Digital learners and the overlapping of their personal and educational digital engagement

Current K-12 students are considered digital learners because technology is as pervasive in their academic world as in their personal lives. Technology enthusiasts argue that these learners are the “digital natives” having sophisticated technology knowledge and skills that can be potentially harnessed for better learning engagement inside the classroom. This phenomenological study investigates how some current high school students as the digital learners engage with technology at home and school; and how these two types of engagement overlap in their learning inside the classroom. Data were gathered from phenomenological three series in-depth interviews with five participants and also field observation. Findings show that the overlap between the personal and educational digital engagement(s) of these students was not necessarily positive as portrayed by the prevalent discourses of technology enthusiasts. The overlapping had mixed roles – facilitative as well as obstructive. Pedagogical and future research implications are discussed.     

Networking,Storytelling and Knowledge Production in First-Year Writing

As writing teachers, we seek to validate the knowledge that students bring to the classroom while introducing and cultivating new methods, strategies, techniques and technologies that may serve them now and in the future. In this article we describe an approach we take that integrates curricular and extracurricular co-apprenticeship strategies using public writing models in conjunction with social networking tools. With publication as a final goal, we urge students to move from expressing personal problems to addressing social issues, using a private, non-commercial learning network NoDiff <http://NoDiff.com> as a safe zone for skills development, knowledge production and social inquiry. In taking this approach, we resist dichotomies that place professional skills training in strict opposition to critical pedagogy. We argue that many of the so-called “extracurricular” composing activities that most of today's students engage in lay the groundwork for both professional and civic participation. Acknowledging that we as composition teachers are also beginners in the world of 21^st century communication, we emphasize both (1) the continual transference of skills and knowledge among teachers and learners; and (2) the importance of providing what is often lacking in skills-based ‘new literacy’ training, namely a critical pedagogical approach to learning as social engagement and critical intervention.     

Using a Murder Mystery to Teach Evaluation Skills: A Case Study

Evaluation of sources and information is an important part of information literacy and the research process. Evaluation skills and their application to daily life might be reduced to a checklist in a one-shot lesson or a semester-long information literacy class. To demonstrate the transferability of evaluation skills, one teaching librarian created an active-learning, online murder mystery to engage students. Instructors have established using games as an active-learning lesson in the face-to-face classroom. A murder mystery game challenges students to evaluate information from the course, verify the information using online searches, and demonstrate critical thinking skills in the context of a game. This case study explains the rationale of using such a game in an online, semester-long class, the process of creating the mystery, and its benefits in the virtual classroom.     

翻转课堂在高职院校课堂教学中的应用研究 ——以《Flash 动画设计与制作》课程为例

翻转课堂是随着现代信息传播的发展,特别是互联网科技的逐渐发达而催生的一种新型教学模式。它改革了 传统的教学模式,转变了师生角色地位,使学生真正参与到整个学习过程中,有效提高了课堂教学效率。本文对翻转课堂教学 模式在《Flash 动画设计与制作》这门课上的应用进行研究,结果表明翻转课堂教学模式可以在课前、课中和课后进行,有效贯 穿于整个学习过程的始终,不受地域限制,极大地提高了课堂教学效率和学生的学习积极性,并且培养了学生自主思考的能 力。     

Developing a collaborative learning environment using a web-based design

Abstract Today, technology is being used to support teachers in designing interesting and stimulating learning environments for students. In this paper, a web-based design project is used to create a collaborative learning environment with the aim of inculcating collaborative skills into the learners and increasing their problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The design project was created using multimedia tools such as Dreamweaver and Adobe-Photoshop. Students worked in groups and were actively responsible for their own learning processes. Results showed that students engaged in collaborative learning enhanced their problem-solving and critical thinking skills, learned to work in a team and became more autonomous learners.     

Patterns of female and male students' participation in peer interaction in computer-supported learning

The purpose of the study was to analyze how intensively female and male students participate in discourse interaction within two computer-supported classrooms. Technical infrastructure for the study was provided by the Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILE). The study was carried out by qualitatively analyzing written notes logged by two grade 5/6 classes to CSILE's database over one academic year. The results of the study indicate that only one of the classrooms engaged in a progressive discourse focused on collaborative advancement of explanation whereas the other classroom performed more traditional learning tasks. Female students participated most actively in the progressive-discourse classroom whereas male students dominated discourse interaction in the other class, but the reasons for this are subject to debate. The investigators argue that the use of new technology should be thoroughly subsumed under pedagogical goals in order to facilitate female students' participation in computer-supported learning.     

