Web-based Learning System Research Articles

An Interactive Web-based Learning System for Assisting Machining Technology Education

An Interactive Web-based Learning System for Assisting Machining Technology Education

Impact of Motivation on Intentions in Online Learning: Canada vs China

Introduction It is widely accepted today that the impact of Internet technologies is significant on every aspect of people's life. This impact is felt in the ever increasing pace of transformation of the higher education sector, while more and more institutions are using the internet and web technologies in the classroom as part of the learning environment (Piccoli, Ahmad, & Ives, 2001). The advantages of internet-based learning mediums have been widely reported, recognized and accepted. Research suggests that technology-mediated learning environments allow for more study flexibility and broader accessibility (Lee, Cheung, & Chen,, 2005), may improve students' performance (Alavi, 1994) and corresponding evaluation of their learning experiences (Hiltz, 1995), and lead to higher computer self-efficacy (Piccoli et al., 2001). In addition, it provides benefits to academic institutions in terms of cost reductions and increased revenues (Saade & Bahli, 2005) and has the potential of making learning more student-centered (Cardler, 1997). In general, like any information systems, user acceptance and usage are important primary measures of system success (DeLone & McLean, 1992). Without consideration of student involvement and participation, even the best developed system cannot be successful (Catchpole, 1993). Moreover, a successful web-based learning system should be widely adopted with active participation from students. It is therefore important to identify, study and better understand the variables that influence learning in virtual environments and which lead to significant impact on student satisfaction, performance and adoption. Considering the literature in the past decade, the technology acceptance model (TAM), which is an adaptation of theory of reasoned action (TRA), seems to be dominant in the IS literature on explaining individuals' IT usage behavior (Lee et al., 2005; Straub, Keil, & Brenner,, 1997; Taylor & Todd, 1995). The application of TAM has targeted mostly in the use of commercial software, and recently the use of the internet/web. Very few studies however, applied the TAM to the online learning context in higher education. Moreover, the viability of TAM to explain individuals' acceptance behavior under the online learning context has been statistically confirmed in a recent study (Saade, Nebebe, & Tan, 2007). Literature on TAM studies show that there is a dominant emphasis (of TAM) on notions of instrumentality, focusing mainly on functional or extrinsic motivational drivers (Agarwal & Karahanna, 2000). In the context of student acceptance of web-based learning system (WLS), we believe intrinsic motivators representing a student's subjective feelings of joy, elation, pleasure, and positive holistic experience also play a critical role in explaining user acceptance and usage behavior of WLS. Researchers suggest that extrinsic and intrinsic motivators jointly determine the adoption of new technologies. Therefore, in this study, we postulate that incorporating both extrinsic (represented by perceived usefulness in TAM) and intrinsic motivation into TAM may enhance the explanation and prediction of student acceptance of WLS. Furthermore, although many studies have examined user acceptance towards new technologies, most of them were conducted in developed countries using Western subjects, and thus on the whole may not be reflective of the adoption process in different cultural environments (Anandarajana, Igbaria, & Anakwe, 2002; Straub et al., 1997). Relatively few TAM research studies have been done in Asian, Middle Eastern, and African countries and found none that were in the context on web-based learning. There are however some studies reported in the Informing Science Institute Conferences on experiences in online learning in Arab and Chinese countries, but these studies were descriptive in nature and reporting on process alone. …

Learning Performance Assessment Approach Using Web-Based Learning Portfolios for E-learning Systems

