1) Three-dimensional virtual worlds have potential for creating innovative learning environments and some universities are using platforms like Second Life for educational purposes.
2) However, educational usage of 3D virtual worlds in Turkey is currently inadequate, with few practical educational applications despite growing academic interest.
3) For 3D virtual worlds to be more widely used for education in Turkey, educational applications need to be developed and implemented based on recommendations from academic research.
An Off-The-Shelf Mobile App Portfolio for Distance EducationRamesh C. Sharma
Mobile technology has become a near-necessity in our modern lives, be it professional, personal and social. It is then not surprising to see mobile technology play a key role in how we are educated as well. To this extent, Mobile Learning (mLearning) has gained much significance over the past few years. With the design of new pedagogies and paradigm shifts, mLearning has become a new academic discipline on its own with a focus on the use of bespoke mobile technologies such as purpose built mobile apps to achieve the set learning outcomes. However, the design, development and implementation of such bespoke technologies require a substantial investmentboth monetarily and time wise. Many Distance Education (DE) practitioners would not have this privilege in terms of delivering their courses. In contrast, there are thousands of mobile applications available for free which can be leveraged to deliver a DE course more effectively and efficiently. In this light, Ishan Abeywardena introduces how these off-the-shelf applications can be systematically incorporated into each stage of the learning process.
New Visual Social Media for the Higher Education ClassroomRochell McWhorter
Authors: Julie A. Delello and Rochell R McWhorter
This chapter examines how next-generation visual social platforms motivate students to capture authentic evidence of their learning and achievements, publish digital artifacts, and share content across visual social media. Educators are facing the immediate task of integrating social media into their current practice to meet the needs of the twenty-first century learner. Using a case study, this chapter highlights through empirical work how nascent visual social media platforms such as Pinterest are being utilized in the college classroom and concludes with projections on ways visual networking platforms will transform traditional models of education.
Digital landscapes: inclusive potential versus exclusive practice. Sue Watling
Digital landscapes: inclusive potential versus exclusive practice. International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations, 11 (5). pp. 109-116. ISSN 1447-9532
Creating Virtual Communities of Practice with the Visual Social Media Platfor...Rochell McWhorter
This paper reports results of a mixed methods study on the use of the visual social media platform Pinterest in the higher education classroom. Research methods included data collection of Pre-Experience and Post-Experience student surveys from two disciplines, Education and Business, regarding students’ experiences using Pinterest for learning. A total of 227 students (189 undergraduate and 38 graduate students) participated in the study. Findings included student attitudes regarding the usability of Pinterest in the classroom setting, student learning and development, and ways Pinterest facilitated the development of a virtual community of practice. Recommendations for future classroom use is given. Note: This is the last author’s copy prior to publishing. The final, definitive version of this article has been published in International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Environments, 2(3). Available at http://www.inderscience.com/offer.php?id=64205
An Off-The-Shelf Mobile App Portfolio for Distance EducationRamesh C. Sharma
Mobile technology has become a near-necessity in our modern lives, be it professional, personal and social. It is then not surprising to see mobile technology play a key role in how we are educated as well. To this extent, Mobile Learning (mLearning) has gained much significance over the past few years. With the design of new pedagogies and paradigm shifts, mLearning has become a new academic discipline on its own with a focus on the use of bespoke mobile technologies such as purpose built mobile apps to achieve the set learning outcomes. However, the design, development and implementation of such bespoke technologies require a substantial investmentboth monetarily and time wise. Many Distance Education (DE) practitioners would not have this privilege in terms of delivering their courses. In contrast, there are thousands of mobile applications available for free which can be leveraged to deliver a DE course more effectively and efficiently. In this light, Ishan Abeywardena introduces how these off-the-shelf applications can be systematically incorporated into each stage of the learning process.
New Visual Social Media for the Higher Education ClassroomRochell McWhorter
Authors: Julie A. Delello and Rochell R McWhorter
This chapter examines how next-generation visual social platforms motivate students to capture authentic evidence of their learning and achievements, publish digital artifacts, and share content across visual social media. Educators are facing the immediate task of integrating social media into their current practice to meet the needs of the twenty-first century learner. Using a case study, this chapter highlights through empirical work how nascent visual social media platforms such as Pinterest are being utilized in the college classroom and concludes with projections on ways visual networking platforms will transform traditional models of education.
