Building interfaces for on-line collaborative learning

For several years we have been engaged in the development and research of software environments for collaborative learning, for example in the recently completed CoLabs project (which we presented at the IFIP TC3 WG3.5 working conference in Budapest in 2004, see also http://matchsz.inf.elte.hu/Colabs/), also within lately defended long-range doctoral research, in which the co-author of this paper together with his undergraduate students had developed and evaluated cooperative computer activities for children aged 10 to 18. They observed children when using those environments and studied the influence of different approaches and solutions on the degree of their involvement and will to cooperate. We have also been involved in the London Knowledge Lab pilot project for developing a collaborative layered learning space travel games construction kit. Our department’s prior engagement in the development of collaborative activities also includes publishing a popular on-line journal (developed by A. Hrusecka and D. Lehotska, this on-line journal (in Slovak) can proudly boast up to 250,000 visits per month) for children, which intensively exploits on-line collaboration. This topic attracts us not only as a support for the learning process, but is a challenge for us as developers of educational programming tools as well. In our SuperLogo and Imagine environments we have always tried to provide users (ranging from children to developers) with new and powerful options to foster learning by exploring and developing. Thus we have equipped Imagine with the means for building objects and their behaviours in incremental loops, with parallel independent processes, event-driven programming and complex yet intuitive support for developing on-line environments for collaborative learning. In this paper we place our collaborative applications in the context of other related interfaces reported in literature. We use eight criteria to classify them and conclude that collaborative applications being developed by us and our students—future teachers—are distinguishable from others along two or three of those criteria: they combine in themselves typical features of Logo microworlds and inspiring support for on-line cooperation. We then analyze in detail our collaborative Imagine microworlds along four dimensions of their development. We specify means for establishing and maintaining on-line connection among any number of participants. We study tools for sending and receiving items (data, active characters with their behaviours, instructions etc.). We reflect on what can be shared by two or more participants in a collaborative activity. We examine all possible operations with common and private characters of a participant from the collaboration point of view. Our goals in this research and development are to:

1. Better understand potential the interfaces for on-line collaboration offer to support the learning process,
2. Place our Imagine Logo microworlds into context of other related applications,
3. Build a detailed map of all aspects important for their development (i.e., build a framework for the development),
4. Present the observations from our long-range experimental development and evaluation of the collaborative environments,
5. Point out how simple and natural it is (in the academic surroundings) to develop small and yet powerful collaborative microworlds—built for instance for immediate need in a classroom—with exceptional potential for interaction and openness.

Most of all, however, we want to motivate the endeavour to overcome all obstacles connected with the integration of on-line cooperation into children’s learning.     

Women and gender studies and multicultural education: Building the agenda for 2000 and beyond

Abstract

Multicultural education has always been contested terrain, yet within the last five years a significant consensus about its scope and function has evolved. The discourse about multicultural education has not adequately attended to the debates surrounding the terms “gender” and “sex” or the multiple feminist theories that focus on the more critical aspects of a social change agenda. This article focuses on some of the tensions between women and gender studies and multicultural education such as: understanding gender as a category of analysis, theoretical constructions of feminism, and building an educational agenda for social justice in an effort to further the agenda for 2000 and beyond.     

合作学习--一种有效学习的策略

合作学习是新课程大力倡导的主要学习方式之一 ,本文结合化学教学实际从精心设计讨论问题、把握合作学习时机和明确个人责任等方面进行了论述 ,以促进学生有效地合作学习。     

Building learning communities: foundations for good practice

The School of Health Sciences at the University of Birmingham provided opportunities for the development of student learning communities and online resources within the neurological module of the BSc Physiotherapy degree programme. These learning communities were designed to facilitate peer and independent learning in core aspects underpinning clinical practice, thus laying the foundation for the development of effective clinical reasoning. This paper examines some of the problems that staff encountered, including the lessons that they learnt through the design, development, and implementation processes of the module, and the subsequent modifications that were made. Student experiences of this course are also included, as they provided staff with further insights into the ways in which these problems impacted upon their preparation for clinical practice and how the module might be improved for future cohorts. From an analysis of the problems that staff encountered and then sought to resolve, and of student experiences of the course, this paper identifies foundations for good practice in the development and delivery of innovative learning and teaching methods.     

