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2007: ASCILITE 2007 Conference Proceedings

 

 

 

 

The proceedings of the 2007 ASCILITE Conference.

R. J. Atkinson, C. McBeath, S. K. A. Soong, & C. Cheers (Eds) (2007).

ICT: Providing choices for learners and learning.

Proceedings ASCILITE 2007.

Centre for Educational Development, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

December 2-5, 2007.

Published: 30 November 2007

ASCILITE Conference - Full Papers

  • Vodcasting: A case study in adaptability to meet learners’ needs and preferences

    Stavroula Gkatzidou, Elaine Pearson

    With the rapid development of wireless networks and mobile technologies, the widespread use of mobile learning has raised the need for ‘anywhere, anytime and any device’ access to information and has influenced the design of learning objects. The newly emerging IMS AccessForAll and Dublin Core adaptability and accessibility standards and the proposed profiles of needs and preferences (PNP), present significant challenges to learning designers. This paper responds to these challenges for an accessible relationship between the learner and the resource and suggests a learning object adaptation framework which allows for flexibility and personalisation to learners’ needs and preferences. The concept of a transformation, augmentation and substitution framework (TAS) is described by discussing a specific case study, which investigates the adaptations required for existing learning objects delivered as vodcasts (videos downloaded to an MP3 player). The case study is examined in the context of a larger research project which aims to contribute to the requirements specification for the development of an adaptable learning object authoring tool. This paper explains the rationale behind the case study, describes the research methodology and outlines the main findings of the evaluation of the learning vodcast.

    Read article: Vodcasting: A case study in adaptability to meet learners’ needs and preferences

  • Students’ interpretations of learning tasks: Implications for educational design

    Peter Goodyear, Robert Ellis

    This paper is concerned with the issues that arise when one sees teaching as a process of design, and students as co-constructors of their learning environments. The dominant models of design, we argue, tend to either configure the learner as a compliant consumer of educational designs and a well-behaved user of educational technologies, or they tend to romanticise learners as media savvy experts on managing their own learning. In our view, ‘teaching-as-design’ needs to be supported with intellectual resources that avoid these extremes. To get a better sense of how design should be informed by a knowledge of student perspectives, we present the outcomes of some recent research into the ways in which students on ‘blended learning’ courses interpret the requirements of learning through discussion and learning through inquiry.

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  • Decoding visual elements in digitised foreign newscasts

    Paul Gruba

    Despite a growing body of work in media literacy, theorists have given scant attention to the ways foreign language learners may develop media decoding skills. In the context of technology-rich learning environments, for example, how do learners come to understand the media, and how does the use of media influences their foreign language development? The aim of this case study is to examine how foreign language learners decode visual elements as they develop media literacy. Ten students of Japanese watched digitised newscasts and ‘thought aloud’ as they responded to short-answer comprehension tasks. Results indicate that visual elements have both assistive and deleterious affects in understanding a foreign language. Productive further research may best focus on developing a selection criteria for newscasts, using more subtle methodological techniques and creating better technology-mediated tasks.

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  • E-scholarship: A model to lead strategic change

    Cathy Gunn

    Sustained investment in e-learning in different national contexts has lead to a common conclusion; that integration of technology supported teaching and learning strategies into mainstream practice has not reached full potential because levels of engagement by academics vary. Some instances of e-learning demonstrate a level of excellence that proves the potential exists. Yet dissemination of these innovations and the institutional systems required to facilitate wider engagement remain patchy. In other cases, the use of e-learning systems by a critical mass of tertiary teachers focuses primarily on administrative functions. This paper describes the application of three established models as the basis to define the concept of e-scholarship. Articulation of this concept through a systematic and institutionally supported program is proposed as a means to address the challenges identified by a group of leading e-learning practitioners. Nationally funded initiatives are finding emergent social networking tools and strategies to be common ground for both teaching and e-research. This could prove to be a key factor to motivate wider engagement at both individual and organisational levels. The New Zealand tertiary sector provides the context for this development. Design based research is the underlying methodology.