Digital landscapes: inclusive potential versus exclusive practice. Sue Watling
Digital landscapes: inclusive potential versus exclusive practice. International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations, 11 (5). pp. 109-116. ISSN 1447-9532
Creating Virtual Communities of Practice with the Visual Social Media Platfor...Rochell McWhorter
This paper reports results of a mixed methods study on the use of the visual social media platform Pinterest in the higher education classroom. Research methods included data collection of Pre-Experience and Post-Experience student surveys from two disciplines, Education and Business, regarding students’ experiences using Pinterest for learning. A total of 227 students (189 undergraduate and 38 graduate students) participated in the study. Findings included student attitudes regarding the usability of Pinterest in the classroom setting, student learning and development, and ways Pinterest facilitated the development of a virtual community of practice. Recommendations for future classroom use is given. Note: This is the last author’s copy prior to publishing. The final, definitive version of this article has been published in International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Environments, 2(3). Available at http://www.inderscience.com/offer.php?id=64205
Laru, J. & Järvelä, S. (2008). Social patterns in mobile technology mediated ...Jari Laru
The aim of this study was to identify social patterns in mobile technology mediated collaboration among distributed members of the professional distance education community. Ten participants worked for twelve weeks designing a master’s programme in Information Sciences. The participants’ mobile technology usage activity and interview data were first analyzed to get an overview of the density and distribution of collaboration at individual and community levels. Secondly, the results of the social network analyses were interpreted to explore how different social network patterns of relationships affect online and offline interactions. Thirdly, qualitative descriptions of participant teamwork were analyzed to provide practical examples and explanations. Overall, the analyses revealed nonparticipative behaviour within the online community. The social network analysis revealed structural holes and sparse collaboration among participants in the offline community. It was found that due to their separated practices in the offline community, they did not have a need for mobile collaboration tools in their practices
Toward a New Framework of Recommender Memory Based System for MOOCs IJECEIAES
Moocs is the new wave of remote learning that has revolutionized it since its apparition, offering the possibility to teach a very big group of student, at the same time, in the same course, within all disciplines and without even gathering them in the same geographic location, or at the same time; Allowing the sharing of all type of media and document and providing tools to assessing student performance. To benefit from all this advantages, big universities are investing in Moocs platforms to valorize their approach, which makes MOOC available in a multitude of languages and variety of disciplines. Elite universities have open their doors to student around the world without requesting tuition or claiming a college degree, however even with the major effort reaching to maximize students visits and hooking visitors to the platform, using recommending systems propose content likely to please learners, the dropout rate still very high and the number of users completing a course remains very low compared to those who have quit. In this paper we propose an architecture aiming to maximize users visits by exploiting users big data and combining it with data available from social networks.
Standing at the Crossroads: Mobile Learning and Cloud Computing at Estonian S...eLearning Papers
This paper studies the impact of mobile learning implementation efforts in Estonian school system – a process that has created a lot of controversy during the recent years. Best practices in mobile learning are available from the entire world, forcing schools to keep up the push towards better connectivity and gadgetry. Even in the best cases where the schools are provided with the necessary tools, the process has met a lot of scepticism from teachers who are afraid to implement new methods. Teachers are often cornered with the ‘comply or leave’ attitude from educational authorities, resulting in a multi-sided battle between involved parties.
We have surveyed students, teachers, parents and management at five Estonian front-runner schools to sort out the situation. The results show different attitudes among students, school leaders and staff – while all of them mostly possess necessary tools and skills, teachers almost completely lack motivation to promote mobile learning. We propose some positive and negative scenarios – for example, we predict major problems if teacher training will not change, e-safety policies are inadequately developed or authorities will continue the tendency to put all the eggs into one basket (e.g. by relying solely on closed, corporate solutions for mobile learning platforms).
Virtual Worlds in Education: Coming of the Third WaveHelen Farley
The Gartner Hype Cycle has placed virtual worlds on the climb up the Slope of Enlightenment. While some authors in the past have made much of the educational use of virtual worlds languishing in the Trough of Disillusionment, there has been a community of authors, designers and educators working to further understanding of the imitations and affordances of such technologies. It is time to pool this knowledge, experience, tools and practice to solidify best practice, focus research on development of specific elements and forge ahead to shape the third wave of educational virtual worlds. This paper attempts to outline this information and practice while offering solutions for further development.
Rhetoric and reality: critical perspectives on education in a 3D virtual worldHelen Farley
The emergence of any new educational technology is often accompanied by inflated expectations about its potential for transforming pedagogical practice and improving student learning outcomes. A critique of the rhetoric accompanying the evolution of 3D virtual world education
reveals a similar pattern, with the initial hype based more on rhetoric than research demonstrating the extent to which rhetoric matches reality. Addressed are the perceived gaps in the literature through a critique of the rhetoric evident throughout the evolution of the application of virtual worlds in education and the reality based on the reported experiences of experts in the field of educational technology, who are all members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group. The experiences reported highlight a range of effective virtual world collaborative and communicative teaching experiences conducted in members’ institutions.
