Enculturation of the Utilization of Learning Management System

Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) vision is to become a university with international repute. The Strategic Plan Document 2001- 2010 includes a goal for the university to be fully wired through ICT in enhancing research, extension work, professional service, strengthening teaching and learning environment and enhancing the culture of ICT in supporting teaching and learning. Two strategies were drawn; namely (i) implement the use of one learning management system (LMS) and (ii) enhance competency of academic staff in using the LMS. It has been a practice that each faculty decides on a platform for implementing e-Learning. However, the use of various LMSs had created difficulties in the sharing of integrated database, continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of the e-Learning system, and depository of e-Learning resources in the UPM’s knowledge repository. This paper reports on UPM’s experience in adapting the use of LMS from the early 1990s until today.

Artifacts of Expansive Learning in Designing a Web-Based Performance Assessment System

Recent evidence of the adoption of technologically mediated systems of knowledge management as part of the trend to accountability in the Institutions of Higher Education around the world has been widely disseminated in World Bank and UNESCO reports, and the effects of assessment driven accountability on preparation programs extensively debated in scholarly communities. Less scholarly attention has been paid to the institutional effects of the technology enhanced performance assessment evidentiary demands on university programs undergoing review by national accrediting bodies. The lack of scholarly attention is addressed by presenting a case study examining the institutional dynamics of accreditation review experienced by faculty in one department that offered graduate programs leading to certification for education leaders. Drawing from institutional analysis (Scott, 2008a, 2008b) a conceptual framework is established in a discussion of conditions of enactment of the regulative, normative and cognitive facets of the institutional dynamics evident in the implementation ecology of accountability systems. The case study analysis outlines four phases of development of the essential elements of a web-based assessment system, and describes the questions raised by faculty about performance evidence, the assessment of that evidence, and the nature of measures of program outcome effectiveness. Classic theories of organizations fail to fully explain the concerns and questions that were raised by faculty. In contrast, Engeström’s (1999, 2001, 2008) theory of expansive learning grounded in Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) provides insights into faculty responses to questions raised by the criteria for program review established by the accrediting body. Artifacts of expansive learning evident in the development of a performance assessment system can be viewed as reflecting institutionalization of regulative, normative, and cognitive dimensions of the emergent evaluative state of leadership preparation around the world. Implications are suggested for understanding the development of information technology (IT) enhanced knowledge management systems (KMS).

Personality and Online Learning

This chapter provides a comparative evaluation of two pilot online courses with their traditionally taught counterparts in one of the universities of Hong Kong. As part of a natural experiment, students enrolled on two online courses were compared with their peers who were enrolled on the equivalent classroom based courses. Student satisfaction measures were taken from participants in both modes of delivery and compared with student learning style. This case highlights the impact of adopting a blended learning approach to an undergraduate programme, and suggests that Asian students who behave like Introverts in the classroom environment are likely to behave as online Extraverts when given the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned and contribute to an online discussion forum.

Development of E-Learning in Niger

The University Abdou Moumouni (UAM) of Niamey in Niger mainly focused on traditional face to face learning, and even the existence of the African Virtual University since the years 1999 did not change the situation. It is only after the official opening at the University of the Francophone Digital Campus in December 2003 that lecturers and students started overseeing and taking advantages of all the benefits of e-Learning and distance learning. The present paper builds on the author’s personal initiatory experience in e-Learning to highlight some specific challenges that traditional universities such as the UAM face in their efforts to introduce e-Learning and distance learning as a new mode of course delivery. The study shows that even though challenges are big, political and institutional support can freshen the perspectives and change opportunities into realities.

Faculty Development in Instructional Technology in the Context of Learning Styles and Institutional Barriers

This chapter describes the within-case analysis of ten faculty members who agreed to share their learning experience and struggles in learning instructional technology. The case focuses on the in-depth description of each participant stressing their unique personal approach and learning styles, describing the main steps experienced and resources utilized by the participants during the learning process. It also highlights one dominant learning characteristic of each participant, which is compared with the participant’s result in the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire of North Carolina State University, with potential implications for academic administrators in promoting the use of instructional technology by faculty members of diverse profiles. The case also discusses the institutional barriers faced by faculty members while learning how to use instructional technology at a public university in the United States. Three institutional barriers were a major concern for the participants: Time, rewards, and cost. One hundred percent of the participants agreed that providing more time—along with financial and academic rewards—is critical to supporting the learning and implementation of instructional technology.

