bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An exploration of the potential of Automatic Speech Recognition to assist and enable receptive communication in higher education
Authors: Wald Mike
Published: January 2012

The potential use of Automatic Speech Recognition to assist receptive communication is explored. The opportunities and challenges that this technology presents students and staff to provide captioning of speech online or in classrooms for deaf or hard of hearing students and assist blind, visually impaired or dyslexic learners to read and search learning material more readily by augmenting synthetic speech with natural recorded real speech is also discussed and evaluated. The automatic provision of online lecture notes, synchronised with speech, enables staff and students to focus on learning and teaching issues, while also benefiting learners unable to attend the lecture or who find it difficult or impossible to take notes at the same time as listening, watching and thinking.DOI: 10.1080/09687760500479977
‘Living’ theory: a pedagogical framework for process support in networked learning
Authors: Levy Philipa
Published: January 2012

This paper focuses on the broad outcome of an action research project in which practical theory was developed in the field of networked learning through case-study analysis of learners’ experiences and critical evaluation of educational practice. It begins by briefly discussing the pedagogical approach adopted for the case-study course and the action research methodology. It then identifies key dimensions of four interconnected developmental processes—orientation, communication, socialisation and organisation—that were associated with ‘learning to learn’ in the course’s networked environment, and offers a flavour of participants’ experiences in relation to these processes. A number of key evaluation issues that arose are highlighted. Finally, the paper presents the broad conceptual framework for the design and facilitation of process support in networked learning that was derived from this research. The framework proposes a strong, explicit focus on support for process as well as domain learning, and progression from tighter to looser design and facilitation structures for process-focused (as well as domain-focused) learning tasks.DOI: 10.1080/09687760600837025
Beyond model answers: learners’ perceptions of self-assessment materials in e-learning applications
Authors: Handley Karen , Cox Benita
Published: January 2012

The importance of feedback as an aid to self-assessment is widely acknowledged. A common form of feedback that is used widely in e-learning is the use of model answers. However, model answers are deficient in many respects. In particular, the notion of a ‘model’ answer implies the existence of a single correct answer applicable across multiple contexts with no scope for permissible variation. This reductive assumption is rarely the case with complex problems that are supposed to test students’ higher-order learning. Nevertheless, the challenge remains of how to support students as they assess their own performance using model answers and other forms of non-verificational ‘feedback’. To explore this challenge, the research investigated a management development e-learning application and investigated the effectiveness of model answers that followed problem-based questions. The research was exploratory, using semi-structured interviews with 29 adult learners employed in a global organisation. Given interviewees’ generally negative perceptions of the model-answers, they were asked to describe their ideal form of self-assessment materials, and to evaluate nine alternative designs. The results suggest that, as support for higher-order learning, self-assessment materials that merely present an idealised model answer are inadequate. As alternatives, learners preferred materials that helped them understand what behaviours to avoid (and not just ‘do’), how to think through the problem (i.e. critical thinking skills), and the key issues that provide a framework for thinking. These findings have broader relevance within higher education, particularly in postgraduate programmes for business students where the importance of prior business experience is emphasised and the profile of students is similar to that of the participants in this research.DOI: 10.1080/09687760601129539
The problem with representing knowledge with and about technology
Authors: Oliver Martin
Published: January 2012

The articles contained in this issue raise a series of questions that all, to a greater or lesser degree, call in to doubt our ability to communicate with each other. This is a particularly melodramatic way of expressing it, perhaps, but it serves to highlight a fundamental concern: even if we know something, can we share that knowledge with anyone else? More specifically, for researchers in this field, if we think we know something about technology, how can we communicate that understanding to others? The general problems of communication are illustrated by a series of articles from Dickey, Wheeler, Lee et al. and by Bakker et al. There are many things that teachers find hard to communicate to students in the first place, particularly those that relate to tacit practices. Dickey’s study explores one way in which such practices can be communicated to students—involving an embodied representation of knowledge, communication through demonstration.DOI: 10.1080/09687760701470874
Tipping into the abyss: with more than a virtual parachute?
Authors: Tompsett Chris
Published: January 2012

