Effective Implementation of an Interuniversity E-Learning Initiative

Education has expanded from the traditional in-class environment to the new digital phenomenon where teaching is assisted by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This wave of e-learning is challenging the effectiveness of the traditional educational approach still in place at higher education institutions. Academics and professionals agree that, to adapt higher education institutions to the 21st century, it is imperative to extend the use of ICT as well as the virtualization of many human-interaction activities. In this sense, public institutions and international reports suggest the need to deepen the application and study of e-learning within higher education as a means for achieving flexible, dynamic, and personalized e-learning initiatives. This chapter presents a case study that analyzes the implementation of a virtual interuniversity campus in which nine Spanish higher education institutions took part. For this purpose, the genesis of the project and the main characteristics of the virtual environment are described.

Affect Recognition for Web 2.0 Intelligent E-Tutoring Systems

This chapter describes how a machine vision approach could be utilized for tracking learning feedback information on emotions for enhanced teaching and learning with Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). The chapter focuses on analyzing learners’ emotions to show how affective states account for personalization or traceability for learning feedback. The chapter achieves this goal in three ways: (1) by presenting a comprehensive review of adaptive educational learning systems, particularly inspired by machine vision approaches; (2) by proposing an affective model for monitoring learners’ emotions and engagement with educational learning systems; (3) by presenting a case-based technique as an experimental prototype for the proposed affective model, where students’ facial expressions are tracked in the course of studying a composite video lecture. Results of the experiments indicate the superiority of such emotion-aware systems over emotion-unaware ones, achieving a significant performance increment of 71.4%.

Online Learning Communities

This chapter highlights the potential of educational microblogging as a mediation system to support the process of distance learning. In their experimental approach, the authors conducted participant observations with university students who used their pedagogical device over the course of two semesters. Students participated through peer-to-peer and peer-to-peer to tutor interactions that took place within the academic and personal spheres. In the research corpus, the communitarian dynamic of social networks combined with playful immersion is a fruitful heuristic for individualizing learning paths and strengthening student dedication and commitment. The digital ethnographic participant observations revealed that the sharing and dissemination of information via microblogging allowed the creation of new collaborative methods and development of a culture of participation within the community of student learners. The use of sociotechnical devices such as Twitter and microblogging have proven to be excellent tools for accustoming students to Web 2.0 technologies and ensuring optimal participation in the learning process. This chapter unveils a successful approach to constructing a digital ecosystem where social interactions are initiated (during real-time synchronous educational sessions) and extended outside of academic boundaries into the private sphere. The sociotechnical mediation that the authors have created around Twitter has proven to be very effective in linking these two spatio-temporally contiguous entities for the benefit of learning communities.

Social Media Tools in Initial Teacher Education

This chapter investigates the current context of integrating and exploiting social media tools in initial teacher education. The theoretical part highlights the latest approaches of social media on an international level from the perspective of the following elements: a) the concept of social media, b) the categories of tools, c) the implications of integrating social media technologies in the field of teacher education, and d) the configuration of innovative model of social media in the context of teacher training. The methodological part presents the results of a content analysis research of the way in which new social media tools may be used in initial teacher training. The research results contribute to establishing the main issues in this field as well as new solutions and directions for improving initial training programmes for teachers by means of social media tools.

Higher Education and Web 2.0

The inclusion of Web 2.0 in education has been a polemic process comprised both with enthusiasm and scepticism. There is empirical evidence of Web 2.0’s effective employment in educational contexts and it seems that the background of hesitation that has always accompanied Web 2.0’s didactic progress is now more concentrated on questioning how to use it rather than whether or not it should be used. In light of this predicament, this chapter aims to analyse how some Web 2.0 tools are being used in higher education as well as to uncover what best practices should guide their successful deployment. This chapter begins by providing an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of using Web 2.0 pedagogically, and it then focuses on particular cases where educators have experimented with YouTube, wiki technology, and Twitter in their teaching settings. The lessons learned and the outcomes of their experiences are combined with current theory on Web 2.0 in education to serve as guidelines.