Adapting to changing expectations: Post-graduate students’ experience of an e-learning tax program

In response to the impact of information and communication technology on traditional business and commerce practices, and the empowerment of individuals by the growth of information available on the Internet, educators are challenged to adapt the curricula and delivery modes of educational programs for knowledge workers, such as tax accountants. Today’s tax accountants are expected to be computer and information literate, and are valued for their critical thinking skills based on subject knowledge. This article evaluates the implementation of an e-learning Masters Program in Taxation in South Africa based on the feedback from students. Three criteria are used: the use of technology, the learning design, and flexibility of the tax program. Students reacted positively to the use of technology, but expressed concern about the lack of interaction between students, and between students and teachers. The author argues that the choice of technologies, the outsourcing of teaching services, and the program facilitator’s teaching approach emulate the face-to-face tax program and therefore still support a teacher-centered teaching and learning approach. Students and teachers who are used to a traditional teacher-centered teaching and learning approach often measure the quality of a learning experience by the amount of information transmitted by a subject expert. Getting students to take responsibility for their own learning poses a bigger challenge than improving students’ computer and information skills. Several recommendations are made to improve e-learning programs that will produce self-directed, lifelong learners who can be productive in an information-based economy.     

Critical thinking in E-learning environments

One of the primary aims of higher education in today’s information technology enabled classroom is to make students more active in the learning process. The intended outcome of this increased IT-facilitated student engagement is to foster important skills such as critical thinking used in both academia and workplace environments. Critical thinking (CT) skills entails the ability(ies) of mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation to achieve a logical understanding. Critical thinking in the classroom as well as in the workplace is a central theme; however, with the dramatic increase of IT usage the mechanisms by which critical thinking is fostered and used has changed. This article presents the work and results of critical thinking in a virtual learning environment. We therefore present a web-based course and we assess in which parts of the course, and to what extent, critical thinking was perceived to occur. The course contained two categories of learning modules namely resources and interactive components. Critical thinking was measured subjectively using the ART scale. Results indicate the significance of “interactivity” in what students perceived to be critical-thinking-oriented versus online material as a resource. Results and opportunities that virtual environments present to foster critical thinking are discussed.     

A dialogic understanding of the relationship between CSCL and teaching thinking skills

How to teach flexible thinking and learning skills, particularly creativity and the skill of “learning to learn,” is a key concern for CSCL in the context of the emerging Networked Society. The currently dominant paradigms for supporting pedagogical design within CSCL, including socio-cultural theory, are limited in the support that they can offer to the project of teaching general thinking skills. This paper uses critical literature review, conceptual analysis, and evidence from case studies to argue for the value of a dialogic interpretative framework that links the goal of teaching thinking with the method of CSCL. The evidence reviewed suggests that dialogue is itself the primary thinking skill from which all others are derived. It is argued from this that dialogic theory offers a possible solution to the problem of how to conceptualize general thinking skills for CSCL: this is that teaching dialogue as an end in itself promotes the learning of general thinking skills. Implications of the proposed framework for pedagogical design are brought out through case studies illustrating the use of CSCL to broaden and deepen dialogic spaces of reflection.     

Why advice on task selection may hamper learning in on-demand education

In on-demand education, learners are required to plan their own learning trajectory by selecting suitable learning tasks. A positive effect on learning is expected when learners select tasks that help them fulfil their individual learning needs. However, the selection of suitable tasks is a difficult process for learners with little domain knowledge and suboptimal task-selection skills. A common solution for helping learners deal with on-demand education and develop domain-specific skills is to give them advice on task selection. In a randomized experiment, learners (N = 30) worked on learning tasks in the domain of system dynamics and received either advice or no advice on the selection of new learning tasks. Surprisingly, the no-advice group outperformed the advice group on a post-test measuring domain-specific skills. It is concluded that giving advice on task selection prevents learners from thinking about how the process of task selection works. The advice seems to supplant rather than support their considerations why they should perform the advised task, which results in negative effects on learning. Implications for future research on giving advice in on-demand education are discussed.     

