Anonymous surveys can be a valuable tool to gather information from students regarding their perceptions of their own learning styles and progress, of an instructor’s teaching styles, assignments, tests, and of other aspects of the learning environment. Some course-management software systems provide a built-in capacity to administer ananonymous survey, but not all do, and not […]
Posts Tagged ‘Instructional Systems’
Strategies for engagement in online courses
In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on student engagement (e.g., Pike & Kuh, 2009; Porter, 2009). Student engagement occurs when “students make a psychological investment in learning. They try hard to learn what school offers. “They take pride not simply in earning the formal indicators of success (grades), but in understanding the […]
Using virtual environments for synchronous online courses
This article describes how teachers can use virtual environments to teach synchronous online classes. Virtual online environments offer a potential tool for supplying rich, synchronous online communication that comes close to mimicking the traditional classroom environment. Virtual environments feature detailed, 3-D settings within which users, represented by avatars, can explore and interact. While many online […]
Tools for High-Tech Tool Use: A Framework and Heuristics for Using Interactive Simulations
As the use of computer-based science simulations in educational environments grows, so too does the need for research on productive use of simulations. This paper presents ways to create effective assignments that accompany an interactive simulation in a variety of educational environments. A framework that supports the creation of assignments with simulations in any environment […]
Beyond Grades
Testing firms are offering new ways to measure what students learn in college. Their next generation of assessments is billed as an add-on – rather than a replacement – to the college degree. But the tests also give graduates something besides a transcript to send to a potential employer. Inside Higher Ed Full Article
Udacity cofounder and CEO Sebastian Thrun says more AI is coming to online education, but we’ll still need humans to grade our English essays
Sebastian Thrun has worn many hats in the tech world: Stanford research professor, founder of Google’s X Labs, where he oversaw the development of self-driving cars and Google Glass, and, most recently, passionate advocate for MOOCs—or massive open online courses—through Udacity, the online education startup he cofounded and runs (see “The Most Important Education Technology […]
New Player in Adaptive Learning
Career Education Corp. has begun one of higher education’s broadest experiments with adaptive learning. Institutions in the for-profit chain have powered more than 300 online course sections with the emerging technology, and enrollments in those courses have topped 11,000 students. Inside Higher Ed Full Article
Download Report: The Impact of Digital Tools on Student Writing and How Writing is Taught in Schools
A survey of teachers who instruct American middle and high school students finds that digital technologies are impacting student writing in myriad ways and there are significant advantages from tech-based learning. Pew Internet & American Life Project Download Report
Download Report: IU professor finds technology fuels youth artistic expression outside school
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Even though schools are cutting back on arts education, young people are following their artistic passions outside of traditional programs, fueled by new technologies that enable them to create and share art, according to a new report commissioned by The Wallace Foundation. Indiana University Full Article and Report
A Framework for Developing Self-Directed Technology Use for Language Learning
Critical to maximizing the potential of technology for learning is enhancing language learners’ self-directed use of technology for learning purposes. This study aimed to enhance our understanding of the determinants of self-directed technology use through the construction of a structural equation modelling (SEM) framework of factors and interactions that determine students’ self-directed use of technology […]