The Agile Hour in a Virtual World

Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) are the subject of increasing interest for educators and trainers. In the context of software development, they are beginning to see increasing use both as learning spaces and as a richer means of collaboration for virtual teams. This chapter reflects on a project that developed and evaluated a virtual agile software development workshop hosted in the Open Wonderland MUVE, designed to help learners to understand the basic principles of some core agile software development techniques. The work took a design-based research approach, following a reflective path of development through two major iterations. The authors trace the research process from a real world implementation of the “agile hour” workshop to its virtual incarnation, describing the design philosophy and the constructed virtual artifacts. They conclude by reflecting on the insights into learner perceptions and practical implementations gained from building and evaluating the Open Wonderland workshop.

The Application of Affective Computing Technology to E-Learning

This chapter discusses the domain of affective computing and reviews the area of affective tutoring systems: e-learning applications that possess the ability to detect and appropriately respond to the affective state of the learner. A significant proportion of human communication is non-verbal or implicit, and the communication of affective state provides valuable context and insights. Computers are for all intents and purposes blind to this form of communication, creating what has been described as an “affective gap.” Affective computing aims to eliminate this gap and to foster the development of a new generation of computer interfaces that emulate a more natural human-human interaction paradigm. The domain of learning is considered to be of particular note due to the complex interplay between emotions and learning. This is discussed in this chapter along with the need for new theories of learning that incorporate affect. Next, the more commonly applicable means for inferring affective state are identified and discussed. These can be broadly categorized into methods that involve the user’s input and methods that acquire the information independent of any user input. This latter category is of interest as these approaches have the potential for more natural and unobtrusive implementation, and it includes techniques such as analysis of vocal patterns, facial expressions, and physiological state. The chapter concludes with a review of prominent affective tutoring systems in current research and promotes future directions for e-learning that capitalize on the strengths of affective computing.

A Software Platform for Enhancing Integrity in Online Testing

This chapter describes a software platform that is designed to facilitate the integrity of Web-based exams and assessments. The purpose of the chapter is to share the success of the approach and to promote its further development and use in the e-learning environment. The custom software application, which is named eTAP (electronic Test Administration Platform), has been developed by the author for use in his own courses and is designed in response to his perceived needs in this setting. In addition to e-cheating mitigation, the software addresses the issues of real-time attendance monitoring and activity logging, while providing a well-structured, consistent experience for the students and for the instructor. The assessment platform provided by eTAP uses a software sandbox mechanism to control the examination process. That is, once the application is started, the examinee is limited to specific sanctioned computer functionality and is restricted to a well-defined, relevant region of the Web.

A Hybrid Analysis of E-Learning Types and Knowledge Sharing Measurement Indicators

E-learning as a method of effective transference of knowledge is being widely used. This chapter introduces a conceptual model that shows administrators/directors of e-learning environments how to recognize and utilize different sets of knowledge sharing indicators (a combination of individual, social, organizational, and technical indicators) to enhance the quality of learning in e-learning environments. A model in which different types of e-learning can be employed is introduced and elaborated. Then, several knowledge-sharing indicators that have the potential of facilitating and enhancing the e-learning environment are presented. Finally, the conceptual model of knowledge sharing indicators to facilitate different types of e-learning environments is provided and discussed.

Teachers' Experience as Foreign Language Online Learners

Due to the continuing linguistic and cultural diversity among K-12 students in the US and across the English-speaking world and the increasing influence of digital technologies on learning, this qualitative study was conducted to explore pre-service teachers’ perceptions of learning a foreign language online, and how such experience influences teaching linguistically, culturally, and technologically diverse students. Participants comprised 35 teacher education students, all of whom took a 9-week online Chinese language/culture course. A variety of surveys with closed and open-ended questions were conducted before, during, and after the course. Data were collected online and then coded and analyzed. The participants’ responses suggested that: 1) new forms of online learning were engaging to teacher-learners with diverse learning styles, prior technological experience, needs, and goals; 2) the pre-service teachers perceived that online foreign language learning during their teacher education program enhanced their linguistic, cultural, and technological awareness; and 3) the participants felt that they benefited from being prepared to work with linguistic, cultural, and technological diversity in classrooms. This study has implications for similar contexts around the world.