    Read article: E-scholarship: A model to lead strategic change

  • Staff exercising ‘choice’; students exercising ‘choice’: Wholly online learning at an Australian university

    Dale Holt, Stuart Palmer

    The paper examines the implementation of institutional policy relating to mandating wholly online study at the undergraduate level in an Australian higher education institution. The realities of the ‘choice’ provided to teaching staff in designing such units, and students in studying in this mode, are considered. Staff members’ design experiences are reported, and data collected through the surveying of students’ experiences in learning wholly online are analysed. The value students attributed to various aspects of the wholly online learning experience is outlined. Observations are made more generally about the uniqueness of wholly online teaching and learning environments in mandated contexts, and where policy and practice developments may evolve in the future.

    Read article: Staff exercising ‘choice’; students exercising ‘choice’: Wholly online learning at an Australian university

  • Pre-service teachers' perceptions of an online mathematical problem solving course: A constructivist approach

    Kian Sam Hong, Kock Wah Tan, Kim Leong Lai

    This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of teaching a mathematical problem solving course via the Web using a social constructivist approach. This study looked at participants’ perceptions and satisfactions with the online learning environment. A total of 37 pre-service teacher trainees at the Batu Lintang Teacher Institute, Sarawak, Malaysia were the participants of this study. In this online course, the participants were required to complete the course online without face-to-face classes and they were also required to solve authentic mathematical problems in small group of 4-5 participants based on the Polya’s Problem Solving Model via online asynchronous discussion. The online asynchronous discussion enabled the participants to discuss and share knowledge and solutions. Quantitative and qualitative methods such as questionnaires and interviews were used to evaluate the effects of the online learning. Findings in this study showed that majority of the participants were satisfied with their learning experiences in the course. The participants also perceived that they need to have positive attitudes, self discipline, self- independence, and self confidence to succeed in the course. Some of the difficulties faced by the participants in the course were technical problems, inadequate computer training for some of the required software and feeling of isolation. Thus, the online mathematical problem solving course using the social constructivist approach was appropriate and ought to be given serious attention as an alternative to traditional classes. Nonetheless, pedagogical considerations should be taken into account in designing and implementing online courses to minimise problems that participants might encounter while participating in such courses.

    Read article: Pre-service teachers' perceptions of an online mathematical problem solving course: A constructivist approach

  • Approaches taken by Australian universities to documenting institutional e-learning strategies

    Alistair Inglis

    The way in which a university communicates a strategy that it is attempting to implement to its staff can have an important bearing on the effectiveness of the strategy. However, there are currently no generally accepted conventions governing the scope, structure, content and language of strategy documents. E-learning is an area of activity in which most universities are currently striving achieve major change and therefore the documents being used to communicate institutional strategies in relation to e-learning merit investigation. A study was undertaken of the ways in which Australian universities are documenting their strategies in relation to e-learning and the types of activities that are being identified in strategy documents. The study found that two distinct approaches to documenting institutional e-learning strategies are being adopted. Some universities are developing discrete strategies whereas other universities are embedding their strategies in more general documents. The most common themes that were identified in discrete e-learning strategies included: learning management system(s), networking and infrastructure, planning, policy and strategy development, evaluation, support for projects related to e-learning, development of courses, teaching and support, learning spaces, and future developments. The themes that more than one university covered in general documents included: staff development, programs, use, improved access, effectiveness, and teaching/learning spaces. Comparison of the documents provided by institutions showed that when e-learning strategies have been embedded in more general documents the range of aspects of e- learning that are covered tends to be less wide-ranging than is the case when discrete strategies have been produced.

    Read article: Approaches taken by Australian universities to documenting institutional e-learning strategies

  • The impact of structured argumentation and enactive role play on students’ argumentative writing skills

    Azilawati Jamaludin, Mei Lin Caroline Ho, Yam San Chee

    This paper reports the impact of using a structured argumentation board and enactive role play in Second Life on students’ argumentative writing skills in the context of the A-level subject General Paper. Students were taught the structural aspects of argumentation based on Toulmin’s (1958) argumentation framework. The structured argumentation board, Voices of Reason, supported their argumentation discourse while the Second Life platform supported students’ contextualised role-playing activities on the topic of globalisation. Students participated in these two separate modes of technology-facilitated learning in a cyclic, interwoven fashion, alternating back and forth between two cycles of argument and enaction. Data in the form of argumentative essays were collected at the beginning and the end of a four week intervention period. We compare the pre and post intervention argumentation essays written by the students based on Toulmin’s argumentation framework, contrast the findings with that of the control group’s argumentative essays, and present the statistical results in this paper.

