scholarly journals ‘We Are a Global Community’: Communicating Knowledge through Moocs and Teacher Training Platforms

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 38-51
Author(s):  
Michela Giordano ◽  
Maria Antonietta Marongiu
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Discourse Communities ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Video Lectures ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
Rhetorical Discourse

A socio-rhetorical discourse community consists of a group of people who come together to pursue objectives that predate those of socialization and solidarity, and who aim to develop and maintain their own discoursal characteristics. We have examined MOOCs (Massive Open Online courses) and teacher training educational platforms in order to ascertain whether and to what extent they may be identified as networked learning tools and discourse communities characterized by a commonality of goals, mechanisms and procedures of intercommunication, exchange of knowledge, information, as well as specialized genres and their terminology. MOOCs and learning platforms have dramatically changed the way people learn. Starting from ongoing research, we analyze the metadiscoursal features of an ad hoc corpus of online filmed lectures drawn from two MOOC providers (FutureLearn and Coursera). We look at both interactive and interactional resources (to guide the listener through the texts and to involve the listener in the subject), in order to discover how these features are used to control, evaluate and negotiate the communicative goals and impact of the ongoing exchanges. The quantitative and qualitative analysis shows a significant use of metadiscourse markers in the video lectures with a higher frequency of interactional features such as self-mentions, engagement markers, hedges and boosters, rather than interactive ones. These commentaries in the lectures signal the instructors’ attitudes towards the texts and their listeners. Additionally, they were found to perform a rhetorical function since they persuasively reinforce the instructors’ attitude and stance. Thus, their use engages the participants as members of a digital community, where commitment, dedication, and common goals seem to be fundamental features.

International Student Voices and the VLE

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-27
Author(s):  
Claire Hiscock
Keyword(s):  
International Student ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Academic Departments ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Learner Participation ◽  
Learning Platforms

This article outlines the results of an ongoing research project into student experiences of virtual learning platforms. The project is driven by low engagement with online courses and a perceived lack of enthusiasm for Moodle. The author hopes to develop working practices to be used across departments that put students at the centre of designing the VLE spaces they are required to use. Underlying this project is the conviction that “if we want to enhance online learning, we need to enhance online learner participation,” as said by Hrastinski. This stage of data gathering included Photovoice to create screen recordings or visual representations of the students' digital learning journey, focus groups with international students and interviews with experts in digital learning. The article investigates students views and experiences of engaging with VLEs and concludes that if these digital platforms are to be of greater relevance to academic departments than mere PDF dumping grounds, then student participation in their design is essential.

scholarly journals Innovative Authoring Tools for Online-Courses with Assignments - Integrating Heterogeneous Tools of e-Learning Platforms into Hybrid Application Solutions

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Then ◽  
Benjamin Wallenborn ◽  
Birgit R. Ianniello ◽  
Duc Binh Vu ◽  
Michael Fuchs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Exchange ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Integration Architecture ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
Methods Of Learning ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Support Software

This paper is concerned with an essential topic in e-learning - course content authoring. Besides supporting the concept of Competence-Based Learning (CBL) our solution is aiming to make effective use of an open integration architecture fostering the interoperability of hybrid e-learning solutions. Modern scenarios ask for interoperable software solutions to seamlessly integrate existing e-learning infrastructures and legacy tools with innovative technologies while being cognitively efficient to handle. In this way, prospective users are enabled to use them seamlessly without learning overheads. At the same time, methods of Learning Design (LD) in combination with CBL are getting more and more important to produce and maintain easy to facilitate solutions. Our approach of developing a competence-based course-authoring and assignment-support software bridges the gaps between Moodle and established legacy infrastructures by embedding existing legacy tools via Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI). The underlying conceptual architecture for this integration approach and its components will be introduced; furthermore a Moodle plugin will be outlined, which enables Moodle for LD- and CBL-support including corresponding data exchange with our course authoring tool. The paper concludes with an outlook on future plans for our research and development.

scholarly journals LEARNERS’ INTERACTIONS IN MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES: ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Shurtina ◽  
Andrey Lyamin ◽  
Elena Cherepovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Weak Effect ◽  
Successful Completion ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Video Lectures ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
Moderate Effect

