Education Commons^™

"I Don't Have The Time!" Analysing Talk Of Time In Lecturers' Use Of The Vle, Claire Mcavinia, Deirdre Ryan, David Moloney

Articles

This paper reports on findings from the recent extension of the VLE survey which examined VLE usage from a staff perspective. 580 staff across seven institutions responded to the survey. The survey explored staff perceptions of the VLE and the opportunities for and barriers to its effective use. Qualitative and quantitative data were analysed in order to identify the major factors influencing staff engagement with the VLE. Time (or the lack thereof) emerged as the greatest barrier to effective use of the VLE. When time was in scarce supply, staff evaluated where to spend it and prioritised accordingly. The amount …

Discussion, Cooperation, Collaboration: The Impact Of Task Structure On Student Interaction In A Web-Based Translation Exercise Module, Mary Ann Kenny

The ITB Journal

A major challenge facing the online translation instructor is to design learning opportunities that encourage communication and the sharing of ideas between students. This article asks how such group interaction may be facilitated and evaluates, in particular the impact of task structure on student interaction in an online translation exercise module. Drawing on an empirical study carried out at Dublin City University during the academic year 2003/14, the article compares levels of intermessage referencing, the number and size of message clusters, and extent and type of cognitive presence evident in messages posted by students given three different types of task …

Digital Libraries And Their Use In E-Learning, Caoimhín O’Nualláin

The ITB Journal

How e-learning providers do business and produce content has changed dramatically over the past few years. Technology advancement and increased use of broadband coupled with the need to develop content optimised for size, richness and personalization have been key drivers. Due to the high costs associated with producing content, much progress has been made adapt old material to courses that may apply a different style guide. The fact that there are millions of duplicating courses covering the same material across the world, which cannot be re-used or shared, is an issue we discuss in this paper in the context of …

Blended Learning - What Practitioners Can Learn From Moocs, Aine Whelan, Aimee Byrne, Keith Colton, Patrick Crean, Conor Mcgarrigle

Practitioner Research Projects

The rapid increase in the use of information technologies in third level education is changing the way courses are provided. Online multimedia have helped reduce the difficulties teachers face with a diversity of student profiles and a large number of students in a classroom. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) present an extreme with regard to student groups in relation to size and diversity and, therefore, many techniques and methods of overcoming the difficulties that this can present have been developed. Much of these methods can apply to online courses generally and to blended teaching environments. This study identifies four key …

Experiences Gained From The Deployment Of An E-Learning "Java Arrays" Prototype For Novice Java Programmers In The Institute Of Technology Tallaght, 2002/2003, Eamonn Hyland, Dean Fennell

The ITB Journal

This paper describes recent experiences gained from the deployment of an E-learning "Java Arrays" prototype for novice first year students within the Computing department at the Institute of Technology, Tallaght. It attempts to determine what contributions, if any, the E-Learning prototype made to novice students learning to declare, create, initialise and manipulate one-dimensional and two-dimensional arrays within the Java Programming language. Tentative conclusions from this process are presented and a charter for progressing this research further is outlined.

Academics' Views On Personalised E-Learning In Higher Education, Eileen O'Donnell, Mary Sharp, Vincent Wade, Liam O'Donnell

Conference Papers

The challenges for academics in meeting the learning requirements of students are many and varied. This research focuses on the concept of personalised learning, where activities are specifically selected to suit the learning requirements of individual students. The creation of personalised learning activities to suit every student’s learning needs, are not easily achieved. A survey was conducted in June 2012 to determine academics awareness of, and views on, the ‘novel teaching approach’ of personalised e-learning in higher education. Forty academics participated in this study. 60% of academic respondents agreed with the statement: “There is a need to personalise e-learning to …

Review Of Technological University Of Dublin's E-Learning Platform For Effective Teaching Fromative Assessment And Feedback, Dermot Kehily

Conference papers

This paper investigates Technological University of Dublin’s (DIT) ‘webcourses.dit.ie’ created for DIT with Blackboard Learning System software as an effective e-learning tool on a module in the School of Real Estate and Construction Economics in DIT. Webcourses.dit.ie is an e-learning platform providing support and assistance to both lecturers and students as part of their daily teaching and learning experience. Webcourses as it is known in DIT is both a course management system for lecturers and a computer assisted learning and assessment tool for students. Prior to using the system class content was delivered by presenting electronic slides in class and …

Feedback From Students And Lecturers: Technology Enhanced Learning Improving The Learning Experience Of Students, Eileen O'Donnell

Other resources

Technology is pervading all areas of education and training. The use of interactive whiteboards is on the increase in our local primary schools. The use of learning management systems and e-learning platforms are encouraged throughout the higher education sector. Increasingly, mandatory courses for staff are provided in the form of online training, for example: manual handling and emergency response training. This research was undertaken to establish students and lecturers opinions regarding the use of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). In the context of this study, the terms Technology Enhanced Learning and E-Learning refer to the use of technological tools as an …

Building Information Modelling Incorporating Technology Based Assessment, Maurice Murphy, Lloyd Scott

Teaching Fellowships

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is currently being developed as a virtual learning tool for construction and surveying students in the Technological University Dublin. This advanced technology is also used to develop a technology based assessment practice for enhancing the learning environment of construction and surveying students. A theoretical design framework is presented in this paper, which combines advanced technology and assessment theory to create a virtual learning environment. This is based on the move from teacher-centered to student-centered learning, which attaches a higher degree of importance on what students know, understand, and can do as a result of their educational …

Improving Core Mathematical Skills In Engineering Undergraduates, Michael Carr

Teaching Fellowships

A large number of engineering undergraduates being their third level education with significant deficiencies in their core mathematical skills. Every year, in the Technological University Dublin (DIT) , a diagnostic test is given to incoming first year students, consistently revealing problems in basic mathematics. It is difficult to motivate many students to seek help in the Maths Learning Centre to address these problems. As a result, they struggle through several years of engineering, carrying a serious handicap of poor core mathematical skills, as confirmed by exploratory testing of final year students

In order to improve these skills in engineering students …

Developing A Pedagogic Approach To Enhance Student Learning Before, During And After International Work Placement: Teaching Fellowship 11, Frank Cullen

Teaching Fellowships

The report commences with a brief overview of the Fellowship research and provides insight into the benefits of mobility. Erasmus mobility is viewed as a means to promote the Department of Culinary Arts in the international culinary arena via the student’s skills and performance. It is clear from this research that the international internships provide exceptional opportunities for students to integrate and learn in different cultural environments. It is argued that this research addresses many of the unanswered issues related to internship before, during and after the experience: issues of knowledge, identity, integration and the student’s personal development. This research …

An Examination Of The Use Of Blended Learning To Support Improvement Of Engagement And Retention Of Part-Time Postgraduate Level Students Using Student Edited Podcasts, Deirdre Lawless, Damian Gordon

Teaching Fellowships

Part time students must content with a large number of logistical factors which may inhibit their ability to attend all required instruction sessions. The vast majority of part-time students are in full –time employment and due to either family or work pressure may be unable to attend all classes. This can have a significant impact on the student learning experience. Students can quickly fall behind, become de-motivated and can increasingly seek deferrals from with examinations or the programme itself. Given the current economic climate it is to be expected that the numbers of students interested in upskilling will be increased …

The Learn@Work Socrates-Minerva Research Project 2005-2007: What Did It Do And What Has Happened With It Since?, Anne Murphy, K.C. O'Rourke, Pauline Rooney

Articles

This article provides a summary of the goals, processes, products, evaluation outcomes and lessons learnt from Learn@Work, a pan-European research project that involved four higher education providers and one private partner. The project aimed to develop and test online or personal computer (PC)-based materials for induction and support of worker-learners using pilots in the partner countries, as well as to generate usable case studies and theoretical models. This article describes and analyses the project activities, which included the production of a state-of-the-art report on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in workplaces. The design paradigm is described, together …

Content Anlaysis Of Computer Conferencing Transcripts, Roisin Donnelly, John Gardner