Perspectives vary from those whose reality is the actuation of the initial rhetoric in the early years of virtual world education, to those whose reality is fraught with challenges that belie the rhetoric. Although there are concerns over institutional resistance, restrictions, and outdated processes on the one-hand, and excitement over the rapid emergence of innovation on the other, the prevailing reality seems to be that virtual world education is both persistent and sustainable. Explored are critical perspectives on the rhetoric and reality on the educational uptake and use of virtual worlds in higher education, providing an overview of the current and future directions for learning in virtual worlds.
Chapter 7 Technology Enhanced Learning; a new digital divide in The Future of Higher Education: Policy, Pedagogy and the Student Experience (2009) edited by Les Bell, Mike Neary, Howard Stevenson
Reaching Out with OER: The New Role of Public-Facing Open ScholareLearning Papers
Open educational resources (OER) and, more recently, open educational practices (OEP) have been widely promoted as a means of increasing openness in higher education (HE). Thus far, such openness has been limited by OER provision typically being supplier-driven and contained within the boundaries of HE. Seeking to explore ways in which OEP might become more needs-led we conceptualised a new ‘public-facing open scholar’ role involving academics working with online communities to source and develop OER to meet their needs.
To explore the scope for this role we focused on the voluntary sector, which we felt might particularly benefit from such collaboration. We evaluated four representative communities for evidence of their being self-educating (thereby offering the potential for academics to contribute) and for any existing learning dimension. We found that all four communities were self-educating and each included learning infrastructure elements, for example provision for web chats with ‘experts’, together with evidence of receptiveness to academic collaboration. This indicated that there was scope for the role of public-facing open scholar. We therefore developed detailed guidelines for performing the role, which has the potential to be applied beyond the voluntary sector and to greatly extend the beneficial impact of existing OER, prompting institutions to release new OER in response to the needs of people outside HE.
Future Learning LandscapesTowards the Convergence of Pervasive and Contextual Computing, Global Social Media and Semantic Web in Technology Enhanced Learning
Toward Educational Virtual Worlds: Should Identity Federation Be a Concern?Gonçalo Cruz Matos
3D Virtual Worlds are being used for education and training purposes in a cross-disciplinary way. However, its
widespread adoption, particularly in formal learning contexts, is far from being a reality due a broad range of
technological challenges. In this reflection paper, our main goal is to argue why and how identity federation
should be discussed and adopted as a solution to several barriers that educators and institutions face when using
Virtual Worlds. By presenting a clear set of scenarios within different dimensions of the educational process, as
classroom management, content reuse, learning analytics, accessibility, and research, we consider identity,
traceability, privacy, accountability, and interoperability as main concerns in order to support our argument.
Finally, we conclude the paper by presenting paths to a proposal for a workable solution, through the analysis
and reflection of different and current efforts that has been made by other teams, towards future technological
developments.
Laru, J. & Järvelä, S. (2008). Social patterns in mobile technology mediated ...Jari Laru
The aim of this study was to identify social patterns in mobile technology mediated collaboration among distributed members of the professional distance education community. Ten participants worked for twelve weeks designing a master’s programme in Information Sciences. The participants’ mobile technology usage activity and interview data were first analyzed to get an overview of the density and distribution of collaboration at individual and community levels. Secondly, the results of the social network analyses were interpreted to explore how different social network patterns of relationships affect online and offline interactions. Thirdly, qualitative descriptions of participant teamwork were analyzed to provide practical examples and explanations. Overall, the analyses revealed nonparticipative behaviour within the online community. The social network analysis revealed structural holes and sparse collaboration among participants in the offline community. It was found that due to their separated practices in the offline community, they did not have a need for mobile collaboration tools in their practices
Toward a New Framework of Recommender Memory Based System for MOOCs IJECEIAES
Moocs is the new wave of remote learning that has revolutionized it since its apparition, offering the possibility to teach a very big group of student, at the same time, in the same course, within all disciplines and without even gathering them in the same geographic location, or at the same time; Allowing the sharing of all type of media and document and providing tools to assessing student performance. To benefit from all this advantages, big universities are investing in Moocs platforms to valorize their approach, which makes MOOC available in a multitude of languages and variety of disciplines. Elite universities have open their doors to student around the world without requesting tuition or claiming a college degree, however even with the major effort reaching to maximize students visits and hooking visitors to the platform, using recommending systems propose content likely to please learners, the dropout rate still very high and the number of users completing a course remains very low compared to those who have quit. In this paper we propose an architecture aiming to maximize users visits by exploiting users big data and combining it with data available from social networks.
