Online and Distance Education Commons^™

Reenergizing Lectures With Insert-Learner-Activity-Here Strategies [Book Chapter], Joanna C. Dunlap, Patrick R. Lowenthal

Joanna Dunlap

About this book: Many books recommend teaching and learning strategies based on current learning research and theory. However, few books offer illustrative examples of how to take these strategies and put them into action in the real world. The Online Learning Idea Book is filled with concrete examples of people who make learning more inspiring and engaging every day, in all kinds of settings, all over the world. In this second volume of The Online Learning Idea Book you will find brand new and valuable ideas that you can adopt or adapt in your own instructional materials, to make them …

The Space For Social Media In Structured Online Learning, Gilly Salmon, Bella Ross, Ekaterina Pechenkina, Anne-Marie Chase

Dr Anne-Marie Chase

National Assessment Program : Ict Literacy Years 6 & 10 Report 2014, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, Eveline Gebhardt, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

Literacy in information and communication technology (ICT) is critical to students as they progress through schooling and enter a world in which information technology will be ubiquitous. Work, health care, family finances, learning and social interaction will all depend on competence in ICT. To assess progress in this crucial part of student learning, ACARA conducts a National Assessment Program (NAP) aimed at measuring ICT literacy. Every three years since 2005, a sample of Year 6 and Year 10 students from across Australia have been tested to determine their ICT knowledge, understanding and skills and their ability to use ICT creatively, …

National Assessment Program : Ict Literacy Years 6 & 10 Report 2014, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, Eveline Gebhardt, John Ainley

Dr Wolfram Schulz

Literacy in information and communication technology (ICT) is critical to students as they progress through schooling and enter a world in which information technology will be ubiquitous. Work, health care, family finances, learning and social interaction will all depend on competence in ICT. To assess progress in this crucial part of student learning, ACARA conducts a National Assessment Program (NAP) aimed at measuring ICT literacy. Every three years since 2005, a sample of Year 6 and Year 10 students from across Australia have been tested to determine their ICT knowledge, understanding and skills and their ability to use ICT creatively, …

National Assessment Program : Ict Literacy Years 6 & 10 Report 2014, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, Eveline Gebhardt, John Ainley

Julian Fraillon

Literacy in information and communication technology (ICT) is critical to students as they progress through schooling and enter a world in which information technology will be ubiquitous. Work, health care, family finances, learning and social interaction will all depend on competence in ICT. To assess progress in this crucial part of student learning, ACARA conducts a National Assessment Program (NAP) aimed at measuring ICT literacy. Every three years since 2005, a sample of Year 6 and Year 10 students from across Australia have been tested to determine their ICT knowledge, understanding and skills and their ability to use ICT creatively, …

Students' Voices : Learning With Technologies : Students' Expectations About Learning With Technologies : A Literature Review, Kathryn Moyle, Susanne Owen

Professor Kathryn Moyle

This literature review is concerned with studies published since 2002 that take the perspectives of students in relation to learning with information and communication technologies. Students in schools, vocational education and training and in preservice teacher education, as well as early career teachers and other higher education students are included. The review examines published literature to: ascertain what recent research has already been undertaken in the field within Australia and overseas; ascertain the research methods used to underpin existing research; determine the gaps in existing knowledge; and consider the implications for determining what next steps could be undertaken. [Executive summary, …

The Reporting Of Icils Results, Wolfram Schulz

Dr Wolfram Schulz

This chapter describes the procedures that were used to report the population estimates in the ICILS 2013 publications. It starts with a description of the replication methodology used to estimate sampling variance, followed by an outline of how the imputation variance of students’ computer and information literacy (CIL) was computed. The subsequent section outlines the procedures for conducting significance tests of differences between country and subsample means or percentages.

Easing Into The Academy: Using Technology To Foster Cross-Institutional Critical Friendships, Ryan Flessner, Julie Horwitz

Ryan Flessner

This article addresses the ways in which early career teacher educators can support each other as they enter the academic community. By utilizing technology as an instrument to engage in a cross-country critical friendship, the authors were able to engage in a dialogue that grew out of mutual interests and concerns. Through critical reflection, they were able to address the question: How can we, two early-career teacher educators, push ourselves and one another to more critically examine our teaching practices? In doing so, each “new educator” grew more confident in claiming one's voice as a sustainable critical friendship emerged.

A Cross-Institutional Initiative In Digital Assessment, Anne-Marie Chase, Diane Robbie, Bella Ross, Ekaterina Pechenkina

Dr Anne-Marie Chase

Interactive Tutorials In Canvas, Kate Conerton, Susan Schulz

Kate Conerton

No abstract provided.