Learning performance assessment using learning portfolios or Web log data is essential in the Web-based learning field, owing to the rapid growth of e-learning systems globally and lack of assisted authoring tools for Web-based learning performance assessment. The traditional summative evaluation by performing examinations or feedback forms can be employed to evaluate the learning performance for both traditional classroom learning and Web-based learning environments. However, summative evaluation only considers final learning outcomes without considering learning processes of learners. This means that the interactively controlled learning based on the immediate feedback of learning performance cannot be performed in a Web-based learning system. Based on the reasons mentioned earlier, this study presents a data-mining-based learning performance assessment scheme by combining four computational intelligence theories, i.e., gray relational analysis (GRA), K-means clustering scheme, fuzzy association rule mining, and fuzzy inference, in order to identify the learning performance assessment rules using the gathered Web-based learning portfolios of an individual learner. Experimental results indicated that the evaluation results of the proposed scheme are very close to those of summative assessment results. In other words, this scheme can help teachers assess the learning performance of the individual learner precisely utilizing only the learning portfolios in a Web-based learning environment. Therefore, teachers can devote themselves to teaching and designing courseware since they save a lot of time in evaluating learning performance. More significantly, teachers could understand the factors influencing learning performance in a Web-based learning environment according to the obtained interpretable learning performance assessment rules. Besides, teachers can also tune teaching strategies for learners with various learning performances. This result also provides useful information to Web-based learning systems to perform personalized learning mechanisms for individual learners.

Intelligent web-based learning system with personalized learning path guidance

Personalized curriculum sequencing is an important research issue for web-based learning systems because no fixed learning paths will be appropriate for all learners. Therefore, many researchers focused on developing e-learning systems with personalized learning mechanisms to assist on-line web-based learning and adaptively provide learning paths in order to promote the learning performance of individual learners. However, most personalized e-learning systems usually neglect to consider if learner ability and the difficulty level of the recommended courseware are matched to each other while performing personalized learning services. Moreover, the problem of concept continuity of learning paths also needs to be considered while implementing personalized curriculum sequencing because smooth learning paths enhance the linked strength between learning concepts. Generally, inappropriate courseware leads to learner cognitive overload or disorientation during learning processes, thus reducing learning performance. Therefore, compared to the freely browsing learning mode without any personalized learning path guidance used in most web-based learning systems, this paper assesses whether the proposed genetic-based personalized e-learning system, which can generate appropriate learning paths according to the incorrect testing responses of an individual learner in a pre-test, provides benefits in terms of learning performance promotion while learning. Based on the results of pre-test, the proposed genetic-based personalized e-learning system can conduct personalized curriculum sequencing through simultaneously considering courseware difficulty level and the concept continuity of learning paths to support web-based learning. Experimental results indicated that applying the proposed genetic-based personalized e-learning system for web-based learning is superior to the freely browsing learning mode because of high quality and concise learning path for individual learners.

Supporting Learners' Appropriation of a Web-Based Learning Curriculum

This article presents an approach and tools that can help learners appropriate a Web-based learning curriculum and become active participants in their learning. The approach is based on a detailed modeling of the curriculum and intends to equip the learners with different computer-based tools facilitating a multiple point of view perception of the curriculum, while promoting self evaluation and self regulation of the learners’ curriculum performance. The proposed architecture is generic and can be used in the context of an already existing Web-based learning system. We define what we call “appropriation,” describe our approach, present different tools that have been implemented, and present the findings from the first experiments.

Personalized mobile English vocabulary learning system based on item response theory and learning memory cycle

Since learning English is very popular in non-English speaking countries, developing modern assisted-learning tools that support effective English learning is a critical issue in the English-language education field. Learning English involves memorization and practice of a large number of vocabulary words and numerous grammatical structures. Vocabulary learning is a principal issue for English learning because vocabulary comprises the basic building blocks of English sentences. Therefore, many studies have attempted to improve the efficiency and performance when learning English vocabulary. With the accelerated growth in wireless and mobile technologies, mobile learning using mobile devices such as PDAs, tablet PCs, and cell phones has gradually become considered effective because it inherits all the advantages of e-learning and overcomes limitations of learning time and space that limit web-based learning systems. Therefore, this study presents a personalized mobile English vocabulary learning system based on Item Response Theory and learning memory cycle, which recommends appropriate English vocabulary for learning according to individual learner vocabulary ability and memory cycle. The proposed system has been successfully implemented on personal digital assistant (PDA) for personalized English vocabulary learning. The experimental results indicated that the proposed system could obviously promote the learning performances and interests of learners due to effective and flexible learning mode for English vocabulary learning.

