bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring health science learner experiences of formative and summative feedback in a networked environment through ePortfolios
Authors: Peacock Susi , Murray Sue , Scott Alison
Published: October 2024

For health sciences students who learn in challenging clinical environments, appropriate, timely and focused feedback is essential if they are to progress towards the goal of becoming self-regulated professionals and independent life-long learners. ePortfolios are an emerging technology which is gradually being integrated into the curriculum offering tools that can be used by learners to capture collate and reflect on feedback gathered over time from a number of sources. Although feedback is accepted as central to the learning process this area is still under-researched with even less available on how learners respond to feedback provided in the online networked environment. This paper presents the outcomes of a mini-project which explored health science learners' experiences of receiving feedback through an ePortfolio. A collective case study approach facilitated an in-depth perspective of learners' experiences: subject-based focus groups from radiography, physiotherapy and nursing enabled access to the learners' views and attitudes with regards to feedback in general and particularly through an ePortfolio. Although small scale, this study has enabled a rich picture of learner attitudes and preferences with regards to feedback to be developed, as well as assisting in aiding understanding of the impact of using such a tool for these particular learner groups. Our findings demonstrate that students perceive feedback to be a communication mechanism between tutors and students which specifically assists learning and understanding as well as confirming level of attainment and clarification of grade. In particular, learners liked the immediacy, accessibility and permanence of the feedback in the ePortfolio. Having the feedback and assignment in the same location was considered an advantage, as was having digital notification of when the feedback was available. However, despite these benefits learners still wanted the option of face-to-face feedback in addition to the written feedback available through the ePortfolio. A number of technical issues related to internet access were also identified which limited engagement with the ePortfolio. Guidelines are provided to assist tutors in using the ePortfolio as a tool to support learner engagement. It is suggested that tutors develop an assessment dialogue with learners which clarifies the purpose of feedback and expectations of student engagement with feedback. The ePortfolio could be used as a tool to facilitate this dialogue and for health science students particularly to assist them with reflecting on the challenging experiences of clinical placements.
A class-room with a "view"
Authors: Raffaghelli Juliana E. , Richieri Cristina
Published: October 2024

Can the net become a place suitable for promoting intercultural education? Which elements are crucial to achieve this goal? There is strong agreement on the fact that the Internet represents a metaphor for a place or environment that has social significance in identity building processes (Turkle, 1996), as well as being a cultural environment promoting virtual citizenship and virtual communities (Rheingold, 1993) which, in time, can become formal learning communities capable of generating effective learning (Palloff & Pratt, 1999; Rovai, 2002b). Lately, some attention has been paid to the design of an interculturally sensitive virtual learning place, which can promote further intercultural learning (Rollin & Harrap, 2005; Bélisle, 2007; Rutheford & Kerr, 2008). The participated construction of a virtual working/learning space (VWLS) aimed at supporting a project of international cooperation on intercultural education among Turkey, Slovenia and Italy is described in this article. A case study is presented as a springboard for the discussion of net-based strategies to be included within an intercultural approach to education. The project was set up with the aim of showing how a VWLS can give support to dimensions that are the kernel of intercultural education, from the motivation to share one's own cultural identity (constituted by symbols, icons, music, etc.), to collaboration across frontiers. Furthermore, a possible new concept of intercultural education is presented, as the current idea of it needs to be redefined on the basis of the growing networked learning phenomenon. If VWLS becomes meaningful, it will expose participants to an enlarged cultural context, different to but also comprehensive of their own original context. The process of making sense of what is new could impact on a new dimension of intercultural learning which takes place on the net, a place where there are no frontiers and reality is virtual.
Validation of a (peer) feedback perceptions questionnaire
Authors: Strijbos Jan-Willem , Pat-El Ron J. , Narciss Susanne
Published: October 2024