Any application of information and communication technology in education (ICTE) sits, at times uncomfortably, at the intersection of three key disciplines: technology, education and sociology (including reflexivity). To confuse matters, any specific study may need to take account of specific knowledge within subdisciplines, such as organisational management and technology transfer, and of knowledge within the domain of application (e.g. nursing, social work, fashion, etc.). Researchers must build a consistent model of knowledge that can integrate disparate methodologies, research goals and even conflicting interpretations of the same terminology. Without this, the ICTE research field will be dominated by what is simply novel, irrespective of the relevance of particular changes to educational practice. If existing models in this field are as limited as suggested by Moule, when should lecturers and teachers, with no motivation to use technology for its own sake and no additional financial support, review progress in this field for effective examples of innovative practice, let alone wide-scale change? On most of the criteria that could be introduced to compare two papers, the views of Moule and Salmon appear almost diametrically opposed and a detailed comparison would seem of limited value. Instead, this paper asks a more fundamental question: what could be the basis within this research community for establishing coherence within the field and ensuring that research can justify actual changes in educational practice?DOI: 10.1080/09687760701482523
Towards a user-oriented analytical approach to learning design
Authors: San Diego Jonathan P. , Laurillard Diana , Boyle Tom , Bradley Claire , Ljubojevic Dejan , Neumann Tim , Pearce Darren
Published: January 2012

The London Pedagogy Planner (LPP) is a prototype for a collaborative online planning and design tool that supports lecturers in developing, analysing and sharing learning designs. The tool is based on a developing model of the components involved in learning design and the critical relationships between them. As a decision tool it makes the pedagogical design explicit as an output from the process, capturing it for testing, redesign, reuse and adaptation by the originator, or by others. The aim is to test the extent to which we can engage lecturers in reflecting on learning design, and make them part of the educational community that discovers how best to use technology-enhanced learning. This paper describes the development of LPP, presents pedagogical benefits of visual representations of learning designs and proposes an analytical approach to learning design based on these visual representations. The analytical approach is illustrated based on an initial evaluation with a small group of lecturers from two partner institutions.Keywords: learning design; pedagogy; technology enhanced learning; visual representation of pedagogy; cost of e-learningDOI: 10.1080/09687760701850174
Maintaining, changing and crossing contexts: an activity theoretic reinterpretation of mobile learning
Authors: Wali Esra , Winters Niall , Oliver Martin
Published: January 2012

Although mobile learning is a popular topic in current research, it is not well conceptualized. Many researchers rely on under-theorized conceptions of the topic, and those who have tried to refine the ideas involved have found this to be complex and difficult. In this paper a new interpretation of the concept ‘mobile learning’ is offered, drawing on the tradition of activity theory. The interpretation focuses on the continuity of learning activities that take place in multiple contexts, which are embodied as the combination of the physical and social setting of the learning activities. The paper starts by sketching the current research context and then outlines the theoretical tradition within which the interpretation of ‘mobile learning’ is located. Then the new interpretation is offered and the concepts are applied to case studies to illustrate how this new understanding develops current thinking in the area. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for research of adopting such a perspective.Keywords: mobile learning; context; activity theoryDOI: 10.1080/09687760701850190
Cognitive style and Computer-Assisted Learning: problems and a possible solution
Authors: Clarke John A.
Published: January 2012

Although the notion of cognitive style has been around for some time, only in relatively recent times has there been a research interest in examining its effect on the performance of Computer-Assisted Learning (CAL) users. There are a number of practical difficulties associated with catering for different cognitive styles of CAL users. This paper identifies not only a style which influences CAL-user performance and overcomes many of the difficulties, but also a possible suitable measure of that style. Data on the reliability of this measure is reported, along with preliminary work on its use to cater for CAL users with different cognitive styles. Future work will focus on the development of the package and the predictive validity of the style measure.DOI:10.1080/0968776930010106
Does interactivity require multimedia? The case of SAKI
Authors: Horwood Michael
Published: January 2012

SAKI is a self-adaptive touch-typing tutor with a pedigree dating back to the mid-1950s. Even in its most recent form it eschews the temptation to present itself with the trimmings now commonly associated with microcomputer products. This paper argues that while the absence of such features may be a limiting factor in the commercial success of the program, SAKI is nevertheless a prime example of the way in which a computer can successfully react to and interact with a user, and indeed one which would actually lose educational value if it were to undergo an interface-lift.It should be noted that Eurotech is the official distributor of SAKIDOI:10.1080/0968776930010108
The role of learning technology In planning change In curriculum delivery and design
Authors: Harrison Colin
Published: January 2012

This paper is a discussion of some aspects of the application of learning technology to the design and delivery of flexible learning packages, which can help make the most effective use of the most valuable resource in a university - its staff. Principles of good course design, preparation and use are exemplified in the approach taken towards flexible learning packages at Anglia Polytechnic University.DOI:10.1080/0968776940020104
Intelligent approaches to performance support
Authors: Barker Philip , Richards Stephen , Banerji Ashok
Published: January 2012

