Learning Support Services Research Articles

Online AI-Guided Video Extraction for Distance Education with Applications

The pervasive applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have made an impact on the human knowledge sharing and education. In practice, a lifelong learning process is becoming an inevitable trend in the future. Although distance education has been developed for a long period, there are still problems such as low learning enthusiasm, low autonomy, and unsatisfactory learning support services. The application of AI to distance education will fundamentally affect the instruction and guidance methods, as well as the instructing content of distance education. Evolutions in distance education have brought significant changes in the instructing mode, learning strategy and support service, evaluation mode, and instructing platform of distance education. Distance education can construct an intelligent education platform to provide learners with personalized learning support. It can also offer flexible, dynamic, and convenient evaluation and on-demand learning resources with guaranteed quality. By leveraging the state-of-the-art data mining technique, we in this work design a set of simple yet effective distance education system, in the context of video conferencing. Our technique depends on the existing video surveillance network and equipment. Our technique can be applied to achieve an effective face-to-face online interaction. Meanwhile, the video surveillance network switch is optimized to enhance the network transmission and ensure the reliability of network operation. Comprehensive experimental results on the two instructing platforms based on embedded system learning and hospital nurse learning have shown the advantage of our method.

Research on the Relationship between Students’ Learning Adaptability and Learning Satisfaction under the Mobile Media Environment

The effective realization of the balance between the supply and demand of students’ personalized learning and the shortage of offline classroom teaching resources is of great significance to large-scale online learning. Based on the relevant theories of learning adaptability, this paper analyzes the five dimensions of students’ learning adaptability to learning satisfaction in the mobile social media environment and studies the mediating effect of mobile social media familiarity on students’ learning adaptability and learning satisfaction. The results show that the Cronbach’s α coefficient of the overall questionnaire is 0.930 and the KMO value is 0.873, indicating that the research data have good reliability and validity. Learning motivation, teaching model, learning ability, learning attitude, and learning environment have a significant positive effect on learning satisfaction. The average learning satisfaction of students not familiar with the use of mobile social media (3.70 ± 0.55) is significantly lower than that of students familiar with using mobile social media (4.00 ± 0.46). The research results of this paper provide data support and strategic reference for how to effectively use the fragmented content of mobile social media and provide high-quality online learning support services.

Application of Six Sigma Management-based Teaching Method in Financial Management Course Online Teaching

Driven by huge demand for talents in the market, economics major in colleges and universities need to take the initiative to reform the teaching of finance specialty in accordance with the demand for finance talents in the era of big data, cultivate versatile innovative competent talents, and output high-quality talents for social enterprises, satisfy enterprises’ needs of recruiting financial talents, and give full play to the social education value of university finance specialty. Financial management is the core of economic organization, and the management effectiveness affects the overall operational feasibility of the organization. In order to promote the high-quality development of the market economy, universities should devote greater effort to the teaching reform of financial management, enhance talent cultivation conversion efficiency, and give full play to the value of the financial specialty in colleges and universities. However, the existing course teaching can hardly achieve the expected goals due to insufficient monitoring of financial management teaching process, insufficient self-learning resources, and defective student learning support service, imperfect teacher's training, single assessment method, and small proportion of practical teaching, etc. In view of the current status, this paper innovatively introduced six sigma management theory to improve the online teaching of financial management courses. Firstly, the teaching process involving five stages of define-measure-analyze-improve-control was designed according to the course characteristics of financial management and at the same time, the financial management teaching model was improved by online and offline inquiry-based teaching method. In order to improve the application effectiveness of financial management online teaching resources, a precise teaching resource push system was established using Web data mining so as to achieve the goal of recommending different teaching resources to different students. It was proved by the teaching practice that the new teaching method proposed in this study can help students improve learning efficiency and enhance their problem-solving ability. Thus, this teaching model is worthy of application and promotion in courses of finance specialty.

Construction and Empirical Study of Learner Portrait in Online General Education Course

The problems of high course selection rate, low completion rate, and insufficient pertinence of learning support services in online general education courses are the focus of current general education researchers. Based on 3P (presage, process, and product) learning theory, we put forward a “three-stage, four-level” framework for learners’ portrait process of online general education course, including three learning stages of “presage process product” and four levels of “portrait goal, data collection, label analysis, and portrait service.” Then, taking the learners of the online general education course of Zhejiang Shuren College as an example, we make a case analysis based on the portrait framework, evaluate the learning effect from different stages, and put forward targeted teaching strategies and measures. Research results show that the proposed framework can reflect the characteristics of online learning experience, online learning investment, and online learning results of high-risk learners and can provide data support for the design of online learning support services and optimizing learning effects.

