Wiki uses in higher education: exploring barriers to successful implementation

E-learning 2.0 is expected to address some of the problems which characterized the first generation of E-learning implementations. Wikis are among the most promising E-learning 2.0 tools because they require active student engagement which facilitates constructivist learning. The present article focuses on the use of wikis in a university education and examines the student perspectives related to this use. Thirty-eight students participated in a study which aimed to examine students' difficulties with a wiki implementation in an undergraduate course. By drawing on qualitative data, seven major types of problems that the students experienced with the wiki task were identified. It is argued that the reason why the students lacked the knowledge and skills to deal with the wiki assignment is because they were accustomed to traditional practices. The article is concluded with a discussion of how traditional practices and the associated learning epistemologies are incompatible with the wiki requirements which are more constructivist in nature

Wikibooks as tools for promoting constructivist learning in higher education: Findings from a case study

The present paper focuses on wiki-related pedagogies in higher education and examines the potential of wikibooks in a blended learning context. A wikibook was integrated as a compulsory class assignment in an undergraduate course in a preschool education department. Twenty seven students participated in the study which investigated (a) the extent of student participation in the wikibook and (b) students' perspectives on the contribution of the wikibook to their learning. In stark contrast to findings reported by other studies, results indicated that the rate of student participation was very high as suggested by indices such as page views, page edits, and number of students involved per page edit. Moreover, the students rated positively wikibooks' contribution to the learning of the course concepts and the active mode of learning required. However, the students also mentioned significant problems with the wikibook activity such as difficulty understanding certain sections and concerns with the validity of their writings. The paper is concluded with a discussion of the findings and implications for further research. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Integrating Web 2.0 technologies in undergraduate teaching: Experiences with a wiki implementation

The present paper presents our experiences with a wiki implementation in undergraduate education. More specifically, the paper address the issue of collaboration in the process of hypertext creation and examines the rate and dominant patterns of student collaboration. Fifty students who enrolled in an undergraduate course on learning with ICT participated in the study. One of the compulsory assignments involved the use of a wiki system for the collaborative construction of a textual artifact which aimed to facilitate the shared development of meaning. Student collaboration was operationalized in terms of joint revisions. Results indicated that the levels of student collaboration were low and that in the few instances of joint revision the predominant pattern was a cumulative one. The paper is concluded with a discussion of the importance of scaffolds for the effective integration of wikis in higher education. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Harnessing the power of gamification: A case study of how it reconfigures the activity system of an undergraduate course

The chapter examines the effect of integrating gamification in the activity system of an undergraduate course. Activity theory is used as a framework in order to investigate the anchoring of gamification as a second-order mediation for improving student engagement in the course Wiki. The chapter examines the main gamification patterns that emerged, documents how gamification mitigated persistent problems of student participation in the Wiki, and analyzes how the activity system was reconfigured through the study of new tensions. The work is concluded with a discussion of how gamification can be integrated in an activity system so as to capitalize on its potential. © 2021, IGI Global

Activity Theory as a conceptual framework for understanding teacher approaches to Information and Communication Technologies

While the issue of teachers' perspectives on the barriers to technology use has received considerable attention, teacher concerns have not been studied in a systematic and holistic way. The present paper examines teacher concerns regarding a proposed technology-based innovation using Activity Theory as a theoretical framework. Fifty-one teachers participated in an inservice blended learning course in which a real-life Computer Supported Collaborative Learning example was presented and subsequently discussed in the online forum. The teachers were asked under which conditions they thought Computer Supported Collaborative Learning could be incorporated into their daily practices. Teacher concerns were identified through their online posts. Time and curriculum constraints were reported by teachers as the main obstacles to the proposed technological innovation. The examination of these obstacles using Activity Theory helped to identify three major contradictions in teachers' activity system: (a) within the object of activity, (b) between the mediational means and the object of activity and (c) between the current and the proposed object. These contradictions are discussed from the perspective of Activity Theory and their implications for the design and implementation of technology are drawn. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

An exploration of the role of feedback on optimizing teachers' game designs

Engaging learning experts in serious game design is one way of bridging the game design - educational design gap. This engagement is expected to lead to game designs of high educational value. However, conceptualizing how to involve experts in game design is still in very early stages. To address this issue, we examined the educational value of 24 serious game designs made by pre-service teachers. The findings suggest that, even after substantial support, the majority of the designs were found to be insufficient. The paper is concluded with a discussion of the findings and recommendations for further work. © 2015, IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved

Engaging Students During Synchronous Video-Conferencing in COVID19 Times: Preliminary Findings from a Design Study

This paper explores student engagement in an undergraduate course during the pandemic-induced emergency remote teaching in the spring of 2020. Fifty preschool education students participated in a course in which synchronous video-conferencing was used. The design study that is outlined in this work focuses on the effect of an instructional approach on the rate and patterns of student engagement. The instructional approach involved questioning in multiple communication channels, chief among which was the chat. The findings indicate that despite the principled design, student engagement varied considerably. A small group of students were very active, systematically participating in the chat and answering all quizzes. Still, the large majority of students exhibited lower engagement rates as they reacted to a few posts on the chat and failed to participate in many of the quizzes assigned. Overall, the study results suggest that the patterns of student engagement identified in the study tend to approximate the ones that characterize face-to-face settings. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Exploring the mechanisms through which computers contribute to learning

Even though it has been established that the incorporation of computers into the teaching and learning process enhances student performance, the underlying mechanisms through which this is accomplished have been largely unexplored. The present study aims to shed light on this issue. Two groups of 10 secondary school students were tutored by their geography teacher in how to solve correlational problems. Students in the one group used paper and pencil while students in the other group used a computer spreadsheet. All tutorials were videotaped, transcribed verbatim, and subsequently all transcripts were segmented and coded. The mean frequencies for teacher and student behaviours between the two conditions were then compared. Results indicated that teacher behaviour in the two conditions differed in terms of error feedback, factual and conceptual questions asked, regulation of students, and task management. Regarding student behaviours, the findings showed that the two conditions differed in terms of task engagement, goal setting, and explanations given. On the basis of these findings the issue of mechanisms is discussed and three main implications for the teaching and learning practice are drawn

Considering visual cueing and practice type for software training’s optimisation: a study of domain experts

Purpose: Software training is a new trend in software applications. A key problem with software training is that video tutorials are developed without considering the target audience. Although video tutorials are popular, little attention is given to their design features. This study aims to investigate how two multimedia research principles, visual cueing (VC) and practice type, influence task performance, mental effort and motivation. Design/methodology/approach: Three video tutorials on non-linear editing were viewed by 118 Computer Science undergraduate students with high information communication technology experience. To analyse the relationships between the research variables, a 2 (non-VC versus VC) × 2 (post-video viewing practice versus stepwise viewing-based practice (SVBP) mixed factorial design was used. Findings: The results indicated that neither VC nor SVBP influenced task performance; however, both practice type conditions led to higher levels of motivation. Research limitations/implications: The incorporation of VC and practice type in complex software training is less likely to be beneficial for domain experts. Future studies should record eye tracking data to capture learners’ behaviours whilst learning a software application. Moreover, practice targeted with immediate feedback should be incorporated as it enhances scaffolding. Practical implications: Neither practice type was considered effective by experts. A practice strategy with user-controlled pausing (i.e. markers) could enhance retention by allowing users to practice tasks after locating the most relevant parts of the video tutorial. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature by investigating two guidelines: VC and practice type in the context of complex software training targeting domain experts. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited