ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Automatic Evaluation for E-Learning Using Latent Semantic Analysis: A Use Case
Author: Farrus, Mireia
Date: 2013-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Semantics,Electronic Learning,Feedback (Response),Evaluation,Natural Language Processing,Web Based Instruction,Information Technology,Case Studies,Experiments,Correlation

Assessment in education allows for obtaining, organizing, and presenting information about how much and how well the student is learning. The current paper aims at analysing and discussing some of the most state-of-the-art assessment systems in education. Later, this work presents a specific use case developed for the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, which is an online university. An automatic evaluation tool is proposed that allows the student to evaluate himself anytime and receive instant feedback. This tool is a web-based platform, and it has been designed for engineering subjects (i.e., with math symbols and formulas) in Catalan and Spanish. Particularly, the technique used for automatic assessment is latent semantic analysis. Although the experimental framework from the use case is quite challenging, results are promising. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)
&quot;Opening&quot; a New Kind of High School: The Story of the Open High School of Utah
Author: Tonks, DeLaina
Date: 2013-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Internet,Online Courses,Access to Education,Natural Disasters,Course Content,Educational Resources,High Schools,Elementary Secondary Education

The use of online learning at the primary and secondary school level is growing exponentially in the United States. Much of this growth is with full-time online schools, most of which are operated by for-profit companies that use proprietary online course content. In this article we trace the development of, and philosophy behind, a full-time online school that uses open access software and open educational resources for course content. As more nations begin to put in place plans for primary and secondary education in the event of natural disasters (e.g., the Christchurch earthquakes) or pandemics (e.g., avian flu or H1N1), the availability of open online content is of critical importance.
Moving to Open Educational Resources at Athabasca University: A Case Study
Author: Ives, Cindy
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Internet,Case Studies,Educational Resources,Higher Education,Online Courses,Distance Education,Shared Resources and Services,Educational Technology

Since the birth of the World Wide Web, educators have been exchanging ideas and sharing resources online. They are all aware of the turmoil in higher education created by freely available content, including some hopeful developments charted in this issue. Interest has grown steadily over the past decade in making a university-level education openly available to students around the globe who would otherwise be overlooked, and recommendations for how to do this are well documented (e.g., UNESCO, 2002; OECD, 2007). Initiatives in the United States (Thille, 2012), Canada (Stacey, 2011b), Africa (OER Africa, n.d.), and the United Kingdom (JISC, 2012) are easily accessed and case studies abound (e.g., Barrett, Grover, Janowski, van Lavieren, Ojo, &amp; Schmidt, 2009). Supporting the widespread availability of OER is a goal that Athabasca University (AU) has embraced through association with the Commonwealth of Learning and by becoming a charter member of the OER University (OERu, 2011). The use of OER in AU programs has strategic local implications that go beyond the five reasons for institutions to engage in OER projects described by Hylen (2006). Recently at AU explorations have begun into the potential of using OER in course design and production.
Open Education Resources and Mobile Technology to Narrow the Learning Divide
Author: Ally, Mohamed
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Laptop Computers,Developing Nations,Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Open Education,Computers,Electronic Learning,Information Technology,Feedback (Response),Technology Uses in Education,Internet,Access to Computers,Disadvantaged,Problem Based Learning,Computer Uses in Education,Educational Technology

As the world becomes more digitized, there will be an increasing need to make available learning resources in electronic format for access by information and communication technologies. The question education will face is whether these learning resources will be available for learners to access at no cost or affordable cost so that there will be equity in access by anyone regardless of location, status, or background. With initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals and Education For All by the United Nations (United Nations, 2011) learning materials must be available as open education resources to achieve the goals. Currently, most learning materials are available at a cost for people to purchase to learn, or they have to travel to a specific location (school or library) to access learning materials. In some parts of the world, especially in developing countries, these costs are prohibitive, preventing learners from achieving a basic level of education so that they can be productive in society and improve their quality of life (Bhavnani et al., 2008). Some would say that people in remote locations and developing countries do not have computers to access learning materials. It is true that many do not have desktop or laptop computers to access learning materials, but they have mobile devices and are now obtaining tablets with wireless capability to allow them to access learning materials from anywhere and at any time. These countries are bypassing the wired desktop stage and moving directly to wireless mobile technology (Bhavnani et al., 2008). Storing open education resources (OER) in electronic repositories will allow learners to access the resources using mobile technology. With mobile technologies, learners can complete coursework and assessments from anywhere and send their work to their tutors electronically and receive feedback (GSMA, 2011).
Mobile Authoring of Open Educational Resources as Reusable Learning Objects
Author: Kinshuk
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Electronic Learning,Educational Technology,Resource Units,Instructional Design,Computer Assisted Instruction,Sustainability,Integrated Learning Systems,Handheld Devices,Telecommunications,Educational Resources,Models

