The time for WIMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is coming. Wireless network, a major trend of urban development nowadays, has become a part of modern life. In addition, all the countries have put emphasis on the application of information technology in the field of education. Thus, Ministry of Education in Taiwan actively promotes how to integrate information technology into teaching. In order to combine policies with the development of technology industry, building a wireless teaching environment in junior high schools is now a benchmark of becoming a clever mobile city for Kaohsiung City. As the prosperity of wireless network technology, mobile learning is now the main stream of the ubiquitous society; that is, utilizing modern technology into teaching has become a trend. This research takes the teachers major in humanities and art and the executive directors in the junior high schools in Kaohsiung City as an object of study, probing into the completion of building wireless teaching environments in these schools, the application of wireless network for teaching in the field of humanities and art, and the information literacy in connection with the will to utilize such technology of these teachers. This research bases on Davis¡¦s Technology Acceptance Model, probing into the usefulness, the ease of use and the will to use of teaching with the wireless network with the construction of the wireless environment in the campus and the information literacy of the teachers by the questionnaires. It adopts SPSS15.0 for Windows as well as Amos 7.0 systems to analyze the data and Structural Equation Modeling to proceed to the causal path analysis of the research structure, testing the causal relationship of each variable in this research. At the same time, it uses the data from the questionnaires and the interviews to mutually confirm the conclusion. According to this research, there are five conclusions: 1¡BGender, the seniority of teaching, the function of office and the scale of the school will affect the usefulness, the ease of use, the will to use and the information literacy of teaching with the wireless network. 2¡BSo far the construction of wireless environment of the junior high schools in Kaohsiung city is still not perfect; specifically, only few schools can expand wireless access points by themselves while other schools still maintain 5 access points offered by the Education Bureau. Thus, the access points are installed only in the conference rooms or the special-function classrooms; they are insufficient for the normal classrooms. 3¡BThe teachers in the field of humanities and art generally use internet resources to teach, but many of them can not directly teach on the internet owing to the insufficiency of wireless environment. 4¡BThe information literacy of the teachers has a notably positive effect on the usefulness, the ease of use and the will to use of teaching with the wireless network. 5¡BThe effectiveness of how WIMAX influence the completion of building wireless teaching environment in junior high schools is not so obvious.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are having remarkable effects and promise potential solutions to many of the South Pacific islands’ geographic, economic and social challenges. Access to ICTs is also an increasingly important factor for education and training in the region. While the Pacific eLearning Observatory, supported by the University of the South Pacific, has been monitoring the development and access to ICT in education across the 12 university’s campuses, studies that specifically examine the attitudes and understanding of educators working on the islands of the South Pacific towards the use of ICT in their profession, as well as for their professional development, are rare. This study aims at addressing the gap in the literature by examining the professional development of facilitators working in blended learning environment across the remote islands of the Cook Islands. The research outcomes of this study are based on the analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews, and the theoretical foundation of this thesis is grounded in the social and situated theory of learning. By closely examining the facilitators’ perceptions, the project sheds new light on the still little recognised concept of online communities of practice in teaching and learning. The central finding of the study is that participation in online communities of practice offers on-going opportunities for learning, development and support, and reduces the feeling of remoteness and isolation associated with the geographical conditions of the South Pacific region.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are having remarkable effects and promise potential solutions to many of the South Pacific islands’ geographic, economic and social challenges. Access to ICTs is also an increasingly important factor for education and training in the region. While the Pacific eLearning Observatory, supported by the University of the South Pacific, has been monitoring the development and access to ICT in education across the 12 university’s campuses, studies that specifically examine the attitudes and understanding of educators working on the islands of the South Pacific towards the use of ICT in their profession, as well as for their professional development, are rare. This study aims at addressing the gap in the literature by examining the professional development of facilitators working in blended learning environment across the remote islands of the Cook Islands. The research outcomes of this study are based on the analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews, and the theoretical foundation of this thesis is grounded in the social and situated theory of learning. By closely examining the facilitators’ perceptions, the project sheds new light on the still little recognised concept of online communities of practice in teaching and learning. The central finding of the study is that participation in online communities of practice offers on-going opportunities for learning, development and support, and reduces the feeling of remoteness and isolation associated with the geographical conditions of the South Pacific region.