A core educational goal is to produce self-directed lifelong learners who have acquired or are able to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for their future professional workplace in a networked world. Constructivist and socio-constructivist theories of learning and instruction recommend using collaborative learning scenarios in all kinds of educational contexts in order to attain this goal. Thus, (networked) collaborative learning receives increasing attention in Higher and Further Education. To empower students as self-regulated and collaborative learners peer assessment and peer feedback are increasingly applied in both networked and face-to-face collaborative learning environments. Thus, the conditions under which peer feedback is beneficial for students' learning are worth to be investigated in detail. While the efficiency of feedback content has received much attention in prior feedback research, students' feedback perceptions have been hardly studied. In addition, students' emotional state can mediate the impact of (peer) feedback on their performance. Yet, each kind of feedback has to be perceived and processed in a mindful way, that is, attended to, understood and interpreted, and finally transformed into a corrective action by the student before it can influence subsequent learning. Since up to now the issue of feedback perception has been a neglected area of feedback research, instruments for measuring feedback perceptions are lacking. The purpose of this paper is thus to describe the development and the structural validation of a feedback perception questionnaire which measures students' feedback perceptions in terms of fairness (FA), usefulness (US), acceptance (AC), willingness to improve (WI) and affect (AF). The sample consists of 1535 secondary education students. They received a scenario in which a fictional student received fictional peer feedback on a writing assignment and this feedback was Concise General (CGF) or Elaborated Specific (ESF). The students' were asked to rate their perception of the feedback as if they had received the feedback themselves. The analyses confirm the structural validity of the five scales. FA, US and AC constitute the joined second order component ‘Perceived Adequacy of Feedback' (PAF), which in turn positively predicts willingness to improve (WI) and affect (AF). The scale reliabilities were good to excellent.
Getting to know you, getting to know all about you
Authors: Thomas Hilary
Published: October 2024

The use of multimedia increasingly allows us to simulate experiences online that are closer to those we have face-to-face, but text remains a dominant and technically straightforward simple format for online communication, especially within the context of creative writing courses. But how do we relate to each other through text? What is the effect of communicating this way? How are our impressions of each other formed?In this paper I identify some of the factors which influence how we make our interpretations of each other through text- based communication; and explore the way that participants come to feel about each other within an online creative writing course, where working together with peers is an integral part of the course design.Set at the early stages of my research, this paper is the result of a small exploratory project designed to identify key avenues for inquiry. The snapshot produced from responses in five interviews highlighted three key points:
(1) Participants speculate about what they do not know about each other; extrapolate from clues in the content and style of each others' writing both consciously and unconsciously; and project into gaps in information in ways that sometimes reveal more about themselves than bear relation to their co-participants.(2) An underpinning objectivist epistemology that holds there to be an external and true reality may serve to colour participants' experiences when they do not have access to the cues with which they are familiar. This may lead to them doubting the ‘accuracy' of their interpretations of one another though the text they read online and in turn may contribute to feelings of uncertainty.(3) Consideration needs to be given to the way that interviews are used to gather this type of data, with attention being given to enabling participants to articulate their feelings. This includes taking account of interview medium, pre-existing relationships and the difficulty in finding language to articulate what is felt.
I present more questions than answers, but suggest that further inquiry should focus not so much on individual participants and the internal worlds they project, but on pursuing an interactional model that can provide ‘a robust framework for analysing intersubjectivity' (Hutchby, 2001). Some of this inquiry may draw from the practices and theorising about creative writing, and I suggest that in turn understanding may contribute to ideas about creative writing course design.
Online group work patterns
Authors: Tinoca Luís , Oliveira Isolina , Pereira Alda
Published: October 2024

Participation is a complex process, engaging the whole person, implying cognitive, emotional and relational aspects (Wenger, 1998). In online open and distant learning, group work is a commonly used strategy, given its collaborative nature and constructivist framework (Bates & Poole, 2003; Garrison & Anderson, 2003; Jonassen, 2005). In this context, collaborative learning processes are highly dependent on the shared written information and the interactions that are established among the participants. The types of interactions that occur within such groups are often decisive for its success.
The present research was developed in the context of a Curricular Unit that is part of the degree plans for the Master in E-learning Pedagogies and the Master in Educational and Multimedia Communication at the Universidade Aberta, where a new pedagogical model for online education has been implemented since 2007.
Two main research questions were asked: What are the interaction patterns that characterize successful groups? What types of constraints prevent some participants from fully engagement on the group work? To answer these questions, after the course was finished, two particular groups were identified (one characterized has very successful in their final product and one has less successful), after that, each of the group´s online discussion forums was coded and submitted to content analysis.
Data analysis involved iterative analysis and revision of the coding scheme (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). Two of the researchers derived the initial coding key from the online discussion forums used during the group project phase of the Curricular Unit. Some of the codes were quantified in order to foster a more meaningful comparison of the data by allowing patterns to be identified and further explored (McConnell, 2006).
This type of assessment was welcomed by the students and effectively implemented by all the groups but one. Nevertheless, the interpretation made by each group of what should be valued and how it should be operationalized varied significantly. Even though the groups seemed to follow similar stages throughout their project development, distinct interaction patterns emerged between more and less successful groups. This raised issues of equity and validity of the suggested method, as well as about the best strategies to foster productive online collaborative learning environments in general, and about the role of the instructor in particular.
Symposium 7: Designing Collaborative Learning Sessions that Promote Creative Problem Solving Using Design Patterns
Authors: Retalis Symeon , Katsamani Mary , Georgiakakis Petros , Lazakidou Georgia , Petropoulou Ourania , Kargidis Theodoros
Published: October 2024

