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Executive Summary With demonstrated benefits to higher level learning, peer review in the classroom has been well researched and popular since at least the 1990s. However, little or no prior studies exist into the peer review process for online courses. Further, we found no prior research specifically addressing the operational aspects of online peer review. This research addresses that gap by comparing the issues involved in managing peer review for an online course with those for a traditional classroom course. In an exploratory case study, two sections of the same introductory level course were taught by the same professor in the same academic term, one section in the traditional classroom and one as an online section. Both sections covered the same material in the same order. Online students had access to narrated PowerPoint recordings that tracked in-class lectures. The same assignments and exams were used. The two sections used a joint discussion board for posting questions and answers about the course material. In short, the two courses were almost identical, except for the steps necessary to make peer review operate in an online environment. An eleven-step process for implementing peer review was isolated and documented as part of this research. All steps except the first, creating the grading rubric, required more time and effort for an online class than for a traditional class. Four steps were substantially more complex in an on-line environment: assigning students to do specific peer reviews; handling late reviews; hiding reviewer identity before making reviews available to reviewees; and distributing completed peer reviews back to reviewees. Overall, results suggest that, without specialized supporting software, electronic reviews for an online class are far more complex to orchestrate than similar reviews administered using paper in a traditional classroom. Minor procedural steps that easily are made both unambiguous and obligatory in a paper-based classroom peer review became far more difficult to implement online. In addition, since specific peer review software is seldom available, the need to use a variety of software products, each of which was originally designed for other purposes, added substantially to the intricacy of implementing online peer review. This research provides specific suggestions for faculty considering using peer reviews in online courses, particularly in online Information Technology courses or other courses where writing is not the primary activity being reviewed. In addition, the online peer review features and functionality detailed here provide a basic requirements definition for a potential peer review software package flexible enough to be used across disciplines and with both traditional and online classes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we will relate some of our experiences in building and using simple Decision Support Systems (DSS) for use in two postgraduate subjects at Victoria University in Melbourne. These subjects are not about Decision Support Systems, but are Information Systems (IS) subjects that introduce, amongst other things, concepts of decision support and DSS. It has been our experience that the complexity, an inability to examine the logic behind decisions that have been recommended, the proprietary nature and the cost of commercial DSS make their use in teaching less than ideal. Our solution was to produce our own simple systems using Excel, Visual Basic and Visual Basic for Applications, and this has proved to be quite successful. The paper reports on building and using Decision Support Systems in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on developing a relatively simple method for analyzing web-logs. It also explores the challenges and benefits of web-log analysis. The study of student behavior on this site provides insights into website design and the effectiveness of this site in particular. Another benefit realized from the paper is the ease with which these concepts can be discussed with students. The purpose and context of the website used are easily understood by instructors and students, providing the basis for some rich discussions regarding: web-logs in general, web-log analysis and its' challenges, the use of data for decision-making purposes, and other aspects. Web-logs record every page that users access during their visit to the site, thus providing a picture of their behavior based on a number of things, including the order in which they hit pages (i.e., the "traversal path"), the length of time spent on each page, whether they go to pages in error, and whether they return more than once to a page. This is a vast data resource which many companies have difficulty using in an efficient and effective way. Using the on-line instructor evaluation site provided a finite database to study; in this case raw data of approximately 35,000 records represented 3,368 student-class evaluations done over a two-week period (a small web-log). Open-source software was used to calculate a number of statistics, and it was found that students do access the evaluation site from home, taking advantage of the 24-hour availability. However, many students fill out evaluations on weekdays between 9 am and 3 pm, suggesting that a fair proportion do the evaluations in between classes when they are on campus. The main portion of this work involved identifying and analyzing the traversal paths of the students through the site. There were a huge number of unique paths, highlighting the difficulty in isolating common user behaviors. It was found that students are able to complete the entire... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web-based learning resources (WBLRs) have provided teachers with a wide range of new teaching experiences that are not possible in traditional classroom. However, little research has been done as to which approach to WBLRs is suitable to address issues that are pertinent to learning. