Design Of E-learning Environments Research Articles

The effect of the interaction between crowdsourced style and cognitive style on developing research and scientific thinking skills

This study aims to evaluate the effect of the interaction between crowdsourcing style and cognitive style on the development of research and scientific thinking skills among postgraduate students at Alexandria University, by designing an e-learning environment. The current research used an experimental approach with a quasi-experimental design. The research sample consisted of a random sample of 80 postgraduate students who were specializing in mathematics, educational technology, and other areas at the Faculty of Education. The measurement tools consisted of an achievement test, the observation card, cognitive style scale, and scientific thinking scale. Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA analysis of variance. The results showed that there was a significant difference between crowdsourcing patterns (collaborative/competitive) in favor of the collaborative pattern. There was a significant difference between cognitive style (focusing/scanning) in favor of students who adopted the focusing style. There was a significant effect on the interaction between crowdsourcing patterns and cognitive style for each of the cognitive aspects of research skills in global databases through the e-learning environment based on the crowdsourcing pattern, the observation card of students’ performance of those skills, and their scientific thinking. The researchers recommend benefiting from the results of the current research in the design of e-learning environments based on crowdsourced (competitive/collaborative) in general, and crowdsourced collaborative in particular because of their impact on the development of achievement, practical performance, and scientific thinking.

The Investigation of Readiness for e-Learning of Pre-service Music Teachers in Turkey

E-learning applications at universities have been rapidly increasing with the technologies of Web 2.0. The design of e-learning environments with the convenient instructional principles is as important as the readiness of learners. In this paper, the readiness of pre-service music teachers for e-learning was investigated. 161 pre- service music teachers who are studying at the Music Education Department of Gazi University Education Faculty have participated in this research. Readiness for e-learning was discussed in 5 sections, namely, 1) Self-efficacy of the computer and Internet use, 2) Self-efficacy of online communication, 3) Self-directed learning, 4) Learner control, and 5) Motivation for e-learning. It has been seen according to obtained results that motivation for e- learning and self-efficacy of online communication are high, but other sections are low. On the other side, it has been seen that there are differences as per the gender and grade. Obtained data was discussed in detail.

Developing Self-Regulation Skills in Virtual Worlds

In order to succeed in today’s life and work environments, people require more than thinking skills and content knowledge. Initiative and self-direction skills are needed, including the ability to manage goals and time, to work independently, and be self-directed learners. On the other hand, e-learning has brought changes in every field of formal and informal education, such as training programs, basic education, and life-long learning. However, e-learning is not inherently motivating and can even be demotivating due to technological, intrapersonal, and interpersonal hurdles. A hallmark of e-learning is its reliance on learner autonomy, also called independent or self-directed learning. In view of the need for the design of e-learning environments that would provide self-regulation strategies for the maximization of learners’ engagement to an e-learning course and the development self-regulation as an important life skill, this paper presents the application of a Self-Regulation Theory based educational scenario, using the Virtual World of Second Life to enhance situated experience in professional and career development and to develop self-regulation as an important skill for the 21st century, along with skills, such as collaboration, team work, peer exchange and problem solving.

Inquiry-Based Training Model and the Design of E-Learning Environments

Introduction The explosive growth of the Internet and the dramatic advances in the design and development of online technological tools in recent years have revolutionized the way students and teachers view technology in education. These technological advances have made it possible to produce educational materials and transmit them over the Web. In parallel to these technological advances, the field of instructional design has made phenomenal contributions to curriculum planning. A synergy of these two fields would enable educators to produce effective electronic educational materials. Unfortunately, a great majority of e-learning sites that use online tools lack appropriate theoretical foundations for curriculum content organization. These sites, all designed by highly intelligent and well-intentioned educators, use online technologies without any regard for application of pedagogy to the design of courses. The result is shallow curriculum where, at best, online technologies have been used to cover the tip of teaching and learning, leaving little time and effort for the students to delve into deeper understanding of curriculum and problem solving. There is a fundamental need for pedagogical approaches to design e-learning environments whose foundations are supported by effective theoretical framework. One of the most effective approaches to developing appropriate pedagogical models for the design of e-learning is to understand how cognitive development occurs naturally. Cognitive development theories attempt to explain cognitive activities that contribute to the learners' intellectual development and their capacity to solve problems. Once we understand how cognition develops, we can derive a pedagogical model from it and then design effective e-learning environments that are responsive to how students learn naturally. In what follows, Piaget's cognitive theory will be discussed and an inquiry- training model will be derived from it. Then I will describe the design of an e-learning environment that is based on Piaget's model and is adaptive to the cognitive needs of students. Cognitive Developmental Theory Piaget Piaget (1952) argued that children must continually reconstruct their own knowledge through a process of active reflection upon objects and events until they eventually achieve an adult perspective. To have a better appreciation of this process, it is essential to understand four other concepts that Piaget proposed. These concepts are schema, assimilation, accommodation, and equilibrium. Schema Piaget (1952) used the word schema to represent a mental structure that adapts to environmental patterns. In other words, schemata are intellectual structures, in terms of neuron assemblies, that organize perceived events and group them according to common patterns. A number of researchers (Anderson & Pearson, 1984; Piaget, 1952) have posited that schemata are the building blocks of intellectual development. During cognitive development, children's schemata are constantly restructured as they encounter new patterns in their learning experiences. Schema is not limited to concepts, objects, data, and their relationships. There are also procedural schemata (Anderson & Pearson, 1984), which are the ways of processing information. For example, students who have acquired the basics of mathematics, such as adding, multiplying, dividing, and subtracting, have internalized the concept schemata about these mathematical operations. However, as the students grow, they gain new abilities to solve problems that are related to mathematical concepts. The ability to solve problems is a procedural schema. Both concept and procedural schemata are constantly restructured as new learning environments are introduced to the learner. Assimilation, Accommodation, and Equilibrium One of the most fundamental questions about schemata is how are they restructured when new data or patterns are discovered in the environment? …

