TELE Guide Version 8 - UB Guide 1 TELE Guide Guide for the Implementation and Use of Technology...

TELE Guide 1

TELE Guide

Guide for the Implementation and Useof Technology Enhanced Learning Environments (TELEs)

that Support Self-Regulated Learning

Version 8.0

August 15, 2005

Universität zu Köln / Germany,Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam / The Netherlands,Universidade Católica Portuguesa / Portugal,Aalborg University / Denmark,CNR Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche / Italy ,Nottingham Trent University / U.K.,Universitat de Barcelona / Spain,Université de Technologie de Compiegne / France,Universitetet i Bergen / Norway.

The TELEPEERS consortiumThis guide was compiled within the project “Self-regulated Learning in TechnologyEnhanced Learning Environments at University Level: a Peer Review(TELEPEERS)”. The project is being carried out with the support of the EuropeanCommission (Grant agreement 2003-4710-/001-001 EDU-ELEARN). The content ofthis project does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Commission, nordoes it involve any responsibility on the part of the European Commission.

TELE Guide 2

Table of contents

1. Introduction 3

2. Container Systems With Tutor Support Group 1

2.1 Digital Portfolio – Keeping online personal repositories Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 82.2 DiViDU – Streaming video support for reflection Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 142.3 ILIAS – A Learning Management System Universität zu Köln 212.4 Weblogs – Personal knowledge publishing Universitetet i Bergen 27

3. Content Systems With Tutor Support Group 2

3.1 Advanced Teacher Education in Informatics – ICT-based Teacher Training program Universidade Católica Portuguesa 323.2 Cognitive psychology course – Enhanced web based support Nottingham Trent University 393.3 Digital Video Course – Blended Learning with new media Universitat de Barcelona 443.4 Teacher training course on ET – Using a CMCS in teacher training CNR Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche 51

4. Content Systems Without Tutor Support Group 3

4.1 Sunpower – CD-ROM to train business English Universität zu Köln 594.2 Databases – A model for online studies Université de Technologie de Compiegne 654.3 Programming Tutorials – Additional online exercises Université de Technologie de Compiegne 694.4 SWIM – Online tutorial for information seeking Aalborg University 75

5. List of contributors 80

TELE Guide 3

1. Introduction

This guide aims at providing information for teachers and researchers interested inTechnology Enhanced Learning Environments (TELEs) that support self-regulatedlearning. The guide will give technical details and short descriptions of the TELEs thatwere selected in the first year of the TELEPEERS project because of their capacity tosupport self-regulated learning. We expect that the technical details and shortdescriptions will be relevant for the implementation and use of the TELEs that weselected.

If you are interested in having a closer look at one of the TELEs or even atimplementing and using one, please contact us at http://www.lmi.ub.es/telepeers/.We also initiated a Targeted Cooperative Network on TELEs that support self-regulated learning, and you are invited to join this network(http://www.lmi.ub.es/taconet).

During its first year (January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004) the major objective ofthe TELEPEERS project was to identify Technology Enhanced LearningEnvironments (TELEs) that support self-regulated learning. To achieve this objective,we developed a Peer Review Evaluation Tool (PRET) which was to help us inevaluating the extent to which the TELEs that we were to identify actually did supportself-regulated learning. At the same time, we selected TELEs that looked promisingwith regard to their capacity to foster self-regulated learning.

The development of the Peer Review Evaluation Tool (PRET) was based on athorough review of the literature on self-regulated learning and on cognitive and non-cognitive aspects of learning processes. At several project meetings and workshops,the concept of the Peer Review Evaluation Tool was discussed in depth which lead toseveral revisions of the PRET. In developing the evaluation tool, it was important tous to take into consideration cross-cultural, contextual issues. In our opinion, thereseems to be a delicate interdependency between wanting a tool that is generalenough to work across technologies and settings - to facilitate dissemination - andsubscribing to a constructivist view that claims use is also situated. To achieve abalance between being concrete and descriptive, and general and conclusive is achallenge.

The evaluation tool we developed is available to interested institutions andindividuals as TELE-SRL (see http://www.lmi.ub.es/taconet); we are also working onan on-line version. If you decide to use this tool, we should be pleased to receiveyour opinion which you could send to the story corner in the taconet website.

A detailed report on the peer evaluation (TELE report) is available on the projectwebsite (http://www.lmi.ub.es/telepeers).

A conceptual model for a classification system of TELEs

In education, the question of how to present a specific content is a question ofdidactics. Evidently, there has to be a certain fit between a specific content and aspecific way of presentation. In education and psychology, there have also beendebates to what extent media support learning, and varying points of view have been

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expressed. We do not believe that media in general support learning, nor do webelieve that media in general do not support learning. Rather, we argue that therehas to be a fit between the demands of the specific content and the affordances of aspecific medium. In the same vein, we argue that there has to be a certain fitbetween the content to be learned and the technological platform of thecorresponding TELE. Or, phrased differently: to what extent does the technologicalplatform of the TELE do justice to the educational model on the basis of which thespecific content was chosen?

While we did not set out to study in detail the relationship between educationalcontent and technological platform in the TELEs that we evaluated, this relationshipdid play a role in the construction of our category system. The main differencebetween container systems and content systems is not that content systems have acontent and container systems do not. The container systems we studied all did havecontent. The difference between these categories is that in content systems, thecontent was produced by education experts and implemented by informatics experts,while container systems are usually filled with contents produced by students. This isan important factor when it comes to the question which TELE to choose andimplement. This distinction also has implications for the teaching resources that needto be provided for each type of TELE. The fact that we did not find a TELE in which acontainer systems was used without a tutor points into that direction. While it ispossible to think of a container system without a tutor, in most practical cases, thiswould be difficult to achieve because it requires that the students working in thatenvironment have already acquired a high degree of competence in education andinformatics.

Since the different groups of TELEs require different degrees and kinds of teachingresources, we decided to structure our Guidelines for the implementation andmaintenance of TELEs that support self-regulated learning according to thesecategories.

The different TELE that were evaluated with respect to their potential to support self-regulated learning range from CD-ROM and Flash tutorials, through weblogs anddatabases courses, to complete educational programs lasting several years. Thisenriches the project but also makes it hard to compare the analyses.

Also, the concept of Technology Enhanced Learning Environments is a rather wideone. A CD-ROM with a program to learn a foreign language which is used byindividuals in their spare time is a TELE. If the same CD-ROM is used in a course atschool, university or other educational institution, then the whole course is the TELE.A TELE should therefore not be reduced to its technological component, rather it isthe complete learning environment.

The TELEs that were selected in the first stage of the project were subsequentlyevaluated in a peer review manner. All of the TELEs were evaluated by experts in thefield of using TELEs at the institutions where they were implemented, as well as byexperts from the partner institutions.

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Table 1.1: Classification system for TELEs that support self-regulated learning.

The classification system that we suggest is one that applies to the TELE as theywere evaluated in the project. In other contexts, they made be used in a differentway. For example, Sunpower is a multimedia program on CD-ROM which wasevaluated as a stand-alone TELE (content system without a tutor). But it is also easyto imagine it being used in class, with a teacher or tutor. Likewise, we evaluated ateacher training course on Educational Technologies that used FirstClass as acontent system with tutor. It might also be used as a container system which is thenfilled with content.

Our classification system does not touch on the role of peer interaction, but this isanother issue not to be forgotten when designing and evaluating TELEs. SomeTELEs promote a high degree of peer interaction whereas others do not allow it at all.

Group 1: Container systems with tutor support

The TELEs in group1 are basically Computer Mediated Communication or LearningManagement Systems (CMCS or LMS). These systems provide a structure orframework for the learner to document and reflect on different kinds of action. Thetutor supports and/or monitors the student in the documentation and/or reflectionprocess.

The TELEs we evaluated are• Digital Portfolio – a web-based collection of student’s work to demonstrate

his/her efforts, progress and achievements in one ore more areas (VrijeUniversiteit Amsterdam)

With Tutor Support Origin Without TutorSupport

Origin

Containersystems

Group 1

Digital PortfolioDiViDU (reflection/assessment module)ILIASWeblogs

AmsterdamAmsterdam

CologneBergen

No examples

Contentsystems

Group 2

Advanced TeacherEducation in InformaticsCognitive psychologycourseDigital Video CourseTeacher Training Courseo n E d u c a t i o n a lTechnologies

Lisbon

Nottingham

BarcelonaGenoa

Group 3

SunpowerDatabasesProgrammingTutorialsSWIM

CologneCompiègneCompiègne

Aalborg

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• DiViDU – web-based digital video used in teacher training to help studentreflect on professional skills and attitudes (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

• ILIAS – an Internet-based authoring environment for course designers as wellas an Internet-based learning environment for students at university level(Universität zu Köln).

• Weblogs – a personal, but public web space for self-expression (Universitetet iBergen)

The outstanding characteristic of the TELEs in this group is that the technologicalplatform used serves as a container that has to be filled by students - with the help ofan instructor or tutor - with content. Although there is a certain fit between thedemands of the content and the affordances of a technological platform, the contentcould also be implemented using a similar, but different technological platform. It isthus to a large extent possible to transfer the content without the specific technology .

Group 2: Content systems with tutor support

Group 2 contains four university courses that rely significantly on technologicalcomponents. We have labeled the TELEs in this group content systems because it isprimarily the content of the specific course that is important while it would not be verydifficult to implement the content using a different technological platform (as theTELE from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa shows). The students work withinteractive material that has been compiled for a specific purpose and thus providescontent and structure to support the learning process.

TELEs that we assigned to this group were• Advanced Teacher Education in Informatics – an ICT-based teacher training

master course to improve ICT knowledge and skills (Universidade CatólicaPortuguesa)

• Cognitive psychology course – web-based support for an undergraduatecourse on cognitive psychology (Nottingham Trent University)

• Digital video course – a blended learning course aimed at helping studentsacquire appropriate skills to use digital video and increase awareness of themedia (Universitat de Barcelona)

• Teacher training course on ET – a Computer Mediated CommunicationSystems (CMCS) used in teacher training to improve knowledge and skills ineducational technology (CNR Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche)

In the learning environments assigned to group2, the content is provided byeducational experts. The courses evaluated are presential courses or distancecourses with presential phases; they are run by a teacher or tutor. Again, there has tobe a certain fit between the demands of the content and the affordances of thetechnological platform, but the platform is exchangeable within certain limits. Transferthus relies on the ease of transfer of the technological components.

Group 3: Content systems without tutor

Group 3 contains learning environments, most of them Internet-based, which can beused by individual students without the help of a tutor.

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The TELEs we evaluated are:• Sunpower - a CD ROM program to improve communication strategies in

English for business purposes targeted at adults with an intermediate level ofEnglish.

• Databases – an online tutorial on databases with topics ranging from designissues to practical aspects (Université de Technologie de Compiègne)

• Algorithms and programming – an online tutorial algorithms and programmingbased on Pascal (Université de Technologie de Compiègne)

• SWIM – a streaming web-based information module which serves as an onlinetutorial to help students acquire adequate strategies for information seeking(Aalborg Universitet).

The content of the learning environments that we assigned to group 3 was developedby experts in their specific fields and the students are expected to acquire therelevant knowledge and skills on their own, i.e. without the help of an instructur ortutor. However, there is not a sharp distinction between a content system used withand without tutor support. A specific technological platform may be used with a tutoror peers present in some contexts and without tutors or peers present in othercontexts.

Group 4: Container systems without tutor

None of the TELEs evaluated was assigned to this group. In principle the TELEs ingroup 1 could probably be modified to fit here, but it is difficult to imagine that anempty container system could appropriately filled by students without the help of aninstructor or tutor.

In the remaining sections of this guide, technical details and a short description ofeach TELE will be given.

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2. Container Systems With Tutor Support Group 1

2 .1 D ig i ta l Por t fo l io – Keep ing on l ine persona l repos i tor iesVrije Universiteit Amsterdam

An increasing number of educational institutions make use of portfolios. A portfolio isa purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progressand achievement in one or more areas (Tromp, 2003). Although it is a collection ofdocuments, a portfolio is tangible evidence of the wide range of knowledge,dispositions and skills that a student possesses as a growing professional. Thefunction which is eventually assigned to the portfolio is closely linked to theeducational concept existing within the institution and the way this is implemented atcurriculum level (Ritzen, 2001).

Brown Daniels (2002) describes the three most common types of portfolios used ineducation:- the working portfolio, which contains projects the student is currently working on

or has recently completed.- the display portfolio, which showcases samples of the student's best work.- the assessment portfolio, which presents work demonstrating that the student has

met specific learning goals and requirements.

Example case study of an Assessment Portfolio

The faculty of Human Movement Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdamintroduced the use of portfolios in the one year teacher training programme. Thiscompetence-based programme assesses students on the basis of achievedcompetencies. The student is responsible for his/her own learning process and usesthe portfolio as a tool to analyse competencies, store achievements, demonstrateskills, discuss achievements with the teacher and peers etc. At the start of thecourse, the student describes for each competency his or her starting level (based onprevious professional experiences e.g. placements, teaching jobs etc.). On the basisof this, the student explains how s/he will acquire the required competencies of thecourse. In a meeting with his/her coach group (four other students and a coach)his/her learning aims and plans are discussed. The group meets halfway through thecourse to discuss each other’s progress. At the end of the course, an assessmenttakes place to establish whether the student is sufficiently competent. The studentuses the portfolio to publish products s/he has made during the year (videos ofclassroom teaching, essays, presentations, posters etc) and to demonstrate s/he hasachieved the required level of competency.

Welcome page of student portfolio

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(text and images from:http://www.du.nl/digiuni/index.cfm/site/Portfolio%20Implementatie/pageid/C2694878-F560-A7C3-5372FA328E0235AB/index.cfm)

Software and implementation

In the above case study, the electronic portfolio system of the Digital University wasused. In this system, each student has exclusive rights to manage his/her ownportfolio. Other people, including peers, tutors, assessors and teachers cannotaccess the portfolio, unless they are invited by the owner of the portfolio. Thissoftware will no longer be supported by the Digital University from the summer of2005.

In general, a portfolio can be implemented using generic tools (e.g. HTML, Word incombination with learning environments such as Blackboard or collaborativeenvironnments such as ProjectPlace) or customized portfolio systems (Folio,Concord, Blackboard Content System,…). Gibson and Barrett (2003) define criteriafor choosing between these two directions. These include amongst others:

- the amount of creativity a user should have in building and structuring his/herportfolio (easier with standard applications) versus a preference to standardiseportfolio usage (easier with purpose-built portfolio systems)

- the importance of having communication and collaboration functionality available(often the case with purpose-built portfolio systems)

- financial considerations (purpose-built systems are more expensive).

