Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, May, 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Zugl.: Braunschweig, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2009

Thesis (Ed. Spec.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Field study. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Christine D. Thomas, committee charir; Nikita D. Patterson, Clara Nosegbe Okoka, Janice S. Scott, Pier A. Junor-Clarke, committee members. Electronic text (176 p. : forms, graphs (some col.)) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed May 1, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-143).

The purpose of this thesis is to give account of experimental teaching of a CLIL, namely in combination with blended learning at the second level of elementary school. The starting point was a reflection on how to relieve the overloaded of schedule of lessons devoted to non-linguistic subjects, in which many teachers now struggle with time to manage to teach all that is needed. To answer the question as to how pupils of an eighth grade of primary school, would respond to a new type of lessons in an unusual form, I tried to perform a teaching experiment in which the pupils went through a hard CLIL programme driven by blended learning. The available resources on this issue have been elaborated in the form of the theoretical part, which forms the first part of this work. It deals with CLIL, e- lerarning and blended learning. The second part consists of the preparation of the research and the third part is devoted to its implementation. The research consisted of three hours of full-time teaching enriched by blocks of e-learning support. During the preparation and implementation of the project, I tried to find sources of motivation that would encourage pupils to spend their extra-maths learning time. I collected the data for the subsequent analysis by participating and mediated observation, using...

Blended learning constitutes a key element of the NMMU’s Vision 2020; therefore, creating the expectation that academics from the NMMU will implement and utilise blended learning as part of their teaching pedagogy. Implementation reports drawn from Moodle (the learning management system utilised by NMMU) indicates that there are still numerous departments that are not fully utilising blended learning. The aim of this study was thus to determine the factors that impact on the acceptance and implementation of blended learning by academics at the NMMU. A modified version of the Technology Acceptance Questionnaire was electronically distributed to academics from the various NMMU campuses in order to collect the empirical data, with purposeful non-probability sampling being employed. The results indicated that factors, such as perceived usefulness, the student-centered nature of blended learning, the appeal of such environments to students, accessibility, as well as administrative- and communication benefits, had a positive influence on blended learning adoption. Lack of time and lack of knowledge with regard to blended learning use and implementation, concerns regarding accessibility, and lack of capacity and technical support were cited as issues that hampered blended learning implementation.

Although a categorical definition of the concept of blended learning is yet to be established, in broad terms, Blended Learning refers to a system that combines traditional face-to-face teaching environments with an online component. This therefore makes the learning process far more engaging for the student and also enables the lecturer to extend teaching and learning outside the classroom. The private higher education institution that was the focus of this study (referred to as Campus A) had attempted to introduce blended learning as a teaching and learning approach at the institution. The site had been operating in Port Elizabeth for 15 years and offered a range of degrees, diplomas and certificates on a full time basis and a range of short learning programmes as part of their business school. Despite concerted effort made by the managers to drive the adoption of blended learning on the campus, the acceptance of this teaching practice had been slower than expected and, given the transformative potential of blended learning, the management of the campus wished to improve the adoption rate significantly. Therefore the primary purpose of this study was to identify adoption strategies that could be used to increase the acceptance of blended learning as a teaching strategy at Campus A of this educational institution. The study followed a two pronged approach; the first part entailed a review of literature on the successful implementation of blended learning. The review concluded with an adapted model that integrated relevant blended learning adoption factors. The model was thereafter used for the second part of the study, as a basis for questionnaires and interviews that were conducted with relevant staff with the aim of determining how the integrated model for the adoption of blended learning should be implemented on the campus.

This action research study explores the role of blended learning as a tool for the professional empowerment of teachers of English as a foreign language in provincial and rural areas of Uruguay. Specifically, a three-year blended teacher development programme designed to facilitate professional empowerment by integrating face-to-face and online learning opportunities is examined through Garrison, Anderson and Archer’s (2000) Community of Inquiry framework as well as through Kumaravadivelu’s (2001, 2006b) Postmethod parameters of particularity, practicality and possibility. Findings suggest that blended learning can facilitate the professional empowerment of teachers in geographically-removed areas by fostering their movement towards higher levels of cognitive thinking. The teaching, social and cognitive activity in a blended setting is distributed over the face-to-face and online learning arenas, with the teaching and cognitive ‘presences’ being embedded in the social. While the highest levels of cognitive activity are rarely visible in participants’ virtual discourse, this discourse refers to other environments where cognitive activity is more clearly evidenced, such as participants’ assessed work and classroom practices. In short, the Community of Inquiry parameters offer a lens through which to visualise effective course design and pedagogy for teacher education in this context, by providing a language to articulate what is particular about the setting, what participants perceive as practical and ultimately what is possible for them to achieve in terms of empowerment and emancipation. These parameters are explored through the examination of the whole-group processes as well as the in-depth analysis of two participants’ individual journeys. This study also foregrounds the complexity and richness of action research, especially in terms of the multiplicity of roles determined by the researcher’s immersion in the field, and highlights the need for extensive reflexivity. The academic, professional and situated contributions indicated above are identified, as is the potential for further research in this and other similar settings.

The purpose of this study was to analyze teacher perceptions on the relationship of technology and student academic behaviors and performance in the blended learning environment across 9th through 12th grade within east Tennessee and to identify the components of blended learning and pedagogical practices that enhance students’ academic behaviors. Specifically, this study is an analysis of how student motivation and student autonomy relate to technology implementation and face-to-face instruction within blended learning environments. The participants of this study were teachers within 2 school districts in East Tennessee. All high school teachers within the participating school districts received an online survey that was distributed from their corresponding principals via email. The online survey used a Likert-type scale that consisted of 40 items focused on teachers’ perceptions of student motivation and student autonomy with the blended learning environment. The analysis of the data was based on the responses of 75 teachers from the 2 participating school districts. Statistical analyses of the data revealed that the amount of teacher technology use, student technology use, learning management system use, and type of professional development did not have a significant relationship with participants’ perspective of student motivation or student autonomy. The research also did not reveal a significant relationship between participants’ age and perception of student motivation. However, this research revealed a significant relationship between participant age and participants’ perception of student autonomy. The study revealed that, as participant age increased, participants’ mean student autonomy scores decreased.

Vorgestellt wird ein Konzept für einen Grundkurs Regelungstechnik, der die Erfahrungen nach drei Semestern Online-Lehre aufgreift. Die Basis ist die Vermittlung des theoretischen Wissens über Lehrtexte und Screencasts. Ergänzend wurden die Übungen in Fragestunden und die eigentliche Diskussion der Lösungen aufgeteilt, um aktivierende Methoden intensiver einsetzen zu können und nachhaltigeren Lernerfolg zu erreichen. Durch die Vielzahl von Lehrformen ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit, die Struktur des Moduls explizit zu thematisieren. Der Beitrag vergleicht dabei zwei verschiedene Ansätze und stellt eine dafür gut geeignete Skriptform vor. Im Beitrag wird auf die letzten drei Semester und die jeweils vorgenommene Studierendenbefragung Bezug genommen. Außerdem wird die Problematik bei der Wiederverwendung von Screencasts thematisiert.