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to explore the design and evaluation of WBLRs in school education. The paper also examines the way in which the framework is used to evaluate students' and teachers' perceptions of WBLRs by means of survey questionnaires. Before developing the framework, a literature review is undertaken to report on the state of research in the field of WBLRs. The literature review reveals a lack of design and evaluation of WBLRs in educational settings. Then, the framework is developed in three steps. First, the concept of WBLR is defined as a learning object that exists at the intersection of content, pedagogy, and technology. Second, concepts of usability are analyzed, and a definition of technical and pedagogical usability is proposed. Technical usability is a self-evident requirement, but it is not sufficient for designing pedagogically usable WBLRs. The usability concept must be extended to capture issues that are fundamental to learning. Nevertheless, technical and pedagogical usability cannot be considered as separate, disjointed activities. Finally, the context of use and evaluation is specified. The context is the totality of relationships between students and surrounding elements within a teaching and learning situation. The WBLR can be considered as an element of the context, and as such, it becomes a source of learning, by means of interaction with the students. To investigate the value of the framework, a case study is undertaken in three classes. To this end, the framework was used to inform the study, and the findings of the study were mapped back onto the framework in order to identify additional features found in classroom settings and points in the conceptual framework that did not significantly impact the case study. The main factor that impacted the design and evaluation of WBLRs was the pedagogical usability. While students and teachers globally agreed about technical usability, the findings indicate that they differed in their perceptions of pedagogical usability. In addition, the conceptual framework and the findings of the case study differed to a certain degree regarding the connectedness of some pedagogical usability criteria. The findings also revealed the existence of cultural values connected to students' preferred choices. This factor has not been explicitly anticipated from the conceptual framework. The findings cannot be generalized due to the limited nature of the study. However, the article proposes elements of a future research work that should be taken forward to generate a more complete picture of usability issues and what constitutes WBLRs in school education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Today's fast-paced world is becoming increasingly characterized by technology driven communication, which has transformed the world into a large global connected community with ever-increasing outreach of information and communication technology (ICT). Technology plays an increasingly important role in people's lives, and it is envisaged that technological literacy will soon become a functional requirement for people's work, social, and even personal lives. For both social and economic reasons students will need computer and communication technology skills if they are to live successfully in a knowledge-based society. The purpose of this study is to examine the ICT usage habits and the self-assessed ICT competencies possessed by undergraduate students in teacher preparation programmes in the University of Benin. A second important issue that was addressed was whether there were significant differences in the perceived ICT competency among students according to demographic and study related factors. Thus, the paper's central research objectives are: * To examine the ICT usage habits of students in teacher preparation programmes. * To examine the self-assessed ICT skills' competencies possessed by students in teacher preparation programmes. * To determine whether there were significant differences in perceived ICT competencies among students in teacher preparation programmes according to demographic and study related factors (gender, and type of computer training). A descriptive survey was adopted and the target population was all students in levels 200, 300, and 400 of the faculty of education, University of Benin. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire adapted from Bassey, Akuegwu, Udida, Ntukidem, and Ekabua (2007). The results show that: * Students' ICT usage was low, particularly the use of internet and email. * The respondents perceived themselves to be good in word processing and file navigation, moderate in Internet browsing and emailing. Only two percent (2%) of the respondents perceived themselves to be competent in PowerPoint with about seventy percent (70%) having no capability at all. * There was no significant difference in the perceived competency among students according to gender and academic year/level. However, there was significant difference in the perceived competency among students according to the type of computer training, with those with formal computer training perceiving themselves to be most competent in ICT skills. * From the findings, the lack of access to computers and Internet connectivity within the faculty present a serious issue affecting staff and students' use of ICT applications. It is therefore recommended that government should make funds available for the provision of ICT infrastructure in tertiary institutions in the country. Also special funds should be set aside to revamp the e-learning centres at the faculty level for students and faculty/staff use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective crafting of multi-media for e-learning depends on understanding usage. Research work in that regard is scarce. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model to understand usage in that context. We construct a flow-usage model with three dimensions of usage: frequency of use, time spent, and interruptions. A survey methodology approach was administered to capture rele-vant constructs. A structural equation model approach was used for the assessment of the model's results. Structural equation analysis provides evidence of significance for motivation on beliefs and attitudes on usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intricate crafting of online educational systems lie within three principal activities: Design of the system, implementation, and proper post-implementation assessment. There is not enough knowledge or experience in all regards. Efficient execution of these three major activities necessi-tates the use of design and pedagogical models to achieve cost and time efficiency, as well as high pedagogical quality. Models represent a structured approach to analysis and promote quanti-fiable feedback that can be monitored. Components of an online educational system would bene-fit from a design process. Similarly, utilization of the online educational system would benefit from a structured approach to design, implementation, and student's assessment. Following the technology adoption theory, understanding individual's behavior towards technology usage would focus on instrumental beliefs driving intentions. However, this may not be the case with online educational systems because the context and setup is significantly different from previous technology adoption studies. Therefore, the implementation of an online educational system should be designed based on established pedagogical principles, and once developed the assess-ment of students' behavior should be monitored using management information systems method-ology. In this paper, we present the design of an online education system, and the experience of the stu-dents using the system. A survey methodology approach is followed and assessment results are discussed. The technology acceptance model and the theory of planned behavior were used to identify significant constructs as antecedents to intentions. Scale validation for both models indi-cates that the operational measures have acceptable psychometric properties. Confirmatory factor analysis supports both models. Structural equation analysis provides evidence for the superiority of the theory of planned behavior in explaining students' behavior towards educational online systems. Limitation, implications, design recommendations, and suggestions for future research are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a study of educators at an Australian University who are using eTechnolo-gies in their teaching. The perceptions of the educators of the technologies are discussed as well as how they believe these technologies help students to learn. Outcomes from the study offer suggestions of how appropriate eTechnologies can be incorporated into online learning environ-ments for effective teaching. Particular emphasis is made of eTechnologies which support active learning by students, one of the goals of the principles of good teaching practice in undergraduate education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although university students are immersed in Facebook interactions, little is known about the impact of these Social Media on lecturers' pedagogical strategies and student learning. Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory's (CHAT) notion of contradictions, this paper examines the influence of Facebook on lecturers' teaching strategies and student learning in a blended Information Systems course at a middle-sized African university. The research employed a multi-method approach that corroborated data from in-depth semi-structured interviews, in-class observations, and post-observation debriefings to unravel lecturers and students' experiences of Facebook use for teaching and learning. Several contradictions emerged from their Facebook use, namely, tensions between lecturers' teaching strategies and student conceptions of learning, dilemma between recruitment of student academic participation on Facebook and prevention of its resentment by uncooperative students, challenges of redundant postings, limitations of collective responsibility, intergenerational tensions between lecturers and students, and constraints of time. The findings include shifts from implicit to explicit teaching, pedagogical change from setting academic engagement rules to student persuasion to participate on Facebook, shifts from private academic support to consultation in public online spaces, and development of a collegial, mutually- beneficial consultative environment. Students reported ambivalent experiences of Facebook use with implications on lecturers' pedagogical strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet story in Uganda dates back to April 1993 with associations to a Fidonet node at Makerere University, the largest institution of higher education in the country. E-mail services in private companies became accessible in August 1994, making Uganda one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to gain full Internet connection. This paper presents an overview of developments in the Internet sector since then. The Global diffusion of the Internet (GDI) framework is used to assess the country's Internet diffusion. The framework provides an overview of the state of the Internet while identifying specific ways in which the Internet has been used in the war-torn northern region of Uganda. A case study of the efforts of two nongovernmental organizations to provide Internet connectivity in Internally Displaced Persons camps demonstrates the point that the Internet can serve as a useful tool for giving a "voice" to people in war zones in a process that can potentially reduce internal conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blended Learning, a learning facilitation that incorporates different modes of delivery, models of teaching, and learning styles, introduces multiple media to the dialog between the learner and the facilitator. This paper examines online communication as the link between established theory of learning and literature on e-learning in order to better understand the appropriate use of blended learning in an actual Information Technology course. First, previously defined theoretical constructs that utilize communication as a facilitator for learning are considered. Then, using the Interpretivist standpoint, we examine data gathered from focus groups and interviews to gauge the experience of staff and students who were participants in a Blended Learning course. There are four previously defined theoretical constructs of greatest relevance to blended learning. Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development highlights the importance of communication with capable peers who can provide stimuli and feedback to a learning individual. Wegner's Communities of Practice are groups of individuals who share a common practice interest and rely on a dialogue to facilitate learning. Laurillard's Conversational Framework includes a pragmatic 12-step model that teachers can use to structure their learning facilitation. Finally, Salmon's E-Moderation considers five stages of online communication in terms of how the moderator might facilitate dialogue among learners. These four theoretical models form the basis for understanding the implementation of blended learning discussed here. The course studied was a part-time Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology (IT), delivered using Blended Learning. Students were required to attend one evening per week and make substantial use of Web based learning over a period of five years. Students were mature, some already working in the IT field. Forty students in a first cohort and eighteen students in a second cohort were studied during the first year of their course. While students in the first cohort who succeeded in the course often found the discussion boards to be of considerable value in discussing assignments and sharing learning, the boards also could discourage those with less technical backgrounds. There is data to suggest that a high rate of dropouts and failures among the first cohort after just one year may have been influenced by discouragement felt by those who could not keep up with the technical level of the discussion board posts. As a result of this data, for the second cohort, the number of online communications was reduced to one assessed online discussion that was closely monitored. As a result, discussions were more on-topic; however students reported significantly less sense of community. Again, a high dropout rate resulted. Our results suggest that communication is both a challenge and an enabler for facilitating a successful blended learning course. Blended learning is not simply a matter of the combination of face-to-face and online instruction, but it has to have elements of social interaction. It appears to be important to allow students to bond together and to socialize. Knowing each other eases the communication barriers and reduces the fear of posting messages into an open forum. At its best, online communication can provide study help, social interaction, and a sense of community. We have evidence that when students are required more frequently to cooperate online, they share a common problem and on some level create their own "problem solving" community. However, our data from the first cohort indicates that unguided communication of a Community of Practice can lead to undesirable effects. At the same time, our data from the second cohort indicates that a very structured approach is also undesirable.… [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this paper is to transform the necessity for "integrated ICT training" in study courses within universities into a possible action plan which indicates both the pros and cons of the use of IT in the strategies, services and products to be used from a cost point of view. This will enable an evaluation of the Return On Investment (ROI) using the new concept of Yield Index "e-lYI" (e-learning Yield Index), introduced in this study. The Yield Index "e-lYI" suggests an original way to evaluate the implementation of e-learning methodologies into campus based environments; still, the new index will help professionals involved in the management of the transition from the "classical" university structure to the innovative structure needed by the elearning implementation. These results should interest any Faculty or University which is planning to introduce e-learning methodology to its didactic organization. In this study, a Pilot Course, delivered in "Blended" learning model, will be taken into consideration to estimate the costs. In the subsequent phase the ROI will be assessed for the Pilot course and compared to the ROI of a classical course by the use of "e-lYI". Furthermore, it would therefore be extremely interesting to consider the "e-lYI" in a University administration that decided to adopt an Open Source Learning Management Systems. Open Source, therefore, will be the final element of innovation and experimentation in the evaluation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer science is becoming increasingly important in our society. Meta skills, such as problem solving and logical and algorithmic thinking, are emphasized in every field, not only in the natural sciences. Still, largely due to gaps in tuition, common misunderstandings exist about the true nature of computer science. These are especially problematic for high school students, who need to have a realistic view of what studying computer science would be like in order to make advised decisions about their future careers. The principal objective of Finnish high schools is to prepare young students for further studies and life in general; it can therefore be seen as something of a paradox that these schools are not obliged to provide their students with tuition in computer science. In this paper we describe the project DASK (DAtakunskap i SKolan, Computer Science in Schools), which aims at introducing computer science to Swedish-speaking high school students by providing university level computer science courses on the web. The purpose is to give a realistic view of computer sciecomputence, at the same time removing any potential misunderstandings about its true nature. The