Writing and Culture in CALL

This chapter discusses the importance of writing as a key ability to address in the foreign/second language classroom. The need to design and implement projects and tasks that foster authentic cultural learning through the meaningful use of written production is addressed, and a project that meets these criteria is presented. This email tandem exchange project was conducted between 94 intermediate-level students (47 pairs) from Columbia University/Barnard College in New York and the Universidad Autonóma de Madrid in Spain during the Fall Semester 2010 (and subsequently in 2011 and 2012). There were several goals to this project: to help improve students’ writing skills; to encourage them to learn about culture through authentic and real exposure to the target language (TL onwards, understood as “direct contact with a native speaker”); to foster progress in their use of the TLs through peer-to-peer corrections; and to take an active part in their own learning through self-assessment. Based on students’ opinions, this project had a very positive impact on the way they viewed the foreign/target culture on both sides of the Atlantic. It also helped them enhance their written proficiency and acquire a new lexical mastery that would have been impossible through the limited and less-real scope of the classroom.

Improving the Perception of Technology-Supported Learning Situations

The majority of educational institutes have adopted some kind of technology, especially a Learning Management System (LMS), to facilitate the ways of learning in classrooms. Indeed, the investment in technology with the expectation of fostering learning relies on students’ response toward such technology. Therefore, it is essential not only to predict students’ behavior toward a LMS but also to grasp how students make a decision to use a particular system. This chapter explores the potential factors that have the most significant influence on the adoption of LMSs in Egypt as well as the relationships between these factors. The proposed model extends the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to include self-efficacy and system quality, with the expectation that they significantly shape the use of LMS. The data shows that most of the causal relationships between technology acceptance factors are well supported. The results also indicate that the system quality has a direct effect on perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. One interesting observation is the strong influence of perceived ease of use on LMS usage, much stronger than the influence of perceived usefulness on the use of LMS.

Assessing Learning with Web 2.0 Tools

The emergence of new skills to better fit the networked information economy presses higher education institutions to invest in digitally rich environments that allow learning to be personalized, taking place in multiple locations and at time that suits the learner. Social Web tools prioritize collaboration, participation, and reflection, offer new opportunities for knowledge construction and sharing, but they also demand new pedagogical strategies and assessment methods that are not consistent with standards that value what is taught instead of what is constructed, what is pre-established instead of what is democratically agreed. In this chapter, the author presents the results of a research project where different Web 2.0 technologies were used as tools for assessing learning in teacher education programs at the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal between 2006 and 2012. In order to provide rationale for embracing Web 2.0 tools as well as recommend alternative methods to create, capture, and assess learning outcomes that result from the integration of authoring tools in teaching and learning activities, the authors discuss the evidence obtained and reflect on the affordances and challenges of setting up authentic tasks that engage students in the learning process and that provide inferences to assess learning outcomes.

Learning Languages via Social Networking Sites

This chapter reports on a study of seven learners who logged their experiences on the language learning social networking site Livemocha over a period of three months. The features of the site are described and the likelihood of their future success is considered. The learners were introduced to the Social Networking Site (SNS) and asked to learn a language on the site. They were positive about two aspects of the site: the immediate peer-feedback available and the ability to converse synchronously and asynchronously with native speakers of their target language. However, there was universal criticism of the “word-list”-based language learning materials, and several participants complained about the regular cyber-flirting they encountered. Other aspects of the site including accessibility, ease of use, syllabus, activities, and relationships with other members are also considered. The potential for integrating some of the features of SNSs for language learning into the Higher Education (HE) curriculum and the implications of this for educators are also discussed.

Environmental Science Education in the 21st Century

Technology is helping biology instructors redefine their pedagogical “toolboxes” for the 21st century classroom. Indeed, online multimedia learning tools are evolving to fill the niche to assist student transition from simple inquiry-based learning (textbooks, less student responsibility, rote memorization of facts) to professional science practice (higher-end inquiry, more student responsibility, higher order thinking). Moreover, these tools are creating interactive classrooms, empowering motivated instructors to be facilitators of learning who allow students opportunities to construct their own knowledge while exciting the next generation of thinkers, doers, and global-minded citizens. This chapter reviews one example of an online multimedia learning tool—the CHANCE research module—that is being used in high school and undergraduate classrooms in the United States, China, and other international locations to transform environmental science education by exposing students to international environmental issues and problems through the analysis and evaluation of real-research data from factual ecosystems, highlighting evidentiary support for the benefits and successes of these research-based modules, and showcasing what is being learned, through assessment research, about the use of these modules in Chinese undergraduate classrooms.