万维网应用于大学教育的探索

探讨了万维网(Web)在大学教育中的应用现状与趋势。Web激发我们通过采用信息和通信技术,从根本上改变大学教育方式和提高大学教育质量的想像力。Web在大学教育中的应用,主要呈现为正式和非正式学习的区别,在线分发和使用的学习材料的格式、包装,虚拟学习和管理学习环境中的材料、过程管理,语义Web提供的解决方案等,同时预示着新的挑战,如大规模开放式在线课程和身临其境的3DWeb。     

Evaluating text-based information on the World Wide Web

This special section contributes to an inclusive cognitive model of information problem solving (IPS) activity, touches briefly IPS learning, and brings to the notice methodological pitfalls related to uncovering IPS processes. Instead of focusing on the IPS process as a whole, the contributing articles turn their attention to what is regarded the heart of IPS, namely the evaluation of information. In this commentary we reflect on theoretical, methodological, and instructional design issues. Results are commented upon and future research is addressed. A vignette is presented to illustrate the aforementioned issues.     

Minimalist Instruction for Learning to Search the World Wide Web

This study examined the efficacy of minimalist instruction to develop self-regulatory skills involved in Web searching. Two versions of minimalist self-regulatory skill instruction were compared to a control group that was merely taught procedural skills to operate the search engine. Acquired skills were tested on Web search tasks and search tasks in an online library catalogue. Self-regulatory skill instruction was found to increase practice time by 25%. However, it did not enhance search performance on the test tasks. Explanations are advanced for these findings and topics for further research are identified.     

Navigating Cyberspace: Vision, Textuality and the World Wide Web

This article is an examination of the language, structure and imagery of the World Wide Web. It argues that the Web is not just a rich source of information but offers new ways of seeing and engaging with the world. As well as a consideration of the nature of electronically mediated texts, it looks at the World Wide Web as a kind of meta-text itself which has mythopoeic resonances.     

Giving Back to the Web: Social Filtering of World Wide Web Resources in High School Science

Can high school students become contributors as well as users on the World Wide Web? This research explores a new Web-based curriculum idea, that of having students write and publish critical “reviews” of scientific resources. Writing reviews can be a means of both practicing critical evaluation of Web resources, and of making an authentic value-added contribution to the Web. This paper presents content analyses of 41 source documents and 63 critical reviews published by 11th grade students in a project-based science class. The source documents are described as to their publishing source, use of organizational elements, and use of graphics. Two aspects of student-written critical evaluation are analyzed: evaluation of organization and evaluation of graphics. While evaluations of graphics were somewhat thin in these reviews, this was due mostly to the lack of good content representations in the source documents. The on-line review form did successfully prompt students to make conceptual connections between organizational structure and their own sense-making process. Reviews also sometimes showed students engaged in perspective-taking related to potential readers. The literature review of this paper examines critical evaluation models and current social filtering models for large, distributed databases. A section on future directions for Web reviews describes a review-publishing system developed for the University of Michigan Digital Library system.     

Teaching Contemporary Physics Topics Using Real-Time Data Obtained via the World Wide Web

As a teaching tool, the World Wide Web (WWW) is unprecedented in its ability to transmit information and enhance communication between scientist and student. Just beginning to be developed are sites that actively engage the user in the learning process and provide hands-on methods of teaching contemporary topics. These topics are often not found in the classroom due to the complexity and expense of the laboratory equipment and the WWW is an ideal tool for overcoming this difficulty. This paper presents a model for using the Internet to teach high school students about plasma physics and fusion energy. Students are given access to real-time data, virtual experiments, and communication with professional scientists via email. Preliminary data indicate that student collaboration and student-led learning is encouraged when using the site in the classroom. Scientist/student mentoring is enhanced with this form of communication.     

High School Students' Critical Evaluation of Scientific Resources on the World Wide Web

This research explores a new web-based curriculum idea, that of having students write and publish critical web reviews of scientific resources as a means of both practicing critical evaluation of web resources, and of making an authentic value-added contribution to the web. This paper presents content analyses of selected sections of 63 web reviews published by eleventh grade students in a project-based science class. Two aspects of critical evaluation are focused upon: summarization of content and evaluation of credibility. Content analyses show that student summaries were usually accurate, but had room for improvement especially in areas of comprehensiveness and level of detail. An ideal model of a content review is developed from analysis of a second set of reviews. When asked to evaluate credibility, students struggled to identify scientific evidence of claims in web resources, but analysis of web documents shows that this is often because such evidence is missing. Students could accurately determine the publishing source of web documents, but challenges arose in identifying potential biases. Recommendations for future iterations of this curriculum idea are presented throughout. A companion paper that will appear in this journal will examine how student reviews serve the function of social filtering on the web.     

The World Wide Web and School Culture

Abstract

The vast educational potential of the Web continues to be largely unrealized in schools. There are many reasons for this, including cultural lag and the speed of technical advancements. Specific problems include educational Web pages that lack interaction, educational fads, frantic implementation of distance education with no regard for quality control, lack of teacher training, lack of institutional technical and pedagogical infrastructure, limited Internet access, and antiquated hardware. The article concludes with a call for research into these problems.     

