ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The Use of Virtual Ethnography in Distance Education Research
Author: Uzun, Kadriye
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Virtual Classrooms,Ethnography,Learning Processes,Field Studies,Distance Education,Educational Research,Research Projects,Research Methodology,Interviews,Participant Observation,Technology Uses in Education,Use Studies,Computer Mediated Communication,Ethics,Foreign Countries,Change Strategies,Educational Strategies

3D virtual worlds can and have been used as a meeting place for distance education courses. Virtual worlds allow for group learning of the kind enjoyed by students gathered in a virtual classroom, where they know they are in a communal space, they are aware of the social process of learning and are affected by the presence and behaviour of their fellow students and tutor. Traditional ethnography has been adjusted to virtual environments and much research on this issue has been carried out under the umbrella of virtual ethnography. The increase in diverse Internet applications can be pointed out as the cause of this inclination and increase. In this study, the authors explain the method of virtual ethnography in detail, inform about data gathering instruments such as participatory virtual observation, online and offline (face to face) interviews touch upon ethical questions related to field studies and highlight the elements that call for attention in the use of virtual ethnography in distance education studies. (Contains 1 table.)
It's Not That Tough: Students Speak about Their Online Learning Experiences
Author: Barbour, Michael K.
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Attitudes,Foreign Countries,Electronic Learning,Online Courses,Course Content,Educational Technology,Secondary School Students,Attitude Measures,Computer Uses in Education,Asynchronous Communication,Synchronous Communication,Interviews,Interpersonal Communication

K-12 online learning is growing in Canada and elsewhere in the world. However, the vast majority of literature is focused on practitioners and not on systematic inquiry. Even the limited published research has largely excluded the perspectives of students engaged in virtual schooling. This study examines secondary student perceptions of components of virtual schooling that were beneficial and challenging. Students largely enjoyed their virtual school courses and found the synchronous classes, the technology, and the ability to control their own learning as positive aspects of their experience. Students also found the lack of a sense of community, working during their asynchronous class time, and the asynchronous course content to be challenging; and made suggestions for improvement to each, along with advice to future virtual school students. (Contains 1 table.)
Cost Drivers in Distance Education: The Values in Nigerian Universities
Author: Inegbedion, Juliet Obhajajie
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Distance Education,Unit Costs,Educational Finance,Finance Reform,Cost Effectiveness,Program Costs,Student Costs,Expenditure per Student,Operations Research,Blended Learning,Enrollment Influences,Enrollment Trends,Check Lists,Educational Administration,Program Administration,Statistical Analysis,Audits (Verification)

Distance university education has come a long way in Nigeria. It started as a dual mode and today has both the dual and single modes. However, the system has been faced majorly with the challenge of inadequate funding. This has hampered the success rate of the system. Therefore for the purpose of appropriate utilisation of the available fund, it is necessary that the knowledge of the unit cost of cost drivers is gained. This will help in re-directing and prioritising the available fund. To meet this purpose, five research questions were raised and answered. Descriptive survey research design was used. Checklist served as the instrument used to obtained data from the sampled institutions. The data collected were analysed using econometric formulas and charts. The findings revealed that cost drivers in Nigerian distance education programmes have not attained adequate unit costs. High enrolment and proper planning before commencement of programmes were recommended. (Contains 5 tables and 5 figures.)
Capacity Building of Teachers through Distance Mode Using Teleconferencing as an Innovative Tool
Author: Ranjan Panigrahi, Manas
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Capacity Building,Program Effectiveness,Program Descriptions,Foreign Countries,Distance Education,Feedback (Response),Data Analysis,Teleconferencing,Technical Support,Elementary School Teachers,Innovation,Surveys,Teacher Attitudes

