scholarly journals Digital educational strategies to support basic engineering science courses

Apertura ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-67
Author(s):  
Araceli Celina Justo López ◽  
◽  
Lorena Castro García ◽  
Wendolyn Elizabeth Aguilar Salinas ◽  
Maximiliano de las Fuentes Lara
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environments ◽  
Failure Rates ◽  
Educational Strategies ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

In this paper there are described some educational strategies based on virtual learning environments, which were implemented in engineering programs with the purpose of mitigating failure rates in basic stage subjects. Based on a case study at the University of Baja California, the causes of failure for the period 2013 to 2016 were diagnosed, and subsequently, from 2017 to 2019, the implementation of four support strategies began. An analysis of the behavior of the failure rates before and after the implementation of the strategies was made, and the results show up that both the failure levels in five subjects as well as the student lag decreased. Even though the strategies applied in this study are replicable, and the use of virtual learning environments supports students’ academic performance, it is still necessary to expand the research to measure the impact of additional strategies that were put in to practice simultaneously.

Supporting Mobile Access to VLE Resources through MobiGlam

2012 ◽  
pp. 315-332
Author(s):  
Fatma Meawad ◽  
Geneen Stubbs
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Virtual Learning Environments ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Learning Activity ◽  
Mobile Access ◽  
Generic Framework ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

MobiGlam is a generic framework of interoperability with existing virtual learning environments (VLEs) that provides a compact and easy to use implementation of learning activity on Java enabled mobile devices. A case study was conducted at the University of Glamorgan, UK where MobiGlam was seamlessly integrated with the university’s VLE to support the delivery of computer courses at the foundation level. Such integration showed an added value to the participants and in many cases, it improved their use of the VLE. This chapter reports on the deployment, the evaluation, and the results of this case study. The results are analysed from two views: the impact on the participants’ use of the VLE and the framework’s overall usability.

scholarly journals The Effects of Enhancing Prospective EFL Teachers' Knowledge Management Strategies in Virtual Learning Environments on Their Ideational Flexibility and Engagement

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Ammar Abdullah Mahmoud Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environments ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
The Impact

The last few years have witnessed an increased interest in moving away from traditional language instruction settings towards more hybrid and virtual learning environments. Face-to-face interaction, guided practice, and uniformity of knowledge sources and skills are all replaced by settings where multiplicity of views from different learning communities, interconnectedness, self-directedness, and self-management of knowledge and learning are increasingly emphasized. This shift from walled-classroom instruction with its limited scope and resources to hybrid and virtual learning environments with their limitless provisions requires that learners be equipped with requisite skills and strategies to manage knowledge and handle language learning in ways commensurate with the nature and limitless possibilities of these new environments. The current study aimed at enhancing knowledge management strategies of EFL teachers in virtual learning environments and examine the impact on their ideational flexibility and engagement in language learning settings. A knowledge management model was proposed and field-test on a cohort of prospective EFL teachers in the Emirati context. Participants were prospective EFL teachers enrolled in the Methods of Teaching Courses and doing their practicum in the Emirati EFL context. Participants' ideational flexibility was tapped via a bi-methodical approach including a contextualized task and a decontextualized one. Their engagement in virtual language learning settings was tapped via an engagement scale. Results of the study indicated that enhancing prospective EFL teachers' knowledge management strategies in virtual learning environments had a significant impact on their ideational flexibility and engagement in foreign language learning settings. Details of the instructional intervention, instruments for tapping students’ ideational flexibility and engagement, and results of the study are discussed. Implications for foreign language teaching/learning along with suggestions for further research are also provided.Keywords: Knowledge management, ideational flexibility, student engagement

Translating and Networking in Virtual Learning Environments

2018 ◽  
pp. 243-267
Author(s):  
Gunta Ločmele
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Virtual Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Networks ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The University ◽  
Changing World

The chapter describes the experience of three projects carried out at the University of Latvia and their contribution to developing student skills for working in virtual networks. The research is carried out against the background of the rise of a community-based model in translation and increased involvement of virtual networks of translators in solving translation problems and the discussion of broader issues of the profession. The chapter describes the three projects, provides the approach and rationale for their development, dwells on problems faced in the projects and their solutions, as well as shares the lessons learned and recommendations for those who are interested in similar projects. As translation plays an important role for the development of society, acquiring skills for working in virtual translation projects is a key for translators to continue being masters of their profession in a changing world.

Usability of Online Virtual Learning Environments

2013 ◽  
pp. 41-58
Author(s):  
Ian John Cole
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environments ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Technological Barriers ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

This chapter explores key issues in relation to the human computer interactions that are supported through Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). It focuses particularly on the usability of online learning environments and highlights the impact usability can have on the learning experiences of users. The authors adopt a definition of usability that relates to the usability of virtual learning environments, specifically, and provides guidance on how to assess the usability of VLEs by offering the Multidimensional Usability Model (MUM). The MUM model is designed to identify the factors that can form technological barriers to effective Human Computer Interaction (HCI). This chapter also offers an evaluation of the theoretical frameworks, criteria, and methodologies currently available; these draw on research findings from a case study focused on the usability of an existing VLE and give practical examples of the MUM approach to usability.

Voices of business studies students on virtual learning environments (VLE) during COVID-19 lockdown in one university in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
James Mashitoa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Management System ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environments ◽  
Just In Time ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
The University

Low responsiveness and inflexibility were found to be a challenge to deprived universities in South Africa in promoting virtual learning environments (VLE) during COVID-19 lockdown. This study investigated the level of readiness in transitioning from contact classes to VLE; and to establish whether the university in this study moved at the same pace with other universities in South Africa. Just-In-Time Learning (JITL) theory and interpretivist paradigm informed the theoretical and methodological dimensions of the study. Interview was used to collect data from eight Business Studies students in one university in South Africa. The findings established that the case university was not yet ready for the transitioning to VLE. The Blackboard Learning Management System had serious inadequacies and there was delayed provision of students’ laptops and data, and there was a low number of academics using virtual platforms at this university. In conclusion this study recommends that management should prioritise swift transition to VLE during COVID-19 pandemic and future health crisis.

scholarly journals From Didactics to Datafication: A Critical Reflection on Virtual Learning Environments and the Production of Space

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-204
Author(s):  
Taryn Bernard
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environments ◽  
Production Of Space ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The Impact

When writing about transformation in higher education (HE) in South Africa, it is quite popular to mention the fall of apartheid, and perhaps also 1994, as a starting point for significant change. I, myself, have made this mistake (see Bernard, 2015). However, the recent #FeesMustFall protests highlighted that many approaches to transformation have been superficial at best, and extremely problematic at worst (Luckett & Naicker, 2019; Luckett, 2019). This is because they have done little to acknowledge the legacies that colonial modes of thinking have had, and continue to have, on the everyday lived experiences of students in spaces that still feel alienating to them. In April 2020, when the doors of South African universities closed to all, and during a swift and mass migration away from university campuses to Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), I was presented with the opportunity to critically reflect on the impact that increased use of VLEs can have on the transformation agenda in the HE sector. My approach takes up Tumubweinee and Luescher’s (2019, p. 2) argument that many initiatives aimed at transformation in HE have failed, because they do not pay sufficient attention to the where of transformation. Thus, like Tumubweinee and Luescher, I locate my reflection on VLEs in the postmodern, sociopolitical understandings of ‘space’ evident in the work of Lefebvre (1991), but more specifically his notions of conceived and abstract space. In doing so, issues of identity and coloniality are brought to the fore. My approach is critical in that it “implies possibilities, and possibilities as yet unfulfilled” (Lefebvre, 2002, pp.18‑19).

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