Free, Open, Online Help Forums

2012 ◽  
pp. 162-179
Author(s):  
Carla van de Sande
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Student Expectations ◽  
Online Help ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Information Technology Use ◽  
And Control

In contrast to course delivery, help seeking has not advanced with the technological capabilities and preferences of today’s students. Help seeking in higher education remains primarily an individual, private, face-to-face activity. Open, online, help forums have the potential to transform help seeking into a public, social endeavor. These forums connect students with volunteer helpers who have the time, knowledge, and willingness to provide assistance with specific problems from coursework. Although many such forums currently exist and are a popular source of help seeking, they have remained largely off the radar of educational research. In this paper, a calculus help forum is examined for manifestations of convenience, connection, and control, which are commonly used to describe student expectations regarding information technology use. Results indicate that students can receive efficient, accessible, and self-regulated help. Two additional themes for student experience, comfort and communication, are proposed.

Free, Open, Online, Help Forums

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Carla van de Sande
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Student Expectations ◽  
Online Help ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Information Technology Use ◽  
And Control

In contrast to course delivery, help seeking has not advanced with the technological capabilities and preferences of today’s students. Help seeking in higher education remains primarily an individual, private, face-to-face activity. Open, online, help forums have the potential to transform help seeking into a public, social endeavor. These forums connect students with volunteer helpers who have the time, knowledge, and willingness to provide assistance with specific problems from coursework. Although many such forums currently exist and are a popular source of help seeking, they have remained largely off the radar of educational research. In this paper, a calculus help forum is examined for manifestations of convenience, connection, and control, which are commonly used to describe student expectations regarding information technology use. Results indicate that students can receive efficient, accessible, and self-regulated help. Two additional themes for student experience, comfort and communication, are proposed.

Problems and Prospects of Information Technology Use in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 113-122
Author(s):  
Ezekiel Nyambega Omwenga
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Curriculum Content ◽  
Information Technology Use ◽  
Physical Barriers ◽  
The Cost

This chapter presents the problems and prospects of information technology use in higher education institutions, contemplates on the ideal expectations, and presents the current situation. As a result of the analysis, it has been revealed that due to a number of problems such as lack of adequate infrastructure and the cost of transformation of pedagogy content is often region specific. Linguistic and physical barriers, intellectual infrastructure power outages in a number of institutions, and misplacement of funding impacted negatively upon information technology use in higher education. Suggestions are made to achieve this goal. Additionally, information technology has many applications in higher education ranging from interactions between the learners and teachers, development of curriculum content, administration of student, staff, and general; and in teaching and learning, designing of new instructional activities, use of virtual labs(simulations), and enabling achievement of high outcomes and quality education.

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