Integrating ICT into second language education in a vocational high school

Abstract This study investigated the potential impacts of integrating the Internet into an English as a second language class in a vocational senior high school in Taiwan. Twenty-nine students and a young male English teacher were involved. It was found that the students overall had a positive perception toward using Internet tools. This study indicated that the integration of information communication technology on the Internet with English facilitated the creation of a virtual environment that transformed learning from a traditional passive experience to one of discovery, exploration, and excitement in a less stressful setting. The study revealed that a computer-mediated communication environment could lower students' psychological barriers to enable them to express their opinions freely and to communicate actively on the Internet and that it could also enhance their critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills through online activities or class homepage construction. An individual case study further revealed that a task-oriented English tutoring strategy in association with email communication could motivate the student's writing competence but the student's language proficiency and grammatical accuracy did not improve. Finally, based on the findings, recommendations for future studies are made.     

A context-aware ubiquitous learning environment for language listening and speaking

This paper reported the results of a study that aimed to construct a sensor and handheld augmented reality (AR)-supported ubiquitous learning (u-learning) environment called the Handheld English Language Learning Organization (HELLO), which is geared towards enhancing students' language learning. The HELLO integrates sensors, AR, ubiquitous computing and information technologies. It is composed of two subsystems: an English learning management system and a u-learning tool. In order to evaluate the effects of the proposed learning environment on the learning performance of students, a case study on English learning was conducted on a school campus. The participants included high school teachers and students. A learning course entitled 'My Campus' was conducted in the class; it included three activities, namely 'Campus Environment', 'Campus Life' and 'Campus Story'. The evaluation results showed that the proposed HELLO and the learning activities could improve the students' English listening and speaking skills.     

How does Internet information seeking help academic performance? – The moderating and mediating roles of academic self-efficacy

Although researchers tend to agree that Internet is a good source for learning and research, little empirical data has substantiated this claim by specifically linking time and effort spent on the Internet for school related information seeking to academic performances. This research investigates the relationship between vocational high school students’ information seeking activities on the Internet, academic self-efficacy, and academic performance. We propose that academic self-efficacy both mediates and moderates the relationship between Internet information seeking and academic performance. Using survey data from 295 vocational high school students in Taiwan, we found that the positive effect of Internet information seeking to students’ academic performance is mediated through academic self-efficacy. Academic self-efficacy, at the same time, moderates the relationship between Internet information seeking to academic performance such that students’ with low academic self-efficacy benefit more from Internet information seeking in regard to their academic performance. We discussed the implications of our findings and provided future directions for research.     

Integrating computer-mediated tools into the language curriculum

Abstract The study reported in this paper investigated second-year junior college students' attitudes and perceptions towards the web as an educational resource. The students in southern Taiwan were given an introduction to Internet use for research projects. Study data was collected using surveys and observation. Factor analysis was employed to identify six areas for further t -test analysis: cognitive disorientation, learning anxiety, perceived enhancement of language ability, perceived enhancement of cultural under-standing, the web considered as a useful search tool and the overall perception of language learning on the web. The study showed that computer networks have the potential to empower students when they are implemented appropriately. Some pedagogical suggestions are made for the effective use of computer networking for second and foreign language learning.     

Teachers’ attitudes toward web-based professional development,with relation to Internet self-efficacy and beliefs about web-based learning

This study was conducted to explore the relationships between teachers’ Internet self-efficacy, beliefs about web-based learning and attitudes toward web-based professional development. The sample of this study included 421 teachers, coming from 20 elementary schools in Taiwan. The three instruments used to assess teachers’ Internet self-efficacy (ISS), beliefs about web-based learning (BWL), and attitudes toward web-based professional development (AWPD) revealed high reliability. In this study, the results supported that teachers’ Internet self-efficacy and beliefs about web-based learning were important predictors of their attitudes toward web-based professional development. The belief for the positive consequences of web-based learning is very important for the favorable attitudes toward web-based professional development.     