Solving problems is considered as a very important learning activity in formal educational settings concerning all grades of education from primary to tertiary education. Students’ engagement in problem solving activities helps them to acquire not only knowledge and skills on a subject domain but also useful attitudes such as thinking, flexibility, creativity, and productivity which are very important to real life. As a result numerous problem solving models and creativity techniques, mostly collaborative ones, have been proposed for aiding students solve problems. These models specify the steps of a systematic process of solution-building for a given problem description. One main open research question is “how can students learn how to apply a problem solving model”? Research has demonstrated the potential of collaborative learning sessions for enhancing young children's cognitive development and learning. The scope of this paper is to show how collaborative learning flow patterns (CLFP) can help teachers to design effective interactive learning scenarios based on well defined strategies such as Jigsaw, TPS and others that can help students learn apply problem solving models and at the same time acquire higher-order thinking skills. It is argued that CLFPs are a designer friendly way to portray the coordination and the sequencing of tasks during the learning process as well as the rationale behind them. We will present a CLFP of a collaborative problem solving strategy called e-ARMA in an attempt to explain the added value of the use of CLFPs for designing learning sessions that foster the acquisition of creative problem solving skills.
Symposium 7: Recurrent routines in the classroom madness: pushing patterns past the design phase
Authors: Prieto Luis Pablo , Villagrá-Sobrino Sara , Dimitriadis Yannis , Jorrín-Abellán Iván M. , Martínez-Monés Alejandra , Anguita-Martínez Rocío
Published: October 2024

The notion of pedagogical patterns has proved very useful in the field of learning design, especially with regard to activities for complex educational scenarios, such as computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). However, CSCL designs (pattern-based or not) also have to be enacted by teachers, and very often ambiguities, difficulties and deviations arise in this enactment. This paper reports recent experiences in an authentic primary school setting, aimed to study teachers who are not technology experts, designing, enacting and even improvising with a CSCL tool. This study uncovered a set of recurrent routines in the design of activity scripts (which we could see as implicit design patterns), as well as a limited set of routines in the enactment of these activities. The comparison of the designs and their enacted counterparts revealed that the designed routines were completed with additional sets of unexpected routines, bridging the gap between high-level designs and the concrete classroom performance. This paper discusses the idea of eliciting an extensible set of enactment patterns/routines and the level of formalization needed, especially regarding its potential usefulness as a tool (mediating artifact) to support practitioners in enacting CSCL activities in a more flexible and effective way.
Symposium 2: Interpreting Complexity
Authors: Creanor Linda , Walker Steve
Published: October 2024

In this paper we highlight challenging issues in current learning technology research, particularly in relation to emerging collaborative technologies and the growing body of evidence on the learner experience. The complex nature of the interplay of social, technical and environmental factors is examined along with an overview of the key theoretical models which are currently in play. Limitations are identified in the learning technology literature in which a technological determinism is often evident, despite repeated calls for an approach which takes fuller account of the technology’s pedagogical, organisational, social and technical aspects. We propose that interdisciplinary collaboration has the potential to help us address the demanding task of analysing these interconnected factors, and may also go some way towards mitigating over-charged claims of the impact and effectiveness of learning technology against the reality of its use. The focus of this paper is on sociotechnical approaches, particularly those derived from a social informatics tradition, which to date appear to have received little attention in learning technology research. We identify potential benefits in applying these approaches to today’s learning environment which encompasses fast-moving technology developments along with changing communicative behaviours among learners, whether on campus, in the workplace or in everyday life. Most importantly, sociotechnical frameworks address the issue of technological determinism by explicitly recognising that agency also resides in individual learners, social structures, the design of learning artefacts and context in which the learning takes place. In order to demonstrate the value of such approaches, we go on to outline findings from the application of one of these concepts, namely a sociotechnical interaction network (STIN), to a transnational networked learning context. The paper concludes by proposing that these approaches in general, and the sociotechnical interaction network concept in particular, are important conceptual tools in dealing with issues currently confronting contemporary learning technology research, such as the spread of web 2.0 and mobile technologies and the increasingly complex social and technological contexts of many learners. They may also provide a valuable means of exploring the increasingly blurred distinction between abstract and formal learning, and situated informal learning, particularly in relation to the workplace.
Symposium 2: Network theories for technology-enabled learning and social change
Authors: Bell Frances
Published: October 2024