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is a national programme to the goals of Universalization of Elementary Education in India. Distance Education Programme (DEP) plays a major role in providing technical support to the states in building capacity among institutions and people at national, state, district and sub-district levels to design, develop, produce and deliver distance learning inputs and materials in a recurrent manner. Rajasthan Council of Primary Education, Jaipur and DEP-SSA, IGNOU, New Delhi has organized 07 content based teleconferences during the period January, 2005 to October, 2005 for the capacity building of elementary school teachers. The main Objective of the study was to find out the effectiveness of the capacity building of teachers through distance mode using teleconferencing as an innovative tool. Method: the researcher was used survey method under descriptive research for investigating the impact of teleconference programmes organized on different topics and areas. Sample: The sample consists of 4775 elementary school teachers as participants from the different learning ends of the Rajasthan were selected for the study. Tools: The DEP-SSA, IGNOU developed structured opinionnaire/feedback format to know the effectiveness of teleconference programme. Data analysis: The collected data were tabulated and analyzed with the percentage techniques and it is presented in table. Finding: Most of the teacher respondents agreed on the positive contribution of teleconferencing towards capacity building of teachers. (Contains 5 tables.)
The Strategic Planning (SWOT) Analysis Outcomes and Suggestions according to the Students and the Lecturers within the Distance Education System
Author: Yelken, Tugba Yanpar
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Qualitative Research,Questionnaires,Vocational Schools,Distance Education,Opinions,Strategic Planning,Computer Assisted Instruction,Electronic Learning,College Students,Student Attitudes,College Faculty,Teacher Attitudes,Program Effectiveness,College Instruction,Content Analysis,Statistical Analysis,Student Surveys,Online Surveys,Vocational Education,Vocational Education Teachers

In recent years, strategic planning has become one of the subjects that many institutions work on to ensure the institutions' appropriate management based on realistic results. Therefore, this planning has to be taken into account and should provide planning direction on the bases of its results. Basically, the manager of strategic planning, leadership and strategic thinking and to act to help planners designed the tools, processes and concepts is a group. At the same time, the organization of the development and effective strategies will help to place. The purpose of this research is to provide SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis and to present new suggestions based on the opinions of students in the distance education system. In this work, we have applied Survey Method. The study group has consisted of 70 students and 11 instructors of Mersin Vocational School of Higher Education (MVSHE). All the data was surveyed during the spring semester of 2009. In the development of the questionnaire, a relevant literature has been investigated. Also, expert opinion has also been provided for the survey materials and survey articles. The questionnaire is finalized according to the expert's opinion. The questionnaire was applied in the internet environment to both the students and the instructors. The outcomes of the survey have been evaluated quantatively along the direction of the survey's fundamental question: &quot;What are your views on strategic planning (SWOT) of distance education?&quot; The suggestions have been made about the distance learning education based on the findings of the survey. (Contains 5 tables.)
Social Networking in Physical Education: Undergraduate Students' Views on Ning
Author: Sezen Balcikanli, Gulfem
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Physical Education,Student Attitudes,Teaching Methods,Interaction,Classroom Environment,Undergraduate Students,Web 2.0 Technologies,Researchers,Social Networks,Network Analysis,Aptitude Treatment Interaction,Student Motivation,Educational Theories,Semi Structured Interviews,Student Interests,Student Needs,Learning Processes,Foreign Countries,Distance Education,Group Dynamics,Social Psychology

It was the aim of this study to investigate physical education undergraduate students' views on the use of social networking, one of the most typical representations of Web 2.0 technologies. In order to do so, the researcher, who was the instructor of the class, entitled &quot;Fair Play Education in Sport&quot;, introduced Ning and its educational aspects to her students with a 50-minute presentation prior to the study. Following this, the students were encouraged to use this networking for 15 weeks in parallel with their class. During this application, the researcher helped the students to make the best use of Ning in educational settings. Upon the implementation, the researcher interviewed the students (n=19) in five groups on the basis of the questions prepared and piloted earlier. The interviews demonstrated that the students enjoyed using social networking in educational settings. The findings of the study were the following: Increasing student-student and teacher-student interaction, enhancing student motivation and classroom climate, sharing materials with the instructor and students, making use of students' interests and needs, and making learning process more interesting and permanent. The research concluded that social networking could be used in PE classes effectively. (Contains 1 table.)
The Primary Student Teachers' Views about a Blended Learning Application in a Basic Physics Course
Author: Taskin Ekici, Fatma
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Physics,Foreign Countries,Electronic Learning,Online Courses,Blended Learning,Student Teachers,Student Teacher Attitudes,Elementary School Science,Educational Technology,Computer Uses in Education,Computer Mediated Communication,Constructivism (Learning)

