Down the Rabbit Hole: An initial typology of issues around the development of MOOCs

MOOCs have experienced an unprecedented explosion of publicity. This publicity indicates both optimism that they may be the panacea for whatever ails higher education, as well as caution and trepidation that this may in-fact be some sort of new fad in higher education. In this wave of optimism, and subsequent wave of pessimism, we believe that there is something good to examine about MOOCs and that they do hold potential for certain educational arenas. That said, we don’t want to blindly dive into the MOOC optimism camp. We have critically examined the literature, from both academic peer-reviewed and academic press lenses, from 2011 to early 2014 so as to discover and discuss the main areas of challenges and issues with MOOCs. These challenges span the spectrum from pre-offering to post-conclusion of a MOOC. Our aim was to provide an initial typology of issues around MOOCs design and implementation so that we can keep them in mind as MOOCs are designed and offered, and we can begin to address some of the issues

Quality Management of Learning Management Systems: A User Experience Perspective

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have been the main vehicle for delivering and managing e-learning courses in educational, business, governmental and vocational learning settings. Since the mid-nineties there is a plethora of LMS in the market with a vast array of features. The increasing complexity of these platforms makes LMS evaluation a hard and demanding process that requires a lot of knowledge, time, and effort. Nearly 50% of respondents in recent surveys have indicated they seek to change their existing LMS primarily due to user experience issues. Yet the vast majority of the extant literature focuses only on LMS capabilities in relation to administration and management of teaching and learning processes. In this study the authors try to build a conceptual framework and evaluation model of LMS through the lens of User Experience (UX) research and practice, an epistemology that is quite important but currently neglected in the e-learning domain. They conducted an online survey with 446 learning professionals, and from the results, developed a new UX-oriented evaluation model with four dimensions: pragmatic quality, authentic learning, motivation and engagement, and autonomy and relatedness. Their discussion on findings includes some ideas for future research

Social Media in Greek K-12 education: A research model that explores teachers’ behavioral intention

During the last decade we have witnessed a rapid growth of Web 2.0 technologies and especially the so-called online social media. Many people, from every age group but especially teenagers, participate in online communities, making new friends and exhibiting themselves and their interests in a huge international audience. It is extremely important for educational practitioners and researchers to successfully incorporate the dynamics of web 2.0 and social media in their practices. This is especially true for the teachers of K-12 education. The main aim of this study is to examine the factors that may affect teachers’ behavioral intention to use social media in their classes. Very little is known from teachers’ perspective and empirical work isvery limited, especially from Southern European countries. This research was setup inorder to develop and test a seven-factor model to explain the Greek teachers’behavioral intention to use social media in their classes. Findings reveal thatExperience, Perceived Usefulness and Trialability have a significant impact whileSubjective Norms and Perceived Ease of Use have a more weak impact on teacher’s behavioral intention.During the last decade we have witnessed a rapid growth of Web 2.0 technologies and especially the so-called online social media. Many people, from every age group but especially teenagers, participate in online communities, making new friends and exhibiting themselves and their interests in a huge international audience. It is extremely important for educational practitioners and researchers to successfully incorporate the dynamics of web 2.0 and social media in their practices. This is especially true for the teachers of K-12 education. The main aim of this study is to examine the factors that may affect teachers’ behavioral intention to use social media in their classes. Very little is known from teachers’ perspective and empirical work is very limited, especially from Southern European countries. This research was setup in order to develop and test a seven-factor model to explain the Greek teachers’ behavioral intention to use social media in their classes. Findings reveal that Experience, Perceived Usefulness and Trialability have a significant impact while Subjective Norms and Perceived Ease of Use have a more weak impact on teacher’s behavioral intention