The success of introducing a digital portfolio does not only depend on the structureand content of a portfolio or the type of software that is used. A portfolio has to begiven a structural place in the curriculum: its purpose has to be clear to students andperceived as being worthwhile. Teachers may find it time consuming to work withportfolios: they also need time and guidance to develop appropriate mechanisms forusing them effectively in their teaching.

For more information on the use of portfolios at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam:[email protected]

The student analyses hiscompetencies and links to“proof”

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Evaluation within the TELEPEERS Project

This concept was peer-reviewed in the European Telepeers project using the PeerReview Evaluation Tool (PRET). Portfolios score very highly on all aspects in thecycle of self-regulation:• they allow for explicit reflection over a period of time on the development of own

knowledge, competencies and monitoring of progress in achieving requiredcompetencies

• they enable and encourage the use of peer assessment• the student is in charge of the portfolio:- by choosing the way s/he uses the portfolio to demonstrate progress- by allowing access to peers, tutor and other parties.

Summary description

DigitalPortfolio

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Objective ofTELE

The digital portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work thatexhibits the student’s efforts, progress and achievement in one ormore areas (Tromp 2003). A portfolio is tangible evidence of the widerange of knowledge, dispositions and skills that a student possessesas a growing professional.

Educationalmodel

The function which is eventually assigned to the portfolio is closelylinked to the educational concept existing within the institution and theway this is implemented at curriculum level (Ritzen 2001).

Mode of delivery Web-based

Platform In the case study, we refer to the use of Digital Portfolio – acommercial platform from the Digital University. However, it will not besupported after June 2005.

Parties involved Student the student is the axis around which the whole conceptof the portfolio turns; s/he has to define his/her startingsituation, the competencies s/he wants to achieve andthe way in which s/he wants to do so. S/he is responsiblefor the content of the portfolio and maintaining theprogress by giving interim self-reflection reports. S/he isalso important as a peer-reviewer of fellow-students.

Tutor the tutor is a (senior) researcher of the IVM, who isresponsible for coaching a group of students (approx. 5students). Activities of the tutor are: assistance withformulating the Personal Development Plan (PDP);controlling the progress of the students (is s/he achievingthe competences formulated in his/her PDP); assistingstudents with other choices, such as the subject of essayand finding appropriate supervisors. However, the tutoris largely dependent on the information the student giveshim/her to assess the progress.

Places oflearning

UniversityHome

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Context Institute of Environmental StudiesFaculty of Earth and Life SciencesVrije Universiteit Amsterdam

In September 2003 the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences introducedportfolios in the Masters programme Environmental ResourceManagement.

The masters programme ERM consists of six modules, of which theportfolio is a separate module built in throughout the other fivemodules.In using a portfolio the student can outline a personal developmentplan based on his/her (educational) background and on the objectivesand conditions of the ERM programme.Students starting with the ERM programme have many differenteducational backgrounds and nationalities. Therefore, they can profitfrom a tailor-made programme on environment and resourcemanagement in which competencies can also be acquired orimproved. Nowadays, science is treated more and more as a complexfield in which -besides knowledge- academic attitudes andprofessional skills are also important to achieve. These attitudes andskills cannot only be tested in a written examination, but also have tobe assessed in performance situations like a (poster) presentation orthe development of a website.

Level ofinteractivity

Interactivity with TELEInteractivity with tutorInteractivity with peers

Technicalrequirements

Operating system (server/client)Hard disk space required 20 mb per user

Importance oftechnology forTELE

Low importance 0 1 2 3 4 5 High importance

Accompanyingdocumentation

User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for teachersUser’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for studentsTutorialHelp function

Transferability(Portability)

• Language: English version is available• Costs: in discussion with Digital University• Future of Digital Portfolio at the VU is uncertain (could adopt

different institution-wide system)• Investigate possible transfer of educational template to own TELE

Using portfolio’s (and weblogs) to support self-regulated learning

An increasing number of educational institutions make use of portfolios. A portfolio isa purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progressand achievement in one or more areas (Tromp, 2003). Although it is a collection ofdocuments, a portfolio is tangible evidence of the wide range of knowledge,dispositions and skills that a student possesses as a growing professional. The

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function which is eventually assigned to the portfolio is closely linked to theeducational concept existing within the institution and the way this is implemented atcurriculum level (Ritzen and Kosters, 2001).

Brown Daniels (2002) describes the three most common types of portfolios used ineducation:- the working (or development) portfolio, which contains projects the student is

currently working on or has recently completed.- the display portfolio, which showcases samples of the student's best work.- the assessment portfolio, which presents work demonstrating that the student has

met specific learning goals and requirements.

The development portfolio in particular contributes to the development of self-regulative skills. It contains descriptions by the students of how their competencies(as defined by the faculty or department) develop over time and these are illustratedby examples of activities demonstrating the development. The portfolio may alsocontain a regular self-analysis of the weak and strong points of a student’scompetence development and a personal development plan. All this can contribute toa more complete self-image in terms of achievements, a realistic planning andclearer formulation of the type of feedback that is wanted from the teacher (Elshout-Mohr and van Daalen-Kapteijns, 2003). Apart from teacher feedback, it is thoughtthat feedback from peers on the content and structure of the portfolio can often bevery beneficial, so self-regulation is enhanced by input from the group. The use ofportfolio’s can motivate the student to work on weaker points of their competenciesand become encouraged by their strongh points. Motivation can als be enhanced bythe fact the student feels ownership of the portfolio: a) by choosing the way he usesthe portfolio to demonstrate progress and b) by allowing access to peers, tutor andother parties.

Choice of platform

In general, a portfolio can be implemented using generic tools (e.g. HTML, Word incombination with learning environments such as Blackboard or collaborativeenvironments such as ProjectPlace) or customized portfolio systems (Folio, Concord,Blackboard Content System). Gibson and Barrett (2003) define criteria for choosingbetween these two directions. These include among others:

- the amount of creativity a user is allowed to have in building and structuringhis/her portfolio (easier with standard applications) versus a preference tostandardise portfolio usage (easier with purpose-built portfolio systems).

- the importance of having communication and collaboration functionality available(often the case with purpose-built portfolio systems).

- financial considerations (purpose-built systems are more expensive).

Configuring the learning environment

The success of introducing a digital portfolio does not only depend on the type ofsoftware that is used and its particular functionality. A portfolio has to be given astructural place in the curriculum: its purpose has to be clear to students andperceived as being worthwhile. Teachers are also responsibe for informing studentsabout the size, structure and type of content a portfolio should contain, and more

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importantly, strategies that students could use to work with the portfolio content toencourage reflection. Whilst teachers may emphasise the use of a portfolio to supportself-reflection and self-regulated learning, students may see it predominantly as aninstrument to communicate with their teacher and get extensive feedback on theirachievements and progress. These different point of view need to be addressed andintegrated to use portfolio’s successfully (Elshout-Mohr en van Daalen-Kapteijns,2003). Teachers may also find it initially challenging to work with portfolios and use itin a way that is beneficial both to themselves and to students: they need to be giventime and guidance to become confident in working with the tool.

References

Brown Daniels, M. (2002) Electronic Portfolios in the K-12 Classroom. EducationWorld [Online]. Available: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech111.shtml

Elshout-Mohr, M. and van Daalen-Kapteijns, M. (2003) Goed gebruik van portfolio’sin competentiegerichte opleidingen. In: VELON, 24, nr. 4, p. 5-13

Gibson, D. and Barrett, H. (2003). Directions in Electronic Portfolio Development.Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, [Online serial], 2(4).Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol2/iss4/general/article3.cfm

Ritzen, M, and Kosters J. (2001) Combining Different Aims in a Portfolio System: AWebbased Portfolio and the Various Ways in which it can serve the Student. Paperpresented at Ed-Media 2001 conference, Tampere, Finland, June 2001.[Online],Available: http://www.efa.nl/publicaties/teksten/finlandtrans.html.

Tromp Meesters, M. and van Drunen, M. (2003) Study Manual Module 6 - PortfolioERM. Institute for Environmental Studies. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (internalpublicatoin).

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2.2 DiViDU Streaming video support for reflectionVrije Universiteit Amsterdam

The crucial role of reflection in the training of professionals is becoming more andmore recognised. Professionals gain competencies in a life-long process of learningin authentic contexts. To be able to learn from experience in (often complex) practicalsettings, systematic reflection of one’s experiences and actions is necessary. Thedevelopment of reflective skills to aid the process of self-regulation and self-monitoring is therefore a professional competency that is required of futureprofessionals.

DiViDU is an internet application based on the use of (streaming) video to teachstudents to reflect on their skills and professional development. Although the systemhas so far mostly been tested and used in teacher training and dentistry, it wasdeveloped on the basis of generic didactical models which may be used to designdigital learning environments for different types of professional training, such asmedicine, dentistry, physiotherapy or social work.

The DiViDU system allows students to watch video clips of typical professionalsituations, record observations, exchange views and discuss alternative approaches.With easy-to-use video recording equipment, students record their own professionalexperiences (e.g. a dentist in training dealing with a nervous patient) and gives theserecordings to peers or teacher trainers to comment on.

DiViDU can be used by teachersboth for classroom and distanceteaching. They can use availablelearning activities, edit learningactivities to suit their specific goals,or develop new learning activities.They may use the video clips thatare available in the videocatalogue, upload their own clips,or ask permission to use videoclips provided by other students.Additional study materials andsources can also be included.

In the video catalogue teachertrainers will find fragments of typicalclassroom situations that they canuse to develop learning activities andassignments.

The software is structured around three modules, serving different educationalobjectives and used at different stages of professional training:

• Analysis (to learn to analyse professional situations)• Reflection (to learn to reflect on one’s own behaviour in a professional context)• Assessment (to learn to assess one’s own professional competencies)

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DiViDU used in teacher training. At the left 3 classroom situationsare presented. At the right questions are asked about the waythe teacher handled the situation.

Software and implementation

The internet-based DiViDU system contains a video archive of professional situationsand allows for the storage of students’ own recordings of their professionalexperiences. More importantly, group discussions on the content of the videos arealso stored in the DiViDU system, so that students can read and re-read thecomments of peers and lecturers on their performances.

DiViDU was developed in 2003 by the University of Amsterdam, de EducatieveFaculteit Amsterdam, the Academisch Centrum Tandheelkunde Amsterdam, the VrijeUniversiteit Amsterdam and the University of Twente as part of a Digital University-funded project. The Digital University is a consortium of ten universities in TheNetherlands. It focuses on the development and application of digital educationalproducts and knowledge for higher education.

The system is still being developed and further tested in a variety of educationalscenarios in the academic year 2004-2005. At the moment, an English version of thesoftware is being developed. Interest in such a version may be expressed with thecurrent project leader of DiViDU (Judith Janssen) at [email protected]. Moreinformation can also be obtained via [email protected]

Evaluation within TELEPEERS project

This system was peer-reviewed in the European TELEPEERS project using the PeerReview Evaluation Tool (PRET). It was evaluated as a system which supports self-regulated learning to a high degree, in particular its reflection module. It enables acyclical approach of the process of reflection (based on Korthagen’s reflection modelwith additions from Fortkamp and Schon).

Design principles for activities within the reflection model include:

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- The subjects of reflection are an individual’s actions and behaviour in practicalsituations

- Reflection is not an individual activity; feedback and discussion with peers iscrucial

- Reflective practice contains learning activities for Fortkamp’s five phases

Educational benefits offered by DiViDU

- the purpose of the software: help students to develop reflective and self-regulating skills

- backed by strong theoretical framework on reflection- innovative use of ICT (streaming video)- potential for use in different learning contexts- suitable to reflect on different types of skills in a range of disciplines- suitable to be used in different educational settings and delivery methods: face-to-

face education, distance learning, blended learning- enables and encourages collaborative feedback- allows for storage and re-use of typical professional situations- tutor development module: assignments can be easily changed

Summary description

DiViDU Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Objective ofTELE

DiViDU (Digital Video Digital University) is an internet applicationcontaining (short) video clips and assignments used in secondaryteacher training. Teacher trainees use the software to analyse typicalclassroom situations and reflect upon their own classroom behaviourand teaching skills. 1

Educationalmodel

The software is structured around three modules, serving differenteducational objectives and used at different stages of teacher training:

• Analysis (to learn to analyse regular classroom situations)• Reflection (to learn to reflect on one’s own teaching behaviour

in the classroom)• Assessment (to learn to assess one’s own teaching

competencies).Mode of delivery Web-based (in combination with face to face tutorials)

Platform Proprietary platform used – develop by the Digital UniversityConsortium (www.digiuni.nl).

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Parties involved The DiviDU system allows teacher trainees to watch video clips oftypical classroom situations, record observations, exchange views anddiscuss alternative approaches. With easy-to-use video recordingequipment, real classroom situations are recorded by the traineesthemselves and given to peers or teacher trainers to comment on.

DiViDU can be used by teacher trainers both for classroom teachingand distance learning. They can use available learning activities, editlearning activities to suit their specific goals, or develop new learningactivities. They may use the video clips that are available in the videocatalogue, upload their own clips, or ask permission to use video clipsprovided by teacher trainees. Additional study materials and sourcescan also be included.

Places oflearning

Educational institutionHomeSchool (where teacher trainees obtain teaching practice)

Context DiViDU was developed in 2003 by the University of Amsterdam, deEducatieve Faculteit Amsterdam, het Academisch CentrumTandheelkunde Amsterdam, de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and theUniversity of Twente as part of a Digital University-funded project.(The Digital University is a consortium of ten universities in TheNetherlands. It focuses on the development and application of digitaleducational products and knowledge for higher education.)

Although the system has so far mostly been used in teacher training, itwas developed on the basis of generic didactical models which maybe used to design digital learning environments for different types ofprofessional training, such as medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy orsocial work.

The system is still being developed and will be further tested in avariety of educational scenarios in the academic year 2004-2005,including the teacher training courses at the Vrije UniversiteitAmsterdam.



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PC of Lecturer and Students:Pentium 500 mhz (or faster); Windows 2000 of XP: 128 MbWindows 9x: 64 Mb ; Windows 2000 of XP strongly recommendedWindows 98 also works, but not stable.

Software• Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher• Mozilla 1.0 or higher• Netscape 7 or higher

Realplayer plugin (RealOne/versie 10 or higher)(n.b. Windows Media Player not yet supported in beta version ofDividu)

Firewall: user computers need access to port 554 or port 80Proxy-server: networks using proxys at port 80 have to open port 554to get connection with streaming server.




User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for teachers

User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for students

Tutorial

Guidelines


Costs:

Language: currently Dutch, English version to be developed.