A Framework to Analyze Teaching-Learning Objects (T-LO)

The pedagogical mediation in Distance Education (DE) is sustained by hypermediatic didactic materials, which are marked by principles of autonomy, interaction, interactivity, motivation and cooperation. The main thought in this article is to know if the developed Teaching-Learning Objects (T-LO) are potentially meaningful answering these principles. The planning and elaboration of the T-LO are highlighted processes in Brazil. Therefore, the authors present the conceptual singularities of the T-LO; the Instructional Design (ID) processes and the importance of the Instructional Project (IP) elaboration to guarantee a meaningful potentiality of the T-LO. As a research result, the authors center attention on the contribution of a framework (called the T-LO List), which is used to analyze the T-LO developed, implemented, and evaluated in a specific context of a didactic module elaboration. In conclusion, it is important to realize that the usage of a framework to analyze the T-LO can orient theoretical methodological steps of planning, developing, implementing, observing, reflecting, and re-planning, all carried out by multidisciplinary teams.

Technology Enabled Education in Samoa

Education is seen as one of the most important factors for poverty alleviation and economic growth in developing countries (UNDP 2005; UNESCO 2005; WSIS 2005) and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for dissemination of education is believed to have huge potential for governments struggling to meet a growing demand for education while facing an escalating shortage of teachers (UNESCO 2006 in Anderson, 2008).This case study examines technology enabled learning initiatives in education in Samoa, focusing on developments at a leading university in Samoa (hereafter referred to as the university) and the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture (MESC). The case study focuses on the current status of technology based learning in Samoa outlining the current initiatives addressing the core issues of social accessibility, technological adaptability, economic viability, and political agreeability towards providing education and development opportunities. The discussion includes an evaluation of the effectiveness of presently used technology/ technology mix used in e-learning and its effectiveness in facing the demands posed by Social, Technological, Economical and Political (STEP) factors. For each technology initiative, issues and challenges are discussed followed by solutions and recommendations for future action and direction. The case study also looks at various international partnerships/ collaboration fostered by NUS and MESC to facilitate and enhance access to education for students, thereby are considered as solutions to the challenges in implementing technology based learning. The discussion concludes with a set of recommendations for the future of technology enabled learning in Samoa.

SMASH

At a time when mathematics and science provide essential knowledge tools and the foundations for lifelong learning skills, cross-national studies of student achievement in Europe indicate lack of mathematical and scientific competence for a considerable proportion of the student population. Acknowledging the central role of parents in children’s learning, the EU-funded project SMASH aims to raise the educational standards of European youth in mathematics and science by cultivating underlying home cultures as springboards for learning. The project consortium has developed an innovative intercultural parent-trainer training course and related resources for professionals involved in parent education initiatives. The course, which is delivered through combined use of e-learning and physical meetings, provides these professionals with current knowledge, techniques, and implementation tools for the provision of high-quality, culturally differentiated training in mathematics and science education to parents of elementary and middle school children (ages 6-15) in their communities. Online multilingual resources support and promote the program’s activities and objectives by offering open access to the parent-trainer training course content and tools.

Effective Use of ICT for Inclusive Learning of Young Children with Reading and Writing Difficulties

This case presents the three-year research and development IT Folder Project (PIF), which has been aimed at facilitating the inclusion of young children with potential reading and writing difficulties in normal classes. The research focuses on everyday practice in schools and produces knowledge that gradually qualifies and consolidates a sustainable implementation strategy for the municipality involved regarding ICT as a change agent for inclusion. The children with potential difficulties are identified though tests and the adults and the classes involved “accompany” the children into the project. Thus, the adults involved are not necessarily passionate about ICT; they are representative of the average Danish schoolteacher. The case presents the first year and a half of the project and the initial results regarding the quality of the children’s inclusion process along with modifications of the screening tests and organizational changes in the municipality and the local schools based on these results.

Collaborative Learning Experiences in Teaching of e-Business Management

In the context of the e-Business Management Section (eBMS) of the Scuola Superiore ISUFI at University of Salento (Italy), the case of the International Master in e-Business Management (IMeBM) is discussed here which is aimed to contribute pragmatically to create e-Business Capabilities in Mediterranean Countries. This chapter presents the results obtained in the Laboratory Phase of the first two years of Master’s editions, i.e. 2006 and 2007 editions. This phase has been designed on blended (on-line and off-line) learning experience. Specifically, it has been structured by mixing the delivery of some Web learning courseware with face-to-face meetings with mentors and e-Business experts. The technological platform designed, developed and adopted for the Web learning activities is called the “Virtual eBMS” that represents the collaborative learning environment of the Mediterranean School. The pedagogical approach adopted by the School, named (“Learning-in-Action”) together with some considerations on the effectiveness and the implications of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) strategy are also deliberated upon. It also presents how the whole case of the International Master in e-Business Management generated intellectual capital assets, described in terms of Human Capital (competences developed in the e-Business context), Social Capital (networks and cooperation with local institutions and companies) and Structural Capital (research projects).