Standing at the Crossroads: Mobile Learning and Cloud Computing at Estonian S...eLearning Papers
This paper studies the impact of mobile learning implementation efforts in Estonian school system – a process that has created a lot of controversy during the recent years. Best practices in mobile learning are available from the entire world, forcing schools to keep up the push towards better connectivity and gadgetry. Even in the best cases where the schools are provided with the necessary tools, the process has met a lot of scepticism from teachers who are afraid to implement new methods. Teachers are often cornered with the ‘comply or leave’ attitude from educational authorities, resulting in a multi-sided battle between involved parties.
We have surveyed students, teachers, parents and management at five Estonian front-runner schools to sort out the situation. The results show different attitudes among students, school leaders and staff – while all of them mostly possess necessary tools and skills, teachers almost completely lack motivation to promote mobile learning. We propose some positive and negative scenarios – for example, we predict major problems if teacher training will not change, e-safety policies are inadequately developed or authorities will continue the tendency to put all the eggs into one basket (e.g. by relying solely on closed, corporate solutions for mobile learning platforms).
Virtual Worlds in Education: Coming of the Third WaveHelen Farley
The Gartner Hype Cycle has placed virtual worlds on the climb up the Slope of Enlightenment. While some authors in the past have made much of the educational use of virtual worlds languishing in the Trough of Disillusionment, there has been a community of authors, designers and educators working to further understanding of the imitations and affordances of such technologies. It is time to pool this knowledge, experience, tools and practice to solidify best practice, focus research on development of specific elements and forge ahead to shape the third wave of educational virtual worlds. This paper attempts to outline this information and practice while offering solutions for further development.
Rhetoric and reality: critical perspectives on education in a 3D virtual worldHelen Farley
The emergence of any new educational technology is often accompanied by inflated expectations about its potential for transforming pedagogical practice and improving student learning outcomes. A critique of the rhetoric accompanying the evolution of 3D virtual world education
reveals a similar pattern, with the initial hype based more on rhetoric than research demonstrating the extent to which rhetoric matches reality. Addressed are the perceived gaps in the literature through a critique of the rhetoric evident throughout the evolution of the application of virtual worlds in education and the reality based on the reported experiences of experts in the field of educational technology, who are all members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group. The experiences reported highlight a range of effective virtual world collaborative and communicative teaching experiences conducted in members’ institutions.
Perspectives vary from those whose reality is the actuation of the initial rhetoric in the early years of virtual world education, to those whose reality is fraught with challenges that belie the rhetoric. Although there are concerns over institutional resistance, restrictions, and outdated processes on the one-hand, and excitement over the rapid emergence of innovation on the other, the prevailing reality seems to be that virtual world education is both persistent and sustainable. Explored are critical perspectives on the rhetoric and reality on the educational uptake and use of virtual worlds in higher education, providing an overview of the current and future directions for learning in virtual worlds.
Chapter 7 Technology Enhanced Learning; a new digital divide in The Future of Higher Education: Policy, Pedagogy and the Student Experience (2009) edited by Les Bell, Mike Neary, Howard Stevenson
Reaching Out with OER: The New Role of Public-Facing Open ScholareLearning Papers
Open educational resources (OER) and, more recently, open educational practices (OEP) have been widely promoted as a means of increasing openness in higher education (HE). Thus far, such openness has been limited by OER provision typically being supplier-driven and contained within the boundaries of HE. Seeking to explore ways in which OEP might become more needs-led we conceptualised a new ‘public-facing open scholar’ role involving academics working with online communities to source and develop OER to meet their needs.
To explore the scope for this role we focused on the voluntary sector, which we felt might particularly benefit from such collaboration. We evaluated four representative communities for evidence of their being self-educating (thereby offering the potential for academics to contribute) and for any existing learning dimension. We found that all four communities were self-educating and each included learning infrastructure elements, for example provision for web chats with ‘experts’, together with evidence of receptiveness to academic collaboration. This indicated that there was scope for the role of public-facing open scholar. We therefore developed detailed guidelines for performing the role, which has the potential to be applied beyond the voluntary sector and to greatly extend the beneficial impact of existing OER, prompting institutions to release new OER in response to the needs of people outside HE.
Future Learning LandscapesTowards the Convergence of Pervasive and Contextual Computing, Global Social Media and Semantic Web in Technology Enhanced Learning
Toward Educational Virtual Worlds: Should Identity Federation Be a Concern?Gonçalo Cruz Matos
3D Virtual Worlds are being used for education and training purposes in a cross-disciplinary way. However, its
widespread adoption, particularly in formal learning contexts, is far from being a reality due a broad range of
technological challenges. In this reflection paper, our main goal is to argue why and how identity federation
should be discussed and adopted as a solution to several barriers that educators and institutions face when using
Virtual Worlds. By presenting a clear set of scenarios within different dimensions of the educational process, as
classroom management, content reuse, learning analytics, accessibility, and research, we consider identity,
traceability, privacy, accountability, and interoperability as main concerns in order to support our argument.