Using Digital Video to support self-regulated learning

The crucial role of reflection in the training of professionals is being more and morerecognised. Professionals gain competencies in a life-long process of learning inauthentic contexts. To be able to learn from experience in (often complex) practicalsettings, systematic and deep reflection on one’s experiences and actions isnecessary. The development of reflective skills to aid the process of self-regulationand self-monitoring is therefore increasingly becoming an integrated part of manyacademic curricula.

Streaming video is more and more regarded as an appropriate medium to supportand enhance the process of reflection and contribute the development of reflectiveskills. One very effective use of video is to let students submit recordings ofthemselves acting in a profesional or semi-professional learning context (e.g ateacher trainee in a school, a trainee dentist with a patient) and let them look back ontheir actions. This can be a starting point for the formulating of future aims and

TELE Guide 19

objectives, considering alternative courses of action in the future and ultimately reacha higher professional standard.

The use of video has some advantages over verbal discussion of a student’s learningexperience. Verbal reports may be less objective and contain incomplete or incorrectinformation. Video provides an insight in non-verbal aspects of a situation and can beviewed more than once by different users, each with a different interpretation of whathappened, therefore providing a rich source of feedback. In general, video provides amirror to one’s actions, and a powerful confrontation between what happened reallyand the student’s idea of what happened (Bimmel and Janssen, 2004). Fortkamp(2002) also suggests that reflection on video should be enhanced through discussionwith peers, rather than just making it an indivual’s learning process.

Video can be used to support all phases of self-regulated learning, but depending onthe aims of the course and the context, the emphasis may be on the monitoring ofone’s learning, or on evaluation, e.g. providing selected video as proof in anassessment procedure.

Choice of platform

In the Telepeers case study of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, a proprietary systemfor the use of video in education was presented (DiviDU). One of the strenghts of thesystem is the way it integrates discussion facilities with the video files, so anyfeedback from peers and lecturers is immediately linked to the appropriate file. Thecognitive and social aspects of learning in Dividu enhance each other well this way.Dividu als provides facilities to store previous recordings with metadata, hencebuilding over time an archive of videos which contain a rich repertoire of differentbehaviours in a particular professional context and which may be re-used in otherlearning tasks.

Apart from purpose-built systems, commercial learning environments already in useby an institution (e.g. Blackboard or WebCT) may be suitable to some extent tosupport video-based learning tasks. Discussion fora in such systems could be usedto provide feedback, be it in a less integrated way than in the purpose-built Dividusystem.In any case, any software or system used for this purpose should be able to supportthe storage and/or delivery of video in streaming format. Streaming is the mostefficient way to deliver large-size videofiles over the internet.Other features which would be desirable and may enhance self-regulation aspects ofthe learning environment:- The user interface should be attractive, easy to navigate and allow for easy

uploading of video files in the student’s personal file repository.- The student should be able to grant acces rights to lecturers and peers to watch

particular files.- If discussion fora or email facilities are an inbuilt function of the software, they

should be easy to link to the particular video file being discussed.- The possibility to create “stories” from a series of recordings may allow students

to show progress in their skills over a period of time. This could be facilitated byfunctions to cut and paste easily from video files.

TELE Guide 20

Finally, if students become responsible for providing their own videorecordings, theyshould also have access to adequate multimedia computing facilities for working ontheir videorecordings and for converting them to appropriate streaming formats. Bothteacher and student may also require access to adequate training and technicalsupport to overcome initial lack of skills or knowledge in this area.

Configuration of the learning environment

The use of video provides students with more insight to (progress in) their own skillsand attitudes on a cognitive level. This insight is ideally further enhanced by provideda social context (online or offline) in which teachers and peers provide high-qualityfeedback. This feed will in turn have an impact on the motivation of the studentThe role of ICT to support the process of reflection can vary widely; this may dependon available hardware and software infrastructure, teacher preferences etc. The ICTcomponent of the TELE should be used minimally to store, distribute and organisevideo files. A blended learning model may be most ideal to support reflective learningwith video: the distance learning environment can support some organisationalaspects of working with videofiles, and also provide a “safe” environment in whichstudent feel more confident to give each other honest feedback and reflect on theirown learning. Face-to-face meetings can be used to keep up motivation and securethe quality of reflection (Bimmel and Janssen, 2004).

To use video succesfully, the design of appropriate learning tasks by the teacher is acrucial activity. Learning tasks could be designed so that they become part of acyclical process of reflection (acting, looking back on the action; formulateconclusions and future intentions, acting again). They may include tasks such as:

a) selecting videofragmentsb) motivate the choice of fragmentc) analyse video materiald) ask for feedback from peerse) give feedback to peersf) formulate alternative courses of actiong) trying out a new approach, again recording it on video.

Ultimately, these tasks can be used by the teacher to link practical experiences backto underlying theoretical concepts (Bimmel and Janssen, 2004).

References

Bimmel P. and Janssen J., ed. (2004) DiViDU, Digitale Video voor DigitaleUniversiteit. Onderwijskundige uitgangspunten van de 3 modellen. Ontwerpdocumentals output van Werkpaketten 1,2 en 6. Intern document Digitale Universiteit.

Fortkamp, J. (2002). Leren reflecteren in beeld. Literatuuronderzoek MUST,Universiteit Twente. Online:http://www.edith.nl/web/lectoraat/assets/reflectie%20in%20beeld.pdf

Korthagen, F. (2001) Linking Practice and Theory: The Pedagogy of RealisticTeacher Education. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the AmericanEducational Research Association. Available:http://educ.queensu.ca/~ar/aera2001/Korthagen2001.pdf

TELE Guide 21

2 . 3 I L I A S – A L e a r n i n g M a g a g e m e n t S y s t e mUniversität zu Köln

ILIAS - An Integrated System for Learning, Information Seeking andCooperative Working(Integriertes Lern-, Informations- und Arbeitskooperationssystem)

ILIAS was developed at the University of Cologne in the framework of the VIRTUSproject. The VIRTUS project of the Department of Business Administrations,Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne (1997 – 2001) aimed atthe development of virtual university systems (see http://www.virtus.uni-koeln.de ). Itwas intended to supplement traditional learning environments in higher educationwith a web-based working environment - the ILIAS learning platform. Aftertermination of the project, it was decided to make ILIAS an open source system.ILIAS open source was supported by the Bertelsmann Foundation, the HeinzNixdorf Foundation, the Sal. Oppenheim Foundation and the Department of Scienceand Research of the State of Northrhine-Westphalia.

ILIAS is an Internet-based authoring environment for course designers as well as anInternet-based learning environment for students at University level. As such itqualifies as a Computer Mediated Communication Systems (CMCS) as well as aLearning Management System (LMS). The system was developed with the explicitgoal of enhancing self-regulated and collaborative learning. The authors believe thatthese skills will become increasingly important in the future, particularly in the contextof life-long learning (which demands high skills in self-regulated learning) and virtualenterprises (which demand high cooperative working skills).

As a technology enhanced learning environment (TELE), ILIAS supportscollaborative work, and communication as well as monitoring and controlling one’sown learning. The system admits four groups of users:

• Learners who make use of the learning materials available in the system,• Guests who may access a limited array of learning materials and

functionalities,• Authors who create course content (learning units) and• Administrators who are responsible for maintaining the system.

1. Personal desktop

ILIAS supports self-regulated learning by helping the individual student to organisehis/her learning activities. The TELE provides the student with a personal-desktopwhere s/he can create his/her personal profile and find and up to date information oncourses which s/he is attending. It also allows him/her to create and organise his/herown notes, to mark specific dates in the calendar and to store and organisebookmarks (al l screen shots are taken from http://www.ilias.uni-koeln.de/ilias3/start.php ).

TELE Guide 22

2. Repository

TELE Guide 23

The repository allows the student to access and exchange information in theframework of ILIAS as well as to communicate with peers and course tutors.

Clicking on the Course option, the student will be given an overview of the coursesthat are available in ILIAS. After having registered for a specific course s/he will haveaccess to all the information and learning material belonging to that course.

Self-regulated learning is enhanced by working through learning modules and bydoing specific exercises. For self-assessment, the student is given the opportunity totake tests on the learning material s/he has been working with (with tutor feedback).

Communication and collaborative learning is facilitated by giving students theopportunity to take part in chats and topic-centred discussion forums. The systemalso allows for creating and managing virtual groups to exchange ideas andthoughts.

3. Search

Search for information is encouraged and facilitated by an elaborate help system.

4. Mail

The mail system allows the student to communicate from within the ILIAS system viae-mail, particularly with peers and students. S/he thus does not have to leave his/her

TELE Guide 24

working and learning environment when s/he wants to contact one of his/her fellowstudents or one of the tutors.

5. Summary

ILIAS allows users to create, edit and publish learning and teaching material in anintegrated system with their normal web browsers. Tools for cooperative working andcommunication are included as well. The current version of ILIAS offers the followingfeatures:

• Personal desktop for each user with information about last visited courses,new mail or forum entries

• Learning environment with personal annotations, test, glossary, print function,search engine and download

• SCORM 1.2 and AICC compliance• Course management system• Communication features like mail system, forums and chat• Group system for collaborative work and organising users and resources• Integrated authoring environment (Editor) to create courses even without any

HTML knowledge• Support of metadata for all levels of learning objects• Context-sensitive help system for learners and authors• User and system administration interface

TELE Guide 25

6. Availability

ILIAS is an open course code system. It may be downloaded for free athttp://www.ilias.uni-koeln.de

System languages are: Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German,Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian,Spanish, Swedish and Ukrainian

Summary description

ILIAS Universität zu Köln

Object ive ofTELE

For course developers: authorware to develop coursesFor students: to help organise their learning, to support collaborativelearning and to facilitate communication with peers and tutors

Educationalmodel

Learning Management System to support self-regulated andcooperative learning and communication

Mode of delivery Web-based platform

Platform Proprietary platform used

Parties involved Students, tutors, course developers

P l a c e s o flearning

University, home

Context University coursesL e v e l o finteractivity



Operating system (server/client) Linux, Sun Solaris, Windows,MAC OS X

Hard disk space requiredDisplay resolution, colour depthHard ware components(working memory, processor,sound card, graphics card)External devicesConnectivity (e.g. type ofbrowser, band width)



TELE Guide 26


User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for teachers xUser’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for students xTutorial xGuidelinesHelp function x


Costs Open sourceLanguage German , English,othersLegal aspects Copy rights with the authors

Technical aspects (seetechnical requirements)Limitations in using TELE

ILIAS and self-regulated learning

ILIAS is a Learning Management System (LMS) which can be used by students aswell as by course authors. In our project, is was evaluated as a LMS for students.

ILIAS offers a number of options which aim at fostering self-regulated learning:• The TELE allows for feedback by peers and tutors• Communication with peers and students is well facilitated• There are a number of feedback mechanisms that help students to monitor

their learning• The TELE supports collaborative learning and working.

It is therefore not surprising that the TELE was evaluated positively with respect tocognitive and social aspects of self-regulated learning. In addition, the TELE was alsoevaluated postively with regard to motivational and emotional aspects of self-regulated learning.

Notwithstanding the positive evaluation, it was commented that it took students sometime to get accustomed to navigating in the TELE.

Unfortunately, the basis of our evaluation was very small. It was evaluated at theUniversity of Cologne only. The partner who had agreed to do the peer review raninto unsurmountable difficulties when he tried to install the system at his university. Itwould therefore be highyl desirable to increase the number of evaluations.

TELE Guide 27

2.4 Weblogs- Personal knowledge publ ishingUniversitetet i Bergen

What is a weblog ?

Weblogs (or blogs for short) are personal, but public, web spaces for self expression.Weblogs are often seen as online diaries and can also be used as digital portfolios,but they distinguish themselves first and foremost by being public. Student weblogsare often filled with meta-comments about the student’s own learning activities, andin this way they are a tool that supports a self-reflective practice in self-regulatedlearning. Learning journals have long been used as a means for self-exploration, self-discovery, and self-disclosure, and weblogs are in that respect similar to journals.Being public, weblogs also serve as a means for public disclosure which adds asocial dimension, and they offer opportunity for an open reflective practice within thecommunity of interest (or even the shaping of a community of practice). Below youcan see the typical structure of a weblog.

Figure 1: Showing the typical layout of a weblog

TELE Guide 28

Features of a weblog

The main component of weblogs are the entries that are written into them. In thefigure above you can see two entries in reverse chronological orders (the last entry isalways on the top). When you write an entry you can label it by a category.Categories are meta-cognitive tools that structure your writings and your databaseinto similar knowledge objects that are useful according to your own organisation ofyour studies. Whenever you write a new entry you can also decide whether you willallow visitors to add comments to your weblog. Allowing comments to an entry is likeattaching a discussion group to it, where the topic of your writing can be discussed.Lastly, there is a mechanim called trackback that enables other webloggers to send anotice to a weblog whenever they are commenting on an entry in their own weblog.This enables three things. Firstly, visitors to a weblog can navigate to otherwebloggers writing about the same topic. Secondly, a weblog owner will know whoelse is linking to him or her. Finally this can build a web of interconnected ideas.

Next you will typically have a calendar in your weblog showing dates marked whenentries have been posted (above you can see that the 2nd is marked as this is the lastand only entry for the current month). Another important feature of a weblog is thepossibility to search it for information (see the search entry field below the calendar).When the information entered into the weblog grows, you will build your own personalknowledge database, annotated by others through commenting, which is beingindexed and thus searchable by yourself or visitors to you weblog. Under the searchfield you will find a section with links to other sites and other weblogs. This is usuallycalled a blogroll and this gives the blog owner a way to make public the sites that areinteresting and frequently used and read. There are also direct links to the archives;one archive for each month. All entries belonging to a category can also be archivedtogether making it simple for visitors to read about their category of interest while theowner has easy access to her or his own writings based on categories.

Benefits of using weblogs in education

First, a blog has the function as a personal, but public, learning log for reflection. It isa very suitable tool to demonstrate one's own learning progress and personaldevelopment. The public nature allows for feedback, leading to collaboration andsometimes the building of communities sharing common interests. Blogs are alsoowned by the learners themselves meaning they have total ownership of their ownlearning tool; they can customize and personalize it the way they want to, and thisalso provides strong motivation to use the tool. The tool is easy to use (“push-button-publishing”) which means that it is a powerful tool in the hands of both novices andexperts, bringing agency (a tool to influence and express oneself through) to a largegroup of people. Multimedia support is also possible through uploading of imagesand other media files, which also makes it suitable for a range of different subjects.Lastly, weblogs are being adapted by many to a whole range of tasks that are mostlydone by large LMS (Learning Management Systems) today.

