Moving Beyond Four Walls

In this qualitative research study, the authors explore the use of the Remote Observation of Graduate Interns (ROGI) as a tool for expanding online instruction for teacher licensure programs. Data are presented evaluating the differences between remote (synchronous) and face to face observational processes for a social studies lateral entry teacher, a student teaching social studies graduate intern, a social studies methods instructor, and a generalist. Through their rich, thick descriptions of the data, they conclude that remote and face to face observations are not equivalent methods; however, they are comparable and thus interchangeable, providing an innovative alternative for addressing constraints of traditional observation processes and shrinking operational budgets. Finally, the authors describe how ROGI moved learning and assessment beyond four walls and the potential ROGI offers in redefining teacher preparation using a multimedia video conferencing platform.

Rapid Implementation of E-Learning using a Technology Design Model

From this case study a process was developed that the instructional designer can easily upscale or downscale for use during consultations with lectures who want to use the LMS: depending on the time available, intended outcomes and students involved.

An Instructional Design “Use Case”

The work of an instructional designer is highly dependent on an instructional technology substrate, at every phase of the instructional design work: research, planning, communication and coordination, prototyping, design, content searches, content development, branding, alpha and beta testing, revisions, the delivery of course contents, and the archival in learning object repositories. Technologies in this substrate are built to a variety of standards. There are standards for interoperability, for machines to communicate with each other, for information to be held securely (information assurance), for from-life information to be captured and recorded (whether light, detail, sound, or motion), for communications to be exchanged among people, and for digital artifacts to be labeled and protected and delivered to users. The instructional designer “use case” then refers to the on-ground realities of instructional design work and the critical reliance on instructional technologies, and what this in vivo perspective shows about the need for (in part) user-based insights for instructional technology research, design, and development. Every technology has multiple use cases, or theoretical situations in which users use that technology. An instructional designer use case shows the many uses of technologies by an instructional designer, to shed light on how the software technologies may be better tailored to the needs of instructional designers and other digital content developer stakeholders.

The Effectiveness of an Inquiry-Based Computer-Simulated Lesson in Physics

Robust as they are, the existing instructional design prescriptions (Reigeluth, 1983; 1999) which are content-based, expository- and individual-oriented, and generally technology-free are of little use when the task is to design inquiry-based computer-simulated lessons for teaching scientific thinking skills in cooperative learning environments. Thus, the aims of this study were to design a computer-based simulation lesson employing currently available PC and internet software and investigate its effectiveness in various learning situations. The heart of the lesson was the utilitarian Gas Law Simulation program developed by Abraham, Gelder, and Haines (2002) that was incorporated into a hypertext interface display with active links to related notes and worksheets and a superimposed Microsoft Excel table and chart-plotting facility. This package allowed students to review the concepts involved and see relationships between the variables in graphical forms when a selected independent variable was manipulated and all the corresponding values were keyed into the Excel table. A science process skill and HD thinking worksheet was drawn following Lawson’s (1995) prescriptions and the questions and activities were further modified to fit the local syllabus and physics texts. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate and refine the lesson and field testing was conducted using a 3 x 2 factorial design. The first factor was the inquiry-based computer simulation lesson with three modes of cooperative learning, namely, heterogeneous-ability cooperative learning (HACL) group, friendship-based cooperative learning (FCL) group, and traditional group work (TGW) group. The HACL and FCL group were trained following the Kagan (1994) Cooperative Learning Structure while the TGW group which was essentially another friendship-based learning group was not instructed on the Kagan (1994) Cooperative Learning Structure. The second factor was student reasoning ability, namely, empirical-inductive (EI) and hypothetical-deductive (HD) abilities. The sample consisted of 301 Form Four (16-year-old) science students. The results showed that students in the HACL group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the FCL group who, in turn, significantly outperformed their counterparts in the TGW group in scientific thinking and conceptual understanding. The study found that the inquiry-based computer simulation program was effective in enhancing scientific reasoning and conceptual understanding of students of all reasoning abilities but for maximum effectiveness cooperative learning groups should be composed of students of heterogeneous abilities.

