E-learning Course Research Articles

Towards a Didactic Concept for Heterogeneous Target Groups in Digital Learning Environments-First Course Implementation.

In the context of the ongoing digitization of interdisciplinary subjects, the need for digital literacy is increasing in all areas of everyday life. Furthermore, communication between science and society is facing new challenges, not least since the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to deal with these challenges and to provide target-oriented online teaching, new educational concepts for the transfer of knowledge to society are necessary. In the transfer project “Zukunftslabor Gesundheit” (ZLG), a didactic concept for the creation of E-Learning classes was developed. A key factor for the didactic concept is addressing heterogeneous target groups to reach the broadest possible spectrum of participants. The concept has already been used for the creation of the first ZLG E-Learning courses. This article outlines the central elements of the developed didactic concept and addresses the creation of the ZLG courses. The courses created so far appeal to different target groups and convey diverse types of knowledge at different levels of difficulty.

Towards Analyzing the Online Learner's Behavior: An Expedition to Recommender System

E-learning courses are gaining significance nowadays and are also an active area for research. COVID-19 pandemic has challenged education system across the globe and many institutions have switched to the online platforms for survival. Due to this, a lot many online courses are available and it is very difficult for a novice user to select suitable course as per one’s preference. Despite the great motivation for MOOC courses and rapid growth of online platforms, there has been tremendous drop out for MOOC courses. This paper focuses on analyzing user activities or user’s learning behavior in order to recommend suitable and unsuitable courses according to user preference. One of the key issues is nowadays is the increasing dropout rate of MOOC learners. The completion rate of most of the online courses is very less as compared to the number of enrolled participants. After creating and analyzing the user learners’ profile, the recommender system recommends suitable courses to the learners so that dropout cases will decrease and the user will be able to choose appropriate courses as per their preferences. Sometimes under social influence or lack of awareness, learners opt those courses that are not appropriate for them. As each learner knowledge level is diverse so customization is required in order to improve online learning experience. In this paper, authors have described various challenges of the online learners, suggested how a recommender system should be advanced and different types of recommender systems.

Flipped Classroom Real-World Activities for Learning Open Computing Concepts

Various “open” concepts in Computing, such as open standards, open data, open licenses or system interoperability are becoming more important in the professional lives of software engineers. However, students usually do not receive a systematic education about these concepts; rather they sporadically learn about a subset of these topics. This paper presents the revised version of the Open Computing course in the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER), which teaches a clear set of current topics focused on open data and correlating concepts. The new e-learning course is carried out using the “flipped classroom” educational method; students construct their knowledge in a set of real-world mini-activities throughout the course, instead of passively learning from the official course resources. In this paper, we discuss our flipped classroom activities, their relation to revised Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives, and present the evaluation of the first course instance using this model. Students’ feedback shows they welcome this change in approach, finding the course useful and interesting, and preferring this method to the traditional full lecture setting.

Student Pharmacist Led International E-Learning Collaborative and Educational Experience: Understanding the Role of Pharmacists and Pharmacy Curriculum in Mexico and USA

Background: Pharmacy students in Mexico are exposed to United States’ pharmacy community services in hopes to adopt the services for their own pharmacy program.
 Objectives: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a strictly online-based teaching method to improve student knowledge on the role of pharmacists and the pharmacy curriculum in Mexico and the United States.
 Methods: This was a prospective study of pharmacy students attending the University of California, San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (UCSD SSPPS) and Facultad de Quimic-Pharmaco-Biologia de la Universidad Michoacana San Nicolas de Hidalgo (UMSNH) during the 2015-2016 academic year who enrolled in the E-Learning Collaborative and Educational Experience Independent Study.
 Results: The e-learning course had 25 students total from both the United States and Mexico enrolled. Out of the 25 students, 4 students from the United States and 11 students from Mexico agreed to participate in the study. In the familiarity/confidence section of survey, there was a significant increase in 4 out of 5 questions in the Mexico group and 2 out of 5 in the U.S. groups. In the survey section regarding students’ perspective of e-learning and likelihood of community involvement, there was no statistical difference in the U.S. group and only one in the Mexico group.
 Conclusion: Despite the lack of statistical significance, the increase in median scores and proportion of correct responses in addition to the feedback provided by students suggest a positive learning experience to supports continuation of this study.

