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 * Welcome to the **  //** eLearningandEducation **//   ** wiki for the **   //** E-Learning, Media and Technology **//   ** course, Deakin University. **

This wiki has been set up to facilitate an online group work assignment exploring issues and solutions for the design and implementation of eLearning at high school level.

The members of the group are: Jeff Bozik Assia Haouli Victoria Keech


 * ECX703 - Assignment 2: Group Project Report (6000 words total) proposed course: Extended Research Essay**

What technologies and media will be required and why? ·    Personal computer, either school or home based ·    Broadband Internet connection ·    Wikispaces or Moodle account ·    email ·    online databases e.g. EBSCO host,   Firstsearch. ·    Search engine  · CD ROM, video (or streaming video).


 * Rationale for Using Technology**

As educators we have a wide range of technological options available and online course delivery is one of them.

This course is aimed at improving the quality of learning for all secondary students involved. It will provide students with the everyday information technology skills they will most likely need in their work and life. The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is needed to widen access to education and training and it is a response to the “Technological Imperative”  (Bates, 2000). Technology prepares students for a world of technological advancement and ICT will most likely be central to their ambitions and career paths. Additionally, an effective 21st century learning environment will address “physical, technical, organisational, professional and pedagogical elements far beyond...what is available at the moment" (Bassoppo-Moyo, 2006).

Information technology has many tools to help students learn, communicate with each other and their instructors. A Broadband Internet connection will foster the development of students’ online research skills. "The internet is not a perfect information source, and it is important that students learn internet skills, and the limitations of the internet at school under the guidance of teachers"  (Rudd et al., 2007).

Email allows individual students to connect with teachers on a one-to-one basis. Forums and chat-rooms allow students to connect with one another and, if facilitated by a teacher, can be part of a directed learning program. Wikis provide students with the opportunity to collaborate on group assignments and share their findings with a broader audience such as Wikipedia. The program Moodle is available from General Public License (GNU) and is an open source programme which can be altered and adapted according to the needs of the individual or group using it. This tailoring adaptability would allow specific design needs for the extended essay course to be implemented (Futa and Gocłowska, 2005). Either system, however, would allow the teacher to set up a blackboard-style online environment where students can go at any time to access information and course materials making use of the asynchronous benefits of such tools. The learning environment in Moodle is also safe, as students are required to log in to the system with individual usernames and passwords. Students can log on to Moodle anywhere Internet access is available. Tools that are available for learning in the Moodle environment include: - discussion forums, which can be set up according to topics that students choose to base their research upon, however all students could have access to all discussion forums so that they might develop an awareness and support of what fellow students had based their research topics on and what resources they were exploring in support of this research. - chat rooms that can be implemented for both formal interviews with the teacher and informal chats with fellow students- a resource area, where course information, reading materials and other relevant information can be posted. - a facility for private messages that could to be sent to the teacher or individual students. One feature that only teachers can access within Moodle is the tracking of students' participation on the forum. Teachers can monitor the frequency with which individual students logged into the system and the pages they visited via this feature (Nicholas and Wan, 2009). 

This evaluative feature is also available on a wiki and teachers can trace the activity levels of participants within the wiki. A benefit of a wiki based course is the ability to also track all participation on the site including the number of times the wiki is visited, edited and viewed by members and non-members. If an individual wiki or section within Wikipedia was chosen by a student to publish their completed essay to, these features would also enable the student to evaluate the 'public interest and worth' of such a document.

By using well-designed multimedia learning materials students will find that it can be more effective than traditional classroom methods as they may learn more easily and quickly through the use of illustrations, animation and different structuring of materials. Such technologies can be designed to develop and facilitate higher-order learning skills, such as problem solving, decision making, and critical thinking. “Interaction with teachers can be structured and managed through on-line communications to provide greater access and flexibility for both students and teachers” (Bates, 2000, p.28). These well designed multi-media resources could be wholly online in the form of streaming audio and/or video or could be provided in CD ROM format to support a hybrid or blended learning system.