Learning never was confined to classrooms. We all learn in, out of, before, during and after episodes of formal education. The changing sociotechnical context offers a promise of new opportunities, and the sense that somehow things may be different. Use of the Internet and other emerging technologies is spreading in frequency, time and space. People and organizations wish to use technology to support learning seek theories to frame their understanding and their innovations. In this article we explore Connectivism, that is positioned as a theory for the digital age, in use on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Connectivism and Connective Knowledge, in 2008. We then compare Connectivism with another network theory, Actor Network Theory, to explore possible synergies. We found that Connectivism enables educators and learners to legitimise their use of technology to support teaching and learning. Connectivism, a relatively new theory, can benefit from a richer empirical base as it develops. Since the scope of educational change can vary from a specific learning setting through organisational and societal settings, we can develop theories through empirical exploration of cases across the range of settings to support our understanding and actions.
Symposium 6: Design of a Networked Learning Master Environment for Professionals – using the approach of problem based learning to establish a community of practice
Authors: Dirckinck-Holmfeld Lone
Published: October 2024

The paper is presenting the overall learning design of MIL (Master in ICT and Learning). The learning design is integrating the principles of: 1. Problem and project based learning 2. Networked learning / learning in communities of practice. The paper discusses how these principles interact productively in the design of a networked learning environment for professionals. The paper challenge the definition of networked learning focussing on connections. This definition has been important to throw light upon the importance of weak ties, and how much weak ties are used within networks. However in order to really use the potentials of the socio cultural understanding of learning as based in relationships and connections we need a stronger concept of networked learning as a socio-technical way of organising learning, which make learners interact, connect, engage, relate and collaborate on joint enterprises and activities, through both strong and weak ties, and to dynamically accumulate and rework concepts, artefacts and knowledge in a variety of forms and from a variety of sources. The MIL case based on problem and project based learning demonstrates how this understandings of networked learning can be organised for.MIL is based on a pragmatic concept of problem and project based learning adapted to the virtual conditions of networked learning. The MIL model incorporates a series of integrated didactical principles: problem formulation, enquiry of exemplary problems, participant control, joint projects, dialogues, interdisciplinary approaches, and action learning. The approach requires that students and teachers (facilitators, supervisors, lecturers, and professors) engage in a shared enterprise – a project - within the thematic framework of the semester. The study program is organised around two main activities: 1. course work in order to get insights of the core disciplines and to build up a shared repertoire and 2. project work, where the students engage in collaborative research projects – as a kind of shared enterprise. From a learning point of view the pedagogical principles of PBL facilitates as well the individual learner’s constructions of knowledge as well as the project group’s construction of shared understanding through negotiations, confrontations and identification. Further more previous research has shown, that PBL facilitates inter-dependencies among the busy professionals, which help them to prioritize the study of work and also to establish kinds of community of practice.
Symposium 6: Democratic Collaborative Dialogue and Negotiation of Meaning in Digital Teaching and Learning Environments
Authors: Sorensen Elsebeth Korsgaard
Published: October 2024

