Measuring the quality of e‐learning

This paper shows how concept mapping can be used to measure the quality of e‐learning. Six volunteers (all of them 3rd‐year medical students) took part in a programme of e‐learning designed to teach the principles of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Their understanding of MRI was measured before and after the course by the use of concept mapping. The quality of change in individuals' maps was assessed using criteria developed to distinguish between meaningful and rote‐learning outcomes. Student maps were also scored for evidence of conceptual richness and understanding. Finally, each map was compared directly with the content of the electronic teaching material. The results show that many of the student misconceptions were put right in the course of their learning but that many of the key concepts introduced in the teaching were ignored (or sometimes learnt by rote) by the students. This was because the teaching material locked these new ideas in structures and terminology that precluded meaning‐making among non‐experts. Our data suggest that students' prior knowledge is a key determinant of meaningful learning. We suggest that this must be acknowledged if the design and use of electronic teaching material is also to be meaningful. Ultimately, measures of student learning are the only authentic indicators of the quality of teaching through technology.     

From e‐learning space to e‐learning place

In this paper, it is argued that e‐learning environments are currently more like ‘buildings’, ie, learning spaces, rather than ‘schools’, ie, places for learning. The concepts originated from architecture and urban design, where they are used both to distinguish static spaces from inhabited places, and more importantly, as design objectives. The transformation from space to place is supported and enabled by social interactions between the (learning) community members. We argue that this distinction between the concepts explains some of the problems with current e‐learning systems and propose issues to consider when designing new systems. By acknowledging the importance and characteristics of a place, designers and researchers can justify the need and support for social interactions in learning space, consequently enabling social community building in e‐learning environments, and most importantly, supporting the development of a user‐friendly and motivating e‐learning place.     

Conceptions of e‐learning and professional development for e‐learning held by tertiary educators in New Zealand

The conceptions an individual holds about a phenomenon can influence and determine associated behaviours and perspectives. Consequently, they have a bearing upon how learning about a phenomenon is undertaken and how that phenomenon is experienced and applied in context. A phenomenographic research approach was used to gather the expressed experiences of e‐learning and professional development for e‐learning held by teachers and support staff from institutions across New Zealand. Five conceptions of e‐learning (as tool and equipment; as a facilitator of interaction; as learning; as a reduction in distance; and as a collaborative enterprise) and four conceptions of professional development for e‐learning (as training; as opening up possibilities; as collaboration; and as relevant and purposeful) were discovered. In this report, we discuss the conceptions, and show how they are interrelated through outcome space. Implications for the professional development of tertiary teachers and teaching support staff are outlined. The study provides some insights for individuals, institutions and those responsible for planning and implementing professional development programmes to help them to support the development and progress of e‐learning in appropriate and rewarding directions.     

Supporting social awareness in collaborative e‐learning

In the last decade, we have seen the emergence of virtual learning environments. Initially, these environments were a little more than document repositories that tutor used unicast to the students. Informed in part by social constructivist theories of education, later environments included capabilities for tutor–student and student–student, synchronous and asynchronous communication. The initial research of this paper reports the typical low usage of these capabilities. The main research attempted to ameliorate this problem by the provision of tools to promote a sense of social awareness as self‐presence and copresence, and evaluation techniques to analyse e‐learners' interactions. Data was obtained from prepost questionnaires, log files and social network analysis which augmented the data provided by the tools embedded in Moodle. The results indicate the importance of social awareness in effective e‐learning; the quality of active participation can be increased by the use of associated tools. The e‐tutor's role is still pivotal to facilitate and to support such engagement towards collaborative learning. Implications for future research suggest that social awareness tools and evaluation techniques can create awareness cues in an interface with a potential impact on learning.     

The myths about e‐learning in higher education

Proponents have marketed e‐learning by focusing on its adoption as the right thing to do while disregarding, among other things, the concerns of the potential users, the adverse effects on users and the existing research on the use of e‐learning or related innovations. In this paper, the e‐learning‐adoption proponents are referred to as the technopositivists. It is argued that most of the technopositivists in the higher education context are driven by a personal agenda, with the aim of propagating a technopositivist ideology to stakeholders. The technopositivist ideology is defined as a ‘compulsive enthusiasm’ about e‐learning in higher education that is being created, propagated and channelled repeatedly by the people who are set to gain without giving the educators the time and opportunity to explore the dangers and rewards of e‐learning on teaching and learning. Ten myths on e‐learning that the technopositivists have used are presented with the aim of initiating effective and constructive dialogue, rather than merely criticising the efforts being made.     