Students' use of web-based concept map testing and strategies for learning

Abstract The study reported in this paper developed and evaluated a web-based concept map testing system for science students. Thirty-eight Taiwanese high school students were involved and it was found that their performance on the system was not significantly related to their achievement as measured by traditional standard tests. Their views about the use of the system, in general, were positive. An analysis of students' future use of the system and their motivation and learning strategies revealed that those with more critical thinking metacognitive activities and an effort regulation management strategy showed more willingness to use the online testing system. Moreover, students with high test anxiety showed a preference to be tested through the system.     

中外合作办学教学探索

中外合作办学开创了我国高等教育的新途径．构建了中外教育全面接触、互相学习与合作交流的平台。探讨我校中外合作办学的教学计划，师资队伍建设、教学改革、学风建设等。办学思路是：提高认识，积极探索办学模式；更新传统教育观念，探索办学特色，增强创新意识；提高师资水平，加强各项管理工作的实施，     

The relationship between Internet identification,Internet anxiety and Internet use

This paper reports a study investigating the relationship between Internet identification, Internet anxiety and Internet use. The participants were 446 students (319 females and 127 males) from two universities in the UK and one university in Australia. Measures of Internet identification and Internet anxiety were developed. The majority of participants were NOT anxious about using the Internet, although there were approximately 8% who showed evidence of Internet anxiety. There was a significant and negative relationship between Internet anxiety and Internet use. Those who were more anxious about using the Internet used the Internet less, although the magnitude of effect was small. There was a positive and significant relationship between Internet use and Internet identification. Those who scored high on the measure of Internet identification used the Internet more than those who did not. There was also a significant and negative relationship between Internet anxiety and Internet identification. Finally, males had a significantly higher Internet identification score than females. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

基于ASP技术的学生管理系统分析与设计

Internet应用的普及使得异步移动信息管理成为可能。利用ASP Access Excel技术设计开放式学生管理系统,可以实现教师异地管理学生信息,分析有关数据并自动生成各种图表,提高学生管理工作的效率和灵活性。家长和学生可以通过系统查询学生情况和学校信息,对学校工作提出建议,从而形成现代教育理论要求的学校、家庭及时互通信息、两位一体的学生管理模式。     

Developing an Internet Attitude Scale for high school students

Although educators over the past decade have developed various scales measuring students' computer attitudes, few of them have constructed scales specifically for attitudes towards the Internet. The purpose of this study was to develop an Internet attitude scale for high school students. Through both revising a previous scale proposed by Selwyn (1997) [Selwyn, N. (1997). Students' attitudes toward computers: validation of a computer attitude scale for 16–19 education. Computers & Education, 28(1), 35–41] and writing new items, this study developed an Internet Attitude Scale of 18 items, with the following four subscales: perceived usefulness, affection, perceived control, and behavior. This study also explored gender differences on the scale, and the relationship between Internet experience and students' responses on the scale. Research data gathered from 753 Taiwan high school students revealed that students of different gender and various Internet experiences did not show statistical differences on the perceptions toward the potential usefulness of the Internet subscale. However, male students tended to express more positive feeling, lower anxiety, and higher confidence toward using the Internet than female students. Students having more Internet experience tended to show similar positive attitudes than those of less experience.     

Effects of anxiety levels on learning performance and gaming performance in digital game‐based learning

Anxiety plays an influential role in foreign language learning. However, a lack of attention was paid to examining the effects of anxiety levels on learning performance and gaming performance in digital game‐based learning. To this end, this study developed a game‐based English learning system and investigated how different levels of anxiety affected learners' learning performance and gaming performance. A quasi‐experiment was conducted in an elementary school. The results showed that high‐anxiety learners performed worse than low‐anxiety learners in speaking, word/sentence match, and overall learning performance. However, they performed similarly in listening performance. Moreover, the results showed that high‐ and low‐anxiety learners demonstrated a similar level of gaming performance. A subsequent analysis showed that significant correlations existed between learning performance and gaming performance for learners with high anxiety whereas such positive correlations were rarely found for learners with low anxiety, indicating that high‐anxiety learners' learning performance could be fostered by their gaming performance. The findings suggested that digital game‐based learning was particularly beneficial to high‐anxiety learners, whose gaming performance was a facilitative factor of their learning performance.     