A Usability Evaluation Method for E-Learning Courses

This thesis researches issues related to the quality of e-learning. More particularly the motivation of this research is the lack of a) systematic examination and evaluation of e-learning quality with emphasis on e-learning courses’ design and b) the insufficiencies of current usability evaluation methods to consider the needs of users as learners, as identified through a review of extant literature. This thesis argues that the first problem arises because effective pedagogical considerations are not reflected in e-learning design and usability methods are not usually incorporated into e-learning development lifecycle. Very little quality control has been going into the design of e-learning courses. The second problem arises because researchers and practitioners in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) have paid little, if any, attention to the latest developments in educational psychology and instructional design fields. The research hypothesis underlying this thesis is that it is possible to develop a usability evaluation method as a quality evaluation method for e-learning courses that is based upon a conceptual framework that addresses the needs of computer users who are at the same time learners. To achieve the main aim of this research the following objectives were set: a) to critically review the assumptions and instructional principles of the main learning theories that may affect quality of e-learning design, b) to study the meaning, applicability and the current states of application of Human-Centered Design methods and usability in e-learning design, c) to formulate a conceptual framework that address the user as a learner and implements a more holistic approach integrating cognitive and affective characteristics, d) to develop a usability evaluation method according to the conceptual framework, thus extending current practice by examining relationships between cognitive characteristics (usability attributes) and learners’ affective responses (the focus is on intrinsic motivation to learn) and e) to empirically test and validate the proposed usability evaluation method according to the premises of well recognized methodologies for development of usability evaluation methods. The final outcome of this research is a questionnaire-based usability evaluation method that addresses the double persona of learner-user and measures learners’ affective responses along with e-learning usability attributes. A variety of research methods were used in order to meet the research objectives. First, an extensive review of usability studies in e-learning contexts was conducted in order to identify the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of usability evaluation methods and specificities of e-learning design. Then a thorough examination of the literature relating to web usability and instructional design was performed in order to develop a conceptual framework that addresses the needs of the user as a learner. A set of candidate usability attributes that may influence motivation to learn was derived. The framework was used as a basis to develop a usability evaluation method for e-learning courses. Additionally, two large empirical studies were conducted using existing e-learning courses in authentic environments, with real learners-employees in corporate settings. The focus was on empirical assessment of the reliability and validity of the method. Results provide significant evidence for reliability and validity of the method verifying the conceptual framework that calls for a holistic view. The main outcomes of the thesis are the new questionnaire-based usability evaluation method that proposes motivation to learn as a new type of usability measurement for e-learning courses and the conceptual framework that addresses the user as a learner. This research contributes to current thinking in the fields of Human Computer Interaction and Instructional Design as these are and can be further applied to the multidisciplinary field of e-learningΗ παρούσα διατριβή ερευνά θέματα που αφορούν την ποιότητα της ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης. Πιο συγκεκριμένα τα βασικά κίνητρα για τη διεξαγωγή της έρευνας αυτής αφορούν α) στην έλλειψη της συστηματικής εξέτασης και αξιολόγησης της ποιότητας της ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης με έμφαση στο σχεδιασμό ηλεκτρονικών μαθημάτων (περιεχόμενο είναι ένας άλλος συναφής όρος) και β) την ανεπάρκεια των υπαρχόντων τεχνικών αξιολόγησης ευχρηστίας να αντιμετωπίσουν τις ιδιαίτερες ανάγκες των χρηστών που είναι παράλληλα και εκπαιδευόμενοι μέσω ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης. Στη διατριβή αυτή υποστηρίζεται ότι το πρώτο πρόβλημα προκύπτει λόγω του ότι αφενός οι αποτελεσματικές παιδαγωγικές πρακτικές και θεωρήσεις δεν αντανακλώνται στο σχεδιασμό της ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης και αφετέρου η εφαρμογή μεθόδων αξιολόγησης ευχρηστίας δεν συμπεριλαμβάνεται στον κύκλο ανάπτυξης συστημάτων ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης. Μέχρι σήμερα λίγη προσοχή έχει δοθεί στον έλεγχο της ποιότητας του σχεδιασμού ηλεκτρονικών μαθημάτων. Το δεύτερο πρόβλημα προκύπτει λόγω του ότι οι ερευνητές του χώρου της Αλληλεπίδρασης Ανθρώπου-Υπολογιστή δεν έχουν δώσει την κατάλληλη προσοχή στις τελευταίες εξελίξεις στο χώρο της εκπαιδευτικής ψυχολογίας και του εκπαιδευτικού σχεδιασμού. Η ερευνητική υπόθεση που διατρέχει την παρούσα διατριβή διατυπώνεται ως εξής: είναι πιθανή η ανάπτυξη τεχνικής αξιολόγησης ευχρηστίας ως μεθόδου αξιολόγησης της ποιότητας για ηλεκτρονικά μαθήματα, η οποία βασίζεται σε ένα εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο που αντιμετωπίζει τους χρήστες ενός υπολογιστή ως χρήστες που είναι ταυτόχρονα και εκπαιδευόμενοι. Για να επιτευχθεί ο βασικός σκοπός της έρευνας, τέθηκαν οι ακόλουθοι ερευνητικοί στόχοι: α) να εξεταστούν οι βασικές παραδοχές και αρχές των θεωριών μάθησης που ενδέχεται να επηρεάζουν την ποιότητα σχεδιασμού ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης, β) να εξεταστεί η έννοια, η εφαρμοσιμότητα και γενικότερα η υπάρχουσα κατάσταση των Ανθρωπο-κεντρικών μεθόδων σχεδιασμού και ευχρηστίας στο πλαίσιο της ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης, γ) να διατυπωθεί ένα εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο για την αξιολόγηση της ευχρηστίας που θα αντιμετωπίζει το χρήστη ως εκπαιδευόμενο, υιοθετώντας μια ολιστική προσέγγιση που εξετάζει τόσο γνωστικούς όσο και συναισθηματικούς παράγοντες, δ) να αναπτύξει μια τεχνική αξιολόγησης ευχρηστίας βασισμένη πάνω στο εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο, η οποία θα επεκτείνει την υπάρχουσα πρακτική εξετάζοντας σχέσεις ανάμεσα σε γνωστικούς παράγοντες μάθησης (έτσι όπως αυτές μπορούν να αντανακλώνται ως ιδιότητες σχεδιασμού/ευχρηστίας) και συναισθηματικού τύπου αντιδράσεις από την πλευρά των εκπαιδευόμενων (εστίαση δίνεται στην εσωτερική παρακίνηση για μάθηση) και ε) να δοκιμαστεί και ελεγχθεί εμπειρικά η προτεινόμενη τεχνική αξιολόγησης ευχρηστίας σύμφωνα με έγκυρες μεθοδολογίες που αφορούν την ανάπτυξη τέτοιων μεθόδοων. Το τελικό αποτέλεσμα αυτής της έρευνας είναι μια τεχνική τύπου ερωτηματολογίου για την αξιολόγηση της ευχρηστίας η οποία λαμβάνει υπ’όψη τη «διπλή» προσωπικότητα του χρήστη-εκπαιδευόμενου και η οποία αξιολογεί συναισθηματικού τύπου αντιδράσεις των εκπαιδευόμενων μαζί με ιδιότητες ευχρηστίας ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης