Automated Detection and Removal of Cycles in a Concept Map

Over the years, concept maps have been used by several researchers to construct online learning systems. This is due to their flexibility in organizing knowledge. However, for effective use of concept maps in education, detection, and removal of cycles within them is necessary. Cycles in a concept map may result in ambiguity and confusion as one concept can lead back to itself. This study first gives brief details about concept maps and their applications in the field of education. A popular algorithm of graph theory depth-first search is then used for detection of cycles. If any cycles are found, they are removed from the graph in an iterative fashion until there are no more cycles in the graph. A Java program was written to simulate the proposed algorithm and found to yield desired results on sample graphs. Finally, the future uses of concept maps have been discussed.

The Influence of Social Media on Learning

During '90s, a debate initiated between Clark and Kozma about the role of media on learning. While Clark proposed that the media had no effect on learning, Kozma proposed that learning is influenced when method and media is combined and appropriately used. In today's world, the role of social media on learning is inevitable since social media is increasingly used by individuals with the purpose of searching for information and watching instructional videos. In this respect, the influence of social media on learning is investigated in this study within the context of Kozma's perspective. Correspondingly, the instructional content provided by social media, the appropriate instructional methods, and implications for learning theories are discussed in this chapter, together with certain practical applications. In the end, social coding platform, collaborative e-learning platform, and virtual classroom management simulation are described as practical social media applications.

How Is Your Connection?

Traditional course design assumes a synchronous, in-person learning environment and relies on a skilled instructor to observe nonverbal communication and guide interactions between learners. However, the nature of online learning has changed instructor-student connections so that providing real-time, guided interactions and feedback are not always practical. The loss of these interactions has particularly affected social and emotional learning (SEL), or how people recognize and manage emotions, empathize with, and relate to others, and make responsible decisions. SEL—popularly known as emotional intelligence, EI, or EQ—has gained recognition as the foundation of vital “soft skills” that contribute to improved job satisfaction, performance, and productivity. When institutions simply convert in-person curricula to digital, the resulting online courses often do not account for the loss of real-time SEL and metacognitive guidance from an instructor. This chapter provides guidance on how to integrate SEL into the design of online courses.

Teaching Ethics Online to Health Sciences Professionals

Health sciences professionals work on diverse healthcare delivery teams and often face ethical dilemmas. Ethics education in an online environment is one way that such individuals can obtain relevant, easily accessible, and academically rigorous instruction on ethical decision-making and professional and research practices. In this chapter, the authors present existing empirical evidence of online ethics education, share their experiences teaching ethics online at The George Washington University, and provide recommendations for future pedagogical research relevant to diverse healthcare professionals. Based on their findings, the online format can be effectively utilized to teach ethics to current and future health sciences professionals.

Transitioning a Methods Course to Online in a Teacher Education Program That Is Not Fully Online

The transition of an undergraduate course to fully online is examined through the lens of a professor who revised the platform for the course and through the perspectives of preservice teachers participating in a hybrid version of the course in their teacher education program which is not offered fully online. Benefits of flexible student schedules and meaningful discussion participation emerged, indicating that preservice teachers can navigate learning modules and benefit from an online course offering. Challenges of implementing teamwork in the online environment arose throughout the semester of implementation, indicating a need for improvements/revisions. These lessons learned from this case study contribute to a systematic approach to transitioning from offline to online courses and augment the literature base of the experiences and appropriateness of online preservice teacher education courses.

The Varied Dimensions of Interactivity Exploring Student Depth of Learning

The research here evaluates student interactions in an undergraduate American politics course at two institutions. Significant evidence reveals that student interactions lead to deeper reflective learning when correcting, clarifying, arguing, and disagreeing with each other. These findings add to the growing research on online spaces as well as providing educators with a stronger understanding in how to tailor their instructional strategies and tasks to better meet academically reflective outcomes.

Attitudes Toward Technology Predict Teacher Candidates' Use of E-Resources

Facility and ease in using computer technology increase the value that students attach to online learning environments. The current study provides an analysis of teacher candidates' attitudes toward information technology as they predict receptivity to electronic resources (known as e-resources). This questionnaire-based study recruited a representative sample of teacher candidates (N = 101) at an American Pacific Island university as participants. Questions addressed the relationship between teacher candidates' levels of comfort with technology and the Internet, and their preferences for e-resources. Information literacy skills strongly predicted successful use of resource-based approaches to teacher education, which, in turn, predicted positive attitudes toward online learning environments. The results may guide teacher education programs, as they seek to optimize pre-service teachers' receptivity to course-appropriate resources. Working with future teachers affords an opportunity to promote their use of information technology, and their view of learning as a lifelong enterprise.

Project-Based Learning in Business Education

The authors explore project-based learning (PBL) pedagogy in international business venturing (IBV) under trends and drivers affecting higher education. They look at the genesis of higher education, recent developments in innovations, globalization, and socio-economic trends. Following the examination of mega trends affecting universities, the case of PBL curriculum at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is discussed in LMU's strategic context. They evaluate PBL essentials and examine its proliferation and current status across academic disciplines. The analysis of LMU vs. “peer” schools reveals some economic constraints. One developmental step is PBL pedagogy. The proposed PBL study abroad curriculum includes two courses. Course 1 (on campus) covers essentials of IBV. Course 2 (abroad) focuses on PBL applications, socio-economic problems, and skill development. This 4-week overseas program includes 12 face-to face hours, 4 company visits, 3 international immersion projects, 1 local market immersion, 1 strategy challenge, 1 service-learning project, and other experiential learning activities.

Facilitating and Evaluating the Development of Positive Interdependence in South African Distance Education

Cooperative base groups (CBGs) is a technique used in contact education to develop cooperative learning skills. However, it was assumed that the tools currently available can be used for the establishment of CBGs in distance education. For the purpose of this research, a post graduate class in distance education (N=77) was divided in 11 CBGs with 7 members each with the task to assist one another in the completion of assignments, to motivate one another to submit assignments, and to support one another on academic and personal level during the year. The results shows that CBGs provided an effective method to facilitate the establishment of reciprocal relationships and therefore the development of positive interdependence, and that social network analysis provided an effective method to evaluate the development of positive interdependence both on group and class level. Unfortunately, the technique was prematurely cancelled when the author left the university. A possible correlation between positive interdependence and academic achievement needs to be further investigated.

Learning Design in the 21st Century

This chapter provides a review of multiple facets of current and promising trends for learning design technologies for the 21st century, with the intention to provide a centralized discussion of different avenues in learning design considerations. An attempt is made to cover multiple parallel trending areas, such as adaptive learning, digital storytelling, gamification, simulation technologies, augmented and virtual reality, cybernetics, the xAPI standard, mobile and ubiquitous learning, with a glimpse of how such trends are shaping or expected to shape the future of all those involved in designing and delivering learning or effecting human behavior and performance change. Moreover, a discussion on learning theories for the digital age is presented, as well as brief overviews on several areas of concern in learning design, such as in assessment and verification, cloud computing, data and data analysis, artificial intelligence, blockchain, open educational resources, etc.