Finally, we conclude the paper by presenting paths to a proposal for a workable solution, through the analysis
and reflection of different and current efforts that has been made by other teams, towards future technological
developments.
Virtual reality for collaborative e-learning. Teresa Monahan, Gavin McArdle, ...eraser Juan José Calderón
Virtual reality for collaborative e-learning
Teresa Monahan *, Gavin McArdle, Michela Bertolotto
School of Computer Science and Informatics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
Received 20 September 2006; received in revised form 5 December 2006; accepted 11 December 2006
In early days the main emphases were on the cognitive aspects of learning and traditional instructions of teaching in the classroom using outdated and conventional techniques. But today in this world of constant innovations and discoveries, scientists and gadget-experts are continuously searching for one or the two technological devices a day. Nodoubt technology has made our life much easier and better in many aspects. In developed countries, technology facilitates and helps students and teacher to learn things in more effective ways. But in the country like India, the development in technology is not upto that mark. We still are moving towards the path of progress. Thus, this paper will best describes about the conceptual framework regarding futuristic studies related to future technologies such as M-Learning, E-Learning, , iPod, I-Pad self-efficacy learning, Virtual Learning Environment (VLE ) etc. In this paper investigator highlighted some of the studies related to trends in futurology and innovations that could prove an important aspect of education technology.
Adoption of Digital Learning Technology: An Empirical Analysis of the Determi...IJAEMSJORNAL
Technology has advanced significantly from the analogue period to the digital era. Digital Learning Technology (DLT) is a learning paradigm based on the use of ubiquitous latest technologies, by using smart devices. It can be described as a learning environment that is assisted in daily life by wireless networks, mobile, and embedded computers. It aims to offer content and interaction to students wherever they are, at any time. The learning process has advanced thanks to the technology revolution, which has also fundamentally altered how knowledge is shared and learned. At present, there exist other frameworks too, but they are centered towards different paradigms, and point of view pertaining to DLT with its emphasis on Telecommunication Sector has not been taken into consideration. As, existing frameworks are centered towards different environments hence there exists a need to add dimensions of Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Curator, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker and Creator, Communicator & Global Collaborator. These have not been integrated together in existing available research. The study will ascertain level of knowledge of DLT and examined factors which affect the adoption rate, use, and role of DLT in telecoms setups. The results of this research will help create a framework that, if used in any academic or learning setting in a technology-based firm.
Unlocking digital literacy practices of EFL teachersEkoPurwanti1
Digital literacy practice is necessary for education since information and communication technology has developed rapidly, resulting in shifting to the era of digital technology. The digital literacy practices in school and especially in classrooms are required for preparing 21st-century students. This study aims to (1) determine teachers’ perceptions of digital literacy practices in the level of classroom and school, (2) point out the digital literacy practices of English Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, and (3) investigate the challenges faced by the EFL teachers in applying digital literacy practices in the classroom. This study revealed the digital literacy practices of thirteen EFL Teachers in Yogyakarta using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The results uncovered that digital literacy was highly supported, evidenced by the facility, equipment, and the connectivity provided in all schools with a variety of free internet access. In the classroom level, these teachers practised digital literacy by using some digital tools. In implementing digital literacy, the teachers faced some challenges, such as defective equipment and Internet access and intrinsic factors such as teachers’ knowledge in technology, their attitudes toward digital technology, and students’ commitment to apply digital literacy. These findings are followed by recommendations for schools, teachers, and further research.
Mar Camacho, Universitat Rovira i Virgili Faculty (Spain), Visiting scholar a...MobileCreation
Présentation de Mar Camacho, Universitat Rovira i Virgili Faculty (Spain), Visiting scholar at UNESCO HQ in Paris au colloque "Mobile Education Médiation" , 5-6 décembre 2013
Sustainable digital communication using perceived enjoyment with a technology...Rula alsawalqa
The technology acceptance model (TAM) has garnered considerable attention within higher education in Jordan, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we still need to understand how to progress the TAM to enhance educational sustainability. “Perceived enjoyment” (PE) is a significant predictor of perceived ease of use, intention to use technology, use e-learning systems for educational sustainability, and attitudes toward using the TAM. This study aims to reveal the role of sustainable digital communication using PE with the TAM within higher education in Jordan. An online survey was conducted using a random sample of students at the University of Jordan, which reached 576 participants. The results of a subsequent path analysis of the survey data revealed that PE, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitudes toward using digital communication strategies were dominant in affecting student intention to use sustainable digital communication. We found that the students would like to use digital communication strategies due to their ease of use and because they can enhance self-education. However, students need to enhance their usage skills, and to better understand digital communication strategies. Moreover, we found that the TAM, PE, perceived ease of use (PEU), and perceived usefulness (PU) immediately and favorably affect attitudes toward usage (ATU) and behavioral intention (BI). PEU negatively affected the intention of students to use technology through ATU, while PE had a significant impact on the PU, PEU, ATU, and BI of using digital communication strategies. Information and communication technologies (ICT) developers in the Jordanian Higher Education environment should create systems that are user-friendly and pertinent to the sustainability of student education, to raise their perceived ease of use. Managers should also encourage students to use ICT.