IMPROVING THE PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE PROCESS OF CREATING A DISTANCE COURSE IN E-LEARNING

This article discusses the use of information technology in higher education and the organization of the educational process on this basis, the development of pedagogical principles for the process of creating a distance e-learning course and the formation of practical skills.

An Evaluation Study of e-Learning Course at the Duhok Polytechnic University A Case Study

In last decade, there has been a growing awareness in E-Learning which is the most recent type of distance education, and becomes a highly significant model of educational technology. Today e-Learning studies indicate that there is an increasing use of this educational scheme for students, trainers and instructors which improve the learning capability of the students and trainee by depending on student-centered learning (SCL) scheme rather than using the traditional teacher or trainer centered teaching mechanism.However, students’ awareness for the advantage of using e-Learning has not been significantly investigated, especially in Iraq. The aim of this article is to inspect students’ awareness of the using of e-Learning at the Dohuk Polytechnic University. Participants involved in this study were 100 students studying the C++ programming language course during 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 academic years and 210 students studying computer application course during 2018-2019.

Analysis of Learning Outcomes in Gamified Blended E-learning Course

Learning outcomes describe what students will learn in a certain period of time after the end of the teaching activity and therefore they need to be verified. Higher education distinguishes several types of learning outcomes such as general, study program, course and course topic. This paper analyses learning outcomes of the course topic in the gamified course, Web Design and Programming (WebDiP). Midterm exams were chosen for the analysis. Each question of the midterm exam is assigned to the corresponding learning outcome of the course topic which is verified with them. Also, each learning outcome is further classified into levels using Bloom's taxonomy. The research goal is to discover the reason why and which learning outcomes are more difficult to achieve. Furthermore, is there any correlation between levels of learning outcomes, the number of points in each midterm exam, points from the project and the total number of points achieved in the course. In accordance with the obtained results, proposals for improving the course for the next academic year are presented.

ELearning significantly improves maternity professionals' knowledge of the congenital cytomegalovirus prevention guidelines.

AimsCytomegalovirus (CMV) is a preventable cause of neurodevelopmental disability. Australian guidelines recommend that pregnant women are informed about CMV to reduce their risk of infection; however, less than 10% of maternity health professionals routinely provide prevention advice. The aim was to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an eLearning course for midwives to improve knowledge and confidence about CMV.Materials and MethodsParticipants undertaking the course between March and November 2020 were invited to complete an evaluation questionnaire: before the course (T1), immediately after (T2) and three months post completion (T3). A linear mixed model was used to evaluate change in participant scores; P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsMidwives (316/363, 87%), midwifery students (29/363, 8%) and nurses (18/363, 5%) participated. At T1 80% indicated they had not received education about CMV. Total adjusted mean scores for questionnaires completed between T1 (n = 363) and T2 (n = 238) increased significantly (from 17.2 to 22.8, P < 0.001). Limited available T3 scores (n = 27) (−1.7, P < 0.001), while lower than T2, remained higher than at T1 (+3.6, P < 0.001). Participants’ awareness of CMV information resources improved from 10 to 97% from T1 to T2. Confidence in providing CMV advice increased from 6 to 95% between T1 and T2 (P < 0.001) and was maintained at T3. Almost all (99%) participants indicated they would recommend the course to colleagues.ConclusionParticipants who completed the eLearning course had significantly improved knowledge and confidence in providing advice about CMV. Programs targeting other maternity health professionals should be considered, to further support the implementation of the congenital CMV prevention guidelines.

