User control and task authenticity for spatial learning in 3D environments

This paper describes two empirical studies which investigated the importance for spatial learning of view control and object manipulation within 3D environments. A 3D virtual chemistry laboratory was used as the research instrument. Subjects, who were university undergraduate students (34 in the first study and 80 in the second study), undertook tasks in the virtual laboratory and were tested on their spatial knowledge through written tests. The results of the study indicate that view control and object manipulation enhance spatial learning but only if the learner undertakes authentic tasks that require this learning. These results have implications for educational designers making a choice between video or animation and interactive 3D technologies. The results are discussed within the framework of Piaget\u27s theories on active learning and Gibson\u27s ecological theory of perception and action

Learning fire investigation the clean way:The virtual experience

&lt;span&gt;The effective teaching of fire investigation skills presents logistical challenges because of the difficulty of providing students with access to suitable fire damaged buildings so that they can undertake authentic investigation tasks. At Charles Sturt University (CSU), in the subject JST415, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Fire Investigation Cause and Origin Determination&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, the novel approach of providing students with a CD based virtual environment based on the scene of a burned down house, as an alternative to having them undertake investigation of a real fire scene, has been implemented. This paper describes a quantitative and qualitative study exploring the effectiveness of this teaching resource. A key finding from this study was that students felt that the virtual fire investigation task had important advantages over undertaking a real investigation task, even though there were some limitations in the overall degree of realism of the experience. The results also suggested that students found that the visual fidelity and navigation capabilities provided within the environment were quite adequate for carrying out their fire investigation activity. Importantly, students also felt that the ability to revisit the virtual scene as many times as they wanted, at a time convenient to them, gave it advantages over a real investigation task if they were to be provided with only one or the other.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</jats:p

How Does Pre-Service Teacher Preparedness to Use ICTs for Learning and Teaching Develop Through Their Degree Program?

It is now well accepted that graduating teachers need the capacity to integrate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in ways which harness their learning affordances and develop students’ digital literacies. However, effective ICT integration in the classroom is challenging because it requires complex application of technological, pedagogical and content knowledge. A key challenge for teacher educators is the provision of learning experiences at university and on professional placement which will allow pre-service teachers to develop these capacities. Understanding the learning process of pre-service teachers in relation to ICT integration is essential if this teacher education challenge is to be addressed. This article reports on a study in which a group of 11 pre-service Primary school teachers were interviewed at stages through their program with a focus on their preparedness to use ICTs in their teaching. The study used a model developed by Taylor (2004), which defines three stages of teacher ICT capacity development (uncritical and accepting, beginning to problematise, and reflection and theorisation), as an analytic lens. Using this model, pre-service teachers were positioned against the stages in the model at six points during their four year program, and factors contributing to their movement through the phases were identified

The interactive whiteboard:A transitional technology supporting diverse teaching practices

&lt;span&gt;This article describes the findings of a qualitative study investigating teacher perspectives on the impact of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) on their classroom teaching practice, using intensive case studies focusing on six primary and secondary teachers from two rural schools. The study found that all teachers were enthusiastic, had seen improvements in student engagement, and were able to develop and evolve their IWB teaching strategies through explicit reflection. However, there was considerable diversity both in the ways in which the IWB was used and in the degree to which teachers changed their classroom teaching practices. Whereas some (Glover and Miller, 2001; Kennewell, 2006) have been critical of IWB adoption without clear pedagogical transformation or without utilisation of all IWB features, we argue that one of the IWB's key benefits is that it can be used initially without requiring a big shift in pedagogy but that it may gradually afford more major pedagogical changes over a longer period of time. These findings are important for the design of professional development in schools because with such a diversity of perceived IWB affordances, effective professional development is more likely to take the form of informal practice sharing than of specific hardware or software training.&lt;/span&gt;</jats:p

From tinkering to systemic change:The potential of educational technologies

&lt;p&gt;We applaud the work in educational technology innovation and research that adds to our understanding of how technologies can improve the teaching and learning experience within well-defined learning systems. However, we also see a potential for critical research around digital technologies in relation to higher education as a system. In this edutorial ee encourage researchers to report on empirical studies or rigorously supported conceptual work that fundamentally reconceptualises teaching in higher education and critically questions existing configurations.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

Making science real:Photo-sharing in biology and chemistry

In this paper, we examine students&#x2019; reflections about the value of two photo-sharing activities that were implemented in undergraduate Biology and Chemistry subjects. Both activities aimed, broadly, to provide support for authentic and meaningful learning experiences in undergraduate science. Although the activities were similar &#x2013; both required students to capture and share images as part of an independent inquiry activity &#x2013; students in the Biology case study were more positive, overall, than the Chemistry students in their evaluation of the activity. In this paper, we examine the findings from the two case studies in parallel to provide insight into our understanding of meaningful learning in undergraduate science. The results suggest that, for meaningful learning to occur, the learning activity needs to be well aligned with students&#x2019; individual learning goals and with the objectives and characteristics of the course. In the two case studies examined in this paper, this alignment was successful for the Biology case study but less successful in the Chemistry case study

