Interactions in virtual learning environments: new roles for digital technology

For the last 10 years, online pre-service teacher distance education has increased significantly in Brazil. As a result, research on this educational modality has also increased, in particular, research investigating the different roles students and teachers play in these courses. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of digital technologies in two specific contexts: how teachers, tutors, and students play a role in producing interactive digital didactic material and how digital technologies themselves can play a role in teaching distance learning courses. But for these roles to emerge, we point to the need for participants of online courses to interact collaboratively. To identify these roles, grounded theory, a branch of qualitative research, was used as the two roles were articulated. Data were produced from virtual observations in virtual learning environments and virtual interviews. The results stress that both highlighted roles are related. They transform teacher and student roles and participation in the virtual classroom, and an “agency of media” emerges in online mathematics education.     

网络语音实验室条件下的教与学

从教学环境、学生和教师的角度,分析网络语音实验室条件下高校英语教学的优势与问题,并提出有必要对师生进行课程前期实验室使用和维护的培训;学生需要建立科学的网络学习观,培养个性学习策略和方法;教师应强化网络教学的教学形式、评价体系并适应角色转换。     

The resurgence of everyday experiences in school science learning activities

Cultural Studies of Science Education - Science education can be alienating for students, as it is apart from the mundane world with which they are familiar. Science education research has...     

The effects of constructivist learning environments: a commentary

This special issue on the effects of constructivist learning environments is based on a symposium organized during the last annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Chicago. The studies in this issue not only provide an overview of the multitude of forms a constructivist learning environment can take, they also provide the reader with an overview of recent advances in this domain of research. The present discussion article provides a critical reflection on the studies in this special issue and tries to identify their prospects and limitations.     

Mapping context-based learning environments: The construction of an instrument

The current trend in science curricula is to adopt a context-based pedagogical approach to teaching. New study materials for this innovation are often designed by teachers working with university experts. In this article, it is proposed that teachers need to acquire corresponding teaching competences to create a context-based learning environment. These competences comprise an adequate emphasis, context establishment, concept transfer, support of student active learning, (re-)design of context-based materials, and assistance in implementation of the innovation. The implementation of context-based education would benefit from an instrument that maps these competences. The construction and validation of such an instrument (mixed-methods approach) to measure the context-based learning environment is described in this paper. The composite instrument was tested in a pilot study among 8 teachers and 162 students who use context-based materials in their classrooms. The instrument’s reliability was established and correlating data sources in the composite instrument were identified. Various aspects of validity were addressed and found to be supported by the data obtained. As expected, the instrument revealed that context-based teaching competence is more prominently visible in teachers with experience in designing context-based materials, confirming the instrument’s validity.     

Interactive and non-interactive pictures in multimedia learning environments: Effects on learning outcomes and learning efficiency

New technologies enable flexible combinations of text and interactive or non-interactive pictures. The aim of the present study was to investigate (a) whether adding pictures to texts is generally beneficial for learning or whether it can also have detrimental effects, (b) how interactivity of pictures affects learning, (c) whether the visualization format of pictures affects the structure of the learner's mental model, and (d) whether the visualization format modifies the effects of interactivity. One hundred university students were randomly assigned to five groups. In four groups, a text about the different daytimes and days on the earth was combined with interactive or non-interactive pictures of different visualization formats. In the fifth group, the text was presented without pictures. According to the results, adding pictures to text was neither beneficial nor harmful for learning. In terms of learning efficiency, however, learning from text only was more successful than learning from text and pictures. Interactivity was beneficial for one learning task, but not for the other task. The visualization format affected participants’ interaction with pictures, but not the learning outcomes; however this effect was not influenced by interactivity. Implications for multimedia design and for further research are pointed out.     

The foundations and assumptions of technology-enhanced student-centered learning environments

Direct instruction approaches, as well as the design processes that support them, have been criticized for failing to reflect contemporary research and theory in teaching, learning, and technology. Learning systems are needed that encourage divergent reasoning, problem solving, and critical thinking. Student-centered learning environments have been touted as a means to support such processes. With the emergence of technology, many barriers to implementing innovative alternatives may be overcome. The purposes of this paper are to review and critically analyze research and theory related to technology-enhanced student-centered learning environments and to identify their foundations and assumptions.     

The effectiveness of self-regulated learning scaffolds on academic performance in computer-based learning environments: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis examined research on the effects of self-regulated learning scaffolds on academic performance in computer-based learning environments from 2004 to 2015. A total of 29 articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis with a total sample size of 2648 students. Moderator analyses were performed using a random effects model that focused on the three main areas of scaffold characteristics (including the mechanism, functions, delivery forms, mode, and number of scaffolds; how to promote self-regulated learning by scaffolds); demographics of the selected studies (including sample groups, sample size, learning domain, research settings, and types of computer-based learning environments); and research methodological features (including research methods, types of research design, types of organization for treatment, and duration of treatment). Findings revealed that self-regulated learning scaffolds in computer-based learning environments generally produced a significantly positive effect on academic performance (ES = 0.438). It is also suggested that both domain-general and domain-specific scaffolds can support the entire process of self-regulated learning since they demonstrated substantial effects on academic performance. Different impacts of various studies and their methodological features are presented and discussed.     