E-Learning course design and implementation in fuzzy logic

The goal of e-learning in fuzzy logic courses is to assist students in the learning process, create menu structures and simple operation techniques, and create prototypes for e-learning in fuzzy logic courses. The difficulty of students in implementing what they have learned stems from the fact that the advent of e-learning can make it simpler for students to access material that they do not comprehend. In this study, an analytic learning prototype was used as the research approach. The outcomes of e-learning products based on online apps in this fuzzy logic course can be used as learning material. The menu structure developed in this e-learning is a home page with an introduction to e-learning, a site page with participants, calendars, and notes. Pages that can be used to grow the network and courses are the most significant aspects of e-learning. E-learning includes material, discussion, forums, quizzes, and other activities. The findings of the validation by media specialists on this e-learning application are pretty good, indicating that it is suitable for use. According to the results of material expert validation, the material used is excellent, suggesting that it is ideal for use in fuzzy logic courses. The limited test results for Informatics study program students were in the very good category, indicating that this e-learning tool was simple to use.

Training Pre-Service Early Childhood Educators in Physical Activity (TEACH): Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study.

Background: Early childhood educators (ECEs) influence young children’s early uptake of positive health behaviours in childcare settings and serve as important daytime role models. As such, it is imperative that post-secondary early childhood education programs provide students with the foundational knowledge and professional training required to confidently facilitate quality active play opportunities for young children. The primary objective of the Training pre-service EArly CHildhood educators in physical activity (TEACH) study is to develop and implement an e-Learning course in physical activity and sedentary behaviour to facilitate improvements in: pre-service ECEs’ self-efficacy and knowledge to lead physical activity and outdoor play opportunities and minimize sedentary behaviours in childcare. This study will also explore pre-service ECEs’ behavioural intention and perceived control to promote physical activity and outdoor play, and minimize sedentary behaviour in childcare, and the implementation of the e-Learning course. Methods/Design: A mixed-methods quasi-experimental design with three data collection time points (baseline, post-course completion, 3-month follow-up) will be employed to test the e-Learning course in early childhood education programs (n = 18; 9 experimental, 9 comparison) across Canada. Pre-service ECEs enrolled in colleges/universities assigned to the experimental group will be required to complete a 4-module e-Learning course, while programs in the comparison group will maintain their typical curriculum. Pre-service ECEs’ self-efficacy, knowledge, as well as behavioural intention and perceived behavioural control will be assessed via online surveys and module completion rates will be documented using website metrics. Group differences across timepoints will be assessed using linear mixed effects modelling and common themes will be identified through thematic analysis. Discussion: The TEACH study represents a novel, evidence-informed approach to address the existing gap in physical activity and sedentary behaviour-related education in Canadian post-secondary early childhood education programs. Moreover, e-Learning platforms, can be employed as an innovative, standardized, and scalable way to provide ECEs with consistent training across jurisdictions.

Implementation of an e-Learning course in physical activity and sedentary behavior for pre- and in-service early childhood educators: Evaluation of the TEACH pilot study