Fostering Study Skills Using Google Apps For Education, J. A. T. Smith

J. A. T. Smith

On October 15, 2014, Pepperdine University held its third Technology and Learning Faculty Conference. In this presentation, Dr. Jennifer Smith (Seaver College) discusses the integration of Google Apps for Education into her curriculum, and how she uses it to improve college level literacies like study skills, note taking, and collaboration.

E-Learning In Postsecondary Education, Bradford Bell, Jessica Federman

Bradford S Bell

Over the past decade postsecondary education has been moving increasingly from the class room to online. During the fall 2010 term 31 percent of U.S. college students took at least one online course. The primary reasons for the growth of e-learning in the nation's colleges and universities include the desire of those institutions to generate new revenue streams, improve access, and offer students greater scheduling flexibility. Yet the growth of e-learning has been accompanied by a continuing debate about its effectiveness and by the recognition that a number of barriers impede its widespread adoption in higher education.

The Brief & Expansive History (And Future) Of The Mooc: Why Two Divergent Models Share The Same Name, Rolin Moe

Rolin Moe

Within popular media, the massive open online course (MOOC) is presented as a novel idea created by maverick professors and further developed with a goal to further democratize education on bases of quality and cost. The perception of this sequence of events as modular history has perpetuated a difficulty in developing MOOC-related research and critique within the fields of distance and online education. At the center of this struggle is the MOOC acronym: its initial development was in 2008, and its use today happens in opposition to the theoretical and pedagogical elements of the 2008 MOOC. This paper endeavors to …

Scaling Procedures For Icils Questionnaire Items, Wolfram Schulz, Tim Friedman

Dr Tim Friedman

This chapter describes the procedures used to scale the ICILS questionnaire data (for students, teachers, school principals, and ICT coordinators) and the indices based on them. Two general types of indices could be distinguished, both of which derived from the ICILS questionnaires: 1. Simple indices constructed through arithmetical transformation or simple recoding, for example, ratios between ICT and students or an index of immigration background based on information about the country of birth of students and their parents; and 2. Scale indices derived from scaling of items, a process typically achieved by using item response modeling of dichotomous or Likert-type …

Scaling Procedures For Icils Questionnaire Items, Wolfram Schulz, Tim Friedman

Dr Wolfram Schulz

This chapter describes the procedures used to scale the ICILS questionnaire data (for students, teachers, school principals, and ICT coordinators) and the indices based on them. Two general types of indices could be distinguished, both of which derived from the ICILS questionnaires: 1. Simple indices constructed through arithmetical transformation or simple recoding, for example, ratios between ICT and students or an index of immigration background based on information about the country of birth of students and their parents; and 2. Scale indices derived from scaling of items, a process typically achieved by using item response modeling of dichotomous or Likert-type …

Icils Test Development, Julian Fraillon

Julian Fraillon

The ICILS assessment was developed over a 20-month period from April 2010 to December 2012. Most of this work was conducted by the international study center (ISC) at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in collaboration with national research coordinators (NRCs) and the project advisory committee (PAC). SoNET Systems conducted the software development for the test modules. This chapter provides a detailed description of the test development process and review procedures as well as the test design implemented for the ICILS field trial and main survey.

Promoting Cross-Border Education – Virtual Mobility, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

In this four-part series, Sarah Richardson and Ali Radloff highlight the key considerations for strengthening collaboration around cross-border education. Here they address the use of technology to facilitate international mobility without movement.

Australian Students Prepare For Digital Future, Julian Fraillon

Julian Fraillon

The world’s first computer-based international study into computer and information literacy shows that Australian students are developing the skills necessary for successful participation in the digital world. Julian Fraillon reports.

Perceptions Of Instructors And Students With Respect To Synchronous Video Learning, John Griffith, Marian C. Schultz

John Griffith

Embedding Librarians In Virtual Communities, Elizabeth Parang, Valerie Hill, Doug Campbell, Angela Colmenares, Lilly Ramin, Rhonda Super

Elizabeth Parang

No abstract provided.

Quality Learning With Technologies: Strategies For School Leaders To Address Challenges And Dilemmas, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

The integration of technologies into schools is often promoted as a way to improve the quality of students’ learning, and an approach that enables teachers to be more ‘learner focused’.

