University Students' Perceptions of Computer Technology Experiences

On the basis of a survey as a research method (from designing surveys to reporting on surveys), the author examined students’ perceptions of computers and information technology (IT). In fall 2005, a survey questionnaire was administered to students enrolled in education courses at a university in the western Pacific. Attention was given to four variables—gender, ethnicity, academic status and age. A Likert-scale instrument was designed for data collection. Overall, students of this sample (N = 174) had positive perceptions toward using computer technology. The results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses indicated, however, that none of the four variables were statistically significant. There were no gender, ethnicity, academic status and age differences in perceptions of technology experiences for this sample. Qualitative data (students’ essays on the use of technology) were also analyzed to support quantitative data. Implications for practice were discussed, future trends were identified and recommendations were made for further research.

Developing Technology-Based Education for Adult Learners in Micronesia

The purpose of this chapter is to present the project work and experience of developing post-secondary distance education in a challenging and diverse setting where the author has been involved in the design and implementation of the technology-based education. The experience of the project demonstrates how challenges for generating engagement with Webbased online courses can be met and overcome. Online learning activities were analyzed in light of student feedback. This feedback, collected over the length of the project, indicated the positive and negative factors for the design, execution and revision of the online learning environment. These factors, to strengthen and reinforce learning, were judged successful in contributing to student achievement in meeting course and program learning objectives. The chapter concludes with a more general discussion of relevant development issues. This work is supported by a review of relevant literature.

Using Video to Productively Engage Learners

This chapter focuses on the different uses of video technology for instruction and assessment. The use of video technology allows performance-based skills, knowledge and disposition for learning to be demonstrated and recorded for a number of uses. The uses of video technology provide ways for students with different backgrounds and experiences as well as language differences to effectively engage with their performance and develop their skills, knowledge and dispositions. Through engagement in performance recorded via video technology, students become more motivated to prepare effectively. Action-oriented videotaping allows those students with less language skills to make use of alternative ways to demonstrate their skill, knowledge and disposition to learn in an effective and supportive environment. Each of the uses for video technology utilizes different strategies and techniques. Successful examples of each use of video technology are provided within this chapter for using video effectively in undergraduate as well as K-12 settings.

Research in the Pacific

Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) initiated the Pacific Communities with High-performance In Literacy Development (Pacific CHILD) research project in response to an overwhelming need in PREL’s service region to improve teachers’ knowledge and instructional practices in early reading. A conscious effort was made to use indigenous knowledge while at the same time satisfy the federal requirement of adhering to a set of rigorous methodological standards. The research design is a balance of scientific research methodology and the incorporation of cultural, language, political, social and environmental realities of the Pacific. This chapter highlights some of the technological methods used to collect data from staff members who provided on-site professional development. Data was also collected via video cameras that offered immediate feedback to teachers regarding strategies acquired during professional development activities. Also described are the rewards and potential pitfalls of utilizing technology for both formative and summative use.

Technology in physician Education

How physicians are trained has been heavily influenced by the advent of the technology era. Technology has progressed faster than society has been able to integrate it. The same is true within schools of medicine and residency training programs. Many technological advances are available to medical educators, and the goal is to make educators aware of the possible educational tools. Traditionally, medicine has been a learn-by-doing discipline. This is becoming less and less acceptable in modern society, and new training methods are being sought, developed and implemented. Some of the modalities available to medical educators include intranet, hand-helds, virtual reality, computerized charting, computerized access to information and electronic monitoring student education. Technological advances in medical education have their uses, but there are also many drawbacks, including hardware limitations, computer failure, security issues, patient confidentiality issues, property rights, maintenance and poor attitude of those required to implement new learning systems.

Adoption of Online Courses in Higher Education

This chapter examines the state of readiness towards adopting online distance education (DE) courses between undergraduate business students and business faculty at the University of Guam (UOG). The study was timely, given the infancy planning stage of online education delivery at UOG. Preferences among business student respondents, based on generation groups, ethnicity and occupation status, were reviewed. The following research questions were posed to guide this study: (1) At what stage of the undergraduate program do undergraduate business students recognize the importance of using the Internet for online education use?; (2) What factors explain the rate of adoption towards Internet use by undergraduate business education students and business faculty at UOG?; and (3) Are there significant differences between undergraduate business education students and UOG business faculty in the perceived state of readiness of adoption of online distance education? Overall, business students expressed willingness to pursue this delivery format.

Information and Communication Technologies

Teaching and learning in the 21st century should be markedly different from earlier times through the design of new teaching and learning environments. Through the presentation of three models of technology-rich learning environments (teacher-directed, learner-centered and mediated), this chapter provides a case study of the design and delivery of a course called Learning with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) guided by a mediated learner approach, using new approaches to using ICTs and assessment for learning as key course design drivers. That course aims to prepare future teachers who demonstrate strong theoretical and practical understanding of designing and creating effective ICT teaching and learning experiences, and are confident and proficient users of ICTs. We provide an analysis of the implementation of that course through the presentation of the learning stories and reflections of students. Specific discussion is provided about the conceptualization and implementation of an e-portfolio approach to promote deep learning.

A Collaborative Learning Environment to Support Distance Learning Students in Developing Nations

In developing nations, information and communications technologies (ICT) offer dramatic opportunities for economic and social transformation. Such nations hope to jump-start economies and actualize human potential by providing ICT-based education and training to individuals in remote areas. Educational institutions seeking to outsource programs internationally face complex cultural, political and technological considerations not found within traditional student populations. Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are tools that provide electronic access to campus services. However, distance educators are challenged to develop VLEs that also support critical social elements of student life. The San Diego State University Interwork Institute is partnering with community colleges in the Western Pacific to offer degrees using a unique educational model. Through partnership and technology, this model blends virtual technologies with site-based facilitators and services, enabling Pacific Islanders to access advanced degrees without having to travel abroad.

Scanners and Readers

While heralding the positive learning outcomes of computer-aided instruction, rigorous assessment must also monitor the changes in literacy that accompany it and qualify the benefits of technical content delivery. A decline in literary reading, recently documented by a National Endowment for the Arts study, is a case in point. This chapter inquires as to whether the cognitive and cultural changes incurred by reading fewer books are significant relative to the overall gains yielded by technological change in the classroom learning environment. It argues that the impressive focus on multimodal literacy in classrooms from elementary levels through college, which seems to favor diversity of content, is prone to exclude the analytic challenges that literary reading and the growth of historical consciousness demand. This chapter presents evidence that suggests the indispensability of literary reading experience alongside technologically enabled or enhanced modes of learning.

Higher Learning int eh Pacific

This chapter provides an overview of particular issues of diversity and technology within an island university. The chapter’s central focus rests on the complexity of both concepts within the context of higher education in the Pacific. In particular, the chapter highlights both the challenges and opportunities that the university faces as it attempts to address the unique multicultural landscape of the Western Pacific region and its technological realities. It focuses on a capstone senior-level course as a case study, and explores the possibilities inherent in directly addressing issues of diversity and technology while at the same time accomplishing the course’s prescribed academic goals. The chapter concludes by outlining 10 important lessons learned from the experience that others can benefit from, and establishes the importance of such a capstone experience for both students and faculty alike.