The potential of virtual laboratories for distance education science teaching: reflections from the development and evaluation of a virtual chemistry laboratory

A virtual chemistry laboratory has been developed at Charles Sturt University, based on an accurate 3D model of the Wagga Wagga undergraduate teaching laboratory. The initial version of the virtual laboratory has been designed to enable distance education chemistry students to become familiar with the laboratory prior to their residential school. It allows for free exploration and for collecting and assembling items of apparatus. It also allows students to read information about the items of apparatus and about laboratory procedures. This paper describes the current features of the virtual laboratory and discusses the pedagogical rationale for its development. Results from questionnaires completed by pilot testers and by the first group of students who used it as part of their laboratory orientation are included. The results of tests comparing the laboratory familiarity of students who used the virtual laboratory with those who viewed equivalent still images are also presented. The paper concludes with a description of features to be added during the next stage of development, which will include the ability for students to undertake virtual experiments while exploring concepts using macroscopic, molecular and symbolic representations

Recent Developments in Technology-Enhanced Learning: A Critical Assessment

Producción CientíficaOur societies are considered knowledge societies in which lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important. At the same time, digital technologies are entering almost every aspect of our lives and now play an important role in education. The last decade has seen numerous new developments in the field of technology-enhanced learning. In 2004, George Siemens presented connectivism as a learning theory for the digital age. His ideas inspired the creation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which have recently received a great deal of attention. Theoretical works on the use of digital devices for learning have focused on the affordances users perceive in these devices. Design research has also shown us that learning environments enriched by digital technologies are extremely complex and should be viewed as learning ecologies. The discussions on connectivism and MOOCs, affordances of digital devices, and design research have taken place in different discourses that have paid hardly any attention to each other. It is important to point out, however, that the developments in technology-enhanced learning not only can but need to be related to each other.Nuestras sociedades son consideradas sociedades del conocimiento, donde el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida obtiene cada vez más importancia. Al mismo tiempo, las tecnologías digitales forman parte de casi todos los aspectos de nuestra vida y juegan un papel importante en la educación. En la última década se han visto numerosos avances en el ámbito del aprendizaje enriquecido por la tecnología. En 2004, George Siemens presentó el conectivismo como teoría del aprendizaje para la era digital. Sus ideas inspiraron la creación de cursos online masivos abiertos (MOOCs), que han sido objeto de gran atención recientemente. La literatura científica relacionada con el uso de dispositivos digitales para el aprendizaje se ha centrado en las potencialidades que los usuarios perciben de estos dispositivos. La investigación del diseño también nos ha mostrado que los entornos de aprendizaje enriquecidos por la tecnología son complejos y deben ser vistos como ecologías de aprendizaje. Las discusiones sobre conectivismo y MOOCs, las potencialidades de los dispositivos digitales y la investigación del diseño han aparecido en diferentes discursos observados de manera aislada. En este sentido, es importante señalar que los avances en el aprendizaje enriquecido por la tecnología no solo pueden sino que deben mostrarse relacionados entre sí

What factors contribute to students’ confidence in chemistry laboratory sessions and does preparation in a virtual laboratory help?

Many undergraduate students studying chemistry subjects at Charles Sturt University (CSU) do so by Distance Education (DE). CSU has been offering subjects in chemistry in distance mode for more than 20 years. One of the greatest problems that confronts us, and others (Hollingworth and McLoughlin 2001; Kennepohl and Last 2000) in providing DE subjects is how to adequately address the teaching of a laboratory component. The practical work for CSU DE chemistry subjects is completed at intensive three or four day residential schools. Thus, DE students have only a few days to face the challenges that are spread out over many weeks for on-campus students. Providing a quality laboratory experience for these students within that short period and within the constraints of our resources is the subject of ongoing review at CSU. Problems associated with high stress and information overload for the laboratory component in DE had been noted anecdotally and in the literature (e.g., Loonat 1996). Adequately preparing DE students for residential school is a difficult task. One strategy we have adopted to help prepare DE students has been the provision on CD-ROM of a 3D virtual laboratory, which is an accurate representation of the teaching laboratories. In a paper at last year’s UniServe Symposium (Dalgarno, Bishop and Bedgood 2003), we hypothesised that as a pre-laboratory familiarisation tool, the virtual laboratory would include the following potential benefits: • students would feel more relaxed and comfortable in the laboratory; • less laboratory time would be wasted looking for items of apparatus; • students would be more likely to assemble and use apparatus in the correct way leading to more meaningful experimental results; and • students could devote more of their attention to the chemistry concepts involved in the experiments because they would already be familiar with the procedural aspects of the task (p. 91). This paper presents the results of a qualitative and quantitative study of the laboratory experience of DE students in first year chemistry subjects which provides initial tests of these hypotheses, as well as expanding our understanding of factors involved with the student experience of laboratory