Comparison of Internet addicts and non-addicts in Taiwanese high school

This study investigated the difference between Internet addicts and non-addicts in Taiwanese high schools, and focused specifically on their Internet usage patterns, and gratification and communication pleasures. A total of 1708 valid data samples of high school adolescents were collected. Among this sample, 236 subjects (13.8%) were identified as addicts using the eight-item Internet addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire designed by Young [Internet addiction survey [Online]. Available: http://www.pitt.edu/_ksy/survey.htm]. The analytical results revealed that Internet addicts spent almost twice as many hours on line on average than the non-addicts. Notably, surfing with a social/entertainment motivation and gratification was positively correlated with Internet addiction. Furthermore, Internet addicts obtained markedly higher overall PIUST scores and scored higher than non-addicts on four subscales (tolerance; compulsive use and withdrawal; related problems, including family, school, health, and other problems; interpersonal and financial problems). While Internet addicts perceived the Internet to have significantly more negative influences on daily routines, school performance, teacher and parental relation than non-addicts, both Internet addicts and non-addicts viewed Internet use as enhancing peer relations. Moreover, students with personalities characterized by dependence, shyness, depression and low self-esteem had a high tendency to become addicted.     

Junior high school students’ Internet usage and self-efficacy: A re-examination of the gender gap

This paper investigated the gender differences in junior high school students’ Internet self-efficacy and their use of the Internet. A total of 1080 eighth graders were randomly selected from all junior high school students in Taiwan. The Internet Self-Efficacy Scale (ISES) was developed and used to examine students’ Internet self-efficacy in two dimensions: online exploration (explorative ISE) and online communication (communicative ISE). A survey including the ISES instrument was administered to all the subjects and finally 936 valid questionnaires (from 466 males and 470 females) were returned for data analyses. No significant gender difference was found in students’ total ISE and explorative ISE; however, a significant gender difference was found in students’ communicative ISE. Surprisingly, the girls had significant higher communicative ISE than had the boys. In addition, there was no significant gender difference in students’ Internet using experience and computer ownerships; however, there were significant gender differences in their Internet using purpose and intensity. In spite of the boys showed a significantly higher Internet use intensity than did the girls, the boys were more exploration-oriented Internet users and the girls were more communication-oriented Internet users. And this orientation played a significant role in their Internet self-efficacy. These results suggested that the gender gap may no longer exist in young students’ confidence in using the Internet. However, boys and girls used the Internet for significantly different purposes suggesting that the Internet played different roles for boys and girls in Taiwan. With a large scale examination by using a valid and reliable instrument, this study provided representative results for further related studies.     

Who assigns the most ICT activities? Examining the relationship between teacher and student usage

The expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in schools is expected to promote learning. To what extent teachers are utilizing the new ICT tools to engage students in learning activities remains a question. This study reports what kind of activities teachers are likely to assign students, and what type of teachers are more likely to assign such activities. Teacher ICT usage and student ICT assignments are examined using a sample of 3729 elementary and junior high school teachers in Taiwan. The results from correlation and regression analysis indicate that teachers who infrequently use basic ICT tools such as word processing rarely assign student ICT activities. At the other end of spectrum, teachers who create complicated multimedia materials are most likely to assign student multimedia activities. Regression results show that teachers’ frequency of building websites is the best predictor for assigning ICT-based sharing activities to students, though the likelihood is greater for junior high school than elementary school teachers. The results suggest that teachers assign students activities which require a variety of ICT tools, and teachers’ own ICT practices influence the type of ICT activities they assign to students.     