Getting started tips:

1) Discuss the role of categories in the course2) Foster a culture of openness and reflective practice

TELE Guide 29

3) Gradually show your students new features4) Point to good examples of weblog writing5) Let the student own their own weblog6) Follow the discussions, and link to them whenever it is possible7) Be an example to follow8) Let their weblogging count for a small part of the grade9) Let them choose what they want to be assessed (portfolio style)

Implementation

A lot of the weblogging tools are Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Thismeans there are no costs associated with the deployment of weblogging softwareeither for the product or the license. They do not demand powerful and expensiveservers (or clients), and most systems are translated into all the major languages.The systems lacking translation are easily translated due to the FOSS feature of a lotof the systems.

Technical requirements

Every weblog system requires a web server with cgi capabilities. The apache webserver is the most frequently used web server and the easiest one to use if you wantto start blogging. Another option is to use Zope which is a combined applicationsserver and web server, but then your choice of weblog application is limited to Zopeproducts (e.g. COREBLog or SimpleBlog). In addition you will often need a databaseto store the date in your weblog. MySQL is an open source database which nicely fitsmost weblog systems. More specific requirements can be found in the installationinstructions of each system.

Popular free weblogging tools:

Jroller (Java, http://www.rollerweblogger.org/page/project )Wordpress (PHP based, http://wordpress.org/ )bBlog (PHP, http://www.bblog.com/ )COREBlog (Python, Zope product)b2evolution (http://b2evolution.net/ )SnipSnap (java, http://www.snipsnap.org/space/start )Serendipity (php, http://www.s9y.org/ )

Summary description

Weblogs Universitetet i Bergen

Objective ofTELE

Subject of course = webculture, hence direct relevancePersonal student tool for activity logging, self-reflection andcommunicationConcept of serendipity

Educationalmodel

Described as “disruptive technology”, owned and controlled by thestudent. Therefore more leaning towards informal learning situation.Learning “on the outside” of the course structure.

TELE Guide 30

Mode of delivery Blended learning model

Platform Open source

Parties involved StudentsTeacherWider public (public website)

Places oflearning

HomeUniversityAnywhere

Context University course, First year Social Sciences & Humanities.


Interactivity with TELE √Throughout the course, the student constructs his/her own personalknowledge database which s/he can interact with, search etc.

Interactivity with tutor √

Interactivity with peers √


Web-based environment




TutorialGuidelines


CostsLow-cost (usually free)

LanguageAny

Technical aspects (see technical requirements)Low technology. Browser based. Not proprietary

Blogs and Self-Regulated Learning

Blogs are tools that can be characterised as disruptive technology because theystarted as user appropriated tools and not originally pushed or controlled by largeindustrial actors. They are also disruptive in the sense that the users in the beginningwere not told to use blogs (as opposed to LMS that are widely deployed and oftenmade a requirement to teachers), but they do this on a voluntary basis. They useblogs to 'control' and regulate aspects of their learning activities in a wider sense.They do this as they see blogs as helpful for their learning and research activities.First and foremost, blogs gives the user a tool for self expression. It lets you store

TELE Guide 31

information (or micro-content) that facilitate the blog owners meaning making. Otherstrong sides with regard to SRL are that they are owned and appropriated by theuser themselves. The user has control over her or his learning tool. It then lets youcreate content and the content can be labelled (categorised). This can serve at leastthree purposes. a) It lets you organise your meaning making process moreeffectively, b) Labels can be used as a meta-cognitive tool that triggers you to thinkmeta-cognitively about what kind of posting you are writing (and in this way you aremore aware of what you are writing), last), c) it lets your visitors monitor the categoryof her or his choice. On the social/collaborate side it gives you a tool to use to askquestions. An important aspect about SRL is the ability for a student to know when toask and how to ask, and even be in dialogue and how to collaborate.

Choice of software

In the beginning users made their own blogs by coding in html (hypertext mark uplanguage) and by scripting the functionality themselves. Today there are several freehosting services one can use. This makes it easier for a teachers to use blogs, butone should also consider running your own system because this can make it easierto integrate it into the existing infrastructure. Another fact is that several of the freehosting services put banner ads in every blogs they host, and this is not alwaysrecommended in schools/university settings (it is however possible to pay for thehosting and in return the ads will be deleted).

The development in blogging software had made many blogging systems today veryrich in functionality and many are now more closer to more encompassing contentmanagement systems (CMS). We also see that CMS (e.g. Drupal or Plone) havestarted to include blogging functionality in their systems. The advantage with thesesystems are that they will give you added functionality, but the disadvantage is thatthey will be harder to customize for each user and also the ownership will be theinstitution rather than each individual user. One should be careful with moving theownership from the user to the institution due to motivational aspects (personalownership is seen as a key motivational aspect in blogging).

Configurating a blog

The question is often how to configure a blog to promote and support self-regulatedlearning and learning itself. A standard blog configure should support categories,searching, commenting, blogrolls and links. There are in general two kinds ofcategory systems, hierarchical or flat category systems. The choice of system(hierarchical or flat) should support the way that suites the user most in cognitivelyterms. Some prefer to use flat organisation of their writings while others preferhierarchical (as in a file system). Effective organisation of your postings and thus alsoyour discussions can be more effectively facilitated in this way. The next importantthing is to use a system that allows searching. Search is pivotal. It will facilitate theuser and visitors in getting access to what you already has made. Commenting isimportant to enable communication and community building. Commenting should beconsidered mandatory. They thing is that we can not hope for serendipity toaccidentally happen in short courses. Blogrolls (links to other interested blogs) shouldalso be facilitated in the system making it easier to monitor the blogs of your peer.Last, there should be a way for the user to organise and show other links of interests.

TELE Guide 32

3. Content Systems With Tutor Support Group 2

3.1 Advanced Teacher Education in Informatics - ICT-based teacher trainingprogramUniversidade Católica Portuguesa

Context

Two Institutes of Portuguese Catholic University (UCP), Institute for DistanceLearning (IEFD) and Institute for Education (IEDU), decided to partner together inoffering a new MA degree on Education Informatics primarily aimed at teachers.

In fact, the Ministry of Education of Portugal decided to introduce two new ICTsubjects in the national curriculum. These subjects are mandatory for all students ingrade 9 (90 minutes/week) and grade 10 (180 minutes/week). The curriculum reformwas to be launched as of September 2004 and there was an estimated need of 1,800trained teachers for the teaching of the new ICT subjects. The priority would begranted to experienced teachers who would undergo some additional training in ICTdidactics. No formal offering existed addressing this need in the in-service trainingmarket and thus IEFD and IEDU decided to take this opportunity and provide aqualified offer in this field.

The decision to move forward was taken in May 2003 and the programme wasadvertised from June 2003 onwards. The first trimester opened in October 2003. Theselection committee approved 143 students from a sample of about 230 applicants.This is a record number of students for a Masters in Portugal.

Objectives of the TELE

The Course Objectives were:

• To open new graduate teaching in an area of vital importance for the country• To specialise teachers of the basic and secondary education levels• To develop studies and research related to ICT• To allow the training of students who live and work in places where the access to

some resources is difficult• To invest in innovative methodologies (massification of graduate studies)

For these objectives a comprehensive two-year curriculum was proposed:

• 1st Year:o 1st Term: Learning Psychology; Basic Notions of Hardware and

Networks (30h + 30h)o 2nd Term: Design of multimedia materials for web; Multimedia

Communication (30h + 30h)o 3rd Term: Common Software (advanced level); Internet and Education

(30h + 30h)

TELE Guide 33

• 2nd Year:o 4th Term: Didactic of ICT; Research Methodologies in Education (30h +

30h)o 5th Term: Distance Learning and eLearning; Project Seminars (30h +

80h)o Dissertation

The Tele was designed to support these objectives. It uses a blended learningeducational model supported in collaborative learning and self assisted learning asthe main methodologies.

The TELE Model

The TELE is web-based and used two different commercial platforms. The use ofthese two different platforms had two main objectives: on the one hand it was the firstexperience in distance learning for the University and thus was as opportunity to fieldevaluate different platforms and decide which criteria would be important to choose aplatform for a wider roll-out. On the other hand it matched one of the objectives of thecourse itself which was to familiarise students with distance learning methodologies.

1st e-Learning Platform Used: Netforma,developed by Vector21, a Portuguese company

TELE Guide 34

2nd e-Learning Platform used: Blackboard

The model was designed to take advantage of a reflective posture on relevant pastexperience (teaching trajectory and ICT- more than 30% of students were alreadyteaching computer literacy at school level).

The technologies, the learning objects and the eLearning platforms used weredesigned to foster collaborative learning ventures. Meta-motivation and meta-cognition were two key elements of this new programme where active participation inforums (a tool that underwent considerable technological improvement in the courseof the experiment) was intended to be the main tutorial and learning instrument. Atthe outset the majority of students tended to use forums as chats – a lot ofconversation but little collaboration but, gradually, forum interventions became morestructured and directed at knowledge construction. Surprisingly questions and issuescovered in forums overflowed into other areas in the platform (e-mails, chats, virtualcommunities) and especially outside the platform (personal e-mail; MSN).

The pursuit of meta-motivational enhancement and strengthening of vocationalidentities emerged as strategic elements of personal and social learning.

One source of evidence of the success of the model may be the low drop-out rate ofthe Masters, even when compared with international benchmarks.

TELE Guide 35

Number of Students attending each term

The TELE blended educational model is characterized by a monthly class sessionand self studying periods in between. This self studying period is supported by activetutoring where tutors are responsible for:

• Motivating students;• Providing counseling;• Managing the forums;• Clarifying questions through forum, chat or e-mail;• Conducting on-going evaluation (personal assignments; group assignments;

forums; etc.)• Conducting final evaluation;• Preparing and coordinating class sessions.

Tutoring Tutoring and and TeachingTeachingModelModel

On ClassSessions

self studying

contentscontents

TechnologyTechnologyTutoringTutoring

On ClassSessions

143

131

124121

110

115

120

125

130

135

140

145

inicial trim.1 trim.2 trim.3

Series1

Series2

TELE Guide 36

Sites

http://elearning-ucp-ie.vector21.comhttp://lms.iefd.ucp.pt

Summary description

AdvancedTeacherEducation inInformatics

Universidade Católica Portuguesa

Objective ofTELE

To support a masters degree in “Educational Informatics”

Educationalmodel

Blended learning using collaborative learning and self assistedlearning as main methodologies

Mode of delivery Web-based

Platform No platform usedCommercial platform used XProprietary platform used

Parties involved Institute of Education and Institute for Distance Learning, both of theCatholic University of Portugal

Places oflearning

Student’s places (home or workplace) and University (face to facesessions, once a month)

Context Teacher training program


No interactivityInteractivity with TELE XInteractivity with tutor XInteractivity with peers X


Operating system (server/client)Hard disk space requiredDisplay resolution, colour depthHardware components (workingmemory, processor, soundcard, graphics card)

PC multimedia (sound and videofacilities)

External devices Digital cameraConnectivity (e.g. type ofbrowser, band width)

IE5.0 and broad band (DSL orcable)


Low importance 0 1 2 3 4 5 High importance(Notwithstanding the importance of technology the conceptualmodel of training is much more important)


Users’ handbook (printed or inelectronic form)

x

TutorialGuidelines xHelp

TELE Guide 37


CostsLanguage PortugueseLegal aspects

Technical aspects (seetechnical requirements)Limitations in using TELE

Supporting self-regulated learning in an ICT-based teacher training program

The Course in Advanced Teacher Education in Informatics is a b-Learning masterdesigned to provide training for teachers. This course is part of group 2 TELEs –content systems with active tutoring

The TELE used two different LMS (Blackboard and a Portuguese company LMS –NetForma) to assess differences in perceptions and performance. From aquestionnaire on motivation applied to students, the technology used did not turn outto be an important motivational factor. This finding reinforces the main idea behindTELEPEERS: to evaluate a pedagogical model and not merely a technology.

From this viewpoint, the experiment conducted under the Master in AdvancedTeacher Education in Informatics is very comprehensive. Not only did we use twodifferent LMS, but also the course is composed of ten different subjects. Althoughthere are general pedagogical guidelines for the course as a whole, enhancing thecollaborative learning as an important approach, each subject followed a specificmodel that was in line with its inner characteristics (e.g. more technical or moretheoretical). This diversity rendered a rich input for the analysis of self-regulatedlearning within CMC environments.

The experiment conducted under the Master conveyed an important contribution bothfor the project and for other partners, because it is one of the most extensive anddiverse TELEs of the whole TELEPEERS package. The model relies heavily on theinteraction of students amongst themselves and with tutors. Hence, it was a source ofimportant data for refining the PRET and for a wide understanding of its applicationpotential. Much of the pedagogical model does not rely on specific tools of the LMS,or on overt content that may be displayed, therefore becoming invisible for theevaluator. Thus, the PRET had to be applied with a concurrent understanding oncontext and a full discussion on scope. It was a challenge that required constantinteraction with our evaluating partners: Genoa and Barcelona.

The “invisibility” and the extension of the Master course make the transfer of themodel a formidable challenge. It is worthwhile considering the peer evaluators’suggestions for implementation and transfer: Extrinsic motivation is necessary toallow sustainable levels of commitment to full course; Recognition of MA in the othercountry/system; Strategies to address cross-country multicultural and plurilingualwork between learners in a widened student intake.

TELE Guide 38

The fact the Master course is mainly designed to address a vast constituency ofpractising teachers – and to meet their needs both in terms of academic fulfilmentand of enhanced teaching competencies – would advise that any transfer ispreceded by a thorough diagnostics of school teaching strategies and learning styles.

Curriculum lay-out (October 2003 – July 2004)

Curriculum Lay -out (October 2003 –

Basic Notions of Hardware andNetworks

Learning Psychology

Basic Notions of Hardware andNetworks

Psychology of Learning1st Term

Multimedia Communication

Design of web contents

Multimedia Communication

Design of Web Content2nd Term

Internet and Education

Advanced Common Softwares

Internet and Education

Advanced Common Softwares3rd Term

Year 1

Didactics of ICT

Research Methodologies inEducation

Didactics of ICT

Research Methodologies inEducation4th Term

Distance Learning and e-LearningDistance Learning and e -Learning5th Term

Project SeminarsProject Seminars1st to 5th Term

Year 2Total: 350 hours

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3 . 2 C o g n i t i v e p s y c h o l o g y c o u r s e – E n h a n c e d W e b b a s e d s u p p o r tNottingham Trent University

Using web-pages to support undergraduate courses

Web pages are one of the main sources of information for students. They provideaccess to news, to academic material and to information about their interests. If youcan use a computer you can access the internet and read web pages. It is the idealenvironment to make information available to people at all times in all places.Students can access web pages when they want and where they want.

Lecturers can use web pages to present material to the students and provide supportfor their courses. For example they can use the medium to make their lecture notesavailable which provides an ever-present source of the material and eliminates theneed for paper handouts. Web pages can go beyond the simple presentation of textand offer a range of support materials that will help students to regulate their studyand develop their learning skills. Some examples of these support materials are,

• suggestions for further reading that allow students to concentrate and extendtheir learning where they feel they need it most, or where they have generatedinterest through their studies.