BackgroundChildcare-based physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) interventions have traditionally used in-person training to supplement early childhood educators’ (ECEs) knowledge and confidence to facilitate physically active programming for the children in their care. However, this method of delivery is resource-intensive and unable to reach a high number of ECEs. The purpose of the Training pre-service EArly CHildhood educators in PA (TEACH) pilot study was to test the implementation (e.g., fidelity, feasibility, acceptability) of an e-Learning course targeting PA and SB among a sample of pre-service (i.e., post-secondary students) and in-service (i.e., practicing) ECEs in Canada.MethodsA pre-/post-study design was adopted for this pilot study, and implementation outcomes were assessed cross-sectionally at post-intervention. Pre-service ECEs were purposefully recruited from three Canadian colleges and in-service ECEs were recruited via social media. Upon completing the e-Learning course, process evaluation surveys (n = 32 pre-service and 121 in-service ECEs) and interviews (n = 3 pre-service and 8 in-service ECEs) were completed to gather ECEs’ perspectives on the e-Learning course. Fidelity was measured via e-Learning course metrics retrieved from the web platform. Descriptive statistics were calculated for quantitative data, and thematic analysis was conducted to analyze qualitative data.ResultsModerate-to-high fidelity to the TEACH study e-Learning course was exhibited by pre-service (68%) and in-service (63%) ECEs. Participants reported that the course was highly acceptable, compatible, effective, feasible, and appropriate in complexity; however, some ECEs experienced technical difficulties with the e-Learning platform and noted a longer than anticipated course duration. The most enjoyed content for pre- and in-service ECEs focused on outdoor play (87.5% and 91.7%, respectively) and risky play (84.4% and 88.4%, respectively).ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate the value of e-Learning for professional development interventions for ECEs. Participant feedback will be used to make improvements to the TEACH e-Learning course to improve scalability of this training.

Relation between Moodle Activity and Student Performance in the Context of EFL Training in Higher Education

Abstract The paper aims to explore the relation between students’ Moodle activity during different semester phases, measured through the total number of logs and quiz logs, and their final test score. The study takes a quantitative approach to the analysis: Spearman’s rank test is used to identify the presence and direction of correlation between variables in a sample of 53 observations, and linear regression is performed to probe the strength of this relation. The results show that there is a similar significant moderate correlation for the first and the second month of the formal instruction period and no significant correlation for the examination period. The outcomes of linear regression are statistically significant and suggest that Moodle activity can account for about 25% of the variation in the final score. Both students’ quiz activity during the formal instruction period and during the examination period are significantly moderately correlated with the final test score, which results in the suggestion that diverse interactive content that allows practicing and revising the material is of great importance in an effective e-learning course. A relatively robust moderate correlation between Moodle activity in the first month and the final test score suggests that educators can use Moodle statistics from as early as the first four weeks of instruction to identify procrastinating students and low achievers.

Развитие навыка самообразования у студентов-магистров посредством организации самостоятельной работы в электронной среде вуза в рамках дисциплины «Деловой иностранный язык в профессиональной деятельности»

The purpose of the study is to substantiate the effectiveness of organising graduate students’ independent work in the university e-learning environment in the frame of an author’s e-learning course for the discipline “Business Foreign Language in Professional Activity” on the LMS Moodle platform to develop their self-education skill. The paper provides insight into the notion of “self-education skill”, which is a necessary competence in graduate students’ educational activity within the implementation of their independent work in the e-learning course for the discipline “Business Foreign Language in Professional Activity” on the LMS Moodle platform; describes the stages and organisation of graduate students’ independent work in the said e-learning course; identifies the levels of self-education skill formation among the students. Scientific novelty of the study lies in introducing new digital technologies into the educational process of higher education, i.e. the author’s e-learning course for the discipline “Business Foreign Language in Professional Activity” on the LMS Moodle platform and a Coursera massive open online course integrated into the author’s e-learning course for the implementation of graduate students’ effective independent work in order to form their self-education skill. The results of the study are as follows: the researchers have shed light on the notion of “self-education skill”, which is a key competence in the modern world; have created the author’s e-learning course for the discipline “Business Foreign Language in Professional Activity” on the LMS Moodle platform, within the frame of which graduate students’ independent work was implemented; have organised students’ independent work in the said e-learning course; have described the stages of graduate students’ independent work in the e-learning course.