CAPES / Com o objetivo de identificar elementos que justifiquem o uso didático dos telefones inteligentes (Smartphones), realizamos uma pesquisa qualitativa investigando a tendência do mobile learning, m-learning visto que há escassez de estudos focados exclusivamente a respeito do uso do celular como ferramenta didática. Resgatando pesquisas sobre o tema em diferentes áreas do conhecimento, esta pesquisa aborda o uso do aparelho celular inteligente no ensino da Matemática empregando o aplicativo WhatsApp. Desenvolvemos, portanto, uma pesquisa bibliográfica onde destacamos como, atualmente, é vista a presença do celular em sala de aula, a relação professor-aluno-celular, e ainda, o smartphone como tecnologia em sala de aula. Como trabalho de campo, acompanhamos dois grupos WhatsApp compostos por alunos do terceiro ano do Ensino Médio que utilizaram o aparelho como ferramenta de estudo de Matemática. Diante disso, observamos que o telefone celular pode ser um aliado de grande potencial para atender as demandas educacionais atuais. Este aparelho, com suas potencialidades, pode se tornar uma ferramenta pedagógica muito poderosa para um ensino que recentemente vem se instalando, conhecido como ensino híbrido, pois, com este aparelho é possível que o aluno acesse plataformas, como Moodle, ou Helpousts, que podem ser utilizadas nesse modelo de ensino e que se mostram como o caminho que a educação vai seguir nos próximos anos. Experiências vivenciadas por professores nas escolas brasileiras, com os telefones inteligentes, também foram analisadas. Diante de vários estudos realizados e dos grupos que acompanhamos, concluímos que o uso pedagógico do celular inteligente tem potencial para revolucionar a comunicação entre professor e alunos bem como proporcionar diferentes abordagens sobre os conteúdos. No entanto, ainda observamos nos docentes uma resistência à presença desse instrumento em sala de aula para fins pedagógicos. / With the objective of identifying elements that justify the didactic use of telephone intelligent (Smartphones), we conducted a qualitative research investigating the trend of mobile learning, m-learning is seen that there is a shortage of studies focused exclusively on the use of the mobile phone as a teaching tool. Rescuing research on the theme in different areas of knowledge, this research discusses the use of cell phone device smart on the teaching of Mathematics by employing the application WhatsApp. We developed, therefore, a bibliographic search where we highlight how, currently, is seen the presence of mobile in the classroom, relation the teacher - student - cell phone, and still, the smartphone as technology in the classroom. As field work , we followed two groups WhatsApp compounds, by students of the third year of high School that have used the instrument as a tool for the study of Mathematics. On the face of it, we observe that the mobile phone can be an ally of great potential to meet the demands of the educational current. This device, with its potential, can become a pedagogical tool very powerful for a school that recently has been installing, known as Hybrid Education, because, with this device it is possible for the student have access platforms, such as Moodle, or Helpousts, which can be used in this model of education and that show it as the path that education will follow in the next few years. Experiences by teachers in Brazilian schools, with telephone intelligent, were also analyzed. In the face of several studies and groups who follow, we conclude that the use of pedagogical smart phone has the potential to revolutionize the communication between teacher and students as well as provide different approaches about the contents. However, we also observed in teachers a resistance to the presence of this instrument in the classroom for teaching purposes.

abstract: Data and the use of data to make educational decisions have attained new-found prominence in K-12 education following the inception of high-stakes testing and subsequent linking of teacher evaluations and teacher-performance pay to students' outcomes on standardized assessments. Although the research literature suggested students' academic performance benefits were derived from employing data-informed decision making (DIDM), many educators have not felt efficacious about implementing and using DIDM practices. Additionally, the literature suggested a five-factor model of teachers' efficacy and anxiety with respect to using DIDM practices: (a) identification of relevant information, (b) interpretation of relevant information, (c) application of interpretations of data to their classroom practices, (d) requisite technological skills, and (e) comfort with data and statistics. This action research study was designed to augment a program of support focused on DIDM, which was being offered at a K-8 charter school in Arizona. It sought to better understand the relation between participation in professional development (PD) modules and teachers' self-efficacy for using DIDM practices. It provided an online PD component, in which 19 kindergarten through 8th-grade teachers worked through three self-guided online learning modules, focused sequentially on (a) identification of relevant student data, (b) interpretation of relevant student data, and (c) application of interpretations of data to classroom practices. Each module concluded with an in-person reflection session, in which teachers shared artifacts they developed based on the modules, discussed challenges, shared solutions, and considered applications to their classrooms. Results of quantitative data from pre- and post-intervention assessments, suggested the intervention positively influenced participants' self-efficacy for (a) identifying and (b) interpreting relevant student data. Qualitative results from eight semi-structured interviews conducted at the conclusion of the intervention indicated that teachers, regardless of previous experience using data, viewed DIDM favorably and were more able to find and draw conclusions from their data than they were prior to the intervention. The quantitative and qualitative data exhibited complementarity pointing to the same conclusions. The discussion focused on explaining how the intervention influenced participants' self-efficacy for using DIDM practices, anxiety around using DIDM practices, and use of DIDM practices. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2017

