慕课给军队远程教育带来的机遇与挑战

慕课(MOOC),又称大规模在线开放课程,是近年来远程教育领域出现的一种新兴在线学习模式。它正影响着全球高等教育的改革与发展,也给军队远程教育带来了难得的机遇和诸多挑战。它不仅为军队远程教育提供了改革的思路和技术参考,而且向军队远程教育的网络课程资源、公开性和交互性、安全保密教育、远程学习者提出了高要求。     

Beyond hype and underestimation: identifying research challenges for the future of MOOCs

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have generated enthusiasm, excitement, and hype worldwide and recently increasing skepticism. They are being broadly discussed in the major news media (and to a smaller extent in academic circles). Rapidly increasing numbers of MOOC providers, MOOC courses and articles, discussion groups, and blogs discussing MOOCs are indicators of the involvement of many stakeholders. Most of these analyses and developments are based on economic perspectives (such as scalability, productivity, and being free) and technology perspectives (including platforms supporting large number of students in online environments, enrichment components such as forums, peer-to-peer learning support, and automatic grading). Few contributions analyze MOOCs from a learning science perspective and put them into a larger context with other approaches to learning and education. This commentary explores challenges derived from the perspective to conceptualize MOOCs as being one component in a rich landscape of learning.     

Refugees and online education: student perspectives on need and support in the context of (online) higher education

ABSTRACT

Online education and in particular Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are often regarded as a way to solve global educational challenges. In this article, we highlight the students’ uptake of such a ‘digital solution’. Presenting initial findings from a research project in Germany, we situate our investigation in the specific context of digital educational offers for refugees, using Kiron Open Higher Education as an example. Kiron has designed an innovative academic model, with MOOCs at its core, to ease refugees’ access into higher education. Drawing from student data of 1375 Kiron students we look at students’ actual usage of the offer and the accompanying support services as well as the difficulties refugee students face while navigating online higher education. Results show, amongst others, rather low completion rates in the online courses and point to a much more nuanced picture of how students make use of the offer – putting online education as an easy, straightforward formula to the integration of disadvantaged students into question.     

Student evaluation of instruction: comparison between in-class and online methods

This study compares student evaluations of instruction that were collected in-class with those gathered through an online survey. The two modes of administration were compared with respect to response rate, psychometric characteristics and mean ratings through different statistical analyses. Findings indicated that in-class evaluations produced a significantly higher response rate than online evaluation. In addition, Rasch analysis showed that mean ratings obtained in in-class evaluation were significantly higher than those obtained in online evaluation. Finally, the distributions of student attendance and expected grade in both modes were compared via chi-square tests, and were found to differ in the two modes of administration.     

Applying the scholarship of teaching and learning: student perceptions,behaviours and success online and face-to-face

This study compares student perceptions, learning behaviours and success in online and face-to-face versions of a Principles of Microeconomics course. It follows a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) approach by using a cycle of empirical analysis, reflection and action to improve the learning experience for students. The online course design involves 58 interactive narrated online modules, interactive online quizzes and biweekly online meetings with the instructor via video and voice-over-IP technology. Findings indicate that schedule flexibility motivates students to choose the online course format. Students in both learning environments felt they had high-quality communication with the instructor, while online students indicated limited peer-to-peer communication. Online students report studying more at home than face-to-face students, but not enough to compensate for the time face-to-face students spend in class. Reflecting on the findings, the authors suggest actions to improve the online course experience.     

网络远程教育的实践与探索——浅谈中国人民大学网络教育的教学与管理

中国人民大学作为开展网络远程教育的试点高校之一，在实践中建立和逐步完善网络远程教育的运行模式、教学模式和管理模式，为网络远程教育在中国的全面开展做了积极的探索与努力。随着社会的不断前进，中国的网络远程教育也面临着理论与实践存探究的艰巨课题。     

Connecting online learners with diverse local practices: the design of effective common reference points for conversation

This mixed‐methods study probed the effectiveness of three kinds of objects (video, theory, metaphor) as common reference points for conversations between online learners (student teachers). Individuals’ degree of detail‐focus was examined as a potentially interacting covariate and the outcome measure was learners’ level of tacit knowledge related to their practice (teaching). Analysis was conducted using hierarchical linear modeling and significant results were followed up with a qualitative theme analysis. An interaction between reference point type and detail‐focus was found, demonstrating a positive effect of detail‐focus within the metaphor condition. Unexpectedly, some participants interpreted the metaphors in ways other than those intended, leading to differences in the kinds of understandings developed. The study indicated that a conceptual frame is an important characteristic of a reference point that will be truly taken in common, and that metaphors need additional framing to be viable in this role. Implications for online learning conversation design are discussed.     