Virtual learning environments, such as learning management systems, mobile technologies, online games, simulations and virtual worlds, are seen to offer teachers the ability to personalise learning for students, and as a way to enable students to be in control of the pace of their own learning. Technologies are also seen to assist in the collection and analysis of data about students’ achievements. Integrating technologies into school programs however, is not …

Moocology 1.0, Glenna Decker

deckerg@gvsu.edu

MOOCology 1.0 is the opening essay for Invasion of the MOOCs: The Promises and Perils of Massive Open Online Courses, a collection written by academics from their own insights and experiences. This chapter offers a brief overview of the history and some of the issues surrounding this disruptive technology. Important questions are raised to keep the focus on that which is most important - the learner.

Digital Fluency: Skills Necessary For The Digital Age., Gerry White

Dr Gerald K. White

Many researchers argue that major innovations, especially the internet, adopted by society, have an effect on the structure of the human brain, which may or may not be a change for the better. If the structure of the human brain and ways of finding information and communication are changing as a result of the internet, then changes to the way that students learn, and probably what they are learning, would appear to follow. This article examines the skills that will be required for the twenty first century that will need to be embedded in educational curricula in order to achieve …

Digital Fluency : Skills Necessary For Learning In The Digital Age, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

This article examines the skills that will be required for the 21st century that will need to be embedded in educational curricula in order achieve them. It begins by considering how communicating between people has changed and current educational responses. A view of 21st century skills follows with an argument for some core subjects that will be necessary. Learning and teaching are then discussed leading to a view about what is needed in order to develop digital fluency in education, for now and the future.

Skills Needed For Managing Multimedia Development - Invisible Or Visible., Joseph Luca, Pina Tarricone

Dr Pina Tarricone

No abstract provided.

Forward Thinking : Three Forward, Two Back : What Are The Next Steps?, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

The use of digital technologies and digital media in teaching, learning and leadership in education has gradually gained momentum since the 1980s, when personal computers first became popular. The resultant media hype and educational posturing by technology evangelists were given a boost with the take up of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. And significant investment followed nationally and internationally. So what have we learnt in that time about using technology for teaching, learning and educational leadership? What will be the challenges for successfully using digital technologies in education in the next five years?

This address briefly traverses …

Mentoring In Online Doctoral Education, Alice Walters, William Barkley

Alice A Walters

Online higher education is a growing source of educational attainment for both traditional and nontraditional students. This research integrates rapid expansion of online learning with mentoring practices in graduate education aimed to increase student success rates. Presented are results from a qualitative case study analyzing one quarter of pilot data from an online doctoral mentoring forum. Major themes of student discussion included program processes, relational interactions, and professional development. Study findings increase understanding perceived needs of human services doctoral students. Implications of the research lead to increasing effectiveness of graduate mentoring and improved student success rates in online education.

School Connections : Using Ict To Engage Students In Learning, Hamish Coates, Tim Friedman

Dr Tim Friedman

In 2006, one school team from each of the ten NSW Department of Education regions were nominated to participate in the Microsoft Partners in Learning (PiL) Connected Learning Schools Project. With reference to their unique context, each school developed and implemented a project that involved teachers using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in their teaching and learning to engage middle-year students in their education, and to connect more authentically with students’ learning experiences outside of school. The NSW Partners in Learning project was a research and development project. The aim was to investigate how children in the middle years (Years …

Designing, Developing And Implementing A Software Tool For Scenario Based Learning, Geoff Norton, Taylor Matt, Terry Stewart, Greg Blackburn, Audrey Jinks, Bahara Razdar, Paul Holmes, E Marastoni

Greg Blackburn

The pedagogical value of problem-based and inquiry-based learning activities has led to increased use of this approach in many courses. While scenarios or case studies were initially presented to learners as text-based material, the development of modern software technology provides the opportunity to deliver scenarios as e-learning modules, providing learners with a more accessible and engaging learning experience. Scenario Based Learning - interactive (SBLi) has been specifically developed to provide teachers and trainers with a generic tool that enables them to easily build interactive, multimedia scenarios without requiring programming skills. The software consists of a builder and player application, for …

A Digital Education Revolution : Realising The Possibilities, Managing The Realities, Linda Rosman, Gerald White, Kerry-Anne Hoad

Dr Gerald K. White

This report presents the outcomes of the series of Symposia 'A Digital Education Revolution; realising the possibilities, managing the realities'. ACER initiated the Symposia, developed the program, delivered research content and managed the promotions and coordination for each event. ACER proposed the series of Symposia in response to the current interest, conversations and debate within schools and systems. The goals of the Symposia were to illuminate the possibilities and the realities of the DER initiative through informed presentations, discussions, debates and conversations, and to provide feedback to DEEWR on the school based concerns and key issues that emerged. ACER initially …