Increasing Adult Learner Motivation for Completing Self‐Directed E‐Learning

This article explores methods organizations can use to increase self‐directed e‐learning completion rates and overall satisfaction. It focuses on three main areas of application: (a) increasing organizational support and positive initial user expectations, (b) reducing factors that lead to learner mental overload, and (c) designing motivational strategies into the learning content. Although applicable as general principles, relevent strategies, theories, and models are discussed with a focus on organizations offering technical product training for their clients.     

Cognitive support for learning computer-based tasks using animated demonstration

This study investigated the influence of cognitive support for learning computer-based tasks using animated demonstration (AD) on instructional efficiency. Cognitive support included (1) segmentation and learner control introducing interactive devices that allow content sequencing through a navigational menu, and content pacing through stop and play buttons along with a slide bar for fast forward and rewind; (2) presentation modality and (3) a hybrid approach using a combined format of ADs with static graphics. Instructional efficiency was a combined effect of time-on-task during the learning phase and test performance. Time-on-task was included as a measurement to determine whether this would provide an alternative explanation for the benefits of learner control. Three learner-paced conditions with different types of cognitive support were developed, whereas a system-paced format, created without additional cognitive support, was used as a control condition. The learning task of this study was using graphic vector-based software Bezier tools to trace a cartoon. The results tended to suggest that the combination of different types of cognitive support (i.e. presenting the accompanying explanations as written captions to the learner-paced AD in visual-only instruction or combining learner-paced AD with static graphics in dual-modality instruction) had a positive effect, while learner pacing alone had not a significant positive effect.     

Learner-content interaction in distance education: The weakest link in interaction research

Interaction is a recurrent theme in the literature on distance education. Much of the research along these lines is dedicated to reciprocal interpersonal interaction, that is, learner–learner and learner–instructor interaction. But there is far less research interest in learner–content interaction despite its fundamental and critical role in ensuring the effectiveness of the distance learning experience and education more generally. This article reflects on the interrelationship and interplay between learner–content, learner–instructor and learner–learner interactions by drawing on the three-types-of-interaction framework, equivalency theorem and other interaction research literature. It concludes by calling for more effort to be made to understand how distance learners study course materials or content, arguing that distance learning course materials may not be able to cater for distance learners and achieve their intended learning outcomes unless their design and production are informed by empirical research on learner–content interaction.     

Authentic assessment of teaching in context

The demands of teaching more challenging content to more diverse learners suggest a need for teacher education that enables teachers to become more sophisticated in their understanding of the effects of context and learner variability on teaching and learning. Instead of implementing set routines, teachers need to become ever more skillful in their ability to evaluate teaching situations and develop teaching responses that can be effective under different circumstances. This article examines how a growing number of teacher education programs are using authentic assessments of teaching – cases, exhibitions, portfolios, and problem-based inquiries (or action research) – as tools to support teacher learning for these new challenges of practice. Using specific teacher education programs as examples, the article examines how and why these strategies appear to provide support for teacher learning and avenues for more valid assessment of teaching. The authors also discuss circumstances in which these strategies may be less effective and suggest features of the assessments and programmatic contexts that are associated with more and less successful use.     

TM4L: Creating and browsing educational topic maps

In this article, we describe TM4L, an environment for building, maintaining and using standards‐based, ontology‐aware e‐learning repositories. It is based on the idea that concept‐driven access to learning material implemented as a topic map can bridge the gap between a learner and targeted knowledge. One of the driving goals of this work is to increase the reusability of available educational resources by enabling the use of a developed subject ontology with courses on the same subject with different stricture. Another goal of TM4L is to support an efficient context‐based retrieval of learning content tailored to the needs of a learner working on an educational task. The paper focuses on three aspects of the TM4L environment: domain modelling, editing capabilities and the interface for exploring the learning collection. The key features of the TM4L functionality are illustrated with some examples.     