DASK-curriculum includes web-based versions of the five basic courses taught at the university with no trade-offs in either contents or difficulty level. The main focus is on student activity, emphasizing the importance of continuous work throughout the courses. We have formulated the ActiWe (Active on the Web) principle, a main guideline applied when designing, developing and giving the courses. Instructors at the university are responsible for the courses in most ways (acting as the course lecturer, maintaining the material, checking assignments, giving feedback etc.), but each high school has a contact teacher who supports the students locally. DASK was initiated in 2002, and has been popular from the very beginning; feedback from both students and teachers has been positive. In a recently conducted survey (January 2005), many of the teachers stated that their schools would not be able to provide any computer science-related courses on their own, thus indicating a definite need for the DASK-courses. In addition, the high number of participants registering for the first course each year implies that there is a genuine interest for computer science among high school students. Our experience shows that the greatest challenges for both students and university instructors are time-related: in most schools, the DASK-courses are not given time in the schedule and are thus not part of the actual tuition; this leads to already stressful periods becoming even more burdensome for the students. Giving the DASK-courses has also proved to be time-consuming for the university instructors; much time and effort has to be invested in maintaining the material, but particularly in giving individual feedback for assignments to all students on a weekly basis. A future challenge is thus to improve the time management of both students and instructors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within many educational institutions across the world, the delivery of undergraduate and post-graduate courses is facilitated by online learning technologies. The development and transformation of traditional academic courses for online learning delivery provides a number of opportunities for both the academic institution and prospective students. However, there are a number of important issues that need to be addressed if online learning is to contribute to the educational experience. Over the past four years, two online Masters Degree programmes, namely 'Management of eBusiness' and 'IT with Web Technology', have been developed and delivered at the University of Paisley in Scotland. Much of the content of these two programmes have also been delivered using more traditional, face-to-face methods, thus enabling the authors to compare both modes of learning and delivery over a number of years. The authors identified a number of factors related to enhancing student performance among online learners. These factors are both educational and social in nature and include experienced learners studying strategically, self-sufficient learners, flexibility of access to learning materials, learner control over the pace of study and assessments aimed at developing greater learner reflection. This paper explores these factors, highlighting a number of lessons learnt, as well as putting forward some recommendations that will be of interest to readers who are themselves involved in the development and delivery of online learning programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim/Purpose: This study collects empirical evidence to investigate the extent to which high school teachers adopted the tablet computer in their instruction within the context of the Tablet Project in Kuwait and explores what drove their adoption behavior. Background: The role of information technology in education is prominent and takes different forms depending on the purpose of information technology adoption and the adopted information technology systems. To utilize emerging technology in education in Kuwait, the government launched an initiative to integrate the tablet computer into high school education during the 2015-2016 academic year. Three years later, some evidence doubting the project's value had had been circulated, which motivated undertaking a thorough investigation to assess the project's effectiveness, particularly from the teachers' perspectives and its influential factors. Methodology: We adapted an expanded Technology Acceptance Model to assess the extent of high school teachers' use of the system in their teaching practice and to examine the effects of teaching efficacy, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness on that use behavior. To test the research hypotheses, a data set was collected from 206 teachers and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. Contribution: Our empirically derived results confirm the scanty information that was in circulation at the time of this study and that claimed that the Tablet Project was not progressing sufficiently or achieving its objectives. These results could guide future efforts aimed at effectively integrating information technology into high school education in Kuwait and at enhancing the ongoing online education necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. They also advise that effective integration of information technology into teaching and learning mandates a comprehensive redesign and digitization of the targeted educational system. Findings: Although teachers report minimal use of the system in teaching, teaching efficacy emerges as the strongest determinant of that use behavior, followed by perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. The fitted model also has satisfactory explanatory power as it explains 43% of the variance in use behavior. Recommendations for Practitioners: The results of this study suggest that, in the public schools of Kuwait, teaching efficacy is a more important determinant of the use behavior of information technology in teaching than perceived ease of use or perceived usefulness. In addition, it is difficult to adopt