Learners’ preferences for online resources, activities, and communication tools: A comparative study of Turkey and Kyrgyzstan

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gülgün Afacan Adanır ◽  
Gulshat Muhametjanova ◽  
Mehmet Ali Çelikbağ ◽  
Asan Omuraliev ◽  
Rita İsmailova

The progresses in technology lead to advances in e-learning as well as lead to increase in number of learners participating in e-learning courses. Richness of online resources, activities, and communication tools presented in online courses can be one of the factors that influence learners’ attendance to e-learning. In this regard, the initial purpose of this study was to identify online resource, activity and communication tool preferences of learners studying in two public universities: one located in Turkey and one located in Kyrgyzstan. At the second stage, comparison of Turkish and Kyrgyz learners’ preferences was carried out to explore differences in two countries. The participants are first-year undergraduate learners enrolled in first-year courses in the online environment. The total number of participants is 370, which involves 185 Turkish learners and 185 Kyrgyz learners. In the context of this study, participants’ submissions to the questionnaire were collected as quantitative data; while participants’ opinions toward online resources, activities, and communication tools were obtained as qualitative data. Thus, the study was designed as a mixed methods research that quantitative and qualitative methods were applied for the data analysis. The results demonstrated that Turkish learners perceive communication tools, online exams, and text-based course notes to be the most useful for e-learning, whereas perceive online group activities and wiki pages as not useful enough. On the other hand, Kyrgyz learners perceive interactive materials, online exams, and social media tools to be the most useful for e-learning, whereas perceive online chats and pages as not useful enough. The participants’ opinions cover important points for the improvement of current online materials. In addition, learners from Turkey and Kyrgyzstan showed both similarities and differences in terms of their preferences toward online resources, activities, and communication tools, which are explained through this paper.

Author(s):  
Omar Abdullah Alshehri

This paper examines the perspectives of female's students at a new university in Saudi Arabia to use social media as e-learning tools to support their learning. It also aims to investigate their current usage of these tools and the benefits behind using these tools for learning. Another aim of this study is to examine the difficulties that females' students face when they use social media tools in their learning process. The study participants comprised 23 Saudi females' students at a new university and surveyed was used to collect data for this study. The results indicate that female students are using social media tools and their opinions largely coincide regarding the benefits of and barriers to social media usage. The study recommends that future research on the usage of social media tools for learning and teaching be extended to include a wider demographic base at the same or a different university to further explore the extent to which these tools used for learning. The study provides insights that may help decision-makers at the university to recognise the extent to which females use and integrate social media tools to facilitate the educational process.


Author(s):  
Ryan Watkins

Online students can not always depend on the study habits and learning skills that made them successful in the traditional classroom to translate into success in online courses. E-learning programs can, however, offer students opportunities to build useful skills for achieving success in the interactive and challenging classrooms of today’s online courses by building on the achievements of first-year experience (i.e., student success or college survival) initiatives. Having demonstrated remarkable success in traditional on-campus programs, these courses, tutorials, lectures, and activities that focus on developing student study habits and learning skills can also be used by online learners to improve the odds of their academic success and retention. This chapter explores many of the opportunities and challenges of integrating e-learning study skills lessons into the curriculum of online courses and degree programs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
Olena Balalaieva

