scholarly journals Designing an online learning environment on Open Educational Resources for science education

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Shironica Karunanayaka ◽  
Chandana Fernando ◽  
Vajira de Silva
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Course Content

The concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) is a major breakthrough in education, which promotes sharing, adaptation and contextualisation of course content. Promotion of using OER can be very cost effective, since development of new course content would be both expensive and time consuming. However, awareness raising and capacity building of teachers and learners is crucial, in order to exploit the full potential of OER.The Faculty of Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka, initiated a research project to create an Online Learning Environment (OLE) on OER for science education, witha view to raise awareness, develop competencies and enhance adapting, adoption and creation of OER by teachers. This is developed in Moodle Learning Management System, as a supplementary material for science teachers enrolled in a distance mode professional development programme. The research team, together with a group of science teachers and teacher educators, who are their students, is engaged in this action research conducted in several stages: analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. This paper discusses the first three stages, concerning the following objectives: to identify sources of OER for science education, to make key design decisions of the OLE, and to design and develop the OLE on OER for science education.The analysis of need, learner, task and context, resulted in making decisions on information, instruction, interaction and interface design. Some initial design decisions are: Structuring of information on finding, using and creating OER related to teaching science, while making it relevant and meaningful for teachers; Use of exploratory instructional strategies enabling teachers to select OER; Incorporate frequent interactions encouraging teachers to adopt, adapt, create and share OER; and Use of different media elements to make the visual layout motivating. A prototype will be pilot tested with science teachers with a view to revise and improve the OLE on OER. Allowing student teachers/teacher educators to work collaboratively with their instructors, as a team, enable both parties to face challenges together, in this novel experience of designing and developing an OLE on OER.

Strategies for Engaging Students in the Online Environment

2020 ◽  
pp. 305-326
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Whiter
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Student Interaction ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Instructional Technologies ◽  
Course Content

Creating an engaging course environment requires a conscious effort from faculty to utilize course design, teaching methods, and instructional technologies that foster high levels of student interaction. Instructional technologies paired with effective pedagogies are making student engagement in online environments rich and meaningful. The use of instructional technologies is linked to student engagement in the online learning environment. Utilization of instructional technologies should address three major types of interaction: student interaction with course content, the faculty, and their learning peers. The use of instructional technologies to engage students can also increase students' motivation for their learning by increasing student value for course content. This chapter addresses specific strategies for utilization of course design, pedagogies, and instructional technologies to incorporate student interaction and develop and maintain students' motivation in their learning.

scholarly journals DESIGNING AN ONLINE LEARNING COMMUNITY AMONG TEACHER EDUCATORS

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shironica Karunanayaka
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Educational Technologist ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
The Impact

Online course delivery is rapidly growing among educational institutions all over the world, especially in Open and Distance Learning institutions. The frequent criticisms on distance education for having only limited interactions between teachers and students as opposed to traditional face to face teaching can be significantly minimized with the increased use of online methods, due to its unique instructional capabilities. Online learning provides ample opportunities for students learning at a distance to constantly interact with their teachers as well as peers, sharing experiences and working collaboratively. The creation of a sense of social presence is essential to establish a collaborative online learning environment, as it is a most important factor that helps people actively collaborate, thus increasing a sense of belonging to the learning community. The Faculty of Education of the Open University of Sri Lanka offered the online course, "Teacher Educator as an Educational Technologist" in December 2007, using the learning management system Moodle. The course was designed using a collaborative learning model, allowing adequate opportunities for the distant learners to actively engage in their learning process, engaging in a number of learning and assessment tasks with the support of learning resources and instructor guidance, while collaborating and sharing experiences among each other, mainly through discussion forums. Using the case study approach, an investigation was carried out to find out the specific strategies and techniques adopted by designers, instructors and students in enhancing community building among the participants in the online learning environment. It further explored the impact of community building on the distant learners, who were also novices to online learning. This paper discusses the development process in the building of an online learning community and emphasizes on the roles of designers, teachers, and learners.

Pedagogy and Design of Online Learning Environment in Computer Science Education for High Schools

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-51
Author(s):  
Ebenezer Anohah
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Computer Science Education ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
K 12

This paper reviews literature about evolving and classical theories to understand pedagogical assumptions that inform concept of instructional strategy framework in optimizing online computer science education for high schools. Exploring these areas of research is valuable for understanding instructional practices that are needed for computer science educators to implement K-12 online computer science education. The study reveals that for students to achieve varying needs in computer science education, an online learning environment or management systems should adopt multiple pedagogical approaches. The researcher assertion is that, creating learning environment or augmenting learning management systems with plugins based on these pedagogical assumptions should for instance feature automatic feedback on programming exercises, visualization of algorithms and representation of concepts in animations or physical activities which are extremely important to incorporate computing principles in online education for K-12 students.

Deploying Digital Educational Resources with Free and Open Source Technologies

2013 ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
Jason G. Caudill
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Organizational Effectiveness ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Educational Resource ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Resource Deployment

Digital educational resources are an increasingly visible and important component of the online learning environment. Concurrently, many organizations are faced with limited financial resources with which to provide their materials to the learners. In order to continue delivering materials but reduce the total cost of delivery organizations can implement free and open source technologies for digital educational resource deployment. Open source software and free online services, properly employed, can enhance organizational effectiveness while also reducing organizational expense.

ACCESS TO EDUCATION WITH ONLINE LEARNING AND OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES: CAN THEY CLOSE THE GAP?

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Geith ◽  
Karen Vignare
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Global Education ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Right To Education ◽  
Education Gap ◽  
The Right ◽  
Compare And Contrast

One of the key concepts in the right to education is access: access to the means to fully develop as human beings as well as access to the means to gain skills, knowledge and credentials. This is an important perspective through which to examine the solutions to access enabled by Open Educational Resources (OER) and online learning. The authors compare and contrast OER and online learning and their potential for addressing human rights “to” and “in” education. The authors examine OER and online learning growth and financial sustainability and discuss potential scenarios to address the global education gap.

Improving the Asynchronous Online Learning Environment Using Discussion Boards

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilene Ringler ◽  
◽  
Carol Schubert ◽  
Jack Deem ◽  
Jimmie Flores ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Discussion Boards ◽  
Asynchronous Online Learning

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Gamification in Flipped Learning

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402097983
Author(s):  
Abdullah Yasin Gündüz ◽  
Buket Akkoyunlu
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Interaction Data ◽  
Flipped Learning ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Experimental Group

The success of the flipped learning approach is directly related to the preparation process through the online learning environment. It is clear that the desired level of academic achievement cannot be reached if the students come to class without completing their assignments. In this study, we investigated the effect of the use of gamification in the online environment of flipped learning to determine whether it will increase interaction data, participation, and achievement. We used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, which implies collecting and analyzing quantitative and then qualitative data. In the online learning environment of the experimental group, we used the gamification. However, participants in the control group could not access the game components. According to the findings, the experimental group had higher scores in terms of interaction data, participation, and achievement compared with the control group. Students with low participation can be encouraged to do online activities with gamification techniques.

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