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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 - Concise Papers

  • Wiki: A new paradigm for online training and development of faculty

    Evelyn Gullett, Kanishka Bedi

    The training and development function in organisations is undergoing a paradigm shift with the advent of new online technologies like the wiki and educational institutions are no exception. Wiki may provide a means for creating a faculty learning community at educational institutions, thus involving all faculty on a single common platform where each faculty is the producer as well as the user of knowledge. This paper proposes a model for the deployment of wiki for online training and development of faculty in educational institutions. The model is implemented at an online university and preliminary findings indicate that wiki activity by all faculty members is low suggesting the need of further experimentation in the use of wiki as a collaborative T&D tool for online faculty.

    Read article: Wiki: A new paradigm for online training and development of faculty

  • Choosing ICT? : A segmentation analysis of students’ preferences for hybrid study mode

    Pauline Hagel, Robin Shaw

    Students’ acceptance and use of ICT-based learning needs to be understood in terms of their preferences for alternatives such as face-to-face (FtF) or print-based learning. This paper reports on an investigation of students’ preferences for hybrid study modes. Cluster analysis was used to identify segments of students that had distinctive preferences for combinations of FtF, print and web-based study modes. Five segments were identified. These segments were distinguishable on some demographic and situational characteristics. The size and nature of the segments have implications for the hybrid modes offered by universities and the extent to which students’ may embrace the ICT-based innovations designed by educators.

    Read article: Choosing ICT? : A segmentation analysis of students’ preferences for hybrid study mode

  • Scaffolding support in an ecology course using a sociocultural learning design

    Andrea Hall, Michael Robinson

    An ecology course at our university was redesigned as it was felt the learners needed more support to help them gain a deeper knowledge of ecology concepts, terminology and professional practice. A learning design based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theories was used to structure the learning environment. This learning design scaffolds the learning in a more comprehensive manner as it proposes that learning is mediated by others and describes the type of support is required. This paper presents the theoretical basis of the learning design, and how this is used to design the ecology project to help increase learning outcomes. Evaluation of the design will be carried out later this year.

    Read article: Scaffolding support in an ecology course using a sociocultural learning design

  • Developing online discussion forums as student centred peer e-learning environments

    Neil Harris, Maria Sandor

    Computer conferencing, most commonly in the guise of discussion forums, is increasingly available and utilised in the delivery of university level courses. While such advances in the delivery of higher education have permitted greater flexibility for participants with the opportunity of studying almost anywhere at anytime, such modes of delivery can place significant time demands on academics. Traditional and peer-based approaches to learning in the e-learning environment often create an onus upon the instructor to be extensively involved in dialogue on course content through such mediums as discussion forums. This paper introduces a conception of discussion forums as student centred peer e-learning environments. The proffered conception positions the student as expert/facilitator at the centre of the learning event and the instructor, one step removed from the process, as overseer of the dialogue. The model is an innovative approach to discussion forums that draws the student into the online learning process by encouraging them to take a more active and central role in their learning.

    Read article: Developing online discussion forums as student centred peer e-learning environments

  • “Here are my best online contributions and why”: Students’ perceptions of good online participation

    Chun Hu

    This paper reports students’ recounts of their best contributions to the online learning activities in a master’s course, and their accompanying reasons. Students’ self-claimed best contributions fall into three categories, (1) building and sharing new knowledge/ideas, (2) questioning peers, and (3) sharing resources. Bulk of the self-selected best contributions is in the first category (72%). The preliminary findings seem to suggest that both instructors and students hold similar standpoints on good performances in an online learning environment, i.e. to build new knowledge, to articulate and share them through interactions with course readings, reflections on personal experiences/beliefs online experiences, and interactions with peers. The findings support the view that in general students can accurately make self-assessments about their abilities and achievements, and self- assessment could be used as an alternative way of assessing online learning.

    Read article: “Here are my best online contributions and why”: Students’ perceptions of good online participation

  • Evaluating the effectiveness of digital storytelling for student reflection

    Martin Jenkins, Jo Lonsdale

    This paper reports on the use of digital storytelling as a means of encouraging student engagement and reflection; consideration is also given to developing an appropriate mechanism to measure student reflection using this medium. Digital storytelling, the combination of still images with an audio track, was piloted in different learning contexts at the University of Gloucestershire, including: a students’ transition into higher education program; student presentations; and capturing reflections on personal development. Evaluations show that staff and students have found this approach to be a positive experience for encouraging student creativity; however, the very personal reflective nature of the stories created has raised issues about how student reflection and progression is adequately captured using this approach. The paper will report on the use of different models to assess this progression and the issues raised.

    Read article: Evaluating the effectiveness of digital storytelling for student reflection

  • Improving access to and use of digital resources in a self directed learning context

    Terry Judd, Gregor Kennedy

    This paper presents the background to and progress of a project investigating the use of courseware and other digital resources by undergraduate medical students in a self-directed learning environment (shared open-access computing space) within a problem-based curriculum. The investigation draws on three parallel streams of data collection; automated usage monitoring, survey and focus group. Over 60,000 individual computer sessions and more than 500 surveys are currently being analysed. Preliminary analysis reveals that only a small percentage of the available courseware resources are regularly used, and that the level of usage appears to be highly dependent the level of promotion and support provided by teaching staff. Analysis of Internet usage data reveals that medical students rely heavily on Google and Wikipedia to locate and access self-directed learning resources and that they are relatively unsophisticated in their use of search tools. The results of the investigation are informing the design and development of an innovative software support tool that aims to improve students’ awareness of and access to a wide range of digital resources.