Formative Evaluation of an Arabic Online Vocabulary Learning Games Prototype

The use of digital game-based learning is a new trend of instructional practices in different fields of knowledge. The research and studies related to this field are increasingly attracting the researchers all over the world to further explore the various aspects of educational games models, the design and development of games itself, the evaluation insights and many more. This chapter describes an experience of the formative evaluation of an online game among Arabic language learners at the elementary level in the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative research approaches were utilized to investigate the usability, practicality and effectiveness of this games prototype in the real settings. This chapter also described the process and phases of evaluation throughout the responses from participants which vary from experts in instructional design (ID), subject matter experts (SME), lecturers and learners as the actual users.

A Step by Step Guide to Design and Delivery of Mobile Learning Content

Mobile learning is more than a trend that follows today’s lifestyle. Learning on the go with mobile internet offers advantages that were not even thought of a few years ago. Current literature on the topic has demonstrated its usefulness as well as its limitations. In a context where learners do not have access to mobile internet it is still possible to deliver course notes in a mobile format. The authors created portable lecture notes that were distributed to their students via the multimedia messaging service (MMS). With these notes, the students were able to take advantage of the ubiquitous nature of their mobile devices and thus started to learn anywhere and anytime. This chapter proposes a simple method to create lecture notes for mobile devices and suggests several methods of delivery.

First Year Students’ Conceptions of Learning

Through lessons learned, from the research outlined, the chapter aims, first, to provide future researchers with some practical knowledge on research design and development. Secondly, to emphasise some of the dilemmas that so often separate theory from practice in the field of student learning and which are so crucial for teacher professional development, course designers and educators in general.

Designing, Developing and Evaluating Professional Language and Intercultural Competencies with Phone Simulations

With the development of call centers to handle customer services, many tour operators have adopted the technique of recruitment by simulation where the candidates are judged on their ability to respond to working scenarios. To facilitate the school-to-work transition, we sought to increase the learners’ exposure to professional tasks and to challenge their communication skills in real situations. This chapter specifically relates to the design, implementation and assessment of a phone conversation simulation introduced in the evaluation scheme within the French for Tourism and Hospitality course. The 22 participants were Malaysian learners majoring in French. The analysis of examination results, phone conversation recordings as well as surveys on the learners’ perceptions of the new evaluation format provided a complete feedback on the experience. This chapter aims to present practitioners with a reference guide with step by step explanations and solutions easily transferable to any course with a communication component.

The Art and Science of Designing and Developing an Online English Language Training Module for Adult Learners

The rapid growth of e-learning in the education world poses a growing demand for online training for lecturers to master web-based applications in teaching and learning. As a knowledge hub, higher education providers can play a more proactive role in knowledge dissemination and acculturation by taking advantage of what the internet can offer. This challenges some fundamental issues in education in propagating paradigm shift among the lecturers and designing a module that fulfils the lecturers’ need to upgrade their knowledge and skills, including English Language proficiency to be better lecturers and researchers. One way of doing so is through e-training, which offers flexibility and cost saving. This chapter describes the design and development of the online English Language Training module for professional adult learners. This includes the criteria for selecting suitable URLs, topics to include as proposed by respondents from the needs analysis and the stages in constructing OLELT, a website for lecturers to upgrade their existing knowledge to be better researchers, writers and academicians. This chapter also delineates the challenges in implementing an e-training program. This is important for the management to consider so that higher education providers can harness human capital to propagate lifelong learning and acculturate a learning academic organization.

Design and Evaluation of a Web-Based Learning Module on Computer Networking

This finding has two direct implications. First, the empirically proven design principle used in the design and development of the web-based learning module in this study can be used as a reference model for those who are interested in developing a similar module. Second, the finding of this study suggests the potential of integrating the use of a web-based learning module in the IT classroom.