information technology into teaching where there is inadequate awareness of the role of technology in e-learning, a lack of content modules fit for information technology-assisted teaching, poor Internet connections, a lack of technical support, and a lack of adequate professional and technical training. Recommendations for Researchers: This study offers significant empirical results from the Arabian milieu on the utility of the Technology Acceptance Model in elucidating public high school teachers' adoption of the tablet computer in teaching practice. Our results also enhance the growing global body of knowledge on the integration of hedonic systems as well as their individual and contextual determinants in education, in general, and in teaching practice, in particular. Furthermore, teaching efficacy is an important determinant of teachers' adoption of information technology in teaching. Impact on Society: Information technology augments traditional, face-to-face teaching and learning in societies by incorporating rich, online learning experiences and creating a motivating and efficient learning environment. Yet, the value of information technology-enabled education depends significantly on the successful integration of the systems into the educational process, and the results of this study could serve as a foundation for policies and plans aimed at successfully integrating information technology into the educational systems in Kuwait and similar societies. Future Research: The results and limitations of this study suggest several future research topics. Future research should explore the extent of students' adoption of the tablet computer in learning activities and its important determinants to gain a better understanding of the Kuwaiti Tablet Project initiative. In addition, future research should employ other research methods (e.g., qualitative analysis), use samples from private schools' teachers, and incorporate and test other possible determinants of teachers' adoption of information technology in teaching to verify the validity and generalizability of the reported results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web technology offers lecturers the option of checking students' assignments online. Several systems have evolved to deliver personal assignments to each student in a multi-participant course. These systems provide students with immediate feedback, allowing them to correct erroneous answers and referring them to relevant literary sources that can assist them with their assignments. These strategies influence the lecturers' teaching and their ability to respond to students' difficulties in real-time. The study examines student attitudes concerning the integration of the WebAssign (WA) Online Assignment Checker (OAC) in the teaching of academic courses. An on-line questionnaire investigated attitudes of 75 engineering students studying introductory academic courses assisted by OAC. The questionnaire included the following six dimensions: involvement and interest, understanding the studied material, lecturers' consideration of students' difficulties, importance of the course, tutorial methods and dishonest assignment submission. Significant findings emerged for attitudes in three dimensions. The students think that OAC assist lecturers to relate to their difficulties, contribute to their success in the course, and do not encourage cheating such as copying. No preference was found between submitting homework in hardcopy or online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the development of the online spaces that were used to create a learning framework: a student-centred framework that combined face-to-face teaching with online social and participatory media. The author, as part of her Doctoral research study, used action research as a mechanism for continual improvement as she redesigned many curriculum projects for her thirteen Middle Years' classes, over an eighteen-month period. This article discusses part of this research study and specifically documents: 1. the complexity found within the tools and spaces of the selected social software, and 2. the continual review, through the action research cycle, in building the student-centred learning framework, and the consequent implications these had on the learning design. The study uses a theoretical framework that values students as active participants in the learning process and sets up an environment where students can provide supportive feedback, and even assessment, to their peers. Through the open nature of social and participatory media, a peer-to-peer modelling process was possible, where students could learn from the posts of others. In looking closely at the tools that enable peer-to-peer interactions to take place, this article highlights the challenges in utilising the dynamic nature of social media and the structural processes needed to support students in becoming active participants in their learning and the learning of their peers. This article discusses the research study in three phases, and in each phase it provides two examples of teacher projects. In doing so, it presents screen clips of the online project as well as a structural diagram showing the analysis of the interaction within the project. The complexities and issues dealt with through the action research process are also highlighted. In describing this exploration, the article looks closely at the unique qualities that social software offers teaching and learning. It investigates many of the social tools such as 'My Page', Blogs, Groups and Discussion Forums. It also identifies the search tools and mechanisms that social sites offer in supporting the structural organisation of user-generated content in such a dynamic environment. When considering the tools and mechanisms within social sites, it does appear that social media has the potential to alter how learners access information and knowledge, as well as how learners interact with the teacher and their peers. Through identifying and analysing the different social media spaces, the author was able to document