    Read article: Improving access to and use of digital resources in a self directed learning context

  • The e-Winter school: Helping students to better learning

    Kevin Kempin

    E-learning is relatively new to the United Arab Emirates, arriving as it did, in around 2002 for most college institutions. Nowadays, most tertiary institutions have allocated Information Communication Technology resources to provide alternatives to the previously used teacher-centered, “chalk and talk” approach to learning and teaching. This is particularly true within the tertiary sector in the UAE. In line with this, at Dubai Women’s College we are developing the e-Winter School program, using a blended-learning model that caters to that community of students who needs extra support: the ones that don’t quite ‘fit’ into the blueprint. This paper details some of the pedagogical underpinnings of the program, discusses how it is constructed and explores the relative merits of the way in which the community is taught. It also deals with some of the methods of instruction involved in such an undertaking and details actual results achieved by the students. The contents of this paper may be of interest to those faculty members, designers and developers who need to examine some examples of emerging practice that attempt to combine on-line learning with face-to-face, classroom tuition. The paper represents a work in progress and will explore how, when we combine something which is called the “LOAF” approach, with on-line learning, we have a model that is, judging by the lack of evidence to the contrary, quite unique to this part of the world.

    Read article: The e-Winter school: Helping students to better learning

  • Blogs demystified: How autism practitioners responded to scaffolded online learning

    Christine Kilham

    This paper reports on a postgraduate case study investigating the learning benefits and issues associated with the adoption of blogs in a unit where they were not normally available within the University’s version of the learning management system (WebCT). Of interest were various scaffolds designed to assist novice bloggers to reflect on their experiences of teaching children with autism using an approach called TEACCH. Interview data suggested that the ICT requirements enhanced the bloggers capacity to develop insights into their autism teaching. Structured blogging (“reflect-describe- analyse”) was particularly useful. Practitioners were equivocal as to whether blogs should be initially linked to a familiar site such as WebCT, but agreed they needed to be given guidelines about how much and how often to blog. The practitioners interpreted “scaffolding” broadly to include their colleagues’ blogs, and felt the closed membership structure facilitated the exchange of useful, albeit sensitive, information.

    Read article: Blogs demystified: How autism practitioners responded to scaffolded online learning

  • Reuse of a role play for new university teachers

    Sarah Lambert, David Macdonald

    In a paper presented at the 2006 ascilite conference it was stated that thirty six online role- plays were identified in Australian universities, of which 80% were reuse of a Learning Design (Wills & McDougall, 2006). Migrating a proven learning design is not always a simple process (Devonshire, 2006) but as this paper, addressing the conference theme of on-line role play, demonstrates it can be achieved effectively. From a pedagogical perspective, one of the main challenges is associated with the task of realigning the activity to adequately reflect the new context, delivery mode, target audience, learning process and anticipated outcomes (Devonshire, 2006). This paper addresses the reuse issues by looking at one role-play that has been reused to achieve new outcomes.

    Read article: Reuse of a role play for new university teachers

  • Learning design discussions: A conversation tool

    Elyssebeth Leigh, Wendy Meyers, Elizabeth Rosser

    We begin with the premise that integrating active learning strategies into previously static modes of presenting knowledge can be complex and difficult. To reduce the complexity of the task we introduce the Learning Design Discussion Model (LDDM) for use at the beginning of collaboration by Learning Designers and Educators considering Role-Based approaches in tertiary subjects. The model helps align the core elements of a) content knowledge, b) learning objectives and c) learning design from the beginning. The model has emerged from efforts to achieve mutual agreement on use of active learning processes to support knowledge acquisition. Early trials indicate the LDDM helps identify inhibiting concerns and encourages use of interactive learning with an end result of clarification of intent, reduced unease about implementation problems and enhanced mutual understanding.

    Read article: Learning design discussions: A conversation tool

  • Online reflection journals: Learning through assessment

    Magdeleine D. N. Lew, Henk G. Schmidt

    The present study was conducted to investigate the extent to which students believe that journal writing contributes to improving their learning. The research was conducted at a post-secondary institution which organises its curriculum around principles of problem- based learning, and in which students have to reflect on their learning daily. In the particular curriculum, reflection journals form a part of the daily assessment. To that end, a questionnaire was developed containing statements derived from the literature, about the effects of journal writing on students’ learning. It was then pilot-tested on a group of second- year students (n = 327). Analyses of the data collected showed that students were able to identify the four latent constructs underlying the 15-item questionnaire, as indicated by the fit of the hypothesised model. Construct reliability values of the four scales gave evidence of good reliability in terms of internal consistency. Correlation coefficients computed for the questionnaire scales were positively correlated and statistically significant. Students, who believed that journal writing enables them to think and write reflectively, agreed that frequent journal writing improves their learning. These students are also more likely to use their journals as a tool to manage the impressions of their facilitators, and to feedback about the contributions of their peers towards team work. These findings suggest that the use of online reflection journals provides many opportunities for students to reflect on their learning. Facilitators can also monitor students’ progress through their reflections, and to provide specific, detailed feedback to aid students in their learning.

    Read article: Online reflection journals: Learning through assessment

  • Teaching computer science using Second Life as a learning environment

    Jet Kim Seng Lim, E.M. Nalaka S. Edirisinghe

    Immersive education using the popular Second Life virtual environment is becoming significantly common. Many institutions and education organisations have already set up a virtual campus and are already conducting virtual lessons in Second Life. However, most of the courses currently being delivered are still limited to non-technical subjects or related to Linden scripting. This paper shares the processes and lessons learned from a pilot project exploring the use of Second Life as a learning environment for computer science subjects. This paper describes the experiences of preparing and delivering Second Life materials in the classroom. It provides a student and lecturer perspective of the advantages and disadvantages of conducting lessons through virtual worlds.

    Read article: Teaching computer science using Second Life as a learning environment

Showing 92–104 of 127 articles