• mock exam questions enabling students to tailor their further reading andrevision to the requirements of the module assessment.

• examples of assessed work annotated by the tutor to show strengths andweaknesses.

• annotated links to other internet sites.• copies of academic papers.• discussion boards to enable an exchange of ideas between students.

Web pages can create a structured environment for students that encourages themto complete their course, provides support for this aim and also encourages readingoutside the strict requirements of the course. The challenge for lecturers is to providean electronic environment that is more than a book and encourages students toactively engage with the material to develop their own learning path.

Example of using web pages to support cognitive psychology courses

The level one cognitive psychology course at Nottingham Trent University uses webpages to add some extra support for students. The course engages with students ina number of ways with the aim of encouraging their self-regulated learning. Thecourse provides a programme of lectures and workshops to present the informationand encourage debate. The web pages are an additional source of information andencouragement.

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Figure 1. Cognitive psychology webpages

The materials for the module are set inthe context of more general support forc o g n i t i v e p s y c h o l o g y(http://ess.ntu.ac.uk/miller/cognitive/)which includes past student work andlinks to information on cognitivepsychology topics not directly coveredin the modules (see fig. 1).

The students can then get access to thelevel one support materials. Each lecturehas a range of materials including lecturenotes (available before and after thelecture), links to other sites and links toexplanations and illustrations of key ideas.For example figure 2 shows the outline forone lecture. It identifies topics to be coveredand provides links to demonstrations of theconcepts described such as a linked site,with examples to illustrate the conceptsbeing described (see fig. 2).

Figure 2. Lecture out l ine

The web pages also provide numerous online resources external to the Universitywebsite, including: academic papers, other Universities’ online tutoring resources which cover similar modules, video and audio resources illustrations of concepts/terms, such as perceptual illusions.

These resources provide a structured route into cognitive psychology and it is hopedthat this will provide a starting point for study rather than an end point. That choice isin the hands of the student.

Self-regulation

Web pages can also be used to encourage self-reflection and assessment. On thecognitive psychology web pages students are encouraged to assess their ownprogress and to prepare for module assessment with a range of materials. Theseinclude mock examination papers and examples of student work. Self-assessmentpages allow students to attempt short answer questions and look at the correctanswers and explanations for them.

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Figure 3. Annotated feedback

There are also examples ofassessed work that have beenannotated by the lecturer to showstrengths and weaknesses. Thesepages highlight the essays to showwhich piece of the answer gainedcredit and which contained errors.Students can toggle through thepages to get a picture of the mostparsimonious response (see fig. 3).

Other ways of encouraging self-regulation include providing interactive questions anddiscussion pages. Web pages can be used to offer a bank of multiple choicequestions that can provide instant feedback. A web environment can also be used toprovide a discussion board that allows for student discussion and tutorialassignments.

Figure 4. e-discussion board

An example of a discussionboard is shown on the left in fig.4. This webboard was set up toallow students to have space forinformal d iscussion andacademic discussion. Thechallenge for the academic staffis to find the best way ofmotivat ing the academicdiscussion and encouraging thestudents to engage with theirpeers.

Educational benefits of using web pages

Web pages offer many benefits for students and lecturers;• They are relatively easy to create using standard software,• They are accessible anywhere and anytime,• They can create a gateway to a wide range of other resources,• They can provide examples of student work,• They can encourage self-reflection,• They can be used as the focus of an electronic community.

Summary description

Cognitivepsychologycourse

Nottingham Trent University

Objective ofTELE

Support a cognitive psychology course on the bachelors degree

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Educationalmodel

Website that offers non-essential support for the course andencourages wider reading and a general interest in cognitivepsychology

Mode of delivery Webpages housed on the university servers

Platform No platform usedCommercial platform used: www based - any browserProprietary platform used

Parties involved tutor, students

Places oflearning

any www connected computer

Context additional support for single honours degree in psychology


Interactivity with TELE: minor

Interactivity with tutor: minor

Interactivity with peers: minorTechnicalrequirements

Operating system (server/client): any server that can house webpagesHard disk space requiredDisplay resolution, colour depth: standard settingsHard ware components (working memory, processor, sound card,graphics card): standard settingsExternal devices: none requiredConnectivity (e.g. type of browser, band width): any browser, anybandwidth




User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for teachers: noneUser’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for students: noneTutorial: noneGuidelines: noneHelp function: noneThe system conforms to standard web pages and is intuitive to use


Costs: fees for intellectual property rightsLanguage : English onlyLegal aspects: noneTechnical aspects (see technical requirements): no obvious difficultiesLimitations in using TELE: very specific for cognitive psychology in theUK

Web pages and self-regulated learning

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Self-regulated learning (SRL) is described as the activity where students act asmetacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in their ownacademic learning (Zimmerman, 1989). It would appear self-evident that SRL is agood thing both for students and also for educational institutions. It is self-evidentlygood for students because it is an aim of many educational programmes toencourage students to study independently and to reflect on their work. It is good foreducational institutions because it fulfils the course aim and, more controversially, itreduces the load on teaching resources and transfers responsibility for learning to thestudent.

The use of webpages offers students the opportunity to devise their own routethrough the educational material and to regulate their learning. Webpages provideminimal tutorial support and therefore do not have resource implications for theinsitution, but questions arise about the effectiveness of this style of resource forSRL. Models of SRL commonly focus on the cognitive features (e.g. Pintrich, 1999),and webpages can encourage the student in their cognitive learning strategies,metacognitive strategies and resource management strategies. There are, howeverissues of motivation to consider in SRL and the role of the teacher in promoting SRL(Paris & Winograd, 2001). Evidence from our webpages suggest that a sub-set of thestudent cohort use the webpages effectively. This raises questions about whether it isnecessary fo an educational resource to be used by all students, and what are themotivational features that need to be addressed to encourage further use.

Webpages provide a popular source of information for students but research isrequired to examine the essential features of teaching that are required to enhancemotivation and amplify the SRL components of the resource.

References

Paris, S. & Winograd, P.(2001). The role of self-regulated learning in contextualTeaching: pr incip les and pract ices for teacher preparat ion.http://www.ciera.org/ciera/publications. (accessed 12/07/05)

Pintrich P. (1999). The role of motivation in promoting and sustaining self-regulatedlearning. International Journal of Educational Research, 1999. 31(6), 459-470.

Zimmerman, B. J. (1989). Models of self-regulated learning and academicachievements. Pp. 1–25 i B. J. Zimmerman & D. H. Schunk (Eds.), Self-regulatedlearning and academic achievement. New York: Springer.

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3.3 Digital Video Course – Blended learning with new mediaUniversitat de Barcelona

A blended learning model

The studies of Audiovisual Communication at the UB are not traditional face-to-facestudies, but they are not e-learning either: they are defined as blended. A simpleconception defines blended learning as model that “combines face-to-face and virtualteaching” (Coaten, 2003; Marsch, 2003). For us means that the class hours arereduced and, at the same time, the importance of the learning process is increased,justifying an extra teacher’s dedication time. The teacher must dedicate these freeclassroom hours in planning different activities: in the virtual campus, in small groups,tutoring, etc. The students have different ways of passing their credits: in some casesby a traditional exam, and in other by developing projects. This last option connectsto the learning process in that it resolves real problems.

The blended formula is not an objective itself, but a resource in order to developother resources or approaches that allow us to reach real objectives. Furthermore,the blended model tries to solve some problems linked with e-learning model(Pascual, 2003). There are not the only ones aspects to consider but would help tounderstand the meaning of the blended learning in a university training modelcontext.

There are several ways of approaching the new blended learning concept, but thebasic idea refers to the election of different technologies, electronic or not, face-to-face or not, in function of the objectives that we want to reach and the possibilities ofthe resources. In practice, blended learning refers to a kind of learning that isproduced through face-to-face and distance actions.

It is important to put the emphasis on the learning concept. This old tendency (inSpain more than 30 years old) that reappears frequently, must be understood with adoses of common sense. The teacher does not design the apprenticeship but hisobjective is that the student reaches an adequate apprenticeship. The basic idea isthe student empowerment (Harvey & Knight, 1996).

The teacher can only design the teaching and provide resources, suggestions,instructions and orders related to the learning process. But is the learner who, in theend, designs their own learning process, choose their own resources (some of themunknown to the teacher, others would even surprise the education theorist).Because of this, blended learning is also a consequence which was hoped to bereached with this special teaching design, as we have to tutor the learner the using ofdifferent resources with special interests. An immediate consequence of the blendedlearning type is that the different courses start to show different models.

The Studies of Audiovisual Communication at the UB and self-regulatedlearning enhanced by ICT.

As we can see, there are different ways of using ICT in the field of AudiovisualCommunication at the UB. But in general it can be argued that the model aims to shiftthe focus from curricula delivering to a competence developing model that:

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“needs to run parallel with educational for citizenship, the need to develop personallyand to be able to take social responsibilities” (Tuning Project, 2002: 19)

In the different courses ICT are used to enhance SRL – in the Paris & Winogradconception (2001)- to promote:• The use of the web forum to discuss different topics of the course content: thisaims to develop critical competence and awareness of effective thinking.• The use of the web forum to develop a continuous assessment and tutoring of thestudent: to promote monitoring of progress, stimulate new strategies, and promotefeelings of self-efficacy.• The use of a web guidebook: to prepare and design strategies of learning.• The preparation and reservation the face-to-face interviews: in the interview thestudents have to prepare the strategies to develop their own projects. So it is reallyimportant to use the web in order to prepare and define learning strategies, an also tobe awareness as student of their own knowledge.

The Digital Video.

The course “Digital Video” (http://www.cav.ub.es/docencia/dv/textos/) is a non-compulsory course in the Audiovisual Communication Studies, at the Faculty ofTeaching Training of the University of Barcelona. The studies of AudiovisualCommunication at the UB are not traditional face-to-face studies, but they are not e-learning either: they are defined as blended. A simple conception defines blendedlearning as model that “combines face-to-face and virtual teaching”. This means thatthe class hours are reduced and, at the same time, the importance of the learningprocess is increased, justifying an extra teacher’s dedication time. The teacher mustdedicate these free classroom hours in planning different activities: in the virtualcampus, in small groups, tutoring, etc.

The course aims to develop Technical competences connected with the Digital Videoand critical competences ( in connection with the eCPLIse project, http://tv-lmi.ub.es/eclipse/ ). The class session takes place in a special laboratory (aclassroom where each student has a computer). Material is presented in lectures(one hour per week for 24 weeks) and supported through 2 workshops during theyear-long programme. The activities of the course are:

Activities Student’s group Didactic strategyContent explanation Whole classroom Lecture by the teacherPractical demonstration Whole classroom General demonstrations with the

computer by teacher.Practices Small groups Applied practices with the computer

tutored by the teacher.Interviews Small groups –

individualTutoring and continuous assessmentinterviews.

Forum Whole classroom Web forum discussing different topics:i.e. kind of examples and strategy toapply in the project.

Readings Individual Homework – Examples andbibliography linked in the web.

Work presentation In groups Self-presentation of the differentexercises developed during the courseand the project.

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The website provides• access to lecture material in the form of text-based handouts.• suggestions for further reading that allow students to concentrate and extend their

learning where they feel they need it most, or where they have generated interestthrough their studies.

• mock exam questions enabling students to tailor their further reading and revisionto the requirements of the module assessment.

• examples of assessed work annotated by the tutor to show strengths andweaknesses.

A screen shoot of the course’s web page.

The Digital Video course and the self-regulation learning

The factors that contribute to the self regulation learning are:

- The specific blended learning model, which combines the TELE with the faceto face sessions and individual monitoring interviews- The possibility of following up the activities by teacher and peers through thevirtual campus.- The strong social aspects. Specifically the possibility to socialize through theweb, and not only with tutor and peers, but also with external audience ( for example,to share the outcomes of the course with other peers of the eclipse project).- There is an intuitive interface, using a powerful LMS, but not used with lots offacilities.- The TELE was used as an informational support, using video facilities withinterest to learning strategy

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Transferability

The campus is a commercial one (WebCT). The course’s information (without thecommunicative tools) is easy to transfer. Exist the possibility to transfer this course(with the project) to non-university target group (ethnic minorities) in order toempower them in the analysis of the media. If you want further information contactMartín Aiello ([email protected] ) or Cilia Willem ( [email protected],es ).

Summary description

Digital VideoCourse

Universitat de Barcelona

Objective ofTELE

Developing competences in the technical use of the Digital Video andapplying these competences to develop critical ones in the frame ofthe eCLIPse Project.

Educationalmodel

Blended. Face to face with the use of ICT on and off line and virtualcampus..

Mode of delivery Virtual campus platform

Platform No platform usedCommercial platform used X WebCT Proprietary platform used

Parties involved Learners: 14 students from Catalonia, Mexico and Europe (Erasmus).With experience in other discipline fields). (first course).Learners: 25 students from 14 students from Catalonia, Mexico andEurope (Erasmus). With experience in other discipline fields). (secondcourse).Teacher: the professor who conducts the lectures and who is incharge of the course. Part of the LMI group of researchers. Open toapply recommendations.)

Places oflearning

Home, library, university laboratory, campus on line, etc.

Context Audiovisual Communication Studies of the University of Barcelona.UBVirtual (the web platform provider – technical support


No interactivityInteractivity with TELEInteractivity with tutor XInteractivity with peers X


Operating system (server/client)Hard disk space requiredDisplay resolution, colour depthHardware components (workingmemory, processor, soundcard, graphics card)

Personal computer with videoand sound cards, and speakers.

External devicesConnectivity (e.g. type ofbrowser, band width)

Internet browser and broad bandconnection.)

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Low importance 0 1 2 3 4 5. High importance(Notwithstanding the importance of technology the conceptual model oftraining is much more important)


Users’ handbook (printed or inelectronic form)TutorialGuidelines xHelp


CostsLanguage Catalan - EnglishLegal aspects

Technical aspects (seetechnical requirements)Limitations in using TELE Login and password needed. No

limitation for using the specificcourse website.

Digital Video and Media Literacy: a blended model to promote SRL

We assume that we live in an audiovisual society (Castells, 1996). This means that,after centuries, audiovisual messages have the same status as alphabetic ones. Thissociety is empowered by the intensive use of digital media and the massification ofInternet as an information and communication network. In this context it is importantto promote digital literacy, but also media literacy.

Whereas digital literacy deals with mastering new tools, Media Literacy, emphasisesthe sensible and responsible use of these tools, as they become increasinglyavailable throughout society and in all walks of life. Digital Literacy concentrates onthe acquisition of capabilities and skills related to new technologies, which play adecisive role for education, work, leisure, and, in particular, for activecitizenship.(Goodman, 2003).