An enhanced genetic approach to optimizing auto-reply accuracy of an e-learning system

With the rapid development in Information Technology (IT), the Internet has become one of the central media for conducting learning. However, most of the existing web-based learning systems only provide stand-alone subject materials for browsing and may face some drawbacks. For example, if students encounter problems during the learning process, their learning performances could be significantly devastated due to no instant aid. As an on-line learning system may interact with thousands of students, it is almost impossible for the teachers or the teaching assistants to answer all the students’ questions manually, which is not only inefficient, but also human laborious. To cope with this problem, an e-learning system that is able to automatically answer the students’ questions on the fly based on the training cases given by the teacher will be presented in this paper. Moreover, an enhanced genetic approach is proposed to optimize the weights of keywords for each candidate answer according to the feedbacks provided by the students, hence more accurate answers can be provided in the future. Experimental results have shown that the developed system can provide more accurate answerers than existing approaches by employing the self-adjusting method.

An intelligent e-learning system based on learner profiling and learning resources adaptation

Taking advantage of the continuously improving, web-based learning systems plays an important role for self-learning, especially in the case of working people. Nevertheless, learning systems do not generally adapt to learners’ profiles. Learners have to spend a lot of time before reaching the learning goal that is compatible with their knowledge background. To overcome such difficulties, an e-learning schema is introduced that adapts to the learners’ ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) knowledge level. The IEEE Reference Model (WG 1) defined by the Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSA) is extended and used for this purpose. The proposed approach is based on the usage of electronic questionnaires (e-questionnaires) designed by a group of experts. Through the automatic analysis of the learners’ responses to the questionnaires, all learners are assigned to different learner profiles. According to these profiles they are served with learning material that best matches their educational needs. We have implemented our approach in five European countries and the overall case study illustrates very promising results.

Using adaptive e-news to improve undergraduate programming courses with hybrid format

With the growing popularity of computers and the Internet, most teachers are taking advantage of Internet functions to assist in both teaching and student learning. However, students only login to the assisted learning system once or twice a week on average to surf for relevant references, participate in discussions, or hand in assignments, even though information and interaction are greatly enhanced by these online services. Therefore, increasing the transfer rate of useful information and interaction during the course period would help students learn. To this end, we designed an e-news delivery system that sends personalized e-mails to every student’s mailbox to make information access and peer interaction more convenient and efficient. Through the daily habit of using e-mail, students can receive the latest information, new instructions or peer discussions early. To encourage usage of the system, a user friendly interface was designed. The e-news system takes advantage of webpage hyperlinks to allow students to click on interesting topics while reading e-news; doing so will cause another window to pop-up with detailed content retrieved from the web-based learning system. A mouse-click allows students to login to the web-based learning system and extract the details of the chosen topic. To enhance the efficiency of e-news, learners’ needs and interests were taken into consideration when forming the e-news content. Students’ learning status and reading preferences are assessed to determine which information or content to include in the e-news. Experiment results reveal that e-news and personalized information greatly promote the reading of new information and participation in online activities.

Evaluation of alternate multimedia for web-based asynchronous learning

Choosing the appropriate multimedia for the learning modules or systems is critical to designing an efficient web-based asynchronous learning systems or modules. In response to this need, a study was conducted to gauge the effectiveness of different multimedia combinations, namely: text; audio and synchronized text; audio, video and synchronized text, for procedural-based tasks to support web-based learning for a senior-level Production, Planning and Control Course. Data were collected on performance, process and subjective measures. Analyses of these learning systems throw new light on the effectiveness of the different multimedia combinations to improve web-based learning of procedural tasks. The most salient finding of the study is that user performance is dependent on the type of multimedia combination and the type of learning task in terms of complexity. Interestingly, for low difficulty procedural tasks, the choice of multimedia is not critical for either performance or process efficiency. However, when the procedural tasks are complex, a combination of audio, video and synchronized text yields the best results both in terms of learning performance and process efficiency measured in terms of amount of time spent viewing the modules and the module accessing frequency. Another important finding is that an easy-to-use system does not imply an efficient learning system. The study helps recommend design guidelines for the most appropriate type of multimedia to be used in designing web-based asynchronous learning systems for different levels of procedural tasks. Relevance to industry This paper evaluates the usefulness of various multimedia for web-based asynchronous learning for a specific Industrial Engineering course. The results of this research could be further expanded to develop distance-learning programs for both educational and industry training programs.

