ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
ICTs and Educational Development: The Utilization of Mobile Phones in Distance Education in Nigeria
Author: Kabir, Fatima Shehu
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Information Technology,Educational Development,Distance Education,Handheld Devices,Telecommunications,Electronic Learning,Higher Education,Foreign Countries

The demand for education in Africa has been on the increase. Thus, there is the need to identify more affordable ways of improving access to learning. For many decades, Open and Distance Education mediated by ICTs has been used to improve access to education. But in developing countries ICTS have been full of challenges of cost, and lack of appropriate infrastructure creating the notion of &quot;digital divide&quot;. At the same time, we are now witnessing an unprecedented explosion in the number of mobile telephones globally, and in Nigeria. This technology, which is arguably the commonest means of communication, could play a pivotal role in extending the possibilities for teaching, learning, and research in distance educational institutions. Numerous studies have shown success stories of mobile learning in the developed world. This paper makes a case for implementing mobile learning in Nigeria by showing a number of successful Mobile Learning initiatives. The study also identified challenges that need to be addressed in order to sustain and succeed in the implementation of mobile learning in Nigeria.
Negotiating Perceptions of Tracked Students: Novice Teachers Facilitating High-Quality Mathematics Instruction
Author: Yanisko, Emily Joy
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Beginning Teachers,Mathematics Instruction,Case Studies,Participant Observation,Teacher Attitudes,Reflective Teaching,Mathematics Teachers,Track System (Education),Problem Solving,African American Teachers,Mentors,Middle School Teachers,Teacher Expectations of Students,Alternative Teacher Certification,Teacher Effectiveness,Self Efficacy

In this article, the author reports on a participant-observation case study that explored how alternatively certified, middle school teachers' expectations of tracked students affect their ability to learn to teach in ways that promote students' mathematical struggle and participation in productive mathematical discussions. Two teachers--one teaching a &quot;high-tracked&quot; course and the other a &quot;low-tracked&quot; course--were participants. Both teachers initially held perceptions of their students that limited their efficacy and self-efficacy with respect to providing high-quality mathematics instruction. However, through program- and school-based mentoring, including participation in a modified reflective-teaching cycle, the teachers learned to learn from their teaching and modify their practice. Both teachers began to allow their students opportunities to struggle with rigorous mathematics and participate in student-centered discussion.
Problems Experienced in Evaluating Success and Performance in Distance Education: A Case Study
Author: Yilmaz, Ramazan
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Distance Education,Case Studies,Student Evaluation,Success,Performance,Electronic Learning,Comparative Analysis,Teacher Attitudes,College Faculty,Qualitative Research,Semi Structured Interviews

The need for distance education is increasing due to such reasons as keeping up with the changing social conditions, meeting the learning needs of the individuals and enabling them to be lifelong learners. In addition to many advantages distance education provides, it also has certain restrictions. One of these restrictions is the problems encountered in evaluating students' success and performance. The purpose of this study is to examine the viewpoints of lecturers regarding the evaluation process of academic success and performance of those students who are attending to online distance education program and to compare lecturers' views on assessment and evaluation practices carried out in face-to-face classroom environment with those online assessment and evaluation practices. The study was a case study and the data of the study were collected from the lecturers who lectured in a distant education program of a state university. Based on the findings of the study, the problems that lecturers have in evaluating the success and performance of the students in online distance education and possible solution suggestions for these problems are presented.
A Framework for Understanding Whiteness in Mathematics Education
Author: Battey, Dan
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mathematics Education,Whites,Racial Bias,Mathematics Teachers,Minority Group Students,White Students,Sociology,History,Education,Legal Problems,Public Policy,Educational Finance,Student Characteristics,Identification (Psychology)

In this article, the authors provide a framework for understanding whiteness in mathematics education. While whiteness is receiving more attention in the broader education literature, only a handful of scholars address whiteness in mathematics education in any form. This lack of attention to whiteness leaves it invisible and neutral in documenting mathematics as a racialized space. Naming White institutional spaces, as well as the mechanisms that oppress students, can provide those who work in the field of mathematics education with specific ideas about combat-ting these racist structures. The framework developed and presented here illustrates three dimensions of White institutional space--institutional, labor, and identity--that are intended to support mathematics educators in two ways: (a) systematically documenting how whiteness subjugates historically marginalized students of color and their agency in resisting this oppression, and (b) making visible the ways in which whiteness impacts White students to reproduce racial privilege.
The Effects of Social Media Use on Collaborative Learning: A Case of Turkey
Author: Bozanta, Aysun
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Social Media,Mass Media Use,Cooperative Learning,College Students,Questionnaires,Structural Equation Models,Peer Relationship,Learner Engagement,Teacher Student Relationship,College Faculty,Factor Analysis,Goodness of Fit,Validity