 * Online Research Resources**

Through this online course, students will have the opportunity to use online searches to conduct research or collect information for their extended essay. They will be using databases such as EBSCO host, FirstSearch, and online catalogues to obtain bibliographic information. Web searches are conducted with Web browsers such as Netscape or Internet Explorer through hybrids to find sources from Web sites. “Web hybrids like Infoseek, //ICOS,// Lynx, Alta Vista, and Excite combine subject directories and search engines to help learners locate relevant Web sites” (Huang, 2000, p. 42).

In order for students to search for valuable information, they will need to utilise object directories such as Yahoo and Look Smart which use a mouse to navigate established categories. Additionally there are websites such as Argus Clearinghouse or the ERIC Clearinghouse, which provide a collection of Internet sources that are subject directories. Finally, electronic journals also provide high accessibility and immediate resources which the students can utilise. “Electronic journals refer to any journal, magazine, newsletter, or other type of electronic publication available over the Internet” (Huang, 2000).


 * Which e-learning processes and strategies will be introduced and why?**

Universities and TAFEs already offer online eLearning programs as either a supplement to existing courses or replacing some on-campus courses all together. By providing students with the opportunity of using online technology, secondary school teachers are better equipping them with the skills and experience necessary to succeed in future tertiary education. Education is more than just presenting students with content and/or learning experiences. It is also about guiding students in developing meaning and understating from prior learning. This educational leapfrogging from past to present to future sets the stage for a student's lifelong learning potential. It is our contention that this course will not only help students develop immediate skills that can help them achieve their tertiary educational goals, but will also give them a foundation of necessary skills which they can take with them towards future learning.

This senior secondary level course is designed to help students develop into independent learners capable of functioning in a tertiary educational environment. It will utilise the constructivist approach to eLearning (Reushle, 2006) by applying practical applications that will enhance and transform each student's overall educational experience. Since constructivism theory in education argues that the learner builds their knowledge and meaning from experiences, it is our contention that this can be better accomplished through a specifically structured eLearning course. By embracing this student-centred approach, it is anticipated that teachers will be in a position to guide students in questioning their own beliefs, assumptions and decisions regarding their personal learning experiences; thus encouraging them to emerge as self-reflective, critical thinkers.

Moreover, since senior secondary students are at the end of their adolescent years and entering into young adulthood, teachers who consider transformative learning, a subset of constructivism (Reushle, 2006), can better assist these students transition into their tertiary studies. Transformative theory states that adult learners find meaning and understanding by interpreting learning experiences based on validating assumption from prior learning, or critical self-reflection. Since secondary students have had various degrees of prior learning in and out of the classroom, and most would be assumed to have a keen understanding and usage of computer technology, eLearning is for them both a natural and intuitive media that provides enhanced learning outcomes. In addition, as dialogue is crucial for transformative learning to occur, eLearning is a particularly effective media tool due to facilitating many different types of communication.

To ensure that the course's design structure followed our teaching and learning methodologies, we decided to model its design with features based on constructivist and transformative learning. The goal of this course is not only to enhance learning, but to encourage the transformation of adolescent students into adult learners. This meant that we had to include elements from both secondary level learning and tertiary level learning. This course has the potential to accomplish its aim effectively and efficiently. We designed this course to feel both natural and intuitive to students, whilst also being challenging enough to increase student motivation and overall learning potential. The online forum will have additional resources to support the core requirements of the essay task. There would be a section for FAQ responses as well as a section highlighting and explaining the difference between collaboration and collusion/plagiarism. These resources are designed so that students can work with them independently; however they could also be integrated into online discussions with students and teacher to support and scaffold learning. Through engaging with the essay and related learning materials and activities, students learn how to: clarify the requirements of the task, analyse and evaluate, critique the credibility of sources, structure an essay, and self-assess their progress (George-Walker, 2009).