The Effects of Gamification on E-learning Education: Systematic Literature Review and Conceptual Model

The concept of implementing games or gamifification in education is becoming a growing area in the last decade and a blistering topic among researchers, professors and educational systems. Gaming in education aims to simplify and improve the learning process using technology. Nevertheless, accessibility and inclusion of gaming elements in the higher educational systems inside universities are considered yet. Most of the graduated students endure achieving the mandatory eLearning training to succeed in their integration inside companies. For example, engineers must follow some eLearning courses about Security, Ethics, Agility, Phishing Detection, General Data Protection Regulation...etc., which is tedious. Hence, our research seeks to ease and succeed the integration into companies by applying gamifification to these eLearning courses to engage and motivate students to master them before graduation. This paper discusses the use of games in education, then presents a literature review about learning theories, game theory and design, game development process and tools. By collecting hundreds of papers from multiple research databases, we conceived a journal classifification, a word frequency analysis using cloud visualization. Then a comparative study based on the topic’s occurrences in our corpus. Finally, a comparison of different conceptual models for gamifification of e-learning environments. These results offer an insightful introduction to the application of game elements in educational settings and the implementation of gamifification in e-learning courses.

VacciTUTOR – Essentials in Vaccinology

VacciTUTOR is an e-learning course on vaccinology, presented in a simple, user-friendly format supported by tables, graphs, figures and pictures. Quiz-based learning is used to evaluate what you have learned after each chapter and a final exam gives you the opportunity to obtain a certificate in vaccinology.

A qualitative study of an undergraduate online emergency medicine education program at a teaching Hospital in Kampala, Uganda

BackgroundGlobally, half of all years of life lost is due to emergency medical conditions, with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) facing a disproportionate burden of these conditions. There is an urgent need to train the future physicians in LMICs in the identification and stabilization of patients with emergency medical conditions. Little research focuses on the development of effective emergency medicine (EM) medical education resources in LMICs and the perspectives of the students themselves. One emerging tool is the use of electronic learning (e-learning) and blended learning courses. We aimed to understand Uganda medical trainees’ use of learning materials, perception of current e-learning resources, and perceived needs regarding EM skills acquisition during participation in an app-based EM course.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups of medical students and EM residents. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling. All sessions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The final codebook was approved by three separate investigators, transcripts were coded after reaching consensus by all members of the coding team, and coded data were thematically analyzed.ResultsTwenty-six medical trainees were included in the study. Analysis of the transcripts revealed three major themes: [1] medical trainees want education in EM and actively seek EM training opportunities; [2] although the e-learning course supplements knowledge acquisition, medical students are most interested in hands-on EM-related training experiences; and [3] medical students want increased time with local physician educators that blended courses provide.ConclusionsOur findings show that while students lack access to structured EM education, they actively seek EM knowledge and practice experiences through self-identified, unstructured learning opportunities. Students value high quality, easily accessible EM education resources and employ e-learning resources to bridge gaps in their learning opportunities. However, students desire that these resources be complemented by in-person educational sessions and executed in collaboration with local EM experts who are able to contextualize materials, offer mentorship, and help students develop their interest in EM to continue the growth of the EM specialty.

Change in pre- and in-service early childhood educators\u2019 knowledge, self-efficacy, and intentions following an e-learning course in physical activity and sedentary behaviour: a pilot study

BackgroundEarly childhood educators (ECEs) are the primary daytime role models for many young children, and are responsible for facilitating physical activity (PA) opportunities and minimizing sedentary behaviour (SB) in childcare. However, they have reportedly received little related education in their pre-service training. The purpose of the Training pre-service EArly CHildhood educators in physical activity (TEACH) pilot study was to explore changes in pre- and in-service ECEs’ knowledge, self-efficacy, behavioural intention, and perceived behavioural control following the TEACH e-Learning course in PA and SB.MethodsPre-service ECEs were purposefully recruited from three Canadian colleges, while in-service ECEs were recruited via social media. A pre-post study design was used. ECEs completed two online surveys; one prior to, and one immediately following the completion of the TEACH e-Learning course (~ 5 h). Descriptive statistics were reported, and McNemar Chi-Square tests and paired samples t-tests were used to examine changes in ECEs’ question-specific, and total knowledge scores, respectively. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests were employed to examine changes in self-efficacy, behavioural intention, and perceived behavioural control.ResultsBoth pre- (n = 32) and in-service (n = 121) ECEs significantly increased their total knowledge scores from pre- to post-course completion (p < .05*). Significant positive changes in self-efficacy (p < .025*), behavioural intention (p < .007*), and perceived behavioural control (p < .007*) were demonstrated by in-service ECEs following course completion, while only select composite scores within these tools were significant among pre-service ECEs.ConclusionsThese findings provide preliminary evidence of the potential efficacy of the e-Learning course at improving ECEs’ knowledge, self-efficacy, behavioural intention, and perceived behavioural control to support PA and minimize SB in childcare. Following the success of the pilot study, testing the effectiveness of the TEACH e-Learning course on a larger scale, with a comparison group, is warranted prior to recommending broader dissemination of the training in pre-service ECE programs and for in-service ECE professional learning.