The social media usage has penetrated to the many areas in daily lives of today's students. Therefore, social media can be effective tool to support their educational communications and collaborations with their friends and also faculty members. This study aims to determine the effects of social media on collaborative learning. For this purpose, a theoretical model is proposed based on comprehensive literature review. Using an online questionnaire, data are collected from the students of one of the largest university in Turkey. Structural equation modelling is employed as the major statistical analytic technique. The theoretical model is supported by the findings significantly. The findings indicate that perceived ease of use is a predictor of perceived usefulness and both of these have impact on social media use of students for educational purposes. Social media usage improves peer interaction and course engagement of students and also students' interaction with faculty members. Finally, peer interaction and course engagement have positive significant effect on collaborative learning. The results of the study might be helpful to students and educational leaders in their efforts to create initiatives to support, promote, and encourage the implementation and usage of social media in blended learning classes and provide adequate training for teachers to increase social media adoption.
An Intersectional Analysis of Latin@ College Women's Counter-Stories in Mathematics
Author: Leyva, Luis A.
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Females,Undergraduate Students,College Mathematics,STEM Education,Higher Education,Mathematics Instruction,Case Studies,Mathematics Achievement,Critical Theory,Race,Hispanic American Students,Majors (Students),Personal Narratives,Story Telling,Institutional Characteristics,Whites,Autobiographies,Focus Groups,Semi Structured Interviews

In this article, the author discusses the intersectionality of mathematics experiences for two Latin@ college women pursuing mathematics-intensive STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) majors at a large, predominantly White university. The author employs intersectionality and poststructural theories to explore and make meaning of their experiences in relation to discourses of mathematics ability and pursuits of STEM higher education. A cross-case analysis of two Latin@ college women's counter-stories details the development of success-oriented beliefs and strategies in navigating the discourses that they encountered institutionally and interpersonally in their mathematics experiences. Implications are raised for P-16 mathematics and STEM education to broaden equitable learning opportunities for Latin@ women and other marginalized groups' construction of positive mathematics identities at intersections of gender and other social identities.
A Conceptual Framework of Virtual Interactive Teacher Training through Open and Distance Learning for the Remote Areas English Teachers of Bangladesh
Author: Parvin, Irene
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Electronic Learning,Open Education,Distance Education,Rural Education,English Teachers,Open Universities,Computer Uses in Education,Access to Education,Inservice Teacher Education,English (Second Language)

Since we are living in the information age and the importance of the need for communication among people of different cultures is increasing day by day in the globalizing world, people need to learn the languages of different cultures, particularly English, which is the common language of this global communication. This need for learning English requires trained qualified teachers of English. A scan of those who are teaching English in schools of Bangladesh reveals that most of them are very limited in both English skills and teaching methodologies for English. This situation is exacerbated when one moves into the rural areas. Most of the teachers are staying far away from the teachers' training colleges and also for different constraint like administrative, financial, time constraint and were also unable to receive any training due to family problems. So Distance Education has a great demand to them. ICT is an effective media of distance education. For many years, universities with a significant commitment to distance and open education institutions have been at the forefront of adopting new technologies to increase access to education and training opportunities. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is an umbrella term that includes all technologies for the manipulation and communication of information. Bangladesh Open University (BOU) is till now belonging to the second generation of distance education model but due to the enhancement of technology in Bangladesh, BOU can proceed further. The main purpose of this study is to identify a suitable technology for developing a virtual interactive teachers' training program for the disadvantaged English teachers of Bangladesh. Respondents were selected through random sampling and data were analyzed using both descriptive statistics and quantitative themes. From the opinion of the secondary English teachers their access and acceptability on ICT was identified and also a need analysis was done. It is hoped that the result of this study will encourage the policy makers to implement new ODL approaches for the training of disadvantaged rural English teachers.
Striving toward Transformational Resistance: Youth Participatory Action Research in the Mathematics Classroom
Author: Raygoza, Mary Candace
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Participatory Research,Action Research,Mathematics Instruction,High School Students,Secondary School Teachers,Grade 9,Hispanic American Students,Algebra,Social Justice,Learning Activities,Culturally Relevant Education,Transformative Learning,Pretests Posttests,Questionnaires,Autobiographies,Journal Writing,Resistance (Psychology),Coding