Electronic performance support systems provide an important method of meeting on-demand educational and training requirements. They also provide efficient and effective ways of enabling the knowledge and expertise within an organization to be shared. This paper discusses the design of a distributed electronic performance support system and the ways in which 'intelligent agents' based on expert systems and neural networks can be used to locate and share distributed expertise. A case study illustrating our approach to the implementation and use of intelligent agents is presented.DOI:10.1080/0968776940020109
Retraction With Face Saving: modelling conversational interaction through dynamic hypermedia
Authors: Baldry Anthony , Piastra Marco , Bolognesi Roberto
Published: January 2012

This paper describes RWFS (Retraction With Face Saving), a hypermedia application which models an interview between a lawyer and his client - a lorry driver - facing court charges of reckless driving. At one level RWFS takes the form of a sophisticated game in which different outcomes to the interview are possible according to the learner's degree of skill. At another level, RWFS is designed to encourage the language learner's awareness and understanding of the pragmatic features of conversation. RWFS runs on HyperContext, a hybrid hypertextlexpert system developed in Pavia by two of the authors, Marco Piastra and Roberto Bolognesi, and which supports dynamic hypermedia units. HyperContext's dynamic linking capacity plays a vital role in simulating significant conversational features such as the conditioning of a current move in the conversation by information acquired much earlier in the course of the interview. In this connection, the paper discusses the contribution of RMCI (Re-usable Model of Conversational Interaction), a re-usable application-independent applied model of interaction on which the game is based, and which links a tactical level (the conversation) to a metalevel which provides a moveby- move commentary on interactional theory. In its turn, RMCFs metalevel is linked to a strategic level which interprets the structure of the conversation in terms of a pyramid-like hierarchy of increasingly abstract theoretical concepts.DOI:10.1080/0968776940020204
Natural-language processing applied to an ITS interface
Authors: Fischetti Enrico , Gisolfi Antonio
Published: January 2012

The aim of this paper is to show that with a subset of a natural language, simple systems running on PCs can be developed that can nevertheless be an effective tool for interfacing purposes in the building of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). After presenting the special characteristics of the Smalltalk/V language, which provides an appropriate environment for the development of an interface, the overall architecture of the interface module is discussed. We then show how sentences are parsed by the interface, and how interaction takes place with the user. The knowledge-acquisition phase is subsequently described. Finally, some excerpts from a tutoring session concerned with elementary geometry are discussed, and some of the problems and limitations of the approach are illustrated.DOI:10.1080/0968776940020205
Computer-based teaching and evaluation of introductory statistics for health science students: some lessons learned
Authors: Colgan Nuala , McClean Sally , Scotney Bryan
Published: January 2012

In recent years, it has become possible to introduce health science students to statistical packages at an increasingly early stage in their undergraduate studies. This has enabled teaching to take place in a computer laboratory, using real data, and encouraging an exploratory and research-oriented approach. This paper briefly describes a hypertext Computer Based Tutorial (CBT) concerned with descriptive statistics and introductory data analysis. The CBT has three primary objectives: the introduction of concepts, the facilitation of revision, and the acquisition of skills for project work. Objective testing is incorporated and used for both self-assessment and formal examination. Evaluation was carried out with a large group of Health Science students, heterogeneous with regard to their IT skills and basic numeracy. The results of the evaluation contain valuable lessons.DOI:10.1080/0968776940020207
Learning style and learning strategies
Authors: Paterson Pat , Robottorn John
Published: January 2012

Two important factors need attention when contemplating how and where to use the new computer-based learning technologies. Firstly, in order to select the right kind of software, it is necessary to have a clear picture of the desired outcomes of a particular learning situation. There are many varieties of interactive multimedia available, and matching the tool to the job should be an early consideration. Of equal, if not greater importance, is the question of whether, for a particular learner, interactive multimedia is the most appropriate learning tool. If there is too great a mismatch between the learning styles and strategies of a particular learner and the given learning environment, learning may be inhibited rather than enhanced.DOI:10.1080/0968776950030103
Confidence assessment in the teaching of basic science
Authors: Gardner-Medwin A. R.
Published: January 2012

Automated assessment suffers from two problems that are considered here. Firstly, it seldom makes use of information about how confident a student is in the answer given, which is part of what we take into account in assessing students person-to-person. Secondly, it often involves the construction of complex questions to ensure that students cannot get good marks by a combination of partial knowledge and guesswork. Such questions can be ambiguous and open to different levels of interpretation, so the creation of satisfactory tests is time-consuming.DOI:10.1080/0968776950030113
Iterative student-based testing of automated information-handling exercises
Authors: Ramaiah C. K. , Sulaiman Mubarak , Meadows A. J.
Published: January 2012