ASSESSING TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE IN ICT USAGE FOR LESSON PREPARATION AND DELIVER...AkashSharma618775
Generally, it is agreed that information and communication technology (ICT) promotes easier planning
and preparation of lessons; helps teachers to have access to up-to-date learners and school data anytime and
anywhere. This is especially significant in this Covid era where hybrid education is being promoted. Therefore,
this study investigated the knowledge of basic school teachers in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality in the use of
ICT for lesson preparation and delivery. One hundred and two (102) out of five hundred and ten (510) basic school
teachers were sampled using the simple random sampling technique for the study. A questionnaire and an
observation checklist were used to collect data from the teachers. Data were coded into the IBM-SPSS version 21
to generate descriptive statistics (frequency counts and percentages) for the analyses. Findings from the study
revealed that 92.2% of basic school teachers in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality agreed that ICT is a diverse set
of technological tools and resources used to communicate and to create, disseminate, store and manage
information. The basic school teachers were of the view that the use of ICT in lesson delivery comes with lots of
benefits to their classroom instructional practices. The findings further revealed that basic school teachers in the
municipality have basic knowledge in ICT use but do not use this knowledge in their lesson delivery due to factors
such as constant changes in technology, cost of ICT tools, limited time allocation for ICT lessons in the schools,
technical nature of ICT, lack of ICT laboratories, and network facilities in schools for teachers and students. The
study recommended that more time should be allocated for the teaching of ICT in basic schools and also, basic
school teachers should be given constant ICT training through workshops and refresher courses to boost their
competencies in using ICT in their lesson preparation and classroom instructional practices.
Normal Labour/ Stages of Labour/ Mechanism of LabourWasim Ak
Normal labor is also termed spontaneous labor, defined as the natural physiological process through which the fetus, placenta, and membranes are expelled from the uterus through the birth canal at term (37 to 42 weeks
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Safalta Digital marketing institute in Noida, provide complete applications that encompass a huge range of virtual advertising and marketing additives, which includes search engine optimization, virtual communication advertising, pay-per-click on marketing, content material advertising, internet analytics, and greater. These university courses are designed for students who possess a comprehensive understanding of virtual marketing strategies and attributes.Safalta Digital Marketing Institute in Noida is a first choice for young individuals or students who are looking to start their careers in the field of digital advertising. The institute gives specialized courses designed and certification.
for beginners, providing thorough training in areas such as SEO, digital communication marketing, and PPC training in Noida. After finishing the program, students receive the certifications recognised by top different universitie, setting a strong foundation for a successful career in digital marketing.
2. 250 Mehmet Fırat / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 9 (2010) 249–254
the three-dimensional visual environment where individuals communicate with other, different communication
networks created and communication networks connected to one another (Joseph, 2007). By provided learner-
centered features and multi-media support for the creation of the learning environments 3D virtual world
applications regarded as convenient learning platforms. In the last 5-6 years several educational institutions and
organizations around the world have started to organize events in virtual worlds. But, situation in Turkey is
considered still not high enough especially in terms of practical educational applications. Therefore, it is taught that
there is a need to analyze the current situation in Turkey to create a clear point of view.
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the educational capabilities of 3D virtual worlds and determine the
current situation of 3D virtual world’s usage in Turkey. For these purposes 3D virtual worlds introduced and the
main capabilities of these environments investigated. Than common features of 3D virtual worlds evaluated for
educational propose. Finally, educational usages of 3D virtual worlds in Turkey have investigated. To do this,
related databases, statistics, Web sites, projects and researches have been reviewed.
2. Next generation learning environments: 3D virtual worlds
Today, in every field of our lives, an efficient information access and mobility has become a prerequisite for the
sustainability of all systems. Considering this fact, Internet technology has become the fastest and the most proper
media to gain access the required information worldwide, from our daily questions to scientific researches. Within
this rapid development, most of compatible Internet applications have been specialized to ease information access
and sharing. Since the Internet is in use by the year 1992, information retrieve in a global scope became much
easier. Also educational resources in a wide range and varying quality could easily and freely be reached by people
(Atkins, Brown & Hammond, 2007). The rapid increase in the number of Internet users motivated the growth of an
enormously active web related industry.