    Read article: The impact of structured argumentation and enactive role play on students’ argumentative writing skills

  • The teleological reason why ICTs limit choice for university learners and learning

    David Jones, Nona Muldoon

    The application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support and enhance learning and teaching (e-learning) provides the potential to significantly increase the flexibility and choice for university learners and learning. The evidence, however, seems to indicate that these advantages are not evident in the majority of e-learning practice. This paper argues that the teleological design process which underpins almost all e-learning within higher education significantly limits the flexibility and choice ICTs can provide. The contribution of this paper is to illustrate how organisational implementation of e-learning has become imprisoned by a dominant and unquestioned epistemological foundation that is limiting understanding. It seeks to improve the understanding that informs e-learning implementation, in order to increase the level of flexibility and choice provided by the institutional implementation of e-learning for learners and learning.

    Read article: The teleological reason why ICTs limit choice for university learners and learning

  • When a wiki is the way: Exploring the use of a wiki in a constructively aligned learning design

    Peter Jones

    The second generation of Web-based tools, the so-called Web 2.0 applications such as podcasts, blogs and wikis, have captured the imagination of many educators, who recognise their potential for creating more collaborative and truly interactive online learning environments. However, whenever new technologies become available, there is a risk that they will be employed on the basis of novelty rather than for sound pedagogical reasons. To ensure that the latest crop of online tools are actually contributing in meaningful ways to the creation of effective and authentic learning environments, educators need to be mindful of the foundations of effective learning design and sound pedagogical principles. This paper explores the use of a wiki in a final year, undergraduate, social work course. Drawing on the concepts of constructive alignment and models for effective learning design, the wiki was integrated into a purposefully designed learning sequence in a manner which allowed students to engage in online collaboration directed at the achievement of a set of intended learning outcomes. In this way, the wiki becomes a fully integrated and coherent part of the learning experience, rather than simply a technological add-on.

    Read article: When a wiki is the way: Exploring the use of a wiki in a constructively aligned learning design

  • Adding value to online role plays: Virtual situated learning environments

    Sandra Jones

    Role-play as a means of involving learners in experiential learning opportunities has been a characteristic of student-centered learning environments for many years. Developments in the digital environment have enabled the design of more sophisticated role play environments in which learners deal with the complexity and ambiguity of real-life issues and the same time develop their knowledge of the advantages and limitations of online communication. Virtual Situated Learning Environments (VSLEs) add a further ‘real- world’ quality to role-plays. Using several examples of VSLEs created to underpin courses in management and negotiations, this paper seeks to explore their effectiveness in providing a more real-world environment in which participants engage in role-play activities in common ‘safe’ environments and develop their knowledge and skills beyond the ‘known’ domain of their existing practice.

    Read article: Adding value to online role plays: Virtual situated learning environments

  • Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of LAMS as a teaching tool

    Matthew Kearney, Kirsty Young

    This paper reports on one component of a recent study which examined pre-service teachers’ use of the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) to facilitate their professional learning. Over a period of two semesters, seventeen pre-service teachers took part in an in-depth study of their professional development as a result of authoring a learning design and implementing it during their practicum. This paper reports on the pre- service teachers’ perceptions of LAMS’ useability, flexibility and potential for use in K-12 classrooms.

    Read article: Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of LAMS as a teaching tool

  • The ties that bind: Social presence, relations and productive collaboration in online learning environments

    Benjamin Kehrwald

    This paper contributes to the growing body of knowledge which identifies benefits for online learning in the understanding of mediated social processes. It reports on an exploratory study into the nature, role and function of online social presence and a potential link between social presence and learner support in text-based online learning environments. Employing a qualitative collective case study design, the study sought to produce understandings of mediated social processes which were grounded in the experiences of learners in text-based online learning environments. Informed by social network analysis, the paper presents key findings of that study including (a) a definition of social presence as described by online learners (b) the role social presence in the development of relations and ties between online learners and (c) the progressive development of relational states which leads to productive collaboration.

    Read article: The ties that bind: Social presence, relations and productive collaboration in online learning environments

Showing 27–39 of 127 articles