Much laboratory teaching of information-handling involves students in evaluating information provided either online or via a computer package. A lecturer can help students carry out these tasks in a variety of ways. In particular, it is customary to provide students with hand-outs, and there is good evidence that such hand-outs are a valuable resource, especially for lower-ability students (see, for example Saloman, 1979). In many of these exercises, students are passive receivers of information, in the sense that they assess the information but do not change it. However, it is sometimes possible to use student feedback to change the original input. In this case, the users' mental models of the system can be employed to modify the user-interface set up by the original designer (see Moran, 1981). A number of experiments have been carried out in the Department of Information and Library Studies at Loughborough University to examine how computer interfaces and instruction sheets used in teaching can be improved by student feedback. The present paper discusses examples of this work to help suggest both the factors to be taken into account and the sorts of changes involved. Our approach has been based on the concept of 'iterative usability testing', the value of which has recently been emphasized by Shneiderman (1993).DOI:10.1080/0968776950030203
Reviews
Authors: Benest Ian
Published: January 2012

This publication is one of a collection of texts that has been produced within the NATO ASI F series - books published as a result of the activities of the special programme on advanced educational technology. Currently, the list of books in this series totals over 35. The present volume contains 37 papers that were contributed to the Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on Educational Technology held in Crete in the summer of 1992. The purpose of the Institute was to bring together lecturers and graduate students in order to investigate and discuss the psychological and educational foundations of technology-based learning environments, and to debate the implications of recent research findings in the area of cognitive science for the development of educational technology.DOI:10.1080/0968776950030208
Co-operative cross-platform courseware development
Authors: Harding R. D. , Lay S. W. , Moule H.
Published: January 2012

Of all the TLTP projects, the UKMCC (UK Mathematics Courseware Consortium) has involved the largest number of institutions in authoring courseware. This was part of a deliberate attempt to set up an 'open courseware' system which can continue to be adapted and grow even after the end of TLTP funding. In turn, such an objective requires a cross-platform approach to courseware development. Even when considering the academic community across a single subject at just one time, there will be a variety of hardware and software that people will want to use, but a ghost of a case can be made out for attempting some sort of standardization. When change over time is considered, it is inconceivable that hardware and software platforms will remain unchanging, and one way to manage changing standards is to have a courseware structure that permits variety. This allows different parts of a collection of materials to evolve at different speeds.DOI:10.1080/0968776960040105
Piloting a new approach: making use of technology to present a distance learning computer science course
Authors: Wilson Tina , Whitelock Denise
Published: January 2012

Teaching projects which make use of new technology are becoming of interest to all academic institutions in the UK due to economic pressure to increase student numbers. CMC (Computer- Mediated Communication) such as computer conferencing appears an attractive solution to higher education's 'numbers' problem, with the added benefit that it is free from time and place constraints. Researchers have discussed CMC from a number of different perspectives, for example Mason and Kaye (1989) describe a CMC system as a system of interactivity between tutors, students, resources and organizational structure. Steeples et al (1993) consider CMC in terms of group cohesion, modes of discourse and intervention strategies to stimulate and structure participation. Goodyear et al (1994) discuss the Just in Time (TT-Based) Open Learning (JTTOL) model in terms of a set of educational beliefs, role definitions, working methods and learning resources, together with a definition of infrastructure requirements for CMC. Shedletsky (1993) suggests that a CMC should be viewed in terms of an 'intrapersonal communication' model, while Mayes et al (1994) identify three types of learning which is mediated by telematics, that is, learning by conceptualization, construction and dialogue. Other researchers, such as Velayo (1994), describe the teacher as 'an active agent', and present a model for computer conferencing which neglects the social aspect of CMC, while Berge (1995) mentions the importance of social activity between students and the importance of the role of the moderator. From these accounts, there appear to be a number of dimensions which can be used to evaluate CMC. Not all researchers emphasize the same dimensions; however, this paper proposes that computer conferencing systems should be designed to encourage students to participate in all three of the following dimensions. These can be summarized as: (a) a knowledge dimension (includes domain and meta knowledge); (b) a social dimension; and (c) a motivational dimension. We will focus on the design and management of a conference M205-STILE, which was employed by the Open University's Computer Science department to supplement the teaching of an undergraduate course. The conference was structured into sub-conferences to take account of the above three dimensions and to facilitate students' computer-supported collaborative learning. This paper reports on the construction of the CMC environment, but more importantly how the three dimensions can be sustained through the role of a person whom we have called an Interactive Media Facilitator (IMF). This implementation is part of the 'Students' and Teachers' Integrated Learning Environment' (STILE) project.DOI:10.1080/0968776960040110
The influence of audio communications technology on computer-supported collaborative learning
Authors: Whitelock Denise , Scanlon Eileen , Taylor Josie
Published: January 2012