Media Literacy is a higher order concept as it addresses various issues raised by thepervading influence of images and information, to which these new technologieshave given an unprecedented power of fascination and influence.

The Center for Media Literacy (CML, http://www.medialit.org ) proposed a definitionin order to respond to new situations in the 21st century media culture, and definesMedia Literacy as a movement and an approach to education, rather than just an‘ability’:

“Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework toaccess, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms (...). MediaLiteracy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essentialskills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy” (CML,p.8).

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Media Literacy, SRL, and Digital Video.

The idea of promoting ML is connected with this spiral of accessing, analyzing,evaluating and creating messages. If we follow the idea of the SRL cycle(http://vcs.ccc.cccd.edu/crs/star/educ120/intro2SRL.htm) we can realize that there isa parallelism between promoting Media Literacy and promoting Self RegulatedLearning.

The basic idea of the Digital Video Course at the Audiovisual Communication Studiesin the University of Barcelona (CAV-UB, http://www.cav.ub.es/docencia/dv/textos/) isthat the students can develop capabilities and skills addressed to mastering digitalvideo. But the objective is not only to promote Digital Literacy but also MediaLiteracy. The digital video course is an easy tool to access, analyze, evaluate andcreate audiovisual messages. The possibilities of compression make the messagesavailable through the web. This new function makes it easier to develop the SRL’ssocial-communicative aspects: the learners can share their audiovisual learning-productions (video production or video analysis) with the tutor and peers.

The blended model of CAV –UB

The CAV-UB’s studies are defined as blended. A simple conception defines blendedlearning as model that “combines face-to-face and virtual teaching” (Coaten, 2003).The blended model tries to solve some motivational and emotional problems linkedwith e-learning model (Pascual, 2003). The DV course combines differentmethodologies to promote SRL:

• Face to face sessions: technical classes to acquire the mastering skills on DV,and workshops on media analysis to acquire critical competences.

• Use of the virtual campus tools: the use of the web forum and email to discussdifferent topics, continuous assessment and tutoring of the student,

• Use of the DV course website: to upload the video analysis and production, toconfront their achievements with the web guidelines, etc.

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In this framework, technology (on- and off-line) plays a major role, but also the tutorhas an important responsibility (basically in motivational and emotional aspects) inhelping the students to become a self-regulated learner.

References

Castells, M (1996). The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. Volume 1:The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford and Malden, MA,Blackwell Publishers.

CML. MediaLit Kit Orientation Guide, Center for Media Literacy, www.medialit.org,p.8.

Coaten, N.(2003). “Blended e-learning”. In Educaweb, 69. 10/6/2003.http://www.educaweb.com/esp/servicios/monografico/formacionvirtual/1181076.asp

Goodman, S. (2003), Teaching Youth Media. A critical guide to literacy, videoproduction, and social change. Teachers College Press, New York.

Pascual, M.P.(2003). “El Blended learning reduce el ahorro de la formación on-linepero gana en calidad”. In Educaweb, 69. 10/6/2003.

http://www.educaweb.com/esp/servicios/monografico/formacionvirtual/1181108.asp

Introduction to the Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Cycle.http://vcs.ccc.cccd.edu/crs/star/educ120/intro2SRL.htm

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3.4 Teacher training course on ET- Using a CMCS in teacher trainingCNR Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche

Supporting Self-Regulated Learning in a CMC environment

The TELE analysed by ITD-CNR is the ad hoc configuration of Centrinity First Class2

prepared and used for TD-SSIS, an online teacher training course in EducationalTechnology. First Class is a commercial Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)system, that is, a web-based environment aiming to allow a group of people (in ourcase teacher trainers and their trainees) to interact in structured way.

The study of SRL in this kind of environment appeared to be particularly promising,since online learning itself compels the students to self-regulate time and work pace,as well as to develop abilities to interact and collaborate with peers, progressivelydecreasing dependence from the teacher.

Contextualiation of the course

The Educational Technology course analysed is part of the Specialisation School forSecondary Teaching (SSIS). ITD-CNR has been in charge of this course since theyear 2000, that is, when the SSIS was established. Within the TELEPEERS project,we have been focussing on the online edition of this course run in the spring 2004,mentioned as TD-SSIS in the following.

The benefits of computer-supported collaborative learning are well documented in theliterature, especially in the field of teacher development (Gray et al, 2005). Inparticular, the choice of this method for the TD-SSIS course derived from twoconsiderations. Firstly, the great diversity among students’ background and attitudescalled for a student-centred approach that increase responsibility for learning andalso be more flexible than traditional, transmissive teaching. Moreover, the broad andoperative nature of the course’s learning objectives could better be achieved throughan active learning process where students can question, apply prior knowledge,share and develop new ideas.

TD-SSIS’ main objectives include the development of instructional designcompetence, with focus on evaluation and selection of learning strategies andtechniques. In other words, student teachers are lead to become aware of both thepotential and pitfalls related to educational technology implementation in the schoolsetting.

The approach adopted in the course is inspired by socio-constructivist theories oflearning and is therefore heavily based on collaborative learning activities. Thistheoretical framework obviously influenced the choice of both the software platformused and the configuration worked out.

2 http://www.firstclass.com/

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Methodology applied

The course approach was mainly based on co-operative leaning, entailing discussionand collaboration among peers to develop shared understanding and meanings,according to the canonical pillars of co-operative learning online. Some of theactivities were purely reflective, others were aimed at producing artefacts such assmall project works. The course was not designed bearing in mind the developmentof SRL abilities; nevertheless, course tutors tried to foster meta-reflection and methodappropriation. Qualitative analysis of messages exchanged suggest that there arepeculiarities to SRL abilities when the learning context is a collaborative one, basedon Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). In addition, it seems that there areactivities that foster the development of such abilities better than others. Forexample, role playing activities can trigger the assumption of responsibility on theside of the trainees, helping tutors to step back from their scaffolding role to leave theground to one or two trainees with a penchant for leadership.

Structure and contents

The online course lasted 10 weeks and included three face-to-face meetings: one atthe beginning, one midway through, one at the end of the course. Basic computerskills were course prerequisites, because course content mostly involvedmethodological and pedagogical aspects, rather than technical ones. The courseprogram included seven main streams of activities, on the following topics:10) socialisation and familiarization with the learning environment,11) introduction to educational technology (definitions and history),12) learning theories (mainly behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism),13) analysis of educational software of various kinds (from constructivist learning

environments to classic drill and practice or reference works);14) practice with online educational activities, with particular focus on webquests;15) in-depth study of one topic chosen by the trainees among “teachers communities

of practice”, “analysis of the educational potential of written interaction in CMCenvironments” and “case study on a European project concerning the definition ofa syllabus for teacher training in ICT”

16) meta-reflection on the learning process.

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Fig. 1 shows the course desktop, where a folder for each of the course activities isprovided (these folders are in turn subdivided into subfolders, one for each group ofstudents). In addition, students could access a number of “general purpose” folders:Library (biblioteca), Bookmarks, Technical help (aiuto tecnico), News (novità),Calendar, Coffee shop (caffè) and Follow up (dopo il corso). One further folder isvisible to course tutors only, called Staff area (area staff). Particularly interesting fromthe point of view of SRL is the folder called How it is going (Come sta andando),where course participants are invited to express their opinions about the course and,more in general, about what they are learning and how they feel about the methodand the environment they are using, with explicit meta-cognitive purposes.

Fig 1 – The entrance panel of the FirstClass configuration revieweda) above: with First Class Client interface; b) below: with browser interface.

Evaluation within the TELEPEERS project

This FirstClass configuration was peer-reviewed using the Peer Review EvaluationTool (PRET). It was evaluated as a system which supports self-regulated learning toa medium-to-high degree (4 out of 5), offering its best on the social level (5 out of 5),showing its weakest aspect on the cognitive level (3 out of 5), and leaving thecognitive and emotional levels heavily dependent on the use made by the agentsinvolved in the learning process (teacher, tutors and students). The explicitness ofSRL support was just average (3 out of 5).

These results were rather expected, since the software underlying the environment isessentially a collaboration platform. Moreover, the configuration prepared aimed toprovide a balance between individual and co-operative work, helping the learner toexploit the interactions with tutors and peers by sharing reflections, comparing resultsand receiving support, yet leaving space for personal work, reflection and initiative.

The main points of strength were considered to be: 1) the easy and intuitive interface,apt to shape a creative learning environment; 2) the teaching strategy applied, apt tofavour an increase in self-confidence by the students.

The main weaknesses were considered to be: 1) the lack of a quick overview on thecourse content; 2) the prevalence of text-based interaction and limited exploitation of

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multi-media potential; 3) the limited document-sharing tools and functions offered byFirst Class.

The points of strength result from suitably exploiting the potentialities of the softwareplatform; the points of weakness depend both on structural limitations of the platformused, and on the fact that the development of SRL abilities was not amongst theexplicit aims of the course.

The following suggestions emerged to improve the support of this TELE to SRL:

• Provide methodological help to which the students may refer, in order to make thesupport for SRL more explicit;

• Provide automatic functions to stimulate the students to undertake appropriateactions (e.g. remind them to intervene in a discussion/forum, point out theexistence of new messages or new material, etc). This service should not beimposed, but offered as a possibility to be set by the user.

• Give the opportunity to have a space to record the learner’s activities, thepartner’s review and its evolution.

• Add a personal planning space where it could be possible to record the evolutionof the learner’s experience, so as to promote self and peer evaluation.

Summary description

Teacher trainingcourse on ET

NCR Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche

Objective ofTELE

Centrinity FirstClass™ (henceforth called FC) is a CMC (ComputerMediated Communication) environment, suitable to support onlinecourses. It does not have a content knowledge of its own, but onlystructuring facilities.The learning environment considered is a suitable configuration of FCused in an initial teacher training course on Educational Technologies(henceforth called TD-SSIS). The software platform is not restricted, inprinciple, to our kind of users.

Educationalmodel

Cooperative learning

Mode of delivery On-line communication and collaboration


Parties involved Typically, TD-SSIS is used by teachers, tutors and students (traineeteachers), and occasionally by external experts.

Places oflearning

Home, and anywhere a computer with Internet connection is available

Context In our case study, the students are prospective teachers of secondaryschool of any discipline, hence graduate adults, often already involvedin some work activity.

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Operating system (both server and client): Windows, MacOs 9.x,MacOs X, Linux; clients may use an OS different than that of theserver

Hard disk space required: Server: 10 MB for Windows and MacOs 9; 6MB for MacOs X; Client: 4 MB.

Display resolution, colour depth: any

Hardware components (working memory, processor, sound card,graphics card): 10 MB RAM; graphic card necessary for easy-to-useappearance

External devices: not required

Connectivity (e.g. type of browser, band width): The deliveringinstitution needs to have the server-program in order to structure thework space. Students can use any common browser, but only thespecialized client (freely downloadable from the Centrinity’s site)allows users to fully exploit the possibilities offered by the program.




User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for teachersUser’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for students XTutorialGuidelinesHelp X

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Costs for educational use of server (regular costs are higher):1) annual rent: € 97.00 for the server + € 20,50 for each expected

user (between 50 and 100 users) or € 17,00 for user (over 100users);

2) acquisition: server: € 259,00 for the server + € 55,50 for eachexpected user (between 50 and 100 users) or € 45,00 for user(over 100 users);

3) maintenance costs after the year of acquisition: server: €51,50 for the server + € 11,00 for each expected user (between50 and 100 users) or € 9,00 for user (over 100 users)

Client is free.Language: server and client are available in 13 languages; use oflanguage in the software is limited to the command menu; the actorscan use their own language within the working space; in our casestudy interaction took place in Italian.Legal aspects: The platform is commercial software (hence a licencemust be purchased), the configuration is our production, and can bereproduced freely by other teachers.Technical aspects (see technical requirements): nothing to be addedto the above description.Limitations in using this TELE: licence price varies in relation to thenumber of students, which must hence be evaluated a priori. However,having a licence for, e.g., 50 students means that 50 users are allowedto connect to the system simultaneously; the total number of enrolledstudents can exceed this limit.

Using CMC environments to support self-regulated learning

During the evaluation phase, it became apparent that most of the environment’sfeatures that determined the result of the evaluation are not peculiarities of theparticular software platform used, but are (at least partially) shared by most CMCenvironments, while other existing CMC environments may offer other structuralfeatures apt to overcome the weaknesses pointed out above. It is then possible togive some guidelines to support SRL within such environments.

From the analysis carried out, it resulted clear that, for CMC environments, SRLpotentialities should be checked at two different levels, that is, the platform level andthe whole environment provided by the application (including both the configurationprepared and its use in the course).

Choice of the platform

As concerns the platform used, it appears rather neutral in all aspects but the socialone, since collaborative tools are the only ones that are explicitly provided. Thisneutrality as concerns cognitive, motivational and emotional aspects, however, doesnot hinder the possibility to work out configurations able to support SRL also in theserespects.

In particular, the following features appear to be important:

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• Presence of an easy and intuitive interface, which allows the user to get to knowand make use of all the environment’s features in a short time. This also helpsavoiding the cognitive overload for the students to spend much attention on theuse of the software, hence leaving them more freedom to concentrate on learningitself.

• Possibility to control and personalize the environment’s organization, hencehelping the users to avoid confusion and helping them to become more aware oftheir own thoughts, and possibly also of their own learning style and currentneeds.

• Possibility to set up both public and private communication streams, not onlybetween teachers and students, but also among students; this gives betteropportunities to practice with collaborative work, and fosters the development ofpersonal initiative.

• Availability of a history for all operations and interactions taking place in theworking environment, which turns out very useful to support evaluation and self-evaluation.

• Availability of tools for self and peer evaluation.

• Possibility of exchanging multi-media .materials, not only texts.

• Availability of document sharing tools

• Availability of a methodological help so to make the support to SRL explicit;

• Availability of automatic functions stimulating students to undertake appropriateactions.

Configuration of the environment

As concerns the ad hoc configuration and use of the learning environment, it shouldbe noted that the “virtual presence” of peers and tutors within the online environmentmay compensate for the cognitive, motivational and emotional aspects that theplatform alone doesn’t support. The ability of an online course to suitably exploit thepotentialities of the CMC environment depends on several factors:

• the didactical project and instructional design;

• the type and amount of scaffolding given by teachers and tutors;

• the context of use (including both teachers and peers).