The way of the termite: a theoretically grounded approach to the design of e-learning environments

This paper presents an argument for a design paradigm for e-learning environments that cater for the needs of diverse learners using social navigation and signposts. The argument begins with transactional distance theory, which predicts an inverse relationship between structure and dialogue in a learning transaction. It is argued that this relationship may be expressed as a function of the control exercised by each participant in a learning transaction, which varies from context to context and, learner to learner. This paper identifies and describes a type of e-learning environment wherein structure is derived from a dialogue-like process between its inhabitants, akin to that used by termites when building termite mounds. In such an environment, control is emergent, arising from the interactions and behaviours of its users. This suggests some general principles for the design of e-learning environments that both shape and are shaped by the communities that inhabit them.

Designing E-learning environments for flexible activity and instruction

The contributions to this issue share a focus on design of e-learning environments. Instructional designers stand at very early stages of knowledge in this area, but with great potential for growth and progress. This commentary offers an activity-based perspective on e-learning environments, resulting in a flexible stance toward instructional strategies, artifact design, emergent activity, and learning outcomes. This same flexibility should be evident as we in the field appropriate theories from other disciplines and develop some of our own. I support the contributors' call for more design research specifically addressing challenging problems of practice encountered by design practitioners.

Learning theories and the design of e-learning environments

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Acknowledgment Chapter 3 New Challenges Chapter 4 Part I: Orientation to Learning Theories: Behavioral Theories and E-learning Cognitive Theories and E-learning Social Theories and E-learning Psychological Theories and E-learning Chapter 5 Part II: Orientation to Perceptual Design: Visual Design and E-learning Text, Color, Images, and Icons Animation, Video, and Audio Page Layout and Site Architecture Chapter 6 Part III: Orientation to Design and Development: The Design Process Chapter 7 Bibliography Chapter 8 Author Biographical Sketch Chapter 9 Index

The Ecological Approach to the Design of E-Learning Environments: Purpose-based Capture and Use of Information About Learners

<div class="abstract_container"> <strong>Abstract:</strong> The semantic web movement has grown around the need to add semantics to the web in order to make it more usable by people and by information systems. In this paper I argue that even more important than semantics is pragmatics; that is, to really enhance web usability it is critical to capture and react to aspects of the end use context. Most centrally, to make the web truly responsive to human needs, we need to understand the "users" of the web and their purposes for using it. In this paper I elaborate this argument in the context of of e-learning systems. I propose an approach to the design of e-learning systems that I call the ecological approach. Moving from the open web to repositories of learning objects, I show how the ecological approach shows promise not only to allow information about learners actual interactions with learning objects to be naturally captured but also to allow it to be used in a multitude of ways to support learners and teachers in achieving their goals. In a phrase, the approach involves attaching models of learners to the learning objects they interact with, and then mining these models for patterns that are useful for various purposes. The ecological approach turns out to be highly suited to e-learning applications. It also has interesting implications for e-learning research, and perhaps even for research directions for semantic web research. </div> <p class="link_container"> <strong>Invited Commentary:</strong> <a class="rel commentary" href="/2004/7/ramondt" >Ramondt, L., Smith, T and Bradshaw, P. (2004) Commentary on: McCalla, G. (2004). The Ecological Approach to the Design of E-Learning Environments: Purpose-based Capture and Use of Information About Learners [PDF]</a> <p class="editors_container"> <strong>Editors:</strong> Terry Anderson and Denise Whitelock.

Commentary on: McCalla, G. (2004). The Ecological Approach to the Design of E-Learning Environments

Abstract: Gord McCalla's paper describes the development of a user-centred system that links and accrues individual learners' profiles, usage and ratings data to learning objects. This allows algorithms to identify and recommend those learning objects that are best tailored to a learner's purpose and learning style. He uses the concept of the ecological web as a metaphor for the evolutionary journey (birth, growth and death) of online learning objects from the moment that they are added, through their useful life as a resource, to their deletion once obsolete. Paper: McCalla, G. (2004). The Ecological Approach to the Design of E- Learning Environments Editors: Terry Anderson and Denise Whitelock.