In recent years there has been an appreciation of the benefits that can be obtained by students working in groups or teams using computers (Eraut and Hoyles, 1988). But there is a difference in opinion as to how a partner enhances learning, and in particular how well adult learners do in the collaborative setting. In order to capitalize on the opportunities offered by new technologies, we need to understand more fully how the process of collaboration is effected by different communication technologies, and how the technologies themselves might be used to best advantage for the benefit of distance learners. However, another factor, apart from the technology itself, which is thought to influence computer-supported collaborative learning is in the gender distribution of the group. A number of classroom studies have shown gender differences when children work together with computers, and these have been reported from a number of subject-domains including science (Scanlon et al, 1993; Littleton et al, 1992). Since our own expertise is in the area of science learning, we selected a non-trivial physics task for the subjects to work with, and that is in the area of elastic collisions. Previous studies (Villani and Pacca, 1990; Whitelock et al, 1993) have shown that both adults and school-children have difficulty in predicting the subsequent motion of balls or ice pucks after they collide. Villani's study stresses that even postgraduate students tend to revert to their informal commonsense notions unless they are cued to use formal representations of these types of problem. These studies have demonstrated that the topic of elastic collisions is a complex yet fruitful one in which to engage students in group work.DOI:10.1080/0968776960040112
Cross-curricular IT tools for university students: developing an effective model
Authors: Martin Allan , Fayter Debra
Published: January 2012

Enabling students to make effective use of study opportunities is an increasingly important element in consideration of university resource provision. Universities are expected to identify the added value which higher education represents, both to public funding bodies and to clients, whether students, parents or employers. Maximizing study potential can facilitate, as well as demonstrate, the added value which higher education offers. Quality assurance processes have also increased the focus on the climate and provision of support for study. And in a more robust climate of competition, provision of study-enhancing measures may be part of an institutional profile which will attract students of the best quality.DOI:10.1080/0968776970050112
Reviews
Authors: Shaw Robin , Ravat Harish , Jones Eleri , Storer Richard , Ingraham Bruce Douglas , Stone Sheila , McAleese Ray , McAteer Erica , Barker Philip , Ward Robert
Published: January 2012

This is the latest in a series of practical books published by Kogan Page in the field of education by Professor Phil Race in collaboration with various others. Phil Race, Emeritus Professor of Educational Development at the University of Glamorgan, has had a varied and inspirational career in higher education, and at present is Programme Director for the University of Durham Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education. Steve McDowell lectures in IT at Gateshead College and the Open UniversityDOI:10.1080/0968776970050113
Hijacking hypermedia and other highways to learn computer science on a distancelearning course
Authors: Wilson Tina , Whitelock Denise
Published: January 2012

A teaching project using Computer-Mediated Communication (CMQ to aid students' understanding of computer science took place from February to November 1995 at the Open University. The project fell within that of STILE (Students' and Teachers' Integrated Learning Environment), and the course was M205 - STILE: Fundamentals of Computing. Four different institutions were involved: the Universities of Leicester, Loughborough, De Montfort and the Open University (Ruggles, 1995; Ruggles et al, 1995; Underwood et al, 1996; Zhao et al, 1996). One of the main aims of the Open University implementation was to improve the presentation of the computer science course by enabling structured access to online facilities for both tutor-to-student and student-to-student communication. The nine tutors and 110 computer science students were situated nationwide and in Europe. In line with our partners, we used the Netscape browser version 1 revision N, with Trumpet version 2 revision B. Although use of the Web for teaching and learning was underpinned by a wealth of literature about hypertext and hypermedia (see Nielsen 1993; Laurillard, 1994), it did not successfully sustain conferencing in 1995. Therefore we also adopted the FirstClass conferencing system (version 2.6) to accommodate our distance-learning students.DOI:10.1080/0968776970050206
Communication technologies and education: lessons in the potential of innovation
Authors: Norman Nigel
Published: January 2012

This paper seeks to outline the implications for pupils and teachers of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) of the use of communication and information technologies (C&IT). It is based on the experiences of one of the school/university partnerships involved in the BT Initial Teacher Training Communication Technologies Initiative, begun in the autumn term of 1996. By examining examples of projects undertaken with minimal training, it will establish some principles for further development in an area that is manifestly innovative for the majority of those involved in secondary schools.DOI:10.1080/0968776970050305
Book reviews online
Authors: Barker Philip
Published: January 2012