Students can also discuss audiences and writing styles, general assignment hints and tips and are encouraged to collaborate and form study groups during the process of preparing their assignment. Computers enable access to knowledge through searching, browsing and navigation; with strategies to avoid disorientation. Our curriculum design and the use of the technology will facilitate cognition, interaction and access to knowledge (including disorientation, navigation and browsing and search tools), individualisation, management skills, and teaching strategies.
 * Access to Information for students **

When searching, students can be supplied with information as in a Skinner-style programmed approach which facilitates ease of location and availability of resources. Readings and hot links relevant to the students’ enquiry would be placed on the Moodle or Wiki site at which students could begin their research. This information could also be located from a store of information such as a CD-ROM, through a keyword search. In this way the online course can develop tertiary style research skills in a scaffolded manner for students who may have limited experience or expertise with independent research. While browsing is a “low-level cognitive activity and is inefficient for directed search tasks or fact retrieval” it is, however, of high cognitive variability (Gacobson, 1995 cited in Robson, 2000, p. 155). Once students became more familiar with the processes involved in independent research more constructivist learning might arise as students discuss with each other and with the teacher the suitability of particular research, readings and other materials for their own essay and for the work of others in the class. The sharing and discussion of resources could then also be placed within the wiki or Moodle for future access and availability.

Generally students can learn much by threading their way through material when following their particular interests. Furthermore, navigation is the “process of accessing multiple sources of information, and is all about making connections between individual students and data.” (Robson, 2000, 155) Finally, students need to know where they have navigated to in the network, where they came from, and how to get to another place in the network, otherwise it will be a problem, and hence the term disorientation comes into perspective. (Robson, 2000, 155)

Another important aspect of eLearning is considering the actual quality of teaching and learning. This can be defined as the process of education and all that it involves with its overall effectiveness, social and professional impact, and return on investment (Trentin, 2000). While some could argue that there are more aspects to consider when determining the educational quality of eLearning programs, until there are additional studies and resources made available, we decided it would be best focus on these three.

According to Robson “The relationship between course design and the underlying educational theory has a place in any course evaluation. In making decisions concerning context, functionality, display and control of software, there must be a trade-off among various design principles.” (Robson, 2000, p.154) Our first step in determining the overall effectiveness of our course was to determine its educational goals and objectives. The question of flexibility in addressing the needs of students from different socio-economic backgrounds was addressed as well as the pedagogical conditions by which teaching and learning were to take place. We had to design a course that made best use of the eLearning environment to enhance and transform the students' cumulative online educational experiences. This compelled us to think about the course from the perspective of the student, in addition to following any required federal/state/institutional curriculum standards.
 * Examination of Course Design**

Next we looked at how this course impacted education, both socially and professionally. It is our assertion that it is important to encourage senior secondary level students to become self-reflective critical thinkers, akin to adult learners. This will give them the best chance to achieve academically in a tertiary learning environment. From a professional view, this would help to increase the academic performance of current students while helping us as teachers better understand the teaching and learning process. In essence, this course is not only designed to enhance and transform learners' education, but also that of educators.

As for the return on investment of this course, we contend that monies, material and time spent in planning and implementing this course should result in an increase in student motivation, enhanced learning, and development of self-reflective critical thinking skills. We base this contention on the premise the school already has an IT infrastructure in place, there will be no extra monies spent for additional computer hardware; the software is available on the internet for free; no additional training will be required for students or staff to access and use this course; and the only additional resource required being teachers time, which can be negotiated with administrative officers and unit coordinators as part of the school's teachers time allocation planning.