The advancements in information technologies, software sector and telecommunication field have also influenced
the traditional education contexture. Positive features of the Internet, such as easy and fast access and sharing
opportunities, download and uploading capabilities, easy to find hardware and software requirements and utilization
simplicity encourages the development of Internet based education methods as well. In course of time, the use of
Internet as a teaching and learning medium became widespread and on-line serving of educational contents
increased. Thus, sharing information and cooperation among academicians, institutions and corporations grew up
also this attitude gave a chance to innovativeness. As part of innovations in information and communication
technologies, three-dimensional virtual worlds have growing importance and potential for next generation learning
environments. A 3D virtual world can be described as a genre of online community that often takes the form of a
computer-based simulated environment. In these environments users can interact with one another and use and
create objects.
Virtual worlds are intended for their users to inhabit and interact. 3D virtual Worlds are interactive
environments, where the users take the form of avatars visible to others graphically. Usually these avatars are
represented as two or three dimensional graphics but also can have a form of auditory or textual. In a 3D simulated
world a person can manipulate elements and experience telepresence. This 3D world can be a reflection of real
world or an imaginary fantasy world. Communication among users has ranged from text, graphical icons, visual
gesture, sound, and rarely, forms using touch, voice command, and balance senses.
2.1. Learning in 3D virtual worlds
Today, considering the competition in the education field, the success criteria are mostly defined with the
information transfer speed and the number of demanders accessed, who are not only the students but also the
communities as large as possible. Hence, traditional lecturer-classroom-lecture approaches inevitably undergo a
change so that several lecturers specialized on different subjects come together to guide the students. Many students
from many different places wish to gain access the lecturers and information materials at different places. The most
3. Mehmet Fırat / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 9 (2010) 249–254 251
proper way to handle this problem is creating an Internet Based Education (IBE) model. One of important IBE
model is 3D graphical and Web3D virtual reality tools which need a better skill of techniques.
3D interactive environments provide constructivist learning activities by allowing learners to interact directly
with information from a first-person perspective (Dede, 1995; Winn, 1997).To the Bruckman's (1997) investigation,
Multiple User Object Oriented Domains allow for the emergence of knowledge-building communities by providing
constructivist learning environments. Similarly according to Winn (1997) information taught in schools is often
presented as “third-person symbolic experiences,” whereas much of learns are through first-person nonsymbolic
experiences. So, 3D virtual worlds can help bridge the gap between experiential learning and information
representation.
In the scope of lifelong learning; 3D virtual world based solutions can be effectively used and adopted. In a 3D
virtual world, a higher level of interaction, learning free from time and space can be obtained. To Dickey, (2003) use
of 3D virtual worlds offers innovative and unique educational opportunities for both traditional classroom
environments and distance education. Several educational institutions are now running virtual classrooms and
discussion sections in worlds like Second Life. For example, The British Open University has a strong presence in
Second Life, where it is developing social and community links for students as well as practicing teaching and
learning.
3. Educational usage of 3D virtual worlds in Turkey and case for second life
As a developing country in Turkey, Internet accessibility and the use of Internet as an educational media is still
new but growing rapidly like worldwide. When looking the situation in Turkey apparently there are various studies
mostly individual. Some important of them are summarized below.
In their research I k, I k, and nan (2008) suggest that 3D virtual worlds can be effectively used in distance
education. Because the basic dynamic of the lifelong learning and 3D virtual worlds like self learning, free of time
and space, individual liability and freedom of choice are appropriate. In other study F rat (2008) purposed to
evaluate Second Life in terms of authentic learning activities. For this purpose the capabilities of Second life
evaluated within the context of ten characteristics of authentic learning environments. At the end of this study it has
concluded that Second Life strongly supports authentic learning activities.
In his study Tüzün, (2009) present the development process of 3D virtual world applications like Hacettepe
University Health Center orientation environment in ActiveWorlds. To the result of study, 3D virtual world
applications are suitable for individuals in orientation of new place or events. Similarly, an interactive Second Life
classroom environment created in 2007 on behalf of Computer Aided Training Unit from Anadolu University, Open
Education Faculty. This classroom was also one of the first 3D virtual world classrooms that provide interactive
multimedia lesson materials in Second Life from Turkey.
As an institutional study, The Council of Higher Education of Turkey has started a project about adopting the
new communication technologies to education. The research was headed by The Scientific and Technological
Research Council of Turkey with the participation of Middle East Technical University, Anadolu University, Open
Education Faculty and Istanbul Technical University. The worldwide Virtual University practices were surveyed
and the needs and motivations of Turkish universities for educational 3D virtual worlds were determined. The
results showed that Universities try to strengthen themselves about use of 3D virtual worlds (Karasar, 2004).