In this study we present an overview of the undergraduate blended Physics course that has been supported by the Moodle platform. The course that has been applied is a basic physics course for primary student teachers. The aim of Moodle is to create an online learning environment which helps students to have a virtual space where they can share knowledge through different kinds of supervised activities, chats and forums. Students have to enter Moodle and they have participated activities that have been offered by the instructor after the lesson every week. After the study, results have shown that teacher candidates using Moodle processing have positive thoughts about the course. In the study, it has been emphasized views of prospective primary teachers about Moodle in some subjects of physics. Students are challenged to doing research. Prospective teachers tend to use this method in their professional life; therefore, it is recommend that offering challenging possibilities to them about their using. It is recommended that this application is become widespread in education (especially higher education in Turkey). (Contains 2 figures and 9 tables.)
Integration of Prior Learning and Assessment in the IGNOU Community College System for Skill Development
Author: Shanmugham, M.
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Evaluation Methods,Adult Learning,Nontraditional Students,Open Universities,Prior Learning,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Community Colleges,Distance Education,Skill Development,Labor Force Development,Job Skills,Experiential Learning,Access to Education,Equal Education

The Open and Distance Learning (ODL) has come to stay as an alternative mode to meet the higher educational requirements of diverse groups. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), a system leader in India, plays a major role in giving access and equity, besides maintaining and coordinating standards of distance education in the country. IGNOU has started Community College Scheme in the year 2009 to impart skills to school drop-outs, unskilled workers, unorganized sector and industrial workers. The success of IGNOU Community Colleges lies in their ability to evolve need-based programmes and incorporate the essential academic flexibility in the instructional methods. Prior Learning and Assessment (PLA) method is widely acknowledged the world over as a tool to enhance skill development at the work place. This work proposes a model for the integration of PLA method in the IGNOU Community College Scheme to bring the desired academic flexibility for skill development. Thus, applying the proposed model, this article also attempts to evolve a working model curriculum at the levels of Base-Line workers, Assistants and Supervisory level workers and Above Supervisory level workers. The integration of PLA with community Colleges is expected to enhance academic flexibility and thus promote skill-based human resources though ODL system in the country.
Towards Understanding the Successful Learner: A Case Study of IGNOU
Author: Nair, Sindhu P.
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Access to Education,Distance Education,Educational Technology,Foreign Countries,Graduation,Dropouts,Adult Learning,Educational Environment,Educational Attainment,Influences,Study Habits,Family Influence,Peer Influence,College Role,Counseling Techniques,Teaching Methods,Student Participation,Self Determination,Goal Orientation,Work Ethic,Time Management,Writing Skills,Reading Skills,Skill Development

The growth of enrolment in the ODL system has been considerable. However, another parameter of significance in the context of Open and Distance learning is the learner success rate. While enrolment rates have been very encouraging in distance education, the pass-out rates haven't been similar. There is a need to focus on the dynamics involved after a learner enrols himself in an OU and what drives him to stay focussed and complete his academic pursuit successfully or alternatively what holds or slows his academic progress and eventually makes him drop out. The study highlights that there are both institution-based (that is OU-based) and learner-centric factors that could facilitate learners to successfully complete their studies. There are both controllable and uncontrollable factors that affect the OU learners' success rate. This study attempts to capture the learner-centric factors and OU-related factors that have facilitated the learners to successfully complete their study. The paper delves into those key aspects or factors which would have facilitated the passed out learners in successfully completing their programmes in the open system. The findings are of direct interest, both from an institution perspective and that of a distance learner. It provides inputs to the Open and distance learning system, towards formulating appropriate strategies that further facilitate learners to successfully pass out. Also the findings serve as indicators/guide rules for any learner in the open system. (Contains 1 figure and 11 tables.)
Development of Usability Criteria for E-Learning Content Development Software
Author: Celik, Serkan
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Electronic Learning,Computer Software,Computer Software Evaluation,Web Based Instruction,Usability,Use Studies,Evaluation Criteria,Evaluation Methods,Observation,Guidelines,Instructional Design,Benchmarking,Educational Assessment,College Students,Comparative Analysis,Statistical Analysis