Rethinking Learner Support: The challenge of collaborative online learning

The use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) as an integral part of the design of distance taught courses raises interesting challenges to our thinking about course design and learner support. These have typically been conceptualised as two complementary but distinct systems in distance education, characterised by different practices often carried out by different groups of staff. Where CMC is designed as an integral part of the course, with collaborative learning as essential to assessment and study, this separation breaks down. The design of online activities is integral to both learner support and the course content, with new possibilities for open and distance learning as a result. Where the learning group itself is a resource for study and personal development, it also becomes feasible to orientate courses and programmes towards local teams and communities. Online tutors play a key role and need to develop 'the technology of conversation' and expertise in the design of activities, as part of their facilitator role.     

Enhancing learner–learner interaction using video communications in higher education: Implications from theorising about a new model

As visual connectivity improves, an opportunity to enrich and rethink the place of learning design in online and distance education is presenting itself. The opportunity is derived from the increasing scope for personalised synchronous interaction which has been missing in computer mediated communications (CMC) and previous generations of distance education. This paper presents a model which distinguishes between planned learner‐content interaction and learner‐learner interaction and suggests that a blend of planned and non‐planned learner‐learner interaction is worthwhile. It concentrates on technology enhanced learning using video communications which provide opportunities for more authentic online collaborative learning, formally and informally. This conceptualisation is underpinned by beliefs which promote constructivist and transformative learning in the hope of stimulating debate as universities focus more towards quality learning. The intent is to explore the implications of learning in higher education becoming enhanced in online environments as learner‐learner dialogue occurs ‘face‐to‐face’, thus, extending the potential of online learner‐content environments.     

Learning by viewing versus learning by doing: Evidence‐based guidelines for principled learning environments

A learner‐centered approach is a central feature of instruction based on a constructivist learning model. However, there is some confusion regarding the requirement for behavioral activity as a prerequisite for a learner‐centered environment. We offer evidence in this article that some types of behavioral activity can interfere with cognitive learning processes. We recommend that instructional professionals focus on cognitive activity and summarize evidence‐based methods that support appropriate cognitive activity in behaviorally passive and active learning environments.     

Self Organising Wayfinding Support for Lifelong Learners

Lifelong learning puts learner self-direction centre-stage. However, increased responsibility should not come at the price of over-burdening or abandonment of learners as they progress along their learning journey. This paper introduces an approach to wayfinding support for lifelong learners based on self-organisation theory. It describes an architecture which supports the recording, processing and presentation of collective learner behaviour designed to create a feedback loop informing learners of successful paths towards the attainment of learning goals. The approach is presented as an alternative to methods of achieving adaptation in hypermedia-based learning environments which involve learner modelling. The article concludes with a discussion of the questions being addressed in our ongoing research.     

Telecommunications and Effective Distance Learning Telecourse Design

Effective distance learning course design focuses on meeting the lifestyle and learning-style needs of a non-traditional student. Fulfilling these needs is accomplished by making provision for human interaction that fosters classroom rapport, builds class membership behaviors and identification with the university. Equal attention is given to matching high-tech equipment capabilities to instructional purpose, instructor personality, student learning style, and preferred interaction style. Continuing evaluation of telecourse programs is vital for assuring telecourse program quality focusing on student learning satisfaction and cost effectiveness. Findings indicate important implications for the design of distance education courses and programs. An effectively designed distance learning telecourse provides for student academic support services. Effective tele-courses also provide the means for instructor/learner, learner/learner, and learner/content interactivity.     