This paper explores, from a theoretical perspective, the methodological potential of digital democratic dialogue as a vehicle for enhancing intercultural collaborative education in networked learning environments. It examines the dialogical approach to design, which has been practiced, developed and unfolding within parts of MIL (Master programme in ICT and Learning) throughout the last 10 years, guided by a design based research perspective. Theoretically, among other theoretical positions, the paper draws on Wittgenstein’s notion of ‘language games’. The paper makes a plea for the notion of language games as a means of identifying the smallest analytical unit of democratic dialogues in digital negotiation of meaning.
Enhancement of dialogic quality in computer supported collaborative learning processes on the Web appears a broad, complex and multi-faced challenge. The central challenge is to identify and employ aspects of instructional design that stimulate and support the evolution of collaborative democratic dialogue in digital environments. A related challenge is the task of choosing criteria for the evaluation/assessment of these processes. Addressing these issues usually involves establishing balanced design criteria in the instructional marriage between technology and pedagogy. It also presumes a rooting in a set of values as well as an ethical dimension concerning inter human and intercultural co-existence. If we think beyond simply creating an online mechanism for dialog to creating a framework that will promote high-quality interaction and allow for relevant evaluation/assessment, we must search for the appropriate, educating analytical unit. In order to do so, I need to start from a clarification of the learning perspective behind the design and construct the analytical unit from this perspective.
Departing from previous research, the paper presents a theoretically based conceptual framework based on the notion of “collaborative learning in online communities of practice” (Dillenbourg et al., 1995; Harasim, 1995; Koschmann, 1994; Wenger, 1998) for understanding and identifying collaborative knowledge building dialogue for democratic citizenship. This includes identification of an alternative analytical and evaluative unit in distributed collaborative knowledge building on the Web, inspired by the concept of “language games” (Wittgenstein, 1974). I also discuss implications of this for design learning processes that allow students to collaboratively develop “knowledge tapestries” through meta-awareness of how such language game structure is developed. The paper builds on previous reports on collaborative knowledge building (e.g. Sorensen and Takle, 2001).
Symposium 1: Re-Conceptualising the Boundaries of Networked Learning
Authors: Beaty Liz , Howard James
Published: October 2024

Networked learning has the potential to change the perceptions and practice of those engaged in learning within both networked and traditional environments. At the heart of such change is the nature of the relationship between learners and teachers as their roles and responsibilities are transformed. Recognising this, the E-Quality in e-Learning Manifesto (2002) proposed key aspirations for this relationship, identifying a model based on collaboration and co-construction of knowledge. This model was seen to be supported by the concept of the learning community and to have implications for the professional development of H.E. practitioners. We argue that the ideas contained within the Manifesto can be advanced to fully capture the shifting roles and relationships inherent within networked learning. To this end, this paper focuses on a core set of boundary definitions, central to the way networked learning is conceptualised and experienced. Firstly, we revisit the concept of expertise within learning. While we agree that the expert-acolyte dichotomy is no longer pursuant within networked learning, we argue for a new understanding of the role of expertise defined by transient boundaries. Expertise becomes a quality that moves between members of learning networks, dependent upon time, activity and focus. This raises questions for the traditional boundaries drawn between teachers and learners. If we begin to view teachers as fellow learners in a communal process, we must consider how such learning communities are to be defined. A partial answer lies in the dialogue and communication that connects network members, yet this potentially ignores the relevance of content within networked learning. As such, the boundaries between content and communication are considered and found to be less defined that previously presented. The communication that distinguishes networked learning communities forms the basis of the content members both utilise and collaboratively create. Finally, the implications of these boundary discussions for the professional development of H.E. practitioners are addressed. We note the significant challenges faced in preparing practitioners for their changing role, especially in relation to how they re-conceptualise their place in the learning process and the professional values they associate with it. Finally, we argue for the use of networked communities of professional practice as the means to support the development of diverse H.E. practitioners.
Symposium 3: Learning and Living Technologies
Authors: Ramanau Ruslan , Hosein Anesa , Jones Chris
Published: October 2024

This paper presents results from a longitudinal study on first-year students’ expectations and actual reported use of information and communication technologies (ICT) at university. The study was interested in firstly, knowing if students from the Net Generation (≤ 25 years) would appropriate more ICT time for both social life and leisure, and study purposes than older students, as this forms the basis for many Net Generation and Digital Natives claims about young people use of technology. Secondly, the impact of university type (place-based or distance-learning) on ICT use was explored.
Data were analysed from two surveys that were part of the Economic Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project: The Net Generation Encountering eLearning at University. The first survey which asked for expected ICT time was sent at the beginning of the academic year. The second survey was sent towards the end of the academic year and asked for the actual time spent on using ICTs. Students studying 14 different courses in five different universities (four place-based and one distance-learning) in England took part in the study.
The results showed that students underestimated their total ICT time (combined time for social life and leisure, and study purposes) by at least 1 hour per day. The Net Generation students were found to spend more time per day using ICT for social life and leisure purposes than the non-Net Generation students (2.2 vs 1.7 hrs). In contrast, the non-Net Generation students spent more ICT time on study than the Net Generation students (2.3 vs 1.9 hrs. It appears that younger generation students used ICT for social life and leisure more frequently and older students were more likely to use it for study.
University mode of study also influenced how students appropriated their ICT time. Place-based university students spent at least one hour more per day on ICT than distance-learning university students. The results found differences across the two age groups were more noticeable at the place-based university than at the distance-learning university.
Symposium 5: The Paradox of Social Media and Higher Education Institutions
Authors: Bonzo Justin , Parchoma Gale
Published: October 2024