《微机原理与接口技术》教学中培养学生创新能力的研究

实践教学能培养学生的参与意识、动手能力和思维能力,充分体现“教为主导,学为主体”的教学思想。该文探索了在《微型计算机原理与接口技术》这门课程中如何恰到好处地组织实践教学,以加深学生对课堂教学的理解,变被动接受为主动学习,从而较大地发挥学生的主观能动性,激发学生的创新意识。     

Exploring the characteristics of an optimal design of digital materials for concept learning in mathematics: Multimedia learning and variation theory

Design principles emerging from the cognitive theory of multimedia learning can be applied to engage cognitive processing, and teaching methods that have evolved from variation theory can encourage thinking through comparisons in mathematics education. Applying these principles and teaching methods in designing digital material should be a sound proposition. However, there is a disconnection between research in digital educational material and classroom practices. Teachers often have doubts about the effectiveness of the materials. Thus, this paper presents a design-based research of developing a digital material for algebra concept learning. We collaborated with two experienced teachers and a subject expert from a university, and designed some digital learning material that was presented to 68 students through an iterative redesign development cycle; the effectiveness of the final product was tested on another group of 66 students the following year. Characteristics of an optimal design generated from the data collected are presented in this paper. The characteristics may have useful practical implications for instructional designers and teachers and contribute to improvements in the design of digital learning materials.     

Reading between the code: the teaching of HTML and the displacement of writing instruction

The introduction of hypertext markup language (HTML) into the composition classroom often complicates traditional text-bound assignments. The process of incorporating HTML codes into writing can be frustrating because HTML is difficult to learn. More time spent learning coding skills may mean less time spent learning other writing skills. In many ways, learning HTML is like learning a second language. Unlike other pedagogical tools, though, HTML seems to blur the lines of our discipline. It turns the traditional composition course into a hybrid language/writing/computer course. This reshaping displaces traditional writing activities with technology-based instruction, thus challenging the notion of what constitutes appropriate curricular content within the composition classroom. This curricular change necessitates political action on the part of technology-focused teachers, for instance the establishment of new types of teaching collaboratives and the rethinking of departmental policies.     

How flipped learning based on the cognitive theory of multimedia learning affects students' academic achievements

The study aims to identify the effect of a flipped classroom approach designed according to the cognitive theory of multimedia learning on the academic achievements of eighth‐grade students (aged 14 years) in Saudi Arabia in computer science. To this end, a quasi‐experimental design was used, with a sample of 67 students; 33 students were assigned to the experimental group, whereas 34 comprised the control group. The experimental group was subjected to the flipped classroom approach, whereas the control group was given direct instruction. To measure student achievements, an instrument that measures cognitive skills based on Revised Bloom's taxonomy levels was designed. Findings revealed a positive effect on the experimental group's achievement levels with respect to Bloom's higher order thinking skills, that is, applying, analysing, and evaluating. No difference was found between the two groups in terms of academic achievements at the remembering and understanding levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Moreover, learners with low prior knowledge showed a higher improvement in academic achievements compared with those with high prior knowledge. This corresponds to the assumption of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning that learners with low prior knowledge would benefit from its principles more than learners with high prior knowledge.     

“线上+线下”混合式英语课程建设中的学生思辨能力分析

在“线上+线下”混合式教学模式下,学生思辨能力在我国外语教学中显得尤为重要,思辨能力培养的方式、方法也日趋成熟。随着信息时代的飞速发展,越来越多的学者们指出,英语类专业在注重学生听、说、写、读、译等语言和文化知识技能培养的同时,要逐步提高学生自主思考、主动思维的能力,特别是辩证的自主思考问题的能力即思辨能力。随着国家一流专业、一流课程建设推进,混合式教学已成为全国各高校英语专业课程改革的重心,混合式教学“线上”+“线下”各个项目环节的设置,有利于学生提高学习兴趣,凸显个性化学习,实现“学用一体”,提高学生思辨能力。     

《微机原理与接口技术》教学中培养学生创新能力的研究

实践教学能培养学生的参与意识、动手能力和思维能力,充分体现教为主导,学为主体的教学思想。该文探索了在《微型计算机原理与接口技术》这门课程中如何恰到好处地组织实践教学,以加深学生对课堂教学的理解,变被动接受为主动学习,从而较大地发挥学生的主观能动性,激发学生的创新意识。     

信息技术课堂有效教学的实施与评价

现今信息技术高速发展,信息技术课堂教学也随着信息技术而不断进行改革与创新。加强信息技术课堂有效教学,促进学生进行有效学习,提高教师课堂教学效果和学生课堂学习效率已经成为教育重点关注的问题。本文结合学科特点和教学实践,探讨了在新的课程要求下如何采用恰当的教学方法进行有效教学,并建立一种以学生发展为中心、对学生起激励作用的教学评价方式,以达到全面提升学生信息素养的教学目标。     

Design, implementation and validation of a Europe-wide pedagogical framework for e-Learning

Within the context of a Europe-wide project UNITE, a number of European partners set out to design, implement and validate a pedagogical framework (PF) for e- and m-Learning in secondary schools. The process of formulating and testing the PF was an evolutionary one that reflected the experiences and skills of the various European partners and secondary schools involved in the project. The framework involved pedagogies which underpin the teaching of subject matter in a number of European secondary schools as well as the ways in which learning is delivered and assessed. The PF represents an essential part of the e-Learning system conceptualization and development and offers sound concepts for the development of learning scenarios in order to enhance the learning experience of students in secondary schools. A five-component framework which, by means of its constituents, drives and guides the creation of e-Learning scenarios was designed and tested. It is composed of the pedagogical framework context, pedagogical approaches, assessment techniques, teacher education and national specifics and current pedagogical practices implemented in national curricula. A series of learning scenarios were created to test the PF in classrooms. A detailed exemplar of a scenario in practice is offered. An evaluation of the scenarios based on [Reeves, T. C., 1994. Evaluating what really matters in computer-based education. In M. Wild, D. Kirkpatrick (Eds.), Computer education: new perspectives (pp. 219–246). Perth, Australia: MASTEC] pedagogical dimensions revealed that UNITE is based on constructivist and cognitive foundations. With increased experience of the system the teachers’ implementation of the pedagogical framework developed into increased mastery in the school context. Teachers from the second validation phase became more confident in their application of the framework principles and evaluated more positively the outcomes. This helped them to become more aware of the opportunities offered by the framework in their secondary school teaching. In order to bring this about the supports for change were put into place at the levels of pedagogical design, administrative support and the provision of the required resources and appropriate continuing professional development. The project has sought to create this support structure to ensure maximal benefits of the system for teaching and learning. Such a pedagogical support PF has offered scope for both collaborative and autonomous learning which have brought about value-added teaching and learning effects in the Europe-wide network of schools.     

Learner modeling for adaptive scaffolding in a Computational Thinking-based science learning environment

Learner modeling has been used in computer-based learning environments to model learners’ domain knowledge, cognitive skills, and interests, and customize their experiences in the environment based on this information. In this paper, we develop a learner modeling and adaptive scaffolding framework for Computational Thinking using Simulation and Modeling (CTSiM)—an open ended learning environment that supports synergistic learning of science and Computational Thinking (CT) for middle school students. In CTSiM, students have the freedom to choose and coordinate use of the different tools provided in the environment, as they build and test their models. However, the open-ended nature of the environment makes it hard to interpret the intent of students’ actions, and to provide useful feedback and hints that improves student understanding and helps them achieve their learning goals. To address this challenge, we define an extended learner modeling scheme that uses (1) a hierarchical task model for the CTSiM environment, (2) a set of strategies that support effective learning and model building, and (3) effectiveness and coherence measures that help us evaluate student’s proficiency in the different tasks and strategies. We use this scheme to dynamically scaffold learners when they are deficient in performing their tasks, or they demonstrate suboptimal use of strategies. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in a classroom study where one group of 6th grade students received scaffolding and the other did not. We found that students who received scaffolding built more accurate models, used modeling strategies effectively, adopted more useful modeling behaviors, showed a better understanding of important science and CT concepts, and transferred their modeling skills better to new scenarios.