利用人类一切有效学习方式

从生活中、从现实的物质世界学习,与从书本上、从理论中学习,本来是人类(学习的)两种不可偏废的学习方式。传统的学校教育,比较偏重从书本中学习,当然有其弊端,但是,如果以为新教育、新课程就应该摈弃系统的知识与理论学习,只强调一切从学生的直接经验出发,一切都要由学生的个人实践去检验,那显然也是不确切的。因为,实践既包括个人的实践,更包括社会的、人类的实践。没有具体的每个人的实践,就无所谓社会的、人类的实践;而没有社会的、历史的考量,仅局限于具体的个人经验,又会陷入狭隘的经验主义、粗陋的实践主义泥沼,会为“眼见为实”的片…     

On the evaluation of teaching and learning in higher education: a multicultural inquiry

The aim of the study was to develop a model of positive word‐of‐mouth (WoM) intentions in a higher education context. WoM was found to be directly influenced by satisfaction levels and indirectly by antecedents of satisfaction, namely positive and negative emotions and perceptions of performance. The model provided a good fit to the data and explained 58% of the variance in WoM intentions. When the model was tested on samples of domestic and international students, significant differences were noted in that the model explained only 21% of the variance in WoM for international compared to 68% for domestic. Moreover, emotions for the international sample did not significantly influence satisfaction or WoM intentions.     

优化课堂教学 促进有效学习——提高信息技术课堂教学有效性的策略研究

课堂教学改革几年来取得了实质性的进展,但是对新课程理念的理解不到位以及实施者缺乏必要的经验和能力等原因,课堂教学改革也出现了形式化、低效化现象,特别是在信息技术课堂中,这种现象犹为严重。如何提升信息技术课堂教学的有效性,促进学生三维目标的和谐发展,是我们广大一线信息技术教师必须要考虑的问题。笔者从自己的教学实践出发,对提高信息技术课堂教学有效性进行了若干策略研究。     

浅谈有效实施合作学习的策略

本文结合多年教育教学实践,谈谈对有效实施合作学习策略的看法。     

多元文化背景下高职生克服自卑心理的有效途径研究

在多元文化背景下发展起来的多元文化咨询理论,强调心理咨询和教育过程中对文化背景差异和个体文化特征差异的关注,有利于克服文化偏差,承认差异,尊重多元。在高职院校心理健康教育教学中引入多元文化咨询理念,本着"尊重、鼓励、理解、分享"的原则,探索帮助学生克服自卑心理的有效方法和途径,对于促进高职院校人才培养目标的实现和学生综合素质的提高无疑是非常有益的尝试。     

The importance of computer experience,learning processes,and communication patterns in multicultural networking

This paper reports on a case study which was undertaken to study issues fundamental to a computer-assisted, multicultural education. During the study, a group of Asian American middle-school students corresponded with culturally dissimilar students using telecommunications. The data reported reflect the Asian American students' experience. Results concerning three themes of the research are discussed: computer knowledge, learning processes, and communication patterns. Findings indicate that students of different ethnic backgrounds may have different attitudes about and knowledge of computers, cross-cultural communication patterns, and learning processes when working with computers. These differences should be taken into account when planning a computer-assisted, multicultural curriculum. The authors wish to thank Andy Xiong for his invaluable assistance on this project. We would also like to thank the three teachers for their contributions to the research. This research was supported by a grant from the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, College of Education, University of Minnesota.     

Grasping the dynamic complexity of team learning: An integrative model for effective team learning in organisations

In this article we present an integrative model of team learning. Literature shows that effective team learning requires the establishment of a dialogical space amongst team members, in which communicative behaviours such as ‘sharing’, ‘co-construction’ and ‘constructive conflict’ are balanced. However, finding this balance is not enough. Important questions such as ‘communicating about what?’, ‘communicating with whom?’ and ‘communicating for what?’ remain crucial. Five other process variables ‘team reflexivity’, ‘team activity’, ‘boundary crossing’, ‘storage’ and ‘retrieval’ are identified. Besides the core process variables, our model organises the most important inputs, catalyst emergent states and outputs of team learning.     

Working collaboratively with teachers to promote effective learning

The work of educational psychologists (EPs) is often focused on those children identified as having special educational needs. This focus may restrict opportunities for EPs to become involved in the wider application of psychology within education. This article explores ways in which EPs can make an effective contribution to the enhancement of learning opportunities for all children by working collaboratively with teachers. As a group of EPs working in the same local education authority (LEA), we undertook a small‐scale action research project with teachers in order to explore ways to promote children's thinking and learning skills. The study involved us working with Year 5 class teachers in three mainstream primary schools over a six‐week period, with the aim of developing materials which helped pupils develop an awareness of their own learning techniques (metacognition) and a positive and confident approach to learning (self‐efficacy). Some of the benefits of and barriers to joint research are considered, as well as implications for future collaborative work between teachers and EPs.     

工学结合有效模式及政策制度研究

当前中职学校在教学和发展过程中积极探索适合自身特色的模式,不断改革创新传统教学模式,工学结合的教学模式适应了当前中职学校的发展和人才培养机制,对于提高中职学生竞争力具有重要作用。在职业教育改革实践中,工学结合的教学模式也在不断发展和创新,例如工学交替的教学模式、订单培养的教学模式等,都是当前工学结合的有效模式。如何继续和深化工学结合的有效模式,深化政策制度研究,是当前中职教学改革的重要内容之一。