Optimal Strategies for Realizing the Value of Open University Learning Support Services in the “Internet+” Era

Learning support services are the core and key of the quality assurance system of distance education in open universities. How to provide learners with high-quality learning support services and realize the value of learning support services in the “Internet+” era is an urgent issue to be solved. Based on the analysis of the current deficiencies in the learning support services of open universities, combined with the advantages of the further integration of technology and education in the Internet era, this paper puts forward the path and countermeasures that can meet the learning needs of learners and provide them with standardized, individualized and diversified learning support services.

What participation types of learners are there in connectivist learning: an analysis of a cMOOC from the dual perspectives of social network and concept network characteristics

ABSTRACT Learners in connectivist learning are diverse. It’s necessary to make a clear understanding of learners’ participation types and characteristics for optimizing the learning support service and learning evaluation in connectivist learning. This study aims to describe different types of learners in connectivist learning from two dimensions of social network and concept network characteristics. We analyzed 10598 collected data output during a 12-week cMOOC “Internet Driven Education Reform: Dialogue between Theory and Practice” in China. Using social network analysis, Latent Dirichlet Allocation, the K-means cluster analysis and lag sequential analysis to identify different participation types, we found: 1) Five types of learners in cMOOCs were obtained, namely “connected creative learners”, “social learners”, “reflective learners”, “wandering learners”, “marginal learners”; 2) The outstanding learners of connected creative learners, social learners and reflective learners, are in the minority; 3) Most learner types are relatively stable, but there is a possibility of conversion between some different participation types. Based on the above conclusions, this study puts forward some suggestions on cMOOC design. This study gives insight into the characteristics of five types of learners in cMOOC, so that future designers and facilitators can understand, design and support more effective cMOOCs for learners.

Generation 1.5 Learners: Removing the Mask of Student Invisibility and Recognising the Learning Disconnections That Marred Their Academic Journeys

Distinctive cohorts of students revealing inherent problems in managing their learning are on-going concerns in all universities. Students identified as Generation 1.5 learners are an increasing phenomenon in Australian universities yet may be “invisible” or unknown to teaching staff. They are neither fully proficient in their first language nor in English which is typically their second language (L2). Characteristically possessing well-developed basic interpersonal communicative skills, they lack the cognitive academic learning proficiencies essential for tertiary success. This article reports on doctoral research into six Generation 1.5 undergraduates navigating one academic year in one Western Australian university. Key findings include their “invisibility” and how L2 learning “disconnections” marred their studies. Learning disconnections comprise discrepancies and disjunctions driven by the participants’ immigration experiences, their academic needs, and their lack of connection with the teaching methods and the university-provided learning support services. Greater awareness of the distinctive features of these learners may improve their academic outcomes.

The Availability of Learner Support Services in Selected Open, Distance and e-Learning Institutions

Learner support is regarded as a survival tool necessary for any student who chooses to learn in an Open, Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) institution. It is a necessary service and component of a student’s academic experience. Distance learning providers are, therefore, expected to sensitise students on the demands and challenges of distance learning formats so that they can acquire coping mechanisms as challenges arise. However, it has been noticed that, although many institutions provide several forms of learner support, they are sometimes inaccessible or minimally useful to the students. The purpose of this article is to investigate the extent of support services’ availability for students in ODeL institutions. It draws from a study that was carried out to evaluate learner support services rendered by ODeL institutions to first entrant undergraduate students. To collect data, a questionnaire was constructed to test variables (9 learner support indices) within the construct. It was uploaded into SurveyMonkey and sent to 272 undergraduate students in two selected universities. The results indicated that out of nine indices only four were positive. The following were negatively rated: counselling and mentorship, regional centres and library use, interaction and communication, skills training as well as student associations and representation. This indicates that students from both universities were dissatisfied with the availability of the mentioned support. There is thus a need for support services to be available not only to solve arising problems but as an assistive companion accompanying the students throughout their academic journey.

How do first-year students perceive learning support services in Chinese university libraries?

There are many studies on the learning support services of university libraries, but there are few on the first-year students’ perception of learning support services in Chinese university libraries. As a special user group, first-year students are in a transition period of learning modes and have special perceptions on learning support services of university library. Therefore, this study aims to explore the perception of first-year students on the learning support services of Chinese academic libraries, by adopting questionnaire survey method. Three hundred and fifty-two valid questionnaires were collected. Descriptive statistics are used to analyse numeric data. The results show that the information needs of first-year students in Chinese university libraries can be divided into two types. The university library can meet the information needs of first-year students through venue visits and welcoming activities for first-year students. At present, first-year students are satisfied with the service projects of university libraries in China, but the learning support services of university libraries still have some problems, such as weak publicity, lack of experience sense, and lack of rich form and content of service. This study provides support for librarians and managers in university libraries to develop strategies for improving first-year students’ satisfaction with learning support services.