Articles

Within the field of higher education, there are situations where the learner is not well served in a classroom setting. Problematic issues such as scheduling, critical mass, time, pace and location have the potential to be counterbalanced by e-learning. Within this, the asynchronous nature of today’s online learning environments and computer conferencing tools have popularly been claimed to offer tremendous benefits for learners who are willing to take responsibility for their own learning, to progress at their own pace, and interact with their online teacher to get immediate feedback on their learning and progress. Indeed, increasingly, educators today are very …

Investigating Staff Perceptions Of E-Learning Development And Support For Students With Disabilities In Higher Education, Roisin Donnelly

Articles

This paper reports on a study concerned with exploring staff perceptions on improving the design and delivery of e-learning provision for students and staff with disabilities in a higher education institution in the Republic of Ireland. The study aims to clarify understanding on how aspects of e-learning affect some of the key stakeholders in an institution of higher education – a disability liaison team, a learning technology team and an academic development centre. Essentially this paper is an example of research for learners with disabilities by people without disabilities. The language used in this paper is consistent with the social …

Development Of An E-Learning Module For Global Navigation Satellite Systemstraining, Eugene Mcgovern, Audrey Martin, Kevin Mooney

Conference Papers

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has been operational since the early 1990’s. The system is constantly being upgraded while the Russian GLONASS and the European GALILEO systems will complement GPS in the next few years. Generically, these satellite-based positioning systems are referred to as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Previously, a part-time evening course in GPS was run at the Technological University Dublin (DIT) by the Department of Spatial Information Sciences (DSIS). This is now being replaced by two e-learning modules in GNSS designed for distance-based, on-line delivery. The first module covers GNSS for navigation and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) …

International Collaboration In Blended Problem-Based Learning, Roisin Donnelly

Conference papers

European education today is characterized by two dominant trends. First, e-learning has made impressive advances in the past five years. Second, European higher education has become increasingly internationalized. Within this, there has been an obvious shift towards more social, collaborative and communal perspectives of learning reported in recent educational research. Various forms of collaborative and inquiry-based learning include the idea that learning should be understood as a combination of participation, knowledge creation and internal processes. This paper discusses the blending of e-learning and problem-based learning (PBL), based on these observations and as a comprehensive approach encompassing the learning environment, curriculum, …

Can Blending Face-To-Face Teaching With E-Learning Support The Development Of Phase 4 Apprentices In Mathematics: A Formative Evaluation Research Study, Peter Hinch

Theses

This thesis is a formative evaluation research study_ Its purpose is to establish if

blending face--to-face and e-leaming delivery methods can support the development of

Phase 4 apprentice plumbers in mathematics in the Department of Construction Skills in

the Technologicl University Dublin. The study also included the design, development

and evaluation of a mathematics web site called Plumatics 4 U which is grounded in

established theoretical criteria for effective blended delivery within third level

education. This web site is currently in use by Phase 4 apprentice plumbers and is

delivered through WebCT. The CD accompanying this thesis contains a short …

In Search Of A Sustainable Model Of Academic Development: Combining E-Learning And Problem-Based Learning, Roisin Donnelly

Other resources

The context of this study is in teaching in higher education and in teaching about teaching. At its essence is an exploration of an emerging model of academic development grounded in practice. In the 21st. century, how do you create a sustainable learning environment in the context of academic development in higher education with new tools and pedagogies emerging and becoming available for use?

Towards The Promotion Of Effective E-Learning Practice For Academic Staff Development In Dit, Roisin Donnelly, Frances O'Brien

Articles

Despite the many challenges facing educators today, as well as the array of teaching paradigms on offere, the principal goals of higher education remain the same.

Towards The Promotion Of Effective E-Learning Practice For Academic-Staff Development In Dit, Roisin Ca Donnelly, Frances O'Brien

Level 3

Despite the many challenges facing educators today, as well as the array of teaching paradigms on offer, the principal goals of higher education will always remain the same: higher education plays a central role in the development of human beings and modern societies alike, as it enhances social, cultural and economic development, active citizenship and ethical values (HEA, 2003).

Globalisation of higher education, increased initiatives aiming at internationalisation, the activities of ‘so-called’ new providers and various forms of ‘borderless’ higher education, challenge the higher-education community worldwide and call for new and imaginative strategies. To successfully fulfil their educational, …