Applying Modern Educational Information Technologies in Higher Education Institutions

В статье рассматриваются актуальные вопросы применения современных информационно-образовательных технологий в высшей школе. Обоснована их актуальность и востребованность, а также программ и порталов дистанционного обучения в высшей школе. Рассмотрены исследования, разработки и практика реализации современных информационно-образовательных технологий, которые освещены в современной научной литературе. Представлен опыт их использования в Национальном государственном университете физической культуры имени П. Ф. Лесгафта (Санкт-Петербург), накопленный с 2013 года: работа университетского портала дистанционного образования (ДО), который насчитывает около 10500 пользователей (студенты, магистранты и аспиранты) и включает в себя электронную информационно-образовательную среду (ЭИОС) вуза, представляющую собой совокупность информационно-коммуникационных технологий и электронных информационно-образовательных ресурсов, в том числе около 1200 дистанционных курсов, электронные варианты материалов учебных дисциплин, выполненных в соответствии с требованиями государственного образовательного стандарта, и интернет-странички преподавателей, на которых они размещают свои информационные и учебно-методические материалы в электронном виде. Рассмотрены основные преимущества, которые дает использование собственного дистанционного портала, основанного на платформе LMS Moodle, высшему учебному заведению. Показаны особенности и трудности организации образовательного процесса с помощью этих технологий. The article focuses on the issues of educational information technologies application in higher educational institutions. The authors highlight that educational information technologies, e-learning portals and educational software have become a component of the higher education system. The article investigates contemporary theoretical research and descriptions of practical implementation of modern educational information technologies in the learning environment. The article discusses the experience of implementing educational information technologies at Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health (St. Petersburg). The University distance learning portal has been functioning since 2013. There are approximately 10,500 users (bachelor students, master students, postgraduate students). The portal hosts the university educational information environment and a variety of educational information resources, including 1,200 online courses, digital textbooks and other learning materials in full correspondence with the State Educational Standard, teachers’ web pages where they store their digital educational materials. The article analyzes the advantages of using the university distance learning portal based on the Moodle learning platform.

Development and Validation of User Experience-Based E-Learning Acceptance Model for Sustainable Higher Education

E-learning is a convenient way of learning through a portal. E-learning is being increasingly adopted in the world; however, the factors that influence the intention of users for accepting the e-learning technology have not been sufficiently explored, particularly in developing countries. Although many e-learning acceptance models do exist, the research on a user experience (UX)-based e-learning acceptance model is still lacking. As UX is one of the crucial factors for the acceptance of an e-learning portal, this research study aims to develop and validate a UX-based e-learning acceptance framework for sustainable higher education. In this connection, a web-based responsive e-learning portal for university students has been developed. The portal can be accessed from anywhere, at any time, and on any device, making the learning sustainable. The UX-based e-learning acceptance framework is developed by integrating the selected constructs of a widely accepted UX model, technology acceptance model (TAM), and four well-known constructs from various technology acceptance models. The constructs are appeal, pleasure, satisfaction, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, information quality, self-efficacy, social influence, benefits, and behavioral intention, which can predict the intentions of the students for acceptance of the e-learning portal. The data were collected from 650 university students using online and manual questionnaires. After data screening, 513 valid responses were further analyzed using structural equation modeling. According to the results, the framework fits the data well. The constructs satisfaction, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, information quality, self-efficacy, social influence, and benefits have a statistically significant effect on the behavioral intention of the students regarding the acceptance of the e-learning portal. The construct perceived ease of use has a statistical significant impact on perceived usefulness and pleasure. The construct appeal has a statistical significant impact on pleasure and satisfaction. Similarly, the construct pleasure has also a positive statistical significant impact on satisfaction. This research study contributes to the e-learning acceptance models by developing and validating the UX-based e-learning acceptance framework for sustainable higher education. The framework provides important insights for the acceptance of university based e-learning portals in the context of developing countries.

Adaptive Upgradation of Personalized E-Learning Portal using Data Mining

Implementation of data mining techniques in elearning is a trending research area, due to the increasing popularity of e-learning systems. E-learning systems provide increased portability, convenience and better learning experience. In this research, we proposed two novel schemes for upgrading the e-learning portals based on the learner’s data for improving the quality of e-learning. The first scheme is Learner History-based E-learning Portal Up-gradation (LHEPU). In this scheme, the web log history data of the learner is acquired. Using this data, various useful attributes are extracted. Using these attributes, the data mining techniques like pattern analysis, machine learning, frequency distribution, correlation analysis, sequential mining and machine learning techniques are applied. The results of these data mining techniques are used for the improvement of e-learning portal like topic recommendations, learner grade prediction, etc. The second scheme is Learner Assessment-based E-Learning Portal Up-gradation (LAEPU). This scheme is implemented in two phases, namely, the development phase and the deployment phase. In the development phase, the learner is made to attend a short pretraining program. Followed by the program, the learner must attend an assessment test. Based on the learner’s performance in this test, the learners are clustered into different groups using clustering algorithm such as K-Means clustering or DBSCAN algorithms. The portal is designed to support each group of learners. In the deployment phase, a new learner is mapped to a particular group based on his/her performance in the pretraining program.