Adoption of mobile social media for learning among Chinese older adults in senior citizen colleges.

Mobile social media are increasingly being used in education. They provide an effective way to address the imbalance between teaching supply and demand for older adults. However, few studies have investigated which factors contribute to older adults’ intention to use mobile social media for learning. This study uses a sequential explanatory mixed method to investigate the factors impacting older Chinese adults’ adoption of mobile social media for learning. Results of the quantitative phase indicated that Technology Anxiety (TA), Self-efficacy (SE), Previous Experience (PE), and Subjective Norm (SN) had significant effects on Perceived Usefulness (PU). TA, SE, PE, and Facilitating Conditions (FC) had significant effects on Perceived Ease of Use (PEU). PU and PEU are significant predictors of Behavioral Intention (BI), and PEU had a positive effect on PU. In the qualitative study, the significant effects of these extension factors on PU and/or PEU were investigated further. Perceptions and concerns about using mobile social media for learning were analyzed based on the participants’ interview data. On the basis of these results, recommendations are made to promote the use of mobile social media for learning by older adults. Specifically, teachers and colleges should: (a) select appropriate social media applications and set up relevant courses, and (b) supply inexpensive network service and high-quality learning support service. These research results have important implications for academic researchers, senior college managers, and teachers.

The impact of childhood injury and injury severity on school performance and high school completion in Australia: a matched population-based retrospective cohort study

BackgroundExploring the impact of injury and injury severity on academic outcomes could assist to identify characteristics of young people likely to require learning support services. This study aims to compare scholastic performance and high school completion of young people hospitalised for an injury compared to young people not hospitalised for an injury by injury severity; and to examine factors influencing scholastic performance and school completion.MethodA population-based matched case-comparison cohort study of young people aged ≤18 years hospitalised for an injury during 2005–2018 in New South Wales, Australia using linked birth, health, education and mortality records. The comparison cohort was matched on age, gender and residential postcode. Generalised linear mixed modelling examined risk of performance below the national minimum standard (NMS) on the National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and generalised linear regression examined risk of not completing high school for injured young people compared to matched peers.ResultsInjured young people had a higher risk of not achieving the NMS compared to their matched peers for numeracy (ARR: 1.12; 95%CI 1.06–1.17), reading (ARR: 1.09; 95%CI 1.04–1.13), spelling (ARR: 1.13; 95%CI 1.09–1.18), grammar (ARR: 1.11; 95%CI 1.06–1.15), and writing (ARR: 1.07; 95%CI 1.04–1.11). As injury severity increased from minor to serious, the risk of not achieving the NMS generally increased for injured young people compared to matched peers. Injured young people had almost twice the risk of not completing high school at year 10 (ARR: 2.17; 95%CI 1.73–2.72), year 11 (ARR: 1.95; 95%CI 1.78–2.14) or year 12 (ARR: 1.93; 95%CI 1.78–2.08) compared to matched peers.ConclusionsThe identification of characteristics of young people most likely to encounter problems in the academic environment after sustaining an injury is important to facilitate the potential need for learning support. Assessing learning needs and monitoring return-to-school progress post-injury may aid identification of any ongoing learning support requirements.

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Provision and Access to Library Support Services for Distance Learners in Ladoke Akintola University, Nigeria

The study examined the provision and access to library support services for distance learners in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of distance learners from LAUTECH. A random sampling technique was used to select 341 respondents as sample size of the study. Data was collected using an adapted questionnaire. Four research questions were answered by the study. A total of 341 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the respondents with a response rate of 86.2%. The findings of the study revealed that the majority (90.2%) of the respondents agreed that the library offered support services except for documentary, borrowing and internet services to distance learners. Also, the findings revealed that the level of accessibility of library support services was slightly above average. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the level of satisfaction by distance learners is low. The study revealed that geographical isolation, poor Internet connectivity, difficulty in borrowing library and others affecting the use of library services. The study concluded that the LAUTECH library provided library services but inadequate to DLs. Based on the findings; the study recommended among others that library management should extend borrowing of books.