O crescimento do acesso à tecnologia, seja ela representada pela internet, pelas redes sociais ou pelas plataformas virtuais de educação, amplia consideravelmente a participação dos indivíduos na circulação de conteúdos e na construção do conhecimento. Em decorrência dessa universalização das novas tecnologias e da expansão das possibilidades de conexão e colaboração virtual, autores como Swales e Feak (2012) indicam que as atividades acadêmicas em geral e, em particular, a leitura e escrita acadêmicas, por meio das quais divulga-se e consolida-se o conhecimento científico, estão cada vez mais colaborativas e incorporadas em contextos sociais e profissionais. Como consequência, é possível observar a crescente valorização do ensino de escrita acadêmica, seja no Brasil, pelo aumento na oferta de cursos livres ou de extensão sobre o assunto, embora em número insuficiente para atender à demanda por parte de alunos; seja nas universidades europeias e americanas, onde estudiosos de novas tendências nas práticas de escrita no ensino superior, como Castelló e Donahue (2012), afirmam que a produção escrita de universitários é forma de promover uma aprendizagem mais ativa, construtiva e reflexiva. No Brasil, se por um lado a cena universitária sofre alterações como consequência da criação de políticas públicas de inclusão social para promover a democratização do acesso ao ensino superior, por outro, tomamos conhecimento de dados oficiais sobre o Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM) de 2014, que revelam uma queda de 9,7% na performance dos alunos brasileiros em redação, estatística que tomamos como alerta de que o desempenho linguístico dos ingressantes na universidade brasileira precisa ser observado com mais atenção, em vista de que haverá novas demandas em termos de leitura e escrita que deverão ser supridas para que sua atuação no ensino superior seja satisfatória. Em vista disso, propomos promover o ensino de produção de gêneros acadêmicos como o artigo científico em Língua Portuguesa no ensino superior, mediante a combinação de atividades interativas realizadas em ambientes presenciais e virtuais, como modo de assegurar o desenvolvimento, por parte dos alunos, de competências complexas em termos de prática escrita, além de auxiliá-los a participarem de forma mais integrada e reflexiva do processo de construção do conhecimento acadêmico. Para tanto, propomos, metodologicamente, as seguintes ações: uma investigação teórica com base na literatura de referência sobre interação, cognição, ensino de produção de texto acadêmico e ambientes de aprendizagem; uma investigação de caráter etnográfico com observação participante por meio da aplicação de uma proposta de ensino que envolve uma concepção particular do gênero artigo científico e a combinação de atividades em ambientes presenciais e virtuais; um questionamento a professores da área de ensino de produção textual; e um questionamento a alunos que participaram das aplicações dessa proposta. Consideramos que uma experiência bem ajustada de aprendizagem da produção do artigo científico, em que a Língua Portuguesa é instrumento de construção de conhecimento, pode propiciar melhor inserção social do estudante, por levá-lo a dominar um gênero que vai contribuir para legitimar seu discurso na área da ciência em geral, seja dentro da universidade, seja no âmbito profissional. / The increase of technology access, whether represented by the internet, social networks or virtual learning platforms, considerably extends the participation of individuals in content circulation and knowledge building. As a result of this standardization of new technologies and expansion of connection possibilities and virtual collaboration, authors such as Swales and Feak (2012) suggest that academic activities in general and, in particular, reading and academic writing, through which scientific knowledge is disclosed and consolidated, are becoming increasingly collaborative and incorporated into social and professional contexts. As a result, we can observe growing valorization of teaching academic writing, both in Brazil, by rising the offer of open or extension courses on the subject, although insufficient in number to meet the demand from students; and in european and american universities, where scholars of new trends in academic writing in higher education, as Castelló and Donahue (2012), argue that enhancing students\' writing is a way to promote a more active, constructive and reflective learning. In Brazil, if on one hand university scenario is altered as a result of social inclusion public policies to promote democratization of access to higher education, on the other, we become aware of official data on Secondary Education National Examination (ENEM) 2014, showing a decrease of 9.7% in Brazilian students writing achievement, statistics that we take as a warning that Brazilian freshmens linguistic performance needs to be observed more closely, having in mind that there will be new demands in terms of reading and writing that should be met so that their activities in higher education will be satisfactory. In view of this, we propose to promote the teaching in Portuguese of genres as academic papers in higher education through a combination of interactive activities in face-to-face and virtual environments, as a means of ensure the development, by the students, of complex skills in writing practice, and help them to participate in a more integrated and reflective way of academic knowledge building process. Therefore, we propose, methodologically, the following actions: a theoretical investigation based on the reference literature on interaction, cognition, teaching of academic writing and learning environments; an ethnographic research with participant observation by applying a teaching proposal that involves a particular conception of scientific paper gender and the combination of activities in face to face and virtual environments; an inquiry to teachers of the writing area of education; and an inquiry to students who participated in the application of this proposal. We believe that a well-adjusted learning experience of scientific paper writing, in which the Portuguese language is an instrument of knowledge building, can provide better social integration of the student, causing him to dominate a genre that will help to legitimize his speech in science in general, both in the university and professional fields.