Many thousands of books are published each year, and even specialists find it difficult to keep abreast of new books in their disciplines, learning technology being no exception - indeed, in our subject-area the situation is beginning to reach saturation point. The bookreview procedure facilitates selection: a good review will capture the essential content of a book, and will comment on its quality, style, level of presentation, appropriateness, and perhaps value for money. Figure 1 shows the review process, its relationship to the production of books and learned journals, and the functional similarity between book reviews and abstracts of papers published in learned journals. Abstracts are often archived in online databases or on CD-ROM, in this way acting as an alerting and brief reference service. Book reviews can be treated in the same way. This paper discusses the use of servers (Internet or intranet) as a means of making them available to a global population. It also describes how such a facility could fit into a more general infrastructure for soliciting potential reviewers and drawing their attention to publications available for review.DOI:10.1080/0968776970050306
Reviews
Authors: Barker Philip , Betts Clive , Jones Eleri , Candy Emma , Gibbs Graham R. , Irons Alastair , Mogey Nora , Woolston C. J.
Published: January 2012

As a result of various paradigm shifts, the World Wide Web (the Web) is changing both what we teach and how we teach it. Consequently, from the point of view of distributing resources, we are now experiencing a significant change of emphasis - from instructor push towards student pull. Web-Teaching is a book about teaching, especially interactive teaching, using the Web as a communications medium. It deals with the kinds of hardware, software and networks commonly used on the Web to deliver and support instruction and learning. Overall, it has two basic thrusts: first, it gives descriptions of what is possible on the Web; second, it identifies instructional strategies that are likely to be effective.DOI:10.1080/0968776970050307
Structuring institutions to exploit learning technologies: a cybernetic model
Authors: Liber Oleg
Published: January 2012

Educational management is looking to Communication and Information Technologies (C&IT) to make education cheaper and maybe even more effective (e.g. Dealing, 1997). But despite over two decades of computer-based learning, and despite the still considerable faith in the future possibilities of C&IT, so far there is no evidence that this promise is anywhere near being realized. The reasons for this may be insufficient machines of adequate capability, a lack of training, inadequate networking and poor software. However, I believe that there is a more fundamental reason for its failure to make a significant impact: that the way education and its institutions are structured actively gets in the way of learning technology becoming effective. I suggest that the role of educational institutions is to connect learners with teachers, and that the teacher's purpose is to transform the world-views of the students. Rather than transmitters of knowledge, they are systems for managing learning conversations. Current forms of organization manage learning conversations in a particular way, which is inimical to the best use of learning technologies. C&IT offers an alternative way of managing learning, but which cannot be layered on top of existing organizational structures.DOI:10.1080/0968776980060103
Flexible learning in a partnership context for beginning teachers
Authors: Sova Brian M. , Hacker Roger G.
Published: January 2012

Universities have been slow to adapt to technological change. As the Teaching and Learning Committee of the University of Western Australia observe in Alternative Modes of Teaching and Learning (1996, 2): The new world that is emerging values flexibility over rigidity, and process over content. Yet with our complex system of faculties and departments, courses and units, curricula and assessment, we offer students little control over their own learning. Our current model is predominantly didactic rather than negotiated, and we prefer to control learning resources, rather than offer them. Our school system is already adapting, restructuring and adopting technology to make the curricula more relevant to individual learners' characteristics, to make learning more active, and to empower students to take responsibility for their own learning. Students will come to expect no less from their tertiary experiences.DOI:10.1080/0968776980060108
Back to the future: team-centred, resourcebased learning as the antecedent of computer-based learning
Authors: Cresswell James E.
Published: January 2012

With respect to staff efficiency, it is hard to beat the traditional lecture as a format for a university course. With a folder of lecture notes, multiple-choice assessment and an optical mark reader, it is equally easy for the academic to process 10 or 100 or 500 students. Indeed, the example of many American universities suggests that class size need be limited only by the capacity of the auditorium.DOI:10.1080/0968776980060110
Principles for the selection and integration of educational multimedia materials
Authors: Boyle Tom
Published: January 2012

