The primary function of universities is to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to prosper throughout their professional career. Today, to be successful, students will need to continually enhance their knowledge and skills, in order to address immediate problems and to participate in a process of continuing vocational and professional development.
Authors: Malinka Ivanova, Tatyana Ivanova
Facilitating Active Learning Utilizing the Online Environment of NfomediaMalinka Ivanova
The document discusses active learning strategies that can be facilitated using the online learning environment Nfomedia. It proposes using concept mapping, project-based learning, and personal learning environments to engage students in knowledge gathering, application, distribution, and analysis. The strategies aim to clearly track and motivate students by having them summarize, analyze, remember, create, explore, discuss and share information to document their progression. The document concludes that a prototype combining these active learning methods was tested successfully in Nfomedia over one semester.
This document discusses e-learning technologies and systems. It describes communication technologies used in e-learning like asynchronous tools like blogs and discussion boards and synchronous tools like chat sessions. It also discusses learning management systems, collaborative software, pedagogical approaches to e-learning, and interaction models in e-learning systems. Architectural examples of service-oriented e-learning systems are provided. A virtual learning environment demo is also referenced.
This study analyzed the use of the Moodle e-learning platform at the University of Aveiro in Portugal. A questionnaire was administered to 278 students to characterize their use of Moodle. The results showed that students primarily use Moodle as a repository to download course materials, with an average of 49 accesses per month. While students recognized the importance of communication tools for learning, these tools were underutilized. Overall, Moodle had potential but was not fully leveraged for its interactive features to enhance teaching and learning.
The e-learning contained many educational resources are generally used in learning systems like Moodle, It’s free open source software packages designed and flexible platform to create Learning Objects (LOs) and users’ accounts. The author demonstrates how to use semantic web technologies to improve online learning environments and bridge the gap between learners and LOs. The ontological construction presented here helps formalize LOs context as a complex interplay of different learning-related elements and shows how we can use semantic annotation to interrelate diverse between learner and LOs. On top of this construction, the author implemented several feedback channels for educators to improve the delivery of future Web-based learning. The particular aim of this paper was to provide a solution based in the Moodle Platform. The main idea behind the approach presented here is that ontology which can not only be useful as a learning instrument but it can also be employed to assess students’ skills. For it, each student is prompted to express his/her beliefs by building own discipline-related ontology through an application displayed in the interface of Moodle. This paper presents the ontology for an e-Learning System, which arranges metadata, and defines the relationships of metadata, which are about learning objects; belong to academic courses and user profiles. This ontology has been incorporated as a critical part of the proposed architecture. By this ontology, effective retrieval of learning content, customizing Learning Management System (LMS) is expected. Metadata used in this paper are based on current metadata standards. This ontology specified in human and machine-readable formats. In implementing it, several APIs were defined to manage the ontology. They were introduced into a typical LMS such as Moodle. Proposed ontology maps user preferences with learning content to satisfy learner requirements. These learning objects are presented to the learner based on ontological relationships. Hence it increases the usability and customizes the LMS. In conclusion, ontologies have a range of potential benefits and applications in further and higher education, including the sharing of information across e-learning systems, providing frameworks for learning object reuse, and enabling information between learner and system parts.
Rapid e-learning, as an informal educational tool for advanced studentseLearning Papers
Author: Nicolò Antonio Piave.
This article deals with the possibility of introducing rapid e-learning software, usually used by teachers and content producers, into a hybrid learning paradigm and informal educational tool.
In an e-learning environment
that emphasizes learnercentered activity and system
interactivity, remote learners
can outperform traditional
classroom students.
CAN
E-LEARNING
REPLACE
CLASSROOM
LEARNING?
By Dongsong Zhang,
J. Leon Zhao, Lina Zhou, and
Jay F. Nunamaker, Jr.
This paper presents a comparative analysis of Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) Learning Management System (LMS). Following a selection process we analyze the functionalities and characteristics of 8 tools commonly used in formal and informal education. More specifically we focus on the availability of different tools concerning communication and assistance, such as, forum, email, calendar, portfolios, etc. Our analysis showed that despite their similarities, the appropriateness of different FLOSS LMSs can be greatly affected by the specific needs of students, instructors and institutions.
On the way towards Personal Learning Environments: Seven crucial aspectseLearning Papers
Authors: Sandra Schaffert, Wolf Hilzensauer.
The practice of learning and teaching is not pre-determined, but always related to the tools and systems used in the process. The development and rising success of social software applications such as weblogs and wikis and so-called Personal Learning Environments (PLE) changes, enables and challenges learning with the Internet.
Facilitating Active Learning Utilizing the Online Environment of NfomediaMalinka Ivanova
The document discusses active learning strategies that can be facilitated using the online learning environment Nfomedia. It proposes using concept mapping, project-based learning, and personal learning environments to engage students in knowledge gathering, application, distribution, and analysis. The strategies aim to clearly track and motivate students by having them summarize, analyze, remember, create, explore, discuss and share information to document their progression. The document concludes that a prototype combining these active learning methods was tested successfully in Nfomedia over one semester.
This document discusses e-learning technologies and systems. It describes communication technologies used in e-learning like asynchronous tools like blogs and discussion boards and synchronous tools like chat sessions. It also discusses learning management systems, collaborative software, pedagogical approaches to e-learning, and interaction models in e-learning systems. Architectural examples of service-oriented e-learning systems are provided. A virtual learning environment demo is also referenced.
This study analyzed the use of the Moodle e-learning platform at the University of Aveiro in Portugal. A questionnaire was administered to 278 students to characterize their use of Moodle. The results showed that students primarily use Moodle as a repository to download course materials, with an average of 49 accesses per month. While students recognized the importance of communication tools for learning, these tools were underutilized. Overall, Moodle had potential but was not fully leveraged for its interactive features to enhance teaching and learning.
The e-learning contained many educational resources are generally used in learning systems like Moodle, It’s free open source software packages designed and flexible platform to create Learning Objects (LOs) and users’ accounts. The author demonstrates how to use semantic web technologies to improve online learning environments and bridge the gap between learners and LOs. The ontological construction presented here helps formalize LOs context as a complex interplay of different learning-related elements and shows how we can use semantic annotation to interrelate diverse between learner and LOs. On top of this construction, the author implemented several feedback channels for educators to improve the delivery of future Web-based learning. The particular aim of this paper was to provide a solution based in the Moodle Platform. The main idea behind the approach presented here is that ontology which can not only be useful as a learning instrument but it can also be employed to assess students’ skills. For it, each student is prompted to express his/her beliefs by building own discipline-related ontology through an application displayed in the interface of Moodle. This paper presents the ontology for an e-Learning System, which arranges metadata, and defines the relationships of metadata, which are about learning objects; belong to academic courses and user profiles. This ontology has been incorporated as a critical part of the proposed architecture. By this ontology, effective retrieval of learning content, customizing Learning Management System (LMS) is expected. Metadata used in this paper are based on current metadata standards. This ontology specified in human and machine-readable formats. In implementing it, several APIs were defined to manage the ontology. They were introduced into a typical LMS such as Moodle. Proposed ontology maps user preferences with learning content to satisfy learner requirements. These learning objects are presented to the learner based on ontological relationships. Hence it increases the usability and customizes the LMS. In conclusion, ontologies have a range of potential benefits and applications in further and higher education, including the sharing of information across e-learning systems, providing frameworks for learning object reuse, and enabling information between learner and system parts.
Rapid e-learning, as an informal educational tool for advanced studentseLearning Papers
Author: Nicolò Antonio Piave.
This article deals with the possibility of introducing rapid e-learning software, usually used by teachers and content producers, into a hybrid learning paradigm and informal educational tool.
In an e-learning environment
that emphasizes learnercentered activity and system
interactivity, remote learners
can outperform traditional
classroom students.