Understanding collaborative learning processes in new learning environments

Trying to understand the complexity of computer-mediated problem-based learning environments is not easy. Sociocultural theory provides a theoretical framework for understanding such environments because it emphasizes the socially situated nature of learning and the critical role of tools in mediating learning. To examine how different aspects of discourse relate to each other, as well as to the tools being used in the collaborative learning process, it is important to understand how collaborative knowledge building unfolds and how these processes are mediated. This requires going beyond coding individual speech acts. The use of Chronologically-Ordered Representations of Discourse and Tool-Related Activity (CORDTRA) diagrams is one way of achieving this understanding. We use this to study contrasting cases of more and less successful groups using the STELLAR learning environment. STELLAR is an integrated online PBL environment for preservice teachers, containing a learning sciences hypermedia, a library of videocases, and online personal and collaborative spaces. Our analyses suggest that an important locus of differences is how students use resources and engage in different kinds of metacognitive talk and knowledge transforming activities, sometimes to the group’s detriment. Frequency analyses provided an easily interpreted snapshot of each group’s activity. The CORDTRA analyses provide a more dynamic view that helps researchers and teachers better understand how collaborative learning unfolds. Such analyses have implications for understanding new learning environments as well as helping identify where interventions might be needed.     

eLogg: Facilitating ownership and openness in virtual learning environments

This paper reports a novel perspective of integrating digital media in education. In a research and development project we developed and tested a new tool (eLogg) aimed for use in primary and lower secondary schools. Strongly influenced by popular technologies, such as weblogs and wikis, eLogg was built on different assumptions and ideas of how to facilitate learning and communication than traditional learning management systems (LMS). After an initial phase of participatory design and development, eLogg was tested in different school settings. Part of this use was observed, and the preliminary results are reported here. Our analysis shows that the open aspects of eLogg lead pupils to hold conversations with each other as well as opening for building on others’ writings in their online learning activities. The specific activity types we identified in this study were peer conversations, resource sharing, lurking, project work, and assignments. We end the paper by relating these findings to what we have found in a second case study, where we observed the use of an LMS. On these grounds we conclude that there are important differences, and that we always should keep in mind that the technologies we use are inscribed with assumptions about what learning is and how it should be supported.     

Maximising the language and learning link in computer learning environments

In studies on the implementation and educational uses of computers there are reports of changes in students' behaviour as a result of working with computers (Rowe, 1993; Crook, 1994). Social, collaborative and dialogic exchanges have been observed as students engage in tasks around computers. This research provides evidence that the computer is a social facilitator in the sense that it provides opportunities for collaboration, group work and interaction which fosters cognitive change (Wild, 1995).
This article recognises the social role of the computer, and supports the view that computers can be used to facilitate learning through language. There is growing awareness that if we are to realise the full potential of computers in education, consideration must be given to their role as catalysts in the learning process, rather than technological tools (Hawkridge, 1990). Computer assisted learning has progressed through many phases, and through investigation of underlying theoretical frameworks it is possible to recognise the change of focus from individual accounts of learning to social perspectives.
Theoretical frameworks which emphasise the social dimensions of learning (Vygotsky, 1978) legitimise the link between computers, language use and learning and indicate that computers must be integrated into the social life of classrooms if their pedagogical benefits are to be realised.     

Virtual learning environments: three implementation perspectives

Universities worldwide offer web‐based courses distributed by virtual learning environments (VLEs). A common theoretical framework for implementing VLEs is the pedagogical perspective of instructional design. In this paper, three perspectives of implementation from information systems implementation research and organization theory are presented: implementation as technology acceptance, implementation as diffusion of innovations and implementation as a learning process. These perspectives focus on the VLE as an information system within an organization, the university. The models reviewed offer an important complementary perspective to the pedagogical view of instructional design. The three implementation perspectives are compared and a conclusion is made concerning their implications of successful use and implementation of VLEs.     

Science learning in virtual environments: a descriptive study

Usually, students learn more if the method of instruction matches their learning style. Since Physics and Chemistry deal with three–dimensional (3–D) objects, the ability to visualize and mentally manipulate shapes is very helpful in their learning. In fact, much of what Physics and Chemistry students know takes the form of images. However, little attention has been given to the pedagogical effectiveness of visual stimuli in those disciplines. Computers are being increasingly used as teaching tools. The new approaches include simulations, multimedia presentations and, more recently, virtual environments. Computer–based worlds are useful to visualize physical and chemical processes allowing for better conceptual understanding. Since 3–D virtual environments need to be explored and evaluated in science education, we have created a virtual environment ( Virtual Water ) for studying phases of matter, phase transitions and atomic orbitals at the final year of high school and first year of university levels. Based on that work, we discuss the implications of visual learning in designing strategies to cater for differences in learning modes. Our study indicates that 3–D virtual environments may help students with high spatial aptitude to acquire better conceptual understandings. However, only some parameters (interactivity, navigation and 3–D perception) have shown to be relevant and only for some topics. On the other hand, stereoscopic visualizations do not seem to be relevant, with the exception of crystalline structures.     

Learning in digital environments: a model for cross-cultural alignment

Educational technology research and development - This article presents a conceptual model of cross-cultural alignments in education in the digital era. The intention was to explore and respond to...