E-learning technologies have allowed authoring and playback of standardized reusable learning objects (RLO) for several years. Effective mobile learning requires similar functionality at both design time and runtime. Mobile devices can play RLO using applications like SMILE, mobile access to a learning management system (LMS), or other systems which deploy content to mobile learners (Castillo &amp; Ayala, 2008; Chu, Hwang, &amp; Tseng, 2010; Hsu &amp; Chen, 2010; Nakabayashi, 2009; Zualkernan, Nikkhah, &amp; Al-Sabah, 2009). However, implementations which author content in a mobile context do not typically permit reuse across multiple contexts due to a lack of standardization. Standards based (IMS and SCORM) authoring implementations exist for non-mobile platforms (Gonzalez-Barbone &amp; Anido-Rifon, 2008; Griffiths, Beauvoir, Liber, &amp; Barrett-Baxendale, 2009; Tellez, 2010; Yang, Chiu, Tsai, &amp; Wu, 2004). However, this paradigm precludes capturing learning where and when it occurs. Consequently, RLO authored for e-learning lack learner generated content, especially with timely, relevant, and location aware examples. (Contains 6 figures.)
Strategies for Sustainable Business Models for Open Educational Resources
Author: de Langen, F. H. T.
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Educational Resources,Access to Information,Business,Models,Partnerships in Education,Cost Effectiveness,Educational Finance,Lifelong Learning,Continuing Education

For several years, the importance of continuous education has been stressed by several governmental and non-governmental institutions (Janssen &amp; Schuwer, 2012; Marshall &amp; Casserly, 2006). Education is seen as important both for personal growth and empowerment for one's personal wellbeing and for developing the professional capabilities needed in today's society. In his 2011 State of the Union address President Obama put emphasis on the government's ambitions to &quot;out-innovate and out-educate&quot; the rest of the world. Almost at the same time, at the Davos World Economic Forum (2011), the urgency of appropriate education was stressed, observing that the current lack of adequately educated people hinders prosperity and economic growth in the near future. The OECD is preparing a proposal to translate these intentions into a concrete policy. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)
Government Support for Open Educational Resources: Policy, Funding, and Strategies
Author: Stacey, Paul
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grants,Educational Resources,Financial Support,Higher Education,Case Studies,Foreign Countries,Shared Resources and Services,Electronic Learning,Educational Technology

Foundations like Hewlett, Mellon, and Gates provided start-up funding and support that nurtured the field of open educational resources (OER) from infancy to a robust early adolescence characterized by energy and idealism (Casserly &amp; Smith, 2008). However, foundation grants typically focus on establishing exemplars and cannot be relied on for sustaining ongoing operations or generating widespread adoption. One strategy for sustaining and expanding OER is for governments and public funding to take over from the early stage funding foundations provided (Stacey, 2010). (Contains 1 table.)
Open Access Scholarly Publications as OER
Author: Anderson, Terry
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Journal Articles,Periodicals,Access to Information,Electronic Publishing,Writing for Publication,Scholarship,Faculty Publishing,Academic Discourse,Course Content,Graduate Study,Educational Resources,Internet,Attitude Change,Peer Acceptance

This paper presents the rationale, common practices, challenges, and some personal anecdotes from a journal editor on the production, use, and re-use of peer-reviewed scholarly articles as open educational resources (OER). The scholarly and professional discourse related to open educational resources has largely focused on open learning objects, courseware, and textbooks. However, especially in graduate education, articles published in scholarly journals are often a major component of the course content in formal education. In addition, open access journal articles are critical to expanding access to knowledge by scholars in the developing world and in fostering citizen science, by which everyone has access to the latest academic information and research results. In this article, I highlight some of the challenges, economic models, and evidence for quality of open access journal content and look at new affordances provided by the Net for enhanced functionality, access, and distribution. In the 17 years since I graduated with a doctorate degree, the climate and acceptance of open access publishing has almost reversed itself. I recall a conversation with my PhD supervisor in which he argued that publishing online was not a viable option as the product would not have permanency, scholarly recognition, or the prestige of a paper publication. His comments reflect the confusion between online resources and those described as open access, but as well illustrate the change in academic acceptance and use of open access products during the past decade. The evolution from paper to online production and consumption is a disruptive technology in which much lower cost and increased accessibility of online work opens the product to a completely new group of potential users. In the case of OER these consumers are primarily students, but certainly access to scholars from all parts of the globe and the availability to support citizen science (Silvertown, 2009) should not be underestimated. (Contains 2 figures.)
The LOGIC of National Policies and Strategies for Open Educational Resources
Author: Mulder, Fred
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Resource Units,Computer Uses in Education,Multimedia Materials,Access to Information,Electronic Publishing,Educational Resources,Educational Practices,National Programs,Educational Policy,Public Policy,Holistic Approach,Sustainability