3.1. Case for Second Life
Second Life is one of the most popular 3D virtual world applications today. Second Life is a three dimensional
virtual world that entirely built by residents, which has become a trend with the Web 2.0 electronic social approach
(Hargis, 2008). In only January 2010, 18 million accounts were registered in this environment. Until now a number
of organizations including NASA, NOAA, NIH, JPL, NPR, National Physical Laboratory, UK, and other
government agencies, universities, and museums have begun to appear in Second Life since 2005s. According to
data from January 2007 active residents by country listed below in Table 1 (Hachmann, 2007).
4. 252 Mehmet Fırat / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 9 (2010) 249–254
Table 1. Active residents by country
Country Percentages
United States 31.19%
France 12.73%
Germany 10.46%
United Kingdom 8.09%
Netherlands 6.55%
Spain 3.83%
As seen in Table 1 about 53 %, almost half of the Second Life users come from three countries. These are United
States, France and Germany. In Many Eyes site (manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com) the number of active residents by
country was shown on the world map. According to the map Turkey have 14th most active second live users after
Austria in Europe by 0.51%. Active avatars from Turkey during last 6 months in 2007 are shown below in Table 2
(Frost, 2007). As seen in Table 2 the numbers of active avatars from Turkey are in an average increase during last
six months of 2007.
Table 1. Active Avatars from Turkey during last 6 months in 2007
Months July August September October November December
The most
Active Avatars from Turkey 1913 3098 3207 3617 2947 2273
5. Mehmet Fırat / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 9 (2010) 249–254 253
popular place from Turkey in Second Life is Turkey island. This place scopes 23 other places which have different
purpose. Some popular of them are Turkish cities like Istanbul, Ankara, zmir and Bodrum, Sultanahmet Mosque,
teagardens and about 20 shopping center. However, none of these places or applications are related to the
education.
Education in Second Life Second Life has recently emerged as one of the cutting-edge virtual classrooms for
major colleges and universities, including Harvard USA, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) USA, The
Open University UK. The universities that have a place searched in secondlife.com and reached about 600 place that
related to universities or colleges. But it has not encountered any university from Turkey among these universities.
But there are new useful applications from Turkey like Yogurtistan.
Yogurt Technologies are working a period of time on a new virtual world infrastructure name Yogurtistan
financially supported by Golden Horn Ventures. Yogurtistan was opened on June 24, 2010. Yogurtistan is a 3D
virtual world based on Adobe Flash, where users can play single or multi-player games, create shops, sell and buy
goods and services with animated avatars. It is thought that this 3D virtual world has adequate potential to host the
educational applications.
4. Conclusion and suggestions
As part of innovations in information and communication technologies, three-dimensional virtual worlds have
considerable importance for next generation learning, instruction, students, educators and educational institutions.
Today, supporting authentic learning experiences and community in a virtual environment has become the primary
target of many institutions. The emerging virtual schools, universities and others are coming to take existing
institutions’ place by offer a realistic learning experience and take a strong interest in students themselves rather
than their diplomas (Schank, 2007). In this study it was concluded that Turkish users began to interest in 3D virtual
world applications, but not at a sufficient level. As of August 2010, there are many sites from Turkey like
www.slturkiye.com, www.slturkey.com, www.slturkiye.org, video.slturkiye.com and these sites have approximately
10 thousand members. More important, there is a growing interest in academic agenda for educational usage of 3D
virtual worlds. The situation of educational usage of 3D virtual worlds in Turkey is given below in Figure 1.
A considerable level of
academic researches
and proposes Effective and spreading
Inadequate usage of 3D virtual Worlds
educational in educational purpose by
applications educators and learners in
and projects Turkey
Growing academic,
social and technical
interest
Advantages Disadvantages Possible situation
Figure 1. The situation of educational usage of 3D virtual worlds in Turkey
6. 254 Mehmet Fırat / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 9 (2010) 249–254
As seen in Figure 1, in order to widespread use of the 3D virtual worlds for educational purpose in Turkey there
is need to projects and implementations for the development of educational applications in 3D virtual worlds. In
spite a considerable level of academic researches related to the educational usage of 3D virtual worlds, practical
educational applications are seemingly inadequate in Turkey. In order to cope with this problem and close the gap
between academic researches and practical applications some suggestions can be given: first of all, careful
examination should be carried out of the results of the academic researches, second, educational 3D applications
should be widespread in accordance with the proposals obtained from the researches, and finally, universities should
lead use of 3D virtual worlds in educational purpose.
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