Using Characters in Online Simulated Environments to Guide Authentic Tasks

2006 ◽  
pp. 88-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Agostinho
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Chief Executive Officer ◽  
Authentic Learning ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Authentic Tasks ◽  
Simulated Environments ◽  
Simulated Environment ◽  
The Subject

The use of characters to present tasks and critical information in a simulated environment has proven to be a useful strategy in the creation of more authentic learning environments online. Such characters can not only perform the role of setting and structuring tasks within the fictitious scenario, but also that of providing useful and realistic guidance. This chapter describes a learning environment designed to create an authentic context for learning evaluation skills and strategies appropriate to technology-based learning settings. The subject in which this approach was adopted was a masters-level course in evaluation of technology-based learning environments. The chapter focuses on the use of a fictitious CEO (chief executive officer) who requests certain evaluation tasks of “employees.” Students are given realistic jobs with realistic parameters, and in this way the subject is dealt with in a much more authentic manner than if presented in a more decontextualised way. The rationale for adopting the approach is described together with a description of how it was implemented and summary findings of an evaluation of the approach.

scholarly journals Student Preferences within a Holistic Blended Learning Environment

2019 ◽  
pp. 276-290
Author(s):  
Bernice Beukes ◽  
Karin Barac ◽  
Lynette Nagel
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Student Preferences ◽  
Performance Levels ◽  
Residential University ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Method Approach

Extant research shows that blended learning environments are widely accepted by students mainly because of the flexibility it offers. However, there is very little research that focuses on students’ preferences within a holistic blended learning environment and the contribution that a component makes to the learning of the subject matter, especially in large class settings. The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ perceptions of blended learning components in a holistic blended learning environment and whether these perceptions vary for students with different academic performance levels. A mixed method approach was used in this study performed at a residential university in South Africa and the results indicate that auditing students do have a clear preference for specific components within the environment and significant differences exist between the preferences of different academic performance levels. Such insights allow lecturers to adjust the resources and focus of the different components implemented in a blended learning environment.

Increasing Research Students' Engagement through Virtual Communities

2015 ◽  
pp. 50-75
Author(s):  
Maria Limniou ◽  
Clare Holdcroft ◽  
Paul S. Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Research Students ◽  
Geographical Space

This chapter describes important issues regarding research students' participation in a virtual community. Within a virtual community, university staff can communicate with research students without geographical/space constraints, and research students can exchange views, materials, and experience with their peers and/or academics in a flexible learning environment. Students' participation in virtual communities is mainly based on socio-emotional and informational motivations. Initially, this chapter describes the conditions of research in a traditional environment and the role of students and academics in it, along with the role of pedagogical and psychological aspects in virtual communities. Examples from a university virtual community developed in a Virtual Learning Environment and a Facebook™ closed group are presented. Apart from discussion forums, blended learning activities also increase students' engagement in virtual communities. Technical issues and difficulties based on different learning environments and university members' experience and familiarity with technology are highlighted and discussed.

Towards a Model of Playful Learning

2016 ◽  
pp. 263-280
Author(s):  
Raphael Raphael
Keyword(s):  
Middle School Students ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Community Schools ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
School Students ◽  
Game Mechanics ◽  
Narrative Account

What is the role of play in learning? What ways can we as educators leverage our students' extracurricular digital lives in meaningful ways in our digital and physical learning environments? What roles can the elements of game mechanics and game thinking serve towards these ends, especially in a blended learning environment? These are some of the initial questions that guided my action research at the American Community Schools, Athens (ACS). My project considers the efficacy of employing gamification strategies within a blended learning environment. This chapter in turn provides a brief narrative account of my research experience, focusing on an entrepreneur simulation in the ACS Academy (High School), and a series of gamified interventions done with ACS middle school students. It closes with a brief gamification toolset, a series of practical considerations drawn from this field experience and relevant research that may be helpful for teachers and administrators interested in exploring ways to gamify their own digital and physical learning communities or spaces.

