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Archive for the ‘Instructional Design’ Category

India suffers doubly due to lack of open access

Developing nations, especially India, increasingly face a challenge in prioritising their goals. One that has become increasingly relevant in this context, in the age of open knowledge, is the relevance of subscription journals in the dissemination of knowledge in a developing society. University World News Full Article  

The Challenges of a Contemporary Educator – Terry Anderson Interview

Professor Terry Anderson, who is based at Athabasca University in Canada, is one of the famous figures of contemporary education, and his list of achievements is lengthy. He is one of the pioneers of online and distance learning, and is Editor Emeritus of the influential online open access journal International Review of Research in Open […]

Learning Analytics: Readiness and Rewards

This paper introduces the relatively new field of learning analytics, first by considering the relevant meanings of both “learning” and “analytics,” and then by looking at two main levels at which learning analytics can be or has been implemented in educational organizations. Although turnkey systems or modules are not yet available for review, specific technologies […]

Hashtags and retweets: using Twitter to aid Community, Communication and Casual (informal) learning

Since the evolution of Web 2.0, or the Social Web, the way in which users interact with/on the Internet has seen a massive paradigm shift. Web 2.0 tools and technologies have completely changed the dynamics of the Internet, enabling users to create content; be it text, photographs or video; and furthermore share and collaborate across […]

Teaching Writing in Online Distance Education: Supporting Student Success

An intervention is a counseling action an instructor may use to support a student who struggles to work productively in an online writing instruction (OWI) course. Interventions may increase retention and graduation rates at institutions as well as increase student and teacher satisfaction (Allen, Bourhis, Burrell, and Mabry, 2002; Archambault and Crippen, 2009; McCombs, Ufnar, […]

Inquiry-based learning in Science Education. Why e-learning can make a difference

Inquiry-based learning in Science Education is based on the belief that it is crucial to ensure that students deeply understand what they are learning, and not simply repeat contents and information. To this extent, IBSE is not only a way to teach Science effectively, but more importantly it can be a way to teach how […]

Using Action Research to Investigate Social Networking Technologies

This article outlines the first cycle of an Action Research (AR) investigation into why professional learners are not using the Social Networking Technologies (SNTs) of their bespoke website. It presents the rationale of how this study came about, the ontological and epistemological stance of the authors and how this led to the particular choice of […]

Shared Photonarratives in an Online Master’s Course: Reflection, Context and Community

Distance education has potential to reach teachers from diverse areas, but the challenges of building community and promoting reflection in these settings can be considerable. In this study, photonarratives were used as an assignment in a distance education course to promote reflection on science teaching. Twenty science teachers (half from rural areas) produced photonarratives that […]

Innovations in incapacity: Education, technique, subject

This essay addresses the question of change as it is expressed in debates on the introduction and use of new digital technologies in contemporary education. It sets out some of the terms of this debate, concerning MOOCs in particular, and puts into question the very conception of change they presume. The essay advocates a distinction […]

Unlocking Open Educational Resources (OERs) Interaction Data

Each time a teacher or a learner interacts with an Open Educational Resource (OER), these interactions produce data. This “interaction data” includes “artifact data” routinely captured during any online interaction by Web server logs (e.g., users’ browsers, users’ IP addresses) and “social data” created during Web 2.0-style interactions with resources (e.g., tags, comments, ratings, favorites). […]