O objetivo deste estudo é investigar a forma como diferentes participantes de fóruns digitais desenvolvidos em uma sala de aula virtual da plataforma Moodle, marcam sua presença social, cognitiva e de ensino nesse contexto, favorecendo a formação de uma comunidade de aprendizagem. Fundamentam teoricamente este estudo: a) uma reflexão sobre a relação entre tecnologia e ensino, com base em estudos desenvolvidos por Coll (2010), Prensky (2011), Rojo (2012), Castells (2003; 2013), Braga (2013), Levy (2014 [1999]), Mayrink e Albuquerque-Costa (2015), Moran (2003; 2015), entre outros; b) uma discussão a respeito da formação crítico-reflexiva de professores para o uso de tecnologias no ensino, partindo das contribuições iniciais de Dewey (1938) e seus desdobramentos nos estudos de Schön (2000 [1998]), Freire (1987), Perrenoud (2008, [2002]), Liberali (2010) e Mayrink e Albuquerque-Costa (2015); c) o entendimento de Vygotsky (1984) em torno da ideia de aprendizagem colaborativa por meio da interação com o outro e sua repercussão no modelo proposto por Garrison e Anderson (2005), que definem a importância das presenças social, cognitiva e de ensino como base para a formação de comunidades de aprendizagem em contextos de interação online. Os dados foram coletados ao longo do segundo semestre de 2015, no contexto da disciplina Língua Espanhola do curso de Letras de uma universidade pública de São Paulo. Participaram do estudo a professora, duas tutoras e os catorze alunos da disciplina. A pesquisa, de cunho etnográfico, seguiu a abordagem qualitativa-interpretativista. Os dados analisados correspondem ao discurso dos participantes produzidos em três fóruns desenvolvidos na plataforma (um fórum de notícias e dois fóruns de discussão). Também constituem dados deste estudo dois questionários aplicados no início e no fim do curso e os relatórios de participação dos alunos gerados pela plataforma Moodle. A análise focalizou, particularmente, os fóruns digitais, por este ser um espaço profícuo para uma observação da interação entre os participantes, visando à busca de evidências dos indicadores das presenças de ensino, social e cognitiva propostos por Garrison e Anderson (2005). A interpretação dos dados revelou que, considerando a quantidade e qualidade da participação dos interagentes nos fóruns e da forma como estes marcaram, discursivamente, sua presença social, cognitiva e de ensino, o grupo caminhou em direção à formação de uma comunidade de aprendizagem. / This research aims at investigating how different participants of digital forums in a virtual classroom using the open source platform Moodle mark their social, cognitive and teaching presences in this context, in order to contribute to the formation of a learning community. This study is grounded on: a) a reflection upon the relationship between technology and teaching, based on studies developed by Coll (2010), Prensky (2011), Rojo (2012), Castells (2003; 2013), Braga (2013), Levy (2014 [1999]), Mayrink and Albuquerque-Costa (2015), Moran (2003; 2015), among others; b) a discussion about critical-reflective teacher education for the use of technologies in teaching, built on Deweys early contributions (DEWEY, 1938) and their developments in the studies of Schön (2000 [1998]), Freire (1987), Perrenoud (2008, [2002]), Liberali (2010), and Mayrink and Albuquerque-Costa (2015); c) Vygotskys understanding of collaborative learning through interaction with the other (VYGOTSKY, 1984) and its repercussion on the model proposed by Garrison and Anderson (2005), who define the importance of the social, cognitive and teaching presences as the basis for the formation of learning communities in online interaction contexts. Data were collected throughout de second semester of 2015, in the classes of Spanish language, a subject which is part of the Spanish Language Teaching Program at a public university in São Paulo. The professor of this subject, two tutors and fourteen students participated in the study. This ethnographic research followed the qualitative interpretative approach. The data analyzed here are part of the discourse of the participants built in three forums setup on the platform (a news forum and two discussion forums). Two questionnaires applied at the beginning and at the end of the course and reports of students participation generated by the Moodle platform also constitute the data used in this study. The analysis focused on the digital forums in particular since they constitute a rich space for the observation of interaction among participants with the objective of looking for evidences of the indicators of teaching, social and cognitive presences as proposed by Garrison and Anderson (2005). Considering the quantity and quality of the participation of the forum interactants and the way they have marked their social, cognitive and teaching presences discursively, the interpretation of these data showed that the group tended to form a learning community.