the complexities involved in social sites and the range of options within the individual spaces. This highlighted the importance of the information retrieval mechanisms within such sites. Through dissecting and analysing, the author became better informed as to the flow of student participation and interactivity within her class projects and was more able to construct a learning environment that provided students with individualised learning spaces. This was achieved through the use of blogs and each student's 'My Page'. Structurally, these were able to support personalised feedback from both peers and the teacher and were easily accessible for student assessment and the final reporting processes to parents. It was found that Groups and Discussion Forums were ideal for posting teacher project instructions and for student generated interest groups, as well as other interactions that were not likely to contain more than ten posts. It was clearly documented, within the research data, that when posting curriculum projects within potentially dynamic social sites, a high importance must be given to how the project will be structured and accessed. In this study, this helped to avoid students becoming lost (disorientated within the site), distracted or engulfed in confusion and information overload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web-based courses and programs have increasingly been developed by many academic institutions, organizations, and companies worldwide due to their benefits for both learners and educators. However, many of the developmental approaches lack two important considerations needed for implementing Web-based learning applications: (1) integration of the user interface design with instructional design and (2) development of the evaluation framework to improve the overall quality of Web-based learning support environments. This study addressed these two weaknesses while developing a user-centered, Web-based learning support environment for Global Positioning System (GPS) education: Web-based distance and distributed learning (WD²L) environment. The research goals of the study focused on the improvement of the design process and usability of the WD²L environment based on a theory-based Integrated Design Process (IDP) proposed in the study. Results indicated that the proposed IDP was effective in that the study showed (1) the WD²L environment's equivalence to traditional supplemental learning, especially as a Web-based supplemental learning program and (2) users' positive perceptions of WD²L environment resources. The study also confirmed that for an e-learning environment to be successful, various aspects of the learning environment should be considered such as application domain knowledge, conceptual learning theory, instructional design, user interface design, and evaluation about the overall quality of the learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

(This work represents an update to research published at the 2006 Informing Science and Information Technology Education Conference. De Villiers, M.R. (2006). Multi-Method Evaluations: Case Studies of an Interactive Tutorial and Practice System. Available at http://proceedings.informingscience.org/InSITE2006/ProcDeVi225.pdf) The teaching and learning of a complex section in Theoretical Computer Science 1 in a distance-education context at the University of South Africa (UNISA) has been enhanced by a supplementary e-learning application called Relations, which interactively teaches mathematical skills in a cognitive domain. It has tutorial and practice functionality in a classic computer-aided instruction (CAI) style and offers considerable learner control. A participative action research approach was used to design, develop, evaluate, and refine the application over a longitudinal period. In this process the application was formatively and summatively evaluated by different methods -- questionnaire surveys, interviews, heuristic evaluation and a post-test. This article explains the purpose, structure, and operation of Relations and notes how the various evaluation methods resulted in iterative refinements to its functionality, learning content, and usability. The findings lead to reflection. Conventional computer-aided instruction and learning (CAI/L) has a role to play in the milieu of e-learning. CAI can present efficient instruction, motivate and engage learners, challenge them with meaningful exercises, and can support effective learning. The students requested more such tutorial and practice environments. Relations' greatest strength is its excellent diagnostic feedback, attested to by learners and expert evaluators alike. Courseware authoring systems have powerful facilities that can be used to judge the learner-input and provide appropriate, detailed, tailor-made feedback. This can be done in web-based learning (WBL) too, using specialized web-programming languages, but it is more complex. A further obstacle to the use of WBL at UNISA is that many UNISA students still lack broadband Internet access. The designer and developers of Relations used technology, not for its own sake, but rather to motivate and to illustrate concepts in ways that enhance cognition. Technology should be the medium and not the message. The blue-water recreational theme was well received by the majority of learners and expert evaluators, who acknowledged its role in providing brief interludes of diversion and relaxation in a demanding cognitive domain. The concepts of usability and interaction design from the discipline of human computer interaction (HCI) are receiving increasing attention in the development of commercial and corporate software. It is equally important to produce usable applications in educational contexts where the users are not professionals in the workplace, but learners who must first be able to use and interact with a system before they can even commence learning. Many learners approach e-learning after exposure to commercial software. As far as possible, learning applications should use operations and keypresses that support the HCI principles of predictability and consistency with familiar systems. In certain respects Relations falls short in this respect, but it was found to be easy to learn and use. It adheres to the fundamental principle of internal consistency, where a system's own internal operations are characterized by predictability and visibility. This study offers lessons for new CAI environments. The teaching approaches in Relations present multi-perspectives on a concept and multiple representations of content. These methods were successful and could be supplemented by multi-modal presentations in contexts where they would add value.