Teachers' and Students' Role in the Learner-Centered Classrooms

2021 ◽  
pp. 800-813
Author(s):  
Angelina Popyeni Amushigamo
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Transmission Of Information ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Role Of Teachers

Prior to Namibia's independence in 1990, the role of the teacher in an educational environment has been defined as the transmission of information to students, and the teacher was regarded as the all-knowing person in the classroom, who slavishly followed the textbook in transmitting the subject matter to the students. In some cases, the teacher did not understand the subject matter that he/she transmitted to students. Therefore, there was no explanation of what was being taught. Students had to sit passively and listen to the teacher; learn by memorization (rote learning), and recall the transmitted information. This study explored perceptions of the role of teachers and students in learner-centered classrooms in a primary school in Namibia. Learner-centered teachers create learning environments that promote students' active engagement with learning and develop critical thinking skills.

The Blended Learning Environment in Higher Education

2016 ◽  
pp. 180-197
Author(s):  
Ellen Boeren
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Self Determination

This chapter explores the author's experiences with blended learning, both as a tutor and as a student at a British Russell Group University. The chapter starts from the importance of encouraging an autonomy supporting learning environment, featured within self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). In the first part of the chapter, definitions of blended learning will be briefly reviewed. Secondly, the role of the learning environment will be explained, drawing upon previous research on learning environments undertaken by Darkenwald and Valentine (1986), mentioning the importance of the learning environment within motivational theories. Thirdly, results of a critical analysis on the own teaching and learning practice will be conducted, comparing the perspective of being a tutor and being a student. Finally, recommendations for future teaching practice will be discussed, before concluding this chapter.

The Chief Executive Officer

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Petter Gottschalk
Keyword(s):  
Chief Executive Officer ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Chief Information Officer ◽  
Senior Executives ◽  
Level 3 ◽  
Level 1 ◽  
Ceo Successions ◽  
Level 2

The chief executive officer (CEO) is the only executive at level 1 in the hierarchy of an organization (Carpenter & Wade, 2002). All other executives in the organization are at lower levels. At level 2, we find the most senior executives. Level 3 includes the next tier of executives. In our perspective of promoting the chief information officer (CIO) to be the next CEO, we first have to understand the role of the CEO. Therefore, the first chapter of this book is dedicated to the topic of CEO successions (Zhang & Rajagopalan, 2004).

Using Related Cases to Support Authentic Project Activities

2006 ◽  
pp. 120-134
Author(s):  
Sue Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Constructivist Learning Environment ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Part Time ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Multimedia Product

This chapter describes the design of a technology-supported learning environment in which small teams of students worked on authentic project tasks to develop a multimedia product for a real client. The students were enrolled in an advanced-level subject offered in a postgraduate education program, with most studying part-time, and many located a distance from the main campus. Jonassen’s (1999) model for a constructivist learning environment was used as the framework for the design of the subject. A key feature of this approach is the use of related cases to support authentic project activities. The specifics of the design were informed by the research and conceptual literature, and by pilot testing with two class groups. The implementation of the subject was the focus of a qualitative case study that investigated learners’ experiences of the environment. A rich set of data was collected, including student assignment work, discussion records and interviews. Analysis of the data provided insights into the role of the cases in supporting the collaborative project work.

Creating an Authentic Learning Environment in Economics for MBA Studies

2006 ◽  
pp. 76-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Parry ◽  
Clive Reynoldson
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Authentic Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Business Administration ◽  
Mba Programs ◽  
Teaching Economics ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Core Part

This chapter discusses a postgraduate economics program that forms a core part of a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree course. The program has been structured so as to create a learning environment in which students construct an understanding of economics through a semester-long, authentic learning task — specifically the development of a competitive strategy for a business in which they have a personal interest. The curriculum, teaching and learning activities and assessment are aligned in such a way that they all contribute to the achievement of this task. The authors have observed that this approach has resulted in greater student engagement and a deeper conceptualisation of the role of economics in business as compared to the traditional approaches to teaching economics in MBA programs.

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