CAN
E-LEARNING
REPLACE
CLASSROOM
LEARNING?
By Dongsong Zhang,
J. Leon Zhao, Lina Zhou, and
Jay F. Nunamaker, Jr.
This paper presents a comparative analysis of Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) Learning Management System (LMS). Following a selection process we analyze the functionalities and characteristics of 8 tools commonly used in formal and informal education. More specifically we focus on the availability of different tools concerning communication and assistance, such as, forum, email, calendar, portfolios, etc. Our analysis showed that despite their similarities, the appropriateness of different FLOSS LMSs can be greatly affected by the specific needs of students, instructors and institutions.
On the way towards Personal Learning Environments: Seven crucial aspectseLearning Papers
Authors: Sandra Schaffert, Wolf Hilzensauer.
The practice of learning and teaching is not pre-determined, but always related to the tools and systems used in the process. The development and rising success of social software applications such as weblogs and wikis and so-called Personal Learning Environments (PLE) changes, enables and challenges learning with the Internet.
The document summarizes a presentation on hybrid courses that blend face-to-face instruction with online learning using social interaction technologies. It defines a hybrid course as combining in-person and online learning, with a significant portion of activities occurring online. The document outlines various social technologies used in hybrid courses like blogs, wikis, podcasts and learning management systems. It discusses benefits of hybrid courses for students, faculty and universities, as well as challenges, such as requiring self-motivation from students.
This document provides details on David Deeds' experience and qualifications. He has over 20 years of experience in international education, including roles as an IT Manager, Technology Integrator, and Computer Science Teacher. He has worked in several countries and helped pioneer cutting-edge technologies in education. Currently he is a Technology Teacher at the American International School of Egypt, where he introduced a Computer Science curriculum and started a Makerspace program.
Тhe study of foreign languages plays an important role in the modern world. This article explores the use of Internet resources during English lessons, as well as working with information and communication technologies (ICT) and the use of multimedia teaching methods. Therefore, it is so important to improve the method of using computer information technologies in teaching English Ziyayeva Kamola Ziyaiddinovna. (2020). Use of internet resourсes during lessons. International Journal on Orange Technologies, 2(11), 47-50. https://doi.org/10.31149/ijot.v2i11.892 Pdf Url: https://journals.researchparks.org/index.php/IJOT/article/view/892/845 Paper Url: https://journals.researchparks.org/index.php/IJOT/article/view/892
This document discusses the use of internet resources and digital technologies in English language lessons. It explores how multimedia tools like presentations, electronic dictionaries, and authentic online materials can help individualize learning and make it more engaging for students. While electronic textbooks have benefits like easy updating, they also have limitations like a lack of real communication. The document advocates for a blended learning approach, combining classroom lessons with independent online work. Overall, it argues that digital technologies are useful tools that can supplement teachers and make the learning process more effective when used properly.
Authors: Pedro Leão Ramos Ferreira Neto, Margarida Amaral.
This case study was conducted by the senior lecturer in charge of the Computer Architectural Aided Design (CAAD) course, with the support and active collaboration of Instituto de Recursos e Iniciativas Comuns da Universidade do Porto (IRICUP). CAAD is an optional course for fifth-year students at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP).
This document provides an overview of e-learning, including definitions, goals and benefits, the e-learning market and industry growth, content and technology issues, and services. E-learning is defined as instruction delivered via digital technologies to remote learners, and has benefits like improved performance, increased access, and flexibility. The global e-learning market is large and growing. Content and technology continue to evolve through approaches like learning objects and new platforms.
When digital learning objects (DLOs) were initially conceptualized, based on object-oriented programming, there were initial high hopes that people could build learning objects that were re-usable by others. DLOs have come a long way in the past few decades, and many are available for free on various repositories, referatories, digital libraries, and other sources. In a recent research project, the presenter explored what features of DLOs make them adoptable for online learning and created a ten-element model for DLO adoption. The reality is that adoption of DLOs is not cost-free and not effort-free. The ten elements include the following categories:
Pedagogical Value
Learner Engagement
Presentational Features
Legal Considerations
Technological Features
Instructor (Adopter) Control
Applicability to the Respective Learning Contexts (Local Conditions)
Local Costs to Deploy
Labeling and Documentation, Contributor and Informational Source Crediting
Global Transferability and Adoptability
She then analyzed her decades of work in instructional design in higher education (and private industry) to see what features were addressed in the respective funded DLOs. She found discrepancies between what makes DLOs adoptable and what is built and suggests some practical ways to close those gaps with techniques and technologies, in order to further support and propel the “digital learning object economy”.
Making the Most of the New File Upload Question Feature in an LMS: Nine Appl...Shalin Hai-Jew
The document discusses 9 scenarios for using the file upload feature in online learning platforms like Canvas and Qualtrics. Scenario 1 involves learners uploading files as proof of completing tasks. Scenario 2 has learners uploading files for web-mediated presentations. Scenario 3 has learners conducting research and collecting data by uploading files. Scenario 4 enhances location-based learning by having learners upload files from their local contexts. Scenario 5 supports collaboration through shared file uploads. Scenario 6 documents live events through uploaded files. Scenarios 7-9 involve simulations, games, creative works and co-building through uploaded files. The document discusses considerations around intellectual property, privacy, data storage and learning from uploaded content.
Open Education. A Modern Approach to Teaching and LearningKOED
Richard Baraniuk discusses the benefits of open education, which creates an interactive community for sharing educational content freely and openly. He outlines two key enablers of open education: modern technology allows for free distribution and storage of content, and new intellectual property frameworks allow content to be safely shared with common legal terms like open-source software. Examples of open education platforms are provided, such as Connexions which provides open textbooks and courses to over 1 million unique users per month from around the world. Open education offers opportunities for high-quality, continuously updated, and translated educational resources that are never out of date and available for free online or at low cost in print.
This document discusses training for novice telecollaborators. It summarizes interviews with teachers new to telecollaboration who reported challenges with understanding partner country contexts, scheduling exchanges, and technology use. It advocates for sociocultural approaches to training, including engaging trainees in simulations and case studies. Novice teachers would benefit from experienced mentors to share insights and address unexpected issues. The training should focus on experiential learning and participation in online exchange projects to develop competencies in tasks, assessment, and addressing inherent issues of telecollaboration.
A Survey on Autism Spectrum Disorder and E-Learningrahulmonikasharma
Autism or mental imbalance is turmoil in the development and improvement of a mind or central nervous system that covers a huge range of skills, impairment and symptoms. The children who are experiencing autism (or mental imbalance) confront challenges in conveying and adjusting in the group as they experience difficulty in understanding what others feel and think. These days learning innovations changed instructive frameworks with amazing advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Moreover, when these innovations are accessible, reasonable and available, they speak to more than a change for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In this paper, a writing study and foundation study is done on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and E-Learning System for Autism Children.
1. The document discusses the evolution of elearning to elearning 2.0, driven by the rise of Web 2.0 technologies that enable user-generated content and collaboration.
2. It provides the example of palabea.net, a language learning platform that applies elearning 2.0 principles by creating an online community of practice for language learners.
3. Quality assurance in elearning 2.0 focuses on the learner experience, with transparency, communication tools, and blending online and offline learning.
The document summarizes the findings of a study conducted by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) regarding digital literacies for learners in higher education. The study used a three-pronged approach: reviewing existing research, investigating current institutional provision, and presenting conclusions. Key findings included that competence frameworks should address academic, information, and ICT literacies. Current institutional strategies and services often address these areas separately rather than in an integrated way. The report recommends further research and transitioning to a model where learners' digital skills are recognized and used as a resource for learning.
FUNCTIONAL SEMANTICS AWARE BROKER BASED ARCHITECTURE FOR E-LEARNING WEB SERVICESIJITE
E-learning enables the learner to gain diverse knowledge anytime, anywhere and on any device. Learning
resources (objects) and resource providers play a very important role in e-learning applications/systems.
The increasing demand for interoperability in existing heterogeneous e-learning systems to support
accessibility and reusability is the most challenging research issue. Web services and SOA enables
interoperability between heterogeneous applications over the Web. To adopt Web services technology
towards the reusability and aggregation of e-learning services, the conceptual Web services architecture
and its building blocks need to be augmented. In this paper, a well formed functional semantics approach
is proposed to describe e-learning Web services providing variety of learning objects/resources. The
paper presents an extendible functional knowledge to map the learner’s or provider’s versions of service
descriptions into a standard form called Abstract Description. The authors propose a broker based elearning Web service architecture which facilitates effective e-learning service publishing and discovery
mechanisms. The paper explores a scheme to extend the WSDL 2.0 document in order to incorporate
functional semantics of e-learning Web services and their operations. The paper presents an e-learning
service knowledge called Learning Operation Tree (LOT) for the quick e-learning service discovery. The
experimentation shows that, the proposed broker based architecture for e-learning Web services
facilitates effective discovery with moderate performance in terms of recall and response.
The document discusses a study on students' experiences using a Learning Management System (LMS) at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Key findings from interviews with students include:
1) Students use the LMS mainly to download lecture notes and check assignment grades. However, they desire a more permanent profile and notification of successful file uploads.
2) Students interact with lecturers and peers on the LMS and appreciate its anonymity for shy students.
3) Emerging themes from students suggest needs for a permanent profile, file submission notifications, and a more attractive layout with embedded features. Addressing student needs could help accelerate adoption of the LMS.
MIT launched its OpenCourseWare project to provide free online course materials from 32 MIT courses across 16 departments. The materials are attracting worldwide users, including MIT students. While the materials are free to use, they do not provide course credit or a MIT degree. The project aims to disseminate knowledge publicly rather than enable distance learning. It is estimated to cost $7.5-10 million annually during its pilot phase.
This document presents a new learning environment model based on Web 2.0 applications, discussing how the technological changes of Web 2.0 have impacted communication, knowledge, and learning. It reviews concepts of eLearning 2.0 and personal learning environments, then describes the development and implementation of a Web 2.0 learning environment at Darmstadt University consisting of wikis, blogs, social bookmarking, and RSS feeds. An evaluation of this learning environment found that it successfully motivated students and improved learning outcomes.
The document discusses using ontologies and semantic web technologies to improve matching between learning objects and user preferences in e-learning systems like Moodle. It proposes building an ontology to semantically annotate learning objects and user profiles, then using that ontology to more effectively retrieve and customize learning content for each user. The author implemented this approach in Moodle to automatically manage course registration based on various student factors represented in the ontology. The goal is to make the learning process more personalized and improve tracking of student progress.
The proposal suggests piloting an eLearning program at RHR Elementary School to provide additional technology training and professional development for teachers. It would utilize a blended learning model, with self-paced online courses and modules as well as some face-to-face sessions. The goals are to improve teachers' technology skills, increase integration of tools like web 2.0 in instruction, and provide flexible just-in-time training. A core team of teachers would develop the initial content. The program would use free and existing resources, with costs mainly for substitutes during planning and some equipment. Overall it aims to close technology gaps and increase opportunities for professional growth.
The document summarizes a presentation on hybrid courses that blend face-to-face instruction with online learning using social interaction technologies. It defines a hybrid course as combining in-person and online learning, with a significant portion of activities occurring online. The document outlines various social technologies used in hybrid courses like blogs, wikis, podcasts and learning management systems. It discusses benefits of hybrid courses for students, faculty and universities, as well as challenges, such as requiring self-motivation from students.
This document provides details on David Deeds' experience and qualifications. He has over 20 years of experience in international education, including roles as an IT Manager, Technology Integrator, and Computer Science Teacher. He has worked in several countries and helped pioneer cutting-edge technologies in education. Currently he is a Technology Teacher at the American International School of Egypt, where he introduced a Computer Science curriculum and started a Makerspace program.
Тhe study of foreign languages plays an important role in the modern world. This article explores the use of Internet resources during English lessons, as well as working with information and communication technologies (ICT) and the use of multimedia teaching methods. Therefore, it is so important to improve the method of using computer information technologies in teaching English Ziyayeva Kamola Ziyaiddinovna. (2020). Use of internet resourсes during lessons. International Journal on Orange Technologies, 2(11), 47-50. https://doi.org/10.31149/ijot.v2i11.892 Pdf Url: https://journals.researchparks.org/index.php/IJOT/article/view/892/845 Paper Url: https://journals.researchparks.org/index.php/IJOT/article/view/892
This document discusses the use of internet resources and digital technologies in English language lessons. It explores how multimedia tools like presentations, electronic dictionaries, and authentic online materials can help individualize learning and make it more engaging for students. While electronic textbooks have benefits like easy updating, they also have limitations like a lack of real communication. The document advocates for a blended learning approach, combining classroom lessons with independent online work. Overall, it argues that digital technologies are useful tools that can supplement teachers and make the learning process more effective when used properly.
Authors: Pedro Leão Ramos Ferreira Neto, Margarida Amaral.
This case study was conducted by the senior lecturer in charge of the Computer Architectural Aided Design (CAAD) course, with the support and active collaboration of Instituto de Recursos e Iniciativas Comuns da Universidade do Porto (IRICUP). CAAD is an optional course for fifth-year students at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP).
This document provides an overview of e-learning, including definitions, goals and benefits, the e-learning market and industry growth, content and technology issues, and services. E-learning is defined as instruction delivered via digital technologies to remote learners, and has benefits like improved performance, increased access, and flexibility. The global e-learning market is large and growing. Content and technology continue to evolve through approaches like learning objects and new platforms.
When digital learning objects (DLOs) were initially conceptualized, based on object-oriented programming, there were initial high hopes that people could build learning objects that were re-usable by others. DLOs have come a long way in the past few decades, and many are available for free on various repositories, referatories, digital libraries, and other sources. In a recent research project, the presenter explored what features of DLOs make them adoptable for online learning and created a ten-element model for DLO adoption. The reality is that adoption of DLOs is not cost-free and not effort-free. The ten elements include the following categories:
Pedagogical Value
Learner Engagement
Presentational Features
Legal Considerations
Technological Features
Instructor (Adopter) Control
Applicability to the Respective Learning Contexts (Local Conditions)
Local Costs to Deploy
Labeling and Documentation, Contributor and Informational Source Crediting
Global Transferability and Adoptability
She then analyzed her decades of work in instructional design in higher education (and private industry) to see what features were addressed in the respective funded DLOs. She found discrepancies between what makes DLOs adoptable and what is built and suggests some practical ways to close those gaps with techniques and technologies, in order to further support and propel the “digital learning object economy”.
Making the Most of the New File Upload Question Feature in an LMS: Nine Appl...Shalin Hai-Jew
The document discusses 9 scenarios for using the file upload feature in online learning platforms like Canvas and Qualtrics. Scenario 1 involves learners uploading files as proof of completing tasks. Scenario 2 has learners uploading files for web-mediated presentations. Scenario 3 has learners conducting research and collecting data by uploading files. Scenario 4 enhances location-based learning by having learners upload files from their local contexts. Scenario 5 supports collaboration through shared file uploads. Scenario 6 documents live events through uploaded files. Scenarios 7-9 involve simulations, games, creative works and co-building through uploaded files. The document discusses considerations around intellectual property, privacy, data storage and learning from uploaded content.
Open Education. A Modern Approach to Teaching and LearningKOED
Richard Baraniuk discusses the benefits of open education, which creates an interactive community for sharing educational content freely and openly. He outlines two key enablers of open education: modern technology allows for free distribution and storage of content, and new intellectual property frameworks allow content to be safely shared with common legal terms like open-source software. Examples of open education platforms are provided, such as Connexions which provides open textbooks and courses to over 1 million unique users per month from around the world. Open education offers opportunities for high-quality, continuously updated, and translated educational resources that are never out of date and available for free online or at low cost in print.