ABSTRACT: The aim of this article is to review electronic resources in Latin, analyzing their didactic potential to help Classical teachers to effectively organize the educational process, diversifying the set of tools, and enhancing their work. Today, most of the useful links are accumulated on domestic professional sites devoted to the study of Latin. Many foreign scientists and teachers simply do not know about their existence. From time to time, attempts are made to summarize information and provide content for studying Classic languages in scientific publications, but such information quickly becomes outdated and needs to be regularly updated. This article provides an overview of the current most popular resources on Latin: digital libraries and databases, online courses, electronic textbooks, dictionary, translators etc.; describing the current state of the development of e-learning tools and websites for the study of Latin in Ukraine. KEYWORDS: electronic educational resources; online resources; language learning; Latin language.   RESUMO: O objetivo do artigo é revisar recursos eletrônicos em Latim, analisando seu potencial didático para ajudar os professores clássicos a organizar efetivamente o processo educacional, diversificando o conjunto de ferramentas e aprimorando o seu trabalho. Hoje, a maioria dos links úteis é acumulada em vários sites domésticos dedicados ao estudo do Latim. Muitos cientistas e professores estrangeiros simplesmente não sabem sobre sua existência. De tempos em tempos, são feitas tentativas de resumir informações e fornecer conteúdo para o estudo de línguas clássicas em publicações científicas, mas essas informações rapidamente ficam desatualizadas e precisam ser atualizadas regularmente. Este artigo fornece uma visão geral dos recursos mais populares da atualidade em Latim: bibliotecas digitais e bancos de dados, cursos online, livros eletrônicos, dicionário, tradutores etc.; descreve o estado atual de desenvolvimento das ferramentas de e-learning e sites para o estudo do Latim na Ucrânia. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: recursos educacionais eletrônicos; recursos online; aprendizagem de línguas; língua latina.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Rae ◽  
Margaret Hunn

Abstract Objectives – Literature supports the concept that embedding academic and information literacy support into first year university courses enables students to proceed more confidently with researching and writing their assignments, and thus contributes to student success in their course. A need was identified for academic and information literacy support for a cohort of first year business students as part of the development of online course content for Griffith Online, the institution’s online study degree option. This led to a collaboration between information literacy librarians, learning skills advisers, educational designers, and academic course convenors to develop and implement online resources. This paper will present findings on the impact of these online resources. Methods – Drawing on measures and methods identified in ISO16439 “Information and documentation: Methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries” (International Organisation for Standardization, 2014), in conjunction with the indicators offered by Lizzio’s (2006) Five Senses of Success framework, evidence was collected and combined from a variety of sources over semester 2, 2014, and semester 1, 2015 to assess the impact of the online resource. Inferred evidence was gathered from usage statistics (number of hits on the sites) and from performance measures (comparing student essay grade between those that did and did not use the resource). Solicited evidence was gathered from a survey of students, students in focus groups, and interviews with course lecturers, tutors and other stakeholders. Results – The inferred evidence showed a positive impact on the student success indicators of the sense of resourcefulness, capability, connection, purpose and identity. The solicited evidence suggests that students saw the online resource in a positive light and that staff were happy with the impact it had on students’ work and learning. It is believed that the gathered evidence indicates the Module did achieve the impact objective of a positive impact on the contribution to student success for these first year business students. Conclusions – The evidence has shown that this resource contributed to student success, and that staff and student satisfaction with the resource contributed to increased confidence with student academic skills and information literacy in respect to their assignment task. Assessing the impact of the online resource on student success has helped to demonstrate the value of the library at Griffith University to the wider community. The four-pronged collaboration relationship required for this approach was fostered with stakeholders outside of the library.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen The Dung ◽  
Diani Fatmawati

Blended learning (B-learning), a combination of face-to-face teaching and E-learning-supported-teaching in an online course, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools have been studied in recent years. In addition, the use of this teaching model is effective in teaching and learning conditions in which some certain subjects are appropriate for the specific teaching context. As it has been a matter of concern of the universities in Vietnam today, deep studies related to this topic is crucial to be conducted. In this article, the process of developing online courses and organizing teaching for the General Informatics subject for first-year students at the Hue University of Education with B-learning teaching model will be presented. The combination of 60% face-to-face and 40% online learning.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasha Nikolic

The internet is a great resource student’s use for learning. Reasons include the ease in searching with sites such as Google, or the vast collection of informative videos on YouTube. The teaching laboratory can also benefit from online resources, especially when students are deficient in prerequisite knowledge. The benefits are greatest when there are non-standard learning paths, and multiple entry points into a degree. This study undertakes a mixed methods research approach to try and understand how students use and appreciate an online resource, called the Training Laboratory, designed to support learning in the engineering teaching laboratory. The targeted resources are used to help support students as well as the laboratory teaching assistants (called laboratory demonstrators). The study finds that such resources are used by a substantial number of students to aid learning, increasing productivity, and improving teaching. The availability of such targeted resources leads to an improved student experience.