Additionally, using Moore's "Quality Analysis Model"  (Trentin, 2000), we took into account the following in regards to educational quality and interaction between: ·    Participants and learning materials ·    Student and teacher ·    Interaction among participants

There exists a relation between the quality of education, and the quality of learning materials. Our course is based upon up-to-date reading materials, English language requirements, research resources and assessment techniques that coincide with current federal, state and institutional mandated curriculum standards. We have also designed and will use course materials that are highly structured from a top-down approach to be both accurate and user friendly. To ensure the overall quality of our course materials, we propose a committee to be made up of representatives from our senior school administration, KLA unit coordinator and teachers from our English department.

A key qualitative point to our eLearning program is student-teacher interaction. In order to facilitate this, our course is designed to initially help students feel more conformable with communicating openly with their teachers. This will be accomplished by teachers encouraging online forum discussions amongst students in regards to aspects of the course, such as content, objectives, choices, expectations and assessment requirements. One of the key advantages of this course is that through this type of dialogue, teachers are enabling students to take responsibility for the direction of their own learning.

This course also has the potential to foster student to student interaction, which is a very important part of transformative learning. Students will be able to share their thoughts, feelings and any concerns they have with one another. This also means that students would be able to collaborate on their research findings, work together to complete group-based projects and even receive peer support if needed. In order for this interactivity to go smoothly, it will be necessary for teachers to closely monitor student's online interaction and moderate to ensure appropriate behaviour is maintained. An essential aspect of this monitoring includes the teacher ensuring that all online participants (teacher or students) learn to ask good questions of themselves and of others (Cheong and Cheung, 2008). A range of strategies are recommended to ensure good questioning occurs and would include:

1. Advise students not to be repetitive on ideas from others but to provide more insightful comments based on their own knowledge and personal experience (Cheung and Hew, 2005) 2.  Advise students to justify their conclusions (Cheong and Cheung, 2008) 3. Advise students to clarify all suggestions with supportive examples or details (Cheung & Hew, 2005) 4. Offer timely feedback, foster independent thinking and present alternative viewpoints through argumentation (McLoughlin and Mynard, 2009) 5. Stimulate the discussion by asking pertinent, probing questions that hold students accountable for their thinking (MacKnight, 2000).

These strategies will guide the students' online learning process; act as a motivating force and maintain continuity. According to Cavanaugh et.al (2004) and Ng & Nicholas (2007) cited in (Nicholas and Wan, 2009), this is crucial to the success of secondary students' learning. We based the design of this course considering the following eLearning principles (Reushle, 2006): ·    The    ** CHE **    Factor (Connectivity, Humanness and Empathy) · <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Learning that is learner-centred and learning-centred <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Immerse to converse - reflection is critical <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Transformative learning is a community activity <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Online Educators are learners and learners are educators <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">  ** VIP **    communication - is Visible, Instant and provides a Permanent record <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Educators being aware and adaptive to changes within the learning environment <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Providing exemplars or models that support and enhance the transformative online experience for learners <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   The building, managing and nurturing of the online learning environment <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Participants that have a predisposition for change and transformation

For the next stage of our eLearning design, we began by implementing the above principles though a contextual screen (Reushle, 2006), which consists of: <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   The actual learning "conditions" - organisational philosophy, policies, structures, procedures, resources, and discipline areas. <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   The "travellers" - the learners, teachers and other support personnel (administrative, technical and supplemental learning support). <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   The contextual "roadblocks" - the specific challenges and constraints that can influence the progress and the directions of the learning.

The final part in designing our eLearning course consisted of identifying our outcomes and objectives, choosing important study materials, time allocation, student activities and assessment tasks  (Collis, 1998). This course is structured to both adhere to core curriculum standards and remain flexible to the differing needs of students from a range of backgrounds. We created a base syllabus for students that is clear and concise, and also adaptable to changing needs and circumstances. The marking criteria (see link under Navigation) is clearly explained and detailed so students have a complete understanding of their academic progress (George-Walker, 2007). We felt it was important to embrace traditional forms of learning with the eLearning course in order to help students transcend from what they were used to, on-campus learning - education in a classroom setting - to an online course requiring that they transform into critical thinking, self-learners. Teachers will have to encourage participation and constantly maintain communication with students. Since participants are senior secondary students, maintaining interest and motivation is vital in achieving successful academic outcomes.