Global organizations and e‐learning: Leveraging adult learning in different cultures

This article examines a number of issues regarding the leveraged use of global training within multinational organizations. Given a common purpose and using technology that may minimize cultural differences, is it possible for these organizations to overcome some of the cultural barriers to adult learning? In examining this concept, this article discusses issues of cultural differences, adult cognition, technology, developing global courseware, and measuring its impact.     

HistoViewer: An interactive e‐learning platform facilitating group and peer group learning

Understanding tissue architecture and the morphological characteristics of cells is a central prerequisite to comprehending the basis of physiological tissue function in healthy individuals and relating this to disease states. Traditionally, medical curricula include courses where students examine glass slides of cytological or tissue samples under a light microscope. However, it is challenging to implement group and peer group learning in these courses and to give students sufficient time to study specimens. An increasing number of medical schools have thus started to implement digital slide viewers, so‐called virtual microscopes, in histology and histopathology. These websites are mostly based on standard commercial software and offer limited adaptation to the special needs of first‐year students. An e‐learning platform has therefore been developed for use in cytology and histology courses. This virtual microscopy tool is coupled to a central database in which students can label and store the positions of individual structures for later repetition. As learning in pairs and peer groups has been shown to provide a high learning outcome, identified structures can be shared and discussed with students' peers or faculty via a built‐in communication module. This website has the possibility of opening an arbitrary number of frames which all can actively be moved and changed in magnification to enable the comparison of specimens and thus encourage a more global understanding of related tissues. HistoViewer is thus suggested as an e‐learning tool combining several modern teaching concepts. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Exploring factors that influence adoption of e‐learning within higher education

E‐learning is increasingly adopted in the workplace for supporting professional development and continuing education; however, in higher education, the use of e‐learning is predominantly used as a tool support teaching. As a relatively new priority for universities, this paper explores what influences its adoption. Challenges identified in the literature include organisational features of universities like faculty autonomy and dispersed academic perspectives. This study, carried out at the University of Warwick, adopted a phenomenological approach and explored participants' perceptions through a series of faculty‐based focus groups and individual interviews. Factors identified as influential to adoption of e‐learning included the institutional infrastructure, staff attitudes and skills, and perceived student expectations. Participants suggested the importance of an institutional strategy targeted at providing sufficient resources and guidance for effective implementation. This strategy needs to be supported by a varied programme of staff development and opportunities for sharing practice among colleagues. In further developing understanding in this area, it would be beneficial to replicate the study with other stakeholder groups (including the leadership team and students) to develop an institutional strategy responsive at all levels of implementation. It would also be valuable to investigate the extent to which these findings are replicated within other workplaces looking to adopt innovation.     

Usability testing of a multimedia e‐learning resource for electrolyte and acid‐base disorders

The usability of computer interfaces may have a major influence on learning. Design approaches that optimize usability are commonplace in the software development industry but are seldom used in the development of e‐learning resources, especially in medical education. We conducted a usability evaluation of a multimedia resource for teaching electrolyte and acid‐base disorders by studying the interaction of 15 medical doctors with the application. Most of the usability problems occurred in an interactive treatment simulation, which was completed successfully by only 20% of participants. A total of 27 distinct usability problems were detected, with 15 categorized as serious. No differences were observed with respect to usability problems detected by junior doctors as compared with more experienced colleagues. Problems were related to user information and feedback, the visual layout, match with the real world, error prevention and management, and consistency and standards. The resource was therefore unusable for many participants; this is in contrast to good scores previously reported for subjective user satisfaction. The findings suggest that the development of e‐learning materials should follow an iterative design‐and‐test process that includes routine usability evaluation. User testing should include the study of objective measures and not rely only on self‐reported measures of satisfaction.     

Critical success factors: How one multinational company develops global e‐learning

This research study examined how a multinational company determined what the critical success factors (CSFs) were for developing global e‐learning. The study analyzed how these CSFs were grouped together to make their management more efficient. There were 21 participants in the study who were key stakeholders from the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The results demonstrated that not all CSFs were deemed critical for every program and that what were considered CSFs early in the project often changed by the end of the project. In addition, the study showed that grouping the CSFs into common categories allowed the program development stakeholders to be more consistent and thorough in their ability to manage and address those CSFs throughout the project. Finally, the results demonstrated that for the study company, the best way to manage CSFs was to expand existing best practices and standard operating procedures to address global CSFs.