In its first decade (2001-2010) the OER movement has been carried by numerous relevant and successful projects around the globe. These were sometimes large-scale but more often not, and they were primarily initiated by innovating educational institutions and explorative individual experts. What has remained, however, is the quest for a sustainable perspective, in spite of the many attempts in the OER community for clear-cut solutions to the problem of sustainability. This is a major barrier for mainstreaming the OER approach in national educational systems. At the end of the first decade, and more so at the beginning of the second decade (2011-2020), we are witnessing in a few countries emerging efforts to develop and establish a national OER approach. That is required in order to break down the barrier for mainstreaming OER. Making the OER approach sustainable cannot be left to the educational institutions only, but should be facilitated in a national setting. (Contains 2 figures and 15 online resources.)
Exploration of Open Educational Resources in Non-English Speaking Communities
Author: Cobo, Cristobal
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Video Technology,Databases,Non English Speaking,Educational Resources,Higher Education,Web Sites,Shared Resources and Services,Instructional Materials

Over the last decade, open educational resources (OER) initiatives have created new possibilities for knowledge-sharing practices. This research examines how, where, and when OER are attracting attention in the higher education sector and explores to what extent the OER discussion has moved beyond the English-speaking world. This study analysed English, Spanish, and Portuguese OER queries over a long-term period (2007-2011). The data retrieval was conducted using four online platforms: two academic journal databases (Web of Knowledge and Scopus), one video-sharing Web site (YouTube), and one document-sharing Web site (Scribd). The number (more than 32,860) of search results collected indicate an increasing interest in online OER discussion across languages, particularly outside academic journal databases. Additionally, a widening "language gap" between OER discussions in English and other languages was identified in several platforms. This research reports some of the cultural and language challenges caused by the expansion of the OER discussion and highlights relevant findings in this field. (Contains 4 figures and 3 tables.)
Visualization Mapping Approaches for Developing and Understanding OER
Author: Connolly, Teresa
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Video Technology,Visualization,Educational Resources,Internet,Resource Units,Multimedia Materials,Workshops,Foreign Countries,Web Sites

Open educational resources (OER) can be described in numerous ways (Creative Commons, 2012). In this visualization based context, however, OER can be defined as ...teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use or re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials or techniques used to support access to knowledge. (Hewlett Foundation, 2007) This definition emphasizes some of the aspects highlighted in this article, namely that an OER approach has also been taken to capture and visualize OER materials. In addition reference is made to the forthcoming paper, &quot;How Diagrams Aid Teaching and Learning in STEM Subjects as Exemplified by the Teaching and Learning of Systems Thinking in Practice&quot; (Lane, 2012, in press), which outlines how the educational process often involves a mediated discourse between teachers and learners to aid sense or meaning for both parties. (Contains 15 figures and 14 online resources.)
Vygotsky, "Defectology," and the Inclusion of People of Difference in the Broader Cultural Stream
Author: Smagorinsky, Peter
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Inclusion,Disabilities,Attitudes toward Disabilities,Individual Development,Developmental Psychology,Psychopathology,Socialization,Ideology,Judaism,Cultural Background,Christianity,Political Attitudes,Culture,Biology,Normalization (Disabilities)

This essay reviews Vygotsky's work on defectology. First, Vygotsky's cultural heritage as a Jew during the transformation from Tsarist Russia to the Soviet Union is considered as a factor in his views on defectology and inclusion. The review then outlines his perspective on the "defect," including his definition of "defect," his view of the generative potential of overcoming the obstacles of biological difference, and his consideration of the secondary defect of low self-worth that follows from being treated as different and defective. Finally, the review considers his defectological writing as part of his broader effort to formulate a theory of situated, mediated human development. This section includes attention to how cultures provide developmental contours within which to promote both individual and collective development toward particular ends; how collective activity provides the socialization through which those developing outside the diagnostic norm may proceed toward such collective ends; and how Vygotsky conceived of education in order to address the developmental needs of evolutionarily different children. The paper concludes with the implications of Vygotsky's work for the education of children of difference. (Contains 7 footnotes.)
Is the Library Important? Multivariate Studies at the National and International Level
Author: Krashen, Stephen
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Libraries,Public Libraries,Access to Information,Books,Poverty,Predictor Variables,Reading Tests,Scores,Grade 4,Grade 8,National Competency Tests,Multivariate Analysis