Author(s):  
Nailya R. Salikhova ◽  
◽  
Aida R. Fakhrutdinova ◽  

Data from an empirical study aimed at identifying the difficulties faced by students in their transition to higher education, the overcoming of which is important for personal development, are presented in the article. The study participants (n=179) were asked to describe the difficulties of transition from school to University in the 1st year based on analysis of their autobiographical memory. The content analysis of texts allowed identifying the main themes and compiling a list of challenges, and then the frequency of occurrence of each of them was determined. According to the results, the most actual difficulties are the different aspects of integrating into the new social community due to sharp changes in the social environment during the transition from school to University. A big challenge is the need for self-organization in educational and everyday matters, planning and organizing your time. The third most frequently mentioned is learning difficulties, especially those related to mastering the material in the new educational environment. Problematic areas of adaptation to higher education that have not been previously reflected in the sources are the establishment of a common life in the dormitory, pressure from parents, the manifestation of their individuality, the increase in the length of classes and the pace of learning, romantic relationships and language barriers. The difficulties of the first examination session are much less frequently mentioned, and are more frequently mentioned when examining the current adaptation process. The results of the study can be used for the development and subsequent implementation of a system of practical measures aimed at helping students to adapt to the new environment and conditions. Such assistance to students in building a new way of life at a university, especially at an early stage of study, is necessary not only to improve the effectiveness of the educational process, but also to facilitate the processes of personal growth and development of students


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Stunden ◽  
Sima Zakani ◽  
Avery Martin ◽  
Shreya Moodley ◽  
John Jacob

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had significant effects on anatomy education. During the pandemic, students have had no access to cadavers, which has been the principal way of learning anatomy. We created and tested a customized congenital heart disease e-learning course for medical students that contained interactive 3D models of anonymized pediatric congenital heart defects. OBJECTIVE To assess if a multimodal e-learning course contributed to learning outcomes in a cohort of first year undergraduate medical students study congenital heart diseases. Secondarily, we assess student attitudes and experiences associated with multimodal e-learning. METHODS The pre/post study design involved 290 first year undergraduate medical students. Recruitment was conducted through the course instructors. Data were collected before using the course and after using the course. The primary outcome was knowledge acquisition (test scores). The secondary outcome included attitudes and experiences, as well as time to complete the modules, and browser metadata. RESULTS A total of 141 students were included in the final analysis (N=141). Students’ knowledge significantly improved by an average of 44.6% when using the course (SD 1.73, Z = -10.287, p < 0.001). 88.26% of students were highly motivated to learn with the course and 93.5% of students reported positive experiences with the course. There was a strong correlation between attitudes and experiences, which was statistically significant (rs = 0.687, p<0.001, N = 122). There were no relationships found between change test scores and attitudes or experiences (p>0.05). Students most frequently completed the e-learning course with Chrome (77.3%), and on Apple MacOS (61.0%) or Windows 10 (36.9%). Most students had devices with high-definition screens (83.0%). Most students (58.9%) completed the course in under 3 hours. CONCLUSIONS Multi-modal e-learning could be a viable solution to improving learning outcomes and experiences for undergraduate medical students, who do not have access to cadavers. Future research should focus on validating long-term learning outcomes. CLINICALTRIAL n/a


2022 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mudassir Hussain ◽  
Abdul Khalique ◽  
Pardeep Kumar ◽  
Asad Shehzad Hassan ◽  
Altaf Hashmi ◽  
...  

Since the declaration of a COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 teaching institutions started the process of adjusting to the new challenge. Medical education could not be imparted the way it used to be and some new methods had to be taken to adapt to the pandemic. At our institute, each week two lectures were recorded and later uploaded on the Youtube Channel and shared with students. This was followed by an MCQs based test using Google forms. Ten lectures were delivered in 5 weeks to 55 participants.  Majority of residents agreed that this activity increased their knowledge of the subject and opted to continue it in future.  With help of short online lectures (< 30 mins) and short online tests (5 MCQs), the learning experience of residents can be enhanced. In future, more online resources can be used to incorporate this method of teaching. 


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