This document discusses training for novice telecollaborators. It summarizes interviews with teachers new to telecollaboration who reported challenges with understanding partner country contexts, scheduling exchanges, and technology use. It advocates for sociocultural approaches to training, including engaging trainees in simulations and case studies. Novice teachers would benefit from experienced mentors to share insights and address unexpected issues. The training should focus on experiential learning and participation in online exchange projects to develop competencies in tasks, assessment, and addressing inherent issues of telecollaboration.
A Survey on Autism Spectrum Disorder and E-Learningrahulmonikasharma
Autism or mental imbalance is turmoil in the development and improvement of a mind or central nervous system that covers a huge range of skills, impairment and symptoms. The children who are experiencing autism (or mental imbalance) confront challenges in conveying and adjusting in the group as they experience difficulty in understanding what others feel and think. These days learning innovations changed instructive frameworks with amazing advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Moreover, when these innovations are accessible, reasonable and available, they speak to more than a change for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In this paper, a writing study and foundation study is done on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and E-Learning System for Autism Children.
1. The document discusses the evolution of elearning to elearning 2.0, driven by the rise of Web 2.0 technologies that enable user-generated content and collaboration.
2. It provides the example of palabea.net, a language learning platform that applies elearning 2.0 principles by creating an online community of practice for language learners.
3. Quality assurance in elearning 2.0 focuses on the learner experience, with transparency, communication tools, and blending online and offline learning.
The document summarizes the findings of a study conducted by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) regarding digital literacies for learners in higher education. The study used a three-pronged approach: reviewing existing research, investigating current institutional provision, and presenting conclusions. Key findings included that competence frameworks should address academic, information, and ICT literacies. Current institutional strategies and services often address these areas separately rather than in an integrated way. The report recommends further research and transitioning to a model where learners' digital skills are recognized and used as a resource for learning.
FUNCTIONAL SEMANTICS AWARE BROKER BASED ARCHITECTURE FOR E-LEARNING WEB SERVICESIJITE
E-learning enables the learner to gain diverse knowledge anytime, anywhere and on any device. Learning
resources (objects) and resource providers play a very important role in e-learning applications/systems.
The increasing demand for interoperability in existing heterogeneous e-learning systems to support
accessibility and reusability is the most challenging research issue. Web services and SOA enables
interoperability between heterogeneous applications over the Web. To adopt Web services technology
towards the reusability and aggregation of e-learning services, the conceptual Web services architecture
and its building blocks need to be augmented. In this paper, a well formed functional semantics approach
is proposed to describe e-learning Web services providing variety of learning objects/resources. The
paper presents an extendible functional knowledge to map the learner’s or provider’s versions of service
descriptions into a standard form called Abstract Description. The authors propose a broker based elearning Web service architecture which facilitates effective e-learning service publishing and discovery
mechanisms. The paper explores a scheme to extend the WSDL 2.0 document in order to incorporate
functional semantics of e-learning Web services and their operations. The paper presents an e-learning
service knowledge called Learning Operation Tree (LOT) for the quick e-learning service discovery. The
experimentation shows that, the proposed broker based architecture for e-learning Web services
facilitates effective discovery with moderate performance in terms of recall and response.
The document discusses a study on students' experiences using a Learning Management System (LMS) at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Key findings from interviews with students include:
1) Students use the LMS mainly to download lecture notes and check assignment grades. However, they desire a more permanent profile and notification of successful file uploads.
2) Students interact with lecturers and peers on the LMS and appreciate its anonymity for shy students.
3) Emerging themes from students suggest needs for a permanent profile, file submission notifications, and a more attractive layout with embedded features. Addressing student needs could help accelerate adoption of the LMS.
MIT launched its OpenCourseWare project to provide free online course materials from 32 MIT courses across 16 departments. The materials are attracting worldwide users, including MIT students. While the materials are free to use, they do not provide course credit or a MIT degree. The project aims to disseminate knowledge publicly rather than enable distance learning. It is estimated to cost $7.5-10 million annually during its pilot phase.
This document presents a new learning environment model based on Web 2.0 applications, discussing how the technological changes of Web 2.0 have impacted communication, knowledge, and learning. It reviews concepts of eLearning 2.0 and personal learning environments, then describes the development and implementation of a Web 2.0 learning environment at Darmstadt University consisting of wikis, blogs, social bookmarking, and RSS feeds. An evaluation of this learning environment found that it successfully motivated students and improved learning outcomes.
The document discusses using ontologies and semantic web technologies to improve matching between learning objects and user preferences in e-learning systems like Moodle. It proposes building an ontology to semantically annotate learning objects and user profiles, then using that ontology to more effectively retrieve and customize learning content for each user. The author implemented this approach in Moodle to automatically manage course registration based on various student factors represented in the ontology. The goal is to make the learning process more personalized and improve tracking of student progress.
The proposal suggests piloting an eLearning program at RHR Elementary School to provide additional technology training and professional development for teachers. It would utilize a blended learning model, with self-paced online courses and modules as well as some face-to-face sessions. The goals are to improve teachers' technology skills, increase integration of tools like web 2.0 in instruction, and provide flexible just-in-time training. A core team of teachers would develop the initial content. The program would use free and existing resources, with costs mainly for substitutes during planning and some equipment. Overall it aims to close technology gaps and increase opportunities for professional growth.
From Personal Learning Environment Building to Professional Learning Network ...Malinka Ivanova
The building of Personal Learning Environment (PLE) that supports learner to set learning goals and to manage learning is related to creative and innovative activities. But more challenging is the forming of Professional Learning Network (PfLN) that can be used for facilitation of knowledge absorption, assimilation and dissemination not only in formal and informal learning process, but also in one long-term learning plan when students transform in life-long learners.
from PLE to Professional Learning NetworksIvana Marenzi
The document discusses building personal learning environments (PLEs) and professional learning networks (PLNs). It defines PLEs as systems that help learners manage their own learning. PLE building lays the foundations for lifelong learning by supporting self-organized learning. As learners engage more with a topic, their PLE can transition to a PLN where they connect with experts and discuss professional interests. A model is proposed for PLE building to support students in developing social networks and expanding their learning within PLNs.
CALL stands for Computer-Assisted Language Learning and refers to using computers to facilitate language learning. CALL materials are student-centered and promote self-paced, accelerated learning. TELL is derived from CALL and refers to Technology Enhanced Language Learning. E-learning uses electronic media and networks to support learning and teaching with a focus on individual experiences. M-learning refers to learning that occurs using mobile technologies like phones and mp3 players. Blended learning combines face-to-face instruction with online learning using technologies like computers, phones and videoconferencing. A VLE or Virtual Learning Environment provides online tools to support teaching and learning. A PLE or Personal Learning Environment allows learners to manage their own learning
This document discusses personal learning environments (PLEs), personal learning networks (PLNs), and professional learning networks (PLNs). It addresses how PLEs allow learners to manage their own learning goals and processes. PLEs can then develop into PLNs for collaborating with others and sharing knowledge. Finally, PLNs form for connecting with professionals in fields of interest and contributing expertise on an ongoing basis after course completion. The document provides examples of roles and activities in these networks and models for developing competencies through them.
This document discusses personal learning environments (PLEs), personal learning networks (PLNs), and professional learning networks (PLNs). It addresses how PLEs allow learners to manage their own learning goals and processes. PLEs can then develop into PLNs through connecting with others, and eventually into PfLNs through connecting with professionals. A model is presented showing the progression from PLE building to forming a professional learning network. The roles of social networks in supporting these learning networks is also discussed.
