Native or Novice?

Access to and use of technology by students deemed to be ‘Digital Natives' studying in the Higher Education (HE) sector has been an area of much interest, speculation and publication. This chapter reports on a small-scale exploratory study that aimed to uncover the digital technology access and practices in both everyday life and academic study of ‘new' international first-year ‘pathway' students at the Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT). The purpose of this study was to contribute to the debate on digital natives by providing a ‘piece of evidence' on the access to and use of digital technologies by a group of pre-university pathway students. This exploratory study stemmed from the realisation that EIBT lecturers could better meet the needs of the current generation and cohort of 20+ ethnically diverse students, and help them acculturate and transition as lifelong learners who are able to adapt to an evolving information landscape in Australian HE and upon their return home.

Strategies to Reduce Attrition among First Year Computer Science Students

The observed trend to lose from one-third to half of students in the first year of computing studies at the University of Latvia served as the motivation to explore the causes of dropout and to find methods, how to determine potential dropouts in advance. The study investigates students enrolled in the year 2013 using integrated data from surveys, management information system and e-learning environment. Several factors that could affect attrition were studied: admission score, compensative course in high school mathematics, intermediate grades for core courses, prior knowledge in programming. The research revealed that the trend of non-beginning studies might indicate the wrong choice of the study field and possible lack of understanding of what is programming by enrolled students. An action plan is proposed to reduce dropout, which is based on the activities already conducted at the Faculty of Computing and is supplemented by one of the existing programming aptitude tests.

Framework for Non-Invasive Learning Experience Management in Third Millennium Higher Education Ecosystems

Society is demanding from higher education institutions a new generation of proficient learning workers. This claim requires a paradigm shift: every aspect of our life is changing rapidly; higher education should also develop its own transformation. Introducing progressive and radical innovations requires strategic planning, Design Thinking methodology is the best candidate for this process as it offers a holistic approach and problem solving strategies. Communities are key players. Their involvement and active participation are important in this long term transformation; they should start learning and figuring out how to build a new higher education ecosystem. A Design Thinking planning tool is proposed for building a student-led participatory research-based learning experience. It is also conceived as a communication platform and community organizer to be used by students, teachers, student advisers, and administrators. It is a participatory system in which Design Thinking is a tool for all the community, not a domain-specific methodology used by elite professionals.

Social Space or Pedagogic Powerhouse

The recent development of Web 2.0 technologies has the potential to transform the learning environment of Higher Education (HE). Web 2.0 technologies are already commonplace within the social space, with the use of social media, co-authored online resources and encyclopaedias, blogs and video sources. Web 2.0 tools also have the potential to greatly enhance activity in educational environments. However, learners are not using Web 2.0 technology to its optimum potential outside of formal learning situations. Findings suggest that despite being digital natives and being aware of the technologies themselves, students may be naïve of the potential of Web 2.0 technologies as tools for the development of their learning. Educators in HE therefore need to actively expose our learners to the range of potentials of Web 2.0 technologies, if our students are to be able to innovate and engage with technology to its full extent.

Turning Digital Natives from Consumers of Digital Products to Producers of Knowledge

The aim of this chapter is to examine ways to convert digital natives from consumers of digital products to producers of collective knowledge. At first, the 21st century skills and knowledge creation in modern societies are discussed. These set up new objectives for modern education. Then, some active learning methods and resources to help educators achieve these objectives will be presented. These, include: the use of Web 2.0-based tools, media and applications; the use modern portable devices and the possibilities they offer in learning; the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and MOOCs in education; the use of multiple Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) products in education; the use of blended learning settings in a face-to-face learning environment. Three case studies and several examples are provided to illustrate the proposed methods and resources. Finally, this chapter aims at helping teachers educate digital natives by designing appropriate pedagogical and educational scenarios in order to engage the digital natives in knowledge production.

Web-Based Course Design Models

This study presents the results obtained from a literature review on Web-based instructional design models in order to form a basis for Web-based course design practices. The pioneering studies in literature mainly focused on the components of Web-based instruction and how to direct learning processes in an interactive environment. The studies that proposed design models for Web-based courses were generally based on literature, so they did not sufficiently reflect how the components of a model would be implemented in design practices. In the relevant literature, studies based on authentic design cases are limited. These studies, in which design efforts and processes are described in narrative form, did not go beyond specific contexts and could not be regarded as models. Consequently, there is a need for more studies that provide guidance on how design instructions should be implemented so as to address and resolve the problems that may be encountered in this process.

Digital Natives in Online Learning Environments

With the developments of information technologies there exists two different generations. One of these generations was born into the technology age and grew up with technology. The other one meet with technology in the late ages. Thus, they have different habits, different expectations and different learning preferences. In the meantime, with the developments in technology and Internet infrastructure, online learning environments have become popular as an alternative learning environment in higher education. The aim of this chapter is to guide instructors to design their online learning environments based on the new generation's needs and expectations. To learn about new generations' needs a survey questionnaire was conducted on higher education students. The results indicated that, todays' students spends a lot of time on the Internet specifically in social media environments and they commonly get connected to the Internet with their mobile phones which necessitates a new design in online learning environments.

Master in Innovative Tourism Development

This chapter analyses a Portuguese HEI's first experience with blended learning. Focusing on the Master in Innovative Tourism Development currently being held at the Superior School of Technology and Management of the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo, it presents the institutional background and rationale behind the course's implementation, identifying its strengths and weaknesses, as well as areas of potential development. Based on an evaluation research carried out throughout the course's first three editions and that involved students, faculty and institutional leaders, it summarizes the main results of a long term-study, putting forth a set of recommendations for improvements and defining potential areas of intervention in future editions of the course.

Competences and Learning Profiles of Digital Age's Students

In the connected world we live in today, people no longer look for information only in formal places. Internet has become a place of choice to gather information. Social networks have grown from places for socialization to platforms where knowledge is created and shared, where connectivity and collaboration are natural. Many people look at the web as a place for learning, using it to create a network which allows them to gather, select, share, reshape ideas and create knowledge to then replicate on social networks. Students' learning profile is becoming more proactive in the search for information and constructing valid knowledge. The demands of the information age raise the necessity of students to acquire different skills and competences – 21st century skills. This chapter aims to present the different students' learning profiles and the type of learning environments available online.

Tips Towards Tackling Distance Education Modules

Current information and communication technologies, including the internet and its services (web 2.0, email, conferences at a distance, etc.) have opened new perspectives in the field of education, by promoting communication and interaction between all participants at a distance. It is not the technology itself that will define the quality of teaching and learning in distance education, but the methodological approach that supports it. This paper aims to propose a methodological framework to implement in distance education modules supported by online pedagogy elements linked to innovative teaching methodologies. Its goal is to bring some contributions to those who are in charge of course design, providing a useful framework to improve active and technology enhanced collaborative learning in similar environments.