Preliminary evidence of a relationship between the use of online learning and academic performance in a South African first-year university accounting course

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between the use of online learning resources and academic performance in an Accounting 1 course conducted at a South African Higher Education Institution. The study employed a quantitative analysis over three academic years comparing the collection of end of year marks and the time spent online. The results provide preliminary empirical evidence to show that students who spent more time online significantly improved their course mark. Although much accounting-based educational research exists on the use of computers, there is a dearth of research testing any relationship between the use of online learning material and performance, and particularly in accounting education. While the results are preliminary and have some limitations, they are useful to students, teaching instructors and administrators, and provide a platform for future research into the value of using online learning in accounting.     

Preliminary evidence of a relationship between the use of online learning and academic performance in a South African first-year university accounting course

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the use of online learning resources and academic performance in an Accounting 1 course conducted at a South African Higher Education Institution. The study employed a quantitative analysis over three academic years comparing the collection of end of year marks and the time spent online. The results provide preliminary empirical evidence to show that students who spent more time online significantly improved their course mark. Although much accounting-based educational research exists on the use of computers, there is a dearth of research testing any relationship between the use of online learning material and performance. While the results are preliminary and have some limitations, they are useful to students, teaching instructors and administrators, and provide a platform for future research into the value of using online learning in accounting.     

Intersecting communities of practice in distance education: the program team and the online course community

This article is a case study that aimed at understanding the dynamics of two complementary communities involved in a distance education graduate program: one community of practice formed by the instructors and instructional developers, who designed and developed the program, and another created by the students and instructor in one of the online courses. The relationship between both communities and the evolution that occurred within the online course are analyzed. Emergent themes are discussed and recommendations are made for similar contexts and communities.     

Understanding distinctions in learning in hybrid,and online environments: an empirical investigation of the community of inquiry framework

This study of 723 college students seeks to assess the adequacy of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework for describing and explaining differences in learning outcomes in hybrid and fully online learning environments. Hypothesizing that the CoI model's theoretical constructs of presence reflect educational effectiveness in a variety of environments, this article seeks evidence of whether students in varying learning environments are likely to rank them differently with regard to teaching, social, and cognitive presence. The study utilizes factor-, hierarchical-regression-, and path analyses to determine the validity of the CoI constructs as well as to characterize the nature of relationships between them. Results suggest that the model is coherent and accounts for the small but significant differences recently reported in the literature regarding the superiority of hybrid environments relative to fully online environments (Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development). Recommendations for future research and practice are included.     

Justice-sensitive education: the implications of transitional justice mechanisms for teaching and learning

ABSTRACT

This article introduces the notion of ‘justice-sensitive education’ – derived from the ideals and practices of transitional justice (TJ) in countries emerging from conflict. It describes three mechanisms for this: structural reforms (relating to inequity and division); curriculum change (the treatment of history, human rights and citizenship) and institutional culture (critical thinking and democratic, participatory pedagogy). A case study of Sri Lanka provides fresh illustrations of actual or potential work in these three areas. There appear five challenges to a justice-sensitive education: the wider context of schooling; willingness of educators to confront the past; barriers to introducing the critical thinking required for new norms and values to take root; programming and planning; and difficulties in measuring the impact of TJ measures in education. Yet however imperfect, TJ mechanisms indicate a society that wants to learn from past mistakes and show that some form of justice is possible in the future.     

International handbook of education for the changing world of work: bridging academic and vocational learning,vol. 2 of 6

This article presents one approach to assessing the impact of an online professional practice doctorate in education on participants' work environments. It is unique in that it explored impact during the doctoral program, before participants began their dissertation research, and it focused on how participants apply learning from the program within their practice and how they grow professionally in ways that make contributions to their organizations and their profession. The data are based on participant interviews, participants' curriculum vitae submitted during qualifying exams, and professional websites. The findings indicate that an online professional program embedded in practice can have powerful impact within a short period of time on students' own practice, their local organizations, and their colleagues at regional, state, and national levels and spur their professional momentum.     