Revolutionary advancements have been observed in e-learning technologies though an amalgamated evaluation methodology for new generation e-learning content development tools is not available. The evaluation of educational software for online use must consider its usability and as well as its pedagogic effectiveness. This study is a first step towards the definition of criteria for evaluating e-learning tools. A preliminary user study involving a group of pre-service instructional designers, observed during their interaction with e-learning tools, is reported. Throughout the study, specific usability attributes of these e-learning tools were identified. Participants were assigned to rate the importance of functional and pedagogical competences proposed during the criteria development phase. The findings of the study revealed 31 evaluation criteria under the headings of technical, media, and assessment competences. Among the groups of benchmarks proposed and rated by the users, assessment was considered as the most important one while technical and media features were even. The following step was actual implementation of the usability criteria into evaluation of fifteen leading software used in e-learning across the world. Mostly, tools were observed as having limitations in terms of capabilities. Comparing to the other software, Captivate, Softchalk, and Lectora were regarded as outstanding tools by the participants. Following the discussion on the limitations of the study, some implications for further research were proposed. (Contains 4 tables.)
Epistemological Beliefs and Metacognitive Strategies of ELT Pre-Service Teachers in Distance and Formal Education
Author: Guven, Meral
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,English (Second Language),Distance Education,Metacognition,Epistemology,Preservice Teachers,Learning Processes,Language Teachers,Teacher Education,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,College Students,Conventional Instruction,Student Attitudes

The epistemological beliefs in learning process have been investigated from different aspects in relation with many variables in literature. Such beliefs are defined as individuals' beliefs regarding knowledge and learning. As another related, popular concept, the metacognitive strategies are identified as the strategies used to control the process of obtaining knowledge. Thus, it is seen that both of them are employed to make learning more effective. Within this framework, the aim of the present study was to determine the epistemological beliefs and metacognitive strategies of the pre-service teachers in the distance and formal education English Language Teaching program and to investigate whether there was any difference/were any differences between them. To collect data, &quot;Epistemological Belief Scale&quot; developed by Schommer (1990) and translated and validated by Deryakulu and Buyukozturk (2002) and &quot;Metacognitive Strategy Inventory&quot; which was adapted for university students by Yildiz, Akpinar and Ergin (2006) were used. Then through the descriptive method they were analyzed. As a result of study, it was determined that there was a significant relationship between the epistemological beliefs and metacognitive strategy use of ELT pre-service teachers in both formal and distance education programs. (Contains 1 figure and 8 tables.)
Impact of Managerial Skills Learnt through MA Educational Planning Management Programme of AIOU on the Performance of Institutional Heads
Author: Chuadhry, Muhammad Asif
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Open Universities,Graduates,Distance Education,Foreign Countries,Job Skills,Graduate Study,Competence,Educational Administration,Questionnaires,Outcomes of Education,Masters Degrees,Program Effectiveness,Principals,Administrator Role

Management provides formal coordination in an organization for achieving pre-determined goals. The educational manager particulary performs his duties by using different planning and management techniques. These techniques are equally important for the manager of other sectors. The present study was focused on the impact of managerial skills learnt through MA EPM programme on the performance of the heads. Following were the objectives of the study to assess the contribution of the programme towards the learning of the heads of educational institutions: (i) To identify the managerial skills and competencies of Educational Managers and heads trained through EPPSL Department of the Allama Iqbal Open University; (ii) To evaluate the effectiveness of the programme and its impact on the skills of the MA EPM graduates; and (iii) To analyze the performance of EPM graduates working as heads in their respective institutions. A questionnaire for graduates was developed for those working as institutional heads in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. There were 58 educational institutional heads who have their master degree in EPM. The data obtained was organized, tabulated, and analyzed by using descriptive statistics means of percentage method in numbers of tables in order to find out the impact of the skills of the MA EPM programme. The finding and conclusions of the data indicated that the impact of the skills on their performance. Majority of the heads were agreed that the programme was beneficial for them. It was recommended on the basis of the conclusions that the selection of the resource person should be on merit; quality of books might be improved; and there should be a separate course for educational budgeting. It was also recommended that this programme should be compulsory for the institutional heads. There might be upgradation of the course. (Contains 1 table.)
The First Two Decades of "New Horizons in Adult Education": From Whence Have We Come?
Author: Hiemstra, Roger
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Adult Education,Adult Learning,Adult Students,Content Analysis,Distance Education,Educational Development,Educational History,Intellectual History,Periodicals,Program Descriptions,Student Diversity,Change Strategies,Best Practices,Educational Trends,Trend Analysis,Bibliometrics,Journal Articles,Administrator Responsibility,Knowledge Base for Teaching

This article describes the origins, development, and changing directions in the oldest peer-reviewed online journal in adult education. An analysis of journal issues by the first author provides evidence of the impact and legacy that "New Horizons in Adult Education" has had on the field of adult education around the world during the past two decades. The content analysis revealed the range of topics, as well as some timeless themes. The major areas covered include the following: the nature and diversity of adult learners, effective approaches and strategies to help them learn, and trends and issues related to distance education and developing technologies. (Contains 3 tables.)