In this article, the author contributes to the growing body of scholarship on critical mathematics pedagogy. In particular, the author advances this scholarship by outlining how critical pedagogy in the mathematics classroom can support students to engage in transformational resistance. Using a critical practitioner research approach, the author retells (some of) her experiences as a high school mathematics teacher of ninth-grade Latin@ students in an Algebra I classroom. Beginning the course with activities to build a beloved community and connecting mathematics with social justice issues, the author strived to facilitate a learning space that supported transformational resistance. Through a culminating youth participatory action research project, students developed a critique of societal oppression, a motivation for social justice, and critical mathematical literacy.
Quality Improvement in Virtual Higher Education: A Grounded Theory Approach
Author: Mahdiuon, Rouhollah
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Educational Quality,Higher Education,Virtual Universities,Educational Technology,Comparative Analysis,Grounded Theory,Semi Structured Interviews,College Faculty,Expertise,Coding,Learning Processes,College Administration,Cultural Influences

The article aims to explore the attributes of quality and quality improvement including the process and specific actions associated with these attributes--that contribute enhancing quality in Iranian Virtual Higher Education (VHE) institutions. A total of 16 interviews were conducted with experts and key actors in Iranian virtual higher education. A constant comparative analysis was adopted to construct a grounded theory model. Drawing on the experiences and perspectives of key actors and experts closely associated with quality in e-learning, a paradigm model for quality improvement in virtual higher education institutions was developed. The model articulates causal conditions, action/interaction strategies, consequences, contextual factors and intervening environments. Interestingly, quality of learning, i.e. deep learning was the core phenomenon in quality of virtual higher education institutions.
Students' Preferences in Online Assessment Process: Influences on Academic Performances
Author: Cakiroglu, Unal
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Attitudes,College Students,Preferences,Evaluation Methods,Student Evaluation,Integrated Learning Systems,Electronic Learning,Educational Technology,Academic Achievement,Success,Foreign Countries

In the constructivist approach, various self-assessment techniques are being developed to enable students to assess themselves in the learning process. The purpose of the study is to investigate relation between students' preferences in assessment process and students' performances. The study was conducted with 67 sophomore students enrolled in Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies at a State University. The study was carried out in &quot;Measurement and Evaluation in Education&quot; course. At the beginning, Moodle LMS was used to define the preferences of students about their own assessment criteria (discussion, quiz, assignment and viewing of course content). Throughout the process, students were received the course instructional package in the classroom. Then they were asked to fill the assessment activities on the LMS. Students' actual performances in online activities in terms of their preference about assessment criteria was calculated as students course achievement scores. The mean value of the scores and the standard deviation were guided us to divide the participants into three groups (unsuccessful, moderately successful, successful) considering their means and standard deviations. Then, the preferences of students and their academic achievements were associated in each group. As a result, various criteria were come to front in both successful and unsuccessful groups. Surprisingly, none of the students preferred viewing course content and participating in discussions as the highest assessment criterion. Besides, it was found that all the students in successful group preferred viewing course content as lowest assessment criterion. The results indicated that, there were no prominent criteria in the relations between the preferences of students about assessment process and the academic performances. However, most of the students in unsuccessful group performed better in assignment although they did not preferred the assignment as the highest assessment criterion. At the end of the study, we noticed that while considering the criterion in the assessment process, taking students' perspectives and preferences into consideration motivated students positively and had somehow related to their academic achievements. Thus, it is hoped that the study can provides an insight to future studies to enrich assessment activities with giving responsibilities to students in learning, especially in assessment process.
Evaluation of Free Platforms for Delivery of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS)
Author: Zancanaro, Airton
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Online Courses,Large Group Instruction,Delivery Systems,Technology Integration,Evaluation Methods,Web Sites,Computer Networks