The role of knowledge sharing self-efficacy in sharing Open Educational Resources

In the current paper we report on a study regarding teachers’ sharing behavior regarding their Open Educational Resources (OER) in the Netherlands. Little is known about how many teachers actually share their learning materials and, therefore, an attempt was made to estimate the number of Dutch teachers and the types of OER they share. Second, we tried to find out whether knowledge sharing self-efficacy facilitated, and evaluation apprehension and trust inhibited teachers to share OER in two different contexts of sharing behavior; sharing with colleagues at their school (interpersonal sharing) and sharing with the public through Internet (Internet sharing). A survey among 1568 teachers from primary to higher education was undertaken to test the relative importance of knowledge sharing self-efficacy, evaluation apprehension and trust in determining Dutch teachers’ intention to share. The results showed that a large proportion of the Dutch teachers shared their OER, but that this sharing was limited to learning materials with low complexity (e.g., texts or images). Moreover, sharing occurred twice as much interpersonally than via websites. Our hypothesis that evaluation apprehension is significantly related to sharing behavior as well as the intention to share was not confirmed. Self-efficacy to share knowledge did, however, explain some of the differences in sharing behavior and in the intention to share of Dutch teachers, although the variables under study accounted only for a small amount of variance. Our findings should thus be replicated in further studies and other variables should be considered that could effectively predict OER sharing behavior of teachers.     

Police arrest and self-defence skills: performance under anxiety of officers with and without additional experience in martial arts

We investigated whether officers with additional martial arts training experience performed better in arrest and self-defence scenarios under low and high anxiety and were better able to maintain performance under high anxiety than officers who just rely on regular police training. We were especially interested to find out whether training once a week would already lead to better performance under high anxiety. Officers with additional experience in kickboxing or karate/jiu-jitsu (training several times per week), or krav maga (training once a week) and officers with no additional experience performed several arrest and self-defence skills under low and high anxiety. Results showed that officers with additional experience (also those who trained once a week) performed better under high anxiety than officers with no additional experience. Still, the additional experience did not prevent these participants from performing worse under high anxiety compared to low anxiety. Implications for training are discussed.     

Preferences toward the constructivist Internet-based learning environments among high school students in Taiwan

This paper explored students' preferences toward the constructivist Internet-based learning environments. A Constructivist Internet-based Learning Environment Survey (CILES) was developed. The CILES consisted of six scales, including student negotiation, inquiry learning, reflective thinking, relevance, ease of use and challenge. Questionnaire responses gathered from more than 700 high school students in Taiwan suggested that the survey showed adequate reliability in assessing students' preferences. Students showed stronger preferences for the learning environments, which were easy to use or navigate and integrate complex real-life problems with relevant knowledge in a meaningful way. In addition, males and females shared similar preferences toward the Internet-based learning environments. Students having moderate Internet experiences seemed to be more critical to the preferences of the Internet-based learning environments, in which they may have demanded authentic and facilitated Internet-based learning environments, while their inquiry and reflective thinking should be promoted.     

Comparing awareness and use of content-free software in comprehensive schools

The study reports on a survey into the use of content-free computer software by comprehensive school teachers in South Wales. The survey includes questions on computer resources, staff training, level of awareness and utilization by year group and by subject taught. The findings suggest that many more teachers are aware of the potential of content-free software than are actually using them in their lessons. A shortfall in training provision together with the inequitable distribution of computers between subjects are major factors limiting the use of such software. Modern Languages and Humanities are generally poorly provided for in terms of hardware resources. However, Science (which has ample hardware) seems to make relatively little use of content-free software while Business Studies and Design Technology use it extensively. Sixth form teaching seems generally to ignore the potentials of computer-aided learning by means of content-free software.     

论校园网的建设及其网络信息安全

校园网是一种局域网,局域网就是将一个或几个建筑物中的计算机、终端、带大容量存储器的外围设备、控制器、显示器以及为连接其他网络而使用的网络连接器等相互连接起来,以高速度进行通信为目的的网络。随着计算机技术和网络技术的发展,网络已经渗透到学校的方方面面,学校纷纷建立了校园网,校园网的建设帮助学生获取信息,有利于教师的教学与科研活动,有利于改善教学环境,有利于学校树立良好形象、吸引生源、提高管理水平和管理效率。