As concerns the first two aspects, the following points appear important, especially,but not only, on the cognitive level:♦ allowing the students to shape one’s own learning path choosing among different

modules, according with one’s own needs and interests;♦ assigning tasks of reciprocal teaching and role plays;♦ letting the students become more and more in charge of organising and carrying

out the discussion on the various topics considered;♦ giving emphasis to reflection, both on the topics of interest and on the tools used,

so to foster the acquisition of critical awareness of resources, strategies, methodsand professional needs for knowledge and resources;

♦ assigning tasks of peer- and self- evaluation.

The context of use, finally, appears particularly delicate, since it depends not only onteacher and tutors, but also on all students, and this aspect is obviously difficult to

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control. On the other hand, this aspect is extremely important, since the emotionaland motivational levels of SRL depend heavily on it. In our opinion, a good way toaddress this point would be to explicitly include SRL abilities among a course aims,along with learning content knowledge, and to make the students aware that: 1) SRLis a very important ability for them to acquire; 2) SRL acquisition requires awarenessand commitment on their part, not only on the cognitive and social level, but also onthe emotional and motivational one. In this respect, we could perhaps introduce theterms meta-emotional and meta-motivational abilities, by analogy with the well knownmeta-cognitive one.

In conclusion, fostering SRL within a CMC environment requires competence in thewhole variety of aspects mentioned, as well as an explicit commitment on the part ofall subjects involved. Without such competence and commitment, SRL developmentwould take place in a marginal fashion, and, what’s more, there would be a stronglikelihood that only those students who already have SRL abilities would be in acondition to learn effectively in such an environment.

Reference

Gray D.E., Ryan M., Coulon A. (2004) The training of Teachers and Trainers:Innovative practices, skills and competences in the use of eLearning, EURODL-European Journal of Open and Distance Learning,http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2004/Gray_Ryan_Coulon.htm (last retrievedon 15 Jan 2005)

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4. Content Systems Without Tutor Support Group 3

4.1 Sunpower – CD-ROM to train business EnglishUniversität zu Köln

Program development

Sunpower is a multimedia learning program available on four CD-ROMs. It wasdeveloped at the University of Applied Sciences Cologne (FH Köln), in collaborationwith language and media consultants in the UK and the Institute for IntegratedCampus and Distance Learning (Institut der Verbundstudien der FachhochschulenNordrhein-Westfalens) at Hagen (Germany). More information on the program isavailable from http://www.sunpower.fh-koeln.de/BEENGL.HTM

Main ideas

Recent research results on learning suggests that the acquisition of knowledgediffers among individual learners, largely depending on their backgrounds, learningexperiences and existing knowledge. It is recognised that each learner constructshis/her knowledge him/herself. Learning is considered an active process where (likein real life) learners select the information they need from a rich authenticenvironment and incorporate it into their mental structure. The more the learningenvironment resembles the situation to which transfer is required, the easier thetransfer of the new acquired knowledge is, if the opportunities presented are relevantand appropriate to their level. Autonomous learners who want to monitor their ownlearning process should be aware of this. The aforementioned findings also apply tosecond-language acquisition and have been implemented in the Sunpower program.

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The Sunpower program focuses on communication strategies in English for businesspurposes. It was developed on the basis of the concept of situated learning and moregenerally on constructivist ideas: authenticity, complexity, holistic approach, user’sresponsibility for and awareness of their own learning process, and learnerautonomy.

Any second language learning program has, of course, to be selective and can onlyoffer a reduced image or simulation of real life.

Authentic materials contain hesitation devices, overlapping dialogues, pauses, non-sequiturs, slips of the tongue and so on, which correspond fully to real-life conditions.Although the material presented by the program exhibits these qualities, the programcan be adjusted for the purpose of interaction and exercise.

Target group

The main target group are adults, mostly students of business administration andrelated subjects. The students have either an entry qualification for a Universitycareer, have been trained in a professional context or have had other kinds ofoccupation. This means that they want to use their limited time most efficiently. At theend of their language training they have to pass a major examination, where theyhave to prove their ability to implement their language competence within aprofessional field.

The second target group are professionals, already working with English speakingpartners or planning to do so in the near future. The third target group are distancelearners or students in open learning institutions.

Objectives of the Sunpower program

The Sunpower program aims at enabling the adult intermediate to become anadvanced level learner- to recognise and use communication strategies in a professional field- to identify cross-cultural features in a specific professional field and avoid cross-

cultural misunderstandings- to improve language skills (listening and speaking) within a specific professional

field.

Principles underlying the instructional design of Sunpower

The Sunpower program- intends to offer a rich learning environment that is as close to real life as possible- allows for learner autonomy – providing free and transparent access to all

features- enables the learners to be aware of their own learning strategies and encourages

them to take responsibility for their own learning process.

The program provides the students with a choice of different paths he/she can take. Italso offers graded help facilities (transcription, vocabulary, grammatical comments,support language) in order to meet the heterogeneity of the target group. It is up tothe user how much help s/he wants to call on.

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The ORIENTATION menu offers the user an overview of different paths. S/he canstart with a short self-evaluation and then continue with one of the four EPISODESthat make up the core of the program: marketing, finance, sales, and planning. Inthese episodes, the student is presented with a number of communication strategiesas they are employed in business negotiations. The contextual framework wasprovided by the Intersolar group, a group based in the U.K. that focuses on solarenergy.

EXPLORE allows him/her to select• Texts of video sequences• Language lab facilities• Translation (into German)• Hyperlink explanation of vocabulary, grammar and cross-cultural issues.

After clicking on INTERACT, s/he can go to• Video sequences• Interrupt a dialogue and decide how to continue this dialogue• Explanation of the communication strategies used.

STRATEGY will allow the user to focus on• Explanation of communication strategies• Examples• Activities: exercises on strategies.

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Clicking on the WORKSHOP icon provides the user with access to a number offacilities that may help him/her to monitor his/her learning progress , in particular theoptions WORKPLAN, NOTEPAD and SELF-ASSESSMENT and TESTS.

The Sunpower program takes into account the various types of learners and theirdifferent needs by offering a great variety of auditive, audio-visual and textual stimuli.Besides this, it allows the use of the learner’s individual learning strategy: they maychoose the way which is appropriate for them. They may, for example, prefer learningby watching and listening or learning by studying examples and annotations andlooking up linguistic specificities first.

Summary description

Sunpower Universität zu Köln

Objective ofTELE

Teaching communication strategies in English (to German speakers)for business purposes

Educationalmodel

Computer, 4 CD-ROMs and workbook provide tutoring materials toguide the learning process + structure + record assessment

Mode of delivery CD ROM


Parties involved learner

Places oflearning

Practically everywhere where a computer is available

Context The program may be used on an individual basis but could also beused in a presential or distance course

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No interactivityInteractivity with TELE XInteractivity with tutorInteractivity with peers


Operating system (server/client): WINDOWS 98SE or higherHard disk space required: 10 MBDisplay resolution, colour depth: 800x600, 16 bit colourHard ware components: standardCD ROM drive: (8x of higher)External devices : Headphones, microphoneConnectivity (e.g. type of browser, band width): standard




User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for teachersUser’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for students XTutorialGuidelinesHelp function X


Costs: 99.95 €The sunpower program (4 CD-ROMs) including a workbook isavailable from Hueber Verlag in Germany (http://www.hueber.de).Language : English for German speakersLegal aspects: Commercial softwareTechnical aspects (see technical requirements)Limitations in using TELE: advanced knowledge in English is required

Sunpower and self-regulated learning

In evaluating the TELE, it became apparent that the program shows strenghts as faras conitive aspects of self-regulation are concerned. It allows the user to work at hisown pace and at times that are convenient to him. The user may choose from anumber of learning strategies and the program explicitly provides resources for anindividual organisation of learning procedures. Numerous tests and provisions for re-doing self-assessments support self-regulation of learning.

The program does not address explicitly the non-cognitive aspects of self-regulatedlearning. However, the peer reviewers acknowledged that due to its high degree ofauthenticity, the TELE is likely to arouse personal interest and increase intrinsicmotivation. Also, if the aspects which target the cognitive factors of the learningprocess are successful, presumably this successful learning would facilitate apositive emotional reaction to using and learning with the TELE.

The TELE was evaluated as a program for self-study. As such, it does not provide forcommunication with peers and tutors. It therefore rates very low on the socialdimension of the PRET which in turn leads to overall evaluation results which isrelatively low.

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The peer reviewers commented that building in options to allow for communcationwith tutors and peers would improve the potential of the TELE to support self-regulated learning. This improvement could also be achieved by making the programpart of a wider TELE, i.e. one which includes instructors, tutors and peers. This couldbe a presential or a distance course on business English.

Despite the the relatively favourable rating of its potential for helping with thecognitive aspects of self-regulated learning, there were some complaints from peerreviewers as well as from users that navigating in the program needed some time toget accustomed to. It would therefore seem to be desirable to make the structure ofthe program more apparent.

The fact that some exercises do not react appropriately to false answers wouldindicate that the program still contains some bugs which the authors shouldeliminate.

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4.2 Databases – A model for online studiesUniversité de Technologie de Compiègne

Databases (NF17)

The objective is to lead the students to control the conception of relational databasesand relational objects. This course mainly focuses on learning conceptual and logicalmodeling and obtaining technological competence in classical DBMS (like Access,MySQL or Oracle) by applying database languages (like SQL, PHP or JAVA).

The course is divided into two main parts: lectures, supervised works and practicalworks conducted in the same time period. During the course, the teacher explains thenew concepts to be assimilated (which may be either not very clear, or are toonumerous). During the lab works and the supervised works, the students assimilatethe concepts taught in the lectures, but there is always a person in charge of thesupervised work who can help with any questions regarding the course. Then at theend of the six-month period, a project in groups of four is conducted. The student isnot obliged to choose the technical tools. The students submit their homework viaVLP. Moreover, the experts also suggest that the students present real projects onthe creation of databases.

The documents of learning are formatted by the Scénari platform. Indeed, that allowsthe student to act, because it's him/her who has to advance in his/her learning andmanage his/her acquired knowledge. Thus, the students are confronted with the factthat a new learning approach is necessary. The work in groups is significant in thismodule because it is the centre of this learning program: the student is betterprepared to co-operate. S/he controls his/her own project and his/her knowledge ofvarious technological database tools (SQL, MySQL, Oracle, Access, etc…).

On the website, we find the information as seen below. The screen is divided in two;the chapters to the left and the contents on the right.

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At the end of each chapter, there is a series of exercises. In addition constantly, it ispossible to affix a flag at the end of each chapter in order to know what was taken ornot.

The forum is an asynchronous and collaborative communication tool.It makes itpossible for a group to exchange and discuss around a topic or question. There areseveral types of forum. The principles which we chose are as follows:- the forums are created around main categories: project, course or TP.- each one can then begin a new debate or raise a question in the forum of theirchoice by the creation of a new discussion- each actor can feed the debate or answer the put question. The interventions andanswers all appear on the same level in the discussion in chronological order.The forum heading comprises a sub-menu made up of the list of the forumsavailable. When a forum is selected, the list of the discussions which comprise itappears in the right part. A discussion can be introduced by a question or a topic.

Once the discussion has been created, all the actors can feed it by a succession ofanswers which will appear in the discussion in chronological order of remark.

Document space is a storage space for documents produced or used within theframework of the course.When a document appears in this space, it means that it is registered on the serverof the formation. The people registered with the course concerned will thus be able toreach these documents from any station connected to the network.When a person downloads a file in the document space, it is recorded on the harddisk of his or her working station. In order that the modifications are reflected on thefile of space documents, it is necessary to update this last by replacing it by the filemodified on the learner’s hard disk.Space documents contain two distinct parts accessible by a sub-menu:

- Common Space: common space is visible by all. Only the teachers can add,modify or remove documents to and from it. Students can download the files presenton this space onto their hard disk.It is a place where documents concerning the whole of the group are provided.Common space contains, for example, the document, as well as the subjects ofprojects.

- Space for returned homework: There is a space for "Returned" documents. Thisspace is a place of exchange between the student and the person in charge of the

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practical work. Students can put the productions to be returned there or any otherdocument which they wish to make visible to the tutor.The tutor has access to the whole of the space and can also add to it and modify filesin these spaces. This makes it possible for students to return their projects.

Site

http://www4.utc.fr/~nf17/

Summary description

Databases Université de Technologie de Compiègne

Objective ofTELE

The TELE is used to give tutorials in the field of databases from designto practical aspects. The code of the corresponding course is NF17.

Educationalmodel

Mode of delivery Web interface using XML.

Platform No platform usedCommercial platform usedProprietary platform used X

Parties involved Students + tutor.

Places oflearning

Université de Technologie de Compiègne. School of EngineeringClassroom. Face-to-face learning

Context The course is divided into two main parts: two-hour lectures, three-hour supervised works and practical works conducted in the sametime per week.During the lab works and the supervised works gather 24 studentsdistributed in pairs. The students assimilate the concepts taught atcourses, and the person in charge of the supervised work helps themwith any questions regarding the course. Then, a project in groups offour must be conducted at the end of six-month period.

The evaluation consists in presenting real projects on creation ofdatabase, mid-term exam and a final exam (MCQ, simple exercises, aproblem to solve).The students feel free to answer the questions placed on the TELE,which are not graded as the answers are already given.



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Operating system (server/client) Any web navigator (MIE,Netscape, Mozilla, StarFox…)

Hard disk space required No requirementsDisplay resolution, colour depth AnyoneHard ware components(working memory, processor,sound card, graphics card)

Not required

External devices Not requiredConnectivity (e.g. type ofbrowser, band width)




User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for teachersUser’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for studentsTutorialGuidelines X XHelp function X


Costs noneLanguage FrenchLegal aspects No legal barriers for looking at

this current system . You onlyneed to contact the author andUTC to use this TELE in a realeducational context.

Technical aspects (seetechnical requirements)

Standard web technologies

Limitations in using TELE No limitation, if the author andUTC have given to you the rightto use this TELE

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4.3 Programming Tutorial – Additional online exercisesUniversité de Technologie de Compiègne

Algorithmics and programming (NF01)

The objective is to help the student better understand the programming as well asalgorithms. The student learns how to model a problem of programming and to find asolution in the form of an algorithm, by applying the Pascal program.

The module is divided into three parts: lectures, supervised works and practicalworks. During the lectures, the first half hour of the course is used for the teacher toresume the chapter. In the second half hour the students address questions on thepresent chapter. In the remainder of the lecture, fifteen minutes is used to present thechapter to be prepared for the next week, and in the final fifteen minutes the studentstake a quiz on the present chapter. During the supervised works (TD), the studentsare divided into groups of four. At the beginning of six-month period they receive allthe subjects that they will study during the supervised works throughout the entireyear. Each person in charge of the supervised work does not correct the exercises,but calls a student to the blackboard after giving him/her time to think over them. Itobliges them to prepare the course before coming to supervised works. The labworks allow students to put all the theoretical knowledge of the module into practice.Sessions last two hours, take place every fifteen days, and are conducted atcomputers. The first lab works are not graded, and the last three are evaluated with avalue of 5% for each. Each lab work deals with the main notions of algorithms, theother labs refer to the remaining elements.