A variety of educational multimedia resources, varying in both type and quality, is now available. The course tutor faces the problem of how to evaluate multimedia artefacts and integrate them into course delivery. This paper sets out a principled framework to guide and inform the choice. The task can be approached from two different directions. The first is technologically driven: we survey the latest developments in multimedia and telematics, and query how we can adapt educational practice. The second line of approach is driven by an educational vision: we establish educational goals and principles, and examine how the technology can help implement these goals. In the early multimedia era, developments have often been driven from the first direction. There has been an opportunistic rush to exploit the new technology which has often led to poor-quality systems. This paper follows the second line of approach. It starts with educational aims and principles and finishes with the technology. The paper develops in this way to emphasize the priority of the issues. In a real decision-making context, the issues have to be considered in parallel in order to match educational principles and technological possibilities.DOI:10.1080/0968776980060112
An interactive learning environment in Geographical Information Systems
Authors: Cornelius Sarah , Heywood Ian
Published: January 2012

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools for the input, management, analysis, modelling and display of geographical data. GIS are applied in a wide range of organizations and disciplines, including central and local government, environmental agencies, transport planning and vehicle navigation, education and research, utilities management, resource management, and the financial and retail sectors. GIS is a field of constantly changing technology, and it has been recognized that GIS education needs to be more than a 'once in a lifetime' event (Muller, 1993). Consequently, GIS teachers have developed computer-based materials for learners at all levels, from school students to postgraduates, and for the independent professional updating their skills and knowledge. To date, these materials have followed a number of approaches. Initially demonstrations of GIS software and its capabilities addressed the need to increase awareness of GIS and its applications (DoE, 1987). Arcdemo (Green, 1987) was an innovative early example, providing a demonstration of the software package Arc/Info online. Training in particular software, and the need for hands-on experience, have been addressed with the production of software-specific educational materials which use primarily traditional text-based instructions for exercises with specially prepared data. Examples include Getting started in GIS (Langford, 1993), the Unitar workbooks for Idrisi (for example McKendry et al, 1992) and Understanding GIS: the Arc/Info Method (ESRI, 1990). These have proved particularly popular, and by directing learners through structured exercises allow new users to become familiar with complex software in a relatively short time. More recently, they have migrated to CD-ROM, with training materials such as Getting to know Arcview (ESRI, 1995) provided in this format, and combining software, data and demonstrations.DOI:10.1080/0968776980060204
Comment: the coming tornado?
Authors: McAleese Ray
Published: January 2012

I will start with a declaration of interest and prejudice. I have been for some thirty years a 'learning technologist', or what used to be unfashionably called an 'educational technologist'. I have observed and read books, chapters and papers by John Daniel, the author of this work, for about twenty years, since his days in Concordia University, Montreal. Professor Daniel is without peer as a judge of continuing, open and distance education. As Vice-Chancellor of the Open University, he has seen his institution grow to a leading position in the UK open-learning market with hundreds of courses offered under its inimitable course-design system. He has ensured that the Open University is a beacon of what is best in innovative teaching and programme delivery. He has steered an adept course, gaining widespread international approval for the prototypical University of the Air. His views are canvassed by the Great and the Good. One can discern his hand in the recent Dealing (1997) recommendations.DOI:10.1080/0968776980060207
Reviews
Authors: Wareing Shân , Funnell Peter , Boullier Brian , Dalgleish Heather , Morss Kate , McAleese Ray , Barker Philip
Published: January 2012

Student motivation: the black box which concerns so many of us in higher education, and potentially the answer to all our problems. If we could crack this one, students would use the library and the Web and get their assignments in on time. They would come to our lectures and tutorials having prepared; they would ask interesting and challenging questions; and we would be able to reveal to them the excitement and charm of our chosen discipline. They would all pass everything, and the reputation of our institutions would increase. So does this book have the answers?DOI:10.1080/0968776980060308
Issues of partial credit in mathematical assessment by computer
Authors: Beevers C. E. , Wild D. G. , McGuire G. R. , Fiddes D. J. , Youngson M. A.
Published: January 2012

The CALM Project for Computer Aided Learning in Mathematics started at Heriot-Watt University in 1985. hi the first phase of the project CAL materials were created in calculus with each topic structured around Theory, Worked Examples, Motivating Examples and a Test. Students chose most readily to work through the Test section questions, welcoming the chance to assess their own progress. In addition, the teachers could view class progress. The weekly tests were designed from banks of questions with randomized parameters in each question. These questions prompted students for a mathematical answer and asked them to type in the response on one line using a style similar to computer languages such as Pascal. Students of engineering and science took only a short time to adjust to this approach. The routines developed in those early stages of CALM meant that testing could be more meaningful and did not rely on the more usual multiple-choice format favoured by so many computer projects. Over the years 1989-1992 CALM developed techniques to trap predictable wrong answers and this form of self-testing proved to be a powerful learning aid for students. Nevertheless, some problems which are discussed in greater detail in later sections remained.DOI:10.1080/0968776990070105
The importance of task appropriateness in computer-supported collaborative learning
Authors: Buckner Kathy , Morss Kate
Published: January 2012