Feedback adaptation in web-based learning systems

Feedback provided by a learning system to its users plays an important role in web-based education. This paper presents an overview of feedback studies and then concentrates on the problem of feedback adaptation in web-based learning systems. We introduce our taxonomy of feedback concept with regard to its functions, complexity, intention, time of occurrence, way of presentation, and level and way of its adaptation. We consider what can be adapted in feedback and how to facilitate feedback adaptation in web-based learning systems.

インタラクティブな機械工学実験（振動実験）の試み

Experiments in the engineering education play important roles in motivating students to study voluntarily. A trial aiming to enhance this effect in the experiment of vibration at Mechanical System Engineering, Kumamoto University is introduced. The trial consists of 1) oral presentation by students, 2) web-based learning system and 3) feedback through reports. An evaluation by questionnaire was conducted to show the validity of this trial. This result revealed that the trial succeeded to encourage students.

An effective tool for e-commerce teaching and learning

This paper addresses the development trends of the demand on E-Commerce (EC) talents in China; as well it introduces the general teaching styles of EC education with three cases. By proposing a set of approaches for evaluating the students' performance on EC teaching and learning, this paper elaborates a scheme of a web-based EC teaching and learning system; in addition, a formal evaluation of these approaches has been carried out and indicated that this set of approaches and the system are very helpful for the students. Therefore, the authors propose that this evaluation approaches based learning system is an ideal pedagogical tool for the teaching of EC.

AN ADAPTIVE WEB-BASED LEARNING SYSTEM FOR THE SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF WATER CYCLE IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

The objective of this study is to develop an adaptive web-based learning system for the scientific concepts of water cycle in primary schools. The system is implemented on a SCORM-based platform, which is accessible through wireless networks for the application of mobile learning. The theory behind its operation is based on constructivism. The system uses diagnostic tools to find out the misconceptions of students by two-tiered test items. Adaptive learning modules were developed by rule-based inference engine to provide remedial instructions for students according to their misconceptions. An experiment was conducted to analyze the learning effects of students and the conceptual changes during their learning processes, and the results can be used to improve the design of system and its learning contents.

Collaborate to Learn, Learn to Collaborate: Examining the Roles of Context, Community, and Cognition in Asynchronous Discussion

This study explored how asynchronous discussion supported by a Web-based learning system facilitated collaborative learning. The participants in this study consisted of the instructor, facilitators, and the students in a master's level course at a university in the south. Different sources of evidence were used in the study (individual/group interviews, and discussion board transcripts), and various methods were used to analyze the data (inductive analysis and discourse analysis). Three main categories with multiple themes emerged from the data as important for facilitating collaborative learning in online environments: context (i.e., structural support, active participation), community (i.e., a formation of membership, generation of social dialogue), and cognition (i.e., a social process of learning, communal facilitation). Implications for research and practice are described at the conclusion of the article.

Evaluation of Inspection Ability Promotion for Learning Mechanical Product Web-based Inspection Course in CAD Education

AbstractThis study evaluates students’ learning effects in an experiment instruction of a mechanical product web-based inspection course this year. This study is extension of a research project launched two years earlier. The purposes of this study are to: (1) verify the use of online study system related to course achievement, (2) promote the inspection ability of students, (3) identify characteristics of online study system and construct a standard web-based learning platform. Furthermore, the system will integrate teaching and practical skills into overall new learning field by virtual reality and interactive technologies.Through pre-test, achievement test, and post-test, the learning efficient value is about 0.80 and students’ satisfactory degree is about 0.85 after statistical test to this web-based learning system. In conclusion, the mechanical product web-based learning inspection course will promote the ability of inspection for learners, and the system is available and improvement for learning in...