INFLUENCE OF INSTITUTIONAL RELATED ON CHOICE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION

Purpose: no one technology can support all types of teaching and learning at a distance – the most effective approach is to combine a range of technologies. Using multiple technologies ensure that all learning styles are catered for and that significant opportunities for interaction between the learner and the tutor are provided. The general objective of the study was to institutional related on choice of technology for the development of instructional materials for distance education.
 Methodology: The paper used a desk study review methodology where relevant empirical literature was reviewed to identify main themes and to extract knowledge gaps.
 Findings: From the study findings, it is concluded that most of learner support services offered to distant learners were not good enough to support the learners effectively. Secondly, the students and the administrators were of the view that there were learner support services that were very vital to distant learners. Thirdly, the students and the administrators were of the general view and in agreement that the learner support services offered were necessary. However, since the students indicated that majority of the services on offer were poor across the institutions under the study, there is need to improve and make them better. Learning through experience influences the creation of new values which become attitudes that have a strong impact on teacher's behavior towards e-learning technology.
 Recommendations: The study recommends that is a need availability of ICT infrastructure, the absence of inadequacy of which will totally hamper the idea of e-learning adoption in universities. There should be provision of computers and high bandwidth to enable the easy flow of classes online. If the high ICT infrastructure for e-learning is unavailable, the sequential use of predecessor distance learning technologies from correspondence courses to radio, TV, CD-ROM, Internet and World Wide Web is recommended. Such a sequential use of predecessor distance learning technologies is poised to leverage the experience into a significant use of learning

INFLUENCE OF MOBILE PHONE ON ENHANCING LEARNER SUPPORT SERVICES FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

Purpose: Mobile technologies provide an affordable and easily accessible technology that lecturers can use effectively to assist students with their studies. The general objective of the study was to evaluate influence of mobile phone on enhancing learner support services for distance education programmes.
 Methodology: The paper used a desk study review methodology where relevant empirical literature was reviewed to identify main themes and to extract knowledge gaps.
 Findings: From the study findings,it was concluded that most students have a smartphone and have installed applications that enable them to access the internet, but they ended up using their phones for social network and not learning purposes. Despite the fact that the phones are able to check and send emails, majority of those interviewed preferred using the computer over the phone. Most students and lecturers did not communicate over the phone in case of clarity on a certain subject even the sending of results, missing marks and such. Most administrators sent SMS regarding important dates and venues to DE students but rarely and did not send results through SMS, do not send SMS on tutorial schedules and never sent SMS giving reminders about deadlines for submitting assignments to DE students
 Recommendations: The study recommended that there was a need for the universities and colleges not utilizing mobile phones should develop common email center that does not compromise privacy of the users. The service should be of high speed and able to support large data exchange. The universities should establish common social media network by registering on leading social network such as facebook or google+. The common social platform center should be administratively controlled to monitor the exchange of information for purposes of learning and support. The knowledge and scientific understanding accruing from this study should be considered by policy makers when laying down guidelines for learner support systems in distance education programmes

A hierarchical component model of students’ difficulties of learning mathematics in a distance higher education

The main purpose of the research was to explore the students’ difficulties in learning mathematics at a distance higher education. The method used was a survey of 304 students of the study program of S-1 PGSD in the Pontianak Regional office center of Universitas Terbuka (UPBJJ-UT Pontianak). The data analysis used a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to reveal the hierarchical component model of the students’ difficulties in learning mathematics at Universitas Terbuka. The research confirmed that the difficulties in learning mathematics were reflected by five latent variables as indicated by path coefficients and level of significance: (1) the nature of mathematics, (2) the characteristics of distance learning, (3) learning material, (4) learning support services, and (5) motivation. The recommendation was that to facilitate the students’ learning mathematics, an institution of distance higher education should be focused on resolving the difficulties perceived by the students, such as students’ mathematical background, self-directed learning skills, and skill for learning through media.

Studies Suspension Prevention System of Distance University using Analysis of Learning Activity and Learner’s Big Data

Due to the increase in withdrawals and temporary absences of students from changes in the external environment, distance learning universities are trying to establish various policies and increase the number of enrolled students, and at the same time, are trying to establish various policies and efforts to increase the enrollment. However, it is difficult to systematically diagnose the main cause of the interruption of students, and prior research efforts related to the problem of student suspension in distance learning universities have accumulated, since there are various reasons for the student suspensions. In the proposed distance university Studies Suspension Prevention System (SSPS), distance university students can use two types of learning analytics services. In order to analyze learning activities, we propose the asynchronous learning activity analysis module, and the synchronous learning activity analysis module. In the asynchronous analysis module and symchronous analysis module, quiz, LINE group chatting & discussion forum communication, and online lecture has a learning state score according to the lecturer’s directions. Learning activities in the learning management system have three kinds of learning states, passive activity state, negative activity state, and medium activity state. Learning activity states are used to predict the student learning state. In the proposed Student Support System, there are two types of learning support services connected to the smart learning portal server. One is the intelligent distance university chatbot service for personalized chatting and caring services. The other is push message services for alarm, warning, notices, and alerts, such as dashboard service.

