Evaluating the quality of e-learning at the degree level in the student experience of blended learning

British Journal of Educational Technology, Volume 40 Issue 4, Pages 652-663.

This paper reports on the development of a scale for determining the quality of the student e-learning experience at the degree level when the student learning context is predominately a campus-based experience. Rapid  developments in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in higher education require methods for evaluating the contribution of such tools to student learning, especially when they are complementing a  face-to-face experience. We examine the psychometric functioning of a proposed e-learning scale in relation to a well-validated degree-level teaching evaluation instrument, the Student Course Experience Questionnaire. The
e-learning scale has suitable reliability and validity in the present sample of undergraduate students for quality assurance activities around ICT.

Click here for the article in full-text.

On EDUCAUSE Teaching and Learning Challenges ‘09: Webcast: June 22

As part of their continuing “Solutions in Action” webcast series, EDUCAUSE will be hosting, “Developing 21st Century Literacies Amongst Students, Faculty, and Staff” at 1 p.m. ET on June 22.  This virtual webcast will feature a lightning round of presentations from institutions about the ways they are integrating information fluency, digital literacy, and other 21st century skills into the campus experience.

The speakers will include:

Clare Van Den Blink and Steve Pond, The Undergraduate Information Competency Initiative, Cornell University

=========================

Jen Riley, Student Learning with Reusable Learning Objects, UMass-Dartmouth

=========================

Roxann Riskin, Cloud Computing, Web 2.0, and University Work Study, Fairfield University

=========================

Susan Simon, The Student Center for Research, Writing, and IT, Dartmouth College

=========================

Christine Drew and Kris Wobbe, First Year Great Problems Seminar, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

=========================

Jason Casden, Library Tools, North Carolina State University

=========================

Corey Johnson, Information Literacy Education Project, Washington State University

=========================

No advance registration is required. On the day of the seminar, you can visit: http://educause.acrobat.com/elisem.

Click, “Enter As Guest,” and add your name and institution to enter the room.

Online eAssessment: AMEE Guide No. 39

by: Reg Dennick, Simon Wilkinson,

Nigel Purcell.  Informa Healthcare

To cite this Article Dennick, Reg, Wilkinson, Simon and Purcell, Nigel(2009)’Online eAssessment: AMEE Guide No. 39′,Medical Teacher,31:3,192 — 206.

Abstract

In this guide, the authors outline the advantages of online eAssessment and examine the intellectual, technical, legal and cost issues that arise from its use.  This guide outlines the major assessment types that are suitable for online assessment and makes a key distinction between formative and summative assessment.  The focus is primarily on the
latter since that is where the difficulties are most acute and robust systems most critical.  A range of practical issues relating to the key stages in running a summative e-exam are explored and advice given on system requirements and on how to ensure that the exam runs smoothly when you ‘go live‘.

This section includes consideration of the way that using eAssessment might affect the standard setting and results analysis process.  The section on future trends in online assessment explores possibilities such as computer adaptive testing and the automated assessment of free text answers.  Finally, there is a consideration of the implications of these trends for management.

Click here for the full-text.

E-learning adoption in a campus university as a complex adaptive system: mapping lecturer strategies

by Carol Russell.  A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Leicester, 2008.

Abstract

The adoption of e-learning technologies in campus universities has not realised its potential for meeting the learning needs and expectations of 21st century students. By modelling university learning and teaching as a complex adaptive system, this thesis develops a new way of understanding and managing the adoption of new learning technologies in campus universities.

The literature on learning and teaching in higher education indicates that lecturers’ ability to innovate in their teaching is constrained by tacit and discipline-specific educational knowledge. Introducing new methods and technologies into mainstream university teaching requires explicit review of educational knowledge, and requires support from departmental and institutional organizational systems. Research on organizational change in other contexts, such as manufacturing industry, has used complex adaptive systems modelling to understand the systemic interdependence of individual strategies, organizations and technologies. These models suggest that the integration of new e-learning technologies into mainstream campus university teaching will involve corresponding change processes. Part of this change requires the linking up of diverse disciplinary perspectives on learning and teaching.

The thesis develops a conceptual framework for researching university learning and teaching as a complex adaptive system that includes learning technologies, people, and their organization within a university. Complex adaptive systems theory suggests that the capacity of a campus university to adapt to new e-learning technologies will be reflected in patterns in the strategies of those lecturers who are early adopters of those technologies.