This paper explores the paradox that occurs between institutional expectations and expectations held by student regarding the use of social media in support of learning in higher education settings. Specifically, the example is given of a disagreement that took place in a recent conversation in a distributed medical education programme in Canada. The current body of research regarding the incongruity of expectations about integrating social media into a higher education institution framework suggests that a widening gap is emerging and that conflict is taking place. The example from Canada exemplifies the difference that exists in people’s understandings and expectations of how social media can be employed for benefit in education. The paper looks at the principles of social media and the potential impact on many of society’s institutions, including government, commerce, media and education. Interestingly, higher education seems to have fallen behind in adopting and adapting to the new social media reality. The key points of social constructivist thinking are then examined with special attention to the following five points: learning requires active participation by the learner; previous experience is important when reinforcing new learning; individual knowledge construction requires a social interaction element; negotiation within the learning environment is essential; and, learning best takes place within a socio-cultural context. These principles are then addressed in relation to the social media principles of active participation, collaboration and that of reflection. Finally, three points are expanded as to potential sources and reasons why conflict may occur when trying to integrate a popular social media perspective into the established higher education setting. These are: existing hierarchical structure of higher education institutions; accreditation and quality concerns; and, formal and informal learning. Social media is more than computer application and programs and the technology behind them it is about transformation. At its core, social media is a collection of ideas about community, openness, flexibility, collaboration, transformation and it is all user-centred. If education and educational institutions can understand and adopt these principles, perhaps there is a chance for significant change in how we teach and learn in formal and informal settings. The challenge is to discover how to facilitate this change.
Symposium 7: Identifying Differences in Understandings of PBL, Theory and Interactional Interdependencies
Authors: Ryberg Thomas , Glud Louise Nørgaard , Buus Lillian , Georgsen Marianne
Published: October 2024

In this paper we discuss networked Problem Based Learning (PBL) and relate this to ideas on web 2.0 learning. Some of the core concepts associated with web 2.0 technologies and practices, such as collaboration, active participation, creation and sharing are well aligned with common interpretations of PBL as a more student-centred pedagogy focusing on students’ active (collaborative) production of knowledge through engaging with problems. While there are some obvious connections between PBL and web 2.0 technologies, many of the thoughts and ideas that have arisen in relation to web 2.0, such as Personal Learning Environments (PLEs), also challenge notions of PBL, but equally hold opportunities to expand our understandings of this pedagogical approach. Likewise, we discuss how certain interpretations of networked learning (Jones & Dirckinck-Holmfeld, 2009; Jones, Ferreday, & Hodgson, 2008) and ideas articulated around the notion of connectivism (Siemens, 2005) might challenge and expand our understandings of PBL. While these discussions are more theoretically oriented our aims in this symposium are to translate these more complex discussions and subtle differences between various theories and pedagogies into more concrete models or concepts that are relevant for practitioners in designing for networked learning. However, the more intimate relations between models and concepts and practical design, will be discussed in Buus et al. (2010).
Web 2.0 for networked learning
Authors: Allen Matthew
Published: October 2024

This poster presents research-in-progress into the educational affordances of so-called Web 2.0 sites,services, with a particular emphasis on those applications that involve forms of shared human-machine cognition and that promote public knowledge networking. This research involves reviewing many hundreds of Web 2.0 tools and selecting approximately 50 for further analysis and exploration as learning applications. In doing so, the research will generate examples of unusual affordances provided by Web 2.0; it will also present a more structured categorisation of the kinds of uses and benefits of these tools. This approach is valuable because much current research and analysis of the impact of Web 2.0 on education, particularly higher education, has emphasised a relatively limited array of tools – principally blogs, wikis and social networking services – that offer educators and students opportunities for student-led collaborative work. Such opportunities involve strong emphasis on constructivist pedagogy: students’ interactions with each other, mediated via the Internet, are viewed as the positive benefit which networked learning can provide. However, Web 2.0 is far more than just collaboration, and associated shared self-expression. In particular, Web 2.0 includes many examples of services that take one form of input from a user and, rather than just sharing it with others, enable the transformation of that input into different forms, either as visualisations, maps, or other re-representations. Web 2.0 is also starting to see the development of knowledge-work engines that embody the concept of shared cognition, in which the service and the user cooperate in the production of some final knowledge output or which present to users knowledge that has already been processed more extensively than through simple searching. Web 2.0 is also closely associated with the idea that knowledge work is now networked and distributed; it involves users appropriating, creating and sharing knowledge products in a very public way, far beyond the narrow ‘audience’ of a particular course or program of study. The research presented in this poster will provide, firstly, examples of the Web 2.0 tools which emphasise these additional ways of exploiting the Internet for networked learning; secondly, the research will provide a first iteration of the overarching structure of categories and classifications which can be used to assess any proposed Web 2.0 application in terms of its affordances for learning as knowledge networking. By understanding these technologies, truly collaborative networked learning can be developed that blends with the emerging cultures of online behaviour increasingly common to contemporary student populations.
Technology-enhanced inquiry-based learning in higher education
Authors: Levy Philippa , Nibbs Anna
Published: October 2024