我国网院学习支持服务体系之现状调查

本文对具有一定代表性的17所现代远程教育试点高校的网络教育学院学习支持服务体系进行了现状调研,从组织结构、信息服务、资源服务、人员服务、实践性教学环节、作业和考试等几个方面进行了分析,进而对我国现代远程教育学习支持服务体系的建设提出了相关建议。     

Latent semantic analysis as a tool for learner positioning in learning networks for lifelong learning

As we move towards distributed, self‐organised learning networks for lifelong learning to which multiple providers contribute content, there is a need to develop new techniques to determine where learners can be positioned in these networks. Positioning requires us to map characteristics of the learner onto characteristics of learning materials and curricula. Considering the nature of the network envisaged, maintaining data on these characteristics and ensuring their integrity are difficult tasks. In this article we review the usability of Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) to generate a common semantic framework for characteristics of the learner, learning materials and curricula. Although LSA is a promising technique we identify several research topics that must be addressed before it can be used for learner positioning.     

Transformative and Transformed: Examining the Critical Potential of Service Learner Positional Identities

Critical service learning requires that students grapple with power even as they negotiate with discourses that frame service as transformative for others, without the reciprocal effect of service learners being transformed. To highlight microprocesses in power, this article uses figured worlds to explore the positional identities of service learners based on how participants viewed their experience, perceived the service site, and understood others’ structural and biographical contexts. Three positional identities emerged from this inquiry: (1) service learner as role model, (2) service learner as future professional, and (3) service learner as beneficiary. Each successive positional identity demonstrated more critical and relational content. Positional identities that emphasized the service learner as a transformative agent featured more acriticality and less relationality than those that positioned the service learner as having been transformed. However, neither position explicitly addressed race, class, or other dimensions used to distribute power. This article illustrates the value that examining small moments of positioning might offer service learners and instructors as a reference point for their own criticality.     

Desktop multimedia environments to support collaborative distance learning

Desktop multimedia conferencing, when two or more persons can communicate among themselves via personal computers with the opportunity to see and hear one another as well as communicate via text messages while working with commonly available stored resources, appears to have important applications to the support of collaborative learning. In this paper we explore this potential in three ways: (a) through an analysis of particular learner needs when learning and working collaboratively with others outside of face-to-face situations; (b) through an analysis of different forms of conferencing environments, including desktop multimedia environments, relative to their effectiveness in terms of meeting learner needs for distributed collaboration; and (c) through reporting the results of a formative evaluation of a prototype desktop multimedia conferencing system developed especially for the support of collaborative learning. Via these analyses, suggestions are offered relating to the functionalities of desktop multimedia conferencing systems for the support of collaborative learning, reflecting new developments in both the technologies available for such systems and in our awareness of learner needs when working collaboratively with one other outside of face-to-face situations.     

An evaluation of an adaptive learning system based on multimodal affect recognition for learners with intellectual disabilities

Artificial intelligence tools for education (AIEd) have been used to automate the provision of learning support to mainstream learners. One of the most innovative approaches in this field is the use of data and machine learning for the detection of a student’s affective state, to move them out of negative states that inhibit learning, into positive states such as engagement. In spite of their obvious potential to provide the personalisation that would give extra support for learners with intellectual disabilities, little work on AIEd systems that utilise affect recognition currently addresses this group. Our system used multimodal sensor data and machine learning to first identify three affective states linked to learning (engagement, frustration, boredom) and second determine the presentation of learning content so that the learner is maintained in an optimal affective state and rate of learning is maximised. To evaluate this adaptive learning system, 67 participants aged between 6 and 18 years acting as their own control took part in a series of sessions using the system. Sessions alternated between using the system with both affect detection and learning achievement to drive the selection of learning content (intervention) and using learning achievement alone (control) to drive the selection of learning content. Lack of boredom was the state with the strongest link to achievement, with both frustration and engagement positively related to achievement. There was significantly more engagement and less boredom in intervention than control sessions, but no significant difference in achievement. These results suggest that engagement does increase when activities are tailored to the personal needs and emotional state of the learner and that the system was promoting affective states that in turn promote learning. However, longer exposure is necessary to determine the effect on learning.     