The research is devoted to the study of data on learners’ interactions in massive open online courses. Based on the logs of online-learning platforms, the following research was made: a comparison of the behaviour of motivated and unmotivated learners regarding of video lectures, identification of the most valuable for the successful completion of the course activities of learners, creating a model of going through time-limited assignments and identification of cheating approach based on this model. The following conclusions were made: motivated and unmotivated learners watch video lectures in different ways, motivated learners appeared to be 14 times more active, the most interesting and most viewable videos were revealed. When identifying the most valuable theoretical materials influencing the successful completion of the course, the following results were obtained: some of the videos have a strong influence on the successful completion of the final assignment. Some of the videos appeared to have weak effect, they can be interpreted as non-obligatory. Ungraded tests have a positive but moderate effect on learners’ success, while communication via discussion forum has no effect at all. In addition, a model of going through time-limited assignments was built using the average passing time of reliable learners, the approach for identifying cheating with examples is presented in the study.

scholarly journals An AI-Based System for Formative and Summative Assessment in Data Science Courses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierpaolo Vittorini ◽  
Stefano Menini ◽  
Sara Tonelli
Keyword(s):  
Data Science ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Summative Assessments ◽  
Assessment Activity ◽  
Automated Grading ◽  
Automated Feedback

AbstractMassive open online courses (MOOCs) provide hundreds of students with teaching materials, assessment tools, and collaborative instruments. The assessment activity, in particular, is demanding in terms of both time and effort; thus, the use of artificial intelligence can be useful to address and reduce the time and effort required. This paper reports on a system and related experiments finalised to improve both the performance and quality of formative and summative assessments in specific data science courses. The system is developed to automatically grade assignments composed of R commands commented with short sentences written in natural language. In our opinion, the use of the system can (i) shorten the correction times and reduce the possibility of errors and (ii) support the students while solving the exercises assigned during the course through automated feedback. To investigate these aims, an ad-hoc experiment was conducted in three courses containing the specific topic of statistical analysis of health data. Our evaluation demonstrated that automated grading has an acceptable correlation with human grading. Furthermore, the students who used the tool did not report usability issues, and those that used it for more than half of the exercises obtained (on average) higher grades in the exam. Finally, the use of the system reduced the correction time and assisted the professor in identifying correction errors.

scholarly journals Exploring the Continuous Usage Intention of Online Learning Platforms from the Perspective of Social Capital

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Chun-Hsiung Huang
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
Continuous Usage Intention

This research explores the factors that influence students’ continuous usage intention regarding online learning platforms from the perspectives of social capital, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use. The questionnaire survey method was used in the research to analyze the relationship between the research variables and verify the hypothesis based on data from 248 collected valid questionnaire responses. The following results were obtained: (1) “Social interaction ties” positively affect students’ continuous usage intention. (2) “Shared language” negatively affects students’ continuous usage intention. (3) “Shared vision” positively affects students’ continuous usage intention. (4) “Perceived usefulness” positively affects students’ continuous usage intention. (5) “Perceived ease of use” positively affects students’ continuous usage intention. According to the results, students believe in useful teaching that promotes knowledge and skills. The ease of use of learning tools is key to whether they can learn successfully. Paying attention to the interaction and communication between students, so that students have a shared goal and participate in teamwork, is something that teachers must pay attention to in the course of operation. The professional vocabulary of the teaching content and the way of announcing information should avoid using difficult terminology, which is also a point to which teachers need to pay attention.

scholarly journals Danza en educación infantil: opinión de los docentes (Dance in preschool education: teachers' opinion)

Retos ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 239-244
Author(s):  
Vicente Juan Peña de Hornos ◽  
Gregorio Vicente Nicolás
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Integral Development ◽  
Development Of Students