There is at present considerable international interest in strengthening the role of inquiry and research in the undergraduate experience. Against this background, the term ‘inquiry-based learning’ (IBL) is in increasing usage, to describe a range of pedagogical approaches in which student inquiry drives the learning experience. The conceptualisation of IBL is contested but often it is described as an ‘umbrella term’ encompassing approaches such as case- and problem-based learning. Digital technologies play an important role in IBL pedagogy and arguably there is a close affinity between the ethos and practices of networked learning, IBL and Web 2.0. However, the evidence-base that focuses specifically on the use of technology in IBL, although relatively small, is highly fragmented. Therefore, for this in-progress project, funded by the UK Higher Education Academy, we are drawing together material from disparate disciplinary and specialist/practitioner fields to offer a critical review and synthesis of research evidence on the use and potential of digital technologies to support IBL. As part of this, we are mapping conceptualisations and practices of technology-enhanced IBL according to a number of dimensions of IBL design and facilitation including: knowledge-orientation; inquiry-framing; process support strategy; technology-strategy. Our poster offers a preliminary analysis, identifies a number of questions that arise, and suggests areas in which further research is needed.
Going Global
Authors: Robinson Sarah , Ramanau Ruslan , Reid Kristen , Honnor Keith
Published: October 2024

Addressing the theme of globalisation and interculturality in networked learning, this poster focuses on  the development of a ‘Global' MBA programme at the Open University Business School (UK), which replaces its existing programme, starting 2010. The poster presents an in-depth reflective account of the process of redesigning the first (foundation) course in this programme, highlighting the challenges encountered during the design process in areas of technology, delivery, support, pedagogy and  organisational culture. It presents the important questions addressed by the design team, the team's responses and some of the ways forward considered in the process of developing a primarily on-line model with potential global reach. This work is underpinned by the assumption that the face of distance education is rapidly changing. Online courses that were designed with a view of the Web as primarily a repository of learning resources and a platform for online lectures are giving way to new models of teaching and learning that build on the educational potential of Web 2.0 and other emerging technologies (Anderson 2008). We argue that processes of globalisation both call for and support changes in the ethos of distance education from being primarily focused on delivering content to learners to enabling satisfying cross-cultural learning experiences that necessitate changes to modes of working and collaborating at various levels. This poster therefore presents and explores both barriers to and opportunities for innovation encountered in designing one such course, but which may have wider relevance to the design of technology-enhanced learning experiences in other settings and contexts.
Facilitating blended learning by means of vidcasting
Authors: Storgaard Carsten S. , Heilesen Simon B.
Published: October 2024

ICT becoming ever more pervasive at universities, it is a challenge for educators to identify uses of technology that may enhance the learning experience rather than just remediate conventional teaching. Podcasting is a much acclaimed new technology. Although there is little hard evidence that the academic benefits of podcasts justifies the investment of resources, there are indications that podcasting 1) is being adopted by students as a supplementary study tool; 2) is considered by students to help improve the study environment; and 3) challenges faculty to reflect on and reconsider their teaching routines. This poster deals with A) experiences, from the point of view of the practitioner, with faculty use of the new technology, and B) the institutional and technical framework developed to support the use of podcasts in teaching.
A) As to faculty use, we have observed that simply trying out the technology seems to foster creative ideas. One recent example involves replacing a long lecture on research methods with a series of short, thematic vidcasts. Small groups of students were assigned to watch and discuss the vidcasts constituting the lecture, and later each group was requested to present to the entire class the key points of their particular vidcast. In another course, a professor replaced in-class presentations of student group project proposals with short vidcasts recorded by each group. Thus valuable time was freed for more crucial teaching activities. It also turned out that the student presentations were better structured, more to the point, and more reflected than typical in-class presentations.
B) Given that anyone with a minimum of technical skills can produce podcasts, and that faculty in general may be lacking skills to handle the technology and to make good presentations in the new medium, it is a challenge for university administrators to make available easy-to-use, efficient and cost-effective ICT-tools. Making sure that needs and not technology will be the driving force in this innovative process is an act of balance. At Roskilde University, policies and practices have been developed for augmenting academic activities on to the net by means of video podcasts. The principles underlying this development are: 1. Teaching and research communication in general are being viewed as two closely related aspects of audio-visual communication. 2. Adoption of net based audio-visual communication should be voluntary. 3. Production of vidcasts should be inexpensive and readily available.
Resource generation networks and innovation, in fragmented institutions
Authors: Whitworth Andrew
Published: October 2024