The relationships between Chinese higher education students' epistemic beliefs and their judgmental standards of searching for literature online: undergraduate versus graduate comparisons

The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between Chinese higher education students' epistemic beliefs and their judgmental standards of searching for literature online. Data were collected from 449 higher education students (152 college students and 297 graduate students) in Beijing via two self-reported questionnaires: one was the Epistemic Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ), including four scales (Innate/Fixed Ability, Learning Effort/Process, Authority/Expert Knowledge, and Certainty of Knowledge); the other was the Online Judgmental Standards of Searching for Literature Questionnaire (OJSSLQ), consisting of six scales (Multiple sources, Authority, Content, Quantitative Indicators, Clarity, and Ease of Access). Through exploratory factor analyses, this study confirmed the reliability and validity of the EBQ and OJSSLQ. Further analyses indicated that there were significant differences between college and graduate students for the Content and Ease of Access judgmental standards of searching for literature online whereby graduate students had higher standards for these two factors, but there were no differences for the other factors. Correlation analysis between the EBQ and OJSSLQ was conducted for the college and graduate students. An interplay between the students' epistemic beliefs and their evaluative standards of searching for literature online was found. For example, the results indicated that both college and graduate students with the epistemic belief that learning requires great efforts and processes (Learning Effort/Process) had the tendency to judge the academic information by the standards of Authority and Content (i.e. checking the authority of literature or carefully reading the content). This study also found that epistemic beliefs might increasingly play a role in the students' judgmental standards of searching for literature online as they progressed into advanced study.     

Towards a critical re-conceptualization of the purpose of higher education: the role of Ubuntu-Currere in re-imagining teaching and learning in South African higher education

ABSTRACT

The 2015–2016 South African higher education students’ movement proved historical for our country in bringing to our dinner tables: issues of higher education transformation and decolonisation; institutional culture(s); curriculum reform; the need to foreground and make inclusive assessment in education; the coloniality in our knowledge production, and more. Influenced by the emergence of the student movements and the critique they have brought to South African higher education, we bring to the fore the often silent critical reflections on the purposes of higher education in general, and in South Africa especially, as they relate to teaching and learning. We propose that the purposes of higher education in relation to teaching and learning ought to respond to (1) context, (2) democratic difference, and (3) cosmopolitan perspectives. We argue that discourses, phases and logics about South African higher education have tended to disregard and, at times, blur the context and differences as well as cosmopolitan perspectives. Using the notion of Ubuntu-Currere, we re-imagine how teaching and learning could respond to context, difference and cosmopolitanism with examples from the South African higher education experience.     

The relationship between student learning process,study success and the nature of assessment: A qualitative study

Assessment has an important role in affecting students’ learning, but qualitative studies regarding this relationship are rather scarce. In addition, course grades do not necessarily reflect the quality of learning outcomes. The aim is to qualitatively examine why high and low achieving students in the same course study differently according to the assessment method and how they explain their behaviour. Altogether 24 students were interviewed in this study. Analyses were conducted with inductive content analysis. The results indicate that course grades do not necessarily reflect qualitative learning outcomes due to the nature of the assessment. In addition, the present study suggests that self-regulation and motivation are important factors in studying and might prevent the negative effect of inappropriate assessment.     

“一带一路”高校战略联盟发展的态势、挑战与进路——基于丝绸之路大学联盟、“一带一路”职教联盟的案例考察

“一带一路”高校战略联盟是高等教育国际化背景下传统高校战略联盟的新发展。基于对丝绸之路大学联盟和“一带一路”职教联盟两个典型案例的深度考察发现，近年来“一带一路”高校战略联盟呈现出稳步推进、有序发展的态势，行动情境不断拓展，中国高校作为自主行动者和规则制定者的角色不断凸显，但在实践中也面临着联盟合作范围相对狭窄、联盟参与主体后劲不足、联盟发展缺乏学理支撑等困境。未来应以建构主义理论为导向，坚持优化提升治理效能的行动取向，在现有制度框架下继续强化联盟建设宏观指导，在平等互信基础上进一步增进联盟主体间共识，在价值目标共识中有效营造同舟共济的行动氛围，创新探索“一带一路”高校战略联盟发展的新路径。     

A case for adapting and applying continuance theory to education: understanding the role of student feedback in motivating teachers to persist with including digital technologies in learning

In New Zealand schools, the adoption and persistent use of digital tools to aid learning is a growing but uneven, trend, often linked to the practices of early adopters and/or robust wifi infrastructure. The Technology Adoption Model is used internationally to gauge levels of uptake of technological tools, particularly in commerce and also in education. However, this model is inadequate when it is used to attribute reasons for teachers adopting technologies for learning. This article offers an alternative view to understanding why teachers continue using digital technologies for learning. It focuses on the role of student voice and teachers’ pedagogical purposes as motivators, even when teachers have technological hurdles to overcome. The article engages with continuance theory as a lens for understanding these motivations via a qualitative thematic analysis of Moodle postings made by a 2012 cohort of initial teacher education students. The intention is to signpost ideas that might better explain teachers’ continued use of digital technologies in classrooms even if conditions for use are not optimal.