Contextualizing learning in the World Wide Web: accounting for the impact of culture

There is a developing urgency about how Australian universities should best make use of the World Wide Web (WWW) to meet the needs of culturally diverse students, especially those of Asian origin. This urgency is the result of both global and internal pressures, some political, (consider the imminence of the 'Hanson movement' against a multicultural Australia), some economic, some social. Moreover, to miss the current opportunity to exploit WWW technologies to design, implement and market effective instructional courses will only work to disadvantage Australia in a growing but globally competitive educational market. One of the most pressing problems in this context is how to provide instructional materials in a model of teaching and learning that is cost-effective, makes extensive use of WWW technologies to provide for flexibility in learning, and that is culturally appropriate. This paper outlines an approach and model for investigating and developing culturally appropriate instructional materials. It is hoped that through publication, we might obtain feedback on the validity of this model and also widen the potential of its scope beyond its immediate application to the Australian context. The following hypotheses are central to our work: (1) Existing cultural influences in instructional materials designed and delivered on the WWW by Australian universities, and intended for use by culturally diverse students, are minimal and ineffective. (2) The efficacy of learning based in the use of the WWW for instructional purposes can be improved by the adoption of a culturally appropriate model of instructional design. (3) Culture is a significant factor in determining the effectiveness of learning materials created in the WWW and intended for use by culturally diverse students. In testing these hypotheses, we intend to provide the empirical research to help determine the most appropriate ways of using the WWW to stimulate effective learning at tertiary level for all learners, whatever their cultural heritage or perspectives     

Addressing Science Teacher's Initial Perceptions of the Classroom Uses of Internet and World Wide Web-Based Resource Materials

Teachers are often subject to considerable pressure to utilize the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) in their classrooms. Research suggests, however, that many teachers may not be prepared to make meaningful educational use of the resources available on the Web. This study examines the initial perceptions of educational value of science resource materials available on the WWW, as gathered from a group of science teachers participating in the West Virginia K-12 RuralNet project summer workshop training. The results suggest that while most teachers feel that the WWW does provide a large number of good science resources for educators, few teachers are prepared to make use of these materials in their own classrooms. Possible solutions to this problem include long term training in both technical and curriculum integration, classroom practice during training, and the support of an on-line community of peers.     

MicroObservatory Net: A Network of Automated Remote Telescopes Dedicated to Educational Use

Many students have a deep interest in astronomy, but a limited opportunity to use telescopes to explore the heavens. The MicroObservatory Network of automated telescopes is designed to provide access to classroom teachers who wish their students to conduct projects over the World Wide Web. The intuitive interface makes it easy for even 10-year-olds to take pictures. Telescopes can be remotely pointed and focused: filters, field of view, and exposure times can be changed easily. Images are archived at the website, along with sample challenges and a user bulletin board, all of which encourage collaboration among schools. Wide geographic separation of instruments provides access to distant night skies during local daytime. Since first light in 1995, we have learned much about remote troubleshooting, designing for unattended use, and for acquiring the kinds of images that students desire. This network can be scaled up from its present capability of 240,000 images each year to provide telescope access for all US students with an interest in astronomy. Our WWW address is http://mo-www.harvard.edu/MicroObservatory/     

Learning environments on the World Wide Web: experiences from Astronomy On-Line

In this article the Astronomy On-Line (AOL) learning experiment on World Wide Web (WWW) is described. As a part of AOL, educational research was carried out. The purpose of this study was to measure how students experience the new medium in their learning and how students utilize the communication facilities (group e-mail, real-time discussion) available through the WWW site. This study also describes the computational facilities available among AOL participants all around Europe     

Phytochemicals in Fruits and Vegetables: Use of Interactive Videoconferencing and the World Wide Web for Teaching a Multidisciplinary Course

ABSTRACT: An evaluation of interactive video conferencing and Web-assisted instruction to deliver a multidisciplinary course entitled Phytochemicals in Fruits and Vegetables to Improve Human Health was conducted during the spring semesters of 1999 and 2001. This course was taught by 20 instructors from 11 institutions to 49 students during spring 2001, which was an increase of 53% over spring 1999. Weekly 3-h lectures were delivered by the Trans-Texas Videoconference Network integrated with PowerPoint® or HTML slides available on the course Web site ( http://phytochemicals.tamu.edu ). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through formative and summative methods. Participants expressed their satisfaction with course format and the need for technical support for interactive videoconferencing.     

Cascading the use of Web 2.0 technology in secondary schools in the United Kingdom: identifying the barriers beyond pre-service training

This paper reports on research that took place at two universities in the United Kingdom, over two years. The research focuses on the use of Web 2.0 technology, specifically blogs, with pre-service teachers, both during their university programme and the first year of teaching as full-time newly qualified teachers (NQTs). The purpose of this research was to add to a developing body of knowledge by identifying whether technology used by pre-service teachers during their training course can be cascaded into their practice once qualified. Key findings identify a number of enablers and barriers to cascading technology in the classroom; these include curriculum time, pupil skills and support. The research concludes that early professional support and development should continue during the early years of teaching and assumptions about new teachers as champions of cascading innovative use of Web 2.0 technologies into their practice as NQTs may be over-optimistic.     

Participants’ views of the use of video in lesson study in higher education in Spain: An exploratory multiple case study

Abstract

Lesson study (LS) is a process through which teachers design, teach and discuss a lesson collaborating with colleagues. Sometimes, it includes video recording the lesson so teachers can use videos to later discuss the lesson and its improvement, however, there is little research addressing the consequences of doing it. This article investigates participants’ perceptions and use of video within LS. Results show that participants perceived video in LS as viable and with potential to stimulate reflection and to improve lessons, but also evince that video affects the outcomes, management and sustainability of LS. We analyze and discuss its potential and the challenges it poses, suggesting ideas for its implementation.     

乡土教育“:乡土”与“天下”之链

乡土教育作为一种传承乡土文化的教育,它是多元文化整合的有效途径,也是国民教育的有益补充。乡土和天下不只是一种特指的地理空间,也是一系列符号象征。从乡土到天下,既意味着地理空间的变化,也意味着人的变化,而链接乡土与天下的纽带则是乡土教育。通过开展乡土教育,可以让个体在感知乡土的基础上,逐步培养他们对乡土和天下的认同,从而真正成长为适应社会变迁的现代人。