The Impact of Combining Video Podcasting and Lectures on Students’ Assimilation of Additional Knowledge

Podcasting is evolving rapidly in higher education due to its pedagogical possibilities, such as providing supplementary materials to increase learning. This chapter aims to provide insights about the complementarity between traditional and innovative methods in teaching practice. In particular, the authors examine the value of video podcasts in the learning process, investigating how prior knowledge gained from lectures, students’ attitude toward using this tool, and its effective use, may account for the assimilation of additional knowledge presented in this multimedia format. Drawing on several learning-related theories, they develop a conceptual model that is empirically tested. After following instrumental design principles and a formal research procedure, the findings show the influence of prior knowledge and effective use on students’ assimilation capacity. Moreover, attitude positively affects the effective use of the tool. Finally, the authors discuss the main academic and practical contributions of this study and provide recommendations and future research directions.

E-Learning and Web 2.0

The fundamental goal of e-learning is to provide applications to share information, knowledge, and help learners in their learning activities efficiently and effectively by involving technologies. More recently, Web 2.0 has become a buzzword in education, and academics around the world have explored the potential of Web 2.0 technologies and online classrooms. Based on a literature review, this chapter focuses on the integration of pedagogical principles of virtual learning application of these new Web 2.0 technologies. The argument is that these tools provide an opportunity to design new models for education and training.

E-Learning in Higher Education

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) acceptance research within the field of Information Systems has been limited in its application to higher education. There is a current need to examine utilization of e-learning to improve the success of information system implementation across the higher education sector. This research describes and explains an experience of a teaching centered on the Web, undertaken in Tunisian universities. E-learning is related to three courses for which a platform Web was developed to make it possible for the learners to download the supports of the course, to put their questions to the teachers, etc. First, this work describes the theoretical basis behind the concept of e-learning and the development of a research model; second, it tests the influence of platform characteristics and e-learning usage on learners’ satisfaction. Experimentation was conducted on 241 students and found that perceived ease of use is the most determining factor that influences simultaneously the usage and the satisfaction. The authors also noted that the perceived usefulness of the platform and its perceived compatibility with the needs and the values of learners are important for the active usage of the platform. The results of this study have theoretical and practical applications in the field of e-learning.

An E-Portfolio to Support E-Learning 2.0

ePortfolios have been in use in university for nearly a decade. Students' learning is changing, and the university is faced with e-learning 2.0, which is based on Web 2.0. This chapter introduces e-learning 2.0 and shows that the ePortfolio is currently the ideal environment to accompany it. To emphasize e-learning 2.0, the authors propose to enrich the ePortfolio's structure by adding an item corresponding to e-learning 2.0 artifacts as well as to other new learning sources. Some ePortfolio standards are described to show the lack of such a dedicated item. It is stressed that this proposition concerns the conceptual aspect and not the technical one. It may help follow the current students' tendency as well as the market demand for use. The end of this chapter addresses some difficulties in introducing the ePortfolio and stresses that it is still relevant for e-learning 2.0.

Librarian without Building in an E-Learning Environment

This chapter discusses e-learning, its advantages and challenges, the concept of a librarian without a building, and the characteristics and skills of a librarian without a building in an e-learning environment. The chapter empirically looks at the need for an e-librarian in an e-learning environment, the needed skills for such a librarian, and their challenges. Possible solutions to identify challenges are also discussed. The survey method was used for the study; the questionnaire was designed and administered to 138 librarians from Academic libraries in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. 127 questionnaires were returned and used for analysis. The study reveals that there is a great need for e-librarians in e-learning environments, and that the librarians must possess such skills as high computer literacy, ability to learn fast, teach, and evaluate others. It was also discovered that e-librarians are faced with technical, administrative, financial, and capacity building challenges. Based on these, the authors recommend that e-librarians should be supported at all levels; they should be ready to develop themselves, strive at all cost to acquire more knowledge and skills in order to stand the changing nature of their job. It is also recommended that government agencies that accredit programmes at tertiary institutions should make sure that any institution that offers e-learning must also have a well organized e-library, and a well trained e-librarian must man the library. The study concludes that e-library and e-librarian without building must be recognized and empowered as part of the e-teaching and learning processes.