Enriching E-Learning with web Services for the Creation of Virtual Learning P...IJERDJOURNAL
ABSTRACT:- The study aims at creation of virtual learning environment(VLE) using the context of web services .Now-a-days eLearning is gaining a wide spread acceptance since its inception. Much of the effort is placed on developing rich educational content & create global platform in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are used to transform education. Therefore education system need to be redesigned in a better way for which amalgamation of web services with eLearning is considered to solve the complex problems. The author tries to describe the web services architecture with the incorporation of eLearning that has defined a new way of learning. With the emergence of computer technology and urbane softwares, there is every possibility of enriching learning experience of students. Gamification, StoryBoard, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), Localization are considered as supporting services for boosting up knowledge management process. Group Discussions, Twitter chats, Skype calls are performed in social learning. Web 2.0 services such as as blogs promote content creation, wikis make user enable of creating editable contents.
How Moodle Facilitates E-learning? A Case Study in Vocational EducationIJSRED
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This document discusses computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) and how it uses instructional methods that encourage students to work together on learning tasks, as opposed to traditional teacher-centered approaches. CSCL is enabled by technologies like blogs, wikis, and cloud-based document sharing, which allow for nonlinear knowledge sharing between students and teachers. Collaborative learning environments provide benefits like developing higher-order thinking skills, but also present challenges for instructors and students in adjusting to more student-centered and group-focused methods.
Design of Personal Learning Environment Framework for Learner AutonomyJennifer Lim
This document discusses personal learning environments (PLE) as a complement to learning management systems (LMS) that aim to promote learner autonomy and lifelong learning. It proposes a framework for PLE that encourages learner autonomy by allowing learners to control their own learning goals, activities, and experiences using Web 2.0 technologies. The framework is applied to "Studious Network", a PLE platform that allows learners to explore Web 2.0 apps and exercise autonomy in an informal learning setting. An evaluation of Studious Network found that users generally had a positive experience in using the system to support their autonomous learning.
This document describes the design and implementation of a virtual classroom system. It discusses how traditional classroom teaching has limitations in terms of time and place constraints. A virtual classroom system was developed using PHP and MySQL to address these limitations. The system allows course materials to be presented online using multimedia and hypermedia, providing flexibility and interactivity for learning. It has modules for students to access course content, answer questions, check their performance, and participate in discussion forums. The system aims to enhance the learning experience by making it more flexible and available anywhere with an internet connection.
The utilization of virtual learning environment (vle) to improve mathematics ...STEPHEN ONUH OLA
TITLE PAGE
THE UTILIZATION OF VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT (VLE) TO IMPROVE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT AND INTEREST IN MATHEMATICS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, MAKURDI
BY
OLA STEPHEN ONUH
(UE/24294/12)
A RESEARCHWORK PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, MAKURDI, BENUE STATE.
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE EDUCATION DEREEIN BSC(ED) MATHEMATICS/STATISTICS.
This document provides an overview of web-based training. It discusses e-learning and the role of learning management systems. It also outlines the different layers involved in educational technologies, including delivery of materials, media, computational activities, communication modes, and learning phases. The document then delves into specific tools, approaches, and structures for web-based training, as well as the design, production, assessment, and evaluation processes. The overall purpose is to help readers understand how to design effective computer-based training courses.
E-Learning Project Write Up Case Study Ogun State Institute Of Technologydamilola isaac
Over the last decade, researchers and practitioners have developed a wide range of knowledge related to electronic learning or e-learning. This movement has affected different elements and components; infrastructures, tools, content-oriented applications, human-computer interactions, pedagogical issues, methodologies and models, case studies and projects. This chapter briefly describes the overall idea of the development of e-learning system for OGITECH by using Apache, PHP and MySQL. This chapter includes objectives of the project, scope of work, problem statement and features of project before developed the own sites.
E-Learning has its historical background in about 30 years of development in computer based on the training and education. With the growth of the internet this kind of training became much more accepted and the creation of multimedia contents and systems to manage learning activities went on faster. Additional e-learning is based on a long tradition of teaching and learning experience. The larger worlds Information Technology and Education and Training influenced the new term e-learning and so e-learning became a subset of both of them.
Nowadays, e-learning refers to learning that is delivered or enabled via electronic technology. It encompasses learning delivered via a range of technologies such as the internet, television, videotape, and computer-based training. In principle, e-learning is a kind of distance learning. Learning materials can be accessed from the web or intranet via a computer and tutors and learners can communicate with each other using e-mail, chat or discussion forums.
Therefore, it can be used as the main method of delivery of training or as a combined approach with classroom-based training. It can be valuable when used as a part of well-planned and properly supported education and training environment, but e-learning is not a magic bullet that replaces existing pedagogical theories and approaches.
Nevertheless, it has almost everything that those theories need to get implemented.
Many learning and technology professionals believe that e-learning will have become state of the art when we will stop referring to it by a separate name and begin considering it as an integral part of a complete learning environment.
Personal learning environments brenton dass 201225820Brenton Dass
I was truly inspired by the works of many if the collaborators when we were asked to compile this presentation in one of the modules for first semester I didnt hesitate to make use of their excellent depictions of a personal learning network
This document presents a conceptual framework for an online interactive module to teach computer programming courses. The framework is based on Mayer's learning model and includes three dimensions: materials to be learned, presentation methods, and learning strategies. The materials include concepts, techniques, simulations, and other multimedia. Presentation methods consider how content is delivered, such as through lectures, student interaction, or asynchronous learning. Learning strategies involve cooperative learning, e-learning, brainstorming, and problem-solving approaches. The framework is intended to address challenges in traditional teaching methods and better prepare students for computer-focused careers.
The document discusses learning management systems (LMS) and personal learning environments (PLE). It notes that LMS are focused on managing learning content and activities within traditional teacher/learner roles, while PLE support self-paced and self-organized learning with learners choosing tools and content. Both have benefits and limitations, as LMS prioritize institutional needs over learner needs, while PLE lack centralized management features of LMS. The document explores frameworks for testing different learning environments using standards like IMS-LD and technical services.
Although of the semantic web technologies utilization in the learning development field is a new research area, some authors have already proposed their idea of how an effective that operate. Specifically, from analysis of the literature in the field, we have identified three different types of existing applications that actually employ these technologies to support learning. These applications aim at: Enhancing the learning objects reusability by linking them to an ontological description of the domain, or, more generally, describe relevant dimension of the learning process in an ontology, then; providing a comprehensive authoring system to retrieve and organize web material into a learning course, and constructing advanced strategies to present annotated resources to the user, in the form of browsing facilities, narrative generation and final rendering of a course. On difference with the approaches cited above, here we propose an approach that is modeled on narrative studies and on their transposition in the digital world. In the rest of the paper, we present the theoretical basis that inspires this approach, and show some examples that are guiding our implementation and testing of these ideas within e-learning. By emerging the idea of the ontologies are recognized as the most important component in achieving semantic interoperability of e-learning resources. The benefits of their use have already been recognized in the learning technology community. In order to better define different aspects of ontology applications in e-learning, researchers have given several classifications of ontologies. We refer to a general one given in that differentiates between three dimensions ontologies can describe: content, context, and structure. Most of the present research has been dedicated to the first group of ontologies. A well-known example of such an ontology is based on the ACM Computer Classification System (ACM CCS) and defined by Resource Description Framework Schema (RDFS). It’s used in the MOODLE to classify learning objects with a goal to improve searching. The chapter will cover the terms of the semantic web and e-learning systems design and management in e-learning (MOODLE) and some of studies depend on e-learning and semantic web, thus the tools will be used in this paper, and lastly we shall discuss the expected contribution. The special attention will be putted on the above topics.
