Are Visual Informatics Actually Useful in Practice: A Study in a Film Studies Context

This paper describes our work in examining the question of whether providing a visual informatics application in an educational scenario, in particular, providing video content analysis, does actually yield real benefit in practice. We provide a new software tool in the domain of movie content analysis technologies for use by students of film studies students at Dublin City University, and we try to address the research question of measuring the ‘benefit’ from the use of these technologies to students. We examine their real practices in studying for the module using our advanced application as compared to using conventional DVD browsing of movie content. In carrying out this experiment, we found that students have better essay outcomes, higher satisfactions levels and the mean time spent on movie analyzing is longer with the new technologies

Online teacher development: collaborating in a virtual learning environment

Over recent years educational institutions have been making increasing use of virtual environments to set up collaborative activities for learners. While it is recognized that teachers play an important role in facilitating learner collaboration online they may not have the necessary skills to do so successfully. Thus, a small scale professional development programme was set up and piloted by two distance universities. The aims were to develop teachers’ experience of online group work; to trial a set of pilot activities which would raise awareness of factors contributing to successful collaborative online activity; and to identify professional development needs in this area. This article reports on the hands-on experience of a group of 20 teachers, examines some of the competences that are needed to successfully collaborate in virtual environments, and presents the skills that teachers need to foster online collaborative learning in the virtual classroom. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected, examining the levels of participation among participants, the collaborative activity of two groups, and teacher perception of the collaboration which took place. The skills identified include planning and managing the collaboration, designing appropriate activities, giving clear instructions and getting students to negotiate ground rules for participation, moderating at the right level, and choosing the right environment and the appropriate tool(s). While this study was carried out with language teachers, many of the findings are applicable to other subject areas where growing emphasis is placed on the development of collaborative skills

e-Calculus at IZTECH

1st International Conference on Technologies for E-Learning and Digital Entertainment, Edutainment 2006; Hangzhou; China; 16 April 2006 through 19 April 2006In today's new economy, characterized by industrial revolutions, globalization and information technology changes traditional classroom and teaching methods. Calculus is the basic course for the fresher at university. Mathematics has a negative development at universities and colleges. The number of students taking mathematics courses and those successfully passing the exams are rapidly decreasing. To overturn this negative development, it may be necessary to teach in a different way. This is where new technology could play an important role. We create a web browser environment by using the webMathematica, which is a new technology based on Java Server Page, Tomcat and Mathematica, in learning calculus. The modules consist of topic modules linked with case study modules, to help learn calculus and see it in context. The aim of our project is to use new technology to present mathematics on the web, and create a pilot course for students and teachers available free on the web. The heart of our approach is the development of mathematical power: understanding, using, and appreciating mathematics. Students can reach any documents for calculus and solve their problems with webMathematica to check whether their results are correct or not. It is possible to reach our page at the following URL address: http://galois.iyte.edu.tr/calculus