For the hosting, management and delivery of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) it is necessary a technological infrastructure that supports it. Various educational institutions do not have or do not wish to invest in such a structure, possibly because MOOCs are not yet part of official programs of universities, but initiatives by a particular teacher or a research group. Focusing on this problem, this study seeks to identify platforms that make it possible to create, host and provide courses free of charges for the offeror; find in the respective literature, the basic requirements for MOOC platforms and to evaluate the platforms based on the raised requirements. In order to identify the platforms, information was sought in scientific articles and websites dealing with the comparison of platforms and listing the existing MOOC providers. For the definition of evaluation requirements, there was a search in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, looking for the term &quot;Massive Open Online Courses&quot;. After applying some filters, 62 works that address platforms and technology were selected for analysis. As a result there is the identification of six platforms that allow the free supply of courses, the proposal for 14 requirements for reviewing them and a frame containing the evaluation of the identified platforms. This assessment is important since it brings knowledge as a basis for selecting a platform that is the most suitable one in terms of the chosen structure and method to store, manage and deliver courses in MOOC format.
Multiple Access Points within the Online Classroom: Where Students Look for Information
Author: Steele, John
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Online Courses,Access to Information,College Students,Student Surveys,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Qualitative Research,Student Attitudes,Electronic Mail,Telecommunications,Student Satisfaction,Computer Mediated Communication

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of information placement within the confines of the online classroom architecture. Also reviewed was the impact of other variables such as course design, teaching presence and student patterns in looking for information. The sample population included students from a major online university in their first year course sequence. Students were tasked with completing a survey at the end of the course, indicating their preference for accessing information within the online classroom. The qualitative data indicated that student preference is to receive information from multiple access points and sources within the online classroom architecture. Students also expressed a desire to have information delivered through the usage of technology such as email and text messaging. In addition to receiving information from multiple sources, the qualitative data indicated students were satisfied overall, with the current ways in which they received and accessed information within the online classroom setting. Major findings suggest that instructors teaching within the online classroom should have multiple data access points within the classroom architecture. Furthermore, instructors should use a variety of communication venues to enhance the ability for students to access and receive information pertinent to the course.
A Re-Evaluation of Mobile Communication Technology: A Theoretical Approach for Technology Evaluation in Contemporary Digital Learning
Author: Yumurtaci, Onur
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Telecommunications,Technology Uses in Education,Educational Technology,Constructivism (Learning),Handheld Devices,Technology Integration,Learning Theories,Social Networks,Evaluation Methods

We live in an age of continual technological development. Rapidly developing technologies have found use in nearly all aspects of life. As such, it is understandable that technology has also infiltrated the field of education. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has provided us with the technical underpinnings for distance and lifelong learning. Our understanding of learning has shifted in accordance with the capabilities of technology in such a way that we have had to re-think our approach to learning as a whole. Connectivism is one such approach which aims to re-consider learning within the scope of our relatively new, networked social structure. The Theory of Connectivism relies heavily on what we are technically capable of, and therefore it is also important that we re-evaluate our approach to the technology we use in learning. Due to these aforementioned shifts in our approach towards learning, this study aims to provide a theoretical framework for the re-evaluation of the technology we utilize in connectivist learning; more specifically, how to evaluate our perception of mobile communication technology. A combination of the Technology Acceptance Model and the Media Naturalness Theory is proposed for the evaluation of user perception of mobile communication technology, and the implications of possible outcomes of this reevaluation are discussed with regards to connectivist learning and education as a whole.
Conceptions of the Nature of Science Held by Undergraduate Pre-Service Biology Teachers in South-West Nigeria
Author: Adedoyin, A. O.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Preservice Teachers,Student Teacher Attitudes,Scientific Attitudes,Science Teachers,Biology,Scientific Principles,Knowledge Level,Misconceptions,Gender Differences,Geographic Regions,Questionnaires,Metacognition,Hypothesis Testing,Statistical Analysis

This study investigated the conceptions of the nature of science held by pre-service undergraduate biology teachers in South-West, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the influence of their gender on their conceptions of the nature of science. The study was a descriptive research of the survey method. The population for the study comprised all undergraduate pre-service biology teachers in Nigerian universities. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select ninety nine (99) undergraduate pre-service biology teachers from three universities in South-West, Nigeria. The nature of science questionnaire (NoSQ) was used to collect data. Results revealed that pre-service undergraduate teachers' gender did not influence their conceptions. It was recommended that biology teacher educators should equip the pre-service undergraduate biology teachers with meta-cognitive tools such as Study Technology to enable them to learn for meaningful understanding.