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1. Involving students in managing their own learning
Malinka Ivanova & Tatyana Ivanova
Lecturers from Technical University – Sofia
Summary
The primary function of universities is to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need
to prosper throughout their professional career. Today, to be successful, students will need to
continually enhance their knowledge and skills, in order to address immediate problems and to
participate in a process of continuing vocational and professional development. Involving
students in managing their own learning in a variety of contexts, such as building their own
personal learning environments (PLEs) according to their goals and interests, is one way of
developing the skills and motivation that will serve as tools for lifelong learning beyond their
formal education.
This paper tracks the process of PLE building by students studying for their bachelor degree in
Computer Science and Electronics. It looks at their learning experiences of using the Netvibes
home page and discusses the advantages of using Netvibes in the context of instructional
strategies and technical solution forming. In addition, it proposes and implements a model for
effective communication between the university Learning Management System (LMS) and
PLEs. Finally, students' opinions about the learning done in their PLE are examined through
inquiry and discussed. Most students consider PLE building to be a very useful process for
learning and personal development.
Keywords: personal learning environment, Netvibes, web 2.0, learning experiences
Introduction
The primary function of the universities is to equip students with the knowledge and skills they
need to prosper throughout their future professional career. The situations and problems in real
life are in many cases more complex than those studied and practiced during their education.
Also, every student has an individual approach to the concrete situation harnessing preferred
learning and researching methods, using favorite tools, applications and technologies.
Therefore, our students will need to continually enhance their knowledge and skills, in order to
address immediate problems and to participate in a process of continuing vocational and
professional development. The new educational imperative is to involve students to manage
their own learning in a variety of contexts building their own personal learning environments
(PLE) according to recent goals and interests.
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 1
Nº 21 • September 2010 • ISSN 1887-1542
2. One PLE has to provide students with the tools needed for the establishment of self-organized
learning, for controlling, management and updating of their learning process supported from
technologies and possibilities for social interactions.
There are a variety of solutions for PLE building. Several of them are not specially designed for
educational purposes such as start pages, feed readers, weblogs, wikis and so on, but that are
successfully used for learning (Report, 2008; Williams et al., 2004; Redecker et al., 2009).
Others are precisely developed to facilitate a different degree of personalized learning like
PLEF (Chatti, 2009), Elgg (Campbell, 2005), Collogia (Collogia, 2010), PLEX (PLEX, 2010).
PLE platforms differ on the principle of constructing and utilizing the possibilities for
personalization of knowledge resources, learning activities and the opportunity for flexible
management and extension of used technical tools.
The functional characteristics include suitable graphical user interface, content presentation
layouts and templates, drag and drop function, functions for searching, embedding,
socialization, sharing, communication, collaboration, online/offline usage, level of control on
proposed learning resources.
From the technical aspect PLEs can be classified in several groups according to architecture
solution, used device platform, and applied standards. The realized PLEs are with a distributed
or integrated architecture, designed for laptop/PC or PDA devices, compatible (or not) with
standards for data, sudents’ profiles, learning activities, widgets integration.
A start page Netvibes is in the focus of this paper and it is chosen as a platform for students’
PLE building after detailed exploration and analysis of Web 2.0 solutions (Ivanova, 2009). It is
with distributed architecture allowing for a combination of user-selected tools and networks on
one administration interface. Also, the distributed architecture gives possibilities for creating a
relationship between students’ PLEs and the university Learning Management System (LMS).
Nowadays, the distributed form of learning is the preferred instructional model that allows
educators, students, and content to be located in different, non-centralized locations so that
instruction and learning occur independently of time and place. In the context of PLE building it
is the most complex issue for continuing life-long learning. The distributed learning model can
be used in combination with traditional classroom based courses, with traditional distance
learning courses, or it can be used to create completely virtual classrooms.
In this paper the process of PLE building by students in bachelor degree in Computer Science
and Electronics and experience gained from learning in the start page Netvibes is analyzed.
The advantages at utilizing Netvibes in the context of instructional strategies and technical
solutions forming are discussed. The students’ opinion about the occurred leaning and PLE
vision is gathered, analyzed and summarized with aim of supporting the optimization of their
self-organized continuing learning process.
Needs Analysis and Problem Definition
For a second year the students from College of Energetics and Electronics at Technical
University – Sofiahave used LMS, based on Web 2.0 technologies, but the functional
characteristics of proposed personal learning space is not too flexible and extendible. So, a
PLE platform as extension of LMS with the following specification is needed:
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 2
Nº 21 • September 2010 • ISSN 1887-1542
3. Mashable framework – plurality of software components (widgets, API) which can be
organized or combined;
Online accessible and free-hosted application;
High degree of personalization – freedom in students’ activities to aggregate and
manage components according to different learning scenarios;
Social–oriented – connecting and communicating with peers, educators or followers;
Localized – graphical user interface translated in Bulgarian.
The start page (Wikipedia, 2010) approach is selected, because it proposes a personalized
space and gives students and educators access to a wide range of information and knowledge.
Personalized gadgets can be added to this self-designed space, including news reader,
activities planner, a personal calendar, search engines, media in different format. There are
educational gadgets from wide web distributed banks that can be easily integrated. Collected
gadgets and tabs that are specific to a unit of learning or personal interest can be shared,
provoking course discussion and interactions. The designed space can be rearranged and
updated through panels and gadgets during the course according to the changeable
learning/teaching conditions. The Web 2.0 application Netvibes (defined as a start page) is
chosen for PLE forming after experiments, features exploration and analysis (Ivanova, 2009).
PLE Building in Netvibes
When building a PLE the students have followed the proposed by authors’ methodology
including the steps: (A) understanding the term “PLE”, (B) forming of motivation, goals and
needs, (C) introducing with the functional characteristics of Netvibes, (D) exploring the technical
possibilities of Netvibes, (E) examination of the opportunity for an one-sided/bilateral
relationship between LMS and PLE, (F) understanding the possible learning scenarios.
A. Understanding the Term PLE
The definition of this term is still forming as well as the solutions behind it. The most exploited
definition is from (Wikipedia 2010):
“Personal Learning Environments are systems that help learners take control of and
manage their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to: set their own
learning goals, manage their learning; managing both content and process, communicate with
others in the and thereby achieve learning goals. A PLE may be composed of one or more
subsystems: as such it may be a desktop application, or composed of one or more web-based
services.
Another definition given by (Lubensky, 2006) points a “PLE as a facility for an individual to
access, aggregate, configure and manipulate digital artifacts of their ongoing learning
experiences.”
The idea behind a PLE is discussed in (Attwell, 2007): a PLE comes to recognize that learning
is ongoing and seeks to provide tools to support that learning, to recognize the role of the
individual in organizing his or her own learning, to point that learning will take place in different
contexts and situations and provided by multiple learning providers.
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4. Our conceptual view about PLE is summarized via the following definition: Virtual Personal
Learning Environment (VPLE) has possibilities to integrate information and knowledge sources,
social contacts and communication channels, authoring functions and components and it is
easy for technical configuration and for learning scenarios management according to present
students’ interests and goals.
The students are also provided with conceptual and improved in practice models of PLEs
(Wilson et al., 2006; EduTech; PLE diagrams, 2010).
B. Forming the Motivation, Goals and Needs
During the time in university the students have to develop skills like: analytical thinking,
creatively thinking, problems solving, prioritizing, planning, project managing, decision making,
individual and group collaboration, effective communication. In parallel they have to prepare
themselves to become self-organized learners that are able to analyze new conditions as they
arise, identifying the new knowledge and skills that they will be required to deal with these
conditions and independently chart a course that responds to these changes.
To do this they have to be able to self-motivate. Student motivation has to do with students’
desire to participate in the learning process. But it also concerns the reasons or goals that
underline their involvement or non-involvement in academic activities. Although students may
be equally motivated to perform an activity, the sources of their motivation may differ.