The study of learning in collaborative electronic environments is becoming established as Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) - an emergent sub-discipline of the more established Computer Supported Co-operative Work (CSCW) discipline (Webb, 1995). Using computers for the development of shared understanding through collaboration has been explored by Crook who suggests that success may depend partly on having a clearly specified purpose or goal (Crook, 1994). It is our view that the appropriateness of the task given to the student is central to the success or otherwise of the learning experience. However, the tasks that are given to facilitate collaborative learning in face-toface situations are not always suitable for direct transfer to the electronic medium. It may be necessary to consider redesigning these tasks in relation to the medium in which they are to be undertaken and the functionality of the electronic conferencing software used.DOI:10.1080/0968776990070106
Scaling up a learning technology strategy: supporting student/faculty teams in learner-centred design
Authors: Carey Tom , Harrigan Kevin , Palmer Antonia , Swallow Jonathan
Published: January 2012

The need for post-secondary institutions to think strategically about the application of learning technologies has been well documented. The strategy must plan to effect change in faculty approaches to teaching and learning, not just to 'add technology and stir'. An effective strategy will also address both content - the particular applications with the most leverage for institutional goals - and the process of obtaining commitment and moving forward (Daniel, 1996).DOI: 10.1080/0968776990070203
Evaluation of the usefulness of a computerbased learning program to support student learning in pharmacology
Authors: Brain S. , Dewhurst D. G. , Williams A. D.
Published: January 2012

The use of computers in undergraduate education is now widespread and computer-based learning (CBL) has made a significant impact in teaching, particularly over the last decade. This is likely to increase substantially as some £100 million has been made available to stimulate software development in the UK through various initiatives, such as the EEC COMETT program and the UK Higher Education Funding Councils' Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP).DOI: 10.1080/0968776990070205
Effective use of communication and information technology: bridging the skills gap
Authors: Littlejohn Allison H. , Stefani Lorraine A.J.
Published: January 2012

In the context of academic induction courses, exploring conceptions of teaching and learning with new staff members confirms the notion that many academic staff want to teach as they have been taught. To encourage the adoption of new instructional strategies requires raising awareness of how students learn and supporting efforts to teach differently. Creative and flexible teaching requires an awareness of different methodologies, developing new skills with these methodologies and knowing when to apply these methods to optimize students' learning. The process of managing teaching for effective learning is further complicated when staff are expected to use new technologies. Some staff members show an added level of reluctance to engage in constructive dialogue about changes in frameworks for learning and teaching when the potential of communications and information technology (C&IT) is discussed.DOI: 10.1080/0968776990070208
Editorial
Authors: Fowler C. J.H.
Published: January 2012

BT has had, and will continue to have, a long and fruitful partnership with all the educationsectors in the UK. This includes supporting schools (e.g., the LINK scheme), the highereducation (HE) sector (e.g., the University Development Awards) and more recently the furthereducation (FE) sector also through an award scheme. These initiatives form part of BT'scommunity programme. It was not until 1994 that BT considered entering the education andtraining market on a commercial footing. At about that time, the Education and TrainingResearch Programme began at what was then BT Laboratories, now BT Adastral Park.DOI: 10.1080/0968776990070301
Real-time interactive social environments: a review of BT's Generic Learning Platform
Authors: Gardner Michael , Ward Holly
Published: January 2012

The vision of a single platform that supports all the key stakeholders within a wide range of distance learning activities has long been a dream of educationalists and commercial organizations alike. Such a platform could not only provide a consistent educational 'experience' for teachers and learners throughout their lives, but it could also provide administration and managerial support, all of which can be tailored to individual requirements.DOI: 10.1080/0968776990070303
Editorial
Authors: Squires David
Published: January 2012

The phrase 'joined-up' is fast becoming something of a badge for modern imaginative ways of thinking. While much of this attitude may be 'hype' there do seem to be trends which .stress joined-up views of the world. From a social perspective this is evident in moves towards political union in Western Europe and the global influence of multinational corporations. Technology is also contributing to the joined-up view. Multimedia supports new forms of expression, which integrate diverse forms of representation, as eloquently advocated by Negroponte (1995). Networked technologies enable and encourage global communication and information dissemination, as emphasized by the recent decision in the UK to support the development of a Distributed National Electronic Resource (JISC, 1999).DOI:10.1080/0968776000080201