Online Learning Support Service System Architecture Based on Location Service Architecture

With the development of network, location-based service architecture is gradually applied to the learning support service system. The purpose of this study is to develop an online learning support system using allocation information service architecture. In this study, the 2019 year of this study was selected as a research material through an online learning support service system within six months. The system architecture of this study is the Browser/Server architecture. Based on this, we analyze the learning result data using the weight setting of the feature attribute and the learning evaluation algorithm. The results show that the improved algorithm based on location-based service architecture can get the best algorithm accuracy when the weight of the whole algorithm is about α = 0.4. For the degree of demand for learning guidance, 16.2% thought it was absolutely necessary and 50.7% thought it was more necessary. And 70.6% of the learners thought that the learning system was not very accurate or generally accurate. It is concluded that the learning support service system of this study has a certain role. It provides a new path to improve the quality of online education learning support service and promotes the development of online education.

Examining Gender Differences in Student Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Model from the Switching Costs and Quality-Related Perspectives

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study is to address the research questions on: (1) what factors can significantly influence student learning in remote classes during the COVID-19 pandemic? and (2) what are the gender differences, if any, in this context? To do this, the authors developed a research model from the switching costs (defined as the time and effort students have been put to change from one learning platform to another) and quality-related perspectives. In addition, gender differences are examined and identified by testing the proposed research model on male and female students, respectively. Background: The recent worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 has changed many aspects of people’s lives, including higher education. To better protect students and faculty, many universities have moved most of their classes online. Such a sudden change could make significant impacts on student learning. Thus, this study aims to empirically examine factors that can influence student learning in remote classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to investigate potential gender differences in such a context. Methodology: The survey method is used in this study. The survey invitation was sent to students in multiple classes that had switched from in-person learning to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was distributed in the online format. In total, 428 students completed the survey, with 202 being males and 226 being females. Contribution: This study contributes to the current literature on student learning during emergency situations such as COVID-19 by developing a research model to systematically investigate potential factors that could influence their perceptions of academic performance and learning enjoyment. A second contribution is the integration of theoretical perspectives of switching costs and three types of quality-related constructs in the proposed research model. In addition, the authors also investigate gender differences based on the proposed research model, and some interesting differences have been found and reported in this study. Findings: Data analysis indicates that perceived value has a significant impact on perceived academic performance for female but not male students. In addition, male students find information quality to be a significant factor in perceived academic performance, but not perceived learning enjoyment; on the contrary, their female counterparts find it to be significant in influencing perceived learning enjoyment, but not perceived academic performance. Also, female students perceive system quality to be influential on their learning enjoyment and support service quality to be influential on their academic performance, but no such significant perceptions are found among male students. Recommendations for Practitioners: The results of this study could help bring some insights to educators on teaching remote classes during the COVID-19 pandemic (or potentially in other similar emergency situations). For example, when moving classes to the remote platform because of an emergency situation, in order to make sure a smooth transition and achieve a higher rate of student learning success, educators, as well as the institution, need to focus on reducing the costs and, in the meanwhile, increasing the benefits associated with such a change from the students’ perspective. In addition, educators may need to keep in mind the gender differences identified in this study, which may help them better understand the learning needs of different gender groups. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers could validate and apply the proposed research model on students from different types of institutions (such as public universities vs. private universities) and students at different levels (such as undergraduate vs. graduate students). It could also be valuable to apply and extend the current model on students from other nations who have different cultural backgrounds. Impact on Society: Understanding influential factors on student learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as gender differences in this context, could help educators better adjust their teaching of remote classes in such an emergency situation, thus meeting the learning needs of students in both gender groups. Future Research: Future research could further validate the research model proposed in this study by applying it to students in other institutions and other nations. Also, in addition to perceived academic performance and learning enjoyment, future research may expand the current model or create new models on other student learning-related dependent variables.

Research on the Characteristics and Evaluation of Distance Teachers’ Education and Teaching

Radio and Television University is different from ordinary universities in its multi-educational characteristics. It has a distance and open teaching mode, a wide range of complex teaching objects and a teaching management team with profession. The teaching, teaching management and scientific research of TV university teachers are closely centered on the construction of learning resources with learners as the main body, and pay attention to learning support service, evaluation and management research. The teachers of TV university must have a broad subject background, solid education and teaching ability, a certain academic level, strong management and coordination ability and great information literacy, which requires the establishment of appropriate teacher evaluation methods.