Motivation for learning can be regarded as a willingness to apply high levels of effort to reach
learning goals and to satisfy the current personal needs. There are several questions
contributing to the motivation: “What are my learning/professional goals?”, “Do I possess the
needed knowledge and skills to achieve them?”, “What is my strategy and what kind of tools
will I use to reach my goals?” If students have approximate answers of such questions they can
form their motivation for learning and personal development.
The educators can support students’ motivation for learning in mental, social and physical
aspects using different technologies, including Web 2.0. Among the characteristics of Web 2.0
are: possibilities for networking, socialization, personalization, collective intelligence, many
information channels, openness. Different applications based on Web 2.0 technologies are
exploited for educational purposes, because of their everyday uses by students like Wikipedia,
YouTube and because of their advantages in characteristics. Start pages come under this
category application and might be used for lunching a learning process as well as for managing
of self-organized learning activities.
C. Netvibes Functional Characteristics
The main functional characteristics of Netvibes as PLE are depicted on Figure 1 and they are
arranged in several groups: activities management, socialization/communication, sharing, feel
and look, embed code/create educational widgets. Such functions allow wide variations of
learning scenarios for students and their work with preferred types of media content.
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5. Track/plan my activities Widgets - instructions
Track friends’ activities Widgets - media content
Activities management
Follow Email/Chat widgets
Personalization and Learning
Contacts’ list Facebook/Twitter
Socialization/ Communication
Public page Panels Notes/Tasks
Profile Components Feeds
Sharing
Templates Layouts Themes Drag and drop
Feel and Look
Embed code | Create educational widgets
Figure 1. Functional Characteristics of a PLE in Netvibes
Activities management
Activities tracking supports the educator to analyze the students’ activities performance and
also students to learn from shared learning resources by their peers, friends or others. With
data updates coming from different students/educators the need to be able to go back to view
or even revert the older activities of the history sometimes becomes more important for
repeating, remembering and assimilation of knowledge.
The function for notification when content or students’ status is changed is important for further
activities arrangement and for the future students’ behavior. In other words, the state changes
in shared objects are important to be propagated to all students and educators engaged in the
concrete learning process from the collaborative aspect and from the point of view of better
communication.
Instructional widgets and media content widgets involve students in series of interactions and
learning activities. In practice widget-based education allows building of special widgets around
particular learning tasks targeting different learning styles (text, video, interactivity). In this way
the students can copy, cut, or change whatever doesn’t work for them. Each student and
faculty member can create his or her own lesson plan based on the tools they find most useful
and to create a set of learning objects that students/educators can add to their own pages or
rework to suit their needs.
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6. Socialization/Communication
Netvibes supports a list with contacts of friends and followers. It provides a direct access to
their profiles and shared activities/learning resources. Manually added widgets for
email/chat/conferencing and for connection with social applications like Facebook and Twitter
can form several communication channels among students and educators and contribute to the
socialization process – to speak to each another analyzing concrete learning problem, to share
ideas and information and to confirm the connections and relationships.
Sharing
One of the most important variables describing learning activities in a social-oriented
environment like Netvibes is information, knowledge and ideas sharing. Sharing contributes to
understanding, assimilation, analyzing and reflection on studied facts and theories or achieved
results after practical experiments. Sharing is used by educators to map the students’
outcomes. Netvibes proposes different levels of sharing – sharing of public pages, panels,
components, feeds.
Feel and Look
Netvibes allows the students to customize the background of their start pages using themes or
just create new ones. Several layout templates are designed to facilitate arrangement of
components according to the chosen learning scenario. Drag and drop function leads to a
flexible position of the panels and components, every time when a student decides to make
changes.
Embed code/Create educational widgets
The students and educators do not need to possess any programming skills to integrate
<iframe>, <object>, <embed> or <div> code in one html component for example from other
social sites like YouTube, Slideshare and so on. Universal Widget API (UWA) allows students
to create a widget that runs on Netvibes, but it also lets them run on the major widget platforms
(Google/Opensocial, Apple, Microsoft). Furthermore, widgets can be created trough other
applications and embed in a Netvibes component.
D. Netvibes Technical Specification
This start page is a distributed solution with possibilities for PLE building through mashup
technology- aggregating information and knowledge from different sources using widgets and
feeds. The students do not need any programming skills. Advanced students with more
complex programming skills prepare mashup approaches integrating data from different
sources using APIs.
The most essential idea behind the distributed PLE solutions is that students can fast launch
and build their own PLE from the tools they have already known and used for different
purposes like RSS readers, resource storage, social bookmarks applications, A/V files
management and so on.
Such architecture is open and extendible – the application start page communicates with
various web servers and utilizes a wide massive of services proposed from different web sites
(Figure 2). Other characteristic is related to only online usage of PLE and availability of
functions from the mobile devices.
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7. About standards, Netvibes works on UWA specification, a combination of a XHTML-based file
format and a JavaScript framework. In this way students/developers can use existing Web
standards: XHTML, CSS and JavaScript to build educational Web widgets.
Server Netvibes Server
Server
Widget
Widget
Server
Widget
Browser
Netvibes GUI – Personal Learning Environment
Widget Widget Widget Widget
Embed RSS URL Web site/ Upload file
Code feed URL link
http RSS http
http
Web site ftp
Local HDD
Figure 2. Technical Architecture of PLE
E. Relationship PLE-LMS
Our primary task is the personal learning space in LMS to be extended giving the students
possibilities for realizing an open, flexible and self-organized learning process. Because of LMS
and the start page are Web 2.0 applications working separately, we are looking for methods for
one-sided or bilateral connection between them.
We are realized bilateral connection (Figure 3) because of two reasons:
(1) To engage students to participate in the courses and to provide access to the selected
sections of the learning space in LMS after the course ending two types UWA widgets are
created: the first one serves the blog posts and announcement news to students’ PLE in
Netvibes and second sends the updated learning content (connection LMS-PLEs).
(2) To accelerate the students’ progress and their learning problems and also students like to
share information and to see the achievements of their classmates. The connection PLEs-LMS
is realized in two ways: through posting a Netvibes address of PLE as a link on a student profile
and through a widget with student Netvibes profile integrated in a wiki page which is a part of
collaborative course space in LMS.
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8. Learning Management System
Link/ Collaborative
Profile wiki space
UWAWidget UWA Widget
Blog/News Media Content
Widget
Course Units of Profile
blog/News learning
(RSS feeds) (content)
PLEn/
PLE1/ PLE2/
Start page
Start page Start page
Figure 3. PLE-LMS Connection
F. Understanding the possible learning scenarios
In this section two typical scenarios often used for learning by students from Computer science
utilizing their PLE are discussed. The first one concerns project-based learning (PBL) as a
model that organizes learning around projects. PBL involve students in design, problem-
solving, decision making, and investigative activities. It gives them the opportunity to work
relatively autonomously during one semester, finishing with concrete artifacts and conclusions.
The second one is concept-based learning (CBL) in which students try to simplify the proposed
learning material into objects (concepts) and to classify these objects in conceptual maps. CBL
leads to clearing of new acquired knowledge, analyzing theory or practice and revising old
knowledge. Concept maps offer a method for visualizing and structuring knowledge and involve
students in a creative and brainstorming process. Also, CBL is a powerful method for
exploration and research of a concrete problem. Concept maps can be created by single
student, by two students working in collaboration or by a group from 3-4 students.
The first scenario is a scenario of PBL used by students to prepare their individual projects and
it includes the following activities:
Identifying a challenging problem among the potential projects’ topics and
gathering/storing information about this problem utilizing components of search engines,
RSS feeds reader, video/images integration, links to learning resource, integration of
social bookmarks.
Planning the project development in the time and specifying the learning activities with
components like calendar, to do list, web notes.
Selecting the suitable units of learning that belong to the course and that are useful for
the problem deciding and integrating UWA widget media content in PLE.
Forming formal and informal channels for communication and discussion with
peers/educators, using components for embed code – chat, email, my community
component for status updating (also the students use the communication tools in LMS).