A model for a web-based learning system

The dissemination of knowledge is currently being improved by e-learning, which consists of a combination of teaching methodologies and computer-based tools. Recently e-learning environments have started to exploit web technology to provide a simple, flexible, distributed and open platform. In this paper we propose a model for an e-learning system, aiming at sharing both course contents and teaching materials, in order to provide students with a single and uniform set of concepts to be learned, and promoting active learning by allowing the construction of courses which are personalized in terms of both contents and teaching materials, selected according to each student's needs and capabilities. A first, open-source prototype based on the proposed model has been implemented to validate the model.

ERP training with a web-based electronic learning system: The flow theory perspective

Whilst the importance of end-user training is recognized as a factor in the success of information systems, companies have suffered from relatively low information system training budgets and an insufficient number of trainers. However, technological innovations in computers, telecommunications and the Internet, e-learning has made it possible to overcome many constraints. In this study, we suggest an e-learning success model based on flow theory. A questionnaire-based empirical study was used to test the model. It used data from e-learners who participated in a program on Enterprise Resource Planning training with a web-based e-learning system supported by the Korea Ministry of Information and Communication. Results confirm the significant interdependent relationships between the characteristics of e-learning, flow experience, learners’ attitude towards e-learning, and the resulting learning outcomes. In particular, it was revealed that flow experience plays a critical role as a central part of our research model, having direct and indirect impact on learning outcomes (i.e., the technology self-efficacy in ERP system usage in this study). This study should be of relevance to both researchers and practitioners alike, as a step towards a better understanding of e-learning, especially in the context of information system training.

Users’ attitudes toward Web-based collaborative learning systems for knowledge management

The Web-based technology is a potential tool for supported collaborative learning that may enrich learning performance, such as individual knowledge construction or group knowledge sharing. Thus, understanding Web-based collaborative learning for knowledge management is a critical issue. The present study is to investigate learners’ attitudes toward Web-based collaborative learning systems. Based on this research, the results of factor analysis show that five attitude factors (system functions, system satisfaction, collaborative activities, learners’ characteristics, and system acceptance) should be examined at the same time when building a Web-based collaborative learning system. The results also provide an acceptance model for understanding users’ behavioral intention of facilitating Web-based collaborative systems.

QoS Adaptation in Multimedia Multicast Conference Applications for E-Learning Services

The evolution of the World Wide Web service has incorporated new distributed multimedia conference applications, powering a new generation of e-learning development and allowing improved interactivity and prohuman relations. Groupware applications are increasingly representative in the Internet home applications market, however, the Quality of Service (QoS) provided by the network is still a limitation impairing their performance. Such applications have found, in multicast technology, an ally contributing for their efficient implementation and scalability. Additionally, considering QoS as a design goal at the application level becomes crucial for groupware development, enabling QoS productivity to applications. The applications’ ability to adapt themselves dynamically according to the resources availability can be considered a quality factor. Tolerant real-time applications, such as video conferences, are in the frontline to benefit from QoS adaptation. However, not all include adaptive technology able to provide both end-system and network quality awareness. Adaptation, in these cases, can be achieved by introducing a multiplatform middleware layer responsible for tutoring the applications’ resources (enabling adjudication or limitation) based on the available processing and networking capabilities. Congregating these technological contributions, an adaptive platform has been developed integrating public domain multicast tools, applied to a Web-based distance learning system. The system is user-centered (e-student), aiming at good pedagogical practices and proactive usability for multimedia and network resources. The services provided, including QoS adapted interactive multimedia multicast conferences (MMC), are fully integrated and transparent to end-users. QoS adaptation, when treated systematically in tolerant real-time applications, denotes advantages in group scalability and QoS sustainability in heterogeneous and unpredictable environments such as the Internet.