… [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article we discuss usability of a Web-based knowledge portal that was developed to support knowledge management activities of an educational research organization. The original portal system initially experienced high levels of user participation. However, this trend has been recently reversed with flagging log-in access rates. Consequently, a criterion-based usability survey instrument was designed and implemented online to gather users' responses and comments. The survey outcomes indicated that a large number of respondents used the portal sporadically, with a significant number being completely unaware of many of its services. Based on this feedback, the existing portal was revamped to ensure more user-centric design that focused on the cornerstone aspects of user control, ease of navigation, personalization services, and classification of project listings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many colleges and universities require incoming students to demonstrate a prescribed level of computer proficiency. Currently, many educational institutions offer introductory computer courses to assist students in meeting this requirement. Other institutions are considering eliminating introductory computer courses with the expectation that students will demonstrate adequate computer knowledge through the proficiency examination. This assumes that students have acquired both computer knowledge (concepts) and computer skills (applications) in high school or through other personal experiences. Giving the students the option of taking a computer proficiency exam in lieu of a required course allows students to take other required, elective, or optional courses that will assist them in completing their degree requirements. However, not offering the introductory computer skills course may, likewise, be detrimental to students who would otherwise benefit from the knowledge gained from such a course. Thus, a study of 140 incoming business freshmen was developed to determine if students had adequate computer knowledge and skills to exempt the introductory computer fundamentals course. Using online testing software, students were tested on both computer skills (Excel) and computer concepts that students are expected to master at the completion of an introductory computer fundamentals course. Overall, the findings revealed that the students' average test scores were 60 percent, which is significantly below passing. This study also found that only 36 percent of the students tested could exempt or "test out" of the course if given that option. Students not able to exempt the course demonstrated a mean gain or improvement of 26 points in the Excel post test and 23 points in the Computer Concepts post test following course instruction. This data indicates that course instruction was effective for students not able to exempt the course and achieved the desired effect of providing meaningful knowledge in information technology concepts and skills. Based on these findings, it was concluded that incoming business students lack the necessary computer knowledge, skills, and abilities to pursue their undergraduate degree programs. It is recommended that freshman business students need an introductory computer course that includes both Information Systems (IS) concepts and Information Technology (IT) software applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The realization of information and communication technology (ICT) literacy is a global and complex objective. It has been argued that it cannot be accomplished by single-focused, standalone curricula. Instead, it has been recommended that ICT education be integrated into the instruction of other disciplines to effectively promote technical proficiency, discipline knowledge acquisition, and cognitive development. The Chemistry Is in the News (CIITN) Project exemplifies this integration through the combination of advances in chemistry teaching, chemical informatics, and the educational use of ICT. CIITN is an innovative curriculum that aims at the development of scientific, ICT, and media literacy by the engagement of the students in learning activities that are based on authentic news media, that parallel the research process, and are conducted in collaborative groups. The CIITN activities consist of the study, creation, and peer review of online CIITN portfolios. A CIITN portfolio consists of an electronically published news article from the actual online media, interpretive comments, pertinent links, references to primary sources, and questions. The CIITN webtool is designed to minimize time and effort associated with non-intellectual and technical aspects of the CIITN project for both students and instructors. Combining the power of data integration provided by database management system technology with the real-time multi-user access functionality of the Internet, the CIITN webtool enables and guides student teams to create and submit group projects, access group projects created by other teams, and complete peer evaluations (both inter- and intra-group). The design of the CIITN webtool parallels and supports the functionalities defined and requested by the philosophical, pedagogical, and organizational foundations of the CIITN Project. The underlying ideas are transferable and the CIITN Project and CIITN webtool can easily be adopted... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]