El objetivo principal de esta investigación ha sido conocer y analizar la inclusión de actividades de danza en la práctica educativa del aula de Educación Infantil desde la perspectiva de los docentes. Los participantes (N=105) han sido maestras/os que imparten docencia en el segundo ciclo de Educación Infantil en centros educativos de la Región de Murcia (España). Para la recogida de datos se ha diseñado un cuestionario ad hoc y posteriormente se ha aplicado un análisis descriptivo a la información obtenida. Los resultados reflejan que los especialistas de Educación Infantil de la Región de Murcia incluyen en sus programaciones y en su práctica docente actividades de danza. Asimismo, las consideran fundamentales en el desarrollo integral del alumnado y que este responde de forma positiva y activa a este tipo de actividades. Por otro lado, alertan de la necesidad de mejorar la oferta formativa con respecto a estas materias y la calidad y cantidad de medios y recursos para llevarlas adecuadamente a la práctica. Abstract. The main objective of this research was to learn and analyze the inclusion of dance activities in Preschool teaching practices from the perspective of teachers. Participants (N=105) were teachers who teach at the second cycle of Preschool Education in schools from the Region of Murcia (Spain). An ad hoc questionnaire was designed for the collection of data, and descriptive analysis was subsequently applied. The results reflect that specialists of Preschool Education from the Region of Murcia include dance activities in their planning and teaching practices. Likewise, they consider them fundamental for the integral development of students, who respond in a positive and active way to this type of activities. On the other hand, they call the attention on the need to improve both teacher training with respect to these subjects and the quality and quantity of resources to carry them properly into practice.

scholarly journals Approaches to the development of online learning In the digital environment of higher education in Yakutia

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (Extra-B) ◽  
pp. 173-180
Author(s):  
Elizaveta Afanasyevna Barakhsanova ◽  
Mikhail Petrovich Sivtsev ◽  
Nyurgun Mikhailovich Pavlov ◽  
Afanasy Radnaevich Batorov ◽  
Maria Egorovna Alekseeva
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Digital Environment ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Online Distance Learning ◽  
Online Distance ◽  
Educational Applications

The authors justified the idea of developing online courses based on the use of Moodle tools, allowing the formation of knowledge in the field of technological and methodological skills and abilities to use educational applications, services, and their application in professional activities in the implementation of online learning in the digital environment of the university.  Assessment of the effectiveness of the online course is confirmed by the solution of professional tasks from the knowledge of the digital educational environment with interdisciplinary content and tasks requiring the use of e-learning tools. Analysis of the results using two-way analysis of variance revealed a significant effect of factors on the effective feature using the F-test. The significance of the study lies in the development of online advanced training courses aimed at improving the technological level of teachers and educators of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the implementation of the remote format of training using online distance learning tools and technologies. 

scholarly journals Upgrading Education with Technology: Insights from Experimental Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 897-996
Author(s):  
Maya Escueta ◽  
Andre Joshua Nickow ◽  
Philip Oreopoulos ◽  
Vincent Quan
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Research ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Education Technology ◽  
Text Message ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
Widespread Interest

In recent years, there has been widespread interest around the potential for technology to transform learning. As investment in education technology continues to grow, students, parents, and teachers face a seemingly endless array of education technologies from which to choose—from digital personalized learning platforms to online courses to text message reminders to submit financial aid forms. Amid the excitement, it is important to step back and understand how technology can help—or in some cases hinder—learning. This review article synthesizes and discusses rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of technology-based approaches to education in developed countries and outlines areas for future inquiry. In particular, we examine randomized controlled trials and regression discontinuity studies across the following categories of education technology: (i) access to technology, (ii) computer-assisted learning, (iii) technology-enabled behavioral interventions in education, and (iv) online learning. We hope this synthesis will advance academic understanding of how technology can improve education, outline key areas for new experimental research, and help drive improvements to the policies, programs, and structures that contribute to successful teaching and learning. (JEL H52, H75, I20, O33)

scholarly journals Learning Analytics to Inform the Learning Design: Supporting Instructor’s Inquiry into Student Learning in Unsupervised Technology-Enhanced Platforms

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Harindranathan ◽  
James Folkestad
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Formative Assessments ◽  
Technology Enhanced Learning ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Learning Behaviors ◽  
Pedagogical Design ◽  
Actual Use ◽  
Learning Platforms

Instructors may design and implement formative assessments on technology-enhanced platforms (e.g., online quizzes) with the intention of encouraging the use of effective learning strategies like active retrieval of information and spaced practice among their students. However, when students interact with unsupervised technology-enhanced learning platforms, instructors are often unaware of students’ actual use of the learning tools with respect to the pedagogical design. In this study, we designed and extracted five variables from the Canvas quiz-log data, which can provide insights into students’ learning behaviors. Anchoring our conceptual basis on the ‘influential conversational framework’, we find that learning analytics (LA) can provide instructors with critical information related to students’ learning behaviors, thereby supporting instructors’ inquiry into student learning in unsupervised technology-enhanced platforms. Our findings suggest that the information that LA provides may enable instructors to provide meaningful feedback to learners and improve the existing learning designs.

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