Processing instruction (PI) is a language teaching technique based upon the model of input processing developed by VanPatten (1993, 1996, 2002, 2004). The present study investigated the effects of PI as well as two other experimental conditions (traditional instruction and control) on the acquisition of the Spanish copulae ser and estar by 66 Chinese university students enrolled in a blended (partially presential and partially online) fourth-semester language course. The PI treatment condition included non-paradigmatic grammar explanations, processing strategies designed to help learners avoid commiting errors they may be predisposed to make, and structured input activities which eliminate redundant features of language that may make difficult the establishment of form-meaning connections. The traditional instruction (TI) treatment condition included paradigmatic explanations of grammar as well as production-based activities and exercises. Participants assigned to the control condition did not receive any instruction during the course of the study. The results of an experiment comparing the effects of each treatment condition on learners' scores on the Knowledge Test of Spanish Copulae, a measurement instrument designed for this study, found PI to be superior to TI at the immediate posttest level for tasks of interpretation and production. However, mean difference scores for the PI group were not significant when compared to those of the control group. Moreover, the learning gains exhibited by the PI group at immediate posttest were not durative, as they were not significant at the delayed posttest.

Magister Curationis - MCur / The development of internet has provided an opportunity for offering online learning. Online learning otherwise known as ‘e-learning’ is a fast growing new concept of modern education. Substantial evidence indicates that many universities across the world have started offering study programmes through a variety of e-learning methods. Although e- learning environments are becoming popular, there is minimal research on learners’ attitudes toward online learning environments. Past research has recommended a variety of factors affecting user attitude so far as e-Learning is concern. It is thus against this background that this study purports to determine the attitudes of undergraduate nursing students toward e–learning at the University of the Western Cape. The study developed an integrated model with six dimensions: learners, instructors, courses, technology, design, and environment. A survey was conducted on 213 undergraduate nursing students to assess their attitudes toward e-learning. The study employed the survey methodology based on the questionnaire that was distributed randomly to students to assess their attitudes towards e-learning and to find out if any existing demographical factors impact on the students’ use of e- learning. The results revealed that males and females differed significantly in terms of satisfaction levels. When specific demographic variables with two outcome levels (age group, computer facility at home, computer training experience and experience in e-learning prior to registering at UWC) are considered, there is no statistically significant difference (from the sample t-test) in learner satisfaction between these groups. From a valid response rate (90% of the sample), statistical analysis (multivariate analysis) revealed that learner satisfaction as the control variable is influenced by perceived easy to use, gender and year level of participants. The findings also showed a significant difference between male and female satisfaction. In this regard, 4th year nursing students were proven to be less likely to be satisfied with e-learning than 2ndyear nursing students, whereas female nursing students are more likely to be satisfied with e-learning than male nursing students. Generally, the study’s findings demonstrate a favourable attitude towards e-learning among nursing students at University of the Western Cape.

The purpose of the study is to explore students’ experiences of WebCT at the University of Pretoria. In order to find out about these experiences, the Department of Telematic Learning and Education Innovation administered a web-based survey to students at the University of Pretoria. At the end of each semester students are requested to complete WebCT Experience Survey voluntarily. The WebCT Experience Survey includes both qualitative and quantitative data for research (TLEI Annual Report, 2003). The focus of this research is more on qualitative data which includes the open-ended questions. The researcher used conceptual analysis to evaluate the open-ended questions in the survey (Busch et al., 2005). The challenges and benefits were coded for their frequency and relevance. The researcher then identified codes to identify the benefits and challenges of students using WebCT. The findings of the research were grouped in terms of technical, facilitation and content issues. The study indicates that students benefited from using WebCT. / Dissertation (Magister Educationis (Computer-Integrated Education))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted