0.002), although this ignores confounding variables. Among online discussion students, assignment mark was significantly correlated with the numbers of discussion messages read (Kendall’s taub = 0.22, p = 0.050) and posted (Kendall’s taub = 0.27, p = 0.017); among face-to-face discussion students, it was significantly associated with the number of non-discussion hits in WebCT (Kendall’s taub = 0.19, p = 0.036). In regression analysis, choice of discussion method, whether an MPhil/PhD student, number of non-discussion hits in WebCT, number of online discussion messages read and number posted were associated with assignment mark at the 5% level of significance when taken singly; in combination, only whether an MPhil/PhD student (p = 0.024) and number of non-discussion hits (p = 0.045) retained significance. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a research methods course can be delivered to postgraduate healthcare students at least as successfully by an entirely online method in which students participate in online discussion as by a blended method in which students accessing web-based teaching material attend face-to-face seminar discussions. Increased online activity was associated with higher assignment marks. The study highlights new opportunities for educational research that arise from the use of virtual learning environments that routinely record the activities of learners and tutors

Global Blended Learning Practices For Teaching And Learning, Leadership, And Professional Development

Blended Learning is a combination of online and face-to-face activities for classroom instruction or other training modalities to help develop new knowledge and skills that can be transferred to the workplace environment. The use of blended learning is expanding globally (Vaughn, 2007).  Blended learning is evident in professional development training and general classroom offerings for a number of educational programs across disciplines in global communities.  With the limitation of funding and time constraints, more professional development training organizations, programs in departments and units at universities and colleges are infusing blended learning as another educational tool to use in the delivery of instructional and managerial services.  Blended learning is a fast growing trend in traditional institutions in higher education and other organizations.    An Online Learning Survey revealed that blended learning was expanding globally to the growth rate 46% or higher per year.  Once organizational facilitators and instructional faculty members at the university and college become comfortable with blended learning applications, they are usually highly motivated to explore further new and improved ways of using blended learning for instructional services or managerial training activities (Allen, Seaman  & Garrett, 2007). Students, leaders, faculty members, and staff in various teaching and learning venues use blended learning practices. The leadership development training process continues after face-to-face activity participation with the support of blending learning technology.  Many university and college leadership programs using blended learning include at least three dimensions for students such as awareness of concepts, definition and procedures/policy, understanding of measurable skills and knowledge.  The role of technology today using blended learning has broad implications for the student or learner. The online tools available in blended courses can also significantly enhance student engagement, ensuring that all students and learners participate in course discussions and benefit from collaborative learning (NGLC, 2012).  This study will discuss a guiding definition for blended learning, benefits, team support, policy, management issues, rationale for expansion, professional development, purchasing, funding, evaluation, and lenses of the future and implications

Fostering Emerging Online Learner Persistence In Teacher Candidates: The Role Of Online Discussions

As the popularity of online learning continues to grow, so do concerns about online student success. This study aims to contribute to the continuous improvement of online learning and improve outcomes for a distinct group of online learners. Utilizing social presence, the expectancy-value theory of motivation, and capitalizing on innovative technologies, I advance a new framework that expands online discussions for emerging online learners, undergraduates enrolled in online and on-campus courses, and the predominant consumer of online courses. The emerging online learners in this study were also prospective teachers (n=80) enrolled in a teacher preparation course at a small midwestern liberal arts college. The teacher candidates participated in two different online discussions using multimodal asynchronous and synchronous technologies and then completed a questionnaire with both Likert scale and open-ended items about their experiences. The results validate this novel framework for this group of teacher candidates and demonstrate (1) both types of discussions tend to support social presence, (2) outside of the factor of convenience; students value synchronous discussions over asynchronous discussions for the connection with peers that supports their learning, and (3) there are positive associations between social presence and values. The recommendations I share call for teacher educators to use a blended model of online discussion design that includes both asynchronous and synchronous opportunities. While the results of this study may not be generalizable in the traditional sense, they do have implications for the design of online discussions in other fields

The Development of Lesson Plan Using Blended Learning Model at The University of Billfath

This research is to redesign the Lesson Plan Bahasa Inggris II (English for Chemistry) by using Blended Learning (BL). The purpose of this study is (1) presenting the Blended Learning (BL) learning development process; (2) integrating face-to-face (F2) learning methods with online learning models; and (3) testing the effectiveness of blended learning (BL) in Chemical Education Study Program University of Billfath. The research design used is research and development (R & D) by applying the Addie model with five stages: (1) analyze phase; (2) Design (Design); (3) Development; (4) Implementation; (5) and evaluation (evaluation). The object of the research was the English language course II carried out in the even semester in the Chemical Education Study Program in the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Billfath. There are two methods in covering blended learning material as outlined in the lesson plan. The expert validity test showed the results, 96% from Lesson Plan experts, LMS expert 85%, 88,2% from English material experts, and 86,7% from Chemistry experts, while 93,2% from learning media experts, and all of them fall into the valid category. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that 78,54 % this learning gets a valid category from the observer. The implementation of a lesson plan with a blended learning model provides convenience in the learning process. Students have enough time to learn English anytime anywhere with online learning methods and conduct more intensive discussions in face-to-face meeting

The effectiveness of blended learning on plant development structure lectures

The changes in college curriculum that refers to the Indonesian National Qualifications Framework has consequences on curriculum changes in the Biology Education Study Program of Universitas PGRI Semarang, so that there are adjustments in the course of Plant Anatomy which were initially 2 SKS and Plant Morphology which was initially 2 SKS into one course, Plant Development Structure, with the weight of 3 SKS, so that effective learning is needed by blended learning. Based on this background, the purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of blanded learning in Plant Development Structure courses. The learning design uses a combination of face to face methods with offline teaching materials using flipbooks, online discussions with Facebook groups and e-assessment using proprofs software. This research method is pre-experiment with the design of the One Group Pretest Posttest. The results of the pretest obtained an average value of 41.84, while the posttest results obtained an average value of 70.97 and the results of the t-test showed that there were significant differences. In the questionnaire results obtained data as many as 43% of students like blanded learning; 57% of students stated the advantage of using online discussion was to get direct experience as a teacher candidate using social media as a learning medium; 57% of students stated that offline teaching materials can balance the right and left brains; and 60% of students said by e-assessment to get the correct feedback directly. The conclusion is blanded learning that combines face to face, online discussions, offline teaching materials, and e-assessment, and effective blanded learning for Plant Development Structure lectures

Factors Affecting Student Satisfaction In Different Learning Deliveries

This study addressed the relationship between student satisfaction and four interaction variables--student-content, student-instructor, student-student, and student-technology--in online, blended, and traditional learning settings. Demographics, previous experience with the Internet, and discussion-board applications were also investigated. There were 916 respondents, including 185 in online settings, 90 in blended settings, and 641 in traditional settings, to Strachota\u27s (2002) Online Satisfaction Survey. Participants took the survey either in an on-site classroom (traditional learning) or through e-mail, website link, or the Blackboard course management system (online setting). Participants in the blended setting could choose between completing the survey on-site or online, but were asked to respond only once. Distance learners were less satisfied with their interactions with content, instructors, and other students than were traditional learners, but more satisfied with technology. Technology orientation sessions and more interactive online programs, such as leading discussions, participating in a learning community, and receiving timely and detailed feedback, should be developed for quality interaction and satisfaction with instructors and learners in a virtual environment. What learners\u27 and instructors\u27 perspectives are and what content is optimal for learner satisfaction should be studied further. Future research could also determine which populations or characteristics are associated with difficulty in using computer technology and which instructional substitutions could be made for future technology novices to improve their satisfaction and completion. Blended learning with well-designed content and orientations has proven to be a good solution for improving student satisfaction with interaction in virtual environments. More research on student satisfaction with interactive variables should be conducted to enhance retention and performance