Expanding social network through contacts of peers, followers and educators, adding
social networks component for connection with Facebook, for example.
Sharing panels, components, resources, replying to shared activities by peers and
educators, favorite friends shared resources.
Passing quizzes to evaluate the gathered knowledge via components with embed code.
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9. Collecting and exploring authoring tools for report preparing and publishing the results
via suitable components – in many cases embed code from Scribd, Zoho, Slideshare or
YouTube.
Expanding and updating used components, learning resources and learning network
during the project work.
The second scenario is an example of CBL that is shorter in time than PBL and it is used by
students to organize and understand the important objects in a given problem. The following
steps are passed for a concept map production:
Additional data and information collecting about concrete objects using search
components: search in the web, search in videos/pictures/podcasts, search in blogs,
search in open resources.
Selecting the suitable units of learning that belong to the course and that are useful for
the mapped student problem and integration of UWA widget media content in PLE.
Objects (concepts) identifying and outlining with the component like web notes.
Information and the first conclusions sharing, discussing the map structure, the objects,
their relationships and the bottleneck objects. The communication process is parallel
with network forming process (in PLE and in LMS).
Integrating links/web pages to useful concept mapping tools for visual presentation and
organization of data; Sharing of these components.
Creating final conclusions, sharing and publishing them and a concept map in form of
components with embed code (Scribd, Zoho, or YouTube), and discussion the results.
In the first scenario of PBL the students are personally engaged in learning, grabbing their
attention on a concrete problem. They are involved in an investigation and they are motivated
to find the problem’s solution. PLE building supports them to retain the information that they
learn, to explore the new information and knowledge sources and to establish learning network
performing activities like sharing, replying, following and favoriting.
In the second scenario CBL provides a powerful tool to help students understand theoretical or
practical approaches by effectively organizing and analyzing data. As students visually examine
objects (concepts) and their connections, they can easily perform sophisticated data analysis
and develop solid conclusions. PLE contributes to this process with different tools for
information and knowledge collecting according to personal needs, maps forming through
communication and socialization, and results sharing.
In both cases PLE plays the role of a catalyst for solution finding at ascertainment of knowledge
gaps, for activities planning to reach the required knowledge, for personal awareness of further
learning enrichment in technology-rich and social-oriented context.
Analysis of Students’ Opinion and Experience
The past two semesters during two courses Computer Graphics and Internet Technologies
students BcS degree in Computer Science and Electronics, College of Energetic and
Electronics, Technical University – Sofia have introduced with the PLE concepts, start pages
functions and possible solutions for supporting of their learning in these courses and after
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10. graduation building a PLE. The students have registered a domain space in Netvibes and have
created their private and public versions of PLE.
Before courses starting the students are asked to describe their vision about PLE possibilities
for their learning management. The results of students’ answers of the question: “What
functions would possess the virtual personal learning environment?” is presented in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Personal Learning Environment Functions Female Male
information gathering 100% 62,5%
information collection for my own activities 0 12,5%
show information in different media format 50% 62,5%
advice me interesting information related to my learning goals 50% 50%
authoring text and media 50% 37,5%
mashup information and services 50% 75%
publishing in Internet 25% 37,5%
plan and manage my own learning 50% 62,5%
receiving feedback about my achievements 62,5% 50%
to can learn from others 50% 37,5%
to can disseminate my knowledge to others 25% 37,5%
to can contact and socialize 50% 75%
receiving feedback from others 25% 25%
to help select the suitable for me learning resources 75% 62,5%
to test and evaluate my knowledge and skills 50% 25%
to save resources, activities, contacts 75% 75%
The answers of the question: “What are the important functions for your effective PLE
organization?” are summarized in the Table 2.
TABLE 2
Personal Learning Environment Functions Female Male
easy navigation and graphical user interface 75% 62,5%
easy customization of look and feel 25% 50%
possibility for choosing suitable tools 50% 75%
interactivity 75% 75%
possibility for storing and updating cv 25% 12,5%
for encouraging my personal development 75% 50%
for supporting my career development 50% 37,5%
for sharing and collaboration 75% 85,5%
At the end of the courses the students are asked several questions about Netvibes functional
and technical characteristics related to PLE building and how it supports their learning. The
results are summarized in several tables.
One question is “If the panels/components structure of Netvibes is a good strategy for learning
spaces building?”. 75% of male and female students are categorical that panels/components
structure is a good solution to satisfy their learning interests. 25% of them answered “it
depends” that means their conceptual view is a little bit different than this.
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11. Another question is “If the proposed functionality is enough for organizing self-learning?”. Both
male/female students are agree that possibilities for links, RSS feeds, text, images, media files
adding, and also HTML/JavaScript embedding give huge opportunities for the PLE organization
based on different learning styles.
The next question is focused on structural organization of PLE: “The PLE has to consist of how
many panels and how many components on each panel to satisfy an effective information
perception?” (Table 3).
TABLE 3
Personal Learning Environment Structure Female Male
3 panels/2 components on each panel 0 12,5%
3 panels/6 and more components on each panel 25% 0%
4-7 panels/2 components on each panel 50% 75%
4-7 panels/6 and more components on each panel 50% 75%
more than 8 panels/2 components on each panel 0 12,5%
more than 8 panels/6 and more components on each panel 25% 13%
The results show that 3 panels and 2-3 components in a panel are not sufficient for three-
quarters of students. More than half of the students prefer to use 4-7 panels with from 4 to 7
components. Using more than 8 panels with 6 and more components in the panel are preferred
by less than a quarter of the students. It is clear that suitable solution for effective management
of the virtual PLE is based on 4-7 panels.
The students are asked about “How their information is structured on each panel?”. Most
students m/f (87,5%m and 75%f) have structured information on the thematic principle (the rest
of the students have arranged their PLE by most used tools, by classification of tools in
different categories, or by combination of content thematic and tools arrangement).
Another question is about functions related to customization of look and feel, about settings
customization and about graphical user interface. The students both male/female are satisfied
and they are agreeing that GUI is easy for usage and resources organization with available
drag and drop possibility. There are several options for look and feel customization: choice of
color scheme, choice of number of columns and title writing on each panel. Also, every
component and panel can be private, for achievement of personal learning experience only for
given student. The components and panels can be in public statement and can be shared with
other users of Netvibes for collaborative strategies realization. So, the students are asked:
“What part of their private PLE is shared with others”? 87,5% of male/female students said that
about 90% of their work during the courses is shared with their co-students and educators.
The last question is focused on overall evaluation of their PLE building as a framework for
personal learning organization and possibilities of this framework for future students’ usage in
the context of personal and career development. 87,5% male students and 100% female
students answered that such framework offers considerable potential for: (1) personal learning,
sharing and collaboration of information and knowledge; (2) good opportunity to study and
experiment with new technologies. Most of them said that they will continue with their PLE
building and development in this or other platform.
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12. Conclusion
The PLE building involves students in an active and engaging learning process during the
courses giving them interesting technical and educational solutions for self-organization and
continuing learning according to the authors’ proposed methodology on one hand. On the other
hand the students’ creativity contributes to the forming of original learning scenarios and
technical approaches. The bilateral connection between LMS and the students’ PLE supports
the symbiosis between students’ informal learning and the obligatory formal learning process.
The above discussed students’ opinion survey and reported at the end of the semester better
learning outcomes indicate that PLE is a very useful tool for improving education quality.
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Authors
Malinka Ivanova
Lecturer from Technical University – Sofia, College of Energetics and Electronics
m_ivanova@tu-sofia.bg
Tatyana Ivanova
Lecturer from Technical University – Sofia, College of Energetics and Electronics
tiv72@abv.bg
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Name of the publication: eLearning Papers
ISSN: 1887-1542
Publisher: elearningeuropa.info
Edited by: P.A.U. Education, S.L.
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