基于学习认知地图的开放学习者模型研究

学习者模型是自适应学习系统的重要组成部分,然而传统的学习者模型往往是封闭的,学习者无法知晓模型的具体内容。文章从学习者模型内容开放的视角,设计了能够表征学习者认知状态和知识结构并推送学习路径与学习同伴的开放学习者模型——学习认知地图。基于学习元平台,文章从认知状态评测、知识结构计算和可视化呈现三个方面对学习认知地图的构建过程进行了阐述。之后,文章将构建的学习认知地图应用于中学信息技术课堂,实践结果表明:学习认知地图能够提升学生的学习态度,同时学生对具有学习认知地图支持的在线学习方式满意度更高。文章设计并检验了作为一种开放学习者模型实践样态的学习认知地图的效果,以期为开放学习者模型的进一步研究提供参考。     

面向学习者的网络课程设计方案——兼论教师学习使用的网络课程资源开发

以中央电大教师教育类一门网络课程(作为教师教育必修课程的“课程与教学论”网络课程)的设计为例,分析讨论了开发设计网络课程所必须论证的课程教学目标、教学内容选择策略、教学过程服务及管理维护与评价等因素,强调必须以真实学习需求为导向来开发实用的远程教育学习产品,重视学习者个人自主学习的经验及其价值追求,提高教师教育学习资源的实效性。     

Promoting Constructive Activities that Support Vicarious Learning During Computer-Based Instruction

This article explores several ways computer-based instruction can be designed to support constructive activities and promote deep-level comprehension during vicarious learning. Vicarious learning, discussed in the first section, refers to knowledge acquisition under conditions in which the learner is not the addressee and does not physically interact in any way with the source of the content to be mastered. The second section describes cognitive constructivism from the standpoint of schema theory and the work of Bartlett (1932). The next section describes four principles of curriculum design that support constructive processes during vicarious learning and reviews the process of self-explanation and how computer prompted self-explanation supports constructive activities. Research showing the important role that overhearing deep-level reasoning questions plays in supporting constructive activities and deep-level learning is also described. In the next section, vicarious learning supported by deep-level reasoning questions is contrasted with tutoring as one kind of interactive learning. In the final section, some conclusions are drawn, a few empirical issues are discussed, and two caveats are noted.     

Wirkungen des Lernens mit Videofällen bei Lehrkräften

Case-based learning with videos is regarded as a promising way to promote the analytical abilities of teaching staff as a basis for their professional actions. For that purpose, the competence to assess and diagnose situations of learning and instruction is crucial, i.e., especially the ability to apply conceptual knowledge to pedagogical cases and to take teacher as well as learner perspectives into account. The article reports on the results of an experimental field intervention study aimed to convey this competence effectively by providing different forms of instructional support to over 100 students of English Studies (2?×?2 design, conceptual knowledge: present/not present; teacher and learner perspectives: present/not present). The central focus is on identifying further effects that personal characteristics (individual learning conditions, e.g., prior knowledge, tolerance of ambiguity) and process characteristics (cognitive load; cognitive, emotional, and motivational activation) have on the development of this competence, and how strong these effects are. Multiple linear regression analyses show that this type of learning with case-based videos places less demand on personal factors, and that the quality of the learning process plays a decisive role.     

Using Interactive Radio to Enhance Classroom Learning and Reach Schools,Classrooms, Teachers,and Learners

This article provides a case study of the development of the Open Learning Systems Education Trust's “English in Action” programme in South Africa from 1993 to the end of 2004. It describes the programme's development from a model focused on enhancing learner involvement and learner gains to a model of distance education and open learning focused on promoting teacher and learner gains through school, classroom, and teacher support, and through in‐service teacher training. It documents the expansion of schools, teachers, and learners involved in the programme over a 12‐year period. It also points out the implications and limitations of the use of radio to enhance teacher and learner involvement in open learning, in terms of the renewed interest in radio learning which has taken place over recent years in developing countries, as well as more broadly internationally.