Three multivariate analyses, all controlling for the effects of poverty, confirm the importance of the library. Replicating McQuillan's analysis of 1992 NAEP scores, this study finds that access to books in school and public libraries was a significant predictor of 2007 fourth grade NAEP reading scores, as well as the difference between grade 4 and grade 8 2007 NAEP reading scores, suggesting that access is important for improvement after grade 4. Access (school/classroom libraries) was a significant predictor of scores on the PIRLS test, a reading test given to fourth graders in 40 countries. (Contains 13 tables.)
Traditional Tales and Literacy: Pre-Service Teachers' Transmediation of "Hansel and Gretel"
Author: Altenderfer, Eliza
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Instruction,Folk Culture,Tales,Preservice Teachers,Technology Uses in Education,Technology Integration,Critical Reading,Semantics,Visual Aids,Photography,Media Adaptation,Multimedia Materials,Childrens Literature,Learner Engagement

Because teaching in the twenty-first century involves use of technology, our paper advocates for the integration of multimedia in a literature-based curriculum. One way teachers can accomplish this integration is through transmediation. In this paper, four pre-service teachers (Eliza Altenderfer, Amanda Doerfler, Erika Poblete, and Marissa Williamson) and their education professor (Vivian Yenika-Agbaw) share their experiences with transmediation to demonstrate that not only is it a fun way to engage children with literary texts, but that it also enables them to become critical readers and innovative writers. Mediating literary texts provides an alternative form of response that allows children to negotiate meanings in deliberate ways and to present these meanings in new text forms.
What Is Literacy?--A Critical Overview of Sociocultural Perspectives
Author: Perry, Kristen H.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Literacy,Theories,Social Capital,Power Structure,Multiple Literacies,Critical Literacy,Sociocultural Patterns,Praxis,Instruction

Sociocultural perspectives on literacy include various theories focused on the myriad ways in which people use literacy in context, which include a strong emphasis on power relations. Yet, these theories also have important differences, and many in the field of literacy do not clearly differentiate among them. I provide a critical overview of influential sociocultural perspectives on literacy, focusing on three major perspectives: (1) literacy as social practice, (2) multiliteracies, and (3) critical literacy. In an effort to support researchers in framing their scholarly work and to support practitioners and other consumers of research make sense of research, I discuss the ways in which each theory would answer the question, "What is literacy?" as well as the affordances and limitations of these theories in terms of literacy development, literacy use, and literacy instruction. (Contains 2 figures.)
Latino Media and Critical Literacy Pedagogies: Children's Scripting of Telenovelas Discourses
Author: Medina, Carmen Liliana
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Drama,Critical Literacy,Commercialization,Ethnography,Foreign Countries,Global Approach,Grade 3,Puerto Ricans,Teaching Methods,Classroom Research,Urban Areas,Television,Programming (Broadcast),Elementary School Teachers,Elementary School Students,Spanish

Using elements of the ethnography of globalization and teacher research, two Puerto Rican researchers and educators worked collaboratively with a teacher on a study conducted in a third grade classroom in a public school in an urban community in Puerto Rico. They conceptualized children's curricular engagement with the Spanish television genre of telenovelas in relation to classroom critical literacy and performative inquiry where children's histories, their lives in hyper-globalized contexts (through media, multinational commercialization, and technology), and their related discursive practices were made visible. (Contains 3 figures.)
Three Avid Adolescent Male Writers' Experiences at a Residential Summer Writing Workshop
Author: Ruday, Sean
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Adolescents,Males,Secondary School Students,Experience,Writing Workshops,Writing Strategies,Risk,Residential Programs,Summer Programs,Self Concept,Identification (Psychology),Social Environment

This study explored three purposefully-sampled avid adolescent male writers' experiences at a residential summer writing workshop program. It investigated how the social context of the program influenced the writing of the focal students, the ways that they identified themselves as writers, and the risks that they took in their works. It also examined if the participants' experiences at the program were influenced by their gender. The study used a cross-case analysis to explore in-common and unique themes in the students' experiences. The findings address three themes: community, risk-taking, and the perceived influence of gender, indicating the participants experienced these themes in ways that were common in some ways, but also distinct based on the participants' individual characteristics and the aspects of the Workshop each identified as most significant.