Evaluation of Usability and Learning Motivation of e-Learning Courses for People With Chronic Kidney Disease.

Nurses need to increase patient education opportunities so that more people with chronic kidney disease can understand the disease accurately from its early stages. We developed an e-learning course based on the Dick and Carey system approach model and the attention, relevance, confidence, satisfaction model for people with chronic kidney disease. People with chronic kidney disease, on average, are aged around 50 to 60 years, and this population tends to lack perceived susceptibility toward and concern for the disease owing to the asymptomatic nature of early chronic kidney disease. Therefore, e-learning should be easy to use and motivate learning. This study aimed to evaluate the usability and learning motivation of this course. The participants included 10 outpatients (mean age, 51.2 years) with chronic kidney disease whose mastery percentage of learning objectives was compared by the knowledge tests immediately before and after the course. We also observed the participants' operation status and measured their motivation for using instructional materials with a questionnaire. The results demonstrated that this course facilitates independent operation, improves postcourse performance, and motivates participants in all areas of learning motivation. Thus, this e-learning course can be recommended as easy to use and motivating for people with chronic kidney disease.

Adaptive learning in university students’ opinions: Cross-border research

Contemporary education is often based on using e-learning courses, which have become a popular means of delivering didactic material to students. Among the main advantages mentioned is the potential possibility of creating individual ways of learning and teaching. The purpose of this article is to provide a description of the various approaches to adaptive learning, to present the comparative research results of a Polish-Ukrainian study, as well as to highlight the options offered by LMS Moodle (Modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment Learning Management System) for the implementation of adaptive learning and the possibility of taking into account the expectation of students regardless of the country. During the study, an online survey was administered to 59 students at the University of Silesia in Katowice (US), Poland and 121 students at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (BGKU), Ukraine between March–June 2020. All of the students were studying online due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19. The classes were conducted in synchronous and in asynchronous modes using e-learning courses in the Moodle system, as well as MS Teams for Polish students and Google Suite for Ukrainian students. At the same time, the majority of the surveyed students declared that they lack personalization, both in terms of materials and the learning process, which was limited in terms of fulfilment and they would like to have a choice of the level of study.

Students' Satisfaction and e-Learning Courses in Covid-19 Pandemic Era: A Case Study.

The present study is conducted to determine the status of e-learning, student satisfaction and the relationship between these two variables in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences (ZAUMS). According to a descriptive study, there was just a significant difference between the mean score of e-Learning experience and student satisfaction, and a positive correlation between the education level and student satisfaction. Also, there was a positive correlation between all variables of e-learning and student satisfaction The findings showed that the more capable learners were outcome of better educational content, stronger e-learning infrastructure, better support and assessment of e-learning quality, which, in turn, resulted in the greater the students' satisfaction. As a result, the experiences from the evaluation of e-learning in the Covid-19 pandemic period may be regarded a good guide in improving the course during the Covid-19 pandemic, and also it can be considered a key factor in providing educations in the post-Covid-19 period.