The evaluation is continuous as well as final. There is a mid-term exam and a finalexam to be passed. The last three lab works complement the final grade of thestudent with the continuous control.

The website includes a lot of tools: simulation, exercises, quizzes, electronic notes,link to other notes, etc…

All the tools permit the students to verify their assignments. The website is a real toollike the VLP in distance modules because it offers the students a real possibility ofevaluating their own knowledge. There is also the little quiz, which permits studentsto evaluate their level. The website is for the first cycle students to help them tounderstand the course as well as possible. They will find there the course, variouscorrections of the former examinations, simulations for better apprehending the data-processing concepts, such as exercises covering issues where there may be somedoubt. The website is divided into four parts:

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1 – Course

Quick access to the course is achieved by the menu on the left. Afterwards, theinterface will enable us to reach the contents of a course by two different routes. Onthe right-hand side, it is always possible to consult simulations or exercisesconnected to a chapter.

2 – Exercises and quizzesThe quizzes and exercises allow the students to evaluate themselves and to learnfrom the errors they may make. Thus, they can deal with any gaps in their ability.They will then be able to work more efficiently.

The exercises and the quizzes are gathered together by chapter. After each one, thestudent can directly apply the concepts that s/he has just acquired, while being testedduring the relevant quiz. the end, an indicative mark is given so s/he can know ifhis/her understanding was accurate.

Quickaccess

Recall of the chapter

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3 – Simulations

Various simulations are placed at the disposal of the student. What can happen isthat training by example can be theoretical. With simulations, the student canvisualize the problem better. with the exercises and the quizzes, simulations areeasily accessible and are gathered together by name.

4 – GameThe game is the "final surprise" for the learners. It is an effective means for the userto assess whether s/he has mastered the entire contents of the course. It is role playwhere the user is presented with various options when being asked a question. is allintegrated in a captivating story. The player has a certain quantity of energy whichs/he will see progressively decreasing depending on his/her choices. he can recoverenergy while answering the questions which relate to the whole of the knowledgewithin the framework of course NF01.

Site

http://www4.utc.fr/~nf01

Summary description

ProgrammingTutorial

Université de Technologie de Compiègne

Objective ofTELE

To help UTC students to better understand algorithms andprogramming

Educationalmodel

Courses, exercises, quiz, simulations, a game, old exams.

Mode of delivery Interactive environment on the web

Platform No platform used htmlCommercial platform usedProprietary platform used

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Parties involved Teachers, tutors (for distance learning)

Places oflearning

Université de Technologie de Compiègne. School of EngineeringTwo classrooms : face-to-face learning (Undergraduate students) anddistance learning (Continuous education).All the students can use the internet application at home.

Context Concerning NF01 in face to face, during the fall semester, every weekthe onsite students have one and a half hour of lecture: the first halfhour of the course the teacher will be resuming the chapter, the otherhalf hour the students will be addressing questions on the presentchapter. The rest of the time (15 min) will be presented the chapter tobe prepared for the next week and the remaining quarter of hour thestudents will have to take a quiz on the present chapter. They alsohave two hours of supervised works and two hours of practical works(labs). The students have to study the lecture and during thesupervised works to solve exercises at the blackboard. The professoris in charge of about 140 students per semester. The students areevaluated from the mid-term and final exams, and the 3 lab workpapers submitted. The final exam consists in solving a programmingproblem.

In distance, they are very far and they don't see the tutor. The tutor isin charge of about 20 students per year. Generally, in parallel withtheir courses the students have a job. Thus, they focus on theirlessons usually in the evenings or during week-ends. Farther thestudents are situated, the more they tend to multiply their contacts withthe teaching staff, considering that no regular meetings aremandatory. All meetings are conducted monthly. The students areevaluated to the same way.


No interactivityInteractivity with TELE XInteractivity with tutor mailInteractivity with peers


Operating system (server/client) Any web navigator (MIE,Netscape, Mozilla, StarFox…)

Hard disk space required No requirementDisplay resolution, colour depth AnyoneHard ware components(working memory, processor,sound card, graphics card)

Not required

External devices Note requiredConnectivity (e.g. type ofbrowser, band width)



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User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for teachersUser’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for studentsTutorialGuidelinesHelp function


Costs noneLanguage frenchLegal aspects No legal barrier

Technical aspects (seetechnical requirements)

Standard web technologies

Limitations in using TELE No limitations

Working with a TELE based on a content system without tutor support thatdoes not explicitly support self-regulated learning

The TELEs at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne were not explicitlydesigned to improve self-regulated learning. Self-Regulated learning is not anchoredin the pedagogical culture of our University of Technology (school of engineering),where students are rather assisted. In France, Self-regulated learning is used inclassical universities (medicine, human sciences, law…). In such universities, thereare few exams (only at the end of each semester) and no homework to do. Thus, selfregulated learning is necessary. On the contrary, in scientific schools and schools ofengineering, students have several classes with tutors (labs, exercises) andhomeworks to perform. Then, they are less used to self-regulated learning, becausethey always can meet a teacher and ask questions to him. They also have a lot ofresults, almost every two weeks, and thus, they can know their level of understandingand imagine easily if they need to work more such or such course.

Our TELEs have been design to help student to better understand lectures and topractice more, in order to better prepare them to exams. But these TELE’s have notreally taken into account self-regulated learning contexts. For the moment, Frenchstudents generally prefers a lot face-to-face learning instead of distance learning,even to communicate between each other.

For these reasons, human computer interfaces have been well studied in order to‘attract’ students and increase emotional aspect. Otherwise, students reject veryquickly computer tools and TELEs. Evaluation of these interfaces has produced goodresults. The peer evaluators have noticed, for the ‘programming tutorials’ (NF01)TELE, that “The TELE is highly motivating because of its use of many colors,simulations, animations, games, stories and riddles that are to be solved with theknowledge acquired before”.

On the other hand, the weakness of our TELEs is generally the lack of socialaspects: no possibility to work together, no communication between peers… This isrelated to the fact that we are a very small university (2500 registered undergraduatestudents, but only 2000 students present in our university, the 500 other studentsbeing in training periods in the industry). Thus, students can see each other veryeasily, every day, and they do not really need to communicate through computer

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programs. They prefer face to face communication and work. This fact can explainthe low level of social aspects in our TELEs.

Instead of expressing some ideas on how content systems without tutor supportmight support self-regulated learning, we propose a number of questions:

- Do we need to use a specific computer operating system in order to ensure thecorrect operation of the TELE?

- Is the TELE easy to install or does it need specific actions and software?- Do we need to use specific Web navigators in order to ensure the correct

operation of the site?- Do we need to upload many plug-in to be able to use the application (flash,

shockwave…)?- What is the importance of the memory resources requested by the site?- Did the site cause a blocking or closing of the application in an unexpected

way?

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4.4 SWIM – Online tutorial for information seekingAalborg University

Streaming Web-based Information Modules (SWIM)

Why SWIM? SWIM is a TELE intending to help students reflect on their information-seeking behavior. Through using this they become self-regulated information seekerswithin problem-based learning that is the pedagogical model of Aalborg University.SWIM is Aalborg University library’s streaming web-based information module, aservice available on the library’s website taught as part of the introduction to thelibrary services offered to students and new users in general.

To be more specific SWIM is a game simulation, intending to give ‘the students/userof the program a higher degree of information competence that can be utilisedindependently of specific information resources, time, and place. In addition, thisincreased level of competence can be used to support [their] life-long learningprocess… SWIM is intended to communicate an appropriate strategy for retrievinginformation that is generally applicable. Also, to communicate to its users informationretrieval techniques that are easy to understand and can be utilized when searchingfor information in connection with studies, projects, essays, assignments, etc. (SWIMpedagogical manual, p. 3).

Features of SWIM

SWIM has three primary components:

• The role-playing simulation of project work that exposes the student to generalinformation-seeking processes and problems.

• Information modules that expose the student to specific information on thedifferent stages and problems of information-seeking.

• A pedagogical manual that has suggestions regarding the use of SWIM indifferent contexts.

The information modules and the pedagogical manual are primarily text-based andrelatively traditional materials. We thus want to focus on the features of the role-playing game in this overview of the features of SWIM.

The game is designed to reach its goal on the basis of two premises: it should buildon a theoretical understanding of information-seeking, and relate to group organizedproblem-based learning that is the pedagogical model of Aalborg University. This haslead to a game in which the player is a member of a virtual project group with threevirtual members. These members of course represent different approaches toinformation seeking.

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Figure 1. Introductory screen from the role-playing game.

During the game video sequences present the player with discussions regardinginformation seeking between the other three members of the group. Each of the threemembers take positions in the discussion according to the information-seekingpersonality they are given in game. All discussions end with the virtual group turningto the player for a decision on which information-seeking approach to choose.

The game is composed of six situations. In the first five scenes the player has todecide on an information-seeking strategy and in the last one the group receivesfeedback. The group is graded at the project exam. The feedback tells the playerabout pros and cons of the different information-seeking choices throughout thegame. This represents a working and learning process that new students at AalborgUniversity are becoming familiar with.

Benefits of Using SWIM

Besides the obvious benefits of improving the information-seeking skills of students,the design of SWIM is a benefit in the way that it accelerates student learning. It doesso by involving students in a situation that is as close to real life as possible and byinviting the student to reflect on the simulation of information-seeking practice.Compared to the old practice in which a librarian gave the students a lecture followedby information-seeking exercises, this is an improvement.

SWIM also offers a benefit by enabling distributed and flexible use. SWIM can beused in a traditional computer lab with a librarian available, at home by the student

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sitting alone at his/her computer, or in a project room by a smaller group of studentspreparing for a project.

Figure 2. Who do you agree with? These are your options after the first scene of therole-playing game.

Implementation

Technical RequirementsSWIM is a web-application that can be distributed from any web-server. The web-browser used to access SWIM must be Flash enabled because SWIM is developedin the Macromedia Flash MX environment.

SWIM comes in two video qualities: one suitable for at least 512 Kbps internetconnections (typical ADSL or cable TV) and one suitable for connections of at least 1Mbps internet connections.

Price and AvailabilitySWIM is developed by Aalborg University Library (http://www.aub.aau.dk) and fundedby the Danish Electronic Research Library (http://www.deff.dk/index_eng.html) - agovernmental institution. It is thus freely available to Danish institutions. Otherinstitutions can negotiate a fee with Aalborg University Library.

The program is available in English onhttp://www.aub.auc.dk/swim/swim_uk/adsl/splashintro.html.

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Summary description

SWIM University of Aalborg

Objective ofTELE

To increase the user’s abilities to search for information for projectwork within the pedagogical frame of problem-based learning. Theobjective is twofold: good information search, good collaboration in theproject group

Educationalmodel

Problem-based learning

Mode of delivery Available on the internethttp://www.aub.auc.dk/swim/swim_uk/adsl/splashintro.html

Platform No platform usedCommercial platform usedProprietary platform used

Parties involved A student, a group of students, a group of students and a teacher, agroup of students and a librarian

Places oflearning

At the library, at home, at University

Context To be used as part of the library’s mandatory introduction, and as areference point for teacher/coach




Operating system (server/client)Hard disk space requiredDisplay resolution, colour depthHard ware components(working memory, processor,sound card, graphics card)External devicesConnectivity (e.g. type ofbrowser, band width)

All browsers




User’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for teachers noUser’s handbook (printed or in electronic form) for students noTutorial noGuidelines noHelp function


Costs ?Language EnglishLegal aspects ?

Technical aspects none

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Limitations in using TELE ?

SWIM and Self-Regulated Learning

As opposed to a library catalogue, which is a means to find something, SWIM isdesigned to motivate the user to think that information search is important, not tothink that you have to learn about it; later the user – and potential teachers - cansubject the user experience to reflection, introduce different information strategies,phases, types of approaches, group constellations etc. SWIM is meant as amotivating instrument for reflection, on the users’ attitude as a member of a group ofcollaborators, and a competent information seeker. In that respect SWIM clearly triesto induce SRL. The PRET also foresees that SWIM has a relatively good support forSRL. However, this is only the perspective of the designer and it does not necessarilyprotrude to the librarians using SWIM with students and to the students using SWIM.

According to a librarian who uses SWIM it has at least three roles. First, it is a toolthat can help students to understand how to seek information for their projects and inthat way it is supposed to take some of the workload of the librarian. Second, ininformation seeking courses SWIM gives students a basic knowledge of informationseeking strategies. Furthermore students and librarian get a common ground for thereflection on information seeking practice. In the mind of the librarian SWIM thussupports SRL by aiming to make students able to self-regulate when they searchinformation in the future. Third, the librarian regards SWIM to represent the right wayto seek information. The latter is the significant role of SWIM in the eyes of thelibrarian – especially because it raises several critical questions. She does not agreewith the model of good information seeking practice implemented in SWIM. She doeshowever feel that since SWIM is the official tool she has to defend even though it tosome extent contradicts her knowledge and beliefs. The third role of SWIM indicatesthe limits of the support for SRL since the librarian feels that SWIM limits her self-regulation when choosing which information seeking strategies to teach the students.It can thus be claimed that SWIM limits the potential SRL among the students byholding back information seeking strategies that could have been relevant to thestudents when they in the future have to self regulate information seeking processes.

Based on the present data it is difficult to trace any significant induction of SRLamong the students, which is of course quite critical. It is however also important tosee this result in the light of the research strategy used. We used questionnaires totrace a change in the information seeking behaviour of students, whereasethnographic methods used to follow students over one semester or a whole yearhad given a far deeper insight in information seeking practices. We had then had astronger case when arguing whether or not the SRL support potential of SWIM isrealized among the students using it.

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5. List of contributors

Universität zu Köln (Germany):Karl Steffens, Kathrin Petzold

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands):Jos Beishuizen, Patris van Boxel

Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Portugal):Roberto Carneiro, Carla Ganito, José Lagarto

Aalborg University (Denmark): Ellen Christiansen, Tom Nyvang

CNR Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche (Italy):Giuliana Dettori, Tania Giannetti, Donatella Persico

Nottingham Trent University (United Kingdom):Jean Underwood, Allison Ault, Phil Banyard

Universitat de Barcelona (Spain) :Antonio Bartolomé, Martín Aiello, Celia Willem

Université de Technologie de Compiegne (France) :Philippe Trigano, Marie Héléne Abel

Universitetet i Bergen (Norway):Rune Baggetun

TELE Guide Version 8 - UB Guide 1 TELE Guide Guide for the Implementation and Use of Technology...

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