Networks are recognised as a significant conduit for the dissemination of innovations. An 'exposure' model of innovation suggests that the adoption of an innovation is more likely, the more that other members of one's personal network are using it, and this is a network learning model that is related to the phenomenon of communities of practice. However, van der Gaag and Snijders (2004) recognised that not all resources distributed throughout a social network would be as valuable in particular contexts as others. A resource generation model of network analysis starts from the position that what matters for the adoption of an innovation - a change in working practice - is whether individuals are in contact with people possessing knowledge, capacity or other relevant resources that can assist the adopter.
This model forms the basis for the research project being described in this poster, one which aims at enhancing the resource generation networks within universities, vis-a-vis the dissemination of e-learning innovations, a task which many universities find difficult. Universities can partly engineer resource generation networks by providing helpdesks, staff development units, and so on, but while these may create network hubs to an extent, there is still a need for the more personal, organic networks of resource generation (communities of practice, friendship links, and weaker ties such as mutual acquaintance, familiarity with prior work and so on). These are likely to extend outside the institution.
Both the engineering and organic approaches are challenged by the structure of universities generally, and fragmented ones particularly. It remains difficult to diffuse innovation across different parts of an organisation. This existing fragmentation is now exacerbated by the development of institutions with widely separated satellite campuses, including in different countries.
The project is currently in the pilot stage, and has mapped the social networks of two self-contained but fragmented academic units: Manchester Business School (with 6 satellites around the world) and NCUK, a consortium of colleges in various countries.
The first phase of the research has involved using a version of van der Gaag and Snijders' research instrument to ask respondents who they would go to for help solving problems with e-learning. I seek to confirm the hypothesis that in these case organizations, there will be clear 'cut points' in the network - individuals or small groups on whom the ability to use social networks to diffuse learning and innovation across the different parts of the organization will depend.
Phase two will involve researching in a behavioural change intervention in one of the organizations, one targeted at key individuals or groups as defined above. Both organizations will then be re-examined after a year, checking the evolution of the resource generation networks over this period.
An Exploratory Study on Integrative Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation (IBS-C)
Authors: Rajput Izrum Shafi , Yawar Warda , Ikram Syeda Javeria , Zafar Urooj , Jaffri Muhammad Sajid Abbas , Zehra Shabih
Published: October 2024

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) was complicated disorder that results in pain and change in bowel habits. The major contributing factors to the onset and detoriation include stress and gastrointestinal problem. The women between 20 to 40 years were most commonly involved. The prevalence varies among countries that was affected by diet and diagnostic criteria. Objective: Compairing the efficacy of Mebeverine, Polyethylene Glycol with the combination therapy of Mebeverine and Polyethylene Glycol in Irritable Bowel Syndrome associated with Constipation. Methods: The comparative analytical study was conducted at the National Medical Centre, Karachi, and approved by the Ethical Review Committee of Bahria University Health Science Campus. Participants aged 15-50 with IBS were selected to reflect the target population. Observational data were collected based on the treatments they naturally received: Mebeverine, Polyethylene glycol, or a combination. Pain and constipation status were recorded at baseline (day 0) and after 24 days, analyzing the effectiveness of the treatments as they were administered in routine care settings. Results: The demographic data mentioned comparable age, weight, height, and gender distribution across the three groups. Constipation and pain status before and after varied considerably across the investigation time. There was substantial improvements by day 24 from the baseline in the combination therapy. Conclusions: The combination of Mebeverine and Polyethylene glycol reveals in managing IBS, with prominent improvements in constipation severity over the research duration. This highlights the importance of multimodal treatment methods in addressing the varied symptoms of IBS and enhancing the quality of life.