The Implementation of a University 2.0 Model

Author(s):  
Domenico Consoli

With the advent of Web 2.0 and with the development of interactive tools that allowed users to express opinions and suggestions on different topics, the way to do business, socialize with other people and also the academic environment, both in terms of teaching and research, is changing. In companies, thanks to interactive tools of Web 2.0, managers are in a close contact with end customers to improve the product/service. In the academic world, this technology can be used exploiting e-learning platforms enriched with interactive virtual channels thus promoting the methodology of learning by doing and the constructivist theory of collective participation of students in the knowledge construction. In this context it is also possible to develop a collaborative research between academics and scientists. The number of websites of the science 2.0, with scientific cooperations and the creation and distribution of quality papers in journals, is growing. Also, the ability to manage complex scientific projects and seek funding sources is increasing. In this chapter, the author analyzes different models of e-learning and designs a University 2.0 framework that supports, by advanced Web 2.0 tools, teaching and research in the university.

Author(s):  
Lien Cam

Many colleges and universities in Vietnam have employed e-learning platforms in teaching English with the hope to better students’ English proficiency. Recently, e-learning programs such as DNTU-LMS and Canvas have been implemented at Dong Nai Technology University. With their features of flexibility and efficiency, they have been being used as crucial tools for teaching and learning in various faculties in the university especially during the widespread of Covid-19 pandemic. The present study aimed at identifying the views of the EFL learners from Faculty of Foreign Languages on the application of e-learning platform. A group of 100 EFL students was chosen randomly to participate in this study. Data was collected using questionnaire. After analyzing student’s responses, the results proved that the introduction of e-learning was effective. E-learning also stimulates students to learn English and brings them comfort and joy.


Author(s):  
Motlhabane Jacobus Maboe

It is almost impossible to perform academic activities, such as accessing study material or contacting lecturers and other teaching and learning processes, at an open distance learning institution without the use of computers and the internet. This article investigates and reports on the time taken by students with and without disabilities to complete certain tasks using the University of South Africa's learning management systems (LMS). The findings of the study indicate that the time taken by students with disabilities to finish tasks is much longer compared to the students without disabilities. The study established that well-developed e-learning platforms guarantee efficient and effective use by both students with and without disabilities. The study suggests that it is significant for all LMS stakeholders to be involved in the development of e-learning websites. This is to ensure that accessibility and usability of these websites are adhered to during the development of e-learning websites.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 607-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki Lawal ◽  
Stephen Akintunde

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential role of information literacy (IL) within the changing context of the e-learning environment at the University of Jos in recent years. It focuses and emphasises the role of the University library in facilitating teaching and learning through the use of e-learning platforms in teaching information retrieval skills. The paper aims to identify gaps in students’ information skills that could be addressed through IL instruction. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a case study research design while the methodology involved the administration of structured questionnaires to the two groups of respondents. Findings – Findings from the study provide useful insights to the skills challenges experienced by students and point to a need for effective collaboration between the library, faculty and management in order to promote a better approach to learning at the institution. Originality/value – By emphasising the role of the library, the paper contributes to previous studies on e-learning at the University and provides a basis for further research in this regard.


Author(s):  
Anne Beth Våga ◽  
Mona Henriksen ◽  
Inger Gåsemyr

The University Library of Stavanger has made three interactive library courses. Two of the courses are in Norwegian, Vitenskapelige artikler i sykepleiefaget (Scientific articles in nursing), and Kildebruk og litteratursøk (Information literacy: How to search and cite) and one in English, Writing thesis, using sources. The purpose has been to help students developing skills in information literacy, to fulfill the demands required by the Norwegian ministry of education and research. The courses are available at the library's webpage. Their purpose is to be a supplement to ordinary library courses. The courses consist of text, films, interactive tasks and voiceover. We have made subject-specific courses, which cover different faculties at the University. We believe that the students at a university seek to identify themselves with the profession they aim to become a part of through their studies, and hopefully they develop an attachment to the library.   The course Writing thesis, using sources is primarily aiming towards engineering students, but it will also be useful for other student groups. The university has many foreign students in different engineering disciplines and levels. They sometimes have a bachelor's degree from a country with an academic culture that is different from ours. The course is written in a clear and concise language. The students can listen to the text, or read it. The cooperation between the library and the academic staff has varied during the development of the courses. We had close contact with two members of the Department of Health Studies during the whole process of the first course, Vitenskapelige artikler i sykepleiefaget (Scientific articles in nursing).They gave us advice about content and definitions. There has been less cooperation with academic staff during the two other courses. Cooperation with NettOp (The University's department for web-based education) has been outstanding. NettOp has guided us on subjects like software, layout, technical support, interactive objects and pedagogical advice, like how to write for students. We also invited students to give feedback on the courses. The process has been informative, and we have developed new skills. At the same time there have been challenges, such as software issues and lack of collaboration with academic staff. Maintaining the courses is very time consuming. We would like to meet other colleagues in higher education interested in e-learning courses and exchange experiences. Discussions may be about matters such as: Do we really need interactive courses? Should the courses be subject-specific or general in content? How can we include academic staff in a better way? Could students do the job? Could several universities cooperate to make interactive courses? Could we borrow content from each other? How do we know whether the courses are used or not? What about the learning process and outcome for the students? How do we best promote the courses? Experiences with different software and use of devices. Discussions should be conducted in groups consisting of max 8 participants. The results from the discussions could for example be published on UBIS' blog.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Singh ◽  
S. Sarkar ◽  
U. Gaur ◽  
S. Gupta ◽  
O. P. Adams ◽  
...  