A context-specific study in the University of New South Wales used cognitive mapping to represent and analyse the strategies of a group of 19 early adopters of e-learning technology. These early adopters were participants in a cross-discipline Fellowship programme intended to develop their ability to act as change agents within the university. Analysis of the maps gathered before and after the Fellowship, triangulated with data on the Fellows’ participation in organizational change, leads to a new way of modelling how university learning and teaching systems, including their technologies, adapt within a complex and changing higher education context.

Click here to access the thesis.

Modelling choice: factors influencing modes of delivery in Australian universities

by: Andrew Smith, Peter Ling and Doug Hill.   Research in Post-Compulsory Education, Vol. 13, No. 3, October 2008, p. 295–306.

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a study of Multiple Modes of Delivery in Australian universities that was commissioned by Australian Universities Teaching Committee over the period 2001–2004. The project examined and described the various means of educational delivery deployed by Australian universities. It identified the pedagogical, organisational and environmental factors impacting on university decisions to diversify course delivery across more than one location or mode. In this paper the authors report briefly on the first matter – the modes of delivery employed by Australian Universities.

The paper focuses on the second issue – factors influencing university decision-making about modes of delivery.

Click here for the full-text.

E-book: 65 tips for getting the most out of your e-learning budget

This eBook on maximizing your e-Learning development budget demonstrates the ingenuity of our industry and our commitment to learn all-ways. You will find tips on enduring themes such as where to begin your e-Learning programs, getting the most from subject matter experts, lending your skills to other departments, and lessons learned the hard way, to more timely themes like leveraging social media, using open source tools, and where to find free content on the net.  Some of the editor’s personal tips, which were not already offered by our tipsters, are also included here to extend the budget-stretching beyond e-Learning into all facets of education-focused cost cutting efforts. In this eBook you will find: 65 Tips for Getting the Most out of

• Your e-Learning Budget
• Article – Do More With Less by
  Marcia L. Conner
• Article - The e-Learning Department
  of One by Greg Kearsley

May 2009

Click here to download.

Statistical models for e-learning data

by Silvia Figini and Paolo Giudici.  Statistical Methods and Applications, Volume 18, Number 2 / July, 2009, p. 293-304.

Abstract

In this paper we analyse a real e-learning dataset derived from the e-learning platform of the University of Pavia. The dataset concerns an online learning environment with in-depth teaching materials. The main focus of this paper is to supply a measure of the relative importance of the exercises (test) at the end of each training unit; to build predictive models of student’s performance and finally to personalize the e-learning platform. The methodology employed is based on nonparametric statistical methods for kernel density estimation and generalized linear models and generalized additive models for predictive purposes.

Click here for the full-text.

Emerging Frameworks for the Use of E-Assessment in Higher Education

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education focuses on emerging frameworks for the use of e-assessment in higher education, in their latest issue.  Articles include:

1. Quick win or slow burn: modelling UK HE CAA uptake
2. An e-learning framework for assessment (FREMA)
3. Accessibility in e-assessment
4. Sophisticated tasks in e-assessment: what are they and what are their benefits?
5. Review and reward within the computerised peer-assessment of essays
6. Assessment for learner self-regulation: enhancing achievement in the first year using learning technologies
7. Delivery of QTIv2 question types

Papers from the Microlearning Conference 2008

Microlearning2008: Microlearning & Capacity Building took place on June 25th-27th, 2008 in Innsbruck, Austria.

Conference proceedings and presentations are available here.

E-learning and study effectiveness

by Viktorija Sulcic, Dusan Lesjak. The Journal of Computer Information Systems.  Stillwater: Spring 2009. Vol. 49, Iss. 3; pg. 40, 8 pgs.

Abstract

After the initial e-leaming enthusiasm, we have finally reached a stage of sobriety (similar to the burst of the dot.com bubble in business).   In the paper, a case of blended learning approach in higher education is presented that is part of a wider nationally financed research project about ICT and e-learning.  The research results presented in the paper
showed that ICT per se does not improve e-learning effectiveness.  Only the use of different teaching strategies (methods of teaching and learning) from those used in traditional education can improve study effectiveness in e-learning. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT].

Click here for the full-text.