//"Evaluation feeds reflection, and we can benefit from being reflective practitioners// ” (Thorpe, 2001, p. 133)
 * Evaluation**

Evaluation is defined as “the collection, analysis, and interpretation of evidence about the effects and outcomes of a selected activity or form of provision....It includes both intended and unintended outcomes and should support the making of judgments about the activity or the provision.” (Thorpe 2001, p. 126) We intend to evaluate the students through a learner profiling approach. Thorpe claims that “Evaluation at this stage is important for coming to know the target learner group better and for developmental testing.” (Thorpe, 2001, p.127) Our aim is not just to know our students ages and qualifications but also their preferred study methods, what they want to achieve from the course, any prior experience with online learning and their long term goals. These and many other factors play a significant part in how learners react to the course.

One of the most important areas to evaluate when examining the open distance-learning course is the interaction between the student and the technology. This is essential as the interaction can either enhance or block a student’s pathway to learning. When looking at the effective design and evaluation of this online-learning course we will take into consideration the underlying theory, the course design and structure, the technologies, the teaching strategies, the effectiveness of such technologies, and the support available as well as student background, prior learning and student outcomes. This wiki profiles the types of survey questions students would respond to in order to evaluate their pre and post understanding and usage of technology when applied to the essay course requirements – (see link under Navigation).

Papert, 1980 (cited in Robson, 2000, p. 163) held the view 'that schools as we know them today will have no place in the future'. This provokes reflection on new ways of learning using technology. Rees, 1992 sees the human-computer interface as continual dialogue. “Just as humans use speech, images, body language and a common set of values to communicate with other humans, computers are emulating this with touch-screens, voice-recognition, video-playbacks and visual reality systems.” (cited in Robson, 2000, p. 164). Detecting ways of learning using technology is an important aspect of evaluation.

We decided to utilise the quantitative approach with a survey or questionnaire given to students various times as part of the online course requirements (see link). Students will be provided with a survey/questionnaire at the very beginning, the end of key junctions, and at the end of the course  (Thorpe, 2001). Answers would be in the form of agree, likely to agree, not applicable, less likely to agree, not agree. In this way, students will participate in rating the quality and effectiveness of their own learning, hence becoming more involved, self-reflective critical thinkers. This means that the surveys/questionnaires themselves become a pedagogical aid to promote enhanced and transformative learning,

By surveying students at various stages of the course, the data can be systematically analysed to discover correlations with the relationship design and structure of the course and the goals and outcomes of student learning. In this way teachers will be able to make this eLearning program adaptive to the needs of current students.

When designing the survey/questionnaire for this course, we have considered the following: <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Teaching and learning theory. <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Course design and structure. <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Context of the online learning environment. <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Course goals and student outcomes. <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Student background and prior learning. <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   Pedagogical effectiveness and efficiency (Robson, 2000)

In order to facilitate the transition of senior secondary students into prepared and competent tertiary students, an online, independent research course has been developed. The course reflects constructivist learning theory in its aims and design and provides a variety of approaches for the completion of the set task including choices as to the types of technology used in the research component of the task as well as the published medium. The extended essay will evaluate not only the students' abilities to research, discern and evaluate reliable sources but also their ability to synthesise this information into a well structured, publishable piece of work. The teacher's role within such a course is to encourage through facilitation the students' independent research and their participation in online forum discussions based on topics of interest and queries regarding task requirements. Students will also be evaluated on their ability to be self-reflective in analysing their own learning strengths and weaknesses and future directions for study at tertiary level. It is hoped that the open-ended nature of the task combined with clear guidelines and support from the teacher and a well designed learning management system will provide students with the interest to move beyond the traditional 'spoon fed' nature of student learning in the classroom to active, engaged and independent scholars.

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