Background: Smartphones and medical education apps are popular with and are widely used by medical students to facilitate peer interactions, communication and collaboration in addition to their “learn anywhere” advantage. Smartphone use by medical students has not been studied in the English-speaking Caribbean. Study objectives were to assess in preclinical students attending the University of the West Indies in Barbados, smartphone ownership, usage and attitudes toward use in medical education.Methods: First and second year preclinical medical students completed a self-administered paper-based questionnaire during the 2018–2019 academic year. Survey questions included sections on smartphone ownership, medical apps used, phone usage for education related tasks, and the perception on the usefulness of smartphones in medical education.Results: Of 112 participants (response rate 67.4%), 43% considered using the smartphone for medical education when acquiring it but 92% were currently using it for this purpose, with 80.3% (p < 0.01) specifically using it for learning anatomy. The majority of the students felt that the use of smartphones would improve their educational experiences (89.1%) (p < 0.01), be beneficial to medical faculty for teaching (84.8%) (p < 0.01), and could be more effectively used in medical education (50.9%) (p < 0.01). For information resources students used Medscape (67.9%) and Mayo Clinic (57.1%) and the most frequently used search engine was Google (95.5%). Most students (67.9%) used medical apps and 79.5% would buy more useful apps provided they were affordable. The popular apps were: ‘Teach me Anatomy’ (11.9%), ‘UpToDate’ (10.3%) and ‘Medscape’ (8.8%). Most students (66.1%) felt a Smart Campus should ensure e-learning platforms were compatible with smartphones and university policies regarding smartphone usage for academic purposes were needed.Conclusion: Findings show that smartphones and related medical education apps are widely used by medical students and improve their educational experiences. Universities should develop a policy regarding smartphone usage for academic purposes.


Author(s):  
Alexandra Cristea ◽  
Fawaz Ghali ◽  
Mike Joy

This chapter discusses a challenging hot topic in the area of Web 2.0 technologies for Lifelong Learning: how to merge such technologies with research on personalizationand adaptive e-learning, in order to provide the best learning experience, customized for a specific learner or group of learners, in the context of communities of learning and authoring. The authors of this chapter discuss the most well-known frameworks and then show how an existing framework for personalized e-learning can be extended, in order to allow the specification of the complex new relationships that social aspects bring to e-learning platforms. This is not just about creating learning content, but also about developing new ways of learning. For instance, adaptation does not refer to an individual only, but also to groups, which can be groups of learners, designers or course authors. Their interests, objectives, capabilities, and backgrounds need to be catered to, as well as their group interaction. Furthermore, the boundaries between authors and learners become less distinct in the Web 2.0 context. This chapter presents the theoretical basis for this framework extension, as well as its implementation and evaluation, and concludes by discussing the results and drawing conclusions and interesting pointers for further research.


2014 ◽  
pp. 673-688
Author(s):  
Hedia Mhiri Sellami

ePortfolios have been in use in university for nearly a decade. Students' learning is changing, and the university is faced with e-learning 2.0, which is based on Web 2.0. This chapter introduces e-learning 2.0 and shows that the ePortfolio is currently the ideal environment to accompany it. To emphasize e-learning 2.0, the authors propose to enrich the ePortfolio's structure by adding an item corresponding to e-learning 2.0 artifacts as well as to other new learning sources. Some ePortfolio standards are described to show the lack of such a dedicated item. It is stressed that this proposition concerns the conceptual aspect and not the technical one. It may help follow the current students' tendency as well as the market demand for use. The end of this chapter addresses some difficulties in introducing the ePortfolio and stresses that it is still relevant for e-learning 2.0.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Njabulo Bruce Khumalo ◽  
Charity Baloyi

Information communication technologies (ICTs) have greatly impacted the education sector over the years leading to electronic service delivery. Universities all over the world are embracing ICTs, especially the Internet, creating websites, making use of Web 2.0 applications, that is, social networks and moving their services from a manual based to electronic platforms. The study was comparative, looking extent to which the National University of Science and Technology (Zimbabwe) and the University of Venda (RSA) have embraced ICTs in the conduct of business and how this has impacted on their service delivery. Universities have embraced ICTs in different levels, according to their capacity in terms of finances, human resources, institutional capacity and other variables. A combination of web content analysis and a comparative study of the web presence of the two universities was done which revealed that the universities are present on some Web 2.0 applications though not